title: José Antonio Reyes

text: On 1 June 2019, Reyes died at the age of 35 following a car accident while travelling between Utrera and Seville with his cousins, Jonathan Reyes, who also died, and Juan Manuel Calderón, who was taken to a hospital in serious condition. Police estimated that the car was travelling between 111 km/h (69 mph) and 130 km/h (81 mph) and that he had suffered a steering or tyre failure which led to him losing control of the car. This report disputed the earlier claims that he had been travelling at 220 km/h (135 mph) as previously reported.


title: José Antonio Reyes

text: Many footballers and his former clubs offered their condolences to Reyes' family, and a moment of silence was observed at the 2019 UEFA Champions League Final, played in Madrid later that day. His funeral took place on 3 June in his hometown of Utrera, and his last team Extremadura retired his shirt number 19 shortly after; in February 2020 this number was erroneously given to Chinese new signing Gao Leilei, with the error being later rectified.


title: Fraxinus

text: Fraxinus (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergreen. The genus is widespread across much of Europe, Asia, and North America.


title: Fraxinus

text: The leaves are opposite (rarely in whorls of three), and mostly pinnately compound, though simple in a few species. The seeds, popularly known as "keys" or "helicopter seeds", are a type of fruit known as a samara. Some "Fraxinus" species are dioecious, having male and female flowers on separate plants but sex in ash is expressed as a continuum between male and female individuals, dominated by unisexual trees. With age, ash may change their sexual function from predominantly male and hermaphrodite towards femaleness ; if grown as an ornamental and both sexes are present, ashes can cause a considerable litter problem with their seeds. Rowans or mountain ashes have leaves and buds superficially similar to those of true ashes, but belong to the unrelated genus "Sorbus" in the rose family.


title: Fraxinus

text: The tree's common English name, "ash", traces back to the Old English "æsc", which relates to the proto-Indo-European for the tree, while the generic name originated in Latin from a proto-Indo-European word for birch. Both words are also used to mean "spear" in their respective languages, as the wood is good for shafts.


title: Fraxinus

text: North American native ash tree species are a critical food source for North American frogs, as their fallen leaves are particularly suitable for tadpoles to feed upon in ponds (both temporary and permanent), large puddles, and other water bodies. Lack of tannins in the American ash makes their leaves a good food source for the frogs, but also reduces its resistance to the ash borer. Species with higher leaf tannin levels (including maples and non-native ash species) are taking the place of native ash, thanks to their greater resistance to the ash borer. They produce much less suitable food for the tadpoles, resulting in poor survival rates and small frog sizes.


title: Fraxinus

text: Ash species native to North America also provide important habit and food for various other creatures native to North America. This includes the larvae of multiple long-horn beetles, as well as other insects including those in the genus Tropidosteptes, lace bugs, aphids, larvae of gall flies, and caterpillars. Birds are also interested in black, green, and white ash trees. The black ash alone supports wood ducks, wild turkey, cardinals, pine grosbeaks, cedar waxwings, and yellow-bellied sapsuckers, with habitat and food (such as the sap being of interest to the sapsucker) among others. Many mammalian species from meadow voles eating the seeds to white-tailed deer eating the foliage to silver-haired bats nesting will also make use of ash trees.


title: Fraxinus

text: The emerald ash borer ("Agrilus planipennis"), also called EAB, is a wood-boring beetle accidentally introduced to North America from eastern Asia via solid wood packing material in the late 1980s to early 1990s. It has killed tens of millions of trees in 22 states in the United States and adjacent Ontario and Quebec in Canada. It threatens some seven billion ash trees in North America. Research is being conducted to determine if three native Asian wasps that are natural predators of EAB could be used as a biological control for the management of EAB populations in the United States. The public is being cautioned not to transport unfinished wood products, such as firewood, to slow the spread of this insect pest.


title: Fraxinus

text: Damage occurs when emerald ash borer larvae feed on the inner bark, phloem, inside branches and tree trunks. Feeding on the phloem prevents nutrients and water transportation. If the ash is attacked, the branches can die and eventually the whole tree can as well. Ways to detect emerald ash borer infestation include seeing bark peeling off, vertical cracks in the bark, seeing galleries within the tree that contain powdery substance, and D-shaped exit holes on the branches or trunk. Not all of these may be present, but any of these warning signs could be an indication of possible infestation.


title: Fraxinus

text: The European ash, "Fraxinus excelsior", has been affected by the fungus "Hymenoscyphus fraxineus", causing ash dieback in a large number of trees since the mid-1990s, particularly in eastern and northern Europe. The disease has infected about 90% of Denmark's ash trees. At the end of October 2012 in the UK, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) reported that ash dieback had been discovered in mature woodland in Suffolk; previous occurrences had been on young trees imported from Europe. In 2016, the ash tree was reported as in danger of extinction in Europe.


title: Fraxinus

text: Ash is a hardwood and is dense (within 20% of 670 kg/m for "Fraxinus americana", and higher at 710 kg/m for "Fraxinus excelsior"), tough and very strong but elastic, extensively used for making bows, tool handles, baseball bats, hurleys, and other uses demanding high strength and resilience.


title: Fraxinus

text: Ash, particularly swamp ash because of its figure, is a choice of material for electric guitar bodies and, less commonly, for acoustic guitar bodies, known for its bright, cutting edge and sustaining quality. Some Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters are made of ash, (such as Bruce Springsteen's Telecaster on the "Born to Run" album cover), as an alternative to alder.


title: Fraxinus

text: Ash is a Tonewood commonly used in the manufacture of electric guitars. It exhibits a pronounced bright tone with a scooped midrange. It's lightweight, easy to work and sand, accepts glue, stain, paint and finish very well and is inexpensive. All this has made it a favourite of large factories mass producing instruments. The Fender musical instrument company has been continuously and uninterruptedly using Ash to make electric guitars since 1956. Swamp ash is used a lot in guitar building because of its figure. It is a choice of material for electric guitar bodies and, less commonly, for acoustic guitar bodies, known for its bright, cutting edge and sustaining quality. Some Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters are made of ash, (such as Bruce Springsteen's Telecaster on the "Born to Run" album cover), as an alternative to alder.


title: Fraxinus

text: Woodworkers generally consider ash a "poor cousin" to the other major open pore wood, oak, but it is useful in any furniture application. Ash veneers are extensively used in office furniture. Ash is not used much outdoors due to the heartwood having a low durability to ground contact, meaning it will typically perish within five years. The "F. japonica" species is favored as a material for making baseball bats by Japanese sporting-goods manufacturers.


title: Fraxinus

text: Its robust structure, good looks, and flexibility combine to make ash ideal for staircases. Ash stairs are extremely hard-wearing, which is particularly important for treads. Due to its elasticity, ash can also be steamed and bent to produce curved stair parts such as volutes (curled sections of handrail) and intricately shaped balusters. However, a reduction in the supply of healthy trees, especially in Europe, is making ash an increasingly expensive option.


title: Fraxinus

text: Ash was commonly used for the structural members of the bodies of cars made by carriage builders. Early cars had frames which were intended to flex as part of the suspension system to simplify construction. The Morgan Motor Company of Great Britain still manufactures sports cars with frames made from ash. It was also widely used by early aviation pioneers for aircraft construction.


title: Fraxinus

text: It lights and burns easily, so is used for starting fires and barbecues, and is usable for maintaining a fire, though it produces only a moderate heat. The two most economically important species for wood production are white ash, in eastern North America, and European ash in Europe. The green ash ("F. pennsylvanica") is widely planted as a street tree in the United States. The inner bark of the blue ash ("F. quadrangulata") has been used as a source for blue dye.


title: Fraxinus

text: In Sicily, Italy, sugars are obtained by evaporating the sap of the manna ash, extracted by making small cuts in the bark.The manna ash, native to southern Europe and southwest Asia, produces a blue-green sap, which has medicinal value as a mild laxative, demulcent, and weak expectorant.


title: Fraxinus

text: The young seedpods of Ash trees, also known as "keys," are edible for human consumption. In Britain, they are traditionally pickled with vinegar, sugar and spices.


title: Fraxinus

text: In Greek mythology, the Meliae are nymphs associated with the ash, perhaps specifically of the manna ash ("Fraxinus ornus"), as dryads were nymphs associated with the oak. They appear in Hesiod's "Theogony."


title: Fraxinus

text: In Norse mythology, a vast, evergreen ash tree Yggdrasil ("the steed (gallows) of Odin"), watered by three magical springs, serves as axis mundi, sustaining the nine worlds of the cosmos in its roots and branches. "Askr", the first man in Norse myth, literally means 'ash'.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: Oxygen () is a 2021 French-language science fiction thriller film, directed and produced by Alexandre Aja, from a screenplay by Christie LeBlanc. As part of an American-French co-production, it stars Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, and Malik Zidi. The film was released by Netflix on May 12, 2021.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: A woman awakens in an airtight medical cryogenic unit, and discovers that she is trapped and that the unit's oxygen levels are falling rapidly. Suffering from memory loss, she does not remember who she is or how she got there. She is assisted by an advanced AI named M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer), but it refuses to open the cryo unit without an administrator code. Using M.I.L.O., she is able to transmit outside the pod and contact emergency services. She provides them with the cryo unit's model and serial number, which are printed on the interior. Upon contacting the manufacturer they are told the unit was destroyed three years prior. Unable to recall her memories, she looks for clues about her past by searching for pictures and articles from M.I.L.O. and finds her name, Elizabeth (Liz) Hansen. She realizes she is a cryogenic doctor. She finds her husband, Léo Ferguson, and his contact number by accessing her social media, but when she calls his number a woman answers. She tells the woman that she is Léo's wife and demands to speak to him. The woman seems confused and hangs up.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: As the oxygen level continues to fall, Liz begins hallucinating and tries to open the pod, only to receive an electric shock. She then receives a call back from the police but suspects they are hiding something from her, and disconnects. The unknown woman she called earlier rings and tells her that Léo is dead. She also gives her the administrator code to open the pod, but tells her that if she opens the pod, she will die. Liz uses the code to give herself administrator access, but stops short of opening the pod when the unknown woman begs her to listen. Following the woman's instructions, Liz accesses controls for a centrifuge, and turns the centrifuge off. She begins floating weightlessly. After a brief explanation, it is revealed that she has been placed into hyper-sleep, and is 12 years into a 34-year journey to a 14 light-year distant planet. The mission is secret, as mankind will be extinct in the near future due to a deadly virusthe virus which killed Léo.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: Heartbroken, she deduces the awakening was due to a processor overheating, and realizes she must divert the functions of the processor to a less sophisticated processor assigned to non-essential functions, but fails since the data exceeds that processor's capacity. As time passes by and with oxygen levels fading, she prepares for suicide by attempting to open the pod. Shortly after, she discovers Léo is also in hypersleep in the damaged spaceship together with nearly 10,000 others, but she notices he lacks a scar on his forehead that he had before. Upon further investigation, through a video of a presentation by an elderly version of her, it is revealed that she is a genetic clone with the original Elizabeth Hansen's personality and memories implanted, including memories of Léo. The woman she has been speaking to on earth designed the hyper-sleep units, but the call disconnects as the spacecraft moves out of communications range.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: M.I.L.O. activates a euthanasia protocol due to her zero chance of survival, however, Liz manages to deactivate the euthanasia processor and successfully reassigns the malfunctioning processor's functions to it. As her oxygen level counts down to zero, Liz manages to reroute oxygen from pods with already dead occupants, and M.I.L.O. puts her back in hyper sleep.


