title: Silurian

text: The first bony fish, the Osteichthyes, appeared, represented by the Acanthodians covered with bony scales. Fish reached considerable diversity and developed movable jaws, adapted from the supports of the front two or three gill arches. A diverse fauna of eurypterids (sea scorpions)—some of them several meters in length—prowled the shallow Silurian seas of North America; many of their fossils have been found in New York state. Leeches also made their appearance during the Silurian Period. Brachiopods, bryozoa, molluscs, hederelloids, tentaculitoids, crinoids and trilobites were abundant and diverse. Endobiotic symbionts were common in the corals and stromatoporoids.


title: Silurian

text: Reef abundance was patchy; sometimes, fossils are frequent, but at other points, are virtually absent from the rock record.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: Thousand Island dressing is an American salad dressing and condiment based on mayonnaise that can include olive oil, lemon juice, orange juice, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, vinegar, cream, chili sauce, tomato purée, and ketchup or Tabasco sauce.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: It also typically contains finely chopped ingredients, which can include pickles, onions, bell peppers, green olives, hard-boiled egg, parsley, pimento, chives, garlic, or chopped nuts (such as walnuts or chestnuts).


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: According to "The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink", the dressing's name comes from the Thousand Islands region, located along the upper St. Lawrence River between the United States and Canada. Within that region, one common version of the dressing's origins says that a fishing guide's wife, Sophia LaLonde, made the condiment as part of her husband George's shore dinner. Often in this version, actress May Irwin requested the recipe after enjoying it. Irwin, in turn, gave it to another. In another, second version of the story, Thousand Islands summer resident, George Boldt, who built Boldt Castle between 1900 and 1904 and who was proprietor of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, instructed the hotel's "maître d'hôtel", Oscar Tschirky, to put the dressing on the menu in 1894 after he forgot dressing on salads and improvised with what ingredients were on hand at the time. A 1959 "National Geographic" article states, "Thousand Island Dressing was reportedly developed by Boldt's chef." Despite claims that he was involved in the introduction of the salad dressing at the Waldorf, chef Tschirky did not mention the salad dressing in his cookbook that was published during that time period.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: When University of Wisconsin sociologist Michael Bell and his graduate students attempted to determine the origin of Thousand Island dressing in 2010, they found that the story differed among villages and islands in the Thousand Islands region. They discovered the existence of a third origin story in which the original recipe was based upon French dressing, which is supported by a recipe published in the 11th edition of "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook" (1965). All the claims appeared to be based upon oral traditions without supporting written records.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: According to "Food & Wine" magazine, the dressing was a traditional sauce from the late 19th century in the Thousand Islands region. The wealthy who visited the region carried bottles of the local sauce back to New York City, such as one variant found in Clayton, New York, called Sophia's Sauce found at a local hotel, "Herald Hotel" run by innkeeper Sophia Lelonde.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: Some food writers advance the claim that the dressing was invented by chef Theo Rooms of the Blackstone Hotel in Chicago during the same time period. The food historians at "The Food Timeline" point out that the earliest print reference to Thousand Island dressing appeared in 1912, and that recipes for different versions of the dressing begin to appear afterwards throughout the U.S.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: It is widely used in fast-food restaurants and diners in the United States, where it is often referred to as "special sauce" or "secret sauce". An example of this is In-N-Out Burger's "spread", served on burgers and several "secret menu" items; despite its name, it is a variation of Thousand Island dressing. Thousand Island dressing is often used in a Reuben sandwich in lieu of Russian dressing. McDonald's Big Mac sauce is a variation on Thousand Island dressing.


title: Thousand Island dressing

text: Rhode Island dressing ("Rhode islandsås"), introduced by the Swedish restaurateur Tore Wretman, is similar to Thousand Island and very popular in Sweden. Its name is confusing, especially for foreigners, and its origin unclear, since the dressing has no relationship to Rhode Island and the name is not used for preparations outside Sweden.


title: Cluster munition

text: A cluster munition is a form of air-dropped or ground-launched explosive weapon that releases or ejects smaller submunitions. Commonly, this is a cluster bomb that ejects explosive bomblets that are designed to kill personnel and destroy vehicles. Other cluster munitions are designed to destroy runways or electric power transmission lines, disperse chemical or biological weapons, or to scatter land mines. Some submunition-based weapons can disperse non-munitions, such as leaflets.


title: Cluster munition

text: Because cluster bombs release many small bomblets over a wide area, they pose risks to civilians both during attacks and afterwards. Unexploded bomblets can kill or maim civilians and/or unintended targets long after a conflict has ended, and are costly to locate and remove.


title: Cluster munition

text: Cluster munitions are prohibited for those nations that ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, adopted in Dublin, Ireland, in May 2008. The Convention entered into force and became binding international law upon ratifying states on 1 August 2010, six months after being ratified by 30 states. As of 10 February 2022, a total of 123 states have joined the Convention, as 110 states parties and 13 signatories.


title: Cluster munition

text: The first significantly operationally used cluster bomb was the German SD-2 or "Sprengbombe Dickwandig 2 kg", commonly referred to as the Butterfly Bomb. It was used in World War II to attack both civilian and military targets. The technology was developed independently by the United States, Russia and Italy (see Thermos bomb). The US used the 20-lb M41 fragmentation bomb wired together in clusters of 6 or 25 with highly sensitive or proximity fuzes.


title: Cluster munition

text: From the 1970s to the 1990s cluster bombs became standard air-dropped munitions for many nations, in a wide variety of types. They have been produced by 34 countries and used in at least 23.


title: Cluster munition

text: Artillery shells that employ similar principles have existed for decades. They are typically referred to as ICM (Improved Conventional Munitions) shells. The US military slang terms for them are "firecracker" or "popcorn" shells, for the many small explosions they cause in the target area.


title: Cluster munition

text: A basic cluster bomb consists of a hollow shell and then two to more than 2,000 submunitions or bomblets contained within it. Some types are dispensers that are designed to be retained by the aircraft after releasing their munitions. The submunitions themselves may be fitted with small parachute retarders or streamers to slow their descent (allowing the aircraft to escape the blast area in low-altitude attacks).


title: Cluster munition

text: Modern cluster bombs and submunition dispensers can be multiple-purpose weapons containing a combination of anti-armor, anti-personnel, and anti-materiel munitions. The submunitions themselves may also be multi-purpose, such as combining a shaped charge, to attack armour, with a fragmenting case, to attack infantry, material, and light vehicles. They may also have an incendiary function.


title: Cluster munition

text: Since the 1990s submunition-based weapons have been designed that deploy smart submunitions, using thermal and visual sensors to locate and attack particular targets, usually armored vehicles. Weapons of this type include the US CBU-97 sensor-fuzed weapon, first used in combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some munitions specifically intended for anti-tank use can be set to self-destruct if they reach the ground without locating a target, theoretically reducing the risk of unintended civilian deaths and injuries. Although smart submunition weapons are much more expensive than standard cluster bombs, fewer smart submunitions are required to defeat dispersed and mobile targets, partly offsetting their cost. Because they are designed to prevent indiscriminate area effects and unexploded ordnance risks, some smart munitions are excluded from coverage by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: Incendiary cluster bombs are intended to start fires, just like conventional incendiary bombs (firebombs). They contain submunitions of white phosphorus or napalm, and can be combined anti-personnel and anti-tank submunitions to hamper firefighting efforts. In urban areas they have been preceded by the use of conventional explosive bombs to fracture the roofs and walls of buildings to expose their flammable contents. One of the earliest examples is the so-called Molotov bread basket used by the Soviet Union in the Winter War of 1939–40. Incendiary clusters were extensively used by both sides in the strategic bombings of World War II. They caused firestorms and conflagrations in the bombing of Dresden in World War II and the firebombing of Tokyo. Some modern bomb submunitions deliver a highly combustible thermobaric aerosol that results in a high pressure explosion when ignited.


title: Cluster munition

text: Anti-personnel cluster bombs use explosive fragmentation to kill troops and destroy soft (unarmored) targets. Along with incendiary cluster bombs, these were among the first types of cluster bombs produced by Nazi Germany during World War II. They were used during the Blitz with delay and booby-trap fusing to hamper firefighting and other damage-control efforts in the target areas. They were also used with a contact fuze when attacking entrenchments. These weapons were widely used during the Vietnam War when many thousands of tons of submunitions were dropped on Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.


title: Cluster munition

text: Most anti-armor munitions contain shaped charge warheads to pierce the armor of tanks and armored fighting vehicles. In some cases, guidance is used to increase the likelihood of successfully hitting a vehicle. Modern guided submunitions, such as those found in the U.S. CBU-97, can use either a shaped charge or an explosively formed penetrator. Unguided shaped-charge submunitions are designed to be effective against entrenchments that incorporate overhead cover. To simplify supply and increase battlefield effectiveness by allowing a single type of round to be used against nearly any target, submunitions that incorporate both fragmentation and shaped-charge effects are produced.


title: Cluster munition

text: Submunition-based mines do not detonate immediately, but behave like conventional land mines that detonate later. These submunitions usually include a combination of anti-personnel and anti-tank mines. Since such mines lie exposed on surfaces, the anti-personnel forms, such as the US Area Denial Artillery Munition normally deploy tripwires automatically after landing to make clearing the minefield more difficult. In order to avoid accumulating large areas of impassable battlefield, and to minimize the amount of mine-clearing needed after a conflict, scatterable mines used by the United States are designed to self-destruct after a period of time from 4 to 48 hours. The internationally agreed definition of cluster munitions being negotiated in the Oslo Process may not include this type of weapon, since landmines are already covered by other international treaties.


title: Cluster munition

text: During the 1950s and 1960s, the United States and Soviet Union developed cluster weapons designed to deliver chemical weapons. The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 banned their use. Six member nations declared themselves in possession of chemical weapons. The US and Russia are still in the process of destroying their stockpiles, having received extensions of the time limit for full destruction. They were unable to complete the destruction of their chemical weapons stockpiles by 2007, as the Treaty originally required.


