title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: Generally, David's ability to access and control his personalities/powers is closely tied to his self confidence and self esteem: the better he feels about himself, the more control he exercises. Unfortunately, David often suffers from self-doubt and self-recrimination, meaning that he must struggle to remain in control. Following the Age of X, David briefly used a Neural Switchboard Wristband engineered by Doctor Nemesis, Madison Jeffries, and Reed Richards. This device allowed Legion to utilize a personality's power set for several seconds without being overwhelmed by that personality. However, he soon abandoned this and attempted instead to develop a more organic control over his personalities.


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: The following characters are different personalities of Legion that have appeared thus far, each one manifesting different powers:


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: Legion has been described as having dissociative identity disorder. In his first appearance he was also described as autistic, however this diagnosis has not been used since.


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: Legion's name is derived from a passage in the Christian Bible (found in Mark 5 and Luke 8). In it, Jesus asks a man possessed by many evil spirits what his name is, to which the man replies "I am Legion, for we are many."


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: The "Ultimate" incarnation of Proteus is a combination of Legion and Proteus from the mainstream comics. His mother is Moira MacTaggert and his father is Charles Xavier. He possesses Proteus' reality warping power and is named David Xavier. He escapes his mother's facility, looking for his father, and murders hundreds to discredit him. David is later crushed by Colossus, while possessing S.T.R.I.K.E. agent Betsy Braddock inside a car.


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: In the "Age of X" reality, Legion leads the Force Warriors, a select group of telekinetics who rebuild the "Force Walls" (telekinetic shields that protect Fortress X) on a daily basis to protect mutants from human attacks. Unlike his 616 counterpart, there is no trace of the other personalities shown. It is ultimately revealed that the Age of X reality was unconsciously created by Legion himself. A flashback reveals that in the 616 universe Professor X was arguing with Dr. Nemesis regarding the latter's containment and deletion of Legion's other personalities in an effort to stabilize him. While Dr. Nemesis claimed that everything was going according to his plan, Professor X was unconvinced and entered Legion's mind. There he found the other personalities dead and their rotting corpses left in their containment units. This surprised Dr. Nemesis, who had thought that when a personality was deleted it should simply disappear. Professor X was then attacked by what he called a "psychic antibody," a personality Legion had subconsciously created to defend against Nemesis's deleting of the personalities. To overcome Professor X on the psychic plane, this personality took on the face of Moira MacTaggart and claimed that it would make a world where Legion could be happy. The 'Moira' personality then reshaped Utopia into Fortress X and inserted itself as Moira and the supercomputer X. When finally confronted about its actions, the personality made the Force walls fall, allowing the human armies to attack. 'Moira' announced her intention to destroy the 616 universe as well as the Age of X and to create a new safe place for David to live happily forever. Instead, David absorbed her and reverted the Fortress X to the normal reality, with a few modifications.


title: Legion (Marvel Comics)

text: "Legion", a live-action television series, premiered on FX in 2017. Produced by FXP and Marvel Television, the series takes place in a warped reality (depicted as perceived by the titular character) and runs "parallel" to the "X-Men" film universe, with further connections to take place in season two. In February 2016, Dan Stevens was cast as the eponymous lead character. The series was picked up by FX in early 2017 with 8 episodes. Unlike the comics version, this version doesn't have its notable personalities. In the series premiere, David is captured from the Clockworks mental facility, where he has been since a suicide attempt, by an anti-mutant government unit known as Division 3 which wants to harness David's abilities for themselves. David is rescued by a team of rogue mutants and taken to the "Summerland" training facility, where he develops a romantic relationship with body-swapping mutant Sydney "Syd" Barrett (Rachel Keller). In "Chapter 7", David learns that his biological father is a powerful psychic mutant whose nemesis the Shadow King has lived in David's mind like a mental parasite since he was a little boy. In the episode "Chapter 8", Shadow King is able to leap from David's body and ends up possessing the body of fellow psychic mutant Oliver Bird (Jemaine Clement), and promptly drives away from Summerland. In the episode's coda, a sphere-like drone traps David inside it and absconds with him. In the second season, David is found by his friends and it is revealed that the drone was sent by Syd from the future, much to David’s confusion. He also begins to pursue the Shadow King during Summerland's alliance with Division 3, but learns that he must work with him due to a plague in the future. In the last couple episodes of season 2, the more psychopathic nature of David is explored, and he is revealed as a villain. Showrunner Noah Hawley later revealed that he has always looked at David as a villain. The episode "Chapter 18", features a prologue of sorts depicting the David Haller of Earth-616 (also portrayed by Dan Stevens) viewing the events of the show from a crystal ball. In the third season, David starts a hippie-like commune while also trying to evade Division 3, now composed of his former allies. He recruits a mutant named Jia-yi, nicknamed Switch, who has the ability to travel through time. He tries to use her ability to travel back and warn his parents, Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller, but only succeeds in driving his mother back into a catatonic state. David does finally manage to go back in time and confronts his father face to face with the intent to go after and kill Amahl Farouk for ruining his life. Instead, David is stopped by the present day Farouk and Charles who make a truce with him and the past Farouk, thus preventing the end of the world, as previously predicted. A new timeline is created with David realizing that a new version of himself and his friends will be made as the old versions are erased.


title: KiKi Layne

text: Kiandra "KiKi" Layne (born December 10, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in such films as the romantic drama "If Beale Street Could Talk" (2018), the drama "Native Son" (2019), the action superhero film "The Old Guard" (2020), and the romantic comedy "Coming 2 America" (2021).


title: KiKi Layne

text: Layne is from Cincinnati, Ohio. She earned a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2014.


title: KiKi Layne

text: In a 2018 interview with "Vanity Fair", Layne said that she was always acting growing up and that her favorite movie as a child was "The Lion King". She said, "I used to watch it every day and create these extravagant stories with my Barbies and stuffed animals."


title: KiKi Layne

text: Layne's first acting role was with Lena Waithe in the pilot for the drama series "The Chi", filmed in 2015.


title: KiKi Layne

text: Layne's breakout role was in Barry Jenkins' 2018 drama "If Beale Street Could Talk". She starred in the 2019 screen adaptation of Richard Wright’s 1940 novel "Native Son", then alongside Charlize Theron in 2020's "The Old Guard", directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood.


title: KiKi Layne

text: Layne was featured in composer Max Richter's "Voices", which was inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The album contains readings of the Declaration by Eleanor Roosevelt and Layne, with a further 70 readings by people around the world.


title: KiKi Layne

text: Layne is currently in a relationship with Ari'el Stachel, whom she met on the set of "Don't Worry Darling" in the fall of 2020.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey Baratheon is a fictional character in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its HBO television adaptation "Game of Thrones". Introduced in 1996's "A Game of Thrones", he subsequently appears in "A Clash of Kings" (1998) and "A Storm of Swords" (2000).


