title: History of the bicycle

text: On his first reported ride from Mannheim on June 12, 1817, he covered 13 km (eight miles) in less than an hour. Constructed almost entirely of wood, the draisine weighed 22 kg (48 pounds), had brass bushings within the wheel bearings, iron shod wheels, a rear-wheel brake and 152 mm (6 inches) of trail of the front-wheel for a self-centering caster effect. This design was welcomed by mechanically minded men daring to balance, and several thousand copies were built and used, primarily in Western Europe and in North America. Its popularity rapidly faded when, partly due to increasing numbers of accidents, some city authorities began to prohibit its use. However, in 1866 Paris a Chinese visitor named Bin Chun could still observe foot-pushed velocipedes. The Draisine is regarded as the first bicycle and Karl von Drais is seen as the "father of the bicycle".


title: History of the bicycle

text: The concept was picked up by a number of British cartwrights; the most notable was Denis Johnson of London announcing in late 1818 that he would sell an improved model. New names were introduced when Johnson patented his machine “pedestrian curricle” or “velocipede,” but the public preferred nicknames like “hobby-horse,” after the children's toy or, worse still, “dandyhorse,” after the foppish men who often rode them. Johnson's machine was an improvement on Drais's, being notably more elegant: his wooden frame had a serpentine shape instead of Drais's straight one, allowing the use of larger wheels without raising the rider's seat, but was still the same design.


title: History of the bicycle

text: During the summer of 1819, the "hobby-horse", thanks in part to Johnson's marketing skills and better patent protection, became the craze and fashion in London society. The dandies, the Corinthians of the Regency, adopted it, and therefore the poet John Keats referred to it as "the nothing" of the day. Riders wore out their boots surprisingly rapidly, and the fashion ended within the year, after riders on pavements (sidewalks) were fined two pounds.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The intervening decades of the 1820s–1850s witnessed many developments concerning human-powered vehicles often using technologies similar to the draisine, even if the idea of a workable two-wheel design, requiring the rider to balance, had been dismissed. These new machines had three wheels (tricycles) or four (quadracycles) and came in a very wide variety of designs, using pedals, treadles, and hand-cranks, but these designs often suffered from high weight and high rolling resistance. However, Willard Sawyer in Dover successfully manufactured a range of treadle-operated 4-wheel vehicles and exported them worldwide in the 1850s.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The first mechanically propelled two-wheel vehicle is believed by some to have been built by Kirkpatrick Macmillan, a Scottish blacksmith, in 1839. A nephew later claimed that his uncle developed a rear-wheel-drive design using mid-mounted treadles connected by rods to a rear crank, similar to the transmission of a steam locomotive. Proponents associate him with the first recorded instance of a bicycling traffic offense, when a Glasgow newspaper reported in 1842 an accident in which an anonymous "gentleman from Dumfries-shire... bestride a velocipede... of ingenious design" knocked over a pedestrian in the Gorbals and was fined five shillings. However, the evidence connecting this with Macmillan is weak, since it is unlikely that the artisan Macmillan would have been termed a gentleman, nor is the report clear on how many wheels the vehicle had. The evidence is unclear and may have been faked by his son.


title: History of the bicycle

text: A similar machine was said to have been produced by Gavin Dalzell of Lesmahagow, circa 1845. There is no record of Dalzell ever having laid claim to inventing the machine. It is believed that he copied the idea having recognized the potential to help him with his local drapery business and there is some evidence that he used the contraption to take his wares into the rural community around his home. A replica still exists today in the Glasgow Museum of Transport. The exhibit holds the honor of being the oldest bike in existence today. The first documented producer of rod-driven two-wheelers, treadle bicycles, was Thomas McCall, of Kilmarnock in 1869. The design was inspired by the French front-crank velocipede of the Lallement/Michaux type.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Philipp Moritz Fischer, who used the draisine to get to school from the age of 9, invented the pedal crank in 1853. After years of living all over Europe, he left London to go back to his native town of Schweinfurt, Bavaria, when his first son died at a young age. He built the very first bicycle with pedals in 1853; however, he did not make the invention public. The Tretkurbelfahrrad from 1853 is still sustained and is on public display in the municipality museum in Schweinfurt.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The first widespread and commercially successful design was French. An example is at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, in Ottawa, Ontario. Initially developed around 1863, it sparked a fashionable craze briefly during 1868–70. Its design was simpler than the Macmillan bicycle; it used rotary cranks and pedals mounted to the front wheel hub. Pedaling made it easier for riders to propel the machine at speed, but the rotational speed limitation of this design created stability and comfort concerns which would lead to the large front wheel of the "penny farthing". It was difficult to pedal the wheel that was used for steering. The use of metal frames reduced the weight and provided sleeker, more elegant designs, and also allowed mass-production. Different braking mechanisms were used depending on the manufacturer. In England, the velocipede earned the name of "bone-shaker" because of its rigid frame and iron-banded wheels that resulted in a "bone-shaking experience for riders".


title: History of the bicycle

text: The velocipede's renaissance began in Paris during the late 1860s. Its early history is complex and has been shrouded in some mystery, not least because of conflicting patent claims: all that has been stated for sure is that a French metalworker attached pedals to the front wheel; at present, the earliest year bicycle historians agree on is 1864. The identity of the person who attached cranks is still an open question at International Cycling History Conferences (ICHC). The claims of Ernest Michaux and of Pierre Lallement, and the lesser claims of rear-pedaling Alexandre Lefebvre, have their supporters within the ICHC community.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Bicycle historian David V. Herlihy documents that Lallement claimed to have created the pedal bicycle in Paris in 1863. He had seen someone riding a draisine in 1862 then originally came up with the idea to add pedals to it. It is a fact that he filed the earliest and only patent for a pedal-driven bicycle, in the US in 1866. Lallement's patent drawing shows a machine which looks exactly like Johnson's draisine, but with the pedals and rotary cranks attached to the front wheel hub, and a thin piece of iron over the top of the frame to act as a spring supporting the seat, for a slightly more comfortable ride.


title: History of the bicycle

text: By the early 1860s, the blacksmith Pierre Michaux, besides producing parts for the carriage trade, was producing ""vélocipède à pédales"" on a small scale. The wealthy Olivier brothers Aimé and René were students in Paris at this time, and these shrewd young entrepreneurs adopted the new machine. In 1865 they travelled from Paris to Avignon on a velocipede in only eight days. They recognized the potential profitability of producing and selling the new machine. Together with their friend Georges de la Bouglise, they formed a partnership with Pierre Michaux, Michaux et Cie ("Michaux and company"), in 1868, avoiding use of the Olivier family name and staying behind the scenes, lest the venture prove to be a failure. This was the first company which mass-produced bicycles, replacing the early wooden frame with one made of two pieces of cast iron bolted together—otherwise, the early Michaux machines look exactly like Lallement's patent drawing. Together with a mechanic named Gabert in his hometown of Lyon, Aimé Olivier created a diagonal single-piece frame made of wrought iron which was much stronger, and as the first bicycle craze took hold, many other blacksmiths began forming companies to make bicycles using the new design. Velocipedes were expensive, and when customers soon began to complain about the Michaux serpentine cast-iron frames breaking, the Oliviers realized by 1868 that they needed to replace that design with the diagonal one which their competitors were already using, and the Michaux company continued to dominate the industry in its first years.


title: History of the bicycle

text: On the new macadam paved boulevards of Paris it was easy riding, although initially still using what was essentially horse coach technology. It was still called "velocipede" in France, but in the United States, the machine was commonly called the "bone-shaker". Later improvements included solid rubber tires and ball bearings. Lallement had left Paris in July 1865, crossed the Atlantic, settled in Connecticut and patented the velocipede, and the number of associated inventions and patents soared in the US. The popularity of the machine grew on both sides of the Atlantic and by 1868–69 the velocipede craze was strong in rural areas as well. Even in a relatively small city such as Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, there were five velocipede rinks, and riding schools began opening in many major urban centers. Essentially, the velocipede was a stepping stone that created a market for bicycles that led to the development of more advanced and efficient machines.


title: History of the bicycle

text: However, the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 destroyed the velocipede market in France, and the "bone-shaker" enjoyed only a brief period of popularity in the United States, which ended by 1870. There is debate among bicycle historians about why it failed in the United States, but one explanation is that American road surfaces were much worse than European ones, and riding the machine on these roads was simply too difficult. Certainly another factor was that Calvin Witty had purchased Lallement's patent, and his royalty demands soon crippled the industry. The UK was the only place where the bicycle never fell completely out of favour.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In 1869, William Van Anden of Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, invented the freewheel for the bicycle. His design placed a ratchet device in the hub of the front wheel (the driven wheel on the 'velocipede' designs of the time), which allowed the rider to propel himself forward without pedaling constantly. Initially, bicycle enthusiasts rejected the idea of a freewheel because they believed it would complicate the mechanical functions of the bicycle. Bicycle enthusiasts believed that the bicycle was supposed to remain as simple as possible without any additional mechanisms, such as the freewheel.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The high-bicycle was the logical extension of the boneshaker, the front wheel enlarging to enable higher speeds (limited by the inside leg measurement of the rider), the rear wheel shrinking and the frame being made lighter. Frenchman Eugène Meyer is now regarded as the father of the high bicycle by the ICHC in place of James Starley. Meyer invented the wire-spoke tension wheel in 1869 and produced a classic high bicycle design until the 1880s.


title: History of the bicycle

text: James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle named "Ariel". He is regarded as the father of the British cycling industry. Ball bearings, solid rubber tires and hollow-section steel frames became standard, reducing weight and making the ride much smoother. Depending on the rider's leg length, the front wheel could now have a diameter up to 60 in (1.5 m).


title: History of the bicycle

text: Much later, when this type of bicycle was beginning to be replaced by a later design, it came to be referred to as the "ordinary bicycle". (While it was in common use no such distinguishing adjective was used, since there was then no other kind.) and was later nicknamed "penny-farthing" in England (a penny representing the front wheel, and a coin smaller in size and value, the farthing, representing the rear). They were fast, but unsafe. The rider was high up in the air and traveling at a great speed. If he hit a bad spot in the road he could easily be thrown over the front wheel and be seriously injured (two broken wrists were common, in attempts to break a fall) or even killed. "Taking a header" (also known as "coming a cropper"), was not at all uncommon.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The rider's legs were often caught underneath the handlebars, so falling free of the machine was often not possible. The dangerous nature of these bicycles (as well as Victorian mores) made cycling the preserve of adventurous young men. The risk averse, such as elderly gentlemen, preferred the more stable tricycles or quadracycles. In addition, women's fashion of the day made the "ordinary" bicycle inaccessible. Queen Victoria owned Starley's "Royal Salvo" tricycle, though there is no evidence she actually rode it.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Although French and English inventors modified the velocipede into the high-wheel bicycle, the French were still recovering from the Franco-Prussian war, so English entrepreneurs put the high-wheeler on the English market, and the machine became very popular there, Coventry, Oxford, Birmingham and Manchester being the centers of the English bicycle industry (and of the arms or sewing machine industries, which had the necessary metalworking and engineering skills for bicycle manufacturing, as in Paris and St. Etienne, and in New England). Soon bicycles found their way across the English Channel. By 1875, high-wheel bicycles were becoming popular in France, though ridership expanded slowly.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the United States, Bostonians such as Frank Weston started importing bicycles in 1877 and 1878, and Albert Augustus Pope started production of his "Columbia" high-wheelers in 1878, and gained control of nearly all applicable patents, starting with Lallement's 1866 patent. Pope lowered the royalty (licensing fee) previous patent owners charged, and took his competitors to court over the patents. The courts supported him, and competitors either paid royalties ($10 per bicycle), or he forced them out of business. There seems to have been no patent issue in France, where English bicycles still dominated the market. In 1880, G.W. Pressey invented the high-wheeler American Star Bicycle, whose smaller front wheel was designed to decrease the frequency of "headers". By 1884 high-wheelers and tricycles were relatively popular among a small group of upper-middle-class people in all three countries, the largest group being in England. Their use also spread to the rest of the world, chiefly because of the extent of the British Empire.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Pope also introduced mechanization and mass production (later copied and adopted by Ford and General Motors), vertically integrated, (also later copied and adopted by Ford), advertised aggressively (as much as ten percent of all advertising in U.S. periodicals in 1898 was by bicycle makers), promoted the Good Roads Movement (which had the side benefit of acting as advertising, and of improving sales by providing more places to ride), and litigated on behalf of cyclists (It would, however, be Western Wheel Works of Chicago which would drastically reduce production costs by introducing stamping to the production process in place of machining, significantly reducing costs, and thus prices.) In addition, bicycle makers adopted the annual model change (later derided as planned obsolescence, and usually credited to General Motors), which proved very successful.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Even so, bicycling remained the province of the urban well-to-do, and mainly men, until the 1890s, and was an example of conspicuous consumption.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The development of the safety bicycle was arguably the most important change in the history of the bicycle. It shifted their use and public perception from being a dangerous toy for sporting young men to being an everyday transport tool for men and women of all ages.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Aside from the obvious safety problems, the high-wheeler's direct front wheel drive limited its top speed. One attempt to solve both problems with a chain-driven front wheel was the dwarf bicycle, exemplified by the Kangaroo. Inventors also tried a rear wheel chain drive. Although Harry John Lawson invented a rear-chain-drive bicycle in 1879 with his "bicyclette", it still had a huge front wheel and a small rear wheel. Detractors called it "The Crocodile", and it failed in the market.


title: History of the bicycle

text: John Kemp Starley, James's nephew, produced the first successful "safety bicycle", the "Rover," in 1885, which he never patented. It featured a steerable front wheel that had significant caster, equally sized wheels and a chain drive to the rear wheel.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Widely imitated, the safety bicycle completely replaced the high-wheeler in North America and Western Europe by 1890. Meanwhile, John Dunlop's reinvention of the pneumatic bicycle tire in 1888 had made for a much smoother ride on paved streets; the previous type were quite smooth-riding, when used on the dirt roads common at the time. As with the original velocipede, safety bicycles had been much less comfortable than high-wheelers precisely because of the smaller wheel size, and frames were often buttressed with complicated bicycle suspension spring assemblies. The pneumatic tire made all of these obsolete, and frame designers found a diamond pattern to be the strongest and most efficient design.


title: History of the bicycle

text: On 10 October 1889, Isaac R Johnson, an African-American inventor, lodged his patent for a folding bicycle – the first with a recognisably modern diamond frame, the pattern still used in 21st-century bicycles.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The chain drive improved comfort and speed, as the drive was transferred to the non-steering rear wheel and allowed for smooth, relaxed and injury free pedaling (earlier designs that required pedalling the steering front wheel were difficult to pedal while turning, due to the misalignment of rotational planes of leg and pedal). With easier pedaling, the rider more easily turned corners.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The pneumatic tire and the diamond frame improved rider comfort but do not form a crucial design or safety feature. A hard rubber tire on a bicycle is just as rideable but is bone jarring. The frame design allows for a lighter weight, and more simple construction and maintenance, hence lower price.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The ladies' version of the roadster's design was very much in place by the 1890s. It had a step-through frame rather than the diamond frame of the gentlemen's model so that ladies, with their dresses and skirts, could easily mount and ride their bicycles, and commonly came with a skirt guard to prevent skirts and dresses becoming entangled in the rear wheel and spokes. As with the gents' roadster, the frame was of steel construction and the positioning of the frame and handlebars gave the rider a very upright riding position. Though they originally came with front spoon-brakes, technological advancements meant that later models were equipped with the much-improved coaster brakes or rod-actuated rim or drum-brakes.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The Dutch cycle industry grew rapidly from the 1890s onwards. Since by then it was the British who had the strongest and best-developed market in bike design, Dutch framemakers either copied them or imported them from England. In 1895, 85 percent of all bikes bought in the Netherlands were from Britain; the vestiges of that influence can still be seen in the solid, gentlemanly shape of a traditional Dutch bike even now.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Though the ladies' version of the roadster largely fell out of fashion in England and many other Western nations as the 20th century progressed, it remains popular in the Netherlands; this is why some people refer to bicycles of this design as Dutch bikes. In Dutch the name of these bicycles is Omafiets ("grandma's bike").


title: History of the bicycle

text: Cycling steadily became more important in Europe over the first half of the twentieth century, but it dropped off dramatically in the United States between 1900 and 1910. Automobiles became the preferred means of transportation. Over the 1920s, bicycles gradually became considered children's toys, and by 1940 most bicycles in the United States were made for children. In Europe cycling remained an adult activity, and bicycle racing, commuting, and "cyclotouring" were all popular activities. In addition, specialist bicycles for children appeared before 1916.


title: History of the bicycle

text: From the early 20th century until after World War II, the roadster constituted most adult bicycles sold in the United Kingdom and in many parts of the British Empire. For many years after the advent of the motorcycle and automobile, they remained a primary means of adult transport. Major manufacturers in England were Raleigh and BSA, though Carlton, Phillips, Triumph, Rudge-Whitworth, Hercules, and Elswick Hopper also made them.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Bicycles continued to evolve to suit the varied needs of riders. The derailleur developed in France between 1900 and 1910 among cyclotourists, and was improved over time. Only in the 1930s did European racing organizations allow racers to use gearing; until then they were forced to use a two-speed bicycle. The rear wheel had a sprocket on either side of the hub. To change gears, the rider had to stop, remove the wheel, flip it around, and remount the wheel. When racers were allowed to use derailleurs, racing times immediately dropped.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Although multiple-speed bicycles were widely known by this time, most or all military bicycles used in the Second World War were single-speed. Bicycles were used by paratroopers during the war to help them with transportation, creating the term "bomber bikes" to refer to US planes dropping bikes for troops to use. The German Volksgrenadier units each had a battalion of bicycle infantry attached. The Invasion of Poland saw many bicycle-riding scouts in use, with each bicycle company using 196 bicycles and 1 motorcycle. By September 1939, there were 41 bicycle companies mobilized.


title: History of the bicycle

text: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japan used around 50,000 bicycle troops. The Malayan Campaign saw many bicycles used. The Japanese confiscated bicycles from civilians due to the abundance of bicycles among the civilian population. Japanese bicycle troops were efficient in both speed and carrying capacity, as they could carry 36 kilograms of equipment compared to a normal British soldier, who could carry 18 kilograms.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The Flying Pigeon was at the forefront of the bicycle phenomenon in the People's Republic of China. The vehicle was the government approved form of transport, and the nation became known as "zixingche wang guo" (自行车王国) the 'Kingdom of Bicycles'. A bicycle was regarded as one of the three "must-haves" of every citizen, alongside a sewing machine and watch – essential items in life that also offered a hint of wealth. The Flying Pigeon bicycle became a symbol of an egalitarian social system that promised little comfort but a reliable ride through life.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the logo became synonymous with almost all bicycles in the country. The Flying Pigeon became the single most popular mechanized vehicle on the planet, becoming so ubiquitous that Deng Xiaoping — the post-Mao leader who launched China's economic reforms in the 1970s — defined prosperity as "a Flying Pigeon in every household".


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the early 1980s, Flying Pigeon was the country's biggest bike manufacturer, selling 3 million cycles in 1986. Its 20-kilo black single-speed models were popular with workers, and there was a waiting list of several years to get one, and even then buyers needed good "guanxi" (relationship) in addition to the purchase cost, which was about four months' wages for most workers.


title: History of the bicycle

text: At mid-century there were two predominant bicycle styles for recreational cyclists in North America. Heavyweight cruiser bicycles, preferred by the typical (hobby) cyclist, featuring balloon tires, pedal-driven "coaster" brakes and only one gear, were popular for their durability, comfort, streamlined appearance, and a significant array of accessories (lights, bells, springer forks, speedometers, "etc."). Lighter cycles, with hand brakes, narrower tires, and a three-speed hub gearing system, often imported from England, first became popular in the United States in the late 1950s. These comfortable, practical bicycles usually offered generator-powered headlamps, safety reflectors, kickstands, and frame-mounted tire pumps. In the United Kingdom, like the rest of Europe, cycling was seen as less of a hobby, and lightweight but durable bikes had been preferred for decades.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the United States, the sports roadster was imported after World War II, and was known as the "English racer". It quickly became popular with adult cyclists seeking an alternative to the traditional youth-oriented cruiser bicycle. While the English racer was no racing bike, it was faster and better for climbing hills than the cruiser, thanks to its lighter weight, tall wheels, narrow tires, and internally geared rear hubs. In the late 1950s, U.S. manufacturers such as Schwinn began producing their own "lightweight" version of the English racer.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the late 1960s, Americans' increasing consciousness of the value of exercise and later the advantage of energy efficient transportation led to the American bike boom of the 1970s. Annual U.S. sales of adult bicycles doubled between 1960 and 1970, and doubled again between 1971 and 1975, the peak years of the adult cycling boom in the United States, eventually reaching nearly 17 million units.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Most of these sales were to new cyclists, who overwhelmingly preferred models imitating popular European derailleur-equipped racing bikesvariously called "sports" models, "sport/tourers", or simply "ten-speeds"to the older "roadsters" with hub gears which remained much the same as they had been since the 1930s. These lighter bicycles, long used by serious cyclists and by racers, featured dropped handlebars, narrow tires, derailleur gears, five to fifteen speeds, and a narrow 'racing' type saddle. By 1980, racing and sport/touring derailleur bikes dominated the market in North America. Fatbike was invented for off-road usage in 1980.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In Britain, the utility roadster declined noticeably in popularity during the early 1970s, as a boom in recreational cycling caused manufacturers to concentrate on lightweight (), affordable derailleur sport bikes, actually slightly-modified versions of the racing bicycle of the era.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the early 1980s, Swedish company "Itera" invented a new type of bicycle, made entirely of plastic. It was a commercial failure.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In the 1980s, U.K. cyclists began to shift from road-only bicycles to all-terrain models such as the mountain bike. The mountain bike's sturdy frame and load-carrying ability gave it additional versatility as a utility bike, usurping the role previously filled by the roadster. By 1990, the roadster was almost dead; while annual U.K. bicycle sales reached an all-time record of 2.8 million, almost all of them were mountain and road/sport models.


title: History of the bicycle

text: BMX bikes are specially designed bicycles that usually have 16 to 24-inch wheels (the norm being the 20-inch wheel), which originated in the state of California in the early 1970s when teenagers imitated their motocross heroes on their bicycles. Children were racing standard road bikes off-road, around purpose-built tracks in the Netherlands. The 1971 motorcycle racing documentary "On Any Sunday" is generally credited with inspiring the movement nationally in the US. In the opening scene, kids are shown riding their Schwinn Sting-Rays off-road. It was not until the middle of the decade the sport achieved critical mass, and manufacturers began creating bicycles designed specially for the sport.


title: History of the bicycle

text: It has grown into an international sport with several different disciplines such as Freestyle, Racing, Street, and Flatland.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In 1981, the first mass-produced mountain bike appeared, intended for use off-pavement over a variety of surfaces. It was an immediate success, and examples flew off retailers' shelves during the 1980s, their popularity spurred by the novelty of all-terrain cycling and the increasing desire of urban dwellers to escape their surroundings "via" mountain biking and other extreme sports. These cycles featured sturdier frames, wider tires with large knobs for increased traction, a more upright seating position (to allow better visibility and shifting of body weight), and increasingly, various front and rear suspension designs. By 2000, mountain bike sales had far outstripped that of racing, sport/racer, and touring bicycles.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The 21st century has seen a continued application of technology to bicycles (which started in the 20th century): in designing them, building them, and using them. Bicycle frames and components continue to get lighter and more aerodynamic without sacrificing strength largely through the use of computer aided design, finite element analysis, and computational fluid dynamics. Recent discoveries about bicycle stability have been facilitated by computer simulations. Once designed, new technology is applied to manufacturing such as hydroforming and automated carbon fiber layup. Finally, electronic gadgetry has expanded from just cyclocomputers to now include cycling power meters and electronic gear-shifting systems.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In recent years, bicycle designs have trended towards increased specialization, as the number of casual, recreational and commuter cyclists has grown. For these groups, the industry responded with the "hybrid" bicycle, sometimes marketed as a "city bike", "cross bike", or "commuter bike". Hybrid bicycles combine elements of road racing and mountain bikes, though the term is applied to a wide variety of bicycle types.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Hybrid bicycles and commuter bicycles can range from fast and light racing-type bicycles with flat bars and other minimal concessions to casual use, to wider-tired bikes designed for primarily for comfort, load-carrying, and increased versatility over a range of different road surfaces. Enclosed hub gears have become popular again – now with up to 8, 11 or 14 gears – for such bicycles due to ease of maintenance and improved technology.


title: History of the bicycle

text: The recumbent bicycle was invented in 1893. In 1934, the Union Cycliste Internationale banned recumbent bicycles from all forms of officially sanctioned racing, at the behest of the conventional bicycle industry, after relatively little-known Francis Faure beat world champion Henri Lemoine and broke Oscar Egg's hour record by half a mile while riding Mochet's Velocar. Some authors assert that this resulted in the stagnation of the upright racing bike's frame geometry which has remained essentially unchanged for 70 years. This stagnation finally started to reverse with the formation of the International Human Powered Vehicle Association which holds races for "banned" classes of bicycle. Sam Whittingham set a human powered speed record of 132 km/h (82 mph) on level ground in a faired recumbent streamliner in 2009 at Battle Mountain.


title: History of the bicycle

text: While historically most bike frames have been steel, recent designs, particularly of high-end racing bikes, have made extensive use of carbon and aluminum frames.


title: History of the bicycle

text: Recent years have also seen a resurgence of interest in balloon tire cruiser bicycles for their low-tech comfort, reliability, and style.


title: History of the bicycle

text: In addition to influences derived from the evolution of American bicycling trends, European, Asian and African cyclists have also continued to use traditional roadster bicycles, as their rugged design, enclosed chainguards, and dependable hub gearing make them ideal for commuting and utility cycling duty.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The Lion King 1½ (also known as The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata, or The Lion King III: Hakuna Matata) is a 2004 American animated direct-to-video musical comedy film produced by the Australian branch of Disneytoon Studios and released direct to video on February 10, 2004. The third and final installment released in the original "Lion King" trilogy, it is based on "The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa" and serves as an origin story for the meerkat/warthog duo Timon and Pumbaa while the film is also set within the events of "The Lion King". A majority of the original voice cast from the first film returns to reprise their roles, including Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella as the voices of Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. The plot of the movie seems to be inspired by Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead", a tragicomedy that tells the story of "Hamlet" from the point of view of 2 minor characters.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: In a dark theater (a parody of Mystery Science Theater 3000) Timon and Pumbaa watch the original film until Timon decides to fast forward to the scene where they first appear, but Pumbaa then tries to rewind it to the beginning. This eventually leads to them fighting over the remote control, until Timon eventually gets the idea of telling the story of how both of them met and how they learned about Hakuna Matata. Pumbaa agrees with his idea and Timon rewinds the film to before the beginning, where the story begins.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Timon is a social outcast in his meerkat colony on the outskirts of the Pride Lands as he frequently messes things up by accident. Though he is unconditionally supported by his mother, Timon dreams of a better life than his colony's bleak existence continually hiding from predators. One day, he is assigned as a sentry in an attempt by his mother to get him accepted, but his daydreaming leads to the near death of his uncle, Max, at the hands of the hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. Now ostracized and convinced that he will never fit in with the other meerkats, Timon decides to leave to find a better life. After bidding his mother farewell, he meets the mandrill Rafiki, who teaches him about "Hakuna Matata", and advises him to "look beyond what you see". Timon takes this advice literally and observes Pride Rock in the distance. Believing Pride Rock to be his dream home, Timon ventures in that direction and encounters Pumbaa the warthog on his way. The two quickly form a bond, and Pumbaa accompanies Timon on his journey.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The pair arrive at Pride Rock during the presentation of Simba to the animals of the Pride Lands. As they make their way through the crowd of onlookers, Pumbaa explosively passes gas due to his fear of crowds, causing the nearby animals to faint, but prompting animals further away to bow to Simba. Following this, Timon and Pumbaa make multiple attempts to set up homes throughout the Pride Lands, but wind up being forced away every time upon witnessing several events from the original film, such as Simba singing "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", Mufasa's fight with the hyenas, and Scar's conspiring with the hyenas. Eventually, the pair are caught in the wildebeest stampede that killed Mufasa, and are thrown off a waterfall in their attempt to escape. Exhausted, Timon decides to give up and realizes that Pumbaa is the only friend that he has ever had. The next morning Pumbaa discovers a luxurious green jungle that he had tried to tell Timon about earlier. With their dream home found, they settle there, embracing "Hakuna Matata" as their life's philosophy.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Some time later, Timon and Pumbaa encounter Simba in a nearby desert, nearly dead. They rescue him and decide to raise him under their philosophy. Years later, Nala appears and reunites with Simba after chasing and mistaking Pumbaa for food. Believing Hakuna Matata to be in jeopardy, Timon and Pumbaa attempt to sabotage their dates, but fail every time. Upon witnessing Simba and Nala's argument, Simba disappears. Nala explains that he had run off to challenge Scar and reclaim Pride Rock, meaning he would need their help. Upset that Simba left them, Timon decides to stay behind, but Pumbaa, annoyed that Timon would callously abandon Simba when he needs him, follows Simba and Nala. Timon indulges in the jungle's luxuries by himself, but the loneliness starts to overwhelm him. After feeling sad and lonely, Timon is met with Rafiki, who indirectly makes him realize that his true Hakuna Matata is with the ones he loves (not just the place he sought for), prompting Timon to take off after the others.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Timon catches up and reconciles with Pumbaa before journeying onward to Pride Rock to join Simba and Nala. After helping Simba and Nala distract the hyenas with a hula dance, Timon and Pumbaa run into Ma and Uncle Max, who had come looking for Timon after Ma had gotten angry at Rafiki for apparently leading Timon on a wild goose chase. Timon proposes that they all help Simba by getting rid of Scar and the hyenas. While Simba battles Scar on the top of Pride Rock, Ma and Uncle Max are directed to construct a series of tunnels beneath the hyenas, while at the same time, Timon and Pumbaa use various tactics to distract them (e.g. Timon attempting to propose to Shenzi, much to her disgust) while the tunnel is being made. When the tunnels are finished, Max knocks down the support beams, breaking the ground under the hyenas. However, the last few beams get jammed, prompting Timon to dive underground and break them himself. The cave-in commences, and the hyenas are ejected through the tunnels, just in time to confront Scar and kill him. Simba accepts his place as the rightful king of the Pride Lands, thanking Timon and Pumbaa for their help. Timon takes Pumbaa, Ma, Uncle Max, and the rest of the meerkat colony to live in the predator-free jungle to complete his Hakuna Matata, and he is praised as their hero.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: When the story finished, Ma, Uncle Max, Simba, Rafiki, and eventually many other Disney characters (such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Aladdin and Jasmine with the Genie, Stitch, Pocahontas, Dumbo etc.) join Timon and Pumbaa to rewatch the film in the theater, during which Pumbaa tells Timon that he 'still doesn't do so well in crowds'.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: A few of the original cast returned the resume their roles such as Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Matthew Broderick. However some resumed their roles from The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, also James Earl Jones and Jeremy Irons did not return to play their characters so both Mufasa and Scar don't have any lines of dialogue in the film as their roles were apart of the original film.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: In April 2000, it was announced that the Walt Disney Company had selected Jeff Ahlholm, Colin Goldman, and Tom Rogers to write the script for "The Lion King 3". It was scheduled to arrive in video stores sometime in 2001. Bradley Raymond, who had previously directed "" (1998) and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame II" (2002), came on board as director. He recalled that it was then-Disney Feature Animation president Thomas Schumacher's idea to "retell "Lion King" through the eyes of Timon and Pumbaa". Additionally, Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, who directed and co-wrote the screenplay for "The Lion King" respectively, consulted on the production. According to Raymond, it was Allers who came up with the "Mystery Science Theater 3000"–inspired framing of the film. Furthermore, the filmmakers drew inspiration from Tom Stoppard's play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" as the first "Lion King" film had drawn inspiration from "Hamlet".