title: Oxygen (2021 film)

text: In July 2017, it was announced Anne Hathaway had joined the cast of the film and would serve as a producer on the film, with Echo Lake Entertainment and IM Global attached to produce the film (under the working title "O2"), from a screenplay by Christie LeBlanc. In February 2020, it was announced Noomi Rapace had joined the cast of the film, replacing Hathaway, with Franck Khalfoun directing the film, and Alexandre Aja serving as producer. In July 2020, Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric and Malik Zidi joined the cast, replacing Rapace, with Aja serving as director replacing Khalfoun, and Adam Riback and James Engle executive producing through Echo Lake Entertainment. In February 2021, the completed film was reported to have received the new title "Oxygen".


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Falcon (Samuel Thomas "Sam" Wilson) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was introduced by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Gene Colan in "Captain America" #117 (Sept. 1969), and was the first Black American superhero in mainstream comic books.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Samuel Wilson, or known as his superhero alias "Falcon", uses mechanical wings to fly, defend, and attack, he also has limited telepathic and empathic control over birds. After Steve Rogers retires, Wilson becomes Captain America in "All-New Captain America" #1 (Jan. 2015) and leader of the Avengers. Wilson's deceased nephew was the Incredible Hulk's sometime-sidekick Jim Wilson, one of the first openly HIV-positive comic-book characters. Jim Wilson's father Gideon Wilson would go on to join the Gamma Corps.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson as Falcon and Captain America has made several media appearances, including in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where the character is portrayed by Anthony Mackie in the films "" (2014), "" (2015), "Ant-Man" (2015), "" (2016), "" (2018), "" (2019), the television miniseries "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (2021), and the upcoming film as Captain America in "" (2024).


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Samuel Thomas Wilson, known as "Falcon", was the first Black American superhero in mainstream comic books. The character first appeared in "Captain America" #117 (Sept. 1969).


title: Falcon (comics)

text: He was introduced as an unnamed former resident of New York City's Harlem neighborhood, who had adopted a wild falcon he trained and named Redwing. His own name, Sam Wilson, was not given until the following issue. When a group of men on an island "in the tropics" wanted a hunting falcon, Wilson answered the ad, only to discover that the self-dubbed "Exiles" were former Nazis in league with the supervillain the Red Skull. He escaped, but remained on the island to organize the natives to confront the Exiles, who had turned them into serfs. At the urging of Steve Rogers, whom he later learned was Captain America, Wilson took on the costumed identity of the Falcon and underwent training with Rogers in order to better inspire the villagers and lead the fight.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Through most of the 1970s, the Falcon and Captain America were a team in New York City. The series was cover-billed "Captain America and the Falcon" from issues #134–192 and 194–222 (Feb. 1971–June 1978), though still copyrighted as "Captain America". In issue #186 (June 1975), writer Steve Englehart retconned aspects of the Falcon's past. Originally depicted as a former social worker, motivated by a desire to better the lives of inner-city youth, the Falcon was revealed as a mob-connected thug whose memories were altered by the reality-warping Cosmic Cube.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: The Falcon briefly joined the superhero team the Defenders, appearing in issues #62–64 (August–October 1978), and was a member of the Avengers from issues #183–194 (May 1979 – April 1980). During this time he also starred in a solo adventure in issue #49 of the try-out series "Marvel Premiere"; however, the story was not a try-out for a Falcon series, but an intended fill-in issue of "Captain America" which was shuffled into "Marvel Premiere" when the editors objected to having an issue of "Captain America" with someone other than the title character as the star. He starred in his own four-issue miniseries in 1983, written by Jim Owsley (later known as Christopher Priest). Its first issue was illustrated by Paul Smith with the final three issues by Mark Bright. The series revealed that the Falcon was a mutant, although this development was later retconned in "The Avengers 2001" Annual.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: After regularly appearing in "Captain America" vol. 2 (Nov. 1996–Nov. 1997), the Falcon rejoined the Avengers in "The Avengers" vol. 3, #1 (Feb. 1998). This time, he remained with the team, becoming one of its most prominent members by issue #57 (Oct. 2002). Concurrently, he was also a supporting character in "Captain America" vols. 3–4 (Jan. 1998–Feb. 2002 and June 2002–Dec. 2004). The Falcon next appeared in the short-lived "Captain America and the Falcon" series, in 2004 and 2005. After the events of the storyline "Avengers Disassembled", when the Scarlet Witch temporarily restored his criminal personality, the Falcon became a supporting character in "Captain America" vol. 5 (Jan. 2005–July 2009). The Falcon continued to play a significant role in the series after it returned to its original numbering, beginning with "Captain America" #600 (Aug. 2009).


title: Falcon (comics)

text: On July 16, 2014, Marvel Comics announced that Sam Wilson would relinquish the mantle of Falcon and would become the new Captain America, succeeding Steve Rogers in the role. During this run, it is established that Sam Wilsons's "Snap" backstory as a drug dealing pimp was fake memories implanted by the Red Skull to discredit Sam through racism.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: An ongoing series starring Sam Wilson as Captain America launched in October 2015, as part of Marvel's post-"Secret Wars" relaunch, written by Nick Spencer and Daniel Acuña.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson temporarily returns to the role of Captain America in the 2017 miniseries "Marvel's Generations".