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey is officially the eldest son and heir of king Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister, but in actuality is the eldest child of Cersei and her twin brother Jaime Lannister. Joffrey inherits the throne after Robert's death, which, along with his execution of Lord Ned Stark of Winterfell, triggers a power struggle in Westeros known as the War of Five Kings. He is characterized as a spoiled, sadistic bully and frequently torments his family as well as Sansa Stark, to whom he is betrothed in the first novel. He later marries Margaery Tyrell, but is killed by poison during his wedding reception. Joffrey's demise is referred to as The Purple Wedding.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey is portrayed by Irish actor Jack Gleeson in the television adaptation "Game of Thrones", a role for which he received international recognition and critical praise.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey Baratheon is not a point of view character in the novels, so his actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of other people, such as his uncle Tyrion Lannister and his one-time fiancée Sansa Stark. He inherits his mother's traditional Lannister looks, and has blond hair and green eyes, and is believed by many to be very handsome.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: In public, Joffrey is allegedly the oldest son and heir of King Robert Baratheon and Queen Cersei Lannister, both of whom entered into a political marriage alliance after Robert took the throne by force from the "Mad King" Aerys II Targaryen. In reality, his biological father is his mother's twin brother, Jaime Lannister. He has a younger sister, Myrcella, and a younger brother, Tommen, both of whom are also products of Jaime and Cersei's incestuous relationship. Their sole biological grandparents, Tywin and Joanna Lannister, were also first cousins.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey is an amoral sadist who disguises his cruelty with a thin veneer of charm. This is best epitomized by his response when his (then) betrothed offends him: Joffrey pronounces that his mother had taught him never to strike a woman, and so commissions a knight of the Kingsguard to hit her instead. He enjoys forcing people to fight to the death, and enforces cruel punishments for lesser crimes. He has no sense of personal responsibility, blaming failures on others. He lacks self-control and often insults his allies and family members. He is also impulsive, which frequently leads him to make rash decisions. He appears to have virtually no interests other than sadism and extreme violence, paying no attention to actually governing his kingdom or to anything involving sex, even when he is offered exceptionally beautiful women. Though he takes pleasure in violence, Joffrey is shown to be a coward when confronted with danger to himself, and often shies away from any real fighting.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Prince Joffrey is taken by his parents to Winterfell and is betrothed to Sansa Stark in order to create an alliance between House Baratheon and House Stark. At first, Joffrey is kind and polite to Sansa. However, he refuses to show sympathy with the family when Bran Stark falls from a tower, until physically forced to by his uncle, Tyrion Lannister. While on the Kingsroad to King's Landing, Joffrey and Sansa come across Arya Stark practicing swordplay with a commoner Mycah. Joffrey accuses Mycah of assaulting a noble girl and makes a cut on his face with a sword. This causes Arya to hit Joffrey, allowing Mycah to escape. When Joffrey then turns on Arya, her direwolf Nymeria attacks Joffrey, injuring him. Later, Joffrey lies about the attack, saying it was unprovoked and demands Nymeria to be killed; however, Sansa's direwolf Lady is killed instead. He later has his bodyguard Sandor "The Hound" Clegane hunt down and kill Mycah.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Later, Eddard Stark discovers that Joffrey is not King Robert's biological son and refuses to acknowledge Joffrey's claim to the throne when King Robert dies. He is taken into custody. On Sansa's pleas, Eddard issues a false confession of his treason. Joffrey promised Sansa that he would be merciful but then beheads Eddard anyway and later forces Sansa to look upon her father's head.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey is briefly seen in "A Clash of Kings" (1998). He rules with whim and caprice, proving difficult for even his mother to control. Sansa becomes imprisoned to his will, and he frequently has his guards beat her when she displeases him. When Stannis Baratheon attacks King's Landing, Joffrey leaves the battlefield, damaging the morale of his army. The battle is only won by his uncle Tyrion's use of wildfire and his grandfather Tywin's last-minute counterattack aided by the forces of House Tyrell.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey sets aside his earlier betrothal to Sansa Stark in favor of Margaery Tyrell, cementing an alliance between the Lannisters and House Tyrell. At Tyrion and Sansa's wedding, he humiliates his uncle and is outraged when his uncle threatens him after he commands him to consummate their marriage. Tyrion only avoids punishment when his father Tywin assures Joffrey that his uncle was drunk and had no intention of threatening the king. Later after the events of the "Red Wedding", Joffrey gleefully plans on serving Sansa her recently deceased brother's head. His uncle Tyrion and his grandfather Tywin are outraged and the former threatens Joffrey once again. After another disagreement, Tywin sends Joffrey to his room, much to Joffrey's chagrin. During his wedding feast, he repeatedly torments Tyrion and Sansa, presenting an offensive play about "The War of the Five Kings", with each of the kings played by dwarves to humiliate his uncle, whom he also forces to act as his cupbearer. At the conclusion of the dinner, however, Joffrey dies from poisoned wine. Tyrion is falsely accused and arrested by Cersei in "A Storm of Swords" (2000) but it is later revealed that Lady Olenna Tyrell and Lord Petyr Baelish were the true perpetrators.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: After Robert's death, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and her father Tywin (Charles Dance) make Joffrey King, and his mother uses him as a puppet. He is also betrothed to Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) to cement an alliance between the Houses of Stark and Lannister. A cruel tyrant, Joffrey makes sadistic torture and mass murder the main features of his kingdom, and even has Sansa's father Ned (Sean Bean) executed for treason (which he declares he will never allow to go unpunished) over Sansa's pleas for mercy and Cersei's disapproval.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey's tyranny worsens the situation with the Lannisters' war effort, as his uncle (and secretly, father) Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) is captured by the Starks, and Joffrey's "paternal uncles" Renly (Gethin Anthony) and Stannis (Stephen Dillane) challenge his claim to the Iron Throne. Joffrey frequently orders his Kingsguard to beat Sansa. His cruelty and ignorance of the commoners' suffering makes him unpopular after he orders the City Watch to kill all of his "father"'s bastard children in King's Landing; consequently, he is almost killed during a riot. When Stannis attacks King's Landing, Joffrey serves only as a figurehead and avoids the heavy fighting. When the battle eventually turns in Stannis' favor, Cersei calls her son into the safety of the castle, damaging the morale of his army. The battle is only won by his uncle Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) and grandfather Tywin, aided by the forces of House Tyrell. To cement the alliance between those families, Joffrey's engagement to Sansa is annulled so he can marry Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer).


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: The marriage is yet to take place, and rifts are growing between Joffrey, and his uncle Tyrion and grandfather Tywin, who are (in their respective ways) rebutting his cruelty. Joffrey also seems to take little interest in his betrothed, but is amazed and altered by her ways of winning the people's favor, in which he takes part. At Tyrion and Sansa's wedding, he humiliates his uncle and is outraged when his uncle threatens him after Joffrey commands him to consummate the marriage. Tyrion only avoids punishment when his father Tywin assures Joffrey that Tyrion was drunk and had no intention of threatening the king. Later, after the events of the "Red Wedding", Joffrey gleefully plans on serving Sansa her recently deceased brother Robb's (Richard Madden) head. Tyrion and Tywin are outraged, and the former threatens Joffrey once again. After another disagreement, Tywin sends Joffrey to his room, much to Joffrey's chagrin.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: Joffrey finally marries Margaery. During his wedding feast, he repeatedly torments Tyrion and Sansa, presenting an offensive play about "The War of the Five Kings", with each of the kings played by dwarves to humiliate his uncle, whom he also forces to act as his cupbearer. At the height of the festivities, Joffrey is suddenly overcome by poison and dies. His last act is an attempt to point at Tyrion, and as a result Tyrion is falsely accused and ordered arrested by Cersei, but it is later revealed that Lady Olenna Tyrell and Lord Petyr Baelish were the true perpetrators. Olenna, Margaery's grandmother, later confides to Margaery that she would never have let her marry "that beast". Following Joffrey's funeral, his younger brother and heir, Tommen, is crowned King and proceeds to marry Margaery.


title: Joffrey Baratheon

text: In January 2007, HBO secured the rights to adapt Martin's series for television. Jack Gleeson was cast as Joffrey Baratheon. Gleeson received critical acclaim for his portrayal. In 2016, "Rolling Stone" ranked the character #4 in their list of the "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time". Author Martin described Joffrey as similar to "five or six people that I went to school with ... a classic bully ... incredibly spoiled". Gleason would cite Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Commodus in "Gladiator" as a big influence for his performance.


title: Thar Desert

text: The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is an arid region in the north-western part of the Subcontinent that covers an area of and forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan. It is the world's 20th-largest desert, and the world's 9th-largest hot subtropical desert.


title: Thar Desert

text: About 85% of the Thar Desert is in India, and about 15% is in Pakistan. The Thar Desert is about 4.56% of the total geographical area of India. More than 60% of the desert lies in the Indian state of Rajasthan; the portion in India also extends into Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana. The portion in Pakistan extends into the provinces of Sindh and Punjab (the portion in the latter province is referred to as the Cholistan Desert).


title: Thar Desert

text: During the Last Glacial Maximum 20,000 before present, an approximately ice sheet covered the Tibetan Plateau, causing excessive radiative forcing i.e. the ice in Tibet reflected at least four times more radiation energy per unit area into space than ice at higher latitudes, which further cooled overlying atmosphere at that time. This impacted the regional climate. Without the thermal low pressure caused by the heating, there was no monsoon over the Indian subcontinent. This lack of monsoon caused extensive rainfall over the Sahara, expansion of the Thar Desert, more dust deposited into the Arabian Sea, a lowering of the biotic life zones on the Indian subcontinent, and animals responded to this shift in climate with the Javan rusa deer migrating into India.


title: Thar Desert

text: 10,000-8,000 years ago a paleo channel of Ghaggar-Hakra River - identified with the paleo Sarasvati River, after confluence with Sutlej flowed into the Nara river - a delta channel of the Indus River, changed its course, leaving the Ghaggar-Hakra as a system of monsoon-fed rivers which did not reach the sea and now ends in the Thar desert.


title: Thar Desert

text: Around 5,000 years ago when the monsoons that fed the rivers diminished further, the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) prospered in this area, with the rise of numerous IVC urban sites at Kalibangan (Rajasthan), Banawali and Rakhigarhi (Haryana), Dholavira and Lothal (Gujarat) along this course.


title: Thar Desert

text: 4,000 years ago when monsoons diminished even further, the dried-up Harkra become an intermittent river, and the urban Harappan civilisation declined, becoming localized in smaller agricultural communities.


title: Thar Desert

text: The northeastern part of the Thar Desert lies between the Aravalli Hills. The desert stretches to Punjab and Haryana in the north, to the Great Rann of Kutch along the coast, and to the alluvial plains of the Indus River in the west and northwest. Much of the desert area is covered by huge, shifting sand dunes that receive sediments from the alluvial plains and the coast. The sand is highly mobile due to the strong winds that rise each year before the onset of the monsoon. The Luni River is the only river in the desert. Rainfall is per year, almost all of it between June and September.


title: Thar Desert

text: Saltwater lakes within the Thar Desert include the Sambhar, Kuchaman, Didwana, Pachpadra, and Phalodi in Rajasthan and Kharaghoda in Gujarat. These lakes receive and collect rainwater during monsoon and evaporate during the dry season. The salt comes from the weathering of rocks in the region.


title: Thar Desert

text: Lithic tools belonging to the prehistoric Aterian culture of the Maghreb have been discovered in Middle Paleolithic deposits in the Thar Desert.


title: Thar Desert

text: The climate is arid and subtropical. Average temperature varies with season, and extremes can range from near-freezing in the winter to more than 50º C in the summer months. Average annual rainfall ranges from 100 to 500 mm, and occurs during the short July-to-September southwest monsoon.


title: Thar Desert

text: The desert has both a very dry part (the Marusthali region in the west) and a semidesert part (in the east) that has fewer sand dunes and slightly more precipitation.


title: Thar Desert

text: The soil of the Thar Desert remains dry for much of the year, so it is prone to wind erosion. High-velocity winds blow soil from the desert, depositing some of it on neighboring fertile lands, and causing sand dunes within the desert to shift. To counteract this problem, sand dunes are stabilised by first erecting microwindbreak barriers with scrub material and then by afforestation of the treated dunes—planting the seedlings of shrubs (such as phog, senna, and castor oil plant) and trees (such as gum acacia, "Prosopis juliflora", and lebbek tree). The 649-km-long Indira Gandhi Canal brings fresh water to the Thar Desert. It was built to halt any spreading of the desert into fertile areas.


title: Thar Desert

text: Some wildlife species that are fast vanishing in other parts of India are found in the desert in large numbers, including the blackbuck ("Antilope cervicapra"), chinkara ("Gazella bennettii"),and Indian wild ass ("Equus hemionus khur") in the Rann of Kutch. This may be partly because they are well adapted to this environment: they are smaller than similar animals that live in other environments, and they are mainly nocturnal. It may also be because grasslands in this region have not been transformed into cropland as fast as in other regions, and because a local community, the Bishnois, has made special efforts to protect them.


