title: History of Scotland

text: In literature the most successful figure of the mid-nineteenth century was Walter Scott, who began as a poet and also collected and published Scottish ballads. His first prose work, Waverley in 1814, is often called the first historical novel. It launched a highly successful career that probably more than any other helped define and popularise Scottish cultural identity. In the late 19th century, a number of Scottish-born authors achieved international reputations. Robert Louis Stevenson's work included the urban Gothic novella "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" (1886), and played a major part in developing the historical adventure in books like "Kidnapped" and "Treasure Island". Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes" stories helped found the tradition of detective fiction. The "kailyard tradition" at the end of the century, brought elements of fantasy and folklore back into fashion as can be seen in the work of figures like J. M. Barrie, most famous for his creation of Peter Pan, and George MacDonald, whose works, including "Phantasies", played a major part in the creation of the fantasy genre.


title: History of Scotland

text: Scotland also played a major part in the development of art and architecture. The Glasgow School, which developed in the late 19th century, and flourished in the early 20th century, produced a distinctive blend of influences including the Celtic Revival the Arts and Crafts Movement, and Japonisme, which found favour throughout the modern art world of continental Europe and helped define the Art Nouveau style. Among the most prominent members were the loose collective of The Four: acclaimed architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife the painter and glass artist Margaret MacDonald, her sister the artist Frances, and her husband, the artist and teacher Herbert MacNair.


title: History of Scotland

text: This period saw a process of rehabilitation for highland culture. Tartan had already been adopted for highland regiments in the British army, which poor highlanders joined in large numbers until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, but by the 19th century it had largely been abandoned by the ordinary people. In the 1820s, as part of the Romantic revival, tartan and the kilt were adopted by members of the social elite, not just in Scotland, but across Europe, prompted by the popularity of Macpherson's Ossian cycle and then Walter Scott's Waverley novels. The world paid attention to their literary redefinition of Scottishness, as they forged an image largely based on characteristics in polar opposition to those associated with England and modernity. This new identity made it possible for Scottish culture to become integrated into a wider European and North American context, not to mention tourist sites, but it also locked in a sense of "otherness" which Scotland began to shed only in the late 20th century. Scott's "staging" of the royal Visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan, resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish linen industry. The designation of individual clan tartans was largely defined in this period and became a major symbol of Scottish identity. The fashion for all things Scottish was maintained by Queen Victoria, who helped secure the identity of Scotland as a tourist resort, with Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire becoming a major royal residence from 1852.


title: History of Scotland

text: Despite these changes the highlands remained very poor and traditional, with few connections to the uplift of the Scottish Enlightenment and little role in the Industrial Revolution. A handful of powerful families, typified by the dukes of Argyll, Atholl, Buccleuch, and Sutherland, owned large amounts of land and controlled local political, legal and economic affairs. Particularly after the end of the boom created by the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1790–1815), these landlords needed cash to maintain their position in London society, and had less need of soldiers. They turned to money rents, displaced farmers to raise sheep, and downplayed the traditional patriarchal relationship that had historically sustained the clans. Potato blight reached the Highlands in 1846, where 150,000 people faced disaster because their food supply was largely potatoes (with a little herring, oatmeal and milk). They were rescued by an effective emergency relief system that stands in dramatic contrast to the failures of relief in Ireland. As the famine continued, landlords, charities and government agencies provided "assisted passages" for destitute tenants to emigrate to Canada and Australia; in excess of 16,000 people emigrated, with most travelling in 1851.


title: History of Scotland

text: Caused by the advent of refrigeration and imports of lamb, mutton and wool from overseas, the 1870s brought with them a collapse of sheep prices and an abrupt halt in the previous sheep farming boom. Land prices subsequently plummeted, too, and accelerated the process of the so-called "Balmoralisation" of Scotland, an era in the second half of the 19th century that saw an increase in tourism and the establishment of large estates dedicated to field sports like deer stalking and grouse shooting, especially in the Scottish Highlands. The process was named after Balmoral estate, purchased by Queen Victoria in 1848, that fueled the romanticisation of upland Scotland and initiated an influx of the newly wealthy acquiring similar estates in the following decades. By the late 19th century just 118 people owned half of Scotland, with nearly 60 per cent of the whole country being part of shooting estates. While their relative importance has somewhat declined due to changing recreational interests throughout the 20th century, deer stalking and grouse shooting remain of prime importance on many private estates in Scotland.


title: History of Scotland

text: The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional subject and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The politically powerless poor crofters embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800, and the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. This energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords, preparing them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League. Violence began on the Isle of Skye when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quieted when the government stepped in passing the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886 to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless. In 1885, three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, leading to explicit security for the Scottish smallholders; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and creating a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained most of their votes.


title: History of Scotland

text: The population of Scotland grew steadily in the 19th century, from 1,608,000 in the census of 1801 to 2,889,000 in 1851 and 4,472,000 in 1901. Even with the development of industry there were insufficient good jobs; as a result, during the period 1841–1931, about 2 million Scots emigrated to North America and Australia, and another 750,000 Scots relocated to England. Scotland lost a much higher proportion of its population than England and Wales, reaching perhaps as much as 30.2 per cent of its natural increase from the 1850s onwards. This not only limited Scotland's population increase, but meant that almost every family lost members due to emigration and, because more of them were young males, it skewed the sex and age ratios of the country.


title: History of Scotland

text: Scots-born emigrants that played a leading role in the foundation and development of the United States included cleric and revolutionary John Witherspoon, sailor John Paul Jones, industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, and scientist and inventor Alexander Graham Bell. In Canada they included soldier and governor of Quebec James Murray, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and politician and social reformer Tommy Douglas. For Australia they included soldier and governor Lachlan Macquarie, governor and scientist Thomas Brisbane and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher. For New Zealand they included politician Peter Fraser and outlaw James Mckenzie. By the 21st century, there would be about as many people who were Scottish Canadians and Scottish Americans as the 5 million remaining in Scotland.


title: History of Scotland

text: After prolonged years of struggle, in 1834 the Evangelicals gained control of the General Assembly and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons. The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr Thomas Chalmers known as the Great Disruption of 1843. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate Free Church of Scotland. The evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly in the Highlands and Islands, appealing much more strongly than did the established church. Chalmers's ideas shaped the breakaway group. He stressed a social vision that revived and preserved Scotland's communal traditions at a time of strain on the social fabric of the country. Chalmers's idealised small equalitarian, kirk-based, self-contained communities that recognised the individuality of their members and the need for co-operation. That vision also affected the mainstream Presbyterian churches, and by the 1870s it had been assimilated by the established Church of Scotland. Chalmers's ideals demonstrated that the church was concerned with the problems of urban society, and they represented a real attempt to overcome the social fragmentation that took place in industrial towns and cities.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the late 19th century the major debates were between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals, who rejected a literal interpretation of the Bible. This resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the Free Presbyterian Church in 1893. There were, however, also moves towards reunion, beginning with the unification of some secessionist churches into the United Secession Church in 1820, which united with the Relief Church in 1847 to form the United Presbyterian Church, which in turn joined with the Free Church in 1900 to form the United Free Church of Scotland. The removal of legislation on lay patronage would allow the majority of the Free Church to rejoin Church of Scotland in 1929. The schisms left small denominations including the Free Presbyterians and a remnant that had not merged in 1900 as the Free Church.


title: History of Scotland

text: Catholic Emancipation in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants, particularly after the famine years of the late 1840s, principally to the growing lowland centres like Glasgow, led to a transformation in the fortunes of Catholicism. In 1878, despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland. Episcopalianism also revived in the 19th century as the issue of succession receded, becoming established as the Episcopal Church in Scotland in 1804, as an autonomous organisation in communion with the Church of England. Baptist, Congregationalist and Methodist churches had appeared in Scotland in the 18th century, but did not begin significant growth until the 19th century, partly because more radical and evangelical traditions already existed within the Church of Scotland and the free churches. From 1879 they were joined by the evangelical revivalism of the Salvation Army, which attempted to make major inroads in the growing urban centres.


title: History of Scotland

text: Industrialisation, urbanisation and the Disruption of 1843 all undermined the tradition of parish schools. From 1830 the state began to fund buildings with grants, then from 1846 it was funding schools by direct sponsorship, and in 1872 Scotland moved to a system like that in England of state-sponsored largely free schools, run by local school boards. Overall administration was in the hands of the Scotch (later Scottish) Education Department in London. Education was now compulsory from five to thirteen and many new board schools were built. Larger urban school boards established "higher grade" (secondary) schools as a cheaper alternative to the burgh schools. The Scottish Education Department introduced a Leaving Certificate Examination in 1888 to set national standards for secondary education and in 1890 school fees were abolished, creating a state-funded national system of free basic education and common examinations.


title: History of Scotland

text: At the beginning of the 19th century, Scottish universities had no entrance exam, students typically entered at ages of 15 or 16, attended for as little as two years, chose which lectures to attend and could leave without qualifications. After two commissions of enquiry in 1826 and 1876 and reforming acts of parliament in 1858 and 1889, the curriculum and system of graduation were reformed to meet the needs of the emerging middle classes and the professions. Entrance examinations equivalent to the School Leaving Certificate were introduced and average ages of entry rose to 17 or 18. Standard patterns of graduation in the arts curriculum offered 3-year ordinary and 4-year honours degrees and separate science faculties were able to move away from the compulsory Latin, Greek and philosophy of the old MA curriculum. The historic University of Glasgow became a leader in British higher education by providing the educational needs of youth from the urban and commercial classes, as well as the upper class. It prepared students for non-commercial careers in government, the law, medicine, education, and the ministry and a smaller group for careers in science and engineering. St Andrews pioneered the admission of women to Scottish universities, creating the Lady Licentiate in Arts (LLA), which proved highly popular. From 1892 Scottish universities could admit and graduate women and the numbers of women at Scottish universities steadily increased until the early 20th century.