title: Cluster munition

text: An anti-electrical weapon, the CBU-94/B, was first used by the U.S. in the Kosovo War in 1999. These consist of a TMD (Tactical Munitions Dispenser) filled with 202 BLU-114/B "Soft-Bomb" submunitions. Each submunition contains a small explosive charge that disperses 147 reels of fine conductive fiber of either carbon or aluminum-coated glass. Their purpose is to disrupt and damage electric power transmission systems by producing short circuits in high-voltage power lines and electrical substations. On the initial attack, these knocked out 70% of the electrical power supply in Serbia.


title: Cluster munition

text: The LBU-30 is designed for dropping large quantities of propaganda leaflets from aircraft. Enclosing the leaflets within the bomblets ensures that the leaflets will fall on the intended area without being dispersed excessively by the wind. The LBU-30 consists of SUU-30 dispensers that have been adapted to leaflet dispersal. The dispensers are essentially recycled units from old bombs. The LBU-30 was tested at Eglin Air Force Base in 2000, by an F-16 flying at .


title: Cluster munition

text: During the Vietnam War, the US used cluster bombs in air strikes against targets in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to "The Guardian", of the 260 million cluster bomblets that rained down on Laos between 1964 and 1973, particularly on Xieng Khouang province, 80 million failed to explode.


title: Cluster munition

text: The GlobalPost reports that about 7,000 people have been injured or killed by explosives left from the Vietnam War era in the Vietnamese Quang Tri Province alone.


title: Cluster munition

text: During the 16-year-long conflict on the territory of Western Sahara, the Royal Moroccan Army (RMA) dropped cluster bombs.


title: Cluster munition

text: The RMA used both artillery-fired and air-dropped cluster munitions. BLU-63, M42 and MK118 submunitions were used at multiple locations in Bir Lahlou, Tifarity, Mehaires, Mijek and Awganit.


title: Cluster munition

text: More that 300 cluster strike areas have been recorded in the MINURSO Mine Action Coordination Center database.


title: Cluster munition

text: During the Soviet-Afghan War, the Soviets dealt harshly with Mujaheddin rebels and those who supported them, including leveling entire villages to deny safe havens to their enemy and the usage of cluster bombs.


title: Cluster munition

text: Sea Harriers of the Royal Navy dropped BL755 cluster bombs on Argentinian positions during the Falklands War of 1982.


title: Cluster munition

text: The armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno Karabakh in 1992–1994 led to the use of cluster munitions against military and civilian targets in the region. As of 2010, remain off-limits due to contamination with unexploded cluster ordnance. HALO Trust has made major contributions to the cleanup effort.


title: Cluster munition

text: During renewed hostilities in April 2016, HALO Trust reported the use of cluster bombs by Azerbaijan, having found cluster munitions in the villages of Nerkin Horatagh and Kiçik Qarabəy. Azerbaijan reported that the Armenian forces had used cluster munition against Azerbaijani civilians in the given period.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to the Cluster Munition Monitor report in 2010, neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan not acceded to become a member of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: Further use of cluster munition was reported during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. The Armenian-populated city of Stepanakert came under bombardment throughout the war, beginning on the first day. Human Rights Watch reported that residential neighborhoods in Stepanakert which lacked any identifiable military targets were hit by the Azerbaijani Army with cluster munitions. Human Rights Watch also identified Azerbaijani usage of cluster munitions in Hadrut. Human Rights Watch also reported the use of cluster munitions by the Armenian forces during the months-long bombardment of Tartar, missile attacks on Barda and on Goranboy. Amnesty International also confirmed that the Armenian forces had used cluster munitions in Barda, which resulted in the deaths of 25 Azerbaijani civilians, according to Azerbaijan.


title: Cluster munition

text: About 2,000 cluster bombs containing 380,000 sub-munitions were dropped on Yugoslavia during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, in 1999, of which the Royal Air Force dropped 531 RBL755 cluster bombs.


title: Cluster munition

text: Reports claimed that 15 civilians were killed, 8 civilians were seriously injured, 11 civilians had sustained minor injuries, 120 housing units were damaged and 47 were destroyed and that 15 cars were damaged.


title: Cluster munition

text: Overall during the operation, at least 23 Serb civilians were killed by cluster munitions. At least six Serbs, including three children were killed by bomblets after the operation ended, and up to 23 square kilometres in six areas remain "cluster contaminated", according to Serbian government, including on Mt. Kopaonik near the slopes of the ski resort. The UK contributed £86,000 to the Serbian Mine Action Centre.


title: Cluster munition

text: 1991: United States, France, and the United Kingdom dropped 61,000 cluster bombs, containing 20 million submunitions, on Iraq, according to the HRW.


title: Cluster munition

text: 2003–2006: United States and allies attacked Iraq with 13,000 cluster munitions, containing two million submunitions during Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the HRW. At multiple times, coalition forces used cluster munitions in residential areas, and the country remains among the most contaminated to this day, bomblets posing a threat to both US military personnel in the area, and local civilians.


title: Cluster munition

text: When these weapons were fired on Baghdad on 7 April 2003 many of the bomblets failed to explode on impact. Afterward, some of them exploded when touched by civilians. "USA Today" reported that "the Pentagon presented a misleading picture during the war of the extent to which cluster weapons were being used and of the civilian casualties they were causing." On 26 April, General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that the US had caused only one civilian casualty.


title: Cluster munition

text: During the Israeli-Lebanese conflict in 1982, Israel used cluster munitions, many of them American-made, on targets in southern Lebanon. Israel also used cluster bombs in the 2006 Lebanon War.


title: Cluster munition

text: Two types of cluster munitions were transferred to Israel from the U.S. The first was the CBU-58 which uses the BLU-63 bomblet. This cluster bomb is no longer in production. The second was the MK-20 Rockeye, produced by Honeywell Incorporated in Minneapolis. The CBU-58 was used by Israel in Lebanon in both 1978 and 1982. The Israeli Defense company Israel Military Industries also manufactures the more up-to-date M-85 cluster bomb.


title: Cluster munition

text: Hezbollah fired Chinese-manufactured cluster munitions against Israeli civilian targets, using 122-mm rocket launchers during the 2006 war, hitting Kiryat Motzkin, Nahariya, Karmiel, Maghar, and Safsufa. A total of 113 rockets and 4,407 submunitions were fired into Israel during the war.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to the United Nations Mine Action Service, Israel dropped up to four million submunitions on Lebanese soil, of which one million remain unexploded. According to a report prepared by Lionel Beehner for the Council on Foreign Relations, the United States restocked Israel's arsenal of cluster bombs, triggering a State Department investigation to determine whether Israel had violated secret agreements it had signed with the United States on their use.


title: Cluster munition

text: As Haaretz reported in November 2006, the Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz wanted to launch an investigation into the use of cluster bombs during the Lebanon war. Halutz claimed that some cluster bombs had been fired against his direct order, which stated that cluster bombs should be used with extreme caution and not be fired into populated areas. The IDF apparently disobeyed this order.


title: Cluster munition

text: Human Rights Watch said there was evidence that Israel had used cluster bombs very close to civilian areas and described them as "unacceptably inaccurate and unreliable weapons when used around civilians" and that "they should never be used in populated areas". Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of using cluster munitions in an attack on Bilda, a Lebanese village, on 19 July which killed 1 civilian and injured 12, including seven children. The Israeli "army defended ... the use of cluster munitions in its offensive with Lebanon, saying that using such munitions was 'legal under international law' and the army employed them 'in accordance with international standards. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev added, "[I]f NATO countries stock these weapons and have used them in recent conflicts – in FR Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq – the world has no reason to point a finger at Israel."


title: Cluster munition

text: Georgia admitted using cluster bombs during the war, according to Human Rights Watch but stressed they were only used against military targets. The Georgian army used LAR-160 multiple rocket launchers to fire MK4 LAR 160 type rockets (with M-85 bomblets) with a range of 45 kilometers the Georgian Minister of Defense (MoD) said.


title: Cluster munition

text: Human Rights Watch accused the Russian Air Force of using RBK-250 cluster bombs during the conflict. A high-ranking Russian military official denied use of cluster bombs. The Dutch government, after investigating the death of a Dutch citizen, claimed that a cluster munition was propelled by an 9K720 Iskander tactical missile (used by Russia at the time of conflict, and not used by Georgia).


title: Cluster munition

text: It was reported in April 2011 that Colonel Gaddafi's forces had used cluster bombs in the conflict between government forces and rebel forces trying to overthrow Gaddafi's government, during the battle of Misrata These reports were denied by the government, and the Secretary of State of the US, Hillary Clinton said she was "not aware" of the specific use of cluster or other indiscriminate weapons in Misurata even though a "New York Times" investigation refuted those claims. An ejection canister for a Type 314 A AV submunition, manufactured in France was found in Libya despite the fact that France is a party to the international convention that bans cluster munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: During the Syrian uprising, a few videos of cluster bombs first appeared in 2011, but escalated in frequency near the end of 2012. As Human Rights Watch reported on 13 October 2012, "Eliot Higgins, who blogs on military hardware and tactics used in Syria under the pseudonym 'Brown Moses', compiled a list of the videos showing cluster munition remnants in Syria's various governorates." The type of bombs have been reported to be RBK-250 cluster bombs with AO-1 SCH bomblets (of Soviet design). Designed by the Soviet Union for use on tank and troop formations, PTAB-2.5M bomblets were used on civilian targets in Mare' in December 2012 by the Syrian government. According to the seventh annual Cluster Munition Report, there is ″compelling evidence″ that Russia has used cluster munitions during their involvement in Syria.