title: Thar Desert

text: Other mammals in the Thar Desert include a subspecies of red fox ("Vulpes vulpes pusilla") and the caracal, and a number of reptiles dwell there too.


title: Thar Desert

text: The region is a haven for 141 species of migratory and resident desert birds, including harriers, falcons, buzzards, kestrels, vultures, short-toed eagles ("Circaetus gallicus"), tawny eagles ("Aquila rapax"), greater spotted eagles ("Aquila clanga"), and laggar falcons ("Falco jugger").


title: Thar Desert

text: The Indian peafowl is a resident breeder in the Thar region. The peacock is designated as the national bird of India and the provincial bird of the Punjab (Pakistan). It can be seen sitting on khejri or pipal trees in villages or Deblina.


title: Thar Desert

text: The natural vegetation of this dry area is classified as northwestern thorn scrub forest occurring in small clumps scattered more or less openly. Density and size of patches increase from west to east following the increase in rainfall. The natural vegetation of the Thar Desert is composed of these tree, shrub, and herb species:


title: Thar Desert

text: The endemic floral species include "Calligonum polygonoides", "Prosopis cineraria", "Acacia nilotica", "Tamarix aphylla", and "Cenchrus biflorus".


title: Thar Desert

text: The Thar people are the natives of the area. The Thar Desert is the most widely populated desert in the world, with a population density of 83 people per km. In India, the inhabitants comprise Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and Muslims. In Pakistan, inhabitants include both Muslims and Hindus.


title: Thar Desert

text: About 40% of the total population of Rajasthan lives in the Thar Desert. The main occupations of the inhabitants are agriculture and animal husbandry. A colourful culture, rich in tradition, prevails in this desert. The people have a great passion for folk music and folk poetry.


title: Thar Desert

text: Jodhpur, the largest city in the region, lies in the scrub forest zone at the desert's perimeter. Bikaner and Jaisalmer are the largest cities located entirely in the desert.


title: Thar Desert

text: In the true desert areas, the only sources of water for animals or humans are small, scattered ponds - some that are natural ("tobas") and some that are human-made ("johads"). The persistence of water scarcity heavily influences life in all areas of the Thar, prompting many inhabitants to adopt a nomadic lifestyle. Most of the permanent human settlements are located near the two seasonal streams of the Karon-Jhar hills. Potable groundwater is also rare in the Thar Desert. Much of it tastes sour due to dissolved minerals. Potable water is mostly available only deep underground. When wells are dug that happen to yield sweet tasting water, people tend to settle near them, but such wells are difficult and dangerous to dig, sometimes claiming the lives of the well-diggers.


title: Thar Desert

text: The Thar is one of the most heavily populated desert areas in the world with the main occupations of its inhabitants being agriculture and animal husbandry.


title: Thar Desert

text: Agricultural production is mainly from kharif crops, which are grown in the summer season and seeded in June and July. These are then harvested in September and October and include bajra, pulses such as guar, jowar ("Sorghum vulgare"), maize ("zea mays"), sesame and groundnuts.


title: Thar Desert

text: "P. cineraria" wood is reported to contain high calorific value and provide high-quality fuel wood. The lopped branches are good as fencing material. Its roots also encourage nitrogen fixation, which produces higher crop yields.


title: Thar Desert

text: Desert safaris on camels have become increasingly popular around Jaisalmer. Domestic and international tourists frequent the desert seeking adventure on camels for one to several days. This ecotourism industry ranges from cheaper backpacker treks to plush Arabian night-style campsites replete with banquets and cultural performances. During the treks, tourists are able to view the fragile and beautiful ecosystem of the Thar Desert. This form of tourism provides income to many operators and camel owners in Jaisalmer, as well as employment for many camel trekkers in the desert villages nearby. People from various parts of the world come to see the Pushkar ka Mela (Pushkar Fair) and oases.


title: Thar Desert

text: The government of India initiated departmental exploration for oil in 1955 and 1956 in the Jaisalmer area, Oil India Limited discovered natural gas in 1988 in the Jaisalmer basin.


title: Thar Desert

text: The Desert National Park in Jaisalmer district has a collection of 180-million-year- old animal and plant fossils.


title: Thar Desert

text: Jaisalmer State’s historical foundations are in the large empire ruled by the Bhati dynasty. The empire stretched from what is now Ghazni in modern-day Afghanistan to what is Sialkot, Lahore and Rawalpindi in modern-day Pakistan to the region that is Bhatinda and Hanumangarh in modern-day India. The empire crumbled over time because of continuous invasions from central Asia. According to Satish Chandra, the Hindu Shahis of Afghanistan made an alliance with the Bhatti rulers of Multhan because they wanted to end the slave raids that were made by the Turkic ruler of Ghazni, but the alliance was broken apart by Alp Tigin in 977 CE. Bhati dominions continued to shift southwards: they ruled Multan, then finally got pushed into Cholistan and Jaisalmer, where Rawal Devaraja built Dera Rawal / Derawar. Jaisalmer was founded as the new capital in 1156 by Maharawal Jaisal Singh and the state took its name from the capital. On 11 December 1818 Jaisalmer became a British protectorate through the Rajputana Agency.


title: Thar Desert

text: Because the kingdom’s main source of income had long been levies on caravans, its economy suffered after Bombay became a major port, and sea trade largely replaced trade along the traditional land routes. Maharawals Ranjit Singh and Bairi Sal Singh tried to reverse the economic decline, but the kingdom nevertheless became impoverished. To make matters worse, there was a severe drought and a resulting famine from 1895 to 1900, during the reign of Maharawal Salivahan Singh, which caused the widespread loss of the livestock upon which the increasingly agriculturally based kingdom had come to rely.


title: Thar Desert

text: In 1965 and 1971, population exchanges took place in the Thar between India and Pakistan; 3,500 Muslims shifted from the Indian section of the Thar to Pakistani Thar, whilst thousands of Hindu families also migrated from Pakistani Thar to the Indian section.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters are an American pop and R&B singing group from Oakland, California, that achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, jazz, electronic music, bebop, blues, soul, funk, dance, country, and rock. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy Awards and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as "Pointers, a Pair". The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita joined them. Their record deal with Atlantic Records produced several unsuccessful singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in December 1972. They then signed with Blue Thumb Records, recorded their debut album, and began seeing more success, winning a Grammy Award in 1975 for Best Country Vocal Performance for "Fairytale" (1974). Bonnie left the group in 1978 to commence a solo career with modest success.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The group achieved its greatest commercial success in the 1980s as a trio consisting of June, Ruth, and Anita. They won two more Grammys in 1984 for the top 10 hits "Automatic" and "Jump (For My Love)." The group's other U.S. top 10 hits are "Fire" (1979), "He's So Shy" (1980), "Slow Hand" (1981), the remixed version of "I'm So Excited" (1984), and "Neutron Dance" (1985).