title: History of Scotland

text: The years before the First World War were the golden age of the inshore fisheries. Landings reached new heights, and Scottish catches dominated Europe's herring trade, accounting for a third of the British catch. High productivity came about thanks to the transition to more productive steam-powered boats, while the rest of Europe's fishing fleets were slower because they were still powered by sails.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the Khaki Election of 1900, nationalist concern with the Boer War meant that the Conservatives and their Liberal Unionist allies gained a majority of Scottish seats for the first time, although the Liberals regained their ascendancy in the next election. The Unionists and Conservatives merged in 1912, usually known as the Conservatives in England and Wales, they adopted the name Unionist Party in Scotland. Scots played a major part in the leadership of UK political parties producing a Conservative Prime Minister in Arthur Balfour (1902–05) and a Liberal one in Henry Campbell-Bannerman (1905–08). Various organisations, including the Independent Labour Party, joined to make the British Labour Party in 1906, with Keir Hardie as its first chairman.


title: History of Scotland

text: Scotland played a major role in the British effort in the First World War. It especially provided manpower, ships, machinery, food (particularly fish) and money, engaging with the conflict with some enthusiasm. Scotland's industries were directed at the war effort. For example, the Singer Clydebank sewing machine factory received over 5000 government contracts, and made 303 million artillery shells, shell components, fuses, and aeroplane parts, as well as grenades, rifle parts, and 361,000 horseshoes. Its labour force of 14,000 was about 70 percent female at war's end.


title: History of Scotland

text: With a population of 4.8 million in 1911, Scotland sent 690,000 men to the war, of whom 74,000 died in combat or from disease, and 150,000 were seriously wounded. Scottish urban centres, with their poverty and unemployment, were favourite recruiting grounds of the regular British army, and Dundee, where the female-dominated jute industry limited male employment, had one of the highest proportion of reservists and serving soldiers than almost any other British city. Concern for their families' standard of living made men hesitate to enlist; voluntary enlistment rates went up after the government guaranteed a weekly stipend for life to the survivors of men who were killed or disabled. After the introduction of conscription from January 1916 every part of the country was affected. Occasionally Scottish troops made up large proportions of the active combatants, and suffered corresponding loses, as at the Battle of Loos, where there were three full Scots divisions and other Scottish units. Thus, although Scots were only 10 per cent of the British population, they made up 15 per cent of the national armed forces and eventually accounted for 20 per cent of the dead. Some areas, like the thinly populated island of Lewis and Harris, suffered some of the highest proportional losses of any part of Britain. Clydeside shipyards and the nearby engineering shops were the major centres of war industry in Scotland. In Glasgow, radical agitation led to industrial and political unrest that continued after the war ended. After the end of the war in June 1919 the German fleet interned at Scapa Flow was scuttled by its German crews, to avoid its ships being taken over by the victorious allies.


title: History of Scotland

text: A boom was created by the First World War, with the shipbuilding industry expanding by a third, but a serious depression hit the economy by 1922. The most skilled craftsmen were especially hard hit, because there were few alternative uses for their specialised skills. The main social indicators such as poor health, bad housing, and long-term mass unemployment, pointed to terminal social and economic stagnation at best, or even a downward spiral. The heavy dependence on obsolescent heavy industry and mining was a central problem, and no one offered workable solutions. The despair reflected what Finlay (1994) describes as a widespread sense of hopelessness that prepared local business and political leaders to accept a new orthodoxy of centralised government economic planning when it arrived during the Second World War.


title: History of Scotland

text: A few industries did grow, such as chemicals and whisky, which developed a global market for premium "Scotch". However, in general the Scottish economy stagnated leading to growing unemployment and political agitation among industrial workers.


title: History of Scotland

text: After World War I the Liberal Party began to disintegrate and Labour emerged as the party of progressive politics in Scotland, gaining a solid following among working classes of the urban lowlands. As a result, the Unionists were able to gain most of the votes of the middle classes, who now feared Bolshevik revolution, setting the social and geographical electoral pattern in Scotland that would last until the late 20th century. The fear of the left had been fuelled by the emergence of a radical movement led by militant trades unionists. John MacLean emerged as a key political figure in what became known as Red Clydeside, and in January 1919, the British Government, fearful of a revolutionary uprising, deployed tanks and soldiers in central Glasgow. Formerly a Liberal stronghold, the industrial districts switched to Labour by 1922, with a base in the Irish Catholic working class districts. Women were especially active in building neighbourhood solidarity on housing and rent issues. However, the "Reds" operated within the Labour Party and had little influence in Parliament; in the face of heavy unemployment the workers' mood changed to passive despair by the late 1920s. Scottish educated Bonar Law led a Conservative government from 1922 to 1923 and another Scot, Ramsay MacDonald, would be the Labour Party's first Prime Minister in 1924 and again from 1929 to 1935.


title: History of Scotland

text: With all the main parties committed to the Union, new nationalist and independent political groupings began to emerge, including the National Party of Scotland in 1928 and Scottish Party in 1930. They joined to form the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1934, with the goal of creating an independent Scotland, but it enjoyed little electoral success in the Westminster system.


title: History of Scotland

text: As in World War I, Scapa Flow in Orkney served as an important Royal Navy base. Attacks on Scapa Flow and Rosyth gave RAF fighters their first successes downing bombers in the Firth of Forth and East Lothian. The shipyards and heavy engineering factories in Glasgow and Clydeside played a key part in the war effort, and suffered attacks from the Luftwaffe, enduring great destruction and loss of life. As transatlantic voyages involved negotiating north-west Britain, Scotland played a key part in the battle of the North Atlantic. Shetland's relative proximity to occupied Norway resulted in the Shetland Bus by which fishing boats helped Norwegians flee the Nazis, and expeditions across the North Sea to assist resistance. Significant individual contributions to the war effort by Scots included the invention of radar by Robert Watson-Watt, which was invaluable in the Battle of Britain, as was the leadership at RAF Fighter Command of Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding.


title: History of Scotland

text: In World War II, Prime Minister Winston Churchill appointed Labour politician Tom Johnston as Secretary of State for Scotland in February 1941; he controlled Scottish affairs until the war ended. He launched numerous initiatives to promote Scotland, attracting businesses and new jobs through his new Scottish Council of Industry. He set up 32 committees to deal with social and economic problems, ranging from juvenile delinquency to sheep farming. He regulated rents, and set up a prototype national health service, using new hospitals set up in the expectation of large numbers of casualties from German bombing. His most successful venture was setting up a system of hydro electricity using water power in the Highlands. A long-standing supporter of the Home Rule movement, Johnston persuaded Churchill of the need to counter the nationalist threat north of the border and created a Scottish Council of State and a Council of Industry as institutions to devolve some power away from Whitehall.


title: History of Scotland

text: In World War II, despite extensive bombing by the Luftwaffe, Scottish industry came out of the depression slump by a dramatic expansion of its industrial activity, absorbing unemployed men and many women as well. The shipyards were the centre of more activity, but many smaller industries produced the machinery needed by the British bombers, tanks and warships. Agriculture prospered, as did all sectors except for coal mining, which was operating mines near exhaustion. Real wages, adjusted for inflation, rose 25 per cent, and unemployment temporarily vanished. Increased income, and the more equal distribution of food, obtained through a tight rationing system, dramatically improved the health and nutrition; the average height of 13-year-olds in Glasgow increased by .


title: History of Scotland

text: While emigration began to tail off in England and Wales after the First World War, it continued apace in Scotland, with 400,000 Scots, ten per cent of the population, estimated to have left the country between 1921 and 1931. The economic stagnation was only one factor; other push factors included a zest for travel and adventure, and the pull factors of better job opportunities abroad, personal networks to link into, and the basic cultural similarity of the United States, Canada, and Australia. Government subsidies for travel and relocation facilitated the decision to emigrate. Personal networks of family and friends who had gone ahead and wrote back, or sent money, prompted emigrants to retrace their paths. When the Great Depression hit in the 1930s there were no easily available jobs in the US and Canada and the numbers leaving fell to less than 50,000 a year, bringing to an end the period of mass emigrations that had opened in the mid-18th century.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the early 20th century there was a new surge of activity in Scottish literature, influenced by modernism and resurgent nationalism, known as the Scottish Renaissance. The leading figure in the movement was Hugh MacDiarmid (the pseudonym of Christopher Murray Grieve). MacDiarmid attempted to revive the Scots language as a medium for serious literature in poetic works including "A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle" (1936), developing a form of Synthetic Scots that combined different regional dialects and archaic terms. Other writers that emerged in this period, and are often treated as part of the movement, include the poets Edwin Muir and William Soutar, the novelists Neil Gunn, George Blake, Nan Shepherd, A. J. Cronin, Naomi Mitchison, Eric Linklater and Lewis Grassic Gibbon, and the playwright James Bridie. All were born within a fifteen-year period (1887 and 1901) and, although they cannot be described as members of a single school, they all pursued an exploration of identity, rejecting nostalgia and parochialism and engaging with social and political issues.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the 20th century, the centre of the education system became more focused on Scotland, with the ministry of education partly moving north in 1918 and then finally having its headquarters relocated to Edinburgh in 1939. The school leaving age was raised to 14 in 1901, but despite attempts to raise it to 15 this was only made law in 1939 and then postponed because of the outbreak of war. In 1918, Roman Catholic schools were brought into the state system, but retained their distinct religious character, access to schools by priests and the requirement that school staff be acceptable to the Church.