title: Cluster munition

text: Cluster bombs remnants were discovered by a UN de-mining team in February 2014 on a section of road near the Jonglei state capital, Bor. The strategic town was the scene of heavy fighting, changing hands several times during the South Sudanese Civil War, which erupted in the capital Juba on 15 December 2013 before spreading to other parts of the country. According to the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS), the site was contaminated with the remnants of up to eight cluster bombs and an unknown quantity of bomblets.


title: Cluster munition

text: Human Rights Watch reported that "Ukrainian government forces used cluster munitions in populated areas in Donetsk city in early October 2014." Also "circumstances indicate that anti-government forces might also have been responsible for the use of cluster munitions".


title: Cluster munition

text: British-supplied and U.S.-supplied cluster bombs have been used by Saudi Arabian-led military coalition against Houthi militias in Yemen, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.


title: Cluster munition

text: "The New York Times" journalist Christiaan Triebert revealed that the Ethiopian Air Force bombings of Samre during the Tigray War are evidenced by multiple photos of the tails of Soviet-era cluster bombs, likely RBK-250.


title: Cluster munition

text: Human Rights Watch reported the use of cluster munitions by the Russian Armed Forces during the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. HRMMU reported 16 credible allegations that Russian armed forces used cluster munitions in


title: Cluster munition

text: On 24 February 2022, a Russian 9M79-series Tochka ballistic missile with a 9N123 cluster munition warhead containing 50 9N24 fragmentation submunitions impacted outside a hospital in Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The attack killed four civillians and wounded ten. Further use of cluster munitions, such as the Uragan 9M27K and Smerch 9M55K cluster rockets, is being investigated by Bellingcat through a public appeal for evidence on Twitter. According to HRW and Amnesty International, Russian troops used cluster munition during an attack on the city of Okhtyrka on the morning of 25 February 2022. A 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on a kindergarten in the town. As a result of that, people were killed, including a child. The same day, non-precision guided missiles bearing cluster munitions were deployed against Kharkiv, killing at least nine civilians and injuring 37.


title: Cluster munition

text: The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on 30 March 2022 that they had credible reports indicating that Russian armed forces had used cluster munitions in populated areas of Ukraine at least 24 times since the start of the conflict on 24 February.


title: Cluster munition

text: Ukrainian forces reportedly also fired cluster munition rockets on one occasion. According to representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and the Russian Federation, Ukrainian armed forces launched a Tochka-U missile around 11 a.m. on 14 March 2022, equipped with cluster sub-munitions. They said it was intercepted over the centre of Donetsk and several of its cluster sub-munitions killed 20 civilians and injured 33 to 37. HRMMU confirmed at least 15 civilian deaths, and 36 injured in this incident, and at the time of its report was working to corroborate other alleged casualties and whether they were caused by cluster sub-munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: On 7 December it was revealed that Ukraine is seeking access to US stockpiles of cluster munitions. Due to a shortage of ammunition for HIMARS type and 155 mm artillery systems. The US has stockpiled its cluster munitions and the US is considering the Ukrainian request. Ukraine claims it will give them an edge of Russian artillery. Plus save having to deplete other US and Western stocks.


title: Cluster munition

text: While all weapons are dangerous, cluster bombs pose a particular threat to civilians for two reasons: they have a wide area of effect, and they consistently leave behind a large number of unexploded bomblets. The unexploded bomblets can remain dangerous for decades after the end of a conflict. For example, while the United States cluster bombing of Laos stopped in 1973, cluster bombs and other unexploded munitions continued to cause over 100 casualties per year to Laotian civilians .


title: Cluster munition

text: Cluster munitions are opposed by many individuals and hundreds of groups, such as the Red Cross, the Cluster Munition Coalition and the United Nations, because of the high number of civilians that have fallen victim to the weapon. Since February 2005, Handicap International called for cluster munitions to be prohibited and collected hundreds of thousands of signatures to support its call. 98% of 13,306 recorded cluster munitions casualties that are registered with Handicap International are civilians, while 27% are children.


title: Cluster munition

text: The area affected by a single cluster munition, known as its footprint, can be very large; a single unguided M26 MLRS rocket can effectively cover an area of . In US and most allied services, the M26 has been replaced by the M30 guided missile fired from the MLRS. The M30 has greater range and accuracy but a smaller area of coverage. It is worth noting that for reasons including both danger to civilians and changing tactical requirements, the non-cluster unitary warhead XM31 missile is, in many cases, replacing even the M30.


title: Cluster munition

text: Because of the weapon's broad area of effect, they have often been documented as striking both civilian and military objects in the target area. This characteristic of the weapon is particularly problematic for civilians when cluster munitions are used in or near populated areas and has been documented by research reports from groups such as Human Rights Watch, Landmine Action, Mines Action Canada and Handicap International. In some cases, like the Zagreb rocket attack, civilians were deliberately targeted by such weapons.


title: Cluster munition

text: The other serious problem, also common to explosive weapons is unexploded ordnance (UXO) of cluster bomblets left behind after a strike. These bomblets may be duds or in some cases the weapons are designed to detonate at a later stage. In both cases, the surviving bomblets are live and can explode when handled, making them a serious threat to civilians and military personnel entering the area. In effect, the UXOs can function like land mines.


title: Cluster munition

text: Even though cluster bombs are designed to explode prior to or on impact, there are always some individual submunitions that do not explode on impact. The US-made MLRS with M26 warhead and M77 submunitions are supposed to have a 5% dud rate but studies have shown that some have a much higher rate. The rate in acceptance tests prior to the Gulf War for this type ranged from 2% to a high of 23% for rockets cooled to before testing. The M483A1 DPICM artillery-delivered cluster bombs have a reported dud rate of 14%.


title: Cluster munition

text: Given that each cluster bomb can contain hundreds of bomblets and be fired in volleys, even a small failure rate can lead each strike to leave behind hundreds or thousands of UXOs scattered randomly across the strike area. For example, after the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, UN experts have estimated that as many as one million unexploded bomblets may contaminate the hundreds of cluster munition strike sites in Lebanon.


title: Cluster munition

text: In addition, some cluster bomblets, such as the BLU-97/B used in the CBU-87, are brightly colored to increase their visibility and warn off civilians. However, the yellow color, coupled with their small and nonthreatening appearance, is attractive to young children who wrongly believe them to be toys. This problem was exacerbated in the War in Afghanistan (2001–present), when US forces dropped humanitarian rations from airplanes with similar yellow-colored packaging as the BLU-97/B, yellow being the NATO standard colour for high explosive filler in air weapons. The rations packaging was later changed first to blue and then to clear in the hope of avoiding such hazardous confusion.


title: Cluster munition

text: The US military is developing new cluster bombs that it claims could have a much lower (less than 1%) dud rate. Sensor-fused weapons that contain a limited number of submunitions that are capable of autonomously engaging armored targets may provide a viable, if costly, alternative to cluster munitions that will allow multiple target engagement with one shell or bomb while avoiding the civilian deaths and injuries consistently documented from the use of cluster munitions. Certain such weapons may be allowed under the recently adopted Convention on Cluster Munitions, provided they do not have the indiscriminate area effects or pose the unexploded ordnance risks of cluster munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: In the 1980s the Spanish firm Esperanza y Cia developed a 120mm caliber mortar bomb which contained 21 anti-armor submunitions. What made the 120mm "Espin" unique was the electrical impact fusing system which totally eliminated dangerous duds. The system operates on a capacitor in each submunition which is charged by a wind generator in the nose of the projectile after being fired. If for what ever reason the electrical fuse fails to function on impact, approximately 5 minutes later the capacitor bleeds out, therefore neutralizing the submunition's electronic fuse system. Later a similar mortar round was offered in the 81mm caliber and equipped some Spanish Marines units. On signing the Wellington Declaration on Cluster Munitions, Spain withdrew both the 81mm and 120mm "Espin" rounds from its military units.


title: Cluster munition

text: Countries and disputed territories (listed in italic) that have been affected by cluster munitions as of August 2019 include:


title: Cluster munition

text: As of August 2019, it is unclear, whether Colombia and Georgia are contaminated. Albania, the Republic of the Congo, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Mozambique, Norway, Zambia, Uganda, and Thailand completed clearance of areas contaminated by cluster munition remnants in previous years.


title: Cluster munition

text: Cluster bombs fall under the general rules of international humanitarian law, but were not specifically covered by any currently binding international legal instrument until the signature of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in December 2008. This international treaty stemmed from an initiative by the Government of Norway known as the Oslo Process which was launched in February 2007 to prohibit cluster munitions. More than 100 countries agreed to the text of the resulting Convention on Cluster Munitions in May 2008 which sets out a comprehensive ban on these weapons. This treaty was signed by 94 states in Oslo on 3–4 December 2008. The Oslo Process was launched largely in response to the failure of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) where five years of discussions failed to find an adequate response to these weapons. The Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) is campaigning for the widespread accession to and ratification of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: A number of sections of the Protocol on explosive remnants of war (Protocol V to the 1980 Convention), 28 November 2003 occasionally address some of the problems associated with the use of cluster munitions, in particular Article 9, which mandates States Parties to "take generic preventive measures aimed at minimising the occurrence of explosive remnants of war". In June 2006, Belgium was the first country to issue a ban on the use (carrying), transportation, export, stockpiling, trade and production of cluster munitions, and Austria followed suit on 7 December 2007.


title: Cluster munition

text: There has been legislative activity on cluster munitions in several countries, including Austria, Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States. In some of these countries, ongoing discussions concerning draft legislation banning cluster munitions, along the lines of the legislation adopted in Belgium and Austria will now turn to ratification of the global ban treaty. Norway and Ireland have national legislation prohibiting cluster munitions and were able to deposit their instruments of ratification to the Convention on Cluster Munitions immediately after signing it in Oslo on 3 December 2008.


title: Cluster munition

text: Other weapons, such as land mines, have been banned in many countries under specific legal instruments for several years, notably the Ottawa Treaty to ban land mines, and some of the Protocols in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons that also help clearing the lands contaminated by left munitions after the end of conflicts and provides international assistance to the affected populations. However, until the recent adoption of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Dublin in May 2008 cluster bombs were not banned by any international treaty and were considered legitimate weapons by some governments.