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: June Pointer, the youngest sister, struggled with drug addiction for much of her career, leaving the group in April 2004 prior to her death from cancer in April 2006, at the age of 52. She was replaced by Ruth's daughter Issa Pointer. This trio had a number two hit in Belgium in 2005, covering "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" with Belgian singer Natalia. Between 2009 and 2015, the group consisted of Anita, Ruth, Issa, and Ruth's granddaughter Sadako Pointer. While all four women remained in the group, they most often performed as a trio rotating the lineup as needed. In 2015, Anita was forced to retire due to ill health, leaving Ruth the sole member of the original sibling line-up.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In December 2016, "Billboard" magazine ranked them as the 80th most successful dance artists of all-time. In December 2017, "Billboard" ranked them as the 93rd most successful Hot 100 Artist of all-time and as the 32nd most successful Hot 100 Women Artist of all-time.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: As children in West Oakland, the Pointer sisters and brothers were encouraged to listen to and sing gospel music by their parents Reverend Elton Pointer and Sarah Pointer. However, they were told rock and roll and the blues were "the devil's music", and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. They regularly sang at a local Church of God in Christ congregation in West Oakland, but as the sisters grew older their love of other styles of music began to grow. When June, the youngest sister, brought home a copy of the Elvis Presley 1957 record "All Shook Up", she was surprised that her mother allowed her to play it, until discovering that her mother had been pacified by the song, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", on the B-side of the record.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The sisters, first cousins of NBA basketball player and head coach Paul Silas, graduated from Oakland Technical High School: Ruth in 1963, Anita in 1965, and Bonnie in 1968. After leaving school, oldest sister Ruth was already married with two children Faun (born 1965) and Malik (born 1966), Anita, the second-oldest sister, also was married with a child Jada. Bonnie, the third oldest sister, and June, the youngest, sought a show business career and they formed a duo, 'Pointers, a Pair'. Later, Anita quit her job to join the group. They began touring and performing and provided backing vocals for artists such as Grace Slick, Sylvester, Boz Scaggs, Elvin Bishop and Betty Davis. It was while supporting Bishop at a nightclub appearance in 1971 that the sisters were signed to a recording contract with Atlantic Records. The resulting singles that came from their Atlantic tenure failed to become hits but, nevertheless, the sisters were enjoying their fledgling recording career. One recording, however, has become a Northern Soul classic: "Send Him Back" (Atlantic 45 2893). Concentrated at Wigan Casino around 1973–1974, Northern soul was an underground music scene comprising American 45 rpm records released at the same time as Tamla Motown and imported into the United Kingdom. "Send Him Back" remains a favorite with the worldwide Northern soul audience. Ruth finally gave in to the temptation to join them, joining the group in December 1972. The quartet signed with Blue Thumb Records and began to record their first album.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: Upon signing, they agreed that they did not want to follow the current trend of pop music, but wanted to create an original sound that combined jazz music, jazz singing, and bebop music. Searching for a visual style for their act, they remembered the poverty of their childhood; using their experience and ability to improvise, they assembled a collection of vintage 1940s clothes from thrift shops, comprising period costumes to give them their distinctive look.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In 1976, they were asked to record "Pinball Number Count" for "Sesame Street", which was a series of educational cartoons teaching kids how to count. It made its debut in 1977 and was a feature on the show for many years.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: They made their television debut performance at the Troubadour nightclub in Los Angeles on "The Helen Reddy Show". In 1974, they joined Reddy on the track "Showbiz" which appeared on her "Free and Easy" album.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The group's self-titled first album, featuring the backing of Bay Area stalwarts the Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, was released in 1973 and received strong reviews, with the group being lauded for their versatility and originality. Its first single "Yes We Can Can" - an Allen Toussaint-penned song, which had been a minor R&B hit for Lee Dorsey in 1970 - afforded the Pointer Sisters the first chart hit reaching No. 11 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, while both "Yes We Can Can" and the follow-up single: the Willie Dixon cover "Wang Dang Doodle" were major R&B hits with respective R&B chart peaks of No. 12 and No. 24. The Pointer Sisters thrift shop style also made them fan favorites; many audience members of the group's live shows being dressed similarly to the group's members.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters' second album, the 1974 release "That's a Plenty", continued in the jazz and be-bop style of its predecessor but provided one exception that caused a great deal of interest: "Fairytale", written by Anita and Bonnie Pointer, was a country song that reached No. 13 on the pop charts, and No. 37 on the country chart. Based on this success, the group was invited to Nashville, Tennessee where they achieved the distinction of becoming the first Black group to perform at the Grand Ole Opry. In 1975, the Pointer Sisters won a Grammy Award for Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal, with Anita and Bonnie Pointer also receiving nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Country Song as songwriters of "Fairytale". The song was also recorded by Elvis Presley.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: Subsequent to the live double album "Live at the Opera House"—a recording of April 21, 1974 Pointer Sisters concert at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco—the group's third studio album "Steppin'" was released in 1975. "Steppin"' produced their Grammy-nominated number one R&B single, "How Long (Betcha' Got a Chick on the Side)", which was sampled by female rap icons Salt-N-Pepa a decade later. The Pointer Sisters also scored another R&B hit from the album with "Going Down Slowly", another Allen Toussaint cover, and in 1976 appeared in the classic film "Car Wash" with their song from the movie: "You Gotta Believe", making the R&B top 20 in early 1977.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters were featured on the 1977 album "Saffo Music" by Italian R&B singer Lara Saint Paul and produced by Leon Ware, with bass by Chuck Rainey, guitar by Ray Parker Jr. and mixed by Bill Conti. It was released in Italy under LASAPA records.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: November 1977 saw the release of the jazz-funk oriented "Having a Party" which would be the final album release featuring the Pointer Sisters in their original four-woman format. It was only on the title cut that all four members sang; the album's other cuts featured Anita, Bonnie, and Ruth, but not June Pointer. Recorded in 1976 the album's release was so delayed as to cause an eighteen-month gap between "Having a Party" and the precedent Pointer Sisters' album "Steppin"'—the compilation album "The Best of the Pointer Sisters" had been issued in July 1976—and without the impetus of a major hit single the "Having a Party" album itself caused scant commercial interest. One track, "Don't It Drive You Crazy" with Bonnie Pointer on lead, would become a cult hit in the UK as part of the rare groove phenomenon.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: By 1977, both June and Bonnie had left the group. June wanted to take a break, and Bonnie left to start a solo career. Bonnie married Motown Records producer Jeffrey Bowen in 1978. She subsequently signed a contract with Motown and this led to a brief, moderately successful, solo career. Her first self-titled album produced the disco song "Heaven Must Have Sent You". The album was produced by Berry Gordy and husband Jeffrey Bowen. The song became a top 20 pop hit in the US in September 1979.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: On January 22, 1978, Ruth gave birth to her second daughter and, now a duo, Ruth and Anita cut back their schedules and concentrated on raising their families. They began talking about the future of the group and what direction it should take. They agreed to dispense with the 1940s nostalgia and go in a contemporary direction. In July of that year, June married William Oliver Whitmore II.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The two sisters then signed a deal with producer Richard Perry's Planet Records, which was distributed by Elektra Records. After contributing guest vocals on the group's cover of Sly Stone's "Everybody Is a Star" June was persuaded to return to the group, making it a trio. With Perry the trio began working on an album of West Coast soft rock, which was released in 1978 with the title "Energy". The first single, a cover version of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire", climbed to No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1979, and a third Allen Toussaint cover, "Happiness", also charted.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: Over the next few years, The Pointer Sisters achieved their greatest commercial success. In 1980, their single "He's So Shy", reached number three on the chart, and the following year a ballad, "Slow Hand", reached number two. The follow-up, "Should I Do It," featured a classic girl-group sound. Richard Perry then sold Planet to RCA Records in 1982. The first release from this new union was "American Music", a patriotic-themed, modernized take on the girl-group sound, featuring an early version of "I'm So Excited". All these singles charted in the US and were also successful in Australia, where all but "American Music" reached the Top 20. The Sisters also made a guest appearance on the sitcom "Gimme a Break!" in the episode "The Return of the Doo-Wop Girls".


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In 1983, the Pointer Sisters released "Break Out". With the advent of MTV, videos of the Sisters' songs began to be played in heavy rotation. In 1984, they achieved four "Billboard" Hot 100 top 10 singles in a row. "Automatic" reached No. 5; "Jump (For My Love)" reached No. 3; a remix of "I'm So Excited" was added to the album almost a year into its shelf life and reached No. 9; and "Neutron Dance", also featured on the "Beverly Hills Cop" soundtrack, reached No. 6.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: "I Need You" had been the lead single from the album, and was a significant R&B hit, peaking at No. 13 on the Black Singles charts. The album's last single, "Baby Come and Get It", did well on the Black Singles charts too but did not make the top 40. They received Grammy Awards for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Jump (For My Love)", and Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices for "Automatic". These songs also followed "Slow Hand" into the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart, with "Automatic" peaking at number 2 in that country. Following this, the group performed on the "We Are The World" song/music video, alongside Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: These Planet singles marked the end of their run of Top 10 hits in the US, with their subsequent RCA releases "Dare Me" in 1985 (the Sisters' last Australian Top 10 hit), and "Goldmine" in 1986, reaching numbers 11 and 33, respectively.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In 1987, the Pointer Sisters starred in an NBC primetime special titled "Out All Night," which opened with footage of them performing "Jump" at one of their concerts, and which then followed the trio as they socialized and performed around the L.A. night scene. The special, which featured guest appearances by Bruce Willis, the McGuire Sisters, and Whoopi Goldberg, was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. The sisters also were featured in a lavish Diet Coke commercial, which aired during the program, and which presented them singing a soulful jingle about the soda.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The sisters eventually left RCA Records to record for Motown and then SBK, releasing several group albums and individual solo albums along the way, but these projects did not achieve the level of success of their earlier work.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: Ruth became a grandmother as "Break Out" reached success; Anita became a grandmother in 1990 when her only child Jada gave birth to Roxie. On September 8, 1990, Ruth married a man named Michael Sayles (born 1957). The sisters entertained US troops in the Persian Gulf in 1991 with Bob Hope. By 1991, June Pointer had ended her thirteen-year marriage to William Oliver Whitmore II. In August 1993 at age 47 Ruth Pointer gave birth to twins Ali and Conor Sayles. 1994 saw the release of the Various Artist album "Rhythm, Country and Blues" which featured duets of country artists with R&B artists; this album contains a duet with the Pointer Sisters and Clint Black together on the classic song "Chain of Fools". Also in 1994, the Pointer Sisters were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and began touring with a production of the Fats Waller-based musical "Ain't Misbehavin'". In 1995 Pointer Sisters recorded "Feel for the Physical" as a duet with Thomas Anders (of Modern Talking fame) for his album "Souled". They were also one of the featured acts at the closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In 1995–96, the Pointer Sisters returned to their original jazzy incarnation touring nationally in "Ain't Misbehavin'"; during this tour issues with June Pointer came to the fore as she missed many performances—understudy Wendy Edmead replaced her on these occasions—and in 2002, Ruth Pointer's daughter Issa Pointer began performing with the Pointer Sisters in June Pointer's stead. On June 9, 2002, June Pointer and Bonnie Pointer performed as a duo on the bill at the San Jose Gay Pride Celebration the pair having been recruited by a promoter who had failed to recruit the official Pointer Sisters trio for the event: the June/Bonnie Pointer duo's appearance at San Jose Pride was promoted as a "Pointer Sisters" gig with pictures of June Pointer performing with Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer utilized in its promotion, causing Anita Pointer and Ruth Pointer to sue the promoter and other affiliates of the June/Bonnie Pointer duo's San Jose Pride gig (neither Bonnie Pointer nor June Pointer was named in the suit). Bonnie Pointer and June Pointer subsequently performed as a duo at other Gay Pride celebrations and participated in the Get Up 'n' Dance disco music tour in the summer of 2003, the duo being officially billed as "Bonnie and June Pointer, formerly of the Pointer Sisters".


