title: Suicide by jumping from height

text: In Hong Kong, jumping (from any location) is the most common method of committing suicide, accounting for 52% of all reported suicide cases in 2006, and similar rates for the years prior to that. The Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention of the University of Hong Kong believes that it may be due to the abundance of easily accessible high-rise buildings in Hong Kong (implying that much of the jumping is out of windows or from roof tops).


title: Suicide by jumping from height

text: In the United States, "jumper" is a term used by the police and media organizations for a person who plans to fall or jump (or already has fallen or jumped) from a potentially deadly height, sometimes with the intention to die by suicide, at other times to escape conditions inside (e.g. a burning building). It includes all those who jump, regardless of motivation or consequences. That is, it includes people making sincere suicide attempts, those making parasuicidal gestures, people BASE jumping from a building illegally, and those attempting to escape conditions that they perceive as posing greater risk than would the fall from a jump, and it applies whether or not the fall is fatal.


title: Suicide by jumping from height

text: The term was brought to prominence in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, in which approximately 200 people at the point of impact (or trapped above the point of impact) in the North and South towers of the World Trade Center jumped to escape the fire and the smoke caused by the direct impact of Flights 11 and 175. Many of these jumpers were inadvertently captured on both television and amateur footage, even though television networks reporting on the tragedy attempted to avoid showing the jumpers falling to avoid further traumatizing viewers.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Mathieu Valbuena (born 28 September 1984) is a French professional footballer who plays for Super League Greece club Olympiacos. He plays as an attacking midfielder and a winger and is known for his pace, technical ability, and tenacious style of play. He is described by his former coach at Libourne Saint-Seurin, Didier Tholot, as "an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills." Due to his small stature, Valbuena is nicknamed "le petit vélo", which translates to "the little bike".


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena began his career at professional club Bordeaux. He was let go from the club after two seasons and subsequently joined amateur club Langon-Castets in the fifth division of French football. In 2004, Valbuena joined Libourne Saint-Seurin in the Championnat National, the third level of French football. The midfielder had a good 2005–06 season with the club and signed with Ligue 1 club Marseille, prior to the 2006–07 season. With Marseille, Valbuena played in the UEFA Champions League for the first time and, in the 2009–10 season, was part of the team that won the league and league cup double, as well as the Trophée des Champions.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena is a French international and made his debut with the team in May 2010 in a friendly match against Costa Rica. He scored his first international goal in the same match and was named to the team to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup as a result. Valbuena appeared in only one of the three matches France contested at the World Cup. In November 2010, he scored his second career international goal against England at Wembley Stadium.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena began his football career at hometown club ES Blanquefort. He developed an interest in the sport of football through his paternal heritage as he often attended matches at the Camp Nou in Barcelona during school holidays as a youth. At the age of nine, his football career was put on hold after he received over 50 stitches in one of his legs following a swimming accident. After the injury healed, Valbuena returned to football and quickly impressed club coaches. In 1998, he was given a Best Player award at a local youth tournament played at the Camp des Loges, the training center of professional club Paris Saint-Germain. In 2001, Valbuena was recruited by professional club FC Girondins de Bordeaux.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena spent two years playing on the club's under-18 team playing alongside the likes of Rio Mavuba and Marouane Chamakh. Valbuena appeared in only three matches with the reserve team before being released from the club after failing to impress Jean-Louis Garcia, the reserve team manager. It has been commonly stated that Valbuena was let go by the club due to his small size; however, former club player and trainer Philippe Lucas explained that Valbuena was let go because he struggled to "transform his game from that of a young player to that of a professional" and that "his game needed to be faster and he needed to avoid confrontations".


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: After being let go by Bordeaux, Valbuena put his ambitions of becoming a professional player on hold, and was recommended by Garcia to play for amateur club Langan-Castets in the Championnat de France amateur 2, the fifth division of French football. Unlike at Bordeaux where he trained numerous times a week, Valbuena only trained three times a week with Langon-Castets and, due to the club's amateur status, worked as a sports shop salesman when he was not playing football. In his only season at the club, he impressed with his technical ability and was subsequently recruited by Championnat National club Libourne Saint-Seurin who had scouted the player eight times while he was at Langon-Castets.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: While at Libourne Saint-Seurin, Valbuena's play went through an upgrade. In his first season at the club, he struggled for meaningful minutes under coach André Menot, playing in 20 league matches and scoring two goals. Menot was fired mid-season and was replaced by Didier Tholot. The club ultimately finished the season in 13th place in the league. In the next season, manager Tholot took immediate notice of Valbuena. Tholot described Valbuena as "the architect of the team" and sought to build the team around him. As a result, Valbuena's playing time improved dramatically. He played in 31 league matches and scored nine goals, all of which came in victories. Valbuena earned rave reviews for his performances, but still suffered criticism on occasion due to "wanting to do everything" as stated by Tholot. On 12 August 2005, he scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 win over Moulins. Two weeks later, Valbuena scored a double in a 3–1 victory away to Cherbourg. One low-point during the season came on 9 September 2005 in Libourne's 2–1 defeat to Gazélec Ajaccio when Valbuena received his first-ever red card. The loss was the team's first of the season and Valbuena was suspended for three matches. Valbuena returned to the team on 7 October in a 1–0 loss to Bayonne.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: In November 2005, Valbuena returned to his early season form after scoring four goals over the course of three matches. He scored his first goal of the month on 5 November in a 2–1 win at home against Nîmes. Two weeks later, Valbuena scored against Angers in another win and, in the following week, scored both goals in a 2–0 win over Pau. As a result of his performances, Valbuena was linked to several clubs in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, most notably Saint-Étienne and Auxerre, in December. The midfielder, however, denied the approaches stating his desire to help Libourne achieve promotion to the second division. Valbuena went scoreless through the winter months, but remained a fixture in the starting eleven as the club remained in contention for promotion to Ligue 2. On 29 April 2006, with Libourne in a battle for the final promotion spot, Valbuena scored another double, this time against Toulon in another shutout victory. Libourne went unbeaten in its final four matches, which resulted in the club finishing in third place, thus achieving promotion to Ligue 2 for the first time in its history since the local clubs of Libourne and Saint-Seurin agreed to merge in 1998. For his efforts that season, Valbuena was named the league's Player of the Year, which led to heightened interest from several professional clubs in Ligue 2 and Ligue 1.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 9 June 2006, Valbuena signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a transfer to Olympique de Marseille. He signed a three-year deal with the club and was assigned the number 28 shirt by manager Eric Gerets. Valbuena made his professional debut for the club on 15 July 2006 in the team's third round match against Ukrainian club Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in the 2006 UEFA Intertoto Cup. He subsequently struggled to meet the demands of training and suffered an ankle injury in the pre-season period, which resulted in the player missing the start of the 2006–07 season. Valbuena made his league debut on 19 November 2006 in a league match against Valenciennes appearing as a substitute in the team's 1–0 victory. He appeared as a substitute for the majority of the season and even spent some time playing on the club's reserve team in the fifth division. On 19 May 2007, Valbuena scored his first professional goal in a 2–1 victory over Saint-Étienne. The game-winning goal allowed the club to maintain control of second place, which merited Marseille a spot in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2003–04 season.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Following the departure of Franck Ribéry to German club Bayern Munich ahead of the 2007–08 season, Valbuena was inserted as his replacement. It is during this season the midfielder acquired the nickname "le petit vélo" ("the small bike"), which is a play on Valbuena's size and his parent club's stadium, the Stade Vélodrome. Valbuena started the season off healthy under Gerets and featured primarily as a substitute, but by late August 2007, had become a starter forming partnerships in the midfield with Samir Nasri, Lorik Cana, and Benoît Cheyrou. Valbuena made his UEFA Champions League debut on 18 September 2007 against Turkish club Beşiktaş appearing as a substitute in a 2–0 win. In the team's next group stage match against English club Liverpool at Anfield, Valbuena scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory. The victory over Liverpool was the first time a French club had ever won at Anfield. Later that month, Valbuena signed a contract extension with Marseille, committing himself to the club until June 2012.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: In the league, Valbuena appeared in 29 matches and scored three goals. The first two goals came in the club's 6–1 win over Caen on 26 January 2008. The first goal Valbuena scored in the match was voted the Goal of the Year by the Ligue de Football Professionnel and was scored from almost out. On 9 March, Valbuena, for the second straight season, scored the game-winning goal in a win over Saint-Étienne. Due to his promising performances, Marseille awarded him another contract extension in April 2008, which added an extra year to his contract.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: In the 2008–09 season, Valbuena became a regular starter and appeared in 31 league matches. He scored three goals; two in victories over Auxerre and Le Havre and one in a loss to Paris Saint-Germain. After the season, Gerets, an admirer of Valbuena, was let go and Didier Deschamps was named as his replacement. In June 2009, Deschamps declared that Valbuena was not in his tactical plans and sought to place the midfielder on the transfer market. Club president Pape Diouf and several members of the board disagreed with Deschamps sentiments stating that Valbuena was "un-transferable". The indecision over Valbuena's future resulted in the player being linked to English clubs Aston Villa, Arsenal, and Liverpool. Valbuena's future was ultimately settled following the closure of the transfer window when he was not sold. As a result, he was relegated to the bench for the first half of the season under Deschamps and the tumultuous relationship reached its zenith in December when the two had a face-to-face meeting, which resulted in Valbuena declaring he wanted to leave the club in the January 2010 transfer window to find regular football.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 17 October, Valbuena scored his first goal in his first league start of the season away to Nancy. In February 2010, Valbuena returned to the starting lineup and remained a starter for the rest of the season. He was an important part of the team that won the league and league cup double. In the Coupe de la Ligue, Valbuena scored the game-winning goal in the semi-finals against Lille. In the final, he scored the second goal in a 3–1 victory over his former club Bordeaux. The Coupe de la Ligue title was Marseille's first major honour since winning the UEFA Champions League in 1993. In April 2010, Valbuena scored goals in three straight matches, all wins, against Nice, Boulogne-sur-Mer, and Saint-Étienne. The victories helped Marseille maintain its first-place position and Valbuena was praised by Deschamps. Marseille ultimately won the league after defeating Rennes on 5 May 2010.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: In the 2010–11 season, Valbuena was inserted as a starter by Deschamps for the start of the campaign despite the arrivals of wingers Loïc Rémy and André Ayew. Valbuena was also hampered by the constant media inquiries about what happened at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, on which he has refused to comment, stating "I was a neophyte in the France team, I will not allow myself to discuss the events" and that he was "trying to forget" the incident. Valbuena scored his first goal of the season on 12 September 2010 in a 2–2 draw with Monaco. On 23 November, he scored the opening goal in the team's 3–0 win over Russian club FC Spartak Moscow in the Champions League. The victory resulted in Marseille qualifying for the knockout portion of the competition for the first time since 2000. Four days later, Valbuena scored the third goal in the team's 4–0 win over Montpellier. On 22 January, Valbuena suffered a medial ligament sprain in his left knee as a result of a tackle from Ayew during a training session. He was, initially, ruled out for up to six weeks, but returned to training ahead of the team's Champions League match against English club Manchester United on 22 February. Valbuena made his return to the team in the second leg at Old Trafford appearing as a second-half substitute. Marseille were defeated 2–1 away, which resulted in the club losing on aggregate by the same scoreline.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: After appearing as a substitute in two consecutive league matches after returning from injury, Valbuena made his first start in a 2–1 win over "Le Classique" rivals Paris Saint-Germain. On 23 April 2011, he made his second consecutive start in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue. Marseille won the match defeating Montpellier 1–0 to claim its second straight league cup title. On 1 May, Valbuena scored the team's lone goal in its 1–1 draw with Auxerre. He finished the campaign by appearing in the team's final five matches as Marseille finished runner-up to Lille in the league.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena got off to a quick start in the team's 2011–12 campaign. He opened the campaign by assisting on a Loïc Rémy goal in the opening match of the season against Sochaux. The following week, he assisted on both goals in a 2–2 draw with Auxerre. On 28 August, Valbuena scored both of Marseille's goal in a 3–2 defeat away to Lille. The following month, he manufactured another statistical output after assisting on both of Rémy's goals in a 2–0 win over Evian. In the club's Champions League campaign, Valbuena failed to chart statistically in the team's first five group stage matches. On 6 December, in the team's final group stage match against German club Borussia Dortmund, Valbuena scored the match-winning goal after appearing as a substitute 14 minutes prior. The goal, described by UEFA as "an unstoppable shot", allowed Marseille progression to the UEFA Champions League knockout phase. In the team's final two December league matches prior to the winter break against Lorient and Nancy, Valbuena scored a goal and assisted on another in each match; Marseille won both matches. He finished the fall season with nine assists, a tally that currently leads the league.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Following his departure to Dynamo Moscow, Olympique de Marseille honoured Valbuena by retiring his number 28 shirt on 5 August 2014.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 2 August 2014, Valbuena signed a three-year contract with Dynamo Moscow in a reported £6 million transfer. In his second game for Dynamo and first as a starter on 13 August 2014 against FC Ufa, he assisted on both of his team's goals in a 2-0 victory. In his next game against FC Arsenal Tula on 17 August 2014, he again assisted on both goals in Dynamo's 2-1 victory. On 28 August 2014, Dynamo defeated AC Omonia in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round, through a decisive goal by Christopher Samba in the 93rd minute of the return leg following a free kick performed by Valbuena, and qualified for the first time for the group stage of a European competition (since the group stage was introduced). On 31 August 2014, he scored his first goal for Dynamo in a 2-0 victory over FC Krasnodar. On 16 September 2014, he had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. He returned to playing on 2 October 2014 in a Europa League group game against PSV Eindhoven, in which Yuri Zhirkov scored a winning goal deep into injury time after a corner delivered by Valbuena.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 11 August 2015, Valbuena returned to Ligue 1, signing a three-year contract with former club Marseille's rivals Lyon for a reported fee of €5 million.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 13 June 2017, Valbuena was signed by Fenerbahçe for a €1.5 million transfer fee (plus €1 million bonus) for three seasons.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 27 May 2019, Valbuena signed a one-year contract with Greek Superleague club Olympiacos. His first goal for the club, a penalty in a 2–0 win over İstanbul Başakşehir F.K., helped Olympiacos progress to the UEFA Champions League playoffs. His penalty was the only goal of their second match of the 2019–20 Superleague, away to Larissa. After Olympiacos went two goals down at home to Tottenham Hotspur in their first match of the Champions League group stage, Daniel Podence scored just before half-time with Valbuena's assistance and soon after the break, Jan Vertonghen fouled Valbuena for a penalty which he himself converted to complete the comeback.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 23 September 2020, Mathieu Valbuena's penalty gave the Greek champions a 2-0 home 2020–21 UEFA Champions League play-offs 1st leg win against AC Omonia. On March 29, 2021 as he reached the end of his contract at the end of the season, Valbuena reached an agreement to extend his contract with Olympiakos for another year for an undisclosed fee. On 28 November 2021, Valbuena scored his first goal for the season, with an excellent foul outside the area in the 90th minute, sealing a vital 2-1 home win game against Volos F.C. in its club effort to win the championship. He was voted MVP of the game.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 2 March 2022, he came as a substitute in the beginning of the second half, playing a catalytic role in a final 5-1 home win game against Asteras Tripoli F.C. He was voted MVP of the game.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena did not receive any call-ups to any of the France national youth football teams. However, following his impressive performances with Marseille, he was awarded a call up to the senior team by coach Raymond Domenech for the team's matches against England and Mali in March 2008. However, he picked up an injury and was forced to miss out.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena's next call-up was over two years later in May 2010, when he was named to the 30-man preliminary list by Domenech to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Valbuena's call up was considered surprising by the media and the player himself, despite Valbuena playing well with his parent club who won the league and league cup double in the 2009–10 season. Many journalists in the French media compared Valbuena's call-up to the team with Franck Ribéry's call-up four years previously, as the two players share similarities in playing style and their circumstances at the time of their respective call-ups. Valbuena was later named to the 23-man team to compete in the competition. He made his national team debut on 26 May 2010 in a friendly match against Costa Rica appearing as a substitute in the second half. After 16 minutes on the field, Valbuena scored the game-winning goal in the team's 2–1 victory. At the World Cup, Valbuena made his debut in the competition in the team's 2–0 loss to Mexico appearing as a substitute on 17 June. It was his only appearance in the competition. During the competition, the players went on strike in protest over the expulsion of striker Nicolas Anelka from the team, which resulted in all 23 players on the team being suspended for its friendly match in August 2010.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: After missing the match against Norway due to new manager Laurent Blanc's imposed suspension, Valbuena made his return to the team in a 1–0 defeat to Belarus in UEFA Euro 2012 qualification. The midfielder subsequently appeared in every match under Blanc in 2010, excluding the match against Bosnia and Herzegovina in September 2010. Valbuena capped his return to the national team by scoring against England in a friendly at Wembley Stadium on 17 November 2010.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena was included in France's UEFA Euro 2012 squad but did not make an appearance during the competition. Under new coach Didier Deschamps, Valbuena played in all ten of the team's matches during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, scoring once against Georgia.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: On 13 May 2014, Valbuena was named in France's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He was named in the starting line-up for the team's opening match against Honduras, making his tournament debut. In the second group fixture, he scored in a 5–2 defeat of Switzerland to help "Les Bleus" qualify for the knockout stage.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena is described by his former coach at Libourne Saint-Seurin Didier Tholot as "an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills." He has been deployed as a wide midfielder or winger since his arrival to the Bordeaux training center in 2001 often playing on the right side of midfield in former Bordeaux manager Elie Baup's preferred 4–3–3 formation. After leaving Bordeaux, Valbuena was primarily deployed in the playmaker position as an attacking midfielder at Langon Castets and Libourne Saint-Seurin. While at these clubs, he developed a penchant for attempting to do everything as stated by both his former club coaches Tholot and Jean-Pierre Léglise, the latter being his manager at Langon Castets.


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: While at the amateur clubs, Valbuena also honed his quickness, technical ability, and developed his tenacious style of play which contributed to his positive work-rate defensively. Léglise once stated that "he had never worked with such a young person so technically brilliant" in his coaching career. Valbuena's former coach also described the player's tenacious style stating "Whatever the build of the opponent, he will always tackle" and "he also surprised me with the level of his defensive work when he is aligned on the right-hand side". Valbuena is also known for his small size and, while at Langon, began using his diminutive stature to his advantage. During his first season at Marseille, he earned the nickname "le petit" by his former manager Eric Gerets. Gerets described the player as "extremely mobile" and a player who is "very quick at turning, from one side to the other".


title: Mathieu Valbuena

text: Valbuena was born in the southwestern commune of Bruges in the Gironde department to mother Brigitte and father Carlos. He is of Spanish origin through his father, who is originally from the city of Valladolid. Valbuena's father works for the city council of Bordeaux. Valbuena grew up in nearby Blanquefort where his parents still reside. On 24 December 2010, while traveling to Blanquefort to celebrate Christmas with his parents, Valbuena was involved in a car accident after losing control of his Lamborghini Murciélago while driving near Bègles. He survived the accident without any injuries.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The Symphony No. 9 in E minor, "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 (), popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 while he was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America from 1892 to 1895. It premiered in New York City on 16 December 1893. It is one of the most popular of all symphonies. In older literature and recordings, this symphony was – as for its first publication – numbered as Symphony No. 5. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the "New World Symphony" along during the Apollo 11 mission, the first Moon landing, in 1969. The symphony was completed in the building that now houses the Bily Clocks Museum in Spillville, Iowa.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The movement is written in sonata form and begins with an introductory leitmotif in Adagio. This melodic outline also appears in the third movement of Dvořák's String Quintet No. 3 in E major and his Humoresque No. 1. The exposition is based on three thematic subjects. The first in E minor is notable for its announcing and responsive phrases. The second is in G minor and undergoes a transformation such that it resembles a Czech polka. The exposition's closing theme in G major is known for being similar to the African-American spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". The development primarily focuses on the main and closing themes, and the recapitulation consists of a repetition of the main theme as well as a transposition of the second and closing themes up a semitone. The movement is concluded with a coda, with the main theme stated by the brass above an orchestral tutti.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The second movement is introduced by a harmonic progression of chords in the wind instruments. Beckerman interprets these chords as a musical rendition of the narrative formula "Once upon a time". Then a solo cor anglais (English horn) plays the famous main theme in D-flat major accompanied by muted strings. Dvořák was said to have changed the theme from clarinet to cor anglais as it reminded him of the voice of Harry Burleigh. The movement's middle section contains a passage in C minor evoking a nostalgic and desolate mood which eventually leads into a funeral march above pizzicato steps in the basses. It is followed by a quasi-scherzo that incorporates this movement's theme as well as the first movement's main and closing themes. The Largo is concluded with the soft return of the main theme and introductory chords.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The movement is a scherzo written in ternary form, with influences from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha". The stirring rhythm of the first part is interrupted by a trio middle section. The first part is then repeated, followed by an echo in the coda of the first movement's main theme.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The final movement is also written in sonata form. After a brief introduction, the horns and trumpets declare the movement's main theme against sharp chords played by the rest of the orchestra. The second theme is then presented by the clarinet above tremolos in the strings. The development not only works with these two themes but also recalls the main themes of the first and second movements and a fragment of the Scherzo. Following the recapitulation which begins in the unexpected key of G minor but later corrects itself back to the original key, the movement reaches its climax in the coda, in which materials from the first three movements are reviewed for a final time while the Picardy third is expanded after the orchestra triumphantly plays a "modally altered" plagal cadence.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: Dvořák was interested in Native American music and the African-American spirituals he heard in North America. While director of the National Conservatory he encountered an African-American student, Harry T. Burleigh, who sang traditional spirituals to him. Burleigh, later a composer himself, said that Dvořák had absorbed their "spirit" before writing his own melodies. Dvořák stated:


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The symphony was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, and premiered on 16 December 1893, at Carnegie Hall conducted by Anton Seidl. A day earlier, in an article published in the "New York Herald" on 15 December 1893, Dvořák further explained how Native American music influenced his symphony:


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: In the same article, Dvořák stated that he regarded the symphony's second movement as a "sketch or study for a later work, either a cantata or opera ... which will be based upon Longfellow's "Hiawatha"" (Dvořák never actually wrote such a piece). He also wrote that the third movement scherzo was "suggested by the scene at the feast in "Hiawatha" where the Indians dance".


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: In 1893, a newspaper interview quoted Dvořák as saying "I found that the music of the negroes and of the Indians was practically identical", and that "the music of the two races bore a remarkable similarity to the music of Scotland". Most historians agree that Dvořák is referring to the pentatonic scale, which is typical of each of these musical traditions.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: In a 2008 article in "The Chronicle of Higher Education", prominent musicologist Joseph Horowitz states that African-American spirituals were a major influence on Dvořák's music written in North America, quoting him from an 1893 interview in the "New York Herald" as saying, "In the negro melodies of America I discover all that is needed for a great and noble school of music." Dvořák did, it seems, borrow rhythms from the music of his native Bohemia, as notably in his Slavonic Dances, and the pentatonic scale in some of his music written in North America from African-American and/or Native American sources. Statements that he borrowed melodies are often made but seldom supported by specifics. One verified example is the song of the Scarlet Tanager in the Quartet. Michael Steinberg writes that a flute solo theme in the first movement of the symphony resembles the spiritual "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". Leonard Bernstein averred that the symphony was truly multinational in its foundations.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: Dvořák was influenced not only by music he had heard but also by what he had seen in America. He wrote that he would not have composed his American pieces as he had if he had not seen America. It has been said that Dvořák was inspired by the "wide open spaces" of America, such as prairies he may have seen on his trip to Iowa in the summer of 1893. Notices about several performances of the symphony include the phrase "wide open spaces" about what inspired the symphony and/or about the feelings it conveys to listeners.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: Dvořák was also influenced by the style and techniques used by earlier classical composers including Beethoven and Schubert. The falling fourths and timpani strokes in the "New World Symphony"s Scherzo movement evoke the Scherzo of Beethoven's Choral Symphony (Symphony No. 9). The use of flashbacks to prior movements in the New World Symphony's last movement is reminiscent of Beethoven quoting prior movements in the opening Presto of the Choral Symphony's final movement.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: At the premiere in Carnegie Hall, the end of every movement was met with thunderous clapping and Dvořák felt obliged to stand up and bow. This was one of the greatest public triumphs of Dvořák's career. When the symphony was published, several European orchestras soon performed it. Alexander Mackenzie conducted the London Philharmonic Society in the first London performance on 21 June 1894. Clapham says the symphony became "one of the most popular of all time" and at a time when the composer's main works were being welcomed in no more than ten countries, this symphony reached the rest of the musical world and has become a "universal favorite". As of 1978, it had been performed more often "than any other symphony at the Royal Festival Hall, London" and is in "tremendous demand in Japan".


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: The theme from the Largo was adapted into the spiritual-like song "Goin' Home" (often mistakenly considered a folk song or traditional spiritual) by Dvořák's pupil William Arms Fisher, who wrote the lyrics in 1922.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: In the UK, the theme became familiar to the general public after its use in an advert for the Hovis bakery.


title: Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák)

text: In 1981, Don Williams would record a different song written to the melody, by Roger Cook. The resulting composition, "Miracles", would peak at number 4 on the Billboard country singles chart that July, and also reach number 32 on the adult contemporary chart.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Kiichiro Toyoda persuaded his brother, who was responsible as head of the family business, to invest in the expansion of Toyoda Loom Works into a concept automobiles division; of which was considered a risk to the family business at the time. Shortly before Sakichi Toyoda died, he encouraged his son to follow his dream and pursue automobile manufacturing — Kiichiro would solidify the mechanical prowess the family had experienced inventing steam, oil, and electric looms, and would develop and institute what eventually became the global powerhouse of modern fame today, Toyota Motor Corporation. He would also institute the spelling of the automobile company away from the family name to famously garner good luck.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Toyoda would never know the success that would come to him as he resigned from the company he developed in 1950 in reaction to flagging sales and profitability. He died two years later; his contemporaries would call him "Japan's Thomas Edison". In 1957, his cousin and confidant Eiji Toyoda, would follow him as head of Toyota Motor Corporation, and build the late Toyoda's successful expansion into a world-class conglomeration of engineering and the launch of Japan's most prominent luxury brand, Lexus.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Kiichiro Toyoda was born as the eldest son of Sakichi Toyoda also Tami Sahara on June 11, 1894 at Yoshitsumura Yamaguchi, Shizuoka, Japan (currently Yamaguchi, Kochi City, Shizuoka).


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Before Kiichiro was born, Sakichi stayed in Toyohashi. At the time, Sakichi came to Yoshitsumachi to give a name to Kiichiro. However, after Sakichi named Kiichiro, he soon returned to Toyohashi. Also, less than two months after his mother, Tami, gave birth to him, she left him and her husband. She did so because she was sick of her husband, who, in her eyes, was too preoccupied with industrial inventions to pay any attention to their family life. Therefore, Kiichiro was raised in Yoshitsumura by his grandparents. At the age of three, Kiichiro moved to Nagoya, Aichi (currently Higashi Ward, Aichi), where Sakichi lived. In terms of education, Kiichiro entered Kyodo Kanji Ordinary Elementary School and then changed to Takadake Ordinary Elementary School (currently Nagoya Municipal Higashisakura Elementary School). After that, he entered Aichi Normal School Elementary School (currently Aichi University of Education Nagoya Elementary School), Meirin Junior High School (currently Aichi Prefectural Meiwa High School), and Second High School. In 1920, he graduated from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, at Tokyo Imperial University. After graduation, he remained in Tokyo Imperial University at the Faculty of Law for about seven months until March 1921. Kiichiro was an excellent student.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: After that, he returned to his hometown, Nagoya, and joined Toyota Boshoku, which was founded by his father, Sakichi, in 1918 (Sakichi served as company president since then). From July 1921 to February 1922, Kiichirō visited San Francisco, London, Oldham (a large town in Greater Manchester, England), etc. to learn about the spinning and weaving industry and then returned from Marseille via Shanghai. After he returned to Japan, in December 1922, he married Hatako Iida, the daughter of the Takashimaya department store chain co-founder, Shinshichi Iida. In 1926, Kiichiro established Toyota Industries Corporation and became its Managing Director. Also, he became interested in automatic looms, so he set up a pilot plant in Kariya, Aichi to start development for them even though his father, Sakichi, disagreed. He travelled to Europe and America from September 1929 to April 1930, and thought that the automobile industry, which was in its infancy at that time, would greatly develop in the future. Therefore, in 1933, an automobile manufacturing department (later the automobile department) was newly established in Toyota Industries Corporation. In 1936, it was designated as a licensed company under the Automotive Manufacturing Act. In 1937, it became independent as Toyota Motor Corporation. Kiichirō became the vice president the same year (the president was Rizaburo Toyoda). In 1941, Kiichiro took office as president. At the height of the Pacific theater of World War II, the Toyoda family would be affected on both family business and home fronts. His children's education would be delayed by civil ramifications, and his business would be compelled to manufacture trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army. The family firms would be spared destruction in the days before the Japanese government's surrender.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: He is a key figure in paving the way for the Japanese automobile industry, and without him, today's Japanese automobile industry might have been less developed. The automobile industry plays a very important role in supporting the Japanese economy. The number of automobiles produced in Japan dramatically increased from 70,000 to 11.4 million between 1955 and 1980, and in 1980 exceeded the number of automobiles produced by the United States. In addition, the ratio of overseas exports of Japanese automobiles was 55% in 1985.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Kiichiro is said to have opened the path for the Japanese automobile industry, and he is credited for creating from scratch domestic cars that were superior to foreign cars. The differences between Japan and the United States in the automobile industry during World War II were quite large. In the early 1930s, Kiichiro proceeded with the development toward the domestic production of automobiles. In 1933, Toyota Industries Corporation set up an automobile department and began full-scale development of automobiles. However, the development of the car did not proceed smoothly. For instance, no one had experience in automobile manufacturing, so he gathered those who had experience in automobile manufacturing from across Japan. Also, it took six months to manufacture the engine. Then, in May 1935, the first A1 passenger car was finally completed. After that, it produced AA passenger cars that improved the A1 type and GA trucks that improved the G1 type. Moreover, Toyota Industries Corporation was designated with the Nissan Motor Company in September as a licensed company under the Automotive Manufacturing Act. However, Kiichiro was worried that being selected as the licensed company would lead to the loss of the competitiveness of the automobile industry and it would cause the destruction of the Japanese automobile industry. In 1937, Toyota Motor Corporation was established and Kiichiro was elected as vice president. Kiichiro's management was very good for mainly two reasons. First, He controlled and made the operation simpler in order to produce more cars on a shoestring. Specifically, in order to clarify the internal organization, the company was divided into seven divisions, and the purpose and jurisdiction of each division were clearly decided. Second, he reduced the risk of mass-produced cars by being involved not only in mass-produced cars but also in the manufacture of specialty cars. In November 1938, the Koromo Factory was established, and it worked hard to manufacture automobiles. However, the problems of automobile quality and cost arose, and the management was put into a critical situation. To overcome this situation, Kiichiro solved those problems by taking prompt action and in-house manufacturing of automobile parts. In 1941, Kiichiro became president of Toyota Motor Industry.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Toyota Motor Corporation had restricted its activities due to the war. In 1937, the second Sino-Japanese War broke out and it caused great challenges to the Japanese automobile industry including Toyota Motor Corporation. Following the end of the war, the Japanese government restricted automobile production in favor of products for the military, making the production and purchase of passenger cars difficult. In 1938, the National General Mobilization Law was enacted to maximize the use of human and physical resources. This law required Toyota Motor Corporation to provide trucks to the military and munitions industries with priority. In addition, the production of passenger cars was restricted and small passenger car production ceased in order to increase the production of military trucks.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Starting in 1939, automobile industries had to obtain permission from the Minister of Commerce and Industry to sell passenger cars. Even after that, control was further strengthened. In 1940, Toyota Motor Corporation and Nissan were reinforced control for selling large trucks and buses by the Japanese government, so the control made customers buy these trucks and buses personally. Those who wished to purchase were approved by a long procedure. To be specific, they applied for purchase at a dealer with permission of local police officers, next, obtained a survey from the dealer, and then, applying for a vehicle dispatch to the manufacturer was required. However, the possibility of accepting general orders has become extremely low.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: This situation became worse after the entry into World War II. Toyota Motor Corporation was designated as a munitions company in 1944, and strict control continued. Kiichiro must have had very unsatisfactory days during this period about not being permitted to make passenger cars. However, even during this time, Kiichiro concentrated on thinking about technical problems. He believed that the automobile business would definitely serve post-war Japan and continued to explore the technical issues despite such difficult times.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration on August 14, 1945, which brought the war to an end on the following day, 15th in Japan. Postwar Japan was occupied by GHQ (General Headquarters). In terms of the automobile industry, GHQ did not allow a Japanese automobile company to make passenger cars except for trucks. Like this, Kiichiro still faced difficult problems. However, he did not lose in this hard situation. He took a leading place and took many actions for the restoration of the Japanese automotive industry. First, in November 1945, he established an umbrella organization for the automotive industry (自動車統括団体) initiatively and he became the chairman of the organization. In the following year, he negotiated with GHQ by himself, and made GHQ admit that the new organization was different from the one of the wartime. Kiichiro also invited representatives of distribution companies nationwide to Koromo. He gave speeches about policy changes at Toyota Motor Corporation and proceeded with talks for the recovery of the automobile industry. His forceful speeches impressed the representatives. These actions show how much he was passionate about the car and the automobile industry and justified him acting on the behalf of the automobile industry. In addition, after the war, many dealers of each company were released from control and became independent. Some of these dealers' companies restarted as Toyota dealerships and were able to back to the prewar company. This shows how much he was trusted as the president of Toyota Motor Corporation by the owners of the dealerships. In fact, Kiichiro valued relationship with dealerships, so he usually communicated with people directly and dealt with problems as soon as possible if they suggested.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: However, it was still a hard situation to produce and sell. Raw materials and parts were not immediately available in the poor period after the war, and it was difficult to get cheap and good quality genuine parts compared to before. The production of trucks did not reach the monthly production of 500 cars. In 1945, the annual production volume was 3275 units, and in the following year, 5821units. However, although the production of passenger cars was prohibited, research for passenger cars could be allowed by GHQ. Also, as a part of the occupation policy, the automobile company will be contracted to repair United States military vehicles in Japan, so it was a good opportunity for Toyota employees including Kiichiro to know the structure of American cars. They actively absorbed the advanced parts of American cars, and then used as a reference to the development of its own passenger car. Anyway, the most important point is Kiichiro kept working so hard to develop the Japanese automobile industry under the hard circumstance in the postwar period.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Kiichiro continued to put a great deal of effort into passenger cars in terms of research, manufacturing and selling. In June 1947, GHQ approved the production of up to 300 passenger cars under 1500 cc per year, so he started to work on passenger car production from this day officially. In October 1947, the first Japanese passenger car after the war, the SA model with an S engine, was released and was nicknamed "Toyopet." However, there were mainly two problems during this period. First, these passenger cars did not sell at all. This car was highly evaluated in the automobile industry at the time, but during that time, there were not many customs for the common people to buy a car for a drive. Therefore, the passenger car was sold only 197 units during the five years since it released, even though 12,7996 trucks were sold over the same period. Second problem was that the production facilities were not good. There were many machines that had been used for many years and were not well maintained, so Kiichiro was worried about whether the cars of Toyota Motor Corporation could beat foreign cars. Moreover, if Toyota Motor Company couldn't complete a car that would be better and cheaper than a foreign car in a few years and that Japanese people would be willing to buy, Kiichiro was thinking about working with a foreign car manufacturer. From the description, it is clear that Kiichiro aimed to make passenger cars for Japanese with cheap and high quality, and make Japanese happy.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: The automobile industry was hit hard by the recession caused by the 1949 Dodge Line. Toyota Motor Corporation slowed the collection of sales proceeds due to the effects of inflation control and the setting of a single exchange rate. The reason why the inflation broke out in Japan was that the Japanese government spent a great deal of money to support soldiers returning to Japan and withdrawals from overseas and then, increased currency. From the background, GHQ decided to set a single exchange rate of 360 yen per dollar to stabilize the Japanese economy. Due to the influence of recession, demand for automobiles declined furthermore. In addition, the price of materials for cars was risen, and cash management was deteriorated considerably. This was how the management of the company was deteriorated significantly. In response to this, Kiichiro went out to sell together with the executives and went to collect accounts receivable. Furthermore, he made his best effort to save money for materials, but there was a limit, and in the end, there was a deficit of 22 million yen every month. Due to Dodge Line recession, over 8000 companies went bankrupt during the year of 1949.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: In August 1949, the company finally proposed to cut 10% of wages and cut retirement pay in half. As a result, the company promised not to dismiss employees, instead of accepting a 10% wage reduction. Under this circumstance, the other car companies laid down their workforce. For example, at Nihon Denso (currently Denso), which was established in December 1949, a labor dispute arose over personnel rearrangement. On March 31, 1950, four months after its establishment, Nihon Denso announced a company restructuring plan that included personnel reduction of 473 people. Under such situation, the reason why Kiichiro did not perform personnel reduction was that he experienced the employment problem at Toyota Industries Corporation during the Showa Depression in 1930, so decided that such a situation would never occur again.  Moreover, the advance into the automobile business was also a measure to prevent the recurrence of employment problems due to business diversification. Therefore, He absolutely tried to avoid personnel reduction. Kiichiro visited the banks in the city every day to get finance account. After all, no financial institution provided the funds for company. However, Shotaro Kamiya, who was a managing director of sales, persistently requested the financing provision from Sogo Takanashi who was a branch manager of the Bank of Japan, Nagoya Branch. After that, finally, the syndicate consisting of 24 banks was established through the placement of the Bank of Japan. Toyota Motor Company could get 188.2 million yen in loans, subject to Toyota's reconstruction plan formulation. In this way, Kiichiro overcame the bankruptcy crisis of 1949.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: Despite the strong promotion of management rationalization measures, the company's business performance never recovered. The reason is, on October 25, 1949, GHQ issued a "Memorandum on the total removal of restrictions on the production and sale of automobiles". As a result, the production and sale of automobiles became free in principle, but about the supply of production materials, the allocation and distribution system by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry remained, and the prices of materials and automobiles remained regulated. Moreover, while the controlled prices of materials were gradually raised thereafter, while the controlled prices of automobiles remained unchanged until April 1950, the profitability of the automobile business remained extremely difficult. Not only Toyota Motor Corporation but also Nissan Motor Corporation and Isuzu Motors Corporation deteriorated in business performance. For the four and a half months from November 16, 1949 to March 31, 1950, the loss was 76.52 million yen, so Toyota Labor Union judged that the personnel cut was inevitable, and a quasi-fighting system was established in March of the same year. Since then, labor-management negotiations have intensified into long-standing disputes. Under such tension, Kiichiro, who was originally hypertensive, became ill, so negotiations with the labor union were handled by the management army instead of Kiichiro. However, On April 22, 1950, the company announced that it would carry out 1,600 voluntary retirements to the labor union. On the other hand, since the company had promised not to lay off its personnel, the union naturally became furious and continued with extreme strikes. The strikes continued daily for about two months after the declaration, which caused production in April and May to drop 70% from its previous average. Since the company would be destroyed as it is, on June 5, 1950, Kiichiro announced that he would resign as the president to take on this series of responsibilities. By his retirement, the strike ended finally. Everyone was shocked by Kiichiro's resignation, and the union also had a respect for Kiichiro.


title: Kiichiro Toyoda

text: After retiring from the president, he created a laboratory at his home in Okamoto, Setagaya, Tokyo, and worked every day to design a small helicopter. On March 27, 1952, Toyoda died after suffering a fall resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage caused by chronic disease. He was 57 years old.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote "The Likely Lads", "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?" and "Porridge". It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: In 2000, series 1, set in Germany, was ranked number #46 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes in a list compiled by the British Film Institute. In 2015, the 1980s series was voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a "Radio Times" readers' poll in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the station. The show was the subject of the first episode of the BBC documentary series "Drama Connections" in 2005.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The first series, co-produced by Witzend Productions and Central Television for ITV in 1983, is the story of seven out-of-work construction workers from various parts of England who are forced to look for work in West Germany, although its initial emphasis is on three bricklayers from Newcastle upon Tyne making the journey to Germany, with the others being introduced along the way. (The title refers to their farewells to their wives and girlfriends - "Auf Wiedersehen" being German for "Farewell" or "Goodbye", or more literally "See you later", and "Pet" being a North-East English term of endearment).


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: They find work on a German building site in Düsseldorf but, despite promises of hostel accommodation, are forced to live in a small hut that reminds them of a World War II POW camp. The rest of the series is driven by the interactions and growing friendships between the various characters. Barry (Timothy Spall), a "spark" from the Black Country, is an obsessive bore; Neville (Kevin Whately), one of the Geordie "brickies", is an insecure young newlywed; fellow Geordie Oz (Jimmy Nail), another bricklayer, is aggressive and jingoistic; and London "chippy" Wayne (Gary Holton) is a womaniser. Dennis (Tim Healy) is another Geordie bricklayer who, being older, more experienced and generally more mature than the others, becomes the de facto leader of the group. Bristolian "brickie" and wrestler Bomber (Pat Roach) being the oldest is usually the calmest and sense of reason in the group; Scouse ex-con plasterer Moxey (Fairbank) is a jittery, recidivist arsonist. Over the course of 13 episodes the "Magnificent Seven" enjoy comic, dramatic, and romantic adventures, until a change in German tax laws forces them to return home.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The "building site" used for most of the filming was a set created on the backlot of the former ATV Elstree Studios at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire (then owned by Central). After its sale to the BBC in 1984, the "Albert Square" set of "EastEnders" was built there. Such was the attention to detail that the producers imported thousands of bricks from West Germany as these were slightly bigger than those used on English building sites.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The show was one of the first to use lightweight video cameras, including the Philips LDK 14S, on location in drama production. Previously used in electronic news-gathering they were more versatile and cheaper to use than studio-based cameras. Interior scenes (such as those in the bar) were shot in studios at Borehamwood. Some location filming was conducted in Hamburg, despite the fact that the series was set in Düsseldorf. In these scenes most of the cars' registration numbers begin with HH denoting Hamburg (HH = Hansestadt Hamburg).


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The location sequences in Hamburg and Düsseldorf actually only lasted 10 days. The Intercontinental hotel which Dennis, Wayne and Barry visit in episode 7, titled "Private Lives", was the same hotel in which the cast and crew stayed while filming there.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: In the last episode of the series, "When The Boat Goes Out", the hut on the site where the gang live accidentally catches fire and burns down. The ruins shown on the end credits were the actual ruins of the hut that was used for filming.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: In 2000, the first series was ranked #46 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, in a list compiled by the British Film Institute.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The second series of 13 episodes in 1986 saw the boys reunited, initially to help Barry complete extensive building work on his new home in Wolverhampton. Dennis is working for a crooked businessman, Ally Fraser (played by Bill Paterson), to whom he owes money. Dennis encourages the rest of the gang to help renovate a country manor house owned by Fraser, Thornely Manor, but they end up falling foul of the locals. Fraser then invites the boys to Spain to refurbish his swimming pool at his Spanish villa. Once in Spain, the gang are mistaken for criminals themselves and the series ends with them fleeing the Spanish police in a motor yacht, together with Barry's new wife, who had only expected a wedding at sea.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The second series had several on-set problems. Actor Gary Holton died before some of the final indoor scenes were filmed, and the scripts had to be reworked to explain Wayne's absence from these indoor scenes. Examples of this include various characters enquiring about Wayne's whereabouts, only to be told that he was chatting up a girl in the next room or that he had gone away for the day. A double was used in other scenes, such as one where Bomber manhandles Wayne away from Ally's girlfriend in a nightclub. The transmission of the final episode of Series 2 ("Quo Vadis Pet") saw an introduction by Tim Healy dedicating the episode to Holton.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Executive producer Allan McKeown fell out with Jimmy Nail during filming, as he felt his ego was out of control at this time and would often ask for his lines to be changed. In his autobiography, Nail said he was glad to be done with filming not just because of Holton's death but because he felt the second series lacked the gritty edge of the first series, something Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais later said they agreed with. On the audio commentary for series two, Clement said the series was much more contrived in getting and keeping the gang together, and La Frenais said he felt the gang weren't trapped together enough like they were in Germany in the hut. In particular, he felt the Spanish episodes were too luxurious for the gang: instead of sleeping rough, having arguments, and clashing with the Spanish locals, they were often seen relaxing in summer clothes, and occasionally had female partners tagging along, which reduced the impact of the series.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Despite these concerns, the ratings remained high throughout. The episode titled "Marjorie Doesn't Live Here Anymore", which Clement and La Frenais described as their favourite in the second series because it was "drab and grey looking", and "added some meat to Oz's character", was not only the most watched episode of the show's run but drew in the highest audience percentage out of all the channels on the night of its screening, with sixteen million viewers.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Location scenes in the UK were shot around the villages of Caunton, Nottinghamshire, Redmile, Leicestershire and Denton, Lincolnshire. Roundhill Primary School, Beeston, Nottinghamshire was used as the location for 'Walker Street Middle School'. Some scenes were also filmed in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire. Location shooting in Newcastle lasted for four days at the end of August 1985. Studio scenes were filmed at Central's new studios in Nottingham, replacing those at Borehamwood.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: In 1988, ITV decided to use "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" against "EastEnders", the BBC's twice-weekly soap that had grown considerably in popularity since its launch in 1985. The original episodes had been shown in a late evening slot and hence were very adult in content; ITV wanted to show them during family viewing time, and also in a 30-minute slot. Consequently, they cut each 50-minute episode into two 25-minute ones, thus turning the 26 episodes of the first two series into 52. The shows had to be further edited to remove adult language and sexual references to make them suitable for the desired family-viewing timeslot, and hence the plots often became confusing as key scenes were removed and much of the humour was lost. From 5 April 1988, the edited shows began an ITV network run, slotted on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7.30pm in direct competition with "EastEnders" on BBC-1. There were viewer complaints about the editing, and after a few weeks Thames and TVS both opted out of the run and instead showed the original uncut episodes at 10.30pm on Mondays. The majority of ITV regions stayed with the edited run until its natural end in September.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The Dennis and Oz characters were reunited for a one-off educational sketch for Tyne Tees in 1986. Made at the height of the AIDS epidemic, it consists of "Northern Life" presenter Paul Frost and Dr. Peter Jones, director of the Haemophilia Centre in Newcastle, discussing HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention in a TV studio, but cuts back and forth to a skit set in a pub, where Dennis and Oz are watching the broadcast, and are themselves discussing the issues over a pint of beer. In the conversation, Dennis becomes increasingly frustrated at Oz's typically ignorant views towards sexual fidelity, safe sex practices, homosexuality and drug abuse. Eventually Dr. Jones enters the pub for real and then explains the issues to Oz directly, who eventually takes heed.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Sketches written and performed for the "Sunday for Sammy" charity concerts inspired Clement and Le Frenais to revive the series. In 2002 the show was revived, this time as a six-part series produced by Ziji Productions for BBC One. The original writers and all of the surviving cast returned, joined by Noel Clarke as Wayne's son Wyman. The characters all appeared to have moved on: Moxey was no longer a wanted criminal; Oz had given up drinking; Barry ran a seemingly successful business exporting out of date food and Lada cars back to Russia (in reality smuggling drugs into the country, a fact Barry was unaware of); Neville and his wife Brenda, ran a building company called Nevenda Homes supplying pre-built homes from Scandinavia to DIY home builders. Dennis, however, was now a taxi driver whose biggest fare was on Tuesdays and Fridays driving a drug dealer around the area. The series' storyline revolves around a plan by corrupt politician Jeffrey Grainger (played by Bill Nighy), whom Oz had met in prison, to dismantle the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge (a real-life industrial landmark) and sell it for reconstruction in the Far East. Persuading Oz to get the old gang back together to dismantle the bridge, he then plans to cheat them out of their share of the profits, until a Native American from Arizona named Joe Saugus (played by Gordon Tootoosis) arrives to buy the bridge for the benefit of his tribe's casino after seeing an advert placed online by Oz. The lads fly to his reservation to reconstruct the bridge.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Each episode except the first featured a re-cap of the previous episode's events in a voiceover from Dennis, a feature not continued in the fourth series.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The special-effects depicting the dismantling of the bridge were so realistic that many people believed it was really being removed, forcing the BBC to add a caption to the final episode reassuring them that it was still there. Middlesbrough Council also issued a press release stating that the bridge remained in situ.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Despite some initial scepticism that the revival would not work, the show was an immediate hit. It won the National Television Award for Best Drama, and a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Drama. In a later television documentary, original executive producer Allan McKeown stated that he had been deeply disapproving of the series' revival and requested that it not be titled "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet". However this was refused and he fell out with La Frenais as a result, though they later reconciled.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Some of the cast made an appearance on Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2003, in which they find a suitcase full of money in a Miami hotel room and assume it belongs to a drug dealer who wants to shoot them but actually belongs to U2 who invite them to their penthouse.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: A fourth series of six episodes was aired on BBC One from 4 January to 8 February 2004. The characters now work as building subcontractors for the British Embassy after a building job in Moscow goes badly wrong and are given a tip off from a friend of Oz who tells them about specialised embassy work. The team are posted to Havana to completely refurbish the British ambassador's new residence. They also carry out some unofficial building work for Oz's Cuban girlfriend's family.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Neville was reluctantly recruited as a spy for British Intelligence before they left UK and was duped into working for Tarquin Pearce, the press liaison officer at the Embassy, Oz falls in love with prima ballerina Ofelia Ortiz, Barry finds himself in prison on the edge of a nervous breakdown, Moxey becomes a guinea pig trainer and Dennis ends up in a relationship with Wyman's mother.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Despite extensive negotiations between the BBC and the Cuban Government, it was not possible to obtain permission to film in Cuba, so the series was filmed in the Dominican Republic.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Two one-hour episodes were shot in Bangkok and Chiang Mai in July - August 2004, and broadcast on BBC 1 on 27 and 28 December. (The episodes had no on-screen titles, but were listed as "Au Revoir" on the official BBC episode guide.) Shooting in Bangkok took place partly in the red-light district Soi Cowboy. Pat Roach, although suffering from cancer, had hoped to appear in the two-part special, but was not well enough and died in July. Instead, Dennis reads a letter from Bomber to the rest of the group while they are dining in a restaurant, where he explains his reasons for not having joined them. The group lift their glasses and drink a toast: "To Bomber!".


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The story sees the remaining six working in a British Embassy somewhere in central Africa that is about to be overrun by rioters. Most of them escape uninjured, except for Oz who sustains a painful injury to the rectum protecting a female staff member (while they are having sex) from a bomb.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The boys then move on to Laos and later Thailand, where Barry's Russian ex-wife, Tatiana, turns up to announce that she is carrying his child following a brief "reconciliation" back in the UK. After working for the Australian embassy Neville accompanies Barry and Tatiana for a journey upon the Eastern and Oriental Express in which they meet, by coincidence, Tarquin Pearce. During a stopover on this trip, Barry is kidnapped and held by guerrillas in a village in the jungle. When the others find out and follow they are also captured. They end up being imprisoned in a bamboo hut but are treated kindly by the local villagers. Eventually, Dennis has an idea (inspired by the film "The Bridge on the River Kwai") to build a washhouse for the villagers to keep their minds occupied during their ordeal. After obtaining the guerrilla leader's satellite phone whilst he is asleep Neville manages to call for help to Brenda, and as a result the army and the Australian embassy locate them. It turns out that the man who arranged their kidnapping was Neville's corrupt handler, Tarquin Pearce (from Series 4). Deprived of their hostages, the guerrillas decide to take Tarquin hostage instead.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: In the final scenes Dennis, Neville and Oz ask the embassy to give them an assignment in a nice peaceful country, and return to Germany once more. On the ferry from England, Neville is asked what Brenda said to him when he told her he was heading off to Germany; he replies that she said "Auf Wiedersehen... pet." Following a dedication to Pat Roach, the closing credits of the final episode are accompanied by the opening theme tune from Series 1.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The opening and closing credits for the first two series were each accompanied by songs performed by Joe Fagin. In series one "Breakin' Away", written by David Mackay and Ian La Frenais, accompanied the opening credits. Ken Ashby collaborated with Mackay on "That's Livin' Alright", a song that closed each episode. The songs were released as a 7" single, and reached number three in the UK Singles Chart in January 1984. It was reissued in 1995 when the show was repeated on Channel 4. With new lyrics by Jimmy Lawless, Fagin released a special version of "That's Livin' Alright" for England's national football team's 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign. "That's England Alright" was released on 5 June 2006.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: Mackay and La Frenais also collaborated on "Get it Right", the song used for the opening credits of series two. Like the first series, Ken Ashby collaborated with Mackay for series two's closing credits song, "Back With the Boys Again". The two tracks were released together as a double-sided single, but only reached number 53 in the UK charts in April 1986.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: The tradition of using two separate songs was broken when the BBC revived the show. Instrumental music opened each episode of the third series. However, the closing credits were accompanied by Mark Knopfler's song "Why Aye Man", taken from his album "The Ragpicker's Dream". Incidental music was used for the fourth series and for the special. However, when the character of Dennis reveals a photograph of all of the original group taken in Germany, "Breakin' Away" begins and continues over the final credits of the show.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: A CD is now available entitled 'The Best of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet One & Two' and contains 29 tracks of vocal music and instrumentals.


title: Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

text: "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" is available on DVD in the UK and US as boxsets and single discs with three episodes on each. The show was largely repeated on ITV1 and ITV4 but the show has not been re-run on these channels since 2008. The programme was shown on Men & Motors for a while, but the channel has since closed. In June 2012, Digital Channel Yesterday picked up the rights to repeat the first three series of the show; these were then shown at 10 am and 4 pm on Weekdays. Yesterday had to edit the third series' episodes to fit into their timing schedules; therefore instead of them being 60 minutes in length they were reduced to 45 minutes. This was not apparent with the repeats of the first two series. In January 2013, Yesterday bought the fourth series but, again due to timing, these were also edited from 60 to 45 minutes, meaning several parts of the storyline been cut. From July 2013, Drama picked up the rights to rerun the series as part of its schedules. In January 2017, it was repeated on Yesterday again. In January 2021, series 1 and 2 were added to the UK’s BritBox and series 3 to 5 were added to the BBC’s iPlayer.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: The 2020–21 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 83rd season since its establishment. The season started on 21 August 2020 and ended on 23 May 2021. The league fixtures were announced on 9 July 2020.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: Paris Saint-Germain were the three-time defending champions, after they were awarded the title for the previous season following the league's cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: Following a 2–1 win against Angers on the final day of the season, Lille secured a fourth French league title, and their first since 2011.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: Lorient and Lens were promoted from the 2019–20 Ligue 2. After the French court had initially ruled that the season would proceed with 22 teams, the relegation of Amiens and Toulouse to the 2020–21 Ligue 2 was confirmed on 23 June 2020, following a vote by the LFP.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: Following the discontinuation of the Coupe de la Ligue at the end of the 2019–20 season, its European qualification place was given to the team finishing fifth in Ligue 1.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: The 2020–21 season ended with a relegation play-off between the 18th-placed Ligue 1 team, Nantes, and the winner of the semi-final of the Ligue 2 play-off, Toulouse, on a two-legged confrontation.


title: 2020–21 Ligue 1

text: "2–2 on aggregate. Nantes won on away goals and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues."


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in Africa, the emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Due to migration and imperial expansion, it grew to include many other primarily Afro-Asiatic-speaking communities, including Amhara, Oromos, Somalis, Tigray, Afars, Sidama, Gurage, Agaw and Harari, among others.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: One of the early kingdoms to rise to power in the territory was the kingdom of D'mt in the 10th century BC, which established its capital at Yeha. In the first century AD the Aksumite Kingdom rose to power in the Tigray Region with its capital at Aksum and grew into a major power on the Red Sea, subjugating Yemen and Meroe. In the early fourth century, during the reign of Ezana, Christianity was declared the state religion. Ezana's reign is also when the Aksumites first identified themselves as "Ethiopians", and not long after, Philostorgius became the first foreign author to call the Aksumites Ethiopians. The Aksumite empire fell into decline with the rise of Islam in the Arabian peninsula, which slowly shifted trade away from the Christian Aksum. It eventually became isolated, its economy slumped and Aksum's commercial domination of the region ended. The Aksumites gave way to the Zagwe dynasty, who established a new capital at Lalibela before giving way to the Solomonic dynasty in the 13th century. During the early Solomonic period, Ethiopia went through military reforms and imperial expansion that allowed it to dominate the Horn of Africa. Portuguese missionaries arrived at this time.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: In 1529, the Adal Sultanate attempted to conquer Abyssinia and met initial success; the Adal were supplied by the Ottomans while Abyssinia received Portuguese reinforcements. By 1543, Abyssinia had recaptured lost territory but the war had weakened both sides. The Oromo people were able to expand into the highlands, conquering both the Adal Sultanate and Abyssinia. The Portuguese presence also increased, while the Ottomans began to push into what is now Eritrea, creating the Habesh Eyalet. The Portuguese brought modern weapons and baroque architecture to Ethiopia, and in 1622 converted the emperor Susenyos I to Catholicism, sparking a civil war which ended in his abdication and expulsion of all Catholics from Ethiopia. A new capital was established at Gondar in 1632, and a period of peace and prosperity ensued until the country was split apart by warlords in the 18th century during the Zemene Mesafint.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Ethiopia was reunified in 1855 under Tewodros II, beginning its modern history and his reign was followed by Yohannes IV who was killed in action in 1889. Under Menelik II Ethiopia started its transformation to well organized technological advancement and the structure that the country has now. Ethiopia also expanded to the south and east, through the conquest of the western Oromo, Sidama, Gurage, Wolayta and other groups, resulting in the borders of modern Ethiopia. Ethiopia defeated an Egyptian invasion in 1876 and an Italian invasion in 1896 which killed 17,000 Ethiopians, and came to be recognized as a legitimate state by European powers. A more rapid modernisation took place under Menelik II and Haile Selassie. Italy launched a second invasion in 1935. From 1935 to 1941, Ethiopia was under Italian occupation as part of Italian East Africa. The Allies managed to drive the Italians out of the country in 1941, and Haile Selassie was returned to the throne from his 5 years exiled in Britain. Ethiopia and Eritrea united in a federation, but when Haile Selassie ended the federation in 1961 and made Eritrea a province of Ethiopia, the 30-year Eritrean War of Independence broke out. Eritrea regained its independence after a referendum in 1993.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Haile Selassie was overthrown in 1974 and the militaristic Derg regime came to power. In 1977 Somalia invaded, trying to annex the Ogaden region, but were pushed back by Ethiopian, Soviet, and Cuban forces. In 1977 and 1978 the government tortured or killed hundreds of thousands of suspected enemies in the Red Terror. Ethiopia experienced famine in 1984 that killed one million people and civil war that resulted in the fall of the Derg in 1991. This resulted in the establishment of the Federal Democratic Republic under Meles Zenawi. Ethiopia remains highly impoverished, although its economy has become one of the world's fastest-growing. Civil conflict in the country, including the Metekel conflict and the Tigray War, are still ongoing.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: It was not until 1963 that evidence of the presence of ancient hominids was discovered in Ethiopia, many years after similar discoveries had been made in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania. The discovery was made by Gerrard Dekker, a Dutch hydrologist, who found Acheulian stone tools that were over a million years old at the Kella site, near Awash. Since then many important finds have propelled Ethiopia to the forefront of palaeontology. The oldest hominid discovered to date in Ethiopia is the 4.2 million year old "Ardipithicus ramidus" (Ardi) found by Tim D. White in 1994. The most well known hominid discovery is Lucy, found in the Awash Valley of Afar Region in 1974 by Donald Johanson, and is one of the most complete and best preserved, adult Australopithecine fossils ever uncovered. Lucy's taxonomic name, "Australopithecus afarensis", means 'southern ape of Afar', and refers to the Ethiopian region where the discovery was made. Lucy is estimated to have lived 3.2 million years ago.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: There have been many other notable fossil findings in the country. In Gona stone tools were uncovered in 1992 that were 2.52 million years old, the oldest such tools discovered anywhere in the world. In 2010 fossilised animal bones, that were 3.4 million years old, were found with stone-tool-inflicted marks on them in the Lower Awash Valley by an international team, led by Shannon McPherron, which is the oldest evidence of stone tool use ever found anywhere in the world. In 2004 fossils found near the Omo river at Kibbish by Richard Leakey in 1967 were redated to 195,000 years old, the oldest date in East Africa for modern "Homo sapiens".


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Some of the earliest known evidence of early stone-tipped projectile weapons (a characteristic tool of "Homo sapiens"), the stone tips of javelins or throwing spears, were discovered in 2013 at the site of Gademotta, and date to around 279,000 years ago. In 2019, further evidence of Middle Stone Age complex projectile weapons was found at Aduma, also in Ethiopia, dated 100,000-80,000 years ago, in the form of points considered likely to belong to darts delivered by spear throwers.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The Ancient Egyptians were in possession of myrrh (found in Punt), which Richard Pankhurst interprets to indicate trade between the two countries was extant from Ancient Egypt's beginnings. Pharaonic records indicate this possession of myrrh as early as the First and Second dynasties (3100–2888 BC), which was also a prized product of the Horn of Africa Region; inscriptions and pictorial reliefs also indicate ivory, panther and other animal skins, myrrh-trees and ostrich feathers from the African coastal belt; and in the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty (2789–2767 BC) a Puntite is mentioned to be in the service of the son of Cheops, the builder of the Great Pyramid. J. H. Breasted posited that this early trade relationship could have been realized through overland trade down the Nile and its tributaries (i.e. the Blue Nile and Atbara). The Greek historian and geographer Agatharchides had documented seafaring among the early Egyptians: "During the prosperous period of the Old Kingdom, between the 30th and 25th centuries B. C., the river-routes were kept in order, and Egyptian ships sailed the Red Sea as far as the myrrh-country."


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The first known voyage to Punt occurred in the 25th century BC under the reign of Pharaoh Sahure. The most famous expedition to Punt, however, comes during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut probably around 1495 BC, as the expedition was recorded in detailed reliefs on the temple of Deir el-Bahri at Thebes. The inscriptions depict a trading group bringing back myrrh trees, sacks of myrrh, elephant tusks, incense, gold, various fragmented wood, and exotic animals. Detailed information about these two nations is sparse, and there are many theories concerning their locations and the ethnic relationship of their peoples. The Egyptians sometimes called the Land of Punt, "God's-Land", due to the "large quantities of gold, ivory, and myrrh that could be easily obtained".


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus used the word Aethiopia (Αἰθιοπία) to refer to the peoples who live immediately to the south of ancient Egypt, specifically the area now known as the ancient Kingdom of Kush, now a part of modern-day Nubia in Egypt and Sudan, as well as all of Sub-Saharan Africa in general. The name Aethiopia comes from the ancient Greek word "Aethiops" (burned-look).


title: History of Ethiopia

text: In ancient times the name Ethiopia was primarily used to refer to the modern-day nation of Sudan which is based in the Upper Nile valley and located south of Egypt, also called Kush, and then secondarily in reference to Sub-Saharan Africa in general. Reference to the Kingdom of Aksum designated as Ethiopia dates only as far back as the first half of the 4th century AD following the 4th century AD invasion of Kush in Sudan by the Aksumite empire. Earlier inscription of Ezana "Habashat" (the source for "Abyssinia") in Ge'ez, South Arabian alphabet, was then translated in Greek as "Aethiopia".


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The state of Sheba which is mentioned in the Old Testament is sometimes believed to have been in Ethiopia, but it is more often placed in Yemen. According to the Ethiopian narrative, best represented in the "Kebra Nagast", the Queen of Sheba slept with King Solomon and bore a child named Ebn Melek (later Emperor Menelik I). When he was of age, Menelik returned to Israel to see his father, who sent with him the son of Zadok to accompany him with a replica of the Ark of the Covenant (Ethiosemitic: "tabot"). On his return with some of the Israelite priests, however, he found that Zadok's son had stolen the real Ark of the Covenant. Some believe the Ark is still being preserved today at the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum, Ethiopia. The tradition that the biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem in ancient Israel is supported by the 1st century AD Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon's visitor as a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The first kingdom known to have existed in Ethiopia was the kingdom of D'mt, which rose to power around the year 980 BC. Its capital was at Yeha, where a Sabaean style temple was built around 700 BC. The D'mt kingdom was influenced by the Sabaeans in Yemen, however it is not known to what extent. While it was once believed that D'mt was a Sabaean colony, it is now believed that Sabaean influence was minor, limited to a few localities, and disappeared after a few decades or a century, perhaps representing a trading or military colony in some sort of symbiosis or military alliance with the civilization of Dʿmt or some other proto-Aksumite state. Few inscriptions by or about this kingdom survive and very little archaeological work has taken place. As a result, it is not known whether Dʿmt ended as a civilization before Aksum's early stages, evolved into the Aksumite state, or was one of the smaller states united in the Aksumite kingdom possibly around the beginning of the 1st century.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The first verifiable kingdom of great power to rise in Ethiopia was that of Axum in the 1st century CE. It was one of many successor kingdoms to Dʿmt and was able to unite the northern Ethiopian Highlands beginning around the 1st century BCE. They established bases on the northern highlands of the Ethiopian Plateau and from there expanded southward. The Persian religious figure Mani listed Axum with Rome, Persia, and China as one of the four great powers of his time. The origins of the Axumite Kingdom are unclear, although experts have offered their speculations about it. Even who should be considered the earliest known king is contested: although Carlo Conti Rossini proposed that Zoskales of Axum, mentioned in the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea", should be identified with one Za Haqle mentioned in the Ethiopian King Lists (a view embraced by later historians of Ethiopia such as Yuri M. Kobishchanov and Sergew Hable Sellasie), G.W.B. Huntingford argued that Zoskales was only a sub-king whose authority was limited to Adulis, and that Conti Rossini's identification can not be substantiated.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Inscriptions have been found in southern Arabia celebrating victories over one GDRT, described as ""nagashi" of Habashat [i.e. Abyssinia] and of Axum." Other dated inscriptions are used to determine a "floruit" for GDRT (interpreted as representing a Ge'ez name such as Gadarat, Gedur, Gadurat or Gedara) around the beginning of the 3rd century CE. A bronze scepter or wand has been discovered at Atsbi Dera with an inscription mentioning "GDR of Axum". Coins showing the royal portrait began to be minted under King Endubis toward the end of the 3rd century CE.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Christianity was introduced into the country by Frumentius, who was consecrated first bishop of Ethiopia by Saint Athanasius of Alexandria about 330 CE. Frumentius converted Ezana, who left several inscriptions detailing his reign both before and after his conversion.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: One inscription found at Axum states that he conquered the nation of the Bogos, and returned thanks to his father, the god Mars, for his victory. Later inscriptions show Ezana's growing attachment to Christianity, and Ezana's coins bear this out, shifting from a design with disc and crescent to a design with a cross. Expeditions by Ezana into the Kingdom of Kush at Meroe in Sudan may have brought about its demise, though there is evidence that the kingdom was experiencing a period of decline beforehand. As a result of Ezana's expansions, Aksum bordered the Roman province of Egypt. The degree of Ezana's control over Yemen is uncertain. Though there is little evidence supporting Aksumite control of the region at that time, his title, which includes "King of Saba and Salhen, Himyar and Dhu-Raydan" (all in modern-day Yemen), along with gold Aksumite coins with the inscriptions, "King of the "Habshat"" or "Habashite", indicate that Aksum might have retained some legal or actual footing in the area.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Toward the close of the 5th century CE, a group of monks known as the Nine Saints are believed to have established themselves in the country. Since that time, monasticism has been a power among the people, and not without its influence on the course of events.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The Axumite Kingdom is recorded once again as controlling part – if not all – of Yemen in the 6th century CE. Around 523 CE, the Jewish king Dhu Nuwas came to power in Yemen and, announcing that he would kill all the Christians, attacked an Aksumite garrison at Zafar, burning the city's churches. He then attacked the Christian stronghold of Najran, slaughtering the Christians who would not convert.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Emperor Justin I of the Eastern Roman Empire requested that his fellow Christian, Kaleb, help fight the Yemenite king. Around 525 CE, Kaleb invaded and defeated Dhu Nuwas, appointing his Christian follower Sumuafa' Ashawa' as his viceroy. This dating is tentative, however, as the basis of the year 525 CE for the invasion is based on the death of the ruler of Yemen at the time, who very well could have been Kaleb's viceroy. Procopius records that after about five years, Abraha deposed the viceroy and made himself king ("Histories" 1.20). Despite several attempted invasions across the Red Sea, Kaleb was unable to dislodge Abreha, and acquiesced in the change; this was the last time Ethiopian armies left Africa until the 20th century CE when several units participated in the Korean War. Eventually Kaleb abdicated in favor of his son Wa'zeb and retired to a monastery, where he ended his days. Abraha later made peace with Kaleb's successor and recognized his suzerainty. Despite this reverse, under Ezana and Kaleb the kingdom was at its height, benefiting from a large trade, which extended as far as India and Ceylon, and were in constant communication with the Byzantine Empire.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Details of the Axumite Kingdom, never abundant, become even more scarce after this point. The last king known to mint coins is Armah, whose coinage refers to the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE. An early Muslim tradition is that the Negus Sahama offered asylum to a group of Muslims fleeing persecution during Muhammad's life (615 CE), but Stuart Munro-Hay believes that Axum had been abandoned as the capital by then – although Kobishchanov states that Ethiopian raiders plagued the Red Sea, preying on Arabian ports at least as late as 702 CE.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Some people believed the end of the Axumite Kingdom is as much of a mystery as its beginning. Lacking a detailed history, the kingdom's fall has been attributed to a persistent drought, overgrazing, deforestation, plague, a shift in trade routes that reduced the importance of the Red Sea—or a combination of these factors. Munro-Hay cites the Muslim historian Abu Ja'far al-Khwarazmi/Kharazmi (who wrote before 833 CE) as stating that the capital of "the kingdom of Habash" was Jarma. Unless Jarma is a nickname for Axum (hypothetically from Ge'ez "girma", "remarkable, revered"), the capital had moved from Axum to a new site, yet undiscovered.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: About 1000 (presumably c. 960, though the date is uncertain), a Jewish princess, Yodit(Judith) or nicknamed "Gudit", conspired to murder all the members of the royal family and establish herself as monarch. According to legends, during the execution of the royals, an infant heir of the Axumite monarch was carted off by some faithful adherents and conveyed to Shewa, where his authority was acknowledged. Concurrently, Gudit reigned for forty years over the rest of the kingdom and transmitted the crown to her descendants. Though parts of this story were most likely made up by the Solomonic dynasty to legitimize its rule, it is known that a female ruler did conquer the country about this time.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: At one point during the next century, the last of Yodit's successors were overthrown by an Agaw lord named Mara Takla Haymanot, who founded the Zagwe dynasty (named after the Agaw people who ruled during this time) and married a female descendant of the Aksumite monarchs ("son-in-law") or previous ruler. Exactly when the new dynasty came to power is unknown, as is the number of kings in the dynasty. The new Zagwe dynasty established its capital at Roha (also called Adefa), where they build a series of monolithic churches. These structures are traditionally ascribed to the King Gebre Mesqel Lalibela, with the city being renamed Lalibela in his honour; though in truth some of them were built before and after him. The architecture of the Zagwe shows a continuation of earlier Aksumite traditions, as can be seen at Lalibela and at Yemrehana Krestos Church. The building of rock-hewn churches, which first appeared in the late Aksumite era and continued into the Solomonic dynasty, reached its peak under the Zagwe.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: The Zagwe dynasty controlled a smaller area than the Aksumites or the Solomonic dynasty, with its core in the Lasta region. The Zagwe seem to have ruled over a mostly peaceful state with a flourishing urban culture, in contrast to the more warlike Solomonids with their mobile capitals. David Buxton remarked that the Zagwe achieved 'a degree of stability and technical advancement seldom equalled in Abyssinian history'. The church and state were very closely linked, and they may have had a more theocratic society than the Aksumites or Solomonids, with three Zagwe kings being canonized as saints and one possibly being an ordained priest.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Unlike the Aksumites, the Zagwe were very isolated from the other Christian nations, although they did maintain a degree of contact through Jerusalem and Cairo. Like many other nations and denominations, the Ethiopian Church maintained a series of small chapels and even an annex at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Saladin, after retaking the Holy City in 1187, expressly invited the Ethiopian monks to return and even exempted Ethiopian pilgrims from the pilgrim tax. His two edicts provide evidence of Ethiopia's contact with these Crusader States during this period. It was during this period that the Ethiopian king Gebre Mesqel Lalibela ordered the construction of the legendary rock-hewn churches of Lalibela.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Later, as the Crusades were dying out in the early fourteenth century, the Ethiopian Emperor Wedem Arad dispatched a thirty-man mission to Europe, where they travelled to Rome to meet the Pope and then, since the Medieval Papacy was in schism, they travelled to Avignon to meet the Antipope. During this trip, the Ethiopian mission also travelled to France, Spain and Portugal in the hopes of building an alliance against the Muslim states then threatening Ethiopia's existence. Plans were even drawn up of a two-pronged invasion of Egypt with the French King, but nothing ever came of the talks, although this brought Ethiopia back to Europe's attention, leading to expansion of European influence when the Portuguese explorers reached the Indian Ocean.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Around 1270, a new dynasty was established in the Abyssinian highlands under Yekuno Amlak, with aid from neighboring Makhzumi Dynasty deposed the last of the Zagwe kings and married one of his daughters. According to legends, the new dynasty were male-line descendants of Aksumite monarchs, now recognized as the continuing Solomonic dynasty (the kingdom being thus restored to the biblical royal house). This legend was created to legitimize the Solomonic dynasty and was written down in the 14th century in the Kebra Negast, an account of the origins of the Solomonic dynasty.


title: History of Ethiopia

text: Under the Solomonic dynasty, the chief provinces became Tigray (northern), what is now Amhara (central) and Shewa (southern). The seat of government, or rather of overlordship, had usually been in Amhara or Shewa, the ruler of which, calling himself nəgusä nägäst, exacted tribute, when he could, from the other provinces. The title of nəgusä nägäst was to a considerable extent based on their alleged direct descent from Solomon and the queen of Sheba; but it is needless to say that in many, if not in most, cases their success was due more to the force of their arms than to the purity of their lineage. Under the early Solomonic dynasty Ethiopia engaged in military reforms and imperial expansion which left it dominating the Horn of Africa, especially under the rule of Amda Seyon I. There was also great artistic and literary advancement at this time, but also a decline in urbanisation as the Solomonic emperors didn't have any fixed capital, but rather moved around the empire in mobile camps.