title: Cluster munition

text: To increase pressure for governments to come to an international treaty on 13 November 2003, the Cluster Munition Coalition (CMC) was established with the goal of addressing the impact of cluster munitions on civilians. At the launch, organised by Pax Christi Netherlands, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs, the later Secretary General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, addressed the crowd of gathered government, NGO, and press representatives.


title: Cluster munition

text: International governmental deliberations in the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons turned on the broader problem of explosive remnants of war, a problem to which cluster munitions have contributed in a significant way. There were consistent calls from the Cluster Munition Coalition, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and a number of UN agencies, joined by approximately 30 governments, for international governmental negotiations to develop specific measures that would address the humanitarian problems cluster munitions pose. This did not prove possible in the conventional multilateral forum. After a reversal in the US position, in 2007 deliberations did begin on cluster munitions within the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. There was a concerted effort led by the US to develop a new protocol to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, but this proposal was rejected by over 50 states, together with civil society, ICRC and UN agencies. The discussions ended with no result in November 2011, leaving the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions as the single international standard on the weapons.


title: Cluster munition

text: In February 2006, Belgium announced its decision to ban the weapon by law. Then Norway announced a national moratorium in June and Austria announced its decision in July to work for an international instrument on the weapon. The international controversy over the use and impact of cluster munitions during the war between Lebanon and Israel in July and August 2006 added weight to the global campaign for a ban treaty.


title: Cluster munition

text: Against this background, a new flexible multilateral process similar to the process that led to the ban on anti-personnel land mines in 1997 (the Ottawa Treaty) began with an announcement in November 2006 in Geneva as well at the same time by the Government of Norway that it would convene an international meeting in early 2007 in Oslo to work towards a new treaty prohibiting cluster munitions. Forty-nine governments attended the meeting in Oslo 22–23 February 2007 in order to reaffirm their commitment to a new international ban on the weapon. During the meeting Austria announced an immediate moratorium on the use, production and transfer of cluster munitions until a new international treaty banning the weapons is in place.


title: Cluster munition

text: A follow-up meeting in this process was held in Lima in May where around 70 states discussed the outline of a new treaty, Hungary became the latest country to announce a moratorium and Peru launched an initiative to make Latin America a cluster munition free zone.


title: Cluster munition

text: In addition, the ICRC held an experts meeting on cluster munitions in April 2007 which helped clarify technical, legal, military and humanitarian aspects of the weapon with a view to developing an international response.


title: Cluster munition

text: Further meetings took place in Vienna on 4–7 December 2007, and in Wellington on 18–22 February 2008 where a declaration in favor of negotiations on a draft convention was adopted by more than 80 countries. In May 2008 after around 120 countries had subscribed to the Wellington Declaration and participated in the Dublin Diplomatic Conference from 19 to 30 May 2008. At the end of this conference, 107 countries agreed to adopt the Convention on Cluster Munitions, that bans cluster munitions and was opened for signature in Oslo on 3–4 December 2008 where it was signed by 94 countries.


title: Cluster munition

text: In July 2008, United States Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates implemented a policy to eliminate by 2018 all cluster bombs that do not meet new safety standards.


title: Cluster munition

text: In November 2008, ahead of the signing Conference in Oslo, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on all European Union governments to sign and ratify the Convention.


title: Cluster munition

text: On 16 February 2010 Burkina Faso became the 30th state to deposit its instrument of ratification for the Convention on Cluster Munitions. This means that the number of States required for the Convention to enter into force had been reached. The treaty's obligations became legally binding on the 30 ratifying States on 1 August 2010 and subsequently for other ratifying States.


title: Cluster munition

text: Taking effect on 1 August 2010, the Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the stockpiling, use and transfer of virtually all existing cluster bombs and provides for the clearing up of unexploded munitions. It had been signed by 108 countries, of which 38 had ratified it by the affected date, but many of the world's major military powers including the United States, Russia, Brazil and China are not signatories to the treaty.


title: Cluster munition

text: The Convention on Cluster Munitions entered into force on 1 August 2010, six months after it was ratified by 30 states. As of 26 September 2018, a total of 120 states have joined the Convention, as 104 States parties and 16 signatories.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to the US State Department, the U.S. suspended operational use of cluster munitions in 2003.


title: Cluster munition

text: U.S. arguments favoring the use of cluster munitions are that their use reduces the number of aircraft and artillery systems needed to support military operations and if they were eliminated, significantly more money would have to be spent on new weapons, ammunition, and logistical resources. Also, militaries would need to increase their use of massed artillery and rocket barrages to get the same coverage, which would destroy or damage more key infrastructures.


title: Cluster munition

text: The U.S. was initially against any CCW limitation negotiations, but dropped its opposition in June 2007. Cluster munitions have been determined as needed for ensuring the country's national security interests, but measures were taken to address humanitarian concerns of their use, as well as pursuing their original suggested alternative to a total ban of pursuing technological fixes to make the weapons no longer viable after the end of a conflict.


title: Cluster munition

text: In May 2008, then-Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs Stephen Mull stated that the U.S. military relies upon cluster munitions as an important part of their war strategy. Mull emphasized that "U.S. forces simply cannot fight by design or by doctrine without holding out at least the possibility of using cluster munitions."


title: Cluster munition

text: The U.S. Army ceased procurement of GMLRS cluster rockets in December 2008 because of a submunition dud rate as high as five percent. Pentagon policy was to have all cluster munitions used after 2018 to have a submunition unexploded ordnance rate of less than one percent. To achieve this, the Army undertook the Alternative Warhead Program (AWP) to assess and recommend technologies to reduce or eliminate cluster munition failures, as some 80 percent of U.S. military cluster weapons reside in Army artillery stockpiles.


title: Cluster munition

text: In July 2012, the U.S. fired at a target area with 36 Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) unitary warhead rockets. Analysis indicates that the same effects could have been made by four cluster GMLRS rockets. If cluster weapons cannot be used, the same operation would require using nine times as many rockets, cost nine times as much ($3.6 million compared to $400,000), and take 40 times as long (20 minutes compared to 30 seconds) to execute.


title: Cluster munition

text: On 30 November 2017, the Pentagon put off indefinitely their planned ban on using cluster bombs after 2018, as they had been unable to produce submunitions with failure rates of 1% or less. Since it is unclear how long it might take to achieve that standard, a months-long policy review concluded the deadline should be postponed; deployment of existing cluster weapons is left to commanders' discretion to authorize their use when deemed necessary "until sufficient quantities" of safer versions are developed and fielded.


title: Cluster munition

text: At least 25 countries have used cluster munitions in recent history (since the creation of the United Nations). Countries listed in bold have signed and ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, agreeing in principle to ban cluster bombs. Countries listed in italic have signed, but not yet ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: In addition, at least two countries that no longer exist (the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia) have used cluster bombs. In some cases, the responsibility or even the use of cluster munition is denied by the local government.


title: Cluster munition

text: Very few violent non-state actors have used cluster munitions and their delivery systems due to the complexity. As of August 2019, cluster munitions have been used in conflicts by non-state actors in at least six countries.


title: Cluster munition

text: At least 31 nations have produced cluster munitions in recent history (since the creation of the United Nations). Many of these nations still have stocks of these munitions. Most (but not all) of them are involved in recent wars or long unsolved international conflicts; however most of them did not use the munitions they produced. Countries listed in bold have signed and ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, agreeing in principle to ban cluster bombs. As of September 2018, countries marked with an Asterisk (*) officially ceased production of cluster munitions.


title: Cluster munition

text: As of September 2018, at least 57 countries have stockpiles of cluster munitions. Countries listed in bold have signed and ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions, agreeing in principle that their stockpiles should be destroyed. Countries listed in italic have signed, but not yet ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions; countries marked with an Asterisk (*) are in the process of destroying their stockpiles.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to BankTrack, an international network of NGOs specializing in control of financial institutions, many major banks and other financial corporations either directly financed, or provided financial services to companies producing cluster munition in 2005–2012. Among other, BankTrack 2012 report names ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Bank of China, Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ, Barclays, BBVA, BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Commerzbank AG, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Crédit Agricole, Credit Suisse Group, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Industrial Bank of China, ING Group, JPMorgan Chase, Korea Development Bank, Lloyds TSB, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Scotland, Sberbank, Société Générale, UBS, Wells Fargo.


title: Cluster munition

text: Many of these financial companies are connected to such producers of cluster munitions as Alliant Techsystems, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Hanwha, Norinco, Singapore Technologies Engineering, Textron, and others.


title: Cluster munition

text: According to Pax Christi, a Netherlands-based NGO, in 2009, around 137 financial institutions financed cluster munition production. Out of 137 institutions, 63 were based in the US, another 18 in the EU (the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy etc.), 16 were based in China, 4 in Singapore, 3 in each of: Canada, Japan, Taiwan, 2 in Switzerland, and 4 other countries had 1 financial institution involved.


title: James Rebhorn

text: James Robert Rebhorn (September 1, 1948 – March 21, 2014) was an American character actor who appeared in over 100 films, television series, and plays. At the time of his death, he had recurring roles in the series "White Collar" and "Homeland". He also appeared in films such as "Scent of a Woman", "The Game", "Carlito's Way", "Independence Day", "My Cousin Vinny", and "Meet the Parents".


title: James Rebhorn

text: Rebhorn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Ardell Frances ("née" Hoch) and James Harry Rebhorn, an industrial engineer and salesman. He was of German descent. Rebhorn moved to Anderson, Indiana, as a child and graduated from Madison Heights High School in 1966. A devout Lutheran, he attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, where he studied political science.