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In fall 2002, the Pointer Sisters played the Night of the Proms tour in Europe marking the inauguration of Issa Pointer, the daughter of Ruth Pointer, as the replacement for June Pointer: Ruth Pointer would recall: "We sort of pulled a fast one by waiting until the last minute to inform the promoters of [the] roster changebecause we didn't want to give them the chance to change their minds." According to Ruth Pointer "Anita and I had talked for some time about having Issa and [Anita's] daughter Jada [Pointer] alternate in the third spot in the lineupIssa was chosen [to go] first because she had experience singing solo at a lot of New England-area functions." Issa Pointer's membership in the Pointer Sisters would remain constant until 2009, Jada Pointer who was to alternate with her having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the autumn of 2002 and dying June 10, 2003.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters recorded their first album with Issa Pointer rather than June Pointer in April 2004 with "The Pointer Sisters - Live in Billings" recorded at the Alberta Bair Theatre in Billings, Montana. The first studio recording by the Pointer Sisters to feature Issa Pointer was "Christmas in New York" for YMC Records www.ymcrecords.com recorded in the summer of 2005 for release for the multi-artist seasonal release "Smooth & Soulful Christmas Collection" on YMC Records: "Christmas in New York" afforded the Pointer Sisters their last appearance on a "Billboard" chart to date, the track reaching #21 on the "Billboard" Adult Contemporary chart. Christmas In New York was written by Nathan East and Chris Christian and produced by them. The group's next recording was a remake of the Eurythmics' "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" recorded with Natalia: this track spent sixteen weeks in the Top 20 of Belgium's Flemish chart from October 2005 with a peak of #2. In 2008, Anita and Ruth Pointer recorded the last Pointer Sisters album to date "The Pointer Sisters Favorites" consisting of remakes of ten of the group's biggest hits: recorded in response to the group's failure to receive royalties from the inclusion of any Pointer Sisters' hits on multi-artist hits compilations, "...Favorites" was sold exclusively at the group's live gigs and at the website ThePointerSisters.com, but was added to iTunes in 2013.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In recent years, many Pointer Sisters songs have been covered by contemporary artists, such as "Jump (For My Love)" by Girls Aloud, which reached number two at the UK singles chart in 2003, "Dare Me" was turned into the dance smash "Stupidisco" by Belgian DJ Junior Jack, indie band Le Tigre covered in 2004 "I'm So Excited" on their third album "This Island", and French DJ Muttonheads sampled "Back in My Arms" on his 2005 club hit "I'll Be There". Most recently in 2007, Tommy Boy recording artist Ultra Naté has released a dance-pop cover of "Automatic" that reached #1 at the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts. In 2005, "Pinball Number Count" was re-edited for Coldcut's Ninja Tune label, becoming a surprise dance hit. The same song has also been sampled by Venetian Snares of the Planet Mu record label.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters have maintained a high international profile as performers: in 2002 they participated at the annual Night of the Proms, a successful series of concerts combining pop and classical music, taking place in the Benelux, France and Germany: the Pointer Sisters received the highest audience ratings of all participating Night of the Proms acts in 2002. In January 2006 the Pointer Sisters concert collaboration with Natalia resulted in ten sold out dates in Antwerp with the "Natalia Meets The Pointer Sister" concerts, selling out 130.000 tickets for the 10 date concert run.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: On June 7, 2006, Anita Pointer guest-starred on "Celebrity Duets" singing with Olympic gymnast Carly Patterson on "I'm So Excited": on the following night's results show the duo's encore was "Jump (For My Love)".


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: On August 4, 2009, Ruth, Anita and Bonnie stopped by The Kibitz Room at Canter's in Los Angeles and jammed with the band and Ruth's son Malik Pointer. They sang "Fire", "Yes We Can Can", and "Going Down Slowly". On November 4, 2009, The Pointer Sisters played "I'm So Excited" and "Neutron Dance" on CBS morning show "The Early Show" with Ruth's granddaughter, Sadako Johnson. Issa Pointer is currently pursuing a solo career.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: While promoting an October 28, 2010, Detroit gig by the Pointer Sisters–then comprising Anita and Ruth Pointer and Sadako Johnson—Ruth Pointer, asked "Do you [and Anita] plan on recording an album with Sadako?", replied: "Hmmnot really. We talk about it from time to time, but the business has changed so much. It's not like the old days when you just have a record deal and go in the studio and record with a producer and then start promoting." In the same interview Ruth Pointer commented on the Pointer Sister's profile having dropped in recent years: "We've performed a lot in Europe and Asia and Australia, and it's just that we haven't been very visible publicly in the [US]. We still do a lot of corporate parties and private parties because I mean, let's face it, those are the people that are in our own age group and know our songs."


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In November 2011, the Pointer Sisters toured Australia and played one gig in New Zealand with a lineup consisting of Ruth Pointer, Sadako Johnson and Issa Pointer; the last-named was a last-minute and presumably temporary replacement for Anita Pointer, who did not feel up to travel due to an unnamed health concern. Ruth Pointer, Sadako Johnson and Issa Pointer were also the personnel for a February 11, 2012 Pointer Sisters concert in Metairie, LA. At the July 6, 2012 Essence Fest show in New Orleans, Anita Pointer had rejoined the group, the lineup for that concert being Ruth and Anita Pointer and Sadako Johnson. In an August 2012 interview Ruth Pointer stated: "Anita has had some health issues recently so we try to give her a break when she needs it. When that happens we bring my daughter [Issa Pointer] in to fill in for her." At most recent Pointer Sisters concert, performing with the Columbus Symphony on June 14, 2013 (and filling in for Chaka Khan with a week's notice), the lineup was Anita, Ruth and Issa Pointer.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters were scheduled to play six Australian dates in May and June 2016 with the lineup of Ruth Pointer, Issa Pointer and Sadako Johnson. Media reports indicated that Anita Pointer's health issues necessitated her retiring from the group. In a February 25, 2016 interview with News.com.au, Ruth Pointer said of the Pointer Sisters recent live performance history: "I'm almost inclined to call [the group's live engagements] pop-up engagements, not tours. We don’t do the tours like we used to do back in the day. We’ll leave that to the young folks, out on the road in buses for months at a time.We still have a good time, we do a lot of corporate dates, a lot of casinos, special events, fundraisers, that’s our audience. We’re so glad [the Pointer Sisters' songs are] still relevant and people still want to hear them being sung and we love singing them."


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In "", the Malibu club in the game featured a Village People tribute in which they danced to "Automatic". This dance involved the dancers crossing the hands by their knees for two beats then raising the roof for another two.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: In 2003, sister Anita lost her only child Jada to cancer. Jada was the subject of the 1973 song "Jada".


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: On April 11, 2006, June, who suffered from drug addiction, died of cancer at the age of 52. According to a family statement, she was surrounded by Ruth and Anita as well as brothers Aaron and Fritz. On May 4, 2006, Bonnie appeared on "Entertainment Tonight" saying the other sisters had not fulfilled June's burial wishes, instead having her cremated because it was cheaper. Bonnie also stated the sisters had not let her ride in the family car at the funeral. Anita and Ruth responded that Bonnie had demanded to rejoin the group and was upset that she had been rejected, and that June had left no instructions for her burial. The sisters seemed estranged from Bonnie until she joined Anita on the "Idol Radio Show" in 2007.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: Bonnie was arrested for allegedly possessing crack cocaine on November 18, 2011, in South Los Angeles, after the car she was riding in was pulled over for a mechanical malfunction. She filed for divorce from Motown Records producer, Jeffrey Bowen, on July 1, 2014. On June 8, 2020, she died at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 69.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters contributed to the Children's Television Workshop educational television series, "Sesame Street". "Pinball Number Count" was an animated short on "Sesame Street" designed to teach children to count to twelve. It was originally produced in 1976 by Imagination, Inc. in San Francisco, California for the Children's Television Workshop. The Pointer Sisters were also spoofed on "Sesame Street" in the form of a trio of female singing pigs known as the Oinker Sisters.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Pointer Sisters were among hundreds of artists who lost master recordings in the 2008 Universal fire.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Pointer Sisters have received three awards from ten nominations.


title: The Pointer Sisters

text: The American Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony created by Dick Clark in 1973. The Pointer Sisters have received three awards from four nominations.


title: Shoe

text: A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with form originally being tied to function. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is still vulnerable to environmental hazards such as sharp rocks and temperature extremes, which shoes protect against. Some shoes are worn as safety equipment, such as steel-toe boots which are required footwear at industrial worksites.


title: Shoe

text: Additionally, fashion has often dictated many design elements, such as whether shoes have very high heels or flat ones. Contemporary footwear varies widely in style, complexity and cost. Basic sandals may consist of only a thin sole and simple strap and be sold for a low cost. High fashion shoes made by famous designers may be made of expensive materials, use complex construction and sell for large sums of money. Some shoes are designed for specific purposes, such as boots designed specifically for mountaineering or skiing, while others have more generalized usage such as sneakers which have transformed from a special purpose sport shoe into a general use shoe.


title: Shoe

text: Traditionally, shoes have been made from leather, wood or canvas, but are increasingly being made from rubber, plastics, and other petrochemical-derived materials. Globally, the shoe industry is a $200 billion a year industry. 90% of shoes end up in land-fills, because the materials are hard to separate, recycle or otherwise reuse.


title: Shoe

text: The earliest known shoes are sagebrush bark sandals dating from approximately 7000 or 8000 BC, found in the Fort Rock Cave in the US state of Oregon in 1938. The world's oldest leather shoe, made from a single piece of cowhide laced with a leather cord along seams at the front and back, was found in the Areni-1 cave complex in Armenia in 2008 and is believed to date to 3500 BC. Ötzi the Iceman's shoes, dating to 3300 BC, featured brown bearskin bases, deerskin side panels, and a bark-string net, which pulled tight around the foot. The Jotunheimen shoe was discovered in August 2006: archaeologists estimate that this leather shoe was made between 1800 and 1100 BC, making it the oldest article of clothing discovered in Scandinavia.


title: Shoe

text: It is thought that shoes may have been used long before this, but because the materials used were highly perishable, it is difficult to find evidence of the earliest footwear. By studying the bones of the smaller toes (as opposed to the big toe), it was observed that their thickness decreased approximately 40,000 to 26,000 years ago. This led archaeologists to deduce that wearing shoes resulted in less bone growth, resulting in shorter, thinner toes. These earliest designs were very simple, often mere "foot bags" of leather to protect the feet from rocks, debris, and cold.


title: Shoe

text: Many early natives in North America wore a similar type of footwear, known as the moccasin. These are tight-fitting, soft-soled shoes typically made out of leather or bison hides. Many moccasins were also decorated with various beads and other adornments. Moccasins were not designed to be waterproof, and in wet weather and warm summer months, most Native Americans went barefoot. The leaves of the sisal plant were used to make twine for sandals in South America while the natives of Mexico used the Yucca plant.