title: The Lion King 1½

text: In May 2003, "The Lion King " was scheduled for home video release in early spring 2004 with Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, and Matthew Broderick reprising their original roles, and Elton John and Tim Rice returning to compose a new song, "That’s All I Need".


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film was animated by Walt Disney Animation Australia in Sydney, New South Wales and Disneytoon Studios in the United States.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Upon its initial home video release, "The Lion King " was accompanied by a marketing campaign tie-in with McDonald's with six Happy Meal toys: Simba, Rafiki, Timon, Pumbaa, Mufasa and Ed. (This same promotion was used in international countries for the Special Edition release of the first "Lion King" with two additional toys featuring Zazu and Scar.)


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The DVD edition contained include music videos, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes views of how the movie was made, and two featurettes: "Timon -- The Early Years"; a mockumentary tracing Timon's childhood through tongue-in-cheek interviews with family and friends; and "Disney's Funniest Moments," highlighting Disney animated characters from the "Seven Dwarfs" to "Brother Bear". Three games are also featured, including a virtual safari backlot tour through the Pride Lands, a "Lion King" trivia game in the format of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire", titled "Who Wants to Be King of the Jungle?", and hosted by Meredith Vieira, then-host of the U.S. syndicated version and a find the face game. "The Lion King " was released on February 10, 2004. Internationally, it was titled "The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata".


title: The Lion King 1½

text: On its first day of sales, the film sold 1.5 million DVD copies, and in its first three days of release the film generated about $55 million in sales revenue, 2.5 of which were DVD copies of the film. By March 2004, six million DVD and VHS copies of the film had been sold in North America. More than 30 percent of the title's sales were from the Latino market. Later that year, the movie was released as part of a 3-movie box set along with "The Lion King" and "" on December 6. On January 31, 2005, the film, along with its predecessors, went back into moratorium.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film was first released on Blu-ray as part of an eight-disc box set on October 4, 2011, along with the other two films. The movie later received a separate Blu-ray release as well as a standard DVD release on March 6, 2012, along with "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride". The Blu-ray and DVD releases, along with "Simba's Pride" and the Diamond Edition release of "The Lion King", were removed from release on April 30, 2013.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film was re-released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on a Blu-ray combo pack and digital release along with "The Lion King II: Simba's Pride" on August 29, 2017 — the same day as the first film's Signature Edition was released.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of 6.4/10.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Frank Lovece of "TV Guide" gave the film stars out of 4 stating that "This retelling of "The Lion King" (1994) from the point of view of comic sidekicks Timon (voice of Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) is one of the rare Disney direct-to-video sequels worthy of the original." He went on to say that 'the only aspect of the film that feels forced is the revisionist positioning of Timon as young Simba's step-dad, which has no emotional echo in the first film. The quality of the animation is surprisingly impressive; some static backgrounds are the primary concession to a small-screen budget and the fluid character movements and expressions are vastly superior to those of, say, "The Lion King's Timon and Pumbaa" TV cartoon series.'" Joe Leydon of "Variety" gave the film a positive review, writing "toddlers and preschoolers will be equally enchanted and amused by colorful toon shenanigans." "Los Angeles Times" article writer Susan King wrote that "Because Disney's made-for-video sequels to their classic animated films have been mediocre at best, expectations for this new sequel to the mouse house's 1994 blockbuster were slim. But thanks to a clever story line, snappy dialogue that kids and adults will enjoy, a couple of decent new songs and the return of the original voice actors, "Lion King " is an irreverent gas."


title: The Lion King 1½

text: Many reviewers have suggested that the film was influenced by the Tom Stoppard play "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead", which follows Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters from Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", and details their experiences taking place during the same time as the events of "Hamlet", similar to what the film does with its predecessor, which has been similarly compared to "Hamlet". Screenwriter Tom Rogers confirmed that this was intentional in a 2019 interview, adding that the film's frame story was inspired by "Mystery Science Theater 3000".


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film's soundtrack album contains two original songs: "Diggah Tunnah", written by Seth Friedman and Martin Erskine, and "That's All I Need", written by Elton John and Tim Rice, who had worked on the first film. The latter song, which is performed by Nathan Lane in the film, is largely based on a deleted song from "The Lion King" titled "The Warthog Rhapsody", with which it shares a similar melody.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film features the song "Hakuna Matata" from the first film, which is featured both as the original soundtrack recording in the soundtrack album and in the film as a new cover performed by Lane and Ernie Sabella. The soundtrack also consists of various covers of pop songs, such as Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass" performed by Raven-Symoné, Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" performed by Drew K. and the French, and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" (which appears briefly in the original film as well) by Lebo M. Vinx (and with sampled vocals from Lebo M.) performed "Diggah Tunnah Dance". Other featured songs not on the soundtrack include "Sunrise, Sunset" from the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" and the eponymous theme song from the television show "Peter Gunn" composed by Henry Mancini.


title: The Lion King 1½

text: The film contains an original score composed by Don L. Harper, and also features Ennio Morricone's instrumental theme from the Sergio Leone film "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly".


title: The Lion King 1½

text: A video game based on the film was published in 2003 for the Game Boy Advance, featuring Timon and Pumbaa as the playable characters.


title: Amputation

text: Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on individuals as a preventive surgery for such problems. A special case is that of congenital amputation, a congenital disorder, where fetal limbs have been cut off by constrictive bands. In some countries, amputation is currently used to punish people who commit crimes. Amputation has also been used as a tactic in war and acts of terrorism; it may also occur as a war injury. In some cultures and religions, minor amputations or mutilations are considered a ritual accomplishment. When done by a person, the person executing the amputation is an amputator. The oldest evidence of this practice comes from a skeleton found buried in Liang Tebo cave, East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo dating back to at least 31,000 years ago, where it was done when the amputee was a young child.


title: Amputation

text: In the US, the majority of new amputations occur due to complications of the vascular system (the blood vessels), especially from diabetes. Between 1988 and 1996, there were an average of 133,735 hospital discharges for amputation per year in the US. In 2005, just in the US, there were 1.6 million amputees. In 2013, the US had 2.1 million amputees. Approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the United States each year. In 2009, hospital costs associated with amputation totaled more than $8.3 billion. There will be an estimated 3.6 million people in the US living with limb loss by 2050.


title: Amputation

text: Lower limb amputations can be divided into two broad categories: minor and major amputations. Minor amputations generally refer to the amputation of digits. Major amputations are commonly below-knee- or above-knee amputations. Common partial foot amputations include the Chopart, Lisfranc, and ray amputations.


title: Amputation

text: Common forms of ankle disarticulations include Pyrogoff, Boyd, and Syme amputations. A less common major amputation is the Van Nes rotation, or rotationplasty, i.e. the turning around and reattachment of the foot to allow the ankle joint to take over the function of the knee.


title: Amputation

text: A variant of the trans-radial amputation is the Krukenberg procedure in which the radius and ulna are used to create a stump capable of a pincer action.


title: Amputation

text: Hemicorporectomy, or amputation at the waist, and decapitation, or amputation at the neck, are the most radical amputations.


title: Amputation

text: Genital modification and mutilation may involve amputating tissue, although not necessarily as a result of injury or disease.


title: Amputation

text: In some rare cases when a person has become trapped in a deserted place, with no means of communication or hope of rescue, the victim has amputated his or her own limb. The most notable case of this is Aron Ralston, a hiker who amputated his own right forearm after it was pinned by a boulder in a hiking accident and he was unable to free himself for over five days.


title: Amputation

text: Body integrity identity disorder is a psychological condition in which an individual feels compelled to remove one or more of their body parts, usually a limb. In some cases, that individual may take drastic measures to remove the offending appendages, either by causing irreparable damage to the limb so that medical intervention cannot save the limb, or by causing the limb to be severed.


title: Amputation

text: Frostbite is a cold-related injury occurring when an area (typically a limb or other extremity) is exposed to extreme low temperatures, causing the freezing of the skin or other tissues. Its pathophysiology involves the formation of ice crystals upon freezing and blood clots upon thawing, leading to cell damage and cell death. Treatment of severe frostbite may require surgical amputation of the affected tissue or limb; if there is deep injury autoamputation may occur.


title: Amputation

text: Sometimes professional athletes may choose to have a non-essential digit amputated to relieve chronic pain and impaired performance.


title: Amputation

text: The first step is ligating the supplying artery and vein, to prevent hemorrhage (bleeding). The muscles are transected, and finally, the bone is sawed through with an oscillating saw. Sharp and rough edges of bones are filed, skin and muscle flaps are then transposed over the stump, occasionally with the insertion of elements to attach a prosthesis.


title: Amputation

text: Distal stabilisation of muscles is recommended. This allows effective muscle contraction which reduces atrophy, allows functional use of the stump and maintains soft tissue coverage of the remnant bone. The preferred stabilisation technique is myodesis where the muscle is attached to the bone or its periosteum. In joint disarticulation amputations tenodesis may be used where the muscle tendon is attached to the bone. Muscles should be attached under similar tension to normal physiological conditions.


title: Amputation

text: An experimental technique known as the "Ewing amputation" aims to improve post-amputation proprioception.


title: Amputation

text: In 1920,  Dr. Janos Ertl, Sr. of Hungary, developed the Ertl procedure in order to return a high number of amputees to the work force. The Ertl technique, an osteomyoplastic procedure for transtibial amputation, can be used to create a highly functional residual limb. Creation of a tibiofibular bone bridge provides a stable, broad tibiofibular articulation that may be capable of some distal weight bearing. Several different modified techniques and fibular bridge fixation methods have been used; however, no current evidence exists regarding comparison of the different techniques.


title: Amputation

text: A 2019 Cochrane systematic review aimed to determine whether rigid dressings were more effective than soft dressings in helping wounds heal following transtibial (below the knee) amputations. Due to the limited and very low certainty evidence available, the authors concluded that it was uncertain what the benefits and harms were for each dressing type. They recommended that clinicians consider the pros and cons of each dressing type on a case-by-case basis e.g. rigid dressings may potentially benefit patients who have a high risk of falls and soft dressings may potentially benefit patients who have poor skin integrity.


title: Amputation

text: A 2017 review found that the use of rigid removable dressings (RRD's) in trans-tibial amputations, rather than soft bandaging, improved healing time, reduced edema, prevented knee flexion contractures and reduced complications, including further amputation, from external trauma such as falls onto the stump.


title: Amputation

text: Post-operative management, in addition to wound healing, should consider maintenance of limb strength, joint range, edema management, preservation of the intact limb (if applicable) and stump desensitization.


title: Amputation

text: Traumatic amputation is the partial or total avulsion of a part of a body during a serious accident, like traffic, labor, or combat.


title: Amputation

text: Traumatic amputation of a human limb, either partial or total, creates the immediate danger of death from blood loss.


title: Amputation

text: Orthopedic surgeons often assess the severity of different injuries using the Mangled Extremity Severity Score. Given different clinical and situational factors, they can predict the likelihood of amputation. This is especially useful for emergency physicians to quickly evaluate patients and decide on consultations.


title: Amputation

text: Traumatic amputation is uncommon in humans (1 per 20,804 population per year). Loss of limb usually happens immediately during the accident, but sometimes a few days later after medical complications. Statistically, the most common causes of traumatic amputations are:


title: Amputation

text: The development of the science of microsurgery over the last 40 years has provided several treatment options for a traumatic amputation, depending on the patient's specific trauma and clinical situation:


title: Amputation

text: Methods in preventing amputation, limb-sparing techniques, depend on the problems that might cause amputations to be necessary. Chronic infections, often caused by diabetes or decubitus ulcers in bedridden patients, are common causes of infections that lead to gangrene, which would then necessitate amputation.


title: Amputation

text: There are two key challenges: first, many patients have impaired circulation in their extremities, and second, they have difficulty curing infections in limbs with poor blood circulation.


title: Amputation

text: Crush injuries where there is extensive tissue damage and poor circulation also benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT). The high level of oxygenation and revascularization speed up recovery times and prevent infections.


title: Amputation

text: A study found that the patented method called Circulator Boot achieved significant results in prevention of amputation in patients with diabetes and arteriosclerosis. Another study found it also effective for healing limb ulcers caused by peripheral vascular disease. The boot checks the heart rhythm and compresses the limb between heartbeats; the compression helps cure the wounds in the walls of veins and arteries, and helps to push the blood back to the heart.


title: Amputation

text: For victims of trauma, advances in microsurgery in the 1970s have made replantations of severed body parts possible.


title: Amputation

text: The establishment of laws, rules, and guidelines, and employment of modern equipment help protect people from traumatic amputations.


title: Amputation

text: The individual may experience psychological trauma and emotional discomfort. The stump will remain an area of reduced mechanical stability. Limb loss can present significant or even drastic practical limitations.


title: Amputation

text: A large proportion of amputees (50–80%) experience the phenomenon of phantom limbs; they feel body parts that are no longer there. These limbs can itch, ache, burn, feel tense, dry or wet, locked in or trapped or they can feel as if they are moving. Some scientists believe it has to do with a kind of neural map that the brain has of the body, which sends information to the rest of the brain about limbs regardless of their existence. Phantom sensations and phantom pain may also occur after the removal of body parts other than the limbs, e.g. after amputation of the breast, extraction of a tooth (phantom tooth pain) or removal of an eye (phantom eye syndrome).


title: Amputation

text: A similar phenomenon is unexplained sensation in a body part unrelated to the amputated limb. It has been hypothesized that the portion of the brain responsible for processing stimulation from amputated limbs, being deprived of input, expands into the surrounding brain, ("Phantoms in the Brain": V.S. Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee) such that an individual who has had an arm amputated will experience unexplained pressure or movement on his face or head.


title: Amputation

text: In many cases, the phantom limb aids in adaptation to a prosthesis, as it permits the person to experience proprioception of the prosthetic limb. To support improved resistance or usability, comfort or healing, some type of stump socks may be worn instead of or as part of wearing a prosthesis.


title: Amputation

text: Another side effect can be heterotopic ossification, especially when a bone injury is combined with a head injury. The brain signals the bone to grow instead of scar tissue to form, and nodules and other growth can interfere with prosthetics and sometimes require further operations. This type of injury has been especially common among soldiers wounded by improvised explosive devices in the Iraq War.


title: Amputation

text: Due to technological advances in prosthetics, many amputees live active lives with little restriction. Organizations such as the Challenged Athletes Foundation have been developed to give amputees the opportunity to be involved in athletics and adaptive sports such as amputee soccer.


title: Amputation

text: Nearly half of the individuals who have an amputation due to vascular disease will die within 5 years, usually secondary to the extensive co-morbidities rather than due to direct consequences of amputation. This is higher than the five year mortality rates for breast cancer, colon cancer, and prostate cancer. Of persons with diabetes who have a lower extremity amputation, up to 55% will require amputation of the second leg within two to three years.


title: Amputation

text: The word amputation is borrowed from Latin "amputātus," past participle of "amputāre" "to prune back (a plant), prune away, remove by cutting (unwanted parts or features), cut off (a branch, limb, body part)," from "am-," assimilated variant of "amb-" "about, around" + "putāre" "to prune, make clean or tidy, scour (wool)". The English word "Poes" was first applied to surgery in the 17th century, possibly first in Peter Lowe's "A discourse of the Whole Art of Chirurgerie" (published in either 1597 or 1612); his work was derived from 16th-century French texts and early English writers also used the words "extirpation" (16th-century French texts tended to use "extirper"), "disarticulation", and "dismemberment" (from the Old French "desmembrer" and a more common term before the 17th century for limb loss or removal), or simply "cutting", but by the end of the 17th century "amputation" had come to dominate as the accepted medical term.


title: Frank de Boer

text: Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch football manager who was most recently the head coach of the Netherlands national team. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his professional playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, one UEFA Super Cup, one UEFA Cup, one UEFA Champions League, and one Intercontinental Cup. He later spent five years at Barcelona, where he won the 1998–99 La Liga title, followed by short spells at Galatasaray, Rangers, Al-Rayyan and Al-Shamal before retiring.


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer is the third-most capped outfield player in the history of the Netherlands national team, with 112 caps. He captained "Oranje" to the semi-finals of both the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He is the twin brother of Ronald de Boer, with whom he was a teammate at Ajax, Barcelona, Rangers, Al-Rayyan, Al-Shamal and the Netherlands national team.


title: Frank de Boer

text: After retiring from playing, De Boer went into management with the Ajax youth team and as assistant to Bert van Marwijk with the Netherlands national team. In December 2010, he took over as manager of Ajax and went on to win the Eredivisie title in his first season. In 2013, he received the Rinus Michels Award for manager of the year in the Netherlands after leading Ajax to their third successive Eredivisie title. The following year, he became the first manager to win four consecutive Eredivisie titles. He then had brief spells managing in Serie A with Internazionale in 2016, Crystal Palace in the Premier League in 2017, and Atlanta United in MLS from 2018 to 2020. De Boer was appointed head coach of the Netherlands national team in September 2020, but left less than a year later in June 2021 after the team's disappointing Euro 2020 campaign.


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer began his career as a left back at Ajax before switching to centre-back, a position he made his own for many years in the national team. He won both the 1991–92 UEFA Cup and 1994–95 UEFA Champions League while at Ajax, in addition to five Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups. However, after signing a six-year contract extension with Ajax for the 1998–99 season, he and his twin brother Ronald took successful legal action to have it voided. Ajax had a verbal agreement that if a lucrative offer for one brother came by, he would be released provided the other stayed. Ajax, however, apparently backed down on that agreement after floating the club on the stock market and pledging to shareholders that it would hold both of the De Boers and build around them a team to recapture the Champions League.


title: Frank de Boer

text: In January 1999, Frank and Ronald de Boer signed for Spanish La Liga club Barcelona for £22 million, joining their former Ajax manager Louis van Gaal at the Camp Nou. After winning the 1998–99 La Liga title, they were unable to repeat their earlier triumphs. In 2000, Van Gaal was sacked by Barcelona and Frank suffered the ignominy of testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone a year later. He was suspended but he was reinstated after a successful appeal.


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer briefly moved to Galatasaray in the summer of 2003 before joining his brother at Rangers in January 2004. He made his Rangers debut in a 1–0 win away at Partick Thistle, but in his second appearance for the club he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout as Rangers lost to Hibernian in the Scottish League Cup semi-final. He made a total of 17 appearances for Rangers, scoring two goals against Aberdeen and Dundee. The De Boer brothers left Rangers after UEFA Euro 2004 to play the rest of their football careers in Qatar with Al-Rayyan. De Boer announced his retirement from football in April 2006.


title: Frank de Boer

text: Having represented his national team 112 times, he was the most capped player in the history of the Netherlands national team, until Edwin van der Sar surpassed him. De Boer made his debut for the Netherlands in September 1990 against Italy.


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer also played for the Netherlands in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, and the 1992, 2000 and 2004 UEFA European Championships. He is well-remembered for the arching 60-yard pass which allowed Dennis Bergkamp to score the last-minute goal that eliminated Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 1998 World Cup. During Euro 2000, hosted in his home country and Belgium, De Boer reached another semi-final with the Dutch team. De Boer missed an important penalty kick in the first half of the semi-finals against 10-man Italy and another in the penalty shootout, which led to the Netherlands' elimination from the tournament.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 29 March 2003, in a home match against Czech Republic, De Boer became the first Dutch male footballer to gain 100 caps. He ended his international career after an injury forced him to be replaced in a quarter-final match with Sweden at Euro 2004. The injury ruled him out from the semi-final match against Portugal, which the Netherlands lost 2–1.


title: Frank de Boer

text: A talented and well-rounded world-class defender, in addition to his defensive skills, De Boer was also known for his pace, technical ability, accurate passing, and leadership, which enabled him to carry the ball out of defence, play it out from the back, or contribute to his team's offensive play by initiating attacks and creating chances for strikers with long balls. A versatile, intelligent, and elegant left-footed defender, with an ability to read the game and intercept loose balls, he was capable of playing both on the left and in the centre, and was even deployed as a sweeper. He was also a dangerous set-piece taker, renowned for his accurate bending free kicks from anywhere around the penalty area.


title: Frank de Boer

text: In 2007, De Boer took up a coaching role at his former club Ajax where he was in charge of the club's youth sector. During the 2010 World Cup, he was the assistant of the Netherlands national football team to manager Bert van Marwijk, together with retired player Phillip Cocu. The Dutch team reached the final of the tournament, losing to Spain.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 6 December 2010, after the resignation of Martin Jol, De Boer was appointed caretaker manager of Ajax until the winter break. His first game in charge was a Champions League match against Milan at the San Siro, a match Ajax won 2–0 through goals from Demy de Zeeuw and Toby Alderweireld. De Boer then went on to help Ajax become champions of the Eredivisie for the 2010–11 season in a 3–1 home victory over Twente, the champions of the previous year, on the final matchday, making the first year of his professional coaching career a golden one. "I couldn't have wished for a more beautiful birthday present", said De Boer, as the club's 30th championship was won on his 41st birthday.


title: Frank de Boer

text: In two-and-a-half years at the helm of Ajax, De Boer won three championships, making eight in total (when including the five that he won as a player). According to reports, De Boer was offered the chance to interview for the Liverpool job but turned it down to remain with Ajax. "I am honoured by the request [from Liverpool] but I have only just started with Ajax", he said. In 2013, De Boer received the Rinus Michels Award for manager of the year in the Netherlands after leading Ajax to their third successive Eredivisie title.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 27 April 2014, De Boer won his fourth successive Eredivisie title with Ajax, the first manager ever to achieve this in the Dutch league. Moreover, it marked the first time Ajax has ever won four successive Eredivisie titles. De Boer has now won a total of nine Eredivisie championships with Ajax as a player and manager, another record; Johan Cruyff, Sjaak Swart and Jack Reynolds all won eight Eredivisie championships with Ajax. Ajax finished the 2014–15 Eredivisie in second position, a massive 17 points behind champions PSV.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 11 May 2016, De Boer announced his resignation as manager of Ajax following a disappointing season when Ajax again lost out on the Eredivisie title to PSV on the final matchday of the season.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 9 August 2016, after the departure of Roberto Mancini, De Boer signed a three-year contract with Internazionale for the start of the 2016–17 season. De Boer's first match in charge was Inter's final pre-season friendly, a 2–0 win against Celtic on 13 August, played on neutral ground at Thomond Park, Republic of Ireland.


title: Frank de Boer

text: The club management board also approved expensive signings João Mário and Gabriel Barbosa for the team and De Boer (they were in fact linked to Mancini and Inter in July), and the return to Turkey of recent acquisition Caner Erkin in the last days of transfer window. Gabriel, however, was rarely used in Serie A matches and could not be registered in European competitions due to a penalty imposed on Inter for breaching UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in previous seasons.


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer's first competitive match was a 2–0 away loss to Chievo on 21 August. After the match, De Boer was criticized for using a three-man defence, a style that he had never used while at Ajax. Milan-based newspaper "Corriere della Sera" went as far as calling Inter's performance a "disaster". Fortunes soon turned, however, as Inter drew 1–1 against Palermo on 28 August, before winning three games in a row, against Pescara, title-holders Juventus and Empoli. The win against Juventus was highly praised, with De Boer being lauded for substituting Éder for Ivan Perišić, who provided the winning goal. Inter's form would not last long, as the club would go on to lose against Roma, Cagliari and Atalanta.


title: Frank de Boer

text: Inter also struggled in the UEFA Europa League under De Boer, as they lost the opening match 0–2 at home against Israeli team Hapoel Be'er Sheva on 15 September, and 3–1 against Sparta Prague on 29 September. Inter would then go on to finish last in their group with a total of six points, with three points under De Boer and another three under his successor.


title: Frank de Boer

text: Following a run of four defeats in the last five Serie A matches, which left Inter in 12th place in Serie A, De Boer was sacked on 1 November, having been in charge for only 85 days. His last match was a 1–0 loss to Sampdoria on 30 October. Ironically, during a press interview in the annual general meeting of the shareholders of Internazionale on 28 October, CEO Michael Bolingbroke had confirmed that the club was 100% backing De Boer. (Bolingbroke himself resigned a few days later. Liu Jun, vice-president of sister company Suning Sports, replaced Bolingbroke.)


title: Frank de Boer

text: De Boer argued that he "needed more time" in order to make a mark as manager at Inter, and thanked his fans on his Twitter profile for the support. He was replaced by former Lazio manager Stefano Pioli on 8 November, the ninth manager Inter had appointed since winning the Treble in 2010 under José Mourinho. Following Pioli's initial struggles at Inter, De Boer hit back at the lack of leadership following Suning's takeover of Inter, which he credits for the lack of trust he was given while there.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 26 June 2017, De Boer was announced as the new manager of Premier League side Crystal Palace, replacing Sam Allardyce. He signed a three-year deal with the South London club, but was sacked 10 weeks later when Palace lost their first four league matches of the season without scoring a single goal – the first team in 93 years to have begun a top-flight season in such a fashion. He left having managed the team for only 450 minutes of game time, making it the shortest reign of the Premier League era (in terms of number of matches, rather than number of days). De Boer's only win came in an EFL Cup second-round game, in which Crystal Palace won 2–1 against Ipswich Town. He was replaced by Roy Hodgson.


title: Frank de Boer

text: Whilst at the club, De Boer attempted to implement a possession-based style of play; after his sacking, he criticised the club's players for their resistance to his approach, arguing that the club had signed only two players to fit his philosophy. Palace winger Wilfried Zaha commented on De Boer's brief time at the club, stating "There wasn't really the right mixture [of players] for the way we wanted to play."


title: Frank de Boer

text: Referencing De Boer's stint at Crystal Palace, José Mourinho described De Boer as "the worst manager in the history of the Premier League".


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 23 December 2018, De Boer was announced as the head coach of Major League Soccer side Atlanta United, succeeding Gerardo "Tata" Martino to become the second head coach in the club's history. In his first season, the team won both the U.S. Open Cup and Campeones Cup, while in MLS action finishing second in the Eastern Conference and reaching the Eastern Conference final.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 24 July 2020, following Atlanta's elimination from the MLS is Back Tournament after losing all three of their matches, Atlanta and De Boer mutually agreed to part ways.


title: Frank de Boer

text: On 23 September 2020, the KNVB announced that De Boer would be the new manager of the country's national football team, signing a contract until the end of 2022. On 11 November 2020, after a 1–1 draw with Spain, De Boer became the first ever Netherlands manager to fail to win any of his first four fixtures.


title: Frank de Boer

text: He managed the Netherlands at the UEFA Euro 2020, where despite topping their group, they ultimately lost 2–0 to Czech Republic in the round of 16 and were eliminated. As a result of the team's poor Euros performance, on 29 June 2021, the KNVB announced that it had parted ways with De Boer.


title: CMA CGM

text: CMA CGM S.A. is a French container transportation and shipping company. It is the world’s 3rd largest container shipping company, using 257 shipping routes between 420 ports in 160 countries. Its headquarters are in Marseille, France The name is an acronym of two predecessor companies, Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM), which translate as "Maritime Freighting Company" and "General Maritime Company".


title: CMA CGM

text: The history of CMA CGM can be traced back to the middle of the 19th century, when two major French shipping lines were created, respectively Messageries Maritimes (MM) in 1851 and Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) in 1855, soon renamed Compagnie Générale Transatlantique in 1861. Both companies were created partly with the backing of the French State, through the award of mail contracts to various destinations, French colonies and overseas territories as well as foreign countries. After the two World Wars, the two companies became "State owned corporations of the competitive sector" ("Entreprise publique du secteur concurrentiel"), i.e. companies that, while owned by the State, were run as private for-profit businesses operating in competitive markets. The French government, under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, progressively merged the two companies between 1974 and 1977 to form Compagnie Générale Maritime, which was still owned by the French government and still run as a competitive business, although sometimes subject to political pressure, for instance on the selection of shipyards to build new ships.


title: CMA CGM

text: Compagnie Générale Maritime (CGM) operated as such from 1974 to 1996 when it was privatized by the French state under President Chirac and Prime Minister Alain Juppé. During these 22 years it operated freight and container liner services in various global trade lanes, as well as a fleet of dry bulk ships, and a few large oil tankers and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tankers, with headquarters located in Paris' western suburbs, first in Paris-La Defense, then in close by Suresnes.


title: CMA CGM

text: The CGM liner services, mostly containerized but also operating a significant fleet of "Con-Ro" vessels able to load roll-on/roll-off cargoes, were re-structured from the two parent companies' main trade lanes, i.e. Western trade lanes (Americas) for Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) and Eastern trade lanes (Asia, East Africa, Pacific, plus Eastern South America) for Messageries Maritimes (MM). After merger and re-structure, CGM's liner services were managed in four distinct Trade Divisions, North America & Far East (AMNEO, for Amérique du Nord & Extrême Orient) which also managed the bulk and tanker fleets, South America & Caribbean (AMLAT), Pacific & Indian Ocean (PACOI) and Short Sea Trades (Cabotage).


title: CMA CGM

text: Separately, Jacques Saadé had created CMA in 1978 as an intra-Mediterranean liner service operator, based in Marseille. In 1996, CGM was privatized and sold to Compagnie Maritime d'Affrètement (CMA) to form CMA CGM.


title: CMA CGM

text: In September 2005 CMA CGM acquired its French rival Delmas based in Le Havre from the Bolloré Group for €600 million. The acquisition was completed in early January 5, 2006. The resulting corporation became the third largest container company in the world behind the Danish A.P. Moller-Maersk Group and the Swiss Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A.


title: CMA CGM

text: In May 2007, a consortium represented by CMA-CGM completed its acquisition of Compagnie Maroccaine de Navigation (Comanav) for a sum of €200 million.


title: CMA CGM

text: In July 2007, CMA-CGM acquired Cheng Lie Navigation Corp. (CNC Line), Intra-Asia container line based in Taiwan.


title: CMA CGM

text: In 2014, CMA CGM signs the Ocean Three agreements. The group strengthens its offer by signing major agreements on the biggest worldwide maritime trades with CSCL and UASC.


title: CMA CGM

text: In April 2015, the group acquired a strategic stake in LCL Logistix, a logistics leader in India, via its subsidiary CMA CGM LOG.


title: CMA CGM

text: In December 2015, CMA CGM "Benjamin Franklin" called at the Port of Los Angeles and thus became the largest vessel ever to call the United States. The container-ship, long and wide, was inaugurated in Port of Long Beach on February 19.


title: CMA CGM

text: In July 2016 CMA CGM finalized its acquisition of Singapore-based NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) and its container line APL (American President Lines) after an all-cash offer of US$2.4 billion. The takeover is CMA CGM's largest acquisition and the purchase added 12 percent market share to the CMA CGM group. The Singapore Exchange Securities Trading suspended trading of NOL shares at the end of the offer.


title: CMA CGM

text: In June 2017, CMA CGM acquire Mercosul Line, a Brazilian shipping company specialized in multimodal door-to-door container transportation and logistics.


title: CMA CGM

text: In October 2018, CMA CGM finalized the acquisition of Finland-based container-transportation and logistics company Containerships.


title: CMA CGM

text: In April 2019, CMA CGM completed its public tender offer to acquire CEVA Logistics. With this acquisition, the CMA CGM Group becomes a global leader in transport and logistics, 110,000 people strong with more than $30,3 billion in revenue. CEVA operational center is transferred in Marseille, France, where is located the Head Office of the CMA CGM Group.


title: CMA CGM

text: In February 2021, CMA CGM Group completes its logistics offer by creating a new division dedicated to air freight: CMA CGM Air Cargo. With its four Airbus A330-200F cargo aircraft, this airfreight division links Europe to North America. The first flight from Liège to Chicago marks the debut of commercial operations.


title: CMA CGM

text: In September 2021, CMA CGM announced a partnership with fellow Breton-based operator Brittany Ferries. The partnership involves a €25 million investment, plus a CMA CGM representative joining Brittany Ferries' supervisory board.


title: CMA CGM

text: In May 2022, CMA CGM, signed a strategic partnership with Air France–KLM Group to develop their air cargo capacities together. As part of the agreement CMA CGM may also acquire a stake of up to 9% in the Franco-Dutch airline group.


title: CMA CGM

text: Established in 2005, the CMA CGM Corporate Foundation for Children seeks to improve the overall well-being of children around the world. It defined three targets:


title: CMA CGM

text: The fleet has 200 maritime services and calls at more than 420 ports in 160 countries. There are 521 commercial ports in the world at the moment.


title: CMA CGM

text: On April 4, 2008, pirates seized the CMA CGM luxury cruise ship "Le Ponant" off the coast of Somalia.


title: CMA CGM

text: As a result of CMA CGM's involvement in Iranian weapons smuggling, US congressmen have called on CMA CGM to be investigated and urged the US Treasury Department to consider levying sanctions against the shipper. The company has since implemented tighter procedures for accepting shipments bound for Iran, including scanning all containers destined for the country. CMA CGM has also ceased exporting from Iranian ports since November 2011.


title: CMA CGM

text: On 4 May 2017, the container ship "CMA CGM Centaurus" made heavy contact with the quay and two shore cranes while under pilotage during its arrival at Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates. The accident resulted in the collapse of a shore crane and 10 injuries to shore personnel.


title: CMA CGM

text: On 20 January 2018, the container ship "CMA CGM Washington" was on-route to Los Angeles, US, from Xiamen, China, when it experienced heavy waves in the North Pacific Ocean. The crew discovered that three bays, 54, 58 and 18, collapsed, which led to the loss of 137 containers and damage of another 85.


title: CMA CGM

text: On 24 December 2018, the container ship "CMA CGM Norma" was involved in a collision with the China-flagged general cargo ship "Yusheng366" in the waters south of Hong Kong. All the crew from "Yusheng366" were rescued as they abandoned ship before she sank, while "CMA CGM Norma" suffered minor damages.


title: Irish Army

text: The Irish Army, known simply as the Army (), is the land component of the Defence Forces of Ireland. Approximately 7,300 people served in the Irish Army on a permanent basis , and there were 1,600 active reservists, divided into two geographically organised brigades. By late September 2020, this had reduced to 6,878 permanent army personnel.


title: Irish Army

text: As well as maintaining its primary roles of defending the State and internal security within the State, since 1958 the Army has had a continuous presence in peacekeeping missions around the world. The Army also participates in the European Union Battlegroups. The Air Corps and Naval Service support the Army in carrying out its roles.


title: Irish Army

text: The Defence Forces, including the Army, trace their origins to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), the guerrilla organisation that fought British government forces during the Irish War of Independence. In February 1922, the Provisional Government began to recruit volunteers into the new National Army.


title: Irish Army

text: The Provisional Government was set up on 16 January 1922 to assume power in the new Irish Free State. On 31 January 1922, a former IRA unit (the Dublin Guard) assumed its new role as the first unit of the new National Army and took over Beggars Bush Barracks, the first British barracks to be handed to the new Irish Free State. The National Army's first Commander-in-Chief, Michael Collins, envisaged the new Army being built around the pre-existing IRA, but over half of this organisation rejected the compromises required by the Anglo-Irish Treaty which established the Irish Free State, and favoured upholding the revolutionary Irish Republic which had been established in 1919.


title: Irish Army

text: As such, from January 1922 until late June and the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, there existed two antagonistic armed forces: the National Army, built from a nucleus of pro-Treaty IRA units, and armed and paid by the Provisional Government; and the anti-Treaty IRA who refused to accept the legitimacy of the new state. Both forces continued to use the Irish-language title Óglaigh na hÉireann, which had previously been used by both the original IRA and its predecessor, the Irish Volunteers of the mid-1910s. In July 1922, Dáil Éireann authorised raising a force of 35,000 men; by May 1923 this had grown to 58,000. The National Army lacked the expertise necessary to train a force of that size, such that approximately one-fifth of its officers and half of its soldiers were Irish ex-servicemen of the British Army, who brought considerable experience to it.


title: Irish Army

text: The Irish Civil War broke out on 28 June 1922. The pro-Treaty Sinn Féin party had won an election on 16 June. The British were applying increasing pressure on the government to assert its control over the anti-Treaty units of the IRA who had occupied the Four Courts in Dublin; this garrison had kidnapped JJ O'Connell, a lieutenant-general in the National Army.


title: Irish Army

text: In the early weeks of the Civil War, the newly formed National Army was mainly composed of pro-Treaty IRA units, especially the Dublin Guard, whose members had personal ties to Michael Collins. Its size was estimated at 7,000 men, in contrast to about 15,000 anti-Treaty IRA men. However, the Free State soon recruited far more troops, with the army's size mushrooming to 55,000 men and 3,500 officers by the end of the Civil War in May 1923. Many of its recruits were war-hardened Irishmen who had served in the British Army during the First World War. W. R. E. Murphy, a second-in-command of the National Army in the civil war (from January until May 1923), had been a lieutenant colonel in the British Army, as had Emmet Dalton. Indeed, the Free State recruited experienced soldiers from wherever it could; two more of its senior generals, John T. Prout and JJ "Ginger" O'Connell, had served in the United States Army.


title: Irish Army

text: The British government had supplied the National Army with small arms and ammunition as they departed from Ireland as well as a few armoured cars. They later supplied artillery which enabled it to bring the Civil War to a relatively speedy conclusion. The Four Courts and O'Connell Street were taken from anti-Treaty IRA units during the Battle of Dublin in July 1922. The anti-Treaty IRA were also dislodged from Limerick and Waterford in that month and Cork and County Kerry were secured in a decisive seaborne offensive in August.


title: Irish Army

text: The remainder of the war was a guerrilla war, concentrated particularly in the south and west of the country. On 15 October, directives were sent to the press by Piaras Béaslaí, the Free State director of communications, to the effect that Free State troops were to be referred to as the "National Army", the "Irish Army", or just "troops". The Anti-Treaty troops were to be called "Irregulars" and were not to be referred to as "Republicans", "IRA", "forces", or "troops", nor were the ranks of their officers allowed to be given. National Army units, especially the Dublin Guard, were implicated in a series of atrocities against captured anti-Treaty fighters.


title: Irish Army

text: The National Army suffered about 800 fatalities in the Civil War, including its commander-in-chief, Michael Collins. Collins was succeeded by Richard Mulcahy.


title: Irish Army

text: In April 1923, the anti-Treaty IRA called a ceasefire, and in May it ordered its fighters to "dump arms", effectively ending the war.


title: Irish Army

text: With the end of the Civil War, the National Army had grown too big for a peacetime role and was too expensive for the new Irish state to maintain. In addition, many of the civil war recruits were badly trained and undisciplined, making them unsuitable material for a full-time professional army. The Special Infantry Corps was established to perform the army's first post-war duty, breaking the strikes of agricultural labourers in Munster and south Leinster, as well as reversing factory seizures by socialists.


title: Irish Army

text: Richard Mulcahy, the new Irish defence minister, proposed to reduce the army from 55,000 to 18,000 men in the immediate post-Civil War period. This provoked mutiny among National Army officers in 1923–24, particularly among former IRA officers who considered that former British Army officers were being treated better than they were.


title: Irish Army

text: On 3 August 1923, the new State passed the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, putting the existing armed forces on a legal footing. This Act raised ""an armed force to be called Óglaigh na hÉireann (hereinafter referred to as the Forces) consisting of such number of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men as may from time to time be provided by the Oireachtas"." The date of the establishment of the Defence Forces was 1 October 1924. The term "National Army" fell into disuse.


title: Irish Army

text: The Army had a new establishment, organisation, rank markings, headdress and orders of dress. The National Army's Air Service became the Air Corps and remained part of the Army until the 1990s. An all-Irish language-speaking unit was created – "An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe" (English: The First Infantry Battalion) was established in Galway, and functioned exclusively through the medium of the Irish state's first official language.


title: Irish Army

text: Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War, which was referred to as "The Emergency" by the Irish government. About 5,000 soldiers deserted and joined the British military. Those who returned in 1945 were summarily dismissed from the armed forces and disqualified from any form of state-funded employment for seven years. These soldiers later received an official amnesty and apology from the government of Ireland (on 7 May 2013).


title: Irish Army

text: Despite the Irish stance of neutrality, the Army was greatly expanded during the war (with more recruited to reserve forces). At its peak, the army was made up of almost 41,000 personnel, with another 106,000 reservists. Upon the outbreak of war two independent brigades were raised. During the so-called Phoney War period, numbers of men mobilised decreased. The Fall of France, however, saw a significant change in the government's attitude, and by early 1941 seven brigades were mobilised. On 9 May 1941, Minister for Defence Oscar Traynor approved the establishment of the 1st Division and 2nd Division, both of which encompassed six brigades, leaving the 5th Brigade to remain independent, as part of Curragh Command. This expansion was undertaken in the face of potential invasions from either the Allied or Axis powers (both of whom had drawn up contingency plans to invade Ireland).


title: Irish Army

text: In the Christmas Raid of 1939, the remnants of the IRA stole a large quantity of the Irish Army's reserve ammunition from its dump at the Magazine Fort in Dublin's Phoenix Park. While this was seen as an embarrassment for the Irish Army, most of it was recovered.


title: Irish Army

text: For the duration of the war, Ireland, while formally neutral, tacitly supported the Allies in several ways. For example, the Donegal Corridor allowed British military aircraft based in County Fermanagh to fly through Irish airspace to the Atlantic, thereby greatly increasing their operational range. G2, the Army's intelligence section, played a role in the detection and arrest of German spies, such as Hermann Görtz.


title: Irish Army

text: Since Ireland joined the United Nations in 1955, the Army has been deployed on many peacekeeping missions. The first of these took place in 1958 when a small number of observers were sent to Lebanon. A total of 86 Irish soldiers have died in the service of the United Nations since 1960 ("see List of Irish military casualties overseas").


title: Irish Army

text: The first major overseas deployment came in 1960, when Irish troops were sent to the Congo as part of the UN force ONUC. The Belgian Congo became an independent republic on 30 June 1960. Twelve days later, the Congolese government requested military assistance from the United Nations to maintain its territorial integrity. On 28 July 1960 Lt-Col Murt Buckley led the 32nd Irish Battalion to the newly independent central African country. This was the most costly enterprise for the Army since the Civil War, as 26 Irish soldiers lost their lives.


title: Irish Army

text: Nine died in a single incident called the "Niemba Ambush", in which an eleven-man Irish patrol was ambushed by local tribesmen. Nine Irish soldiers and some 25 tribesmen were killed. A Niemba Ambush commemoration is hosted annually by the Irish Veterans Organisation (ONET) in Cathal Brugha Barracks, on the nearest Saturday to the actual date of the ambush.


title: Irish Army

text: One of the largest ONUC engagements in which Irish troops were involved was the Siege of Jadotville. During this action, a small party of 155 Irish soldiers ("A" Company, 35th Battalion) was attacked by a larger force of almost 4,000 Katangese troops, as well as French, Belgian and Rhodesian mercenaries, and supported by a trainer jet (a Fouga CM.170 Magister), equipped for ground attack. The Irish soldiers repeatedly repelled the attackers, and knocked out enemy artillery and mortar positions using 60mm mortars. An attempt was made by 500 Irish and Swedish Army soldiers to break through to the besieged company, but the attempt failed. A Company's commanding officer Commandant Patrick Quinlan, eventually surrendered his forces. A small number of Irish soldiers were wounded, but none killed. It is estimated, however, that up to 300 of A Company's attackers were killed, including 30 white mercenaries, and that up to 1,000 were wounded.


title: Irish Army

text: Starting in 1964, Irish troops have served as UN peacekeepers in Cyprus (UNFICYP). Over 9,000 Irish personnel have served there to date, without suffering casualties.


title: Irish Army

text: In 1973, an infantry group and some logistical troops were pulled out of Cyprus at short notice to serve in the Sinai desert between Egypt and Israel as part of the UN force that supervised the ceasefire that ended the Yom Kippur War.


title: Irish Army

text: From 1978 to 2001, a battalion of Irish troops was deployed in southern Lebanon, as part of the UN mandate force UNIFIL. The Irish battalion consisted of 580 personnel which were rotated every six months, plus almost 100 others in UNIFIL headquarters and the Force Mobile Reserve. In all, 30,000 Irish soldiers served in Lebanon over 23 years.


title: Irish Army

text: The Irish troops in Lebanon were initially intended to supervise the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the area after an invasion in 1978 and to prevent fighting between the Palestine Liberation Organization forces and Israel.


title: Irish Army

text: In April 1980, three Irish soldiers were killed in an episode of violence near At Tiri in Southern Lebanon. On 16 April 1980, soldiers attempting to set up a checkpoint near At Tiri were attacked by members of the South Lebanon Army (an Israeli-backed Christian militia). Private Stephen Griffin, of the 46th Irish Battalion, was shot in the head and died. Two days later, a party of three Irish soldiers, an American officer, a French officer and two journalists were travelling to a UN post near the Israeli border when they were intercepted by members of the S.L.A. Private John O'Mahony from Killarney, County Kerry was shot and wounded and his two comrades Privates Thomas Barrett from Cork and Derek Smallhorne from Dublin were driven away. Both men were found shot dead nearby, with their bodies showing signs of torture.


title: Irish Army

text: Another Israeli invasion in 1982 forced the PLO out of southern Lebanon and occupied the area. The following eighteen years until 2000 saw prolonged guerrilla warfare between Israeli forces, their allies in the South Lebanon Army and Hezbollah. UNIFIL was caught in the middle of this conflict. The Irish battalion's role consisted of manning checkpoints and observations posts and mounting patrols. A total of 47 soldiers were killed. In addition to peacekeeping, the Irish provided humanitarian aid to the local population – for example, aiding the orphanage at Tibnin. From 25 April 1995 to 9 May 1996, Brigadier General P. Redmond served as Deputy Force Commander of UNIFIL during a period that coincided with the Israeli Operation Grapes of Wrath offensive in 1996.