title: James Rebhorn

text: While there, he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. Richard S. Huffman was one of his instructors and directed him in a lead role in Aristophanes' "Lysistrata" as well as Molière's "Tricks of Scapin". After graduating in 1970, Rebhorn moved to New York City, where he earned a Master of Fine Arts in acting from Columbia University's School of the Arts, and joined the metropolitan theater scene.


title: James Rebhorn

text: An early performance was in "Butterflies are Free" at the Peterborough Players in New Hampshire in 1974. Rebhorn played Peter Latham in "Forty Carats" at the GasLight Dinner Theatre in Salt Lake City in the 1970s. He was known both for portraying WASP stereotypes, lawyers, politicians, doctors, and military men, as well as portraying individuals engaged in or responsible for criminal behavior.


title: James Rebhorn

text: He delivered equally notable performances in a variety of other roles, including that of a brutal serial killer on NBC's "Law & Order" (he would later return to the show in the recurring role of defense attorney Charles Garnett), Ellard Muscatine in "Lorenzo's Oil" (1992), Fred Waters in "Blank Check" (1994), Clyde Frost, the father of famed bullrider Lane Frost, in "8 Seconds" (1994), Lt. Tyler in "White Squall" (1996), and a shipping magnate in "The Talented Mr. Ripley" (1999).


title: James Rebhorn

text: One of his best known performances was in the popular 1996 film "Independence Day", where he played Secretary of Defense Albert Nimzicki. He acted in "Scent of a Woman" (1992), and played an expert witness in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992). He appeared in "Carlito's Way" as an obsessed district attorney the following year. Rebhorn played an FBI Agent in the 1994 film "Guarding Tess".


title: James Rebhorn

text: Rebhorn played several roles on television, including an abusive stepfather, Bradley Raines, on the soap opera "Guiding Light" from 1983 to 1985, and an abusive father, Henry Lange, on sister soap "As the World Turns" from 1988 to 1991. An earlier daytime role was as John Brady in "Texas" from 1981 to 1982.


title: James Rebhorn

text: In 1991, he played the role of Ezra in the television movie/pilot "Plymouth". He cameoed in Madonna's video for her single "Bad Girl" along with Christopher Walken (1993). In 1994, he appeared in an episode of the Nickelodeon series "The Adventures of Pete & Pete", titled "Farewell, My Little Viking", as Mr. McFlemp.


title: James Rebhorn

text: In 1998, he played the District Attorney in the two part series finale of "Seinfeld". He appeared in supporting roles in "Regarding Henry", "The Game", "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Meet the Parents". In 2003, he appeared in the Chris Rock film "Head of State", as Democratic Senator Bill Arnot. In 2004, he appeared in the television miniseries "Reversible Errors". His role in the short-lived and controversial NBC drama "The Book of Daniel" cast him as the father of the title character. From 2009 to 2013, Rebhorn played the recurring role of Reese Hughes, the FBI white collar division Chief, on "White Collar".


title: James Rebhorn

text: Starting in 2011, Rebhorn appeared in the Showtime series "Homeland" as Frank Mathison, father of the series' main character Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes. His character suffered from bipolar disorder like Danes' character did. However, Frank had been able to get it under control and became quite functional on a daily basis with the correct dosing of medications, and would often encourage Carrie to do the same. Rebhorn's death in 2014 meant his character died in the show as well. The season 4 finale of "Homeland" was dedicated to him.


title: James Rebhorn

text: In 2004 he appeared on Broadway as Juror 4 in the Roundabout Theatre Company production of "Twelve Angry Men" at the American Airlines Theatre.


title: James Rebhorn

text: Rebhorn appeared as a judge in "Baby Mama". In the movie "The Box", Rebhorn portrayed a NASA scientist. He had a recurring role on the series "White Collar" as Special Agent Reese Hughes. Rebhorn co-starred in the Comedy Central sitcom "Big Lake" in 2010. He played Max Kenton's uncle in the movie "Real Steel" in 2011. He starred as Oren in the miniseries "Coma". Rebhorn starred as Gary Pandamiglio in the 2012 Mike Birbiglia comedy "Sleepwalk with Me".


title: James Rebhorn

text: In 2012, he played the role of Archbishop McGovern in "Leap of Faith", the 13th episode of the second season of the CBS police procedural drama "Blue Bloods". He co-starred in the romantic comedy "The Perfect Wedding" in 2013. His stage career included seven Broadway productions, as well as numerous appearances with New York City's Roundabout Theatre Company.


title: James Rebhorn

text: Rebhorn lived in South Orange, New Jersey. On March 21, 2014, he died at his home as a result of melanoma at the age of 65. (He had been receiving hospice care at his home for the melanoma, which he had been battling since 1992.) Rebhorn wrote his own obituary.


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" is a poem by Robert Frost, written in 1922, and published in 1923 in his "New Hampshire" volume. Imagery, personification, and repetition are prominent in the work. In a letter to Louis Untermeyer, Frost called it "my best bid for remembrance".


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: The text of the poem reflects the thoughts of a lone wagon driver (the narrator), pausing at dusk in his travel to watch snow falling in the woods. It ends with him reminding himself that, despite the loveliness of the view, "I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep."


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: Frost wrote the poem in June 1922 at his house in Shaftsbury, Vermont. He had been up the entire night writing the long poem "New Hampshire" from the poetry collection of the same name, and had finally finished when he realized morning had come. He went out to view the sunrise and suddenly got the idea for "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". He wrote the new poem "about the snowy evening and the little horse as if I'd had a hallucination" in just "a few minutes without strain."


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward FitzGerald, who adopted the style from Hakim Omar Khayyam, the 12th-century Persian poet and mathematician. Each verse (save the last) follows an AABA rhyming scheme, with the following verse's A line rhyming with that verse's B line, which is a chain rhyme (another example is the terza rima used in Dante's "Inferno".) Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: The poem begins with a moment of quiet introspection, which is reflected in the soft sounds of "w"'s and "th"'s, as well as double "ll"'s. In the second stanza, harder sounds — like "k" and "qu" — begin to break the whisper. As the narrator's thought is disrupted by the horse in the third stanza, a hard "g" is used.


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: An oft-repeated story holds that Frost wrote the first line of the last stanza without an Oxford comma: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep" and an editor or typesetter added a comma: "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep". As can be seen (and as is pointed out by English literature teachers), the presence of the comma makes a significant change in the meaning of the line: "the woods are lovely because they are dark and deep" becomes "the woods are lovely, and dark, and deep." Frost is said to have ordered that it be removed. After his death, another editor (re)inserted it, in what critic Evan Lang Pandya calls a "gross besmirching of Frost's intention that has gone down as one of twentieth-century editing's foremost quibbles."


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: In the early morning of November 23, 1963, Sid Davis of Westinghouse Broadcasting reported the arrival of President John F. Kennedy's casket at the White House. Since Frost was one of the President's favorite poets, Davis concluded his report with a passage from this poem but was overcome with emotion as he signed off.


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: At the funeral of former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, on October 3, 2000, his eldest son, Justin, rephrased the last stanza of this poem in his eulogy: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. He has kept his promises and earned his sleep."


title: Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

text: Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, towards his later years, kept a book of Robert Frost close to him, even at his bedside table as he lay dying. One page of the book featured the poem "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening", and the last four lines were underlined.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine, also known as xantheose, is the principal alkaloid of "Theobroma cacao" (cacao plant). Theobromine is slightly water-soluble (330 mg/L) with a bitter taste. In industry, theobromine is used as an additive and precursor to some cosmetics. It is found in chocolate, as well as in a number of other foods, including the leaves of the tea plant, and the kola nut. It is a white or colourless solid, but commercial samples can appear yellowish.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine is a flat molecule, a derivative of purine. It is also classified as a dimethyl xanthine. Related compounds include theophylline, caffeine, paraxanthine, and 7-methylxanthine, each of which differ in the number or placement of the methyl groups.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine was first discovered in 1841 in cacao beans by Russian chemist Aleksandr Voskresensky. Synthesis of theobromine from xanthine was first reported in 1882 by Hermann Emil Fischer.


title: Theobromine

text: "Theobromine" is derived from "Theobroma", the name of the genus of the cacao tree, with the suffix "-ine" given to alkaloids and other basic nitrogen-containing compounds. That name in turn is made up of the Greek roots "theo" ("god") and "broma" ("food"), meaning "food of the gods".


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine is the primary alkaloid found in cocoa and chocolate. Cocoa butter only contains trace amounts of theobromine. There are usually higher concentrations in dark than in milk chocolate.


title: Theobromine

text: There are approximately of theobromine in of milk chocolate, while the same amount of dark chocolate contains about . Cocoa beans naturally contain approximately 1% theobromine.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine can also be found in trace amounts in the kola nut, the guarana berry, yerba mate ("Ilex paraguariensis"), "Ilex vomitoria", "Ilex guayusa", and the tea plant.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine is a purine alkaloid derived from xanthosine, a nucleoside. Cleavage of the ribose and N-methylation yields 7-methylxanthosine. 7-Methylxanthosine in turn is the precursor to theobromine, which in turn is the precursor to caffeine.


title: Theobromine

text: Even without dietary intake, theobromine may occur in the body as it is a product of the human metabolism of caffeine, which is metabolised in the liver into 12% theobromine, 4% theophylline, and 84% paraxanthine.


title: Theobromine

text: In the liver, theobromine is metabolized into xanthine and subsequently into methyluric acid. Important enzymes include CYP1A2 and CYP2E1. The elimination half life of theobromine is between 6 to 8 hours.


title: Theobromine

text: Unlike caffeine, which is highly water soluble, theobromine is only slightly water soluble and is more fat soluble, and thus peaks more slowly in the blood. While caffeine peaks after only 30 minutes, theobromine requires 2-3 hours to peak.


title: Theobromine

text: "The main mechanism of action for methylxanthines has long been established as an inhibition of adenosine receptors". Its effect as a phosphodiesterase inhibitor is thought to be small.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine has no significant stimulant effect on the human central nervous system. It is a bronchodilator and causes relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. It is not currently used as a prescription drug. The amount of theobromine found in chocolate is small enough that chocolate can, in general, be safely consumed by humans.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine and caffeine are similar in that they are related alkaloids. Theobromine is weaker in both its inhibition of cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases and its antagonism of adenosine receptors. The potential phosphodiesterase inhibitory effect of theobromine is seen only at amounts much higher than what people normally would consume in a typical diet including chocolate.


title: Theobromine

text: At doses of 0.8–1.5 g/day (50–100 g cocoa), sweating, trembling and severe headaches were noted, with limited mood effects found at 250 mg/day.


title: Theobromine

text: Also, chocolate may be a factor for heartburn in some people because theobromine may affect the esophageal sphincter muscle in a way that permits stomach acids to enter the esophagus.


title: Theobromine

text: Theobromine is the reason chocolate is poisonous to dogs. Dogs and other animals that metabolize theobromine (found in chocolate) more slowly can succumb to theobromine poisoning from as little as of milk chocolate for a smaller dog and , or around nine small milk chocolate bars, for an average-sized dog. The concentration of theobromine in dark chocolates (approximately ) is up to 10 times that of milk chocolate () – meaning dark chocolate is far more toxic to dogs per unit weight or volume than milk chocolate.


title: Theobromine

text: The same risk is reported for cats as well, although cats are less likely to ingest sweet food, with most cats having no sweet taste receptors. Complications include digestive issues, dehydration, excitability, and a slow heart rate. Later stages of theobromine poisoning include epileptic-like seizures and death. If caught early on, theobromine poisoning is treatable. Although not common, the effects of theobromine poisoning can be fatal.


title: Acela

text: The Acela ( ; originally the Acela Express until September 2019) is Amtrak's flagship service along the Northeast Corridor (NEC) in the Northeastern United States between Washington, D.C. and Boston via 13 intermediate stops, including Baltimore, New York City and Philadelphia. "Acela" trains are the fastest in the Americas, reaching (qualifying as high-speed rail), but only over of the route.


title: Acela

text: "Acela" carried more than 3.4 million passengers in fiscal year 2016; second only to the slower and less expensive "Northeast Regional", which had over 8 million passengers. Its 2016 revenue of $585 million was 25% of Amtrak's total.


title: Acela

text: "Acela" operates along routes that are used by freight and slower regional passenger traffic, and reaches the maximum allowed speed of the tracks only along some sections, with the fastest peak speed along segments between Mansfield, Massachusetts and Richmond, Rhode Island, and New Brunswick and South Brunswick (Trenton in 2024), New Jersey. "Acela" trains use active tilting technology, which helps control lateral centrifugal force, allowing the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers. The high-speed operation occurs mostly along the route from Pennsylvania Station in New York City to Union Station in Washington, D.C., with a fastest scheduled time of 2 hours and 45 minutes and an average speed of , including time spent at intermediate stops. Over this route, "Acela" and the "Northeast Regional" service captured a 75% share of air/train commuters between New York and Washington in 2011, up from 37% in 2000.


title: Acela

text: The "Acela" speed is limited by traffic and infrastructure on the route's northern half. On the section from Boston's South Station to New York's Penn Station, the fastest scheduled time is 3 hours and 30 minutes, or an average speed of . Along this section, "Acela" has captured a 54% share of the combined train and air market. The entire route from Boston to Washington takes between 6 hours, 38 minutes and 6 hours, 50 minutes, at an average speed of around .


title: Acela

text: The present equipment (the Acela Express trainset) will be replaced by new Avelia Liberty trainsets, beginning in late 2023. The new trains will have greater passenger capacity and an enhanced active tilt system that will allow higher speed on the many curved sections of the route.


title: Acela

text: Following the success of Japan's newly inaugurated Shinkansen network, the High Speed Ground Transportation Act of 1965 authorized the U.S. government to explore the creation of high-speed rail, which resulted in the introduction of the higher-speed "Metroliner" trains between Washington, D.C. and New York City in 1969, the predecessor to "Acela". During the 1980s, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration explored the possibilities of high-speed rail in the United States. On December 18, 1991, five potential high speed rail corridors were authorized, including the Northeast Corridor.


title: Acela

text: In the early 1990s, Amtrak tested several different high-speed trains from Europe on the Northeast Corridor. An X 2000 train was leased from Sweden for test runs from October 1992 to January 1993, followed by revenue service between Washington, D.C. and New York City from February to May and August to September 1993. Siemens showed the ICE 1 train from Germany, organizing the ICE Train North America Tour which started to operate on the Northeast Corridor on July 3, 1993.


title: Acela

text: With the testing of the trains from Europe complete, Amtrak was able to define a set of specifications for high-speed equipment and in October 1994, Amtrak requested bids from train manufacturers for a trainset that could reach . A consortium of Bombardier (75%) and GEC Alsthom (now Alstom) (25%) was selected in March 1996.


title: Acela

text: On March 9, 1999, Amtrak unveiled its plan for the "Acela Express," a high-speed train on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston. Several changes were made to the corridor to make it suitable for higher-speed electric trains. The Northend Electrification Project extended existing electrification from New Haven, Connecticut, to Boston to complete the overhead power supply along the route, and several grade crossings were improved or removed. Prior to 2000, all trains bound for Boston had to switch to diesel power at New Haven.


title: Acela

text: A pilot trainset was completed by early 2000 and sent to Transportation Technology Center (TTC) for testing in June 2000.


title: Acela

text: An inaugural VIP run of the "Acela" occurred on November 16, 2000, with the VIP train being led by power car number 2020 with no. 2009 at the opposite end, followed by the first revenue run on December 11, 2000, a few months after the intended date.


title: Acela

text: By 2005, Amtrak's share of the common-carrier market between New York and Boston had reached 40%, from 18% pre-"Acela". With the increasing popularity of the faster, modern "Acela Express", "Metroliner" service was phased out in late 2006. To meet the demand, more "Acela" services were added in September 2005. By August 2008 crowding had become noticeable.


title: Acela

text: By 2011, the "Acela" fleet had reached half of its designed service life. Amtrak proposed several replacement options, including one as part of its "A Vision for High-Speed Rail in the Northeast Corridor". In 2011, Amtrak announced that forty new "Acela" coaches would be ordered in 2012 to increase capacity on existing trainsets. The existing trains would have received two more coaches, lengthening the trainsets from a 1-6-1 configuration to 1-8-1 (power car — passenger cars — power car). The longer trainsets would have required the modifications of the "Acela" maintenance facilities in Boston, New York and Washington. The first of the stretched trainsets was to have entered service in fiscal year 2014. This plan was cancelled in 2012 in favor of replacing, rather than refurbishing, the "Acela" fleet.


title: Acela

text: In January 2014, Amtrak issued a request for proposals on 28 or more new model "Acela" trainsets, in a combined order with the California High-Speed Rail Authority. These bids were due May 17, 2014. After discussions with manufacturers, Amtrak and the California High Speed Rail Authority concluded their needs were too disparate for common rolling stock and decided not to pursue the joint option.


title: Acela

text: Amtrak's original contract with the Bombardier-Alstom consortium was for the delivery of 20 trainsets (6 coaches each, with power cars at front and rear) for $800 million. By 2004, Amtrak had settled contract disputes with the consortium, paying a total of $1.2 billion for the 20 trainsets plus 15 extra high-speed locomotives and the construction of maintenance facilities in Boston, New York, and Washington.


title: Acela

text: Before the introduction of the Acela, there were several classes of trains on the Northeast Corridor: the express "Metroliners", the Philadelphia-New York "Clockers", "Empire Service" trains between New York City and Niagara Falls via the Empire Corridor, "Keystone Service" trains between New York City and to Harrisburg via the Keystone Corridor, and the umbrella term "NortheastDirect", applied to other trains on the corridor (in addition to unique names assigned to many departures).


title: Acela

text: The "Acela" name was announced on March 9, 1999, as a part of the original announcement of the service itself. The branding team based the name ""Acela"" on the ideas of acceleration and excellence. At the same time, Amtrak launched what it called the Capstone Program, a short-lived plan to rebrand the "NortheastDirect", "Keystone Service" and "Empire Service" trains as "Acela Regional" and the "Clocker" trains as "Acela Commuter".


title: Acela

text: The "Acela Regional" name was first applied to "NortheastDirect" trains 130–133 on January 31, 2000. Those trains were the first electrified trains to run on the full Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Boston. As more trains were electrified, they too were rebranded.


title: Acela

text: Following mass rider confusion between the three services, the branding was removed from the lower-speed "Acela Regional" and "Acela Commuter" trains in 2003.""


title: Acela

text: On September 23, 2019, Amtrak shortened the name of the service from "Acela Express" to simply "Acela".


title: Acela

text: At the same time, Amtrak introduced the "Acela Nonstop", a direct train from Washington, D.C. to New York's Penn Station. The nonstop service was temporarily suspended as of March 10, 2020, due to low ridership caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Acela

text: The first-generation "Acela" trainset is a unique set of vehicles designed specifically to satisfy governmental rolling stock requirements established primarily by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). This includes the ability to withstand a collision with a freight train at speed without collapsing. Most manufacturers that bid on the "Acela" were unable to meet the structural requirements, due to increased costs and complications for the manufacture of the trains, and the need for manufacturers to make significant engineering changes to their standard designs. In the end, only three qualified bidders remained: ABB (Swedish-Swiss manufacturer of the X 2000 train), Siemens (manufacturer of the German ICE), and a consortium of Bombardier (manufacturer of the LRC trains) and Alstom (manufacturer of the French TGV).


title: Acela

text: The design, using identical power cars at each end which operate on voltages of 12 kV, 12.5 kV, and 25 kV AC, and either 25 or 60 Hz frequency, derives several components from the TGV, such as the third-generation TGV's traction system (including the four asynchronous AC motors per power car, rectifiers, inverters, and regenerative braking), the trucks/bogies structure (a long-wheelbase dual transom H frame welded steel with outboard mounted tapered roller bearings), the brake discs (although there are only three per axle, versus four on the TGV), and crash energy management techniques to control structural deformation in the event of an accident.


title: Acela

text: The tilting carriages are based upon Bombardier's earlier LRC trains used on Via Rail rather than the TGV's non-tilting articulated trailers. "Acela" power cars and passenger cars are much heavier than those of the TGV in order to meet the FRA's crash standards. French and Canadian crews testing the "Acela" referred to it as "the pig" due to its weight. The extra weight leads to the "Acela" power-to-weight ratio being about 22.4 hp per tonne, compared to 30.8 hp for a SNCF TGV Reseau trainset. The Tier II crash standards, adopted in 1999, have also resulted in the passenger cars being designed without steps and trapdoors, which means that the trainsets can only serve lines with high-level platforms such as the Northeast Corridor. "Acela" trains are semi-permanently coupled (but not articulated as in the TGV) and are referred to as trainsets. Bombardier later used the "Acela" carriage design and a diesel/gas turbine variant of the power car for its experimental JetTrain.


title: Acela

text: On August 26, 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden announced a $2.45 billion federal loan package to pay for new equipment for the "Acela Express" service, as well as upgrades to the NEC. The loans will finance 28 Avelia Liberty trainsets that will be built by Alstom in Hornell and Rochester, New York and will replace the existing fleet of twenty Acela trainsets.


title: Acela

text: The fleet expansion will allow for hourly New York-Boston service all day and half-hourly New York-Washington service at peak hours. The new trainsets will be longer, have 386 seats compared to 304 on Acela Express (a 27% increase) and will feature active tilt technology that will initially allow service to operate at 160 mph (260 km/h) and would allow for service if proposed infrastructure improvements are completed.


title: Acela

text: The new trains were expected to be phased in between 2021 and 2022, after which the current fleet was to be retired. Trains are now expected to enter passenger service in late 2023.


title: Acela

text: Although the first-generation Acela Express trainsets were designed with a top speed of and the second-generation Avela Liberty trainsets will be designed to reach , the existing infrastructure of the Northeast Corridor significantly limits speeds.


title: Acela

text: The maximum speed limit on the Northeast Corridor is on of the route, in four sections of track in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. The "Acela" achieves an average speed (including stops) of between Washington and New York, and an average speed of from New York to Boston. The average speed over the entire route is .


title: Acela

text: Speeds are limited by the route the corridor takes through urban areas, and there are several speed restrictions below over bridges or through tunnels that are over a century old. Altogether, Amtrak has identified 224 bridges along "Acela" route that are beyond their design life.


title: Acela

text: South of the Delaware River, the "Acela"'s top speed is . One limiting factor is the overhead catenary support system which was constructed before 1935 and lacks the constant-tension features of the new catenary east of New Haven. The Pennsylvania Railroad ran "Metroliner" test trains in the late 1960s as fast as and briefly intended to run the "Metroliner" service at speeds reaching . Certification testing for commercial operation at involving test runs at up to began between Trenton and New Brunswick in September 2012. Passenger operation at began in this region in late May 2022.


title: Acela

text: The fastest schedule between New York and Washington, DC was 2 hours, 45 minutes in 2012. $450 million was allotted by President Barack Obama's administration to replace catenary and upgrade signals between Trenton and New Brunswick, which will allow speeds of over a stretch. The improvements were scheduled to be completed in 2016, but have been delayed; the project was partially completed in late May 2022, with the remainder projected in 2024. This section of track holds the record for the highest speed by a train in the US, which is , achieved in a test run by the U.S./Canada-built UAC TurboTrain on December 20, 1967.


title: Acela

text: North of New York City, Amtrak upgraded the track along the Connecticut shoreline east of New Haven to allow maximum speeds in excess of , in preparation for the "Acela" launch. Although this area contains the fastest current operating speeds (150 mph), it also has the slowest section of the NEC: between New Rochelle, New York and New Haven, Connecticut. This section is owned by Metro-North Railroad and the Connecticut Department of Transportation and is heavily used by commuter trains which limit the speed of the "Acela". Amtrak's trains achieve only on a limited stretch in New York State and rarely exceed at any time eastbound through Connecticut until reaching New Haven. In 1992, ConnDOT began plans to upgrade the catenary system and replace outdated bridges on the New Haven Line to enable the "Acela" to run slightly faster. the catenary replacement and bridge work were under way and expected to be completed by mid-2018.


title: Acela

text: On July 9, 2007, Amtrak introduced a limited-stop round trip, with trains stopping only at Philadelphia between New York and Washington. This shortened the trip between the two cities to 2 hours 35 minutes, making the trip roughly an hour faster than some of the "Northeast Regional" train services. These trains were an experiment to find ways to expedite travel time on the "Acela"; Amtrak has since dropped them.


title: Acela

text: The dense population of the northeastern United States makes the Northeast Corridor the most heavily traveled portion of the American passenger rail system. Two-thirds of rail passengers in the United States live in or near New York City, also home to the nation's busiest passenger rail station, Penn Station. In order to compete with airliners, Amtrak needed to increase the speed of trains in the region. The former Shore Line from New Haven to Boston is burdened by sharp turns and grade crossings, the crossings being of special concern.


title: Acela

text: Tilting enables passengers to ride more comfortably on curved sections of track faster than would otherwise be possible, by leaning into the bend. "Acela" trainsets use active tilting above on most of the system, but some segments of track in the Northeast Corridor are too close together for the cars to safely tilt while maintaining FRA minimum space between trains on parallel tracks. Metro-North Railroad restricts tilting on the segment of track north of New York which it owns. The system was originally designed for a 6.8° tilt, but the cars were redesigned wider to accommodate wider seats and aisles that reduced allowable tilt to 4.2° to fit within the clearance constraints of the existing tracks. Traveling at higher than also requires constant-tension catenary, which is only implemented on the more modern catenary system north of New York City. South of New York City, the trains are restricted to . By comparison, the "Northeast Regional" and the now-defunct "Metroliner" service reached .


title: Acela

text: "Acela" service was originally expected to begin in late 1999 but was delayed. The catenary system could not support the intended speeds between Washington DC and New York City, but the newer system between New York City and Boston allows the higher speeds. Attention was drawn to the decreased 4.2° tilt, but this was not the root of the speed problem, as the tracks from New York to Boston are similar to those between New York and Washington, and the tilt mechanism is not the factor enabling higher speeds. Following repairs, the first "Acela" service began on December 11, 2000, a year behind schedule.


title: Acela

text: "Acela" travels between Boston and New York in about three and a half hours (an improvement of half an hour); New York to Washington runs take a minimum of two hours and forty-five minutes. These schedules, as well as the relative convenience of direct downtown-to-downtown rail service as opposed to air travel, especially after the September 11 attacks, have made the "Acela Express" more competitive with the air shuttles. Due to this competition, Southwest Airlines canceled service between Washington and New York.


title: Acela

text: Due to the high speed at which "Acela" trains bypass platforms of local stations, concerns have mounted in some communities over inadequate warnings and safeguards for passengers waiting for other trains, including that the two-foot wide yellow platform markings may not keep people at a safe distance. At Kingston station in Rhode Island and Mansfield station in Massachusetts, "Acela" trains pass by at . Suggestions include platform safety barriers, or use of different announcements for approaching "Acela" trains versus slower ones.


title: Acela

text: In August 2002, shortly after their introduction, "Acela" trainsets were briefly removed from service when the brackets that connected truck (bogie) dampers (shocks) to the powerunit carbodies ("yaw dampers") were found to be cracking. The "Acela" returned to service when a program of frequent inspections was instituted. The damper brackets have since been redesigned and old brackets replaced by the newer design.


title: Acela

text: On April 15, 2005, the "Acela" was removed from service when cracks were found in the disc brakes of many passenger coaches. The Bombardier-Alstom consortium replaced the discs under warranty. Limited service resumed in July 2005, as a portion of the fleet operated with new brake discs. "Metroliner" trains, which the "Acela Express" was intended to replace, filled in during the outage. Amtrak announced on September 21, 2005, that all 20 trainsets had been returned to full operation.


title: Acela

text: In October 2012, "Acela" service was cancelled immediately before, during, and after Hurricane Sandy, which damaged the North River Tunnels causing lasting delays and reliability problems.


title: Acela

text: In March 2020, all "Acela" trips were suspended as part of a round of service reduction in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Amtrak resumed "Acela" service on June 1, 2020.


title: Acela

text: The "Acela Express" trainset consists of two power cars, a Café car, a First Class car, and four Business Class cars, semi-permanently coupled together. It has fewer seats than its regional service counterparts. The First Class car has 44 seats, being three seats across (one on one side, two on the other side), four-seat tables and assigned seating. There are 260 Business Class seats on each trainset; these cars have four seats across (two on each side), four-seat tables, and assigned seating. Baggage may be stowed in overhead compartments or underneath seats. Trains are wheelchair-accessible. Each car has one or two toilets, with one being ADA compliant.


title: Acela

text: The Business Class car adjacent to First Class is designated as a quiet car, where passengers are asked to refrain from loud talking and phone conversations. Automatic sliding doors between cars reduce noise.


title: Acela

text: "Acela" offers two classes of seating, Business Class and First Class. Unlike most other Amtrak trains, Business Class is the "de facto" standard class on "Acela" trains; there is no coach service.


title: Acela

text: "Acela" maintenance is generally taken care of at the Ivy City facility in Washington, DC; Sunnyside Yard in Queens, New York; or Southampton Street Yard in Boston.


title: Acela

text: The "Acela" trainsets underwent minor refurbishments between mid-2009 and 2010 at Penn Coach Yard, next to 30th Street Station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. These refurbishments included new blue leather seats throughout the trainset.