title: Shoe

text: As civilizations began to develop, thong sandals (precursors to the modern flip-flop) were worn. This practice dates back to pictures of them in ancient Egyptian murals from 4000 BC. “Thebet” may have been the term used to describe these sandals in Egyptian times, possibly from the city Thebes. The Middle Kingdom is when the first of these thebets were found, but it is possible that it debuted in the Early Dynastic Period. One pair found in Europe was made of papyrus leaves and dated to be approximately 1,500 years old. They were also worn in Jerusalem during the first century of the Christian era. Thong sandals were worn by many civilizations and made from a wide variety of materials. Ancient Egyptian sandals were made from papyrus and palm leaves. The Masai of Africa made them out of rawhide. In India they were made from wood.


title: Shoe

text: While thong sandals were commonly worn, many people in ancient times, such as the Egyptians, Hindus and Greeks, saw little need for footwear, and most of the time, preferred being barefoot. The Egyptians and Hindus made some use of ornamental footwear, such as a soleless sandal known as a "Cleopatra", which did not provide any practical protection for the foot.


title: Shoe

text: The ancient Greeks largely viewed footwear as self-indulgent, unaesthetic and unnecessary. Shoes were primarily worn in the theater, as a means of increasing stature, and many preferred to go barefoot. Athletes in the Ancient Olympic Games participated barefoot—and naked. Even the gods and heroes were primarily depicted barefoot, as well as the hoplite warriors. They fought battles in bare feet and Alexander the Great conquered his vast empire with barefoot armies. The runners of Ancient Greece had also been believed to have run barefoot.


title: Shoe

text: The Romans, who eventually conquered the Greeks and adopted many aspects of their culture, did not adopt the Greek perception of footwear and clothing. Roman clothing was seen as a sign of power, and footwear was seen as a necessity of living in a civilized world, although the slaves and paupers usually went barefoot. Roman soldiers were issued with chiral (left and right shoe different) footwear. Shoes for soldiers had riveted insoles to extend the life of the leather, increase comfortability, and provide better traction. The design of these shoes also designated the rank of the officers. The more intricate the insignia and the higher up the boot went on the leg, the higher the rank of the soldier. There are references to shoes being worn in the Bible. In China and Japan, rice straws were used.


title: Shoe

text: Starting around 4 BC, the Greeks began wearing symbolic footwear. These were heavily decorated to clearly indicate the status of the wearer. Courtesans wore leather shoes colored with white, green, lemon or yellow dyes, and young woman betrothed or newly married wore pure white shoes. Because of the cost to lighten leather, shoes of a paler shade were a symbol of wealth in the upper class. Often, the soles would be carved with a message so it would imprint on the ground. Cobblers became a notable profession around this time, with Greek shoemakers becoming famed in the Roman empire.


title: Shoe

text: A common casual shoe in the Pyrenees during the Middle Ages was the espadrille. This is a sandal with braided jute soles and a fabric upper portion, and often includes fabric laces that tie around the ankle. The term is French and comes from the esparto grass. The shoe originated in the Catalonian region of Spain as early as the 13th century, and was commonly worn by peasants in the farming communities in the area.


title: Shoe

text: New styles began to develop during the Song Dynasty in China, one of them being the debut of foot straps. It was first used by the noble Han classes, but soon developed throughout society. Women would use these shoes to develop their “lotus feet”, which would entice the males. The practice allegedly started during the Shang Dynasty, but it grew popular by c. AD 960.


title: Shoe

text: When the Mongols conquered China, they dissolved the practice in 1279, and the Manchus banned foot binding in 1644. The Han people, however, continued to use the style without much government intervention.


title: Shoe

text: In medieval times shoes could be up to two feet long, with their toes sometimes filled with hair, wool, moss, or grass. Many medieval shoes were made using the turnshoe method of construction, in which the upper was turned flesh side out, and was lasted onto the sole and joined to the edge by a seam. The shoe was then turned inside-out so that the grain was outside. Some shoes were developed with toggled flaps or drawstrings to tighten the leather around the foot for a better fit. Surviving medieval turnshoes often fit the foot closely, with the right and left shoe being mirror images. Around 1500, the turnshoe method was largely replaced by the welted rand method (where the uppers are sewn to a much stiffer sole and the shoe cannot be turned inside-out). The turn shoe method is still used for some dance and specialty shoes.


title: Shoe

text: By the 15th century, pattens became popular by both men and women in Europe. These are commonly seen as the predecessor of the modern high-heeled shoe, while the poor and lower classes in Europe, as well as slaves in the New World, were barefoot. In the 15th century, the Crakow was fashionable in Europe. This style of shoe is named because it is thought to have originated in Kraków, the capital of Poland. The style is characterized by the point of the shoe, known as the "polaine", which often was supported by a whalebone tied to the knee to prevent the point getting in the way while walking. Also during the 15th century, chopines were created in Turkey, and were usually high. These shoes became popular in Venice and throughout Europe, as a status symbol revealing wealth and social standing. During the 16th century, royalty, such as Catherine de Medici or Mary I of England, started wearing high-heeled shoes to make them look taller or larger than life. By 1580, even men wore them, and a person with authority or wealth was often referred to as, "well-heeled". In 17th century France, heels were exclusively worn by aristocrats. Louis XIV of France outlawed anybody from wearing red high heels except for himself and his royal court.


title: Shoe

text: Eventually the modern shoe, with a sewn-on sole, was devised. Since the 17th century, most leather shoes have used a sewn-on sole. This remains the standard for finer-quality dress shoes today. Until around 1800, welted rand shoes were commonly made without differentiation for the left or right foot. Such shoes are now referred to as "straights". Only gradually did the modern foot-specific shoe become standard.


title: Shoe

text: Shoemaking became more commercialized in the mid-18th century, as it expanded as a cottage industry. Large warehouses began to stock footwear, made by many small manufacturers from the area.


title: Shoe

text: Until the 19th century, shoemaking was a traditional handicraft, but by the century's end, the process had been almost completely mechanized, with production occurring in large factories. Despite the obvious economic gains of mass production, the factory system produced shoes without the individual differentiation that the traditional shoemaker was able to provide.


title: Shoe

text: The 19th century was when Chinese feminists called for an end to the use of foot straps and a ban in 1902 was created. The ban was soon repealed until it was banned again in 1911 by the new Nationalist government. It was effective in coastal cities, but countryside cities continued without much regulation. Mao Zedong enforced the rule in 1949 and it continues throughout contemporary times. A number of people still have lotus feet today.


title: Shoe

text: The first steps towards mechanisation were taken during the Napoleonic Wars by the engineer, Marc Brunel. He developed machinery for the mass production of boots for the soldiers of the British Army. In 1812, he devised a scheme for making nailed-boot-making machinery that automatically fastened soles to uppers by means of metallic pins or nails. With the support of the Duke of York, the shoes were manufactured, and, due to their strength, cheapness, and durability, were introduced for the use of the army. In the same year, the use of screws and staples was patented by Richard Woodman. Brunel's system was described by Sir Richard Phillips as a visitor to his factory in Battersea as follows:


title: Shoe

text: In another building I was shown his manufactory of shoes, which, like the other, is full of ingenuity, and, in regard to subdivision of labour, brings this fabric on a level with the oft-admired manufactory of pins. Every step in it is affected by the most elegant and precise machinery; while, as each operation is performed by one hand, so each shoe passes through twenty-five hands, who complete from the hide, as supplied by the currier, a hundred pairs of strong and well-finished shoes per day. All the details are performed by the ingenious application of the mechanic powers; and all the parts are characterised by precision, uniformity, and accuracy. As each man performs but one step in the process, which implies no knowledge of what is done by those who go before or follow him, so the persons employed are not shoemakers, but wounded soldiers, who are able to learn their respective duties in a few hours. The contract at which these shoes are delivered to Government is 6s. 6d. per pair, being at least 2s. less than what was paid previously for an unequal and cobbled article.


title: Shoe

text: However, when the war ended in 1815, manual labour became much cheaper, and the demand for military equipment subsided. As a consequence, Brunel's system was no longer profitable and it soon ceased business.


title: Shoe

text: Similar exigencies at the time of the Crimean War stimulated a renewed interest in methods of mechanization and mass-production, which proved longer lasting. A shoemaker in Leicester, Tomas Crick, patented the design for a riveting machine in 1853. His machine used an iron plate to push iron rivets into the sole. The process greatly increased the speed and efficiency of production. He also introduced the use of steam-powered rolling-machines for hardening leather and cutting-machines, in the mid-1850s.


title: Shoe

text: The sewing machine was introduced in 1846, and provided an alternative method for the mechanization of shoemaking. By the late 1850s, the industry was beginning to shift towards the modern factory, mainly in the US and areas of England. A shoe-stitching machine was invented by the American Lyman Blake in 1856 and perfected by 1864. Entering into a partnership with McKay, his device became known as the McKay stitching machine and was quickly adopted by manufacturers throughout New England. As bottlenecks opened up in the production line due to these innovations, more and more of the manufacturing stages, such as pegging and finishing, became automated. By the 1890s, the process of mechanisation was largely complete.


title: Shoe

text: On January 24, 1899, Humphrey O'Sullivan of Lowell, Massachusetts, was awarded a patent for a rubber heel for boots and shoes.


title: Shoe

text: A process for manufacturing stitchless, that is, glued, shoes—AGO—was developed in 1910. Since the mid-20th century, advances in rubber, plastics, synthetic cloth, and industrial adhesives have allowed manufacturers to create shoes that stray considerably from traditional crafting techniques. Leather, which had been the primary material in earlier styles, has remained standard in expensive dress shoes, but athletic shoes often have little or no real leather. Soles, which were once laboriously hand-stitched on, are now more often machine stitched or simply glued on. Many of these newer materials, such as rubber and plastics, have made shoes less biodegradable. It is estimated that most mass-produced shoes require 1000 years to degrade in a landfill. In the late 2000s, some shoemakers picked up on the issue and began to produce shoes made entirely from degradable materials, such as the Nike Considered.