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson resumed the identity of Falcon in a series written by Rodney Barnes that debuted in late 2017, the character's first solo series since 1983.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Samuel Thomas Wilson was born in Harlem, New York City, to Paul Wilson, a prominent minister, and Darlene Wilson. Wilson had a happy childhood and finds he has a natural affinity for birds. He takes up training pigeons, and has the largest pigeon coop in Harlem. In his teens, however, encounters with racism leave him jaded. When he is 16, Wilson refuses to join the church, believing his deeply religious parents to be ignorant for their faith. To his surprise, rather than put up a fight, his parents provide him with books on different religions and comparative theology. The next night, however, Sam's father is killed trying to break up a neighborhood fight (originally Paul was said to have been killed when Sam was 9 years old). Two years later, his mother is shot and killed by a mugger one block from their apartment. The tragic death of his parents does not stop Sam from being a respected community volunteer.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: As a grown adult, Sam continued doing social work and meets Captain America on Exile Island (years later, he would say "I actually loved this place quite a bit. It's where I met my two best friends," referring to Captain America and Redwing). The once-peaceful island had been taken over by the Exiles, a group of would-be world conquerors who had collaborated with the Nazi supervillain the Red Skull during World War II. They had been betrayed by the Red Skull and were forced to remain in hiding on the island, enslaving the natives. Wilson finds and befriends Redwing, a falcon with which he feels a remarkably strong bond.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson is an upright and cheerful social worker who is eventually lured to the Exiles' island and organizes the natives to fight for their freedom. Steve Rogers (Captain America) befriends him there and convinces Wilson to adopt a persona to inspire the natives in their rebellion. The two create the costumed persona the Falcon and train together extensively before attacking and defeating the Exiles and the Red Skull. The Falcon becomes Captain America's regular partner in crime-fighting, and briefly even takes on the Captain America costume and identity when Rogers is believed to have been killed.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Later, again as the Falcon, Wilson receives help from the Black Panther, who creates a harness for Wilson, allowing him to fly. When Rogers briefly abandons his Captain America identity, others attempt to take up the mantle, including a young man named Roscoe whom the Falcon mentors. When the Red Skull eventually kills Roscoe, Rogers again becomes Captain America.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Soon afterwards, the Red Skull tricks Sam into believing that he had a secret past as Snap Wilson, a professional Los Angeles criminal and gang member persona created out of grief and "angry at the world" following the death of Sam's parents. Red Skull makes the untruthful claim that the Cosmic Cube was used to erase the memories of this Snap Wilson past so that Sam could be used as a mole for Red Skull. Red Skull then unsuccessfully attempts to use the Cosmic Cube to make the Falcon kill Captain America. Believing in the existence of this fake criminal past but deciding to continue as a hero, the Falcon is eventually named head of the Super Agents at the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: US government superhero liaison Henry Peter Gyrich then recruits Wilson, one of the few active black superheroes, to fill a mandated racial quota for the venerable team the Avengers. Resentful of being a "token", the Falcon quits at the first opportunity. He debuts a new costume when he fights the supervillain Taskmaster.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Falcon becomes a member of the new team of Avengers assembled to fight the international menace Scorpio as a United Nations peacekeeping agency. By this point, Falcon had discovered that he could extend his telepathic bond with Redwing, allowing him to control other birds and "see" through their eyes. He uses this ability to spy on Henry Gyrich (now the Avengers' liaison with the United Nations) and discovers that the United States' Secretary of Defense, Dell Rusk, has been pressuring Gyrich to spy on the Avengers and turn over their secrets. Although initially hostile to one another, Falcon convinces Gyrich to help the Avengers spy on Rusk, feeding him false information while gathering evidence to expose him. They discover that Rusk is actually the Red Skull, who has launched a biological weapon attack on the United States, intending to use the ensuing panic to gain control over America's government and start a war with other countries. Falcon is instrumental in defeating the Red Skull.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: It is around this period of time that, a new "Captain America" secretly created by the Office of Naval Intelligence (O.N.I.) goes rogue and begins eliminating anything and anyone he sees as a source of terrorism. To draw out this agent (dubbed "The Anti-Cap"), O.N.I. leaks information about their involvement in a biological weapons project with the notorious Rivas Family, powerful Cuban drug lords. Reporter and social activist Leila Taylor investigates this rumor and attempts to smuggle a sample of the virus into America, but she is arrested by U.S. forces in Cuba. Falcon, who is a friend of Taylor, breaks her out of prison and investigates her claims, destroying the Rivas Family's biological weapons lab and obtaining a sample of the mysterious virus they were developing for O.N.I. Falcon is able to fly Leila back to America (although his flying harness is destroyed in a hurricane) while Captain America follows Falcon's directions and retrieves the virus sample. The Anti-Cap kills the head of the Rivas family, and pursues Leila, Falcon, and Cap, intent on obtaining the virus sample. After reuniting, Falcon and Captain America are able to barely defeat the Anti-Cap. Realizing that O.N.I.'s goal was to draw out their rogue agent to execute him, Captain America arranges to have the Anti-Cap secretly imprisoned in the Wakandan embassy until O.N.I. agrees not to kill him.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Since Captain America and Falcon now possess both O.N.I.'s rogue agent and the last remaining sample of O.N.I.'s virus, O.N.I. begins to put increasing amounts of pressure on the heroes. Falcon is especially targeted – he had broken Leila out of Federal Custody, and his alleged criminal history makes it easier for O.N.I. to create further false charges against him. Falcon soon finds himself on the run from O.N.I.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Meanwhile, the superheroine the Scarlet Witch, having gone insane, begins using her powers to re-create many of the Avengers' greatest trials and tragedies. She destabilizes the Falcon's mind, causing him to act increasingly like the "Snap Wilson" persona. He begins carrying a gun, keeps secrets from his friends, assaults Leila's boyfriend Norman when he protests they go into hiding, and uses a high power rifle to shoot at his friend Robbie Robertson (to fool Robbie into thinking O.N.I. was threatening to kill him). Although they succeed in exposing the illegal activities of O.N.I. and clear Wilson's name, Sam's methods cause his relationship with Captain America to become strained. Cap confronts Falcon about his recent actions, and Falcon, angered at what he sees as an ultimatum, terminates their partnership. As they are walking away, Norman (who blames Falcon for the end of his relationship with Leila) appears and shoots at Falcon. Captain America is seriously injured by the stray bullets, and even appears to die. The shock of watching his best friend seemingly die because of his actions has a powerful effect on Sam, who briefly gives up being Falcon and reexamines his life.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Sam Wilson reappears as Falcon in the 2005 "House of M" storyline and in the 2006–07 "Civil War" storyline. In the latter, he supports Captain America against the Superhuman Registration Act. When the Captain becomes incapacitated, Falcon temporarily assumes leadership of the "Secret Avengers" rebel group. Following Captain America's assassination by the machinations of the Red Skull, the Falcon registers with the government and is made responsible for Harlem, although he continues to maintain contact with the underground The New Avengers. He is also called upon to investigate the Captain's assassination by locating Winter Soldier and tracking down the Red Skull.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson appears in the 2010 "Shadowland" storyline as Falcon, after which he becomes an operative in the new incarnation of the Heroes for Hire team, in the book of the same name. He later appears in the 2012 "Avengers vs. X-Men" storyline, helping She-Hulk and several other Avengers contain the students at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: As part of the 2012-2015 Marvel NOW! relaunch, Wilson rejoins the Avengers after Iron Man and Captain America choose to expand the team's line-up. After Rogers is aged into an old man, he appoints Wilson as his 'official' replacement as Captain America. During a confrontation with the Red Skull's daughter Sin, it is revealed that the "Snap" identity was a fake memory implanted into Sam by the Red Skull in an attempt to discredit the hero through racism.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: As part of the 2015 All-New, All-Different Marvel initiative, Captain America investigated the disappearance of Mexican teenager Joaquin Torres after he was abducted by the Sons of the Serpent. After fighting Armadillo and capturing the leader of the hate group, Captain America discovered that Joaquin was being used in the experiments of Karl Malus who turned Joaquin into a bird/human hybrid using Captain America's pet bird Redwing. When Karl Malus was defeated, Captain America took Joaquin in. When it was discovered Joaquin's bird/human hybrid condition wasn't temporary, Captain America learned from Claire Temple that Joaquin's condition was permanent due to Redwing being vampiric and sporting a healing factor. When Captain America was captured by the Serpent Society and thrown out the window by Viper, he was saved by Joaquin. Using his link with Redwing, Captain America telepathically sent Joaquin the knowledge on how to fight where he held his own until Misty Knight and Demolition Man showed up. After the Serpent Society was defeated, Captain America allowed Joaquin to become his sidekick, enabling him to become the new Falcon.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: During the 2016 "" storyline, Sam, after defeating the Green Skull, is contacted by Whisperer (an alias of Rick Jones). After meeting Whisperer, he learns that S.H.I.E.L.D. never discarded the Kobik project as he thought they did. He meets with Steve Rogers, where they follow a lead to a town in Connecticut and are later picked up by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He then meets the Winter Soldier and rescue S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Avril Kincaid from the Blood Brothers, who informs them of a super-weapon hidden in the town that Baron Zemo and the other villains are looking for. They then head to the bowling alley where Kobik uses her powers to restore Steve Rogers to his prime when he was about to be killed by Crossbones. They begin looking for Kobik again only to discover that Baron Zemo had Fixer invent a device that would help find Kobik as Kraven the Hunter rallies the villains to help with their goals. Upon not being able to successfully locate Kobik, Steve Rogers decides to rally the heroes so that they can take the fight to Baron Zemo. In the aftermath of the incident, Steve and Sam plan to keep what happened at Pleasant Hill under wraps at the time being.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: After the "Standoff!" storyline, Sam begins to face public pressure to return the shield and mantle of Captain America to Steve, as does Maria Hill for the consequences of her actions on Pleasant Hill. He and Steve then begin to secretly plan for a way to get Hill to face her crimes publicly. During a press conference, Sam encounters the mercenary Chance who was about to kill Steve in the middle of his speech. After defeating him, Sam receives a hero's welcome when Steve announces him to the public as Captain America. While getting arrested, Chance tells Sam that he was on Pleasant Hill and that he didn't agree with the heroes' actions.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: During the 2016 "Civil War II" storyline, Captain America attends War Machine's funeral, where he delivers an inspirational speech. He then has private conversations with Iron Man and Captain Marvel, over which side he should choose. Months later, Wilson watches a TV broadcast about former New Warrior Rage engaging in a fight with the Americops, a private police force funded by Keane Industries, in Brooklyn. Intending to stop the fight, Wilson, along with Redwing and Falcon, try to contain the situation. Sam manages to stop the fight, although not without fighting the Americops, for which he knew the media would portray him negatively. As he leaves, he is attacked from behind by U.S. Agent. After a brief argument, Captain America and U.S. Agent begin to fight, with U.S. Agent gaining the upper hand, until Sam drags him into a tunnel where the darkness and the great horned owls that reside in it allow him to win the fight. After defeating U.S. Agent and receiving an argument from Rage, Wilson returns to his headquarters where he decides to put a tiny implant in his brain that will enhance his ability to see what birds see, enabling him to transmit them into a data storage facility that converts them into images and videos. He decides to further investigate the Americops to find proof of their violent activities.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: While accompanying Steve Rogers on a mission to stop Flag-Smasher from leaking America's nuclear launch codes, Wilson fails to save a senator from being shot by the villain, further compromising his current public image. This is subsequently revealed to have been deliberately staged by Rogers who has been converted to believe he is a Hydra sleeper agent since childhood. Using his greater familiarity with the shield, Rogers deliberately put Wilson in a position where he would be unable to use the shield to save the senator, with the final goal of demoralizing Sam to the point where he will return the shield to Rogers of his own free will (not wanting to kill Wilson and risk creating a martyr).