title: Acela

text: In May 2018, Amtrak announced a 14-month program to refresh the interiors of the "Acela" trainsets, including new seat cushions and covers, new aisle carpeting, and a deep clean. This refurbishment program has been completed as of June 2019.


title: Acela

text: Wireless Internet station service began in 2004. In 2010, with services provided by The GBS Group, all "Acela" trains began offering "AmtrakConnect" supporting IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz and standard VPN connections. In 2016, Amtrak upgraded to a faster wifi service.


title: Acela

text: Generally, Amtrak train crews consist of an engineer, a conductor, and at least one assistant conductor. "Acela" trains also have an On-Board Service crew consisting of two First Class attendants and a Café Car attendant. In addition to the food service provided in the Café Car, on most trains an attendant will also provide at-seat cart service, serving refreshments throughout the train. First Class passengers are served meals at their seats on all services.


title: Acela

text: A limited number of Acela trains previously stopped at New London before service was eliminated in 2022. During 2021, a limited number of Acela trains stopped at New Rochelle on weekends.


title: TJX Companies

text: The TJX Companies, Inc. (abbreviated TJX) is an American multinational off-price department store corporation, headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts. It was formed as a subsidiary of Zayre Corp. in 1987, and became the legal successor to Zayre Corp. following a company reorganization in 1989.


title: TJX Companies

text: , TJX operates TJ Maxx (in the United States) and TK Maxx (in Australia and Europe), its flagship store chains, along with Marshalls, HomeGoods, HomeSense, Sierra in the United States, and HomeSense, Marshalls, Winners in Canada. There are over 4,557 discount stores in the TJX portfolio located in nine countries. TJX ranked No. 97 in the 2021 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.


title: TJX Companies

text: The roots of The TJX Companies date back to 1977 when the first TJ Maxx store opened in Auburn, Massachusetts as part of the discount department store chain Zayre. In June 1987, Zayre established The TJX companies as a subsidiary. In the first half of 1988, Zayre stores had operating losses of $69 million on sales of $1.4 billion. Observers blamed technological inferiority, poor maintenance, inappropriate pricing, and inventory pileups, and Zayre appeared ripe for takeover. Throughout all this, however, The TJX Companies subsidiary continued to yield a profit. In October 1988, Zayre Corp. decided to focus its energies on TJX. It sold the entire chain of nearly 400 Zayre stores to Ames Department Stores Inc. In exchange, the company received $431.4 million in cash, a receivable note, and what was then valued at $140 million of Ames cumulative senior convertible preferred stock.


title: TJX Companies

text: The company continued focus on its core business, selling unrelated operations including BJ's Wholesale Club and Home Club, leaving it with just one brand, T.J. Maxx. In June 1989, Zayre Corp. acquired the outstanding minority interest in TJX and merged with the subsidiary, changing its name from Zayre Corp. to The TJX Companies, Inc. in the process. The newly named company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.


title: TJX Companies

text: In 1990, TJX expanded into an additional store brand division, and at the same time it first went international, as it entered the Canadian market by acquiring the five-store Winners chain. Two years later, it launched its third brand, HomeGoods, in the United States. TJX's expansion beyond North America came in 1994, when the fourth brand division, T.K. Maxx, was founded in the United Kingdom, and then expanded into Ireland. In 1995, TJX doubled in size when it acquired Marshalls, its fifth brand. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls later became consolidated as two brands under a single division, The Marmaxx Group. The following year, TJX Companies Inc. was added to the Standard & Poor's S&P 500 Composite Index, which consists of 500 of the largest companies in the United States. TJX sold Hit or Miss, a discount mall based clothing store in 1995 as well through an employee leveraged buyout.


title: TJX Companies

text: TJX launched a sixth brand, A.J. Wright, in 1998 in the eastern U.S. The brand went national in 2004 when it opened its first stores in California on the west coast. The company's seventh brand division, HomeSense, formed in 2001, was a Canadian brand modeled after the existing US brand, HomeGoods.


title: TJX Companies

text: In 2002, TJX revenue reached almost $12 billion. In mid-2003, TJX acquired an eighth brand division, Bob's Stores, concentrated in New England. In Canada, TJX began to configure some Winners and HomeSense stores side by side as superstores. The superstores feature open passageways between them, with dual branding. TJX's revenue in 2003 reached over $13 billion. TJX began to test the side-by-side superstore model in the United States in 2004, combining some of each of the two Marmaxx brand stores with HomeGoods. The company reached 141st position in the 2004 Fortune 500 rankings, with almost $15 billion in revenue. That year was also marked by the death of retired Zayre founder Stanley Feldberg.


title: TJX Companies

text: In April 2008, TJX launched the HomeSense brand in the UK, with six stores opening throughout May. The brand is more upmarket than its Canadian namesake. Later that year, in August, TJX sold Bob's Stores to Versa Capital Management and Crystal Capital.


title: TJX Companies

text: In December 2010, TJX announced that the A.J. Wright stores would be closed, cutting about 4,400 jobs, and that more than half of them would reopen under other company brands.


title: TJX Companies

text: In July 2015, TJX acquired the Trade Secret and Home Secret off-price retail businesses from Australian company Gazal Corporation Limited. The deal was completed in December. In October, Ernie Herrman was named CEO of the company, replacing Carol Meyrowitz. He took over in January 2016.


title: TJX Companies

text: On August 19, 2020, TJX Companies continue to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on its business. The company announced that revenues dropped 31% over the months of May, June, and July, primarily due to extensive closures of the shop for around one-third of the period. TJX Companies reported a second-quarter loss of $214 million.


title: TJX Companies

text: On January 17, 2007, TJX announced that it was the victim of an unauthorized computer systems intrusion. It discovered in mid-December 2006 that its computer systems were compromised and customer data was stolen. The hackers accessed a system that stores data on credit card, debit card, check, and merchandise return transactions. The intrusion was kept confidential as requested by law enforcement. TJX said that it was working with General Dynamics, IBM and Deloitte to upgrade computer security.


title: TJX Companies

text: By the end of March 2007, the number of affected customers had reached 45.7 million, and prompted credit bureaus to seek legislation requiring retailers to be responsible for compromised customer information saved in their systems. In addition to credit card numbers, personal information such as social security numbers and driver's license numbers from 451,000 customers were downloaded by the intruders. The breach was possible due to a non-secure wireless network in one of the stores. Eleven men were charged in the theft, and one (Damon Patrick Toey) pleaded guilty to numerous charges related to the breach. Another, Jonathan James, professed his innocence and later committed suicide, apparently out of the belief that he was going to be indicted. The alleged ringleader Albert Gonzalez, was later indicted in August 2009 with attacking Heartland Payment Systems, where 130 million records were compromised.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a 1988 supernatural horror film directed by Tony Randel and starring Clare Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Kenneth Cranham and Doug Bradley. The second film in the "Hellraiser" franchise, "Hellraiser II" draws heavily upon (and was made by much of the same cast and crew as) its precursor, "Hellraiser", which was released a year before. Laurence reprises her role as Kirsty Cotton, who is admitted into a psychiatric hospital after the events of the first film. There, the head doctor (Cranham) unleashes the Cenobites, a group of sadomasochistic beings from another dimension.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Clive Barker, who wrote and directed the first "Hellraiser" film, wrote the story of "Hellraiser II" and served as executive producer. An international co-production of the United Kingdom and the United States, "Hellraiser II" screened at the Toronto Festival of Festivals on 9 September 1988, and received mixed reviews upon release. It grossed $12.1 million at the box office and was followed by "" in 1992.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: In the past, British military officer Elliot Spencer is transformed into the Cenobite "Pinhead" after opening the Lament Configuration.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Shortly after her father is killed by Frank Cotton, Kirsty Cotton is admitted into a psychiatric hospital. Interviewed by Doctor Channard, and his assistant Kyle MacRae, she tells her account of the events, and pleads with them to destroy the bloody mattress that her murderous stepmother, Julia Cotton, died on.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: After hearing Kirsty's story, Dr. Channard, who is secretly obsessed with the Lament Configuration, has the mattress brought to his home and convinces a mentally ill patient, Mr. Browning, to lie on it and cut himself with a straight razor. The resulting blood frees a skinless Julia from the Cenobite dimension. MacRae, having snuck inside Channard's house to investigate Kirsty's claims, witnesses the event and flees.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Kirsty meets a young patient named Tiffany, who demonstrates an amazing aptitude for puzzles. Later that night, Kirsty is awakened in her room by a vision of who she believes is her skinless father, who tells her in writing that he's in Hell and asks her to help him. MacRae arrives back at the hospital and informs Kirsty he believes everything is true. The two decide to return to Channard's house.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Meanwhile, Channard, seduced by Julia, has brought more mentally ill patients to his home for her to feed on and regenerate. Kirsty and MacRae arrive at Channard's home. MacRae is killed by a now fully regenerated Julia, and Kirsty is knocked unconscious.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Channard and Julia kidnap Tiffany and force her to unlock the Lament Configuration so they can enter the labyrinth-like world of Pinhead and the Cenobites. The entity Leviathan, in the shape of a gigantic, elongated diamond, rotates in space above the labyrinth, shooting out black beams which make Channard remember some of the atrocities he committed. Julia calls Leviathan the "god of flesh, hunger, and desire...the Lord of the Labyrinth". Kirsty, who now possesses the Lament Configuration, follows them in.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Pinhead and the other Cenobites find Kirsty and tell her she is free to explore. Julia betrays Channard to Leviathan to be turned into a Cenobite; as Channard screams during the procedure, Julia reveals that she has a mission to bring souls to Leviathan, including Channard's.


title: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

text: Kirsty encounters Frank Cotton in the labyrinth, who reveals that he tricked her by pretending to be her father. Julia appears and destroys Frank in revenge for killing her, allowing Kirsty to escape. Julia is then killed by a vortex that opens within the labyrinth, leaving only her skin behind.