title: Shoe

text: In 2007, the global shoe industry had an overall market of $107.4 billion, in terms of revenue, and is expected to grow to $122.9 billion by the end of 2012. Shoe manufacturers in the People's Republic of China account for 63% of production, 40.5% of global exports and 55% of industry revenue. However, many manufacturers in Europe dominate the higher-priced, higher value-added end of the market.


title: Shoe

text: As an integral part of human culture and civilization, shoes have found their way into our culture, folklore, and art. A popular 18th-century nursery rhyme is "There was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe". This story tells about an old woman living in a shoe with a lot of children. In 1948, Mahlon Haines, a shoe salesman in Hallam, Pennsylvania, built an actual house shaped like a work boot as a form of advertisement. The Haines Shoe House was rented to newlyweds and the elderly until his death in 1962. Since then, it has served as an ice cream parlor, a bed and breakfast, and a museum. It still stands today and is a popular roadside attraction.


title: Shoe

text: Shoes also play an important role in the fairy tales "Cinderella" and "The Red Shoes". In the movie adaption of the children's book "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz", a pair of red ruby slippers play a key role in the plot. The 1985 comedy "The Man with One Red Shoe" features an eccentric man wearing one normal business shoe and one red shoe that becomes central to the plot.


title: Shoe

text: One poem, written by Phebus Etienne with the title “Shoes”, focuses on them. It describes religious messages and is 3 stanzas long. The first stanza is one line, whereas the second is 13 lines and the third being 14 lines. Throughout the poem the main character talks about their dead mother and their routine with her grave. Haitians are said to "not put shoes on the dead." as it makes spirits easier to “step over the offerings”.


title: Shoe

text: Athletic sneaker collection has also existed as a part of urban subculture in the United States for several decades. Recent decades have seen this trend spread to European nations such as the Czech Republic. A Sneakerhead is a person who owns multiple pairs of shoes as a form of collection and fashion. A contributor to the growth of sneaker collecting is the continued worldwide popularity of the Air Jordan line of sneakers designed by Nike for Basketball star Michael Jordan.


title: Shoe

text: In the Bible's Old Testament, the shoe is used to symbolize something that is worthless or of little value. In the New Testament, the act of removing one's shoes symbolizes servitude. Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples regarded the act of removing their shoes as a mark of reverence when approaching a sacred person or place. In the Book of Exodus, Moses was instructed to remove his shoes before approaching the burning bush:


title: Shoe

text: The removal of the shoe also symbolizes the act of giving up a legal right. In Hebrew custom, if a man chose not to marry his childless brother's widow, the widow removed her brother-in-law's shoe to symbolize that he had abandoned his duty. In Arab custom, the removal of one's shoe also symbolized the dissolution of marriage.


title: Shoe

text: In Arab culture, showing the sole of one's shoe is considered an insult, and to throw a shoe and hit someone with it is considered an even greater insult. Shoes are considered to be dirty as they frequently touch the ground, and are associated with the lowest part of the body—the foot. As such, shoes are forbidden in mosques, and it is also considered unmannerly to cross the legs and display the soles of one's shoes during conversation. This insult was demonstrated in Iraq, first when Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled in 2003, Iraqis gathered around it and struck the statue with their shoes. In 2008, United States President George W. Bush had a shoe thrown at him by a journalist as a statement against the war in Iraq. More generally, shoe-throwing or shoeing, showing the sole of one's shoe or using shoes to insult are forms of protest in many parts of the world. Incidents where shoes were thrown at political figures have taken place in Australia, India, Ireland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and most notably the Arab world.


title: Shoe

text: Empty shoes may also symbolize death. In Greek culture, empty shoes are the equivalent of the American funeral wreath. For example, empty shoes placed outside of a Greek home would tell others that the family's son has died in battle. At an observation memorializing the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, 3,000 pairs of empty shoes were used to recognize those killed. The Shoes on the Danube Bank is a memorial in Budapest, Hungary. Conceived by film director Can Togay, he created it on the east bank of the Danube River with sculptor Gyula Pauer to honor the Jews who were killed by fascist Arrow Cross militiamen in Budapest during World War II. They were ordered to take off their shoes and were shot at the edge of the water so that their bodies fell into the river and were carried away. The memorial represents their shoes left behind on the bank.


title: Shoe

text: All shoes have a , which is the bottom of a shoe, in contact with the ground. Soles can be made from a variety of materials, although most modern shoes have soles made from natural rubber, polyurethane, or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) compounds. Soles can be simple—a single material in a single layer—or they can be complex, with multiple structures or layers and materials. When various layers are used, soles may consist of an insole, midsole, and an outsole.


title: Shoe

text: The is the interior bottom of a shoe, which sits directly beneath the foot under the footbed (also known as sock liner). The purpose of the insole is to attach to the lasting margin of the upper, which is wrapped around the last during the closing of the shoe during the lasting operation. Insoles are usually made of cellulosic paper board or synthetic non woven insole board. Many shoes have removable and replaceable footbeds. Extra cushioning is often added for comfort (to control the shape, moisture, or smell of the shoe) or health reasons (to help deal with differences in the natural shape of the foot or positioning of the foot during standing or walking).


title: Shoe

text: The is the layer in direct contact with the ground. Dress shoes often have leather or resin rubber outsoles; casual or work-oriented shoes have outsoles made of natural rubber or a synthetic material like polyurethane. The outsole may comprise a single piece or may be an assembly of separate pieces, often of different materials. On some shoes, the heel of the sole has a rubber plate for durability and traction, while the front is leather for style. Specialized shoes will often have modifications on this design: athletic or so-called cleated shoes like soccer, rugby, baseball and golf shoes have spikes embedded in the outsole to improve traction.


title: Shoe

text: The is the layer in between the outsole and the insole, typically there for shock absorption. Some types of shoes, like running shoes, have additional material for shock absorption, usually beneath the heel of the foot, where one puts the most pressure down. Some shoes may not have a midsole at all.


title: Shoe

text: The heel is the bottom rear part of a shoe. Its function is to support the heel of the foot. They are often made of the same material as the sole of the shoe. This part can be high for fashion or to make the person look taller, or flat for more practical and comfortable use. On some shoes the inner forward point of the heel is chiselled off, a feature known as a "gentleman's corner". This piece of design is intended to alleviate the problem of the points catching the bottom of trousers and was first observed in the 1930s. A heel is the projection at the back of a shoe which rests below the heel bone. The shoe heel is used to improve the balance of the shoe, increase the height of the wearer, alter posture or other decorative purposes. Sometimes raised, the high heel is common to a form of shoe often worn by women, but sometimes by men too. See also stiletto heel.


title: Shoe

text: The helps hold the shoe onto the foot. In the simplest cases, such as sandals or flip-flops, this may be nothing more than a few straps for holding the sole in place. Closed footwear, such as boots, trainers and most men's shoes, will have a more complex upper. This part is often decorated or is made in a certain style to look attractive. The upper is connected to the sole by a strip of leather, rubber, or plastic that is stitched between it and the sole, known as a welt.


title: Shoe

text: Most uppers have a mechanism, such as laces, straps with buckles, zippers, elastic, velcro straps, buttons, or snaps, for tightening the upper on the foot. Uppers with laces usually have a tongue that helps seal the laced opening and protect the foot from abrasion by the laces. Uppers with laces also have eyelets or hooks to make it easier to tighten and loosen the laces and to prevent the lace from tearing through the upper material. An aglet is the protective wrapping on the end of the lace.


title: Shoe

text: The is the front part of the shoe, starting behind the toe, extending around the eyelets and tongue and towards back part of the shoe.


title: Shoe

text: The is the part of the shoe closest to a person's center of symmetry, and the lateral is on the opposite side, away from their center of symmetry. This can be in reference to either the outsole or the vamp. Most shoes have shoelaces on the upper, connecting the medial and lateral parts after one puts their shoes on and aiding in keeping their shoes on their feet. In 1968, Puma SE introduced the first pair of sneakers with Velcro straps in lieu of shoelaces, and these became popular by the 1980s, especially among children and the elderly.


title: Shoe

text: The is the part that covers and protects the toes. People with toe deformities, or individuals who experience toe swelling (such as long-distance runners) usually require a larger toe box.


title: Shoe

text: There are a wide variety of different types of shoes. Most types of shoes are designed for specific activities. For example, boots are typically designed for work or heavy outdoor use. Athletic shoes are designed for particular sports such as running, walking, or other sports. Some shoes are designed to be worn at more formal occasions, and others are designed for casual wear. There are also a wide variety of shoes designed for different types of dancing. Orthopedic shoes are special types of footwear designed for individuals with particular foot problems or special needs. Clinicians evaluate patient’s footwear as a part of their clinical examination. However, it is often based on each individual’s needs, with attention to the choice of footwear worn and if the shoe is adequate for the purpose of completing their activities of daily living. Other animals, such as dogs and horses, may also wear special shoes to protect their feet as well.


title: Shoe

text: Depending on the activity for which they are designed, some types of footwear may fit into multiple categories. For example, Cowboy boots are considered boots, but may also be worn in more formal occasions and used as dress shoes. Hiking boots incorporate many of the protective features of boots, but also provide the extra flexibility and comfort of many athletic shoes. Flip-flops are considered casual footwear, but have also been worn in formal occasions, such as visits to the White House.


title: Shoe

text: Athletic shoes are specifically designed to be worn for participating in various sports. Since friction between the foot and the ground is an important force in most sports, modern athletic shoes are designed to maximize this force, and materials, such as rubber, are used. Participants in sports in which sliding is desirable, such as dancing or bowling, wear shoes with lower coefficients of friction. The earliest athletic shoes, dating to the mid-19th century, were track spikes—leather shoes with metal cleats on the soles to provide increased friction during running. They were developed by J.W. Foster & Sons, which later become known as Reebok. By the end of the 19th century, Spalding also manufactured these shoes as well. Adidas started selling shoes with track spikes in them for running and soccer in 1925. Spikes were eventually added to shoes for baseball and American football in the 20th century. Golfers also use shoes with small metal spikes on their soles to prevent slipping during their swing.