title: History of Scotland

text: The first half of the 20th century saw Scottish universities fall behind those in England and Europe in terms of participation and investment. The decline of traditional industries between the wars undermined recruitment. English universities increased the numbers of students registered between 1924 and 1927 by 19 per cent, but in Scotland the numbers fell, particularly among women. In the same period, while expenditure in English universities rose by 90 per cent, in Scotland the increase was less than a third of that figure.


title: History of Scotland

text: Scotland's Scapa Flow was the main base for the Royal Navy in the 20th century. As the Cold War intensified in 1961, the United States deployed Polaris ballistic missiles, and submarines, in the Firth of Clyde's Holy Loch. Public protests from CND campaigners proved futile. The Royal Navy successfully convinced the government to allow the base because it wanted its own Polaris submarines, and it obtained them in 1963. The RN's nuclear submarine base opened with four Polaris submarines at the expanded Faslane Naval Base on the Gare Loch. The first patrol of a Trident-armed submarine occurred in 1994, although the US base was closed at the end of the Cold War.


title: History of Scotland

text: After World War II, Scotland's economic situation became progressively worse due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes. This only began to change in the 1970s, partly due to the discovery and development of North Sea oil and gas and partly as Scotland moved towards a more service-based economy. This period saw the emergence of the Scottish National Party and movements for both Scottish independence and more popularly devolution. However, a referendum on devolution in 1979 was unsuccessful as it did not achieve the support of 40 per cent of the electorate (despite a small majority of those who voted supporting the proposal.)


title: History of Scotland

text: A national referendum to decide on Scottish independence was held on 18 September 2014. Voters were asked to answer either "Yes" or "No" to the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" 55.3% of voters answered "No" and 44.7% answered "Yes", with a voter turnout of 84.5%.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the second half of the 20th century the Labour Party usually won most Scottish seats in the Westminster parliament, losing this dominance briefly to the Unionists in the 1950s. Support in Scotland was critical to Labour's overall electoral fortunes as without Scottish MPs it would have gained only two UK electoral victories in the 20th century (1945 and 1966). The number of Scottish seats represented by Unionists (known as Conservatives from 1965 onwards) went into steady decline from 1959 onwards, until it fell to zero in 1997. Politicians with Scottish connections continued to play a prominent part in UK political life, with Prime Ministers including the Conservatives Harold Macmillan (whose father was Scottish) from 1957 to 1963 and Alec Douglas-Home from 1963 to 1964.


title: History of Scotland

text: The Scottish National Party gained its first seat at Westminster in 1945 and became a party of national prominence during the 1970s, achieving 11 MPs in 1974. However, a referendum on devolution in 1979 was unsuccessful as it did not achieve the necessary support of 40 per cent of the electorate (despite a small majority of those who voted supporting the proposal) and the SNP went into electoral decline during the 1980s. The introduction in 1989 by the Thatcher-led Conservative government of the Community Charge (widely known as the Poll Tax), one year before the rest of the United Kingdom, contributed to a growing movement for a return to direct Scottish control over domestic affairs. The electoral success of New Labour in 1997 was led by two Prime Ministers with Scottish connections: Tony Blair (who was brought up in Scotland) from 1997 to 2007 and Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010, opened the way for constitutional change. On 11 September 1997, the 700th anniversary of Battle of Stirling Bridge, the Blair led Labour government again held a referendum on the issue of devolution. A positive outcome led to the establishment of a devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999. A coalition government, which would last until 2007, was formed between Labour and the Liberal Democrats, with Donald Dewar as First Minister. The new Scottish Parliament Building, adjacent to Holyrood House in Edinburgh, opened in 2004. Although not initially reaching its 1970s peak in Westminster elections, the SNP had more success in the Scottish Parliamentary elections with their system of mixed member proportional representation. It became the official opposition in 1999, a minority government in 2007 and a majority government from 2011. In 2014, the independence referendum saw voters reject independence, choosing instead to remain in the United Kingdom. In the 2015 Westminster election, the SNP won 56 out of 59 Scottish seats, making them the third largest party in Westminster.


title: History of Scotland

text: After World War II, Scotland's economic situation became progressively worse due to overseas competition, inefficient industry, and industrial disputes. This only began to change in the 1970s, partly due to the discovery and development of North Sea oil and gas and partly as Scotland moved towards a more service-based economy. The discovery of the giant Forties oilfield in October 1970 signalled that Scotland was about to become a major oil producing nation, a view confirmed when Shell Expro discovered the giant Brent oilfield in the northern North Sea east of Shetland in 1971. Oil production started from the Argyll field (now Ardmore) in June 1975, followed by Forties in November of that year. Deindustrialisation took place rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s, as most of the traditional industries drastically shrank or were completely closed down. A new service-oriented economy emerged to replace traditional heavy industries. This included a resurgent financial services industry and the electronics manufacturing of Silicon Glen.


title: History of Scotland

text: In the 20th century existing Christian denominations were joined by other organisations, including the Brethren and Pentecostal churches. Although some denominations thrived, after World War II there was a steady overall decline in church attendance and resulting church closures for most denominations. Talks began in the 1950s aiming at a grand merger of the main Presbyterian, Episcopal and Methodist bodies in Scotland. The talks were ended in 2003, when the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland rejected the proposals. In the 2011 census, 53.8% of the Scottish population identified as Christian (declining from 65.1% in 2001). The Church of Scotland is the largest religious grouping in Scotland, with 32.4% of the population. The Roman Catholic Church accounted for 15.9% of the population and is especially important in West Central Scotland and the Highlands. In recent years other religions have established a presence in Scotland, mainly through immigration and higher birth rates among ethnic minorities, with a small number of converts. Those with the most adherents in the 2011 census are Islam (1.4%, mainly among immigrants from South Asia), Hinduism (0.3%), Buddhism (0.2%) and Sikhism (0.2%). Other minority faiths include the Bahá'í Faith and small Neopagan groups. There are also various organisations which actively promote humanism and secularism, included within the 43.6% who either indicated no religion or did not state a religion in the 2011 census.


title: History of Scotland

text: Although plans to raise the school leaving age to 15 in the 1940s were never ratified, increasing numbers stayed on beyond elementary education and it was eventually raised to 16 in 1973. As a result, secondary education was the major area of growth in the second half of the 20th century. New qualifications were developed to cope with changing aspirations and economics, with the Leaving Certificate being replaced by the Scottish Certificate of Education Ordinary Grade ('O-Grade') and Higher Grade ('Higher') qualifications in 1962, which became the basic entry qualification for university study. The higher education sector expanded in the second half of the 20th century, with four institutions being given university status in the 1960s (Dundee, Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde) and five in the 1990s (Abertay, Glasgow Caledonian, Napier, Paisley and Robert Gordon). After devolution, in 1999 the new Scottish Executive set up an Education Department and an Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department. One of the major diversions from practice in England, possible because of devolution, was the abolition of student tuition fees in 1999, instead retaining a system of means-tested student grants.


title: History of Scotland

text: Some writers that emerged after the Second World War followed Hugh MacDiarmid by writing in Scots, including Robert Garioch and Sydney Goodsir Smith. Others demonstrated a greater interest in English language poetry, among them Norman MacCaig, George Bruce and Maurice Lindsay. George Mackay Brown from Orkney, and Iain Crichton Smith from Lewis, wrote both poetry and prose fiction shaped by their distinctive island backgrounds. The Glaswegian poet Edwin Morgan became known for translations of works from a wide range of European languages. He was also the first Scots Makar (the official national poet), appointed by the inaugural Scottish government in 2004. Many major Scottish post-war novelists, such as Muriel Spark, with "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1961) spent much or most of their lives outside Scotland, but often dealt with Scottish themes. Successful mass-market works included the action novels of Alistair MacLean, and the historical fiction of Dorothy Dunnett. A younger generation of novelists that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s included Shena Mackay, Alan Spence, Allan Massie and the work of William McIlvanney. From the 1980s Scottish literature enjoyed another major revival, this time led by a group of Glasgow writers associated with critic, poet and teacher Philip Hobsbaum and editor Peter Kravitz. In the 1990s major, prize winning, Scottish novels, often overtly political, that emerged from this movement included Irvine Welsh's "Trainspotting" (1993), Warner's "Morvern Callar" (1995), Gray's "Poor Things" (1992) and Kelman's "How Late It Was, How Late" (1994). Scottish crime fiction has been a major area of growth, particularly the success of Edinburgh's Ian Rankin and his Inspector Rebus novels. This period also saw the emergence of a new generation of Scottish poets that became leading figures on the UK stage, including Carol Ann Duffy, who was named as Poet Laureate in May 2009, the first woman, the first Scot and the first openly gay poet to take the post.


title: Talisman

text: A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed permanently in architecture. Talismans are closely linked with amulets, fulfilling many of the same roles, but a key difference is in their form and materiality, with talismans often taking the form of objects (eg., clothing, weaponry, or parchment) which are inscribed with magic texts.


title: Talisman

text: Talismans have been used in many civilizations throughout history, with connections to astrological, scientific, and religious practices; but the theory around preparation and use has changed in some cultures with more recent, new age, talismanic theory. Talismans are used for a wide array of functions, such as: the personal protection of the wearer, loved ones or belongings, aiding in fertility, and helping crop production.


title: Talisman

text: The word "talisman" comes from French "talisman", via Arabic (, plural ), which comes from the ancient Greek "telesma" (), meaning "completion, religious rite, payment", ultimately from the verb "teleō" (), "I complete, perform a rite".


title: Talisman

text: According to new age talismanic practices, features with magical associations—such as colors, scents, symbology, and patterns, figures—can be integrated into the creation of a talisman in addition to the chosen planetary or elemental symbolism. However, these must be used in harmony with the elemental or planetary force chosen so as to amplify the intended power of the talisman. It is also possible to add a personal touch to the talisman by incorporating a verse, inscription, or pattern that is of particular meaning to the maker. These inscriptions can be sigils (magical emblems), bible verses, or sonnets, but they too must be in harmony with the talisman's original purpose.


title: Talisman

text: In Islam, invocations and prayers infused with Quranic verses are essential ‘ingredients’ of the remedies proposed in treaties of prophetic medicine. Talismans could be made from a diverse selection of objects. Anything from a bead to a holy relic to a drawing could be endowed with talismanic properties. To invoke those properties, talismans could be inscribed with the names of holy figures like God, angels, saints, and jinnis, as well as verses from the Qur’an and even astrological symbols. For example, Muslim Ibn al-hajjaj instructed military commanders to inscribe Quran 54:46 on a cloth with rosewater, musk, and amber when Libra is rising and in the hour of the sun, and to carry it to the battlefield to prosper over oppressors and nonbelievers.


title: Talisman

text: The 10th century ‘Abbasid mathematician, Thabit ibn Qurra, was considered to be an expert on talismans. In one of his texts on talismans, he wrote, ‘The noblest part of astronomy is the science of talismans.’ According to the 12th century translator John of Seville and Limia’s version of ibn Qurra’s Arabic text, "De imaginibus", he saw talismans and astronomy to be more crucial for gaining wisdom than the studies of geometry and philosophy. In Adelard of Bath’s translation of the same text, it is stressed that extensive knowledge of both astronomy and astrology is needed for creating a talisman. This information is necessary because talismans should be made at the moment of an auspicious celestial event. One’s birth horoscope could also be a factor in the efficacy of talismans. The maker cannot have any distractions or doubts, otherwise their talisman will be powerless.


title: Talisman

text: Adelard’s translation specifies that to make a talisman which could earn love from a king, family member, or peer, one should use lead, iron, bronze, gold, or silver. To make a harmful talisman for creating conflicts between others, receiving money, defending or destroying a place, or winning a legal battle, one should use pitch and tar, bitumen, and aloes. An example of how to make a love talisman according to Ibn Qurra’s book is as follows: Firstly, one must make sure it is the correct astrological time to perform this ritual because it is the eleventh place, or house, that is connected to friendship. Next, one must make a talisman of a man’s figure during the specific astrological time, and with specific intention, and it must be engraved with the other person’s name. Thirdly, one must make a second talisman, and it should be engraved with the name of the receiver of this love. After this, both the names and cognominas of each person should be engraved on both talismans. They must be positioned so that the names on each talisman touches the heart of the other talisman. Next in the process is to take a piece of unused parchment or cloth that has been purified with musk, ambergris, and camphor, and draw the ‘rings’ of the lords of the ascendant and eleventh place. The talismans must be purified with saffron, aloe-wood, and frankincense, and then folded in the previously prepared cloth or parchment. This purification process should be repeated for three consecutive nights. During this process, a specific prayer related to the maker’s intention must be recited, and the individual must be bathed and have clean clothes.


title: Talisman

text: In the Islamic world, talismans were regularly employed for personal, social, political, and ideological reasons at both popular and elite levels. They function as a conduit for divine protection, which can involve both the attraction of positive energies to the wearer and the deflection of disease, danger and the evil eye. They may also be referred to as a hafiz, (protector) as well as a himala (pendant) often affixed to or suspended from the body, for example as a necklace, ring, talismanic shirt, or a small object within a portable pouch.


title: Talisman

text: Lea Olsan writes of the use of amulets and talismans as prescribed by medical practitioners in the medieval period. She notes that the use of such charms and prayers was "rarely a treatment of choice" because such treatments could not be properly justified in the realm of Galen's medical teachings. Their use, however, was typically considered acceptable; references to amulets were common in medieval medical literature.


title: Talisman

text: For example, one well-known medieval physician, Gilbertus, writes of the necessity of using a talisman to ensure conception of a child. He describes the process of producing this kind of talisman as "...writing words, some uninterruptible, some biblical, on a parchment to be hung around the neck of the man or woman during intercourse."


title: Talisman

text: In the Qur'an, magic is introduced by the two angels of Babel, Harūt and Marūt. Magic, or sihr, was seen as a supernatural force existing in the natural world that could cure disease with charms and spells. Many bowls were inscribed with text explaining what this bowl should be used to cure (i.e. colic, childbirth, a nosebleed etc.) as well as instructions of how to use it. The bronzed engraved "Magic Bowl" from Syria c. 1200 is an example of a dish used to ease childbirth as well as ease the sting of a scorpion and bite of a mad dog, according to the Qur'anic inscriptions on the inside of the bowl. Inscribed on this bowl are also suggestions that the person inflicted with the disease or bite, does not need to be the one to consume the liquid from the bowl. It could be taken by somebody around or associated to the inflicted person, but it does not mention how the magic is transferred to the person in need of help. This specific bowl was also used for barakah when the bowl was filled with water and sat overnight to absorb healing powers.


title: Talisman

text: The "Pseudo-Aristotelian Hermetica", a series of closely related Arabic texts attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and perhaps dating to the ninth century CE, explores the concept of "ruhaniyyat," i.e., angels from spiritual force/realm in the natural world, and how an individual can gain access to those forces. Text between Alexander the Great and Aristotle explore a variety of instructions of how to harness these spiritual forces through talisman, concoctions, amulets, and more that are each used for a designated purpose. Some instructions include placing a carved stone on top of a ring that is then placed on a dead black ram when Mars is in a specific degree of Scorpio and the moon is in Cancer. These texts dates are unknown however, they were the basis of many mystical practices in the Islamic medieval world. The Pseudo-Aristotelian text Sirr al-Asrar offers more instructions specifically with "kings talisman" which keeps harm away. It tells that when there are certain astrological marks, a ruby red stone should be carved on a Thursday with a man with wings and a crown riding a lion with a flag, while six other hairless men bow under his hands. This should then be burned in an extensive ritual where after a "ruhaniyyat" will visit in your dreams telling you your ritual was successful, from there, you will repel snakes and scorpions.


title: Talisman

text: Zulfiqar, the magical sword of Ali, was frequently depicted on Ottoman flags, especially as used by the Janissary cavalry, in the 16th and 17th centuries.


title: Talisman

text: This version of the complete prayer of Zulfiqar is also frequently invoked in talismans of the Qizilbash warriors:


title: Talisman

text: A record of "Live like Ali, die like Hussein" as part of a longer talismanic inscription was published by Tewfik Canaan in "The Decipherment of Persian and sometimes Arabic Talismans" (1938).


title: Talisman

text: The Seal of Solomon, also known as the interlaced triangle, is another ancient talisman and amulet that has been commonly used in several religions. Reputed to be the emblem by which King Solomon ruled the Genii, it could not have originated with him. Its use has been traced in different cultures long before the Jewish Dispensation. As a talisman it was believed to be all-powerful, the ideal symbol of the absolute, and was worn for protection against all fatalities, threats, and trouble, and to protect its wearer from all evil. In its constitution, the triangle with its apex upwards represents good, and with the inverted triangle, evil.


title: Talisman

text: The triangle with its apex up was typical of the Trinity, figures that occur in several religions. In India, China and Japan, its three angles represent Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer or Re-generator. In ancient Egypt, it represented the deities Osiris, Isis and Horus. In Christianity, it represented the Holy Trinity. As a whole it stands for the elements of fire and spirit, composed of the three virtues (love, truth, and wisdom). The triangle with its apex downward symbolized the element of water, and typified the material world, or the three enemies of the soul: the world, the flesh, and the Devil, and the cardinal sins, envy, hatred and malice. Therefore, the two triangles interlaced represent the victory of spirit over matter. The early cultures that contributed to Western civilization believed that the Seal of Solomon was an all-powerful talisman and amulet, especially when used with either a Cross of Tau, the Hebrew Yodh, or the Egyptian Crux Ansata in the center.


title: Talisman

text: Talismanic shirts are found throughout the Islamic world. The earliest surviving examples date from the 15th century, but the tradition is thought to pre-date that. The shirts may be inscribed with verses from Quran or names of Allah and of prophets. They may also carry images of holy sites or astrological symbols. The inscribed names are believed to offer protection and guidance to the carrier. Talismanic shirts were worn to protect against many evils; many were made to be worn under armour as an additional form of protection.


title: Talisman

text: The swastika, one of the oldest and most widespread talismans known, can be traced to the Stone Age, and has been found incised on stone implements of this era. It can be found in all parts of the Old and New Worlds, and on the most prehistoric ruins and remnants. In spite of the assertion by some writers that it was used by the Egyptians, there is little evidence to suggest they used it and it has not been found among their remains.


title: Talisman

text: Both forms, with arms turned to the left and to the right, seem equally common. On the stone walls of the Buddhist caves of India, which feature many of the symbols, arms are often turned both ways in the same inscription.


title: Talisman

text: The Renaissance scientific building Uraniborg has been interpreted as an astrological talisman to support the work and health of scholars working inside it, designed using Marsilio Ficino's theorized mechanism for astrological influence. Length ratios that the designer, the astrologer and alchemist Tycho Brahe, worked into the building and its gardens match those that Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa associated with Jupiter and the sun. This choice would have counteracted the believed tendency of scholars to be phlegmatic, melancholy and overly influenced by the planet Saturn.


title: Talisman

text: The Serpent’s Gate is a gate in the Aleppo Citadel that contains a talismanic relief depicting two serpents. The serpents are biting their own body and encircling stars. The serpents are believed to have protective powers against the enemies of the citadel.


title: Talisman

text: The Bab Al-Tilsam, or the Talisman Gate, was a gate in Baghdad known for its talismanic inscriptions. The gate depicts two knotted serpents who are being held by a seated figure who is believed to be the Caliph. Just like the Serpent’s Gate, the serpents are supposed to give protection against their enemies.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion and spherochromatism, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the lens elements varies with the wavelength of light. The refractive index of most transparent materials decreases with increasing wavelength. Since the focal length of a lens depends on the refractive index, this variation in refractive index affects focusing. Chromatic aberration manifests itself as "fringes" of color along boundaries that separate dark and bright parts of the image.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: There are two types of chromatic aberration: "axial" ("longitudinal"), and "transverse" ("lateral"). Axial aberration occurs when different wavelengths of light are focused at different distances from the lens (focus "shift"). Longitudinal aberration is typical at long focal lengths. Transverse aberration occurs when different wavelengths are focused at different positions in the focal plane, because the magnification and/or distortion of the lens also varies with wavelength. Transverse aberration is typical at short focal lengths. The ambiguous acronym LCA is sometimes used for either "longitudinal" or "lateral" chromatic aberration.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: The two types of chromatic aberration have different characteristics, and may occur together. Axial CA occurs throughout the image and is specified by optical engineers, optometrists, and vision scientists in diopters. It can be reduced by stopping down, which increases depth of field so that though the different wavelengths focus at different distances, they are still in acceptable focus. Transverse CA does not occur in the center of the image and increases towards the edge. It is not affected by stopping down.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: In digital sensors, axial CA results in the red and blue planes being defocused (assuming that the green plane is in focus), which is relatively difficult to remedy in post-processing, while transverse CA results in the red, green, and blue planes being at different magnifications (magnification changing along radii, as in geometric distortion), and can be corrected by radially scaling the planes appropriately so they line up.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: In the earliest uses of lenses, chromatic aberration was reduced by increasing the focal length of the lens where possible. For example, this could result in extremely long telescopes such as the very long aerial telescopes of the 17th century. Isaac Newton's theories about white light being composed of a spectrum of colors led him to the conclusion that uneven refraction of light caused chromatic aberration (leading him to build the first reflecting telescope, his Newtonian telescope, in 1668.)


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Modern telescopes, as well as other catoptric and catadioptric systems, continue to use mirrors, which have no chromatic aberration.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: There exists a point called the "circle of least confusion", where chromatic aberration can be minimized. It can be further minimized by using an achromatic lens or "achromat", in which materials with differing dispersion are assembled together to form a compound lens. The most common type is an achromatic doublet, with elements made of crown and flint glass. This reduces the amount of chromatic aberration over a certain range of wavelengths, though it does not produce perfect correction. By combining more than two lenses of different composition, the degree of correction can be further increased, as seen in an apochromatic lens or "apochromat". Note that "achromat" and "apochromat" refer to the "type" of correction (2 or 3 wavelengths correctly focused), not the "degree" (how defocused the other wavelengths are), and an achromat made with sufficiently low dispersion glass can yield significantly better correction than an achromat made with more conventional glass. Similarly, the benefit of apochromats is not simply that they focus three wavelengths sharply, but that their error on other wavelengths is also quite small.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Many types of glass have been developed to reduce chromatic aberration. These are low dispersion glass, most notably, glasses containing fluorite. These hybridized glasses have a very low level of optical dispersion; only two compiled lenses made of these substances can yield a high level of correction.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: An alternative to achromatic doublets is the use of diffractive optical elements. Diffractive optical elements are able to generate arbitrary complex wave fronts from a sample of optical material which is essentially flat. Diffractive optical elements have negative dispersion characteristics, complementary to the positive Abbe numbers of optical glasses and plastics. Specifically, in the visible part of the spectrum diffractives have a negative Abbe number of −3.5. Diffractive optical elements can be fabricated using diamond turning techniques.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Telephoto lenses using diffractive elements to minimize chromatic aberration are commercially available from Canon and Nikon for interchangeable-lens cameras; these include 800mm f/6.3, 500mm f/5.6, and 300mm f/4 models by Nikon (branded as "phase fresnel" or PF), and 800mm f/11, 600mm f/11, and 400mm f/4 models by Canon (branded as "diffractive optics" or DO). They produce sharp images with reduced chromatic aberration at a lower weight and size than traditional optics of similar specifications and are generally well-regarded by wildlife photographers.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: For a doublet consisting of two thin lenses in contact, the Abbe number of the lens materials is used to calculate the correct focal length of the lenses to ensure correction of chromatic aberration. If the focal lengths of the two lenses for light at the yellow Fraunhofer D-line (589.2 nm) are "f" and "f", then best correction occurs for the condition:


title: Chromatic aberration

text: where "V" and "V" are the Abbe numbers of the materials of the first and second lenses, respectively. Since Abbe numbers are positive, one of the focal lengths must be negative, i.e., a diverging lens, for the condition to be met.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: The overall focal length of the doublet "f" is given by the standard formula for thin lenses in contact:


title: Chromatic aberration

text: and the above condition ensures this will be the focal length of the doublet for light at the blue and red Fraunhofer F and C lines (486.1 nm and 656.3 nm respectively). The focal length for light at other visible wavelengths will be similar but not exactly equal to this.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Chromatic aberration is used during a duochrome eye test to ensure that a correct lens power has been selected. The patient is confronted with red and green images and asked which is sharper. If the prescription is right, then the cornea, lens and prescribed lens will focus the red and green wavelengths just in front, and behind the retina, appearing of equal sharpness. If the lens is too powerful or weak, then one will focus on the retina, and the other will be much more blurred in comparison.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: In some circumstances, it is possible to correct some of the effects of chromatic aberration in digital post-processing. However, in real-world circumstances, chromatic aberration results in permanent loss of some image detail. Detailed knowledge of the optical system used to produce the image can allow for some useful correction. In an ideal situation, post-processing to remove or correct lateral chromatic aberration would involve scaling the fringed color channels, or subtracting some of a scaled versions of the fringed channels, so that all channels spatially overlap each other correctly in the final image.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: As chromatic aberration is complex (due to its relationship to focal length, etc.) some camera manufacturers employ lens-specific chromatic aberration appearance minimization techniques. Almost every major camera manufacturer enables some form of chromatic aberration correction, both in-camera and via their proprietary software. Third party software tools such as PTLens are also capable of performing complex chromatic aberration appearance minimization with their large database of cameras and lens.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: In reality, even a theoretically perfect post-processing based chromatic aberration reduction-removal-correction systems do not increase image detail as a lens that is optically well corrected for chromatic aberration would for the following reasons:


title: Chromatic aberration

text: The above are closely related to the specific scene that is captured so no amount of programming and knowledge of the capturing equipment (e.g., camera and lens data) can overcome these limitations.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: The term "purple fringing" is commonly used in photography, although not all purple fringing can be attributed to chromatic aberration.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Similar colored fringing around highlights may also be caused by lens flare. Colored fringing around highlights or dark regions may be due to the receptors for different colors having differing dynamic range or sensitivity – therefore preserving detail in one or two color channels, while "blowing out" or failing to register, in the other channel or channels. On digital cameras, the particular demosaicing algorithm is likely to affect the apparent degree of this problem. Another cause of this fringing is chromatic aberration in the very small microlenses used to collect more light for each CCD pixel; since these lenses are tuned to correctly focus green light, the incorrect focusing of red and blue results in purple fringing around highlights. This is a uniform problem across the frame, and is more of a problem in CCDs with a very small pixel pitch such as those used in compact cameras. Some cameras, such as the Panasonic Lumix series and newer Nikon and Sony DSLRs, feature a processing step specifically designed to remove it.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: On photographs taken using a digital camera, very small highlights may frequently appear to have chromatic aberration where in fact the effect is because the highlight image is too small to stimulate all three color pixels, and so is recorded with an incorrect color. This may not occur with all types of digital camera sensor. Again, the de-mosaicing algorithm may affect the apparent degree of the problem.


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Chromatic aberration also affects black-and-white photography. Although there are no colors in the photograph, chromatic aberration will blur the image. It can be reduced by using a narrow-band color filter, or by converting a single color channel to black and white. This will, however, require longer exposure (and change the resulting image). (This is only true with panchromatic black-and-white film, since orthochromatic film is already sensitive to only a limited spectrum.)


title: Chromatic aberration

text: Chromatic aberration also affects electron microscopy, although instead of different colors having different focal points, different electron energies may have different focal points.


title: Jane Powell

text: Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door image, Powell appeared in films, television and on the stage. She was notable for her performances in "A Date with Judy" (1948), "Royal Wedding" (1951), "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" (1954), and "Hit the Deck" (1955).


title: Jane Powell

text: In the late-1950s, Powell's film career slowed, though she starred in two rare non-musical roles in the film noir "The Female Animal", and the adventure film "Enchanted Island" (both 1958). Powell also made appearances on stage such as in "My Fair Lady" and "The Sound of Music". She also appeared occasionally on television, including recurring guest roles on "The Love Boat" (1981–1982), as well as the sitcom "Growing Pains" (1988–1992). She was a veteran of the Golden Age of Hollywood.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell returned to the stage in 2000, starring in an Off-Broadway production of "Avow" and "Bounce". In December 2007, she united with the musical group Pink Martini, performing as a vocalist with them in their shared hometown of Portland. She appeared in local theatre productions in Wilton, Connecticut before her death.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell was born Suzanne Lorraine Burce, the only child of Paul Emerson Burce and Eileen Baker Burce, on April 1, 1929, in Portland, Oregon. Powell began dance lessons when she was 2 years old. By age 5, Powell had appeared on the Portland children's radio program "Stars of Tomorrow". She took dance lessons at the Agnes Peters School of Dance, where the Burce family met a talent scout and dance instructor who convinced the family to move to Oakland, California, to attract Hollywood talent agents. After 3 months of living in a hotel room, the family returned to Portland, and her father took a job managing a Banbury Cross apartment building. While living in Banbury Cross, Powell took singing lessons.


title: Jane Powell

text: As a child, Powell was sexually abused by tenants in the apartment building, but did not disclose the assault to her parents for fear of aggravating her mother, who was an alcoholic and had a volatile temper.


title: Jane Powell

text: When Powell was 12 years old, a talent promoter helped her get selected as the Oregon Victory Girl. She began singing on Portland radio station KOIN and traveled Oregon for 2 years, singing and selling victory bonds. While vacationing in California in 1943, Powell won a Hollywood talent show and signed a contract with MGM Theaters in Hollywood the next day at the age of 14.


title: Jane Powell

text: She wanted to go back to high school and to university, but her mother forbade this as she was the only one making good money.


title: Jane Powell

text: After signing with MGM, Powell was lent to United Artists for her first film, "Song of the Open Road" (1944), where she played the character of Jane Powell and took that as her professional name. In 1945, Powell sang "Because" at the wedding of Esther Williams and Ben Gage.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell's second feature film was "Delightfully Dangerous" (1945), then she appeared in "Holiday in Mexico" (1946), where she met Roddy McDowall, who became a life-long friend.


title: Jane Powell

text: More films followed, including "Three Daring Daughters" (1948), "A Date with Judy" (1948), "Luxury Liner" (1948), "Nancy Goes to Rio" (1950), and "Two Weeks with Love" (1950).


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell lamented that she only ever got to play the parts of teenage girls. She had got to the age of 25, with children of her own, and still found herself typecast in these roles. Though she accepted that this was the way that she needed to support her family.


title: Jane Powell

text: In 1949, Powell sang at Harry S. Truman’s inaugural ball, and she sang for five U.S. presidents and the queen of England.


title: Jane Powell

text: She starred in "Small Town Girl" and "Three Sailors and a Girl" in 1953. Powell starred in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" in 1954. In 2006, "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" was named one of the greatest American musicals of all time by the American Film Institute. Powell starred in "Athena" and "Deep in My Heart" in 1954.


title: Jane Powell

text: In 1955, Powell starred opposite Tony Martin, Debbie Reynolds, Ann Miller, and Russ Tamblyn in "Hit the Deck", which was a commercial failure, underperforming at the box office. The following year, she recorded the song "True Love", which rose to number 15 on the "Billboard" charts and number 107 on the pop charts for that year, according to the Joel Whitburn compilation. This was her only single to make the charts. Also in 1956, Powell performed the song "I'll Never Stop Loving You" at the 28th Academy Awards. Next, Powell appeared in RKO Pictures' musical comedy "The Girl Most Likely", playing a woman who becomes engaged to three men simultaneously. Though shot in 1956, the film was not released until 1958, after RKO went out of business.


title: Jane Powell

text: Known mainly for her roles in musical comedies, Powell appeared in a rare dramatic role in the film noir "The Female Animal" (1958) from Universal Pictures, which marked the final film of co-star Hedy Lamarr.


title: Jane Powell

text: By the late 1950s, after Powell's contract with MGM expired and her film offers began to slow, she turned to theater. Her first summer stock role was in a production of "Oklahoma!" in Dallas, Texas, in 1958. The following year, she co-starred with Tab Hunter, Patty Duke, and Myrna Loy in a television remake of the musical "Meet Me in St. Louis". She starred in a stage production of "The Most Happy Fella" (1962). In 1962, Powell made her debut appearance on the television series "The Red Skelton Show", in which she appeared in numerous episodes until 1972.


title: Jane Powell

text: In 1964, Powell starred as Eliza Doolittle in a production of "My Fair Lady" at Los Angeles' Valley West Theatre, which established a record gross for West Coast-based productions of the play. She also toured in 1964 in a musical review titled "Just 20 Plus Me!" It was done to a recorded track and featured Powell with 20 handsome "chorus boys". Asked after the performance if the production was going to be made available on a commercial recording, she said simply "No."


title: Jane Powell

text: She had the title role in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" in 1966, as well as the female lead in an Atlanta-based production of "Carousel", followed by "The Boy Friend" at the Carousel Theater in Los Angeles in 1967. Also in 1967, she starred in a touring production of "Brigadoon". Next, she portrayed Maria von Trapp in a production of "The Sound of Music" in 1968. In addition to her stage work, Powell appeared in three television films: "Wheeler and Murdoch" (1972), "The Letters" (1973), and "Mayday at 40,000 Feet!" (1976).


title: Jane Powell

text: In 1972, Powell appeared in a Cincinnati-based stage production of "Meet Me In St. Louis". The following year, Powell made her Broadway debut playing the title character in "Irene", following Debbie Reynolds' performance in the title role. Mel Gussow of "The New York Times" praised Powell's performance, writing: "The two stars are an equal match for peppiness. Miss Reynolds may score a point for clowning, but Miss Powell wins two for softness."


title: Jane Powell

text: Howard Keel and she appeared on stage together in a revival of "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "I Do! I Do!" and "South Pacific".


title: Jane Powell

text: In the early 1980s, Powell toured in the comedies "Same Time, Next Year"; "The Marriage-Go-Round", and "Chapter Two".


title: Jane Powell

text: Between 1981 and 1982, Powell had guest-starring role on "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island". In 1985, she started a 9-month run in the daytime soap opera "Loving", playing a tough mother and businesswoman, followed by another guest-starring part on "Murder, She Wrote" in 1985. In 1988, Powell was cast in a recurring guest role on the popular sitcom "Growing Pains", in which she played Irma Seaver, the mother of Dr. Jason Roland Seaver (Alan Thicke). The same year, in May 1988, Powell married her longtime companion, former child actor Dickie Moore. The couple had met while Moore was performing research for his autobiography "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, but Don't Have Sex or Take the Car."


title: Jane Powell

text: In the early 1990s, Powell was a temporary replacement on the soap opera "As the World Turns" for Eileen Fulton as Lisa Grimaldi. In 1996 and 1997, she appeared in the off-Broadway production "After-Play". She also performed the role of the Queen in Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" at New York City Opera. In 2000, Powell appeared in the Off-Broadway production "Avow", in which she portrayed a devout Catholic woman whose gay son wishes to marry his partner in the church. This was followed by a stage production of "70, Girls, 70", the same year. In 2002, she guest-starred on "", followed by a role in the Showtime film "The Sandy Bottom Orchestra" (2003).


title: Jane Powell

text: In 2003, she made a return to the stage as Mama Mizner in the Stephen Sondheim musical "Bounce", which held performances in Chicago and Washington, DC. "I auditioned just to meet Sondheim, who was nice and a very funny man,” Powell admitted. "But I was disappointed when I got the part. I didn't really want to be away from home, but I had never done a new show and that seemed exciting at first. But I didn't have much to do and the part wasn't too jovial."


title: Jane Powell

text: On New Year's Eve 2007, Powell returned to her hometown of Portland, Oregon, to narrate Sergei Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" with the Portland-based musical group Pink Martini. She also appeared on March 9, 2008, with Pink Martini at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, singing a duet of "Aba Daba Honeymoon" with lead singer China Forbes.


title: Jane Powell

text: In March 2009, she appeared and sang "Love Is Where You Find It" in a show in which Michael Feinstein celebrated movie musicals and MGM musicals in particular. She performed again with Pink Martini at the Hollywood Bowl on September 10, 2010. Powell filled in as guest host on Turner Classic Movies for Robert Osborne when he was on medical leave from July 17–23, 2011.


title: Jane Powell

text: On November 5, 1949, Powell married former figure skater Gearhardt Anthony Steffen. Her first child, Gearhardt Steffen III, was born July 21, 1951. Powell's second child, Suzanne Ilene Steffen, was born on November 21, 1952. Powell began an affair with Gene Nelson, her co-star in "Three Sailors and a Girl". Powell and Nelson divorced their spouses with plans to wed, but Nelson backed out after his divorce. Powell and Steffen divorced in August 1953.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell married automobile executive Patrick W. Nerney on November 8, 1954, in Ojai, California. Their daughter, Lindsay Averill Nerney, was born on February 1, 1956. Powell and Nerney divorced in May 1963.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell married and divorced twice more before falling for former child-star Dickie Moore in 1982 and marrying him six years later. Following the death of her husband in 2015, Powell sold their Manhattan apartment and relocated permanently to their second home in Wilton, Connecticut. Powell died of natural causes in Wilton on September 16, 2021, at the age of 92.


title: Jane Powell

text: Powell was referred to as one of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She secured her place in history with her performance in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers".


title: Jane Powell

text: Despite bouts with severe depression, anxiety and insecurity, Powell retained a public image of the all-American girl-next-door and was a symbol of simpler times. Powell's role in "Song of the Open Road" in 1944, a film that presented Powell as a wholesome girl next door, was suspected to have pigeon-holed her in future musicals.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: Kristina and Karissa Shannon (born October 2, 1989 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) are American "Playboy" Playmates and twin sisters.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: In 2008, the Shannons moved into the Playboy Mansion as two of Hugh Hefner's three new girlfriends; because of their relationship with Hefner, the Shannons began appearing on the E! network reality television series "The Girls Next Door". Despite their "girlfriend" status, Karissa said the relationship she and Kristina shared with Hefner was more for fun and the opportunity to be on the show, rather than romance. The first episode they appeared in attracted 2.4 million viewers, making it the most-watched season premiere in the show's history; five weeks after the premiere, ratings had dropped to 919,000.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: The Shannons appeared as Miss July and Miss August 2009 in the combined "summer issue" of "Playboy" magazine; the double issue was necessitated by financial problems at the publisher. Unlike previous centerfold twins, they managed to earn two consecutive months as Playmates, but shared a single centerfold. By January 2010, the Shannon twins moved out of the mansion, though they continued to appear in "The Girls Next Door".


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: The twins had small roles in "Somewhere", a film directed by Sofia Coppola which won top honors at the 67th Venice International Film Festival in 2010.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: In 2010 Karissa Shannon attracted some publicity by confirming she had been involved in sex tapes with Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag. One sex tape of her and boyfriend actor Sam Jones III was released on DVD by Vivid Entertainment in October 2010 as "Karissa Shannon Superstar". In 2011, Karissa and Sam Jones III released the song "Juice and Vodka", which is available on iTunes.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: On January 5, 2012, the twins participated in the ninth series of the UK reality show, "Celebrity Big Brother" in which they came fifth. They also appeared on the companion series to the show, "Big Brother's Bit on the Side".


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: On February 17, 2019, Brazzers released a scene with the Shannons. A few months later Brazzers released another video with them.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: The Shannons were both charged in January 2008 with aggravated battery after reportedly fighting with two others at a house party. The assistant state attorney filed the charge as felony battery. After pleading no contest, they were put on probation and required to pay restitution.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: In January 2016, Kristina was arrested for DUI after driving drunk on the way to get a nipple piercing.


title: Kristina and Karissa Shannon

text: In 2017, Karissa was arrested for felony domestic violence and Kristina was arrested for misdemeanor violence after Kristina punched Karissa in the face and Karissa threw an ADT security monitor at her sister, knocking out her teeth.


title: Between the Buttons

text: Between the Buttons is the fifth British and seventh American studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 20 January 1967 in the UK and on 11 February in the US as the follow-up to "Aftermath". It reflected the Stones' brief foray into psychedelia and baroque pop balladry during the era. It is among the band's most musically eclectic works; multi-instrumentalist Brian Jones abandoned his guitar on much of the album, instead playing a wide variety of other instruments including organ, marimba, vibraphone, and kazoo. Piano contributions came from two session players: former Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor Jack Nitzsche. It would be the last album produced by Andrew Loog Oldham, who had to this point acted as the band's manager and produced all of their albums.


title: Between the Buttons

text: As with prior albums, the American and British versions contained slightly different track listings. The American version of "Between the Buttons", which includes "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday", is on the 2003 and 2012 versions of "Rolling Stone" magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. "Between the Buttons" reached number 3 on the British album charts and number 2 on the US "Billboard" Top LPs chart.


title: Between the Buttons

text: As he had begun to on the previous album, "Aftermath", Brian Jones introduced a large number of different instruments to the recording sessions. Originally co-lead guitarist with Keith Richards, Jones had become less interested in electric guitar as an instrument, and on this album he only contributed electric guitar on one track apiece on the American release and the British version. Bill Wyman plays bass on all except three tracks (which instead feature Richards on bass), and drummer Charlie Watts and lead singer Mick Jagger appear on all tracks. Piano duties were split by two session players: original Rolling Stones member Ian Stewart and frequent contributor Jack Nitzsche.


title: Between the Buttons

text: Early sessions for the album occurred between 3 August 1966 and the 11th at Los Angeles' RCA Studios during the Rolling Stones' 1966 American Tour. David Hassinger was the engineer for the album. Several songs were worked on; the backing tracks of six songs that would appear on the album were recorded, as were those of "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Who's Driving Your Plane?", the B-side of "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?", released as a single in late September. During this time, Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys was invited down to RCA Studios during the recording of "My Obsession", which remains one of his favourite Rolling Stones songs.


title: Between the Buttons

text: The band returned to London and sessions continued at IBC Studios from 31 August until 3 September. "Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby, Standing in the Shadow?" was completed to be released on 23 September before the Stones embarked on their seventh British tour, which lasted into early October and was their last UK tour until 1971.


title: Between the Buttons

text: The second block of recording sessions for "Between the Buttons" began on 8 November at the newly opened Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, London, alternating between Olympic and Pye Studios until 26 November. During this time the bulk of the album was completed, including vocal and other overdubs on the previously recorded backing tracks and mixing. "Ruby Tuesday" was also completed.


title: Between the Buttons

text: Around the same time producer Andrew Loog Oldham was also preparing the US-only live album "Got Live If You Want It!", a contractual requirement from London Records that contained live performances from their recent British tour as well as studio tracks overdubbed with audience noise. After that album's release on 10 December, a final overdubbing session for "Buttons" was held at Olympic Studio on 13 December 1966 before Oldham took the tapes back to RCA Studios in Hollywood for final mixing and editing.


title: Between the Buttons

text: The album was recorded using 4-track machines, with tracks of the initial sessions mixed down in order to free the tracks for use as overdubs. Mick Jagger felt this process lost the clarity of the songs, commenting during an interview that "we bounced it back to do overdubs so many times we lost the sound of it. [The songs] sounded so great, but later on I was really disappointed with it." He commented further: "I don't know, it just isn't any good. 'Back Street Girl' is about the only one I like." In an interview with "New Musical Express", he even called the rest of the album "more or less rubbish."


title: Between the Buttons

text: "Between the Buttons" would be the last album wholly produced by Oldham, with whom the Stones fell out in mid-1967 during the recording sessions for "Their Satanic Majesties Request".


title: Between the Buttons

text: The photo shoot for the album cover took place in November 1966 on Primrose Hill in North London. The photographer was Gered Mankowitz, who also shot the band photos for the cover of "Out of Our Heads". The shoot took place at 5:30 in the morning following an all night recording session at Olympic Studios. Using a home-made camera filter constructed of black card, glass and Vaseline, Mankowitz created the effect of the Stones dissolving into their surroundings. The goal of the shoot was, in Mankowitz's words, "to capture the ethereal, druggy feel of the time; that feeling at the end of the night when dawn was breaking and they'd been up all night making music, stoned." Brian Jones' disheveled and gaunt appearance on the cover disturbed many of his fans, and critic David Dalton wrote that he looked "like a doomed albino raccoon."


title: Between the Buttons

text: "Brian [Jones] was lurking in his collar", Mankowitz commented years later, "I was frustrated because it felt like we were on the verge of something really special and he was messing it up. But the way Brian appeared to not give a shit is exactly what the band was about." Outtakes from this photo session were later used for the cover and inner sleeves of the 1972 ABKCO compilation release "More Hot Rocks (Big Hits & Fazed Cookies)".


title: Between the Buttons

text: The back cover of "Between the Buttons" is dominated by a six-panel cartoon accompanied by a rhythmic poem drawn by drummer Charlie Watts. When Watts asked Oldham what the title of the album would be, he told him it was "between the buttons", a term meaning "undecided". Watts gave the phrase to the title of his cartoon which in turn became the title of the album. On the album cover itself, the band name and album title appear on the buttons on Watts' overcoat. Often difficult to see, this text was included blown-up on a hype-sticker affixed to original US pressings and would also be added to the bottom corners of the artwork for several CD and LP reissues.


title: Between the Buttons

text: "Between the Buttons", like many British long-players, differed between its UK and US versions. The UK edition (in the form Oldham and the Stones intended it) was issued on 20 January 1967 (Mono, LK 4852; Stereo, SKL 4852) on Decca Records, concurrently with a separate single, "Let's Spend the Night Together" b/w "Ruby Tuesday". As was common in the British record industry at the time, the single did not appear on the album. "Between the Buttons" reached number three in the UK. In the US, the album was released the following day by London Records on 21 January 1967 (mono, LL 3499; stereo, PS 499). "Let's Spend the Night Together" and "Ruby Tuesday" were slotted onto the album while "Back Street Girl" and "Please Go Home" were removed (these would be included on the following US odds-and-ends release, "Flowers", in July 1967). With "Ruby Tuesday" reaching number one, "Between the Buttons" shot to number two in the US, going gold.


title: Between the Buttons

text: In August 2002, both editions of "Between the Buttons" were reissued in a new remastered CD and SACD digipak by ABKCO Records. Almost all reissues of the album since 1968 have been in stereo; in 2016, the album's mono release was reissued on CD, vinyl, and digital download as part of "The Rolling Stones in Mono". While most reissues have used the US track-listing to maximise profit by featuring the two hit singles, the UK version was re-issued by ABKCO in 2003 on 180 gram vinyl in the US.


title: Between the Buttons

text: "Between the Buttons" was called "among the greatest rock albums" by Robert Christgau, who later included it in his "Basic Record Library" of 1950s and 1960s recordings, published in "" (1981). He also wrote of the album for "Rolling Stone" magazine's "40 Essential Albums of 1967": "[T]his underrated keeper is distinguished by complex rhymes, complex sexual stereotyping, and the non-blues, oh-so-rock-and-roll pianos of Ian Stewart, Jack Nitzsche, Nicky Hopkins, and Brian Jones."


title: Between the Buttons

text: AllMusic's Richie Unterberger hailed it as one of the Rolling Stones' "strongest, most eclectic LPs". In a retrospective review for "Entertainment Weekly", David Browne called the album "a cheeky set of sardonic Swinging London vaudeville rock", while "Billboard" magazine's Christopher Walsh wrote that "it's brimming with overlooked gems, the band delivering a captivating blend of folky, Beatles-esque pop and tough bluesy rockers."


title: Between the Buttons

text: Tom Moon wrote in "The Rolling Stone Album Guide" (2004) that the album was "lighter and thinner" than "Aftermath" and, "having belatedly discovered pop melody, Jagger and Richards were suddenly overdosing on the stuff." Music scholars Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon observed baroque pop and music hall on the album. Jim DeRogatis included "Between the Buttons" in his 2003 list of the essential psychedelic rock albums.


title: Between the Buttons

text: In 2003, the American version of "Between the Buttons" was ranked number 355 on "Rolling Stone" magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, and re-ranked number 357 in 2012. Based on such rankings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as the 719th most acclaimed album in history.


title: Between the Buttons

text: In a scene in Wes Anderson's 2001 film "The Royal Tenenbaums", the character Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) plays "Between the Buttons" on a record player. She cues up the track "She Smiled Sweetly", which is followed by "Ruby Tuesday". ("Ruby Tuesday" appears on the US release of the album, though it does not follow "She Smiled Sweetly" in the track order.)


title: Between the Buttons

text: As per the American release. Listing below uses track numbers from CD reissues, which combined sides one and two as tracks 1–12.


title: Rahab

text: Rahab (; Arabic: راحاب, a vast space of a land) was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city by hiding two men who had been sent to scout the city prior to their attack. In the New Testament, she is lauded both as an example of a saint who lived by faith, and as someone "considered righteous" for her works.


title: Rahab

text: The King James Version renders the name as "Rachab", after its literal spelling in Greek, which differs from the spelling for Rahab in James and Hebrews. Most modern versions render it as "Rahab" ignoring the distinction.


title: Rahab

text: The Hebrew אשה זונה ("ishah zonah"), used to describe Rahab in Joshua 2:1, literally means "a prostitute woman". In rabbinic texts, however, she is explained as being an "innkeeper," based on the Aramaic Targum: פונדקאית. Rahab's name is presumably the shortened form of a sentence name rāḥāb-N, "the god "N" has opened/widened (the womb?)". The Hebrew "zōnâ" may refer to secular or cultic prostitution, and the latter is widely believed to have been an invariable element of Canaanite religious practice, although recent scholarship has disputed this. However, there was a separate word, "qědēšâ", that could be used to designate prostitutes of the cultic variety.


title: Rahab

text: Josephus mentions that Rahab kept an inn but is silent as to whether merely renting out rooms was her only source of income. It was not uncommon for both an inn and a brothel to operate within the same building; thus entering Rahab's quarters was not necessarily a deviation from Joshua's orders. Indeed, as Robert Boling notes, such an establishment might have represented an ideal location for spies to gather intelligence. A number of scholars have noted that the narrator in Joshua 2 may have intended to remind the readers of the "immemorial symbiosis between military service and bawdy house".


title: Rahab

text: In the Christian New Testament, the Epistle of James and the Epistle to the Hebrews follow the tradition set by the translators of the Septuagint in using the Greek word "πόρνη" ("pórnē", which is usually translated to English as "harlot" or "prostitute") to describe Rahab.


title: Rahab

text: William L. Lyons observed that biblical interpreters have viewed Rahab as a model of hospitality, mercy, faith, patience, and repentance in her interaction with Joshua's spies. Thus the harlot of Jericho became a paragon of virtue.


title: Rahab

text: According to the book of Joshua, when the Hebrews were encamped at Shittim, in the "Arabah" or Jordan valley opposite Jericho, ready to cross the river, Joshua, as a final preparation, sent out two spies to investigate the military strength of Jericho. The spies stayed in Rahab's house, which was built into the city wall. The soldiers sent to capture the spies asked Rahab to bring out the spies. Instead, she hid them under bundles of flax on the roof. It was the time of the barley harvest, and flax and barley are ripe at the same time in the Jordan valley, so that "the bundles of flax stalks might have been expected to be drying just then".


title: Rahab

text: After escaping, the spies promised to spare Rahab and her family after taking the city, even if there should be a massacre, if she would mark her house by hanging a red cord out the window. Some have claimed that the symbol of the red cord is related to the practice of the "red-light district".


title: Rahab

text: When the city of Jericho fell, Rahab and her whole family were preserved according to the promise of the spies, and were incorporated among the Jewish people. (In siege warfare of antiquity, a city that fell after a prolonged siege was commonly subjected to a massacre and sack.)


title: Rahab

text: Tikva Frymer-Kensky regards Rahab as "smart, proactive, tricky and unafraid to disobey and deceive her king". She also credits Rahab with being "one of Israel’s early saviors" due to "her allegiance to God and Israel". As the first non-Israelite person, and in particular the first Canaanite woman, to ally with Israel, Rahab's convictions led her to protect the men sent by Joshua despite her background.


title: Rahab

text: Michael Coogan says the book of Joshua, more than any other book of the Bible, contains short etiological narratives that explain the origins of religious rituals, topographical features, genealogical relationships, and other aspects of ancient Israelite life, and that the legend of Rahab is such an example. The story of Rahab would therefore provide an answer as to how a Canaanite group became part of Israel in spite of the Deuteronomistic injunction to kill all Canaanites and not to intermarry with them.


title: Rahab

text: In the midrash, Rahab is named as one of the four most beautiful women the world has ever known, along with Sarah, Abigail, and Esther. In the Babylonian Talmud, Rahab was so beautiful that the very mention of her name could cause arousal (Megillah 15a). Rahab is said to have converted at the age of 50 and repented according to three sins, saying:


title: Rahab

text: A similar tradition has Rahab declaring, "Pardon me by merit of the rope, the window, and the flaxen [the stalks of flax under which she concealed the spies]."


title: Rahab

text: The rabbis viewed Rahab as a worthy convert to Judaism, and attested that Rahab married Joshua following her conversion; their descendants included the prophets Jeremiah, Hilkiah, Seraiah, Mahseiah, Baruch, Ezekiel and the prophetess Hulda, although there is no report in the book of Joshua of the leader marrying anyone, or having any family life. Rahab often is mentioned alongside Jethro (Yitro) and Na'aman as "positive examples" of the converts who joined Israel, and another midrash has Rahab acting as an advocate for all nations of the world.


title: Rahab

text: In the New Testament, Rahab (Greek "Ῥαάβ") of the Book of Joshua is mentioned as an example of a person of faith and of good works. Rahab is referred to as "the harlot" in each of these passages.


title: Rahab

text: A different spelling of the name, "Rachab" (as transliterated in the King James translation of the Greek "Ῥαχάβ") is mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew as one of the ancestors of Jesus (). She married Salmon of the Tribe of Judah and was the mother of Boaz. Most other English Bibles transcribe her name as "Rahab".


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: Harold Eugene Ford Jr. (born May 11, 1970) is an American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman who served from 1997–2007 in the United States House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party from , centered in Memphis. He is a member of the Ford political family from Memphis, and is the son of former Congressman Harold Ford Sr., who held the same seat for 22 years. In 2006, Ford made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the retiring Bill Frist. He was also the last chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: Between 2011 and 2017, Ford worked for Morgan Stanley as a managing director. He also regularly appeared on television on politically related programs on NBC's "Meet the Press", MSNBC, CNN, CNBC.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: On December 1, 2020, Ford was named Vice Chairman of Corporate & Institutional Banking at PNC Financial Services. He and his wife live in New York City and have a daughter, Georgia Walker, and a son, Harold Eugene III.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: In April 2021, Ford joined Fox News as a political contributor. He frequently appears on "Special Report" as a panel member and was named a co-host of "The Five" in January 2022.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: Ford was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the eldest son of former Representative Harold Ford Sr. and Dorothy Bowles Ford. He has two brothers, Jake and Isaac, as well as two half-siblings, Andrew and Ava, from his father's second marriage.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: The Ford family has long been prominent in Memphis' black community. Ford's grandfather, N. J. Ford, established a funeral home, which gave the family a broad network in the community. E.H. Crump, a prominent white Democrat, dominated city and state politics in the early 20th century and befriended N.J. Ford. Ford's uncle is John N. Ford, who is Harold Sr.'s brother and was a member of the Tennessee State Senate until he was convicted on federal bribery charges in 2007 as part of the Operation Tennessee Waltz scandal.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: Ford lived the first years of his life within the living quarters of his family-owned business N.J. Ford And Sons Funeral Home, which at the time was located in the Riverside neighborhood. He was baptized at his family church, Mt. Moriah-East Baptist Church. He attended Double Tree Elementary School, a public Montessori school in the Westwood neighborhood, but graduated from the private St. Albans School for Boys, a prestigious university-preparatory school in Washington, D.C., which he attended after his father became a Congressman. He went on to earn a B.A. in American history from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: After graduation, Ford went into government, serving as a staff aide to the Senate Budget Committee. In 1993, he became special assistant at the United States Department of Commerce.


title: Harold Ford Jr.

text: Ford returned to university for a J.D. degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1996. During his campaign for the House of Representatives, he sat for and failed the Tennessee bar exam; he said that he intended to try again; as of 2014, he had not.