title: Falcon (comics)

text: After discovering that Rage was arrested and accused of robbing a pawn shop which Man Mountain Marko and Speed Demon committed, Sam offers him professional help from other heroes, but Rage turns it down, preferring that he should be the one to prove his innocence. After consulting with his brother and Rogers, Sam posts a video on the internet showing footage of the Americops beating up Rage, exposing their violent activities. During Rage's trial, a frustrated Sam leaves the courtroom and captures Speed Demon, who confesses to his and Man Mountain Marko's involvement in the pawn shop robbery. Upon returning to the court, Misty tells Sam that the verdict was already given. While people protest over Rage's arrest, Sam tries his best to calm them. Sam leaves a letter which explains he is ending his role as Captain America and returning the shield to Steve Rogers


title: Falcon (comics)

text: During the 2017 "Secret Empire" storyline, Sam has spent time alone in a desert and returns to the city where he discovers Hydra's takeover of America and that Steve Rogers is their leader. Sam rescues a woman and her Inhuman daughter from Hydra enforcers, Sam reluctantly helps them to safety. He reunites with Misty Knight and Demolition Man and helps smuggle other Inhumans out of the country. He helps Ant-Man smuggle his daughter Cassandra Lang then declines their offer to join the underground resistance. When Hawkeye and the Tony Stark A.I. reveal that Kobik was responsible for Steve's change, Sam agrees to help smuggle them out of the country so they can find the Cosmic Cube's fragments. Sam takes the group through an abandoned subway tunnel where they encounter Mole Man, with whom Sam strikes a deal when they are attacked by Dreadnoughts sent by Hydra. After crossing the tunnel, the group departs in a jet plane. They arrive in a mansion where Ultron resides, since he is in possession of the shard. They encounter Steve Rogers and his Avengers until Ultron captures them. After a brief battle, Ultron allows them to leave and gives the shard to Tony's team. Steve muses that he is unconcerned about who will acquire the fragments as he has an inside man in the Tony Stark A.I.'s team.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: After a series of dead ends, the team returns to the hideout, where Sam reunites with Misty, until Hydra forces arrive and begin their assault on the base. During the battle, Sam helps the other heroes in protecting the refugees and battling Hydra's Avengers and a revived Bruce Banner as the Hulk until the base explodes. In the aftermath of the attack, Sam appears standing on top of the rubble as Captain America to inspire America's superheroes to not surrender. It is later revealed that Sam had a conversation with Misty Knight and Rayshaun Lucas, the new Patriot, which has persuaded him to reassume the role of Captain America, leading the resistance and wielding Rogers' original round shield as a symbol of hope. Sam uses the Cosmic Cube fragment acquired by the resistance to help destroy the Darkforce dome surrounding Manhattan and the planetary defense shield, releasing all the trapped heroes. Liberating all the imprisoned Inhumans, the Underground attacks the Capitol which attracts the attention of Steve Rogers, who arrives wearing Cosmic Cube-powered armor. During the final battle, Sam fakes surrender and gives the fragment to Steve, only for Winter Soldier to intervene and bring Kobik and the real Steve Rogers back. The restored Steve Rogers manages to defeat the Hydra Steve Rogers with Thor's hammer and Kobik restores reality back to normal.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Upon taking the second Patriot on as his sidekick, they travel to Chicago to deal with an outbreak of gang violence, unaware that Blackheart is posing as the city's Mayor.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: In his earliest appearances, Wilson exhibits a close bond with his bird Redwing, which is confirmed as being a telepathic link by Professor X in "Captain America" #174. The Red Skull later claims that he had used the Cosmic Cube to create a "super-normal mental link" between Sam Wilson and Redwing. Falcon later recalled memories of such an experience, stating he "Hurt like hell. Being mentally fused with that falcon. Able to see through his eyes".


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson eventually revealed that he has been able to extend this empathic link. "I'm always psychically connected with Redwing, but through concentration, i've recently tapped into another ability - i'm able to link-up with other birds. I have over six billion pairs of eyes in the United States alone". He used this ability to quickly search New York City when the criminal Scarecrow kidnapped two children, as well as to spy on Senator Dell Rusk (actually the Red Skull in disguise) and Henry Peter Gyrich. He is also apparently able to access the memories of birds, and see things they had witnessed in the past (although birds have a different concept of the passage of time, which makes it difficult for him to know when any events they witnessed occurred).


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, having been trained in Judo and Karate by Steve Rogers. Wilson is also highly skilled in the use of Captain America's shield.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: Wilson's original Falcon wing harness featured detachable jet-powered glider wings made of lightweight titanium ribbing and Mylar. The wings were covered with wafer-thin solar power receptors that convert sunlight into electricity to power miniature high-speed electric turbine fans in his uniform and boots. The wings detached and reattached to his uniform cybernetically. The harness was destroyed in "Captain America and the Falcon" #2 (2004). The uniform was made of synthetic stretch fabric lined with a steel-alloy mesh.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: After the original flying harness's destruction in a 2004 storyline, the Black Panther supplied Falcon with a new costume and wings. An emitter array on Falcon's back creates holographic "hard light" wings with a maximum wingspan of up to . Controlled by a cybernetic link, the wings can be instantly reconfigured into "dozens of different cruise configurations". A "magnetic drive", in turn, provides the thrust needed to get Falcon airborne. The emitter also possesses GPS jamming devices that prevent satellite tracking, while the hard-light wings interfere with infra-red tracking. A vibranium microweave was added to the costume itself, making Falcon resistant to small arms fire. The entire system is controlled mentally through cybernetic circuitry in the Falcon's mask. The costume has in the past featured a hidden "talon", a cybernetically controlled grappling line built into the gauntlets of his costume which he uses to entangle opponents, hook objects or for swinging and climbing when his wings are detached. The costume's visors come equipped with various capabilities, including infrared lenses, giving him the ability to see objects by their infrared signature at night, magnification capabilities, and remote imaging sensors that allow a full 360 degree of vision when activated. The cowl also has a wideband receiver and transmitter with an unspecified range. The suit was originally built by the Black Panther, with costume modifications by Desmond Burrell.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: As part of the 2015 All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Captain America (Sam Wilson) investigated the disappearance of Mexican teenager Joaquin Torres after he was abducted by the Sons of the Serpent. Captain America discovered that Joaquin was being used in the experiments of Karl Malus who turned Joaquin into a bird/human hybrid using Captain America's pet bird Redwing. When Karl Malus was defeated, Captain America took Joaquin in. When it was discovered Joaquin's bird/human hybrid condition wasn't temporary, Captain America learned from Claire Temple that Joaquin's condition was permanent due to Redwing being vampiric and sporting a healing factor. When Captain America was captured by the Serpent Society and thrown out the window by Viper, he was saved by Joaquin. Using his link with Redwing, Captain America telepathically sent Joaquin the knowledge on how to fight where he held his own until Misty Knight and Demolition Man showed up. After the Serpent Society was defeated, Captain America allowed Joaquin to become his sidekick, enabling him to become the new Falcon.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: During the "Secret Empire" storyline, Falcon II and Ironheart join the Champions when they join up with the Underground.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: In a 2017 storyline, Adrian Toomes developed a modified version of his electromagnetic wing harness with a reinforced helmet and lightweight, razor-sharp, nano-woven wings that responded to his mental commands. He temporarily took the name Falcon, believing it was vacant at the time, and robbed a location in East Village. He fought Spider-Man until they were both immobilized by a new Trapster, who made off with Toomes' loot.


title: Falcon (comics)

text: A similar, unrelated character of the same name and powers was created in 1939 by writer-artist Bill Everett for Marvel Comics' predecessor company, Timely Comics.


title: Floater

text: Floaters or eye floaters are sometimes visible deposits (e.g., the shadows of tiny structures of protein or other cell debris projected onto the retina) within the eye's vitreous humour ("the vitreous"), which is normally transparent, or between the vitreous and retina.


title: Floater

text: They can become particularly noticeable when looking at a blank surface or an open monochromatic space, such as blue sky.


title: Floater

text: Each floater can be measured by its size, shape, consistency, refractive index, and motility. They are also called "muscae volitantes" (Latin for 'flying flies'), or "mouches volantes" (from the same phrase in French). The vitreous usually starts out transparent, but imperfections may gradually develop as one ages. The common type of floater, present in most people's eyes, is due to these degenerative changes of the vitreous. The perception of floaters, which may be annoying or problematic to some people, is known as myodesopsia, or, less commonly, as "myodaeopsia", "myiodeopsia", or "myiodesopsia". It is not often treated, except in severe cases, where vitrectomy (surgery), laser vitreolysis, and medication may be effective.


title: Floater

text: Floaters are visible either because of the shadows imperfections cast on the retina, or because of the refraction of light that passes through them, and can appear alone or together with several others as a clump in one's visual field. They may appear as spots, threads, or fragments of "cobwebs", which float slowly before the observer's eyes, and move especially in the direction the eyes move. As these objects exist within the eye itself, they are not optical illusions but are entoptic phenomena (caused by the eye itself). They are not to be confused with visual snow, which is similar to the static on a television screen, although these two conditions may co-exist as part of a number of "visual disturbances" which include starbursts, trails, and afterimages.


title: Floater

text: Floaters are from objects in pockets of liquid within the vitreous humour, the thick fluid or gel that fills the eye, or between the vitreous and the retina. The vitreous humour, or vitreous body, is a jelly-like, transparent substance that fills the majority of the eye. It lies within the vitreous chamber behind the lens, and is one of the four optical components of the eye. Thus, floaters follow the rapid motions of the eye, while drifting slowly within the pocket of liquid. When they are first noticed, the natural reaction is to attempt to look directly at them. However, attempting to shift one's gaze toward them can be difficult because floaters follow the motion of the eye, remaining to the side of the direction of gaze. Floaters are, in fact, visible only because they do not remain perfectly fixed within the eye. Although the blood vessels of the eye also obstruct light, they are invisible under normal circumstances because they are fixed in location relative to the retina, and the brain "tunes out" stabilized images through neural adaptation.


title: Floater

text: Floaters are particularly noticeable when looking at a blank surface or an open monochromatic space, such as blue sky. Despite the name "floaters", many of these specks have a tendency to sink toward the bottom of the eyeball, in whichever way the eyeball is oriented; the supine position (looking up or lying back) tends to concentrate them near the fovea, which is the center of gaze, while the textureless and evenly lit sky forms an ideal background against which to view them. The brightness of the daytime sky also causes the eyes' pupils to contract, reducing the aperture, which makes floaters less blurry and easier to see.


title: Floater

text: Floaters present at birth usually remain lifelong, while those that appear later may disappear within weeks or months. They are not uncommon, and do not cause serious problems for most persons; they represent one of the most common presentations to hospital eye services. A survey of optometrists in 2002 suggested that an average of 14 patients per month per optometrist presented with symptoms of floaters in the UK. However, floaters are more than a nuisance and a distraction to those with severe cases, especially if the spots seem constantly to drift through the field of vision. The shapes are shadows projected onto the retina by tiny structures of protein or other cell debris discarded over the years and trapped in the vitreous humour or between the vitreous and retina. Floaters can even be seen when the eyes are closed on especially bright days, when sufficient light penetrates the eyelids to cast the shadows. It is not, however, only elderly persons who are troubled by floaters; they can also become a problem to younger people, especially if they are myopic. They are also common after cataract operations or after trauma.


title: Floater

text: Floaters are able to catch and refract light in ways that somewhat blur vision temporarily until the floater moves to a different area. Often they trick persons who are troubled by floaters into thinking they see something out of the corner of their eye that really is not there. Most persons come to terms with the problem, after a time, and learn to ignore their floaters. For persons with severe floaters it is nearly impossible to ignore completely the large masses that constantly stay within almost direct view.


title: Floater

text: There are various causes for the appearance of floaters, of which the most common are described here.


title: Floater

text: Floaters can occur when eyes age; in rare cases, floaters may be a sign of retinal detachment or a retinal tear.


title: Floater

text: The cause of a vitreous floater is due to vitreous syneresis (liquefaction) and contraction with age. Additionally, trauma or injury to the globe can cause vitreous floaters.


title: Floater

text: In time, the liquefied vitreous body loses support and its framework contracts. This leads to posterior vitreous detachment, in which the vitreous membrane is released from the sensory retina. During this detachment, the shrinking vitreous can stimulate the retina mechanically, causing the patient to see random flashes across the visual field, sometimes referred to as "flashers", a symptom more formally referred to as photopsia. The ultimate release of the vitreous around the optic nerve head sometimes makes a large floater appear, usually in the shape of a ring ("Weiss ring"). As a complication, part of the retina might be torn off by the departing vitreous membrane, in a process known as retinal detachment. This will often leak blood into the vitreous, which is seen by the patient as a sudden appearance of numerous small dots, moving across the whole field of vision. Retinal detachment requires immediate medical attention, as it can easily cause blindness. Consequently, both the appearance of flashes and the sudden onset of numerous small floaters should be rapidly investigated by an eye care provider.


title: Floater

text: The hyaloid artery, an artery running through the vitreous humour during the fetal stage of development, regresses in the third trimester of pregnancy. Its disintegration can sometimes leave cell matter.


title: Floater

text: Patients with retinal tears may experience floaters if red blood cells are released from leaky blood vessels, and those with uveitis or vitritis, as in toxoplasmosis, may experience multiple floaters and decreased vision due to the accumulation of white blood cells in the vitreous humour.


title: Floater

text: Other causes for floaters include cystoid macular edema and asteroid hyalosis. The latter is an anomaly of the vitreous humour, whereby calcium clumps attach themselves to the collagen network. The bodies that are formed in this way move slightly with eye movement, but then return to their fixed position.


title: Floater

text: Floaters are often readily observed by an ophthalmologist or an optometrist with the use of an ophthalmoscope or slit lamp. However, if the floater is near the retina, it may not be visible to the observer even if it appears large to the patient.


title: Floater

text: Increasing background illumination or using a pinhole to effectively decrease pupil diameter may allow a person to obtain a better view of his or her own floaters. The head may be tilted in such a way that one of the floaters drifts towards the central axis of the eye. In the sharpened image the fibrous elements are more conspicuous.


title: Floater

text: The presence of retinal tears with new onset of floaters was surprisingly high (14%; 95% confidence interval, 12–16%) as reported in a meta-analysis published as part of the Rational Clinical Examination Series in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Patients with new onset flashes and/or floaters, especially when associated with visual loss or restriction in the visual field, should seek more urgent ophthalmologic evaluation.


title: Floater

text: While surgeries do exist to correct for severe cases of floaters, there are no medications (including eye drops) that can correct for this vitreous deterioration. Floaters are often caused by the normal aging process and will usually become less bothersome as a person learns to ignore them. Looking up/down and left/right will cause the floaters to leave the direct field of vision as the vitreous humour swirls around due to the sudden movement. If floaters significantly increase in numbers and/or severely affect vision, then one of the below treatments may be necessary.


title: Floater

text: , insufficient evidence is available to compare the safety and efficacy of surgical vitrectomy with laser vitreolysis for the treatment of floaters. A 2017 Cochrane Review did not find any relevant studies that compared the two treatments.


title: Floater

text: Aggressive marketing campaigns have promoted the use of laser vitreolysis for the treatment of floaters. No strong evidence currently exists for the treatment of floaters with laser vitreolysis. The strongest available evidence comparing these two treatment modalities are retrospective case series.


title: Floater

text: Vitrectomy may be successful in treating more severe cases. The technique usually involves making three openings through the part of the sclera known as the pars plana. Of these small gauge instruments, one is an infusion port to resupply a saline solution and maintain the pressure of the eye, the second is a fiber optic light source, and the third is a vitrector. The vitrector has a reciprocating cutting tip attached to a suction device. This design reduces traction on the retina via the vitreous material. A variant sutureless, self-sealing technique is sometimes used.


title: Floater

text: Like most invasive surgical procedures, however, vitrectomy carries a risk of complications, including: retinal detachment, anterior vitreous detachment and macular edema – which can threaten vision or worsen existing floaters (in the case of retinal detachment).


title: Floater

text: Laser vitreolysis is a possible treatment option for the removal of vitreous strands and opacities (floaters). In this procedure an ophthalmic laser (usually a yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) laser) applies a series of nanosecond pulses of low-energy laser light to evaporate the vitreous opacities and to sever the vitreous strands. When performed with a YAG laser designed specifically for vitreolysis, reported side effects and complications associated with vitreolysis are rare. However, YAG lasers have traditionally been designed for use in the anterior portion of the eye, i.e. posterior capsulotomy and iridotomy treatments. As a result, they often provide a limited view of the vitreous, which can make it difficult to identify the targeted floaters and membranes. They also carry a high risk of damage to surrounding ocular tissue. Accordingly, vitreolysis is not widely practised, being performed by very few specialists. One of them, John Karickhoff, has performed the procedure more than 1,400 times and claims a 90 percent success rate. However, the MedicineNet web site states that "there is no evidence that this [laser treatment] is effective. The use of a laser also poses significant risks to the vision in what is otherwise a healthy eye."


title: Floater

text: Enzymatic vitreolysis has been trialed to treat vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) and anomalous posterior vitreous detachment. Although the mechanism of action may have an effect on clinically significant floaters, there are no clinical trials being undertaken to determine whether this may be a therapeutic alternative to either conservative management, or vitrectomy.


title: Floater

text: Dropping low doses of atropine onto the eye dilates the pupil, thus reducing shadow formation on the retina by floaters.


title: Floater

text: The VDM project aims to find an effective, low-risk treatment for floaters. So far, there have been studies using gold nanoparticles or indocyanine green (ICG) injected into the eye followed by a low-energy laser to target problematic floaters, and this has shown to be successful on vitreous opacities obtained during vitrectomy and in rabbits.


title: Floater

text: A vitreous detachment typically affects patients older than the age of 50 and increases in prevalence by age 80. Individuals who are myopic or nearsighted have an increased risk of vitreous floaters. Additionally, eyes with an inflammatory disease after direct trauma to the globe or have recently undergone eye surgery have an increased chance of developing a vitreous floater. Men and women appear to be affected equally.


title: Untouchability

text: Untouchability is a form of social institution that legitimises and enforces practices that are discriminatory, humiliating, exclusionary and exploitative against people belonging to certain social groups. Although comparable forms of discrimination are found all over the world, untouchability involving the caste system is largely unique to South Asia.


title: Untouchability

text: The term is most commonly associated with treatment of the Dalit communities in the Indian subcontinent who were considered "polluting". The term has also been used to refer to other groups, including the "Burakumin" of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, and the Ragyabpa of Tibet, as well as the Romani people and Cagot in Europe, and the Al-Akhdam in Yemen Traditionally, the groups characterized as untouchable were those whose occupations and habits of life involved ritually "polluting" activities, such as fishermen, manual scavengers, sweepers and washermen.


title: Untouchability

text: According to the religious Hindu text, untouchables were not considered a part of the varna system. Therefore, they were not treated like the savarnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).


title: Untouchability

text: Due to many caste-based discriminations in Nepal, the government of Nepal legally abolished the caste-system and criminalized any caste-based discrimination, including "untouchability" in 1963.


title: Untouchability

text: Untouchability has been outlawed in India, Nepal and Pakistan. However, "untouchability" has not been legally defined. The origin of untouchability and its historicity are still debated. B. R. Ambedkar believed that untouchability has existed at least as far back as 400 AD. A recent study of a sample of households in India concludes that "Notwithstanding the likelihood of under-reporting of the practice of untouchability, 70 percent of the population reported not indulging in this practice. This is an encouraging sign."


title: Untouchability

text: B. R. Ambedkar, an Indian social reformer and politician who came from a social group that was considered untouchable, theorized that untouchability originated because of the deliberate policy of the upper-caste Brahmanas. According to him, the Brahmanas despised the people who gave up the Brahmanism in favour of Buddhism. Later scholars such as Vivekanand Jha have refuted this theory.


title: Untouchability

text: Nripendra Kumar Dutt, a professor of history, theorized that the concept of untouchability originated from the "pariah"-like treatment accorded to the indigenous people of India by the early Dravidians, and that the concept was borrowed by the Indo-Aryans from the Dravidians. Scholars such as R. S. Sharma have rejected this theory, arguing that there is no evidence that Dravidians practised untouchability before coming into contact with the Indo-Aryans.


title: Untouchability

text: Austrian ethnologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf theorized that untouchability originated as class stratification in urban areas of the Indus Valley civilisation. According to this theory, the poorer workers involved in 'unclean' occupations such as sweeping or leather work were historically segregated and banished outside the city limits. Over time, personal cleanliness came to be identified with "purity", and the concept of untouchability eventually spread to rural areas as well. After the decline of the Indus Valley towns, these untouchables probably spread to other parts of India. Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal reject this theory, arguing that it lacks evidence, and does not explain why the concept of untouchability is more pronounced in rural areas.


title: Untouchability

text: American scholar George L. Hart, based on his interpretation of Old Tamil texts such as "Purananuru", traced the origin of untouchability to ancient Tamil society. According to him, in this society, certain occupational groups were thought to be involved in controlling the malevolent supernatural forces; as an example, Hart mentions the Paraiyars, who played the drums during battles and solemn events such as births and deaths. People from these occupational groups came to be avoided by others, who believed that they were "dangerous and had the power to pollute the others". Jaiswal dismisses the evidence produced by Hart as "extremely weak" and contradictory. Jaiswal points out that the authors of the ancient Tamil texts included several Brahmanas (a fact accepted by Hart); thus, the society described in these texts was already under Brahmanical influence, and could have borrowed the concept of untouchability from them.


title: Untouchability

text: British anthropologist John Henry Hutton traced the origin of untouchability to the taboo on accepting food cooked by a person from a different caste. This taboo presumably originated because of cleanliness concerns, and ultimately, led to other prejudices such as the taboo on marrying outside one's caste. Jaiswal argues that this theory cannot explain how various social groups were isolated as untouchable or accorded a social rank. Jaiswal also notes that several passages from the ancient Vedic texts indicate that there was no taboo against accepting food from people belonging to a different varna or tribe. For example, some Shrauta Sutras mandate that a performer of the Vishvajit sacrifice must live with the Nishadas (a tribe regarded as untouchable in later period) for three days, in their village, and eat their food.


title: Untouchability

text: Scholars such as Suvira Jaiswal, R. S. Sharma, and Vivekanand Jha characterize untouchability as a relatively later development after the establishment of the varna and caste system. Jha notes that the earliest Vedic text "Rigveda" makes no mention of untouchability, and even the later Vedic texts, which revile certain groups such as the Chandalas, do not suggest that untouchability existed in the contemporary society. According to Jha, in the later period, several groups began to be characterized as untouchable, a development which reached its peak during 600–1200 AD. Sharma theorizes that institution of untouchability arose when the aboriginal tribes with "low material culture" and "uncertain means of livelihood" came to be regarded as impure by the privileged classes who despised manual labour, and regarded associated impurity with "certain material objects". According to Jaiswal, when the members of aboriginal groups were assimilated into the Brahmanical society, the privileged among them may have tried to assert their higher status by disassociating themselves from their lower-status counterparts, who were gradually branded as untouchables.


title: Untouchability

text: Untouchability is believed to have been first mentioned in "Dharmashastra". According to the religious Hindu text, untouchables were not considered a part of the varna system. Therefore, they were not treated like the savarnas (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras).


title: Untouchability

text: According to Sarah Pinto, an anthropologist, modern untouchability in India applies to people whose work relates to "meat, and bodily fluids". Based on the punishments prescribed in The Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 the following practices could be understood to have been associated with Untouchability in India:


title: Untouchability

text: India is home to over 200 million Dalits. At the time of Indian independence, Dalit activists began calling for separate electorates for untouchables in India to allow fair representation. Officially labeled the Minorities Act, it would guarantee representation for Sikhs, Muslims, Christians, and Untouchables in the newly formed Indian government. The Act was supported by British representatives such as Ramsay MacDonald. According to the textbook "Religions in the Modern World", B. R. Ambedkar, who was also a supporter of the Act, was considered to be the “untouchable leader” who made great efforts to eliminate caste system privileges that included participation in public festivals, access to temples, and wedding rituals. In 1932, Ambedkar proposed that the untouchables create a separate electorate that ultimately led Gandhi to fast until it was rejected.


title: Untouchability

text: A separation within Hindu society was opposed by national leaders at the time such as Gandhi, although he took no exception to the demands of the other minorities. He began a hunger strike, citing that such a separation would create an unhealthy divide within the religion. At the Round Table Conferences, he provided this explanation for his reasoning:I don't mind untouchables if they so desire, being converted to Islam or Christianity. I should tolerate that, but I cannot possibly tolerate what is in store for Hinduism if there are two divisions set forth in the villages. Those who speak of the political rights of the untouchables don't know their India, don't know how Indian society is today constituted and therefore I want to say with all the emphasis that I can command that if I was the only person to resist this thing that I would resist it with my life.Gandhi achieved some success through his hunger strike however Dalit activists faced pressure from the Hindu population at large to end his protest at the risk of his ailing health. The two sides eventually came to a compromise where the number of guaranteed seats for Untouchables would be increased at both central and provincial levels, but there would be a common electorate.


title: Untouchability

text: The 1950 national constitution of India legally abolished the practice of untouchability and provided measures for affirmative action in both educational institutions and public services for Dalits and other social groups who lie within the caste system. These are supplemented by official bodies such as the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.


title: Untouchability

text: Despite this, instances of prejudice against Dalits still occur in some rural areas, as evidenced by events such as the Kherlanji massacre.


title: Peking duck

text: Peking duck is a dish from Beijing (Peking) that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by the cook. Ducks bred especially for the dish are slaughtered after 65 days and seasoned before being roasted in a closed or hung oven. The meat is often eaten with spring onion, cucumber and sweet bean sauce with pancakes rolled around the fillings. Sometimes pickled radish is also inside. Crispy aromatic duck is a similar dish to Peking duck and is popular in the United Kingdom.


title: Peking duck

text: Duck has been roasted in China since the Southern and Northern Dynasties. A variation of roast duck was prepared for the Emperor of China in the Yuan Dynasty. The dish, originally named "shāo yāzi" (燒鴨子), was mentioned in the "Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages" (飲膳正要) manual in 1330 by Hu Sihui (忽思慧), an inspector of the imperial kitchen. The Peking roast duck that came to be associated with the term was fully developed during the later Ming Dynasty, and by then, Peking duck was one of the main dishes on imperial court menus. The first restaurant specialising in Peking duck, Bianyifang, was established in the Xianyukou, close to Qianmen of Beijing in 1416.


title: Peking duck

text: By the Qianlong Period (1736–1796) of the Qing Dynasty, the popularity of Peking duck spread to the upper classes, inspiring poetry from poets and scholars who enjoyed the dish. For instance, one verse of "Dūmén zhúzhīcí", a Beijing local poem, was "Fill your plates with roast duck and suckling pig".


title: Peking duck

text: In 1864, the Quanjude (全聚德) restaurant was established in Beijing. Yang Quanren (楊全仁), the founder of Quanjude, developed the hung oven to roast ducks.


title: Peking duck

text: By the mid-20th century, Peking duck had become a national symbol of China, favored by tourists and diplomats alike. For example, Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of the United States, met Premier Zhou Enlai in the Great Hall of the People on 10 July 1971, during his first (secret) visit to China. After a round of inconclusive talks in the morning, the delegation was served Peking duck for lunch, which became Kissinger's favourite. The Americans and Chinese issued a joint statement the following day, inviting President Richard Nixon to visit China in 1972. Following Zhou's death in 1976, Kissinger paid another visit to Beijing to savor Peking duck. Peking duck, at the Quanjude in particular, has also been a favorite dish for various political leaders ranging from Cuban Fidel Castro to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl.


title: Peking duck

text: Two notable restaurants in Beijing which serve this dish are Quanjude and Bianyifang, both centuries-old establishments which have become household names, each with their own style: Quanjude is known for using the hung oven roasting method, while Bianyifang uses the oldest technique of closed oven roasting.


title: Peking duck

text: The ducks used to prepare Peking duck originated in Nanjing. They were large, had black feathers, and lived in the canals that linked the city to major waterways.


title: Peking duck

text: With the relocation of the Chinese capital to Beijing, supply barge traffic increased in that area. Often these barges spilled water into side-canals, providing a habitat for the ducks. By the time of adoption of five-spice powder, a new breed of duck had been domesticated by Chinese farmers. Nowadays, Peking duck is prepared from the American Pekin duck ("Anas platyrhynchos domestica").


title: Peking duck

text: Newborn ducks are raised in a free range environment for the first 45 days of their lives, and force fed 4 times a day for the next 15–20 days, resulting in ducks that weigh 5–7 kg (11–15 lbs). The force feeding of the ducks led to an alternate name for the animal, "Peking "stuffed" duck" ().


title: Peking duck

text: Fattened ducks are killed, plucked, eviscerated and rinsed thoroughly with water. Air is pumped under the skin through the neck cavity to separate the skin from the fat. The duck is then blanched in boiling hot water for two to three minutes before it is hung up to dry. This tightens the skin.


title: Peking duck

text: Besides two traditional methods to prepare Peking duck, recipes have been compiled by chefs around the world to produce the dish at home.


title: Peking duck

text: Peking duck is originally roasted in a closed oven (), and Bianyifang is the restaurant that keeps this tradition. The closed oven is built of brick and fitted with metal griddles (). The oven is preheated by burning Gaoliang sorghum straw () at the base. The duck is placed in the oven immediately after the fire burns out, allowing the meat to be slowly cooked through the convection of heat within the oven. Controlling the fuel and the temperature is the main skill. In closed-oven style, duck meat is combined well with the fat under the skin, and therefore is juicy and tender.


title: Peking duck

text: The open oven () was developed in the imperial kitchens during the Qing Dynasty, and adopted by the Quanjude restaurant chain. It is designed to roast up to 20 ducks at the same time with an open fire fueled by hardwood from peach or pear trees. The ducks are hung on hooks above the fire and roasted at a temperature of 270 °C (525 °F) for 30–40 minutes. While the ducks are roasting, the chef may use a pole to dangle each duck closer to the fire for 30-second intervals. In open-oven style, the fat is usually melted during the cooking process, so the skin is crispy.


title: Peking duck

text: Peking duck is traditionally carved in front of the guests and served in three stages. First, slices of duck skin are served with sugar and sweet bean sauce as a dip. Duck skin is best enjoyed hot and crisp to the bite. The meat is then served with steamed pancakes () and an assortment of vegetable dishes, typically julienned cucumber and spring onion. Traditionally, diners dip slices of duck into the condiments and wrap into the pancake with cucumber and any other ingredients. The wrap is then eaten by hand or with chopsticks. The carved duck (鸭架) – the remainder of the roast duck, with choice cuts removed – can be cooked in three ways. The traditional way is in a broth with ingredients such as Chinese cabbage and soft tofu. The carved duck can also be chopped and stir-fried in sweet bean sauce, or rapidly sautéed and served with salt and pepper (椒鹽). Otherwise, the carved duck is packed to be taken home by the customers.


title: Peking duck

text: Whole Peking ducks can be ordered as takeaway. The ducks can be reheated at home with an oven or stove. When an oven is used, the duck is heated at a temperature of 150 °C (300 °F) for 20 minutes, and then at 160 °C (325 °F) for another 10 minutes. The stove method involves submerging the duck in boiling water before placing it on a griddle 70 cm (28 in) above the cooking fire. The water is replaced every 3–4 minutes until the duck is piping hot. To reheat the Peking duck with oil, the duck is sliced into thin pieces and placed in a strainer held over a wok of hot oil. The duck is then rinsed several times with the oil.


title: Peking duck

text: A number of restaurants in Beijing specialise in Peking duck. Examples include Quanjude, Bianyifang, Changan Yihao (長安一號), Dayali, Beijing Xiaowangfu (北京小王府) and Dadong Kaoyadian (大董烤鴨店). Some restaurants, in particular Quanjude and Bianyifang, have long histories of serving high quality duck that they are now household names, or "Lao zihao" (老字号), literally "old brand name". In addition, Quanjude has received worldwide recognition, having been named a China Renowned Trademark in 1999.


title: Peking duck

text: Duck Chang's Restaurant, established in 1975 in Virginia, United States, was the first Chinese restaurant to prepare and serve Peking duck without a 24-hour advanced notice.


title: Peking duck

text: In 2018, the James Beard Foundation awarded Sun Wah BBQ in Chicago, Illinois, with their America's Classics award, specifically citing Sun Wah's three-course "Beijing Duck Feast" in their announcement of the award.


title: Peking duck

text: Crispy aromatic duck (香酥鴨 xiang su ya) is a similar dish to Peking duck. It is very popular in the United Kingdom, where it was created in the latter half of the twentieth century.


title: Peking duck

text: The duck is first marinated with spices, then steamed until tender, and finally deep fried until crispy. The meat has less fat and is drier and crispier compared to that of Peking duck. Crispy aromatic duck can also be seen in the United States, usually served with buns rather than pancakes.


title: Peking duck

text: In Germany, some Asian fusion restaurants also serve crispy aromatic duck ("Knusprige Ente"), sometimes also labeled as Peking duck ("Peking-ente", also "Pekingente"). The duck is marinated with spices and deep-fried, served together with stir-fried vegetables ("Wokgemüse") over fried noodles or with rice.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on August 30, 1965, by Columbia Records. Having until then recorded mostly acoustic music, Dylan used rock musicians as his backing band on every track of the album, except for the closing track, the 11-minute ballad "Desolation Row". Critics have focused on the innovative way Dylan combined driving, blues-based music with the subtlety of poetry to create songs that captured the political and cultural chaos of contemporary America. Author Michael Gray has argued that, in an important sense, the 1960s "started" with this album.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Leading with the hit song "Like a Rolling Stone", the album features songs that Dylan has continued to perform live over his long career, including "Ballad of a Thin Man" and the title track. He named the album after the major American highway which connected his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota, to southern cities famed for their musical heritage, including St. Louis, Memphis, New Orleans, and the Delta blues area of Mississippi.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: "Highway 61 Revisited" peaked at No. 3 on the US "Billboard" 200 and No. 4 on the UK Albums Chart. Positively received on release, the album has since been described as one of Dylan's best works and among the greatest albums of all time, ranking No. 4 on "Rolling Stone"s "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was voted No. 26 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000) and was featured in Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" (2010). "Like a Rolling Stone" was a top-10 hit in several countries, and was listed at No. 4 on "Rolling Stone"s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list in 2021. Two other songs, "Desolation Row" and "Highway 61 Revisited", were listed at No. 187 and No. 373 respectively on the 2010 list.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: In his memoir "", Dylan described the kinship he felt with the route that supplied the title of his sixth album: "Highway 61, the main thoroughfare of the country blues, begins about where I began. I always felt like I'd started on it, always had been on it and could go anywhere, even down in to the deep Delta country. It was the same road, full of the same contradictions, the same one-horse towns, the same spiritual ancestors ... It was my place in the universe, always felt like it was in my blood."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: When he was growing up in the 1950s, U.S. Highway 61 stretched from the Canada–US border in far northeast Minnesota (redesignated in 1991 as MN-61), through Duluth, where Dylan was born., along the Mississippi River down to New Orleans. Along the way, the route passed near the birthplaces and homes of influential musicians such as Muddy Waters, Son House, Elvis Presley and Charley Patton. The "empress of the blues", Bessie Smith, died after sustaining serious injuries in an automobile accident on Highway 61. Critic Mark Polizzotti points out that blues legend Robert Johnson is alleged to have sold his soul to the devil at the highway's crossroads with Route 49. The highway had also been the subject of several blues recordings, notably Roosevelt Sykes' "Highway 61 Blues" (1932) and Mississippi Fred McDowell's "61 Highway" (1964).


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Dylan said he had to overcome resistance at Columbia Records to give the album its title. He told biographer Robert Shelton: "I wanted to call that album "Highway 61 Revisited". Nobody understood it. I had to go up the fucking ladder until finally the word came down and said: 'Let him call it what he wants to call it'." Michael Gray said the album's title represents Dylan's insistence that his songs are rooted in the blues: "Indeed the album title "Highway 61 Revisited" announces that we are in for a long revisit, since it is such a long, blues-travelled highway. Many bluesmen had been there before [Dylan], all recording versions of a blues called 'Highway 61'."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: In May 1965, Dylan returned from his tour of England feeling exhausted and dissatisfied with his material. He told journalist Nat Hentoff: "I was going to quit singing. I was very drained." The singer added, "It's very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don't dig you."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: As a consequence of his dissatisfaction, Dylan wrote 20 pages of verse he later described as a "long piece of vomit". He reduced this to a song with four verses and a chorus—"Like a Rolling Stone". He told Hentoff that writing and recording the song washed away his dissatisfaction, and restored his enthusiasm for creating music. Describing the experience to Robert Hilburn in 2004, nearly 40 years later, Dylan said: "It's like a ghost is writing a song like that ... You don't know what it means except the ghost picked me to write the song."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: "Highway 61 Revisited" was recorded in two blocks of recording sessions that took place in Columbia's Studio A, located on Seventh Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. The first block, June 15 and 16, was produced by Tom Wilson and resulted in the single "Like a Rolling Stone". On July 25, Dylan performed his controversial electric set at the Newport Folk Festival, where some of the crowd booed his performance. Four days after Newport, Dylan returned to the recording studio. From July 29 to August 4, he and his band completed recording "Highway 61 Revisited", but under the supervision of a new producer, Bob Johnston.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: In the first recording session on June 15 Dylan was backed by Bobby Gregg on drums, Joe Macho, Jr. on bass, Paul Griffin on piano, and Frank Owens on guitar. For lead guitar, the singer recruited Michael Bloomfield of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The musicians began the session by recording a fast version of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" and the song "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence", which was omitted from the album. Dylan and his band next attempted to record "Like a Rolling Stone"; at this early stage, Dylan's piano dominated the backing, which was in 3/4 time. "Barbed Wire Fence", the fast version of "It Takes a Lot to Laugh", and an early take of "Like a Rolling Stone" were eventually released on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The musicians returned to Studio A the following day, when they devoted almost the entire session to recording "Like a Rolling Stone". Present on this occasion was Al Kooper, a young musician invited by Wilson to observe, but who wanted to play on the session. Kooper managed to sit in on the session; despite never having played electric organ before, Kooper improvised an organ riff that, critics such as Greil Marcus and Mark Polizzotti have argued, is a crucial element of the recording. The fourth take was ultimately selected as the master, but Dylan and the band recorded eleven more takes.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: To create the material for "Highway 61 Revisited", Dylan spent a month writing in his new home in the Byrdcliffe artists' colony of Woodstock in upstate New York. When he returned to Studio A on July 29, he was backed by the same musicians, except Harvey Brooks replaced Joe Macho on bass and his producer had changed from Tom Wilson to Bob Johnston.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: On July 30, Dylan and his band returned to Studio A and recorded three songs. A master take of "From a Buick 6" was recorded and later included on the final album, but most of the session was devoted to "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" Dylan was unsatisfied with the results and set the song aside for a later date; it was eventually re-recorded with in October.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: After Dylan and Kooper spent the weekend in Woodstock writing chord charts for the songs, sessions resumed at Studio A on August 2. "Highway 61 Revisited", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "Queen Jane Approximately", and "Ballad of a Thin Man" were recorded successfully and masters were selected for the album.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: One final session was held on August 4, again at Studio A. Most of the session was devoted to completing "Desolation Row". Johnston has related that Nashville musician Charlie McCoy was visiting New York, and he invited McCoy to play guitar at the session. According to some sources, seven takes of "Desolation Row" were recorded, and takes six and seven were spliced together for the master recording.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The resulting album, "Highway 61 Revisited", has been described as "Dylan's first purely 'rock' album", a realization of his wish to leave his old music format behind and move on from his all-acoustic first four albums and half-acoustic, half-electric fifth album, "Bringing It All Back Home". Documentary director D. A. Pennebaker, who filmed Dylan on his acoustic UK tour in May 1965, has said: "I didn't know that he was going to leave acoustic. I did know that he was getting a little dragged by it."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: "Highway 61 Revisited" opens with "Like a Rolling Stone", which has been described as revolutionary in its combination of electric guitar licks, organ chords, and Dylan's voice, "at once so young and so snarling ... and so cynical". Michael Gray characterized "Like a Rolling Stone" as "a chaotic amalgam of blues, impressionism, allegory, and an intense directness: 'How does it feel?'" Polizzotti says the composition is notable for eschewing traditional themes of popular music, such as romance, instead expressing resentment and a yearning for revenge. It was suggested that Miss Lonely, the song's central character, is based on Edie Sedgwick, a socialite and actress in the Factory scene of pop artist Andy Warhol. Critic Mike Marqusee said the composition was "surely a Dylan cameo", and that its poignancy becomes apparent upon realizating that "it is sung, at least in part, to the singer himself: he's the one 'with no direction home'." "Like A Rolling Stone" reached number two in the "Billboard" Hot 100 in the summer of 1965, and was a top-10 hit in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The fast-paced, two-chord blues song "Tombstone Blues", driven by Michael Bloomfield's lead guitar, uses a parade of historical characters—outlaw Belle Starr, biblical temptress Delilah, Jack the Ripper (represented in this song as a successful businessman), John the Baptist (described here as a torturer), and blues singer Ma Rainey who Dylan humorously suggests shared a sleeping bag with composer Beethoven—to sketch an absurdist account of contemporary America. Although other interpretations could be put forth: Where once the creativity embodied in the accomplishments of Ma Rainey and Beethoven flourished, now there is stultification of patriotic martial music. For critics Mark Polizzotti and Andy Gill, the reality behind the song is the then-escalating Vietnam War; both writers hear the "king of the Philistines" who sends his slaves "out to the jungle" as a reference to President Lyndon B. Johnson.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: On July 29, 1965, Dylan and his band resumed recording "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry". Tony Glover, who observed the recording session, has recalled that Dylan re-worked the song at the piano while the other musicians took a lunch break. Critic Sean Egan writes that by slowing down the tempo, Dylan transformed the song from an "insufferably smart-alec number into a slow, tender, sensual anthem". Gill points out that the lyrics reveal the singer's talent for borrowing from old blues numbers, adapting the lines "Don't the clouds look lonesome shining across the sea/ Don't my gal look good when she's coming after me" from "Solid Road" by bluesmen Brownie McGhee and Leroy Carr.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: AllMusic critic Bill Janovitz describes "From a Buick 6" as a "raucous, up-tempo blues", which is played "almost recklessly". The song opens with a snare shot similar to the beginning of "Like a Rolling Stone". Partially based on Sleepy John Estes' 1930 song "Milk Cow Blues", the guitar part is patterned after older blues riffs by Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton and Big Joe Williams. Robert Shelton hears the song as "an earthy tribute to another funky earth-mother", while for Heylin it is close to filler material; he argues that only through the musicians' performance is Dylan able to "convince us he is doing more than just listing the number of ways in which this 'graveyard woman' is both a lifesaver and a death-giver".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: "Ballad of a Thin Man" is driven by Dylan's piano, which contrasts with "the spooky organ riffs" played by Al Kooper. Marqusee describes the song as one of "the purest songs of protest ever sung", as it looks at the media and its inability to understand both the singer and his work. He writes that the song became the anthem of an in-group, "disgusted by the old, excited by the new ... elated by their discovery of others who shared their feelings", with its refrain "Something is happening here/ But you don't know what it is/ Do you, Mr Jones?" epitomizing the "hip exclusivity" of the burgeoning counterculture. Robert Shelton describes the song's central character, Mr Jones, as "one of Dylan's greatest archetypes", characterizing him as "a Philistine ... superficially educated and well bred but not very smart about the things that count".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Polizzotti, in his study of "Highway 61 Revisited", writes that the opening track of Side Two, "Queen Jane Approximately" is in a similar vein to "Like a Rolling Stone", but the song offers "a touch of sympathy and even comfort in place of relentless mockery". The song is structured as a series of ABAB quatrain verses, with each verse followed by a chorus that is simply a repeat of the last line of each verse: "Won't you come see me Queen Jane?". Gill calls this song "the least interesting track" on "Highway 61", but praises the piano ascending the scale during the harmonica break as an evocation of "the stifling nature of an upper class existence". Others have speculated that the song is directed at Joan Baez and the folk movement, which Dylan had largely left behind. "Queen Jane Approximately" was released as the B-side of Dylan's "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" single in early 1966.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Dylan commences the title song of his album, "Highway 61 Revisited", with the words "Oh God said to Abraham, 'Kill me a son'/Abe says, 'Man, you must be puttin' me on'". As Gill has pointed out, Abraham was the name of Dylan's father, which makes the singer the son whom God wants killed. Gill comments that it is befitting that this song, celebrating a highway central to the history of the blues, is a "raucous blues boogie". He notes that the scope of the song broadens to make the highway a road of endless possibilities, peopled by dubious characters and culminating in a promoter who "seriously considers staging World War III out on Highway 61". The song is punctuated by the sound of a siren whistle, credited as "Police Car" to Dylan in the album liner notes. "Highway 61 Revisited" was released as the B-side of his "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" single on November 30, 1965.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has six verses and no chorus. The lyrics describe a nightmarish experience in Juarez, Mexico, where, in Shelton's words, "our anti-hero stumbles amid sickness, despair, whores and saints." He battles with corrupt authorities, alcohol and drugs before resolving to return to New York City. In this song, critics have heard literary references to Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano", Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and Jack Kerouac's "Desolation Angels". The backing musicians, Bobby Gregg on drums, Mike Bloomfield on electric guitar, and two pianists, Paul Griffin on tack piano and Al Kooper on Hohner Pianet, produce a mood that, for Gill, perfectly complements the "enervated tone" of the lyrics. Heylin notes that Dylan took great care—sixteen takes—to get the effect he was after, with lyrics that subtly "[skirt] the edge of reason".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Dylan concludes "Highway 61 Revisited" with the sole acoustic exception to his rock album. Gill has characterized "Desolation Row" as "an 11-minute epic of entropy, which takes the form of a Fellini-esque parade of grotesques and oddities featuring a huge cast of iconic characters". These include historical celebrities such as Albert Einstein and Nero, the biblical characters Noah and Cain and Abel, the Shakespearean figures of Ophelia and Romeo, ending with literary titans T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. The song opens with a report that "they're selling postcards of the hanging", and adds "the circus is in town". Polizzotti connects this song with the lynching of three black circus workers in Duluth, Minnesota, which was Dylan's birthplace, and describes "Desolation Row" as a cowboy song, "the 'Home On The Range' of the frightening territory that was mid-sixties America". In the penultimate verse, the passengers on the "Titanic" are shouting "Which Side Are You On?" Shelton suggests Dylan is asking, "What difference which side you're on if you're sailing on the "Titanic"?" and is thus satirizing "simpleminded political commitment".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The first non-album outtake from the "Highway 61 Revisited" sessions to be released was the single "Positively 4th Street", although on an early pressing of the single Columbia used another "Highway 61" outtake, "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", by mistake. "Crawl Out Your Window" was subsequently re-recorded with the Hawks in October, and released as a single in November 1965. Columbia accidentally released an alternate take of "From a Buick 6" on an early pressing of "Highway 61 Revisited", and this version continued to appear on the Japanese release for several years. Other outtakes officially released between 1991 and 2005 include alternate takes of "Like a Rolling Stone" and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry", and a previously unreleased song, "Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence", on "The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991", as well as alternate takes of "Desolation Row", "Highway 61 Revisited", "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "Tombstone Blues", and "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" on "The Bootleg Series Volume 7". Excerpts from several different takes of "Like a Rolling Stone" appeared on the "Highway 61 Interactive" CD-ROM, released in February 1995.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: In 2015, Dylan released Volume 12 of his Bootleg Series, "", in three different formats. The 18-disc "Collector's Edition" was described as including "every note recorded during the 1965–1966 sessions, every alternate take and alternate lyric". The 18 CDs contain every take of every song recorded in the studio during the "Highway 61 Revisited" sessions, from June 15 to August 4, 1965.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The "Highway 61 Revisited" out-takes from the first recording session in New York, June 15 and 16, 1965 comprise: ten takes of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", six takes of "Sitting On A Barbed-Wire Fence", and fifteen takes of "Like A Rolling Stone". Additionally, "The Cutting Edge" contains four instrumental "stem" tracks, lifted from Take Four which was the released "Master take" of "Like A Rolling Stone": Guitar (Mike Bloomfield); vocal, guitar (Bob Dylan), piano and bass; drums and organ.


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The tracks from the second recording session in New York, July 29 to August 4, 1965, comprise seven takes of "It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry", sixteen takes of "Tombstone Blues", twelve takes of "Positively Fourth Street", five takes of "From A Buick 6", seventeen takes of "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?", nine takes of "Highway 61 Revisited", sixteen takes of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", seven takes of Queen Jane Approximately", and eight takes of "Desolation Row".


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: Describing the process of listening to these many alternative versions, Chris Gerard wrote in "PopMatters": "The fact that these versions do not approach the greatness of the final recordings is exactly the point. These are works in progress. It’s a guided tour through the creative process that led to these landmark albums."


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: The cover artwork was photographed by Daniel Kramer several weeks before the recording sessions. Kramer captured Dylan sitting on the stoop of the apartment of his manager, Albert Grossman, located in Gramercy Park, New York, placing Dylan's friend Bob Neuwirth behind Dylan "to give it extra color". Dylan wears a Triumph motorcycle T-shirt under a blue and purple silk shirt, holding his Ray-Ban sunglasses in his right hand. Photographer Kramer commented in 2010 on the singer's expression: "He's hostile, or it's a hostile moodiness. He's almost challenging me or you or whoever's looking at it: 'What are you gonna do about it, buster?


title: Highway 61 Revisited

text: As he had on his previous three albums, Dylan contributed his own writing to the back cover of "Highway 61 Revisited", in the shape of freeform, surrealist prose: "On the slow train time does not interfere & at the Arabian crossing waits White Heap, the man from the newspaper & behind him the hundred inevitables made of solid rock & stone." One critic has pointed out the close similarity of these notes to the stream of consciousness, experimental novel "Tarantula", which Dylan was writing during 1965 and 1966.