title: Shoe

text: The earliest rubber-soled athletic shoes date back to 1876 in the United Kingdom, when the New Liverpool Rubber Company made plimsolls, or sandshoes, designed for the sport of croquet. Similar rubber-soled shoes were made in 1892 in the United States by Humphrey O'Sullivan, based on Charles Goodyear's technology. The United States Rubber Company was founded the same year and produced rubber-soled and heeled shoes under a variety of brand names, which were later consolidated in 1916 under the name, Keds. These shoes became known as, "sneakers", because the rubber sole allowed the wearer to sneak up on another person. In 1964, the founding of Nike by Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman of the University of Oregon introduced many new improvements common in modern running shoes, such as rubber waffle soles, breathable nylon uppers, and cushioning in the mid-sole and heel. During the 1970s, the expertise of podiatrists also became important in athletic shoe design, to implement new design features based on how feet reacted to specific actions, such as running, jumping, or side-to-side movement. Athletic shoes for women were also designed for their specific physiological differences.


title: Shoe

text: Shoes specific to the sport of basketball were developed by Chuck Taylor, and are popularly known as Chuck Taylor All-Stars. These shoes, first sold in 1917, are double-layer canvas shoes with rubber soles and toe caps, and a high heel (known as a "high top") for added support. In 1969, Taylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in recognition of this development, and in the 1970s, other shoe manufacturers, such as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and others began imitating this style of athletic shoe. In April 1985, Nike introduced its own brand of basketball shoe which would become popular in its own right, the Air Jordan, named after the then-rookie Chicago Bulls basketball player, Michael Jordan. The Air Jordan line of shoes sold $100 million in their first year.


title: Shoe

text: As barefoot running became popular by the late 20th and early 21st century, many modern shoe manufacturers have recently designed footwear that mimic this experience, maintaining optimum flexibility and natural walking while also providing some degree of protection. Termed as Minimalist shoes, their purpose is to allow one's feet and legs to feel more subtly the impacts and forces involved in running, allowing finer adjustments in running style. Some of these shoes include the Vibram FiveFingers, Nike Free, and Saucony's Kinvara and Hattori. Mexican huaraches are also very simple running shoes, similar to the shoes worn by the Tarahumara people of northern Mexico, who are known for their distance running abilities. Wrestling shoes are also very light and flexible shoes that are designed to mimic bare feet while providing additional traction and protection.


title: Shoe

text: Many athletic shoes are designed with specific features for specific activities. One of these includes roller skates, which have metal or plastic wheels on the bottom specific for the sport of roller skating. Similarly, ice skates have a metal blade attached to the bottom for locomotion across ice. Skate shoes have also been designed to provide a comfortable, flexible and durable shoe for the sport of skateboarding. Climbing shoes are rubber-soled, tight-fitting shoes designed to fit in the small cracks and crevices for rock climbing. Cycling shoes are similarly designed with rubber soles and a tight fit, but also are equipped with a metal or plastic cleat to interface with clipless pedals, as well as a stiff sole to maximize power transfer and support the foot. Some shoes are made specifically to improve a person's ability to weight train. Sneakers that are a mix between an activity-centered and a more standard design have also been produced: examples include roller shoes, which feature wheels that can be used to roll on hard ground, and Soap shoes, which feature a hard plastic sole that can be used for grinding.


title: Shoe

text: A boot is a special type of shoe which covers the foot and the ankle and extends up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is clearly distinguishable from the rest of the sole, even if the two are made of one piece. They are typically made of leather or rubber, although they may be made from a variety of different materials. Boots are worn both for their functionality—protecting the foot and leg from water, snow, mud or hazards or providing additional ankle support for strenuous activities—as well as for reasons of style and fashion.


title: Shoe

text: Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boots that combine function with fashion. They became popular among cowboys in the western United States during the 19th century. Traditional cowboy boots have a Cuban heel, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no lacing. They are normally made from cowhide leather but may be made from more exotic skins such as ostrich, anaconda, or elephant skins.


title: Shoe

text: Hiking boots are designed to provide extra ankle and arch support, as well as extra padding for comfort during hiking. They are constructed to provide comfort for miles of walking over rough terrains, and protect the hiker's feet against water, mud, rocks, and other wilderness obstacles. These boots support the ankle to avoid twisting but do not restrict the ankle's movement too much. They are fairly stiff to support the foot. A properly fitted boot and/or friction-reducing patches applied to troublesome areas ensures protection against blisters and other discomforts associated with long hikes on rugged terrain.


title: Shoe

text: During wet or snowy weather, snow boots are worn to keep the foot warm and dry. They are typically made of rubber or other water-resistant material, have multiple layers of insulation, and a high heel to keep snow out. Boots may also be attached to snowshoes to increase the distribution of weight over a larger surface area for walking in snow. Ski boots are a specialized snow boot which are used in alpine or cross-country skiing and designed to provide a way to attach the skier to his/her skis using ski bindings. The ski/boot/binding combination is used to effectively transmit control inputs from the skier's legs to the snow. Ice skates are another specialized boot with a metal blade attached to the bottom which is used to propel the wearer across a sheet of ice. Inline skates are similar to ice skates but with a set of three to four wheels in lieu of the blade, which are designed to mimic ice skating on solid surfaces such as wood or concrete.


title: Shoe

text: Boots are designed to withstand heavy wear to protect the wearer and provide good traction. They are generally made from sturdy leather uppers and non-leather outsoles. They may be used for uniforms of the police or military, as well as for protection in industrial settings such as mining and construction. Protective features may include steel-tipped toes and soles or ankle guards.


title: Shoe

text: Dress shoes are characterized by smooth and supple leather uppers, leather soles, and narrow sleek figure. Casual shoes are characterized by sturdy leather uppers, non-leather outsoles, and wide profile.


title: Shoe

text: Some designs of dress shoes can be worn by either gender. The majority of dress shoes have an upper covering, commonly made of leather, enclosing most of the lower foot, but not covering the ankles. This upper part of the shoe is often made without apertures or openings, but may also be made with openings or even itself consist of a series of straps, e.g. an open toe featured in women's shoes. Shoes with uppers made high to cover the ankles are also available; a shoe with the upper rising above the ankle is usually considered a boot but certain styles may be referred to as high-topped shoes or high-tops. Usually, a high-topped shoe is secured by laces or zippers, although some styles have elastic inserts to ease slipping the shoe on.


title: Shoe

text: Formal high-end men's shoes are manufactured by several companies around the world, amongst others in Great Britain, France, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Italy, and to a lesser extent in the United States. Notable British brands include: Church's English Shoes (est. 1873), John Lobb Bootmaker (est. 1849), Edward Green Shoes (est. 1890), and Crockett & Jones (est. 1879). Both John Lobb and Edward Green offer bespoke products. In between the world wars, men's footwear received significant innovation and design, led by cobblers and cordwainers in London's West End. A well-known French maker is J.M. Weston. Armani of Italy was a major influence on men's shoe design in the 1960s–1980s until they returned to the larger proportions of its forebears, the welt-constructed Anglo-American dress shoe originally created in Edwardian England. Another well-known Italian company is Salvatore Ferragamo Italia S.p.A. Higher end companies in the United States are Allen Edmonds and Alden Shoe Company. Alden, located in New England, specializes in genuine shell cordovan leather from the only remaining horse tannery in the US, in Chicago and is completely manufactured domestically, whereas Allen Edmonds of Wisconsin is a larger company that outsources some of its production.


title: Shoe

text: There is a large variety of shoes available for women, in addition to most of the men's styles being more accepted as unisex. Some broad categories are:


title: Shoe

text: A wide variety of footwear is used by dancers. The choice of dance shoe type depends on the style of dance that is to be performed and, in many cases, the characteristics of the surface that will be danced on.


title: Shoe

text: Orthopedic shoes are specially-designed footwear to relieve discomfort associated with many foot and ankle disorders, such as blisters, bunions, calluses and corns, hammer toes, plantar fasciitis, or heel spurs. Certain types of therapeutic footwear are prescribed for children with mobility issues. They may also be worn by individuals with diabetes or people with unequal leg length. These shoes typically have a low heel, tend to be wide with a particularly wide toe box, and have a firm heel to provide extra support. Some may also have a removable insole, or orthotic, to provide extra arch support.


title: Shoe

text: The measure of a foot for a shoe is from the heel to the longest toe. Shoe size is an alphanumerical indication of the fitting size of a shoe for a person. Often it just consists of a number indicating the length because many shoemakers only provide a standard width for economic reasons. Worldwide, several different shoe-size systems are used, differing in their units of measurement and in the position of sizes 0 and 1. Only a few systems also take the width of the feet into account. Some regions use different shoe-size systems for different types of shoes (e.g., men's, women's, children's, sport, or safety shoes).


title: Shoe

text: Units for shoe sizes vary widely around the world. European sizes are measured in "Paris Points", each measuring two-thirds of a centimeter. The UK and American units result in whole-number sizes spaced at one barleycorn ( inch), with UK adult sizes starting at size 1 = . In the US, this is size 2. Men's and women's shoe sizes often have different scales. Shoe size is often measured using a Brannock Device, which can determine both the width and length size values of the foot. A metric standard for shoe sizing, the Mondopoint system, was introduced in the 1970s by International Standard ISO 2816:1973 "Fundamental characteristics of a system of shoe sizing to be known as Mondopoint" and ISO 3355:1975 "Shoe sizes – System of length grading (for use in the Mondopoint system)". the current version of the standard is ISO 9407:2019, "Shoe sizes—Mondopoint system of sizing and marking". The Mondopoint system includes measurements of both length and width of the foot.


title: Shoe

text: In many places in the world shoes are removed when moving from exteriors to interiors, particularly in homes and religious buildings. In many Asian countries, outdoor shoes are exchanged for indoor shoes or slippers. Some fitness centres require that shoes be exchanged for indoor shoes to prevent dirt and grime from being transferred to the equipment.


title: Rationalism

text: In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification". More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive".