title: E-ZPass

text: Originally, these systems were not interchangeable with E-ZPass. However, since most of them use the same technology (or have since converted over to a compatible technology), all of them have been incorporated into the E-ZPass network. Though several still retain their own brand name for their own facilities, users of those systems can use E-ZPass and vice versa. As a result, all E-ZPass holders can use their transponders in any of the states that offer it.


title: E-ZPass

text: The E-ZPass system continues to expand. The Indiana Toll Road Concession Company upgraded its toll plazas to include E-ZPass functionality on the Indiana East–West Toll Road, while the Ohio Turnpike Commission has upgraded its toll plazas in October 2009 for the Ohio Turnpike (I-76, I-80, I-90). On December 16, 2008, Rhode Island joined the network by activating E-ZPass lanes in the state's only toll booth, at the Claiborne Pell Newport Bridge. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which had a toll road system predating the E-ZPass system which was ended in 2006, announced at the end of July 2015 its entrance into the E-ZPass system as part of the financing for the Louisville-area Ohio River Bridges Project involving the new Abraham Lincoln (paired with the retrofitted Kennedy) and Lewis and Clark bridges. On November 9, 2017, the Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) announced that it was joining the E-ZPass group. CFX began accepting E-ZPass along its toll roads on September 1, 2018. On May 28, 2021, the Florida Turnpike Enterprise announced that its SunPass facilities would begin accepting E-ZPass. In addition, E-ZPass facilities began accepting SunPass Pro transponders (but not earlier SunPass transponders).


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass is generally not accepted in Canada but several exceptions exist. Until 2005, drivers crossing the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario, and Buffalo, New York, paid a toll before crossing to Canada. Following upgrades to the border crossings in 2005, drivers instead pay a toll on the Canadian side of the Peace Bridge after clearing Canadian customs. This is the first E-ZPass toll gantry outside of the United States. The toll goes to the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority, a bi-national agency responsible for maintaining the international bridge.


title: E-ZPass

text: On August 11, 2014, E-ZPass began to be accepted at the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge, Rainbow Bridge, and Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. The toll for the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge is paid in Canada after clearing Canadian customs, whereas the toll is paid before leaving the United States at the other two bridges. The toll from these three bridges goes to the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission.


title: E-ZPass

text: On June 27, 2019, E-ZPass began to be accepted at the Thousand Islands Bridge on both the US side and Canada side.


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass ETC transponders do not work on all toll roads in the United States. Currently, the E-ZPass electronic toll-collection system (as well as the other ETC systems that are part of the E-ZPass network) are not compatible with California's FasTrak, Kansas's K-TAG, Oklahoma's Pikepass, Texas's TxTag, Utah's Express Pass, Puerto Rico's AutoExpreso, and Cruise Card, or other ETC systems outside of E-ZPass operating regions. Under MAP-21, passed in 2012, all ETC facilities in the United States were supposed to have some form of interoperability by October 1, 2016; however, no funding was provided for this effort, nor were penalties established for failure to meet this deadline, and this has yet to be accomplished.


title: E-ZPass

text: In 2009 an organization called the Alliance for Toll Interoperability stated that it was exploring the option of using high-speed cameras to take photographs of the cars passing through non-E-ZPass lanes in other states. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, which had been studying going towards all-electronic tolling in order to cut costs, implemented such a system for non-E-ZPass users in 2020 due to the on-going Covid-19 Pandemic.


title: E-ZPass

text: For E-ZPass subscribers who replenish their accounts with a major credit card, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey offers an E-ZPass option to pay for parking at three Port Authority airports—John F. Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark Liberty—through a program known as E-ZPass Plus. This program is also available in New York at Albany International Airport in Albany; Syracuse Hancock International Airport in Syracuse; and the parking lots at the New York State Fair when the fair is in progress; as well as in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Atlantic City International Airport, the New York Avenue Parking Garage, and the Atlantic City Surface Lot.


title: E-ZPass

text: The parking payment is debited from the prepaid E-ZPass account if the parking fee is less than $20. If it is $20 or more, the amount is charged directly to the credit card used to replenish the E-ZPass account. The Port Authority reports that drivers save an average of 15 seconds by opting to pay for airport parking using E-ZPass.


title: E-ZPass

text: Subscribers who replenish their E-ZPass accounts with cash or check cannot participate in this program. Additionally, , this service is only available to customers of the DelDOT, Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission, Delaware River and Bay Authority, in Delaware; of the New Hampshire DOT; in Maryland; in New Jersey and New York to customers of the PANYNJ, the New York MTA, or the NYS Thruway; and to customers of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission.


title: E-ZPass

text: In late 2012, the I-495 HOT (high occupancy toll) lanes in Virginia introduced the concept of the E-ZPass Flex transponder. E-ZPass Flex transponders work similarly to regular transponders, but they allow the driver to switch between HOV and toll-paying modes. When a transponder is switched to HOV mode, it is read by the HOT lane's toll equipment, but no toll is charged. E-ZPass Flex also works like a standard E-ZPass on all other toll roads where E-ZPass is accepted, regardless of the position of the switch.


title: E-ZPass

text: , E-ZPass Flex devices are currently issued only by Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, and North Carolina The following toll roads support E-ZPass Flex in HOV mode:


title: E-ZPass

text: Until April 2021, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York supported E-ZPass Flex in HOV mode, with a reduced toll for HOV 3+. MTA Bridges and Tunnels only issued the transponders to Staten Island residents. The MTA only offers discounted tolls to holders of New York transponders, so holders of Virginia, Maryland, and North Carolina E-ZPass Flex devices had to pay the full toll regardless of their HOV status.


title: E-ZPass

text: The Central Florida Expressway Authority offers E-PASS 'uni' (originally E-PASS Xtra), which is compatible with E-ZPass as well as E-PASS, SunPass, LeeWay, PeachPass, NC QuickPass, RiverLink, I-PASS, and FastPass toll systems. It works on E-ZPass toll roads as well as all toll roads in Florida and Georgia. It does not, however, offer the E-ZPass Flex functionality noted above.


title: E-ZPass

text: The SunPass system in Florida offers the SunPass Pro, with the same toll road compatibility as the E-Pass uni. It is meant for vehicles with 2 axles. Vehicles with 3 or more axles that will travel outside of Florida are required to purchase a NC Quick Pass instead.


title: E-ZPass

text: A study published in the "American Economic Journal: Applied Economics", "Traffic Congestion and Infant Health: Evidence from E-ZPass", compared fetal health outcomes for mothers living near congested and uncongested toll plazas on three major highways in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The researchers focused on areas where toll plazas had instituted E-ZPass, which, because cars travel through more efficiently, diminishes congestion and pollution. The study drew its conclusions by looking at the health outcomes of nearly 30,000 births among mothers who lived within two kilometers of an E-ZPass toll plaza. The researchers state that their findings "suggest that the adoption of E-ZPass was associated with significant improvements of infant health." The study's specific findings were: 1) In areas where E-ZPass was adopted, rates of infant prematurity decreased by between 6.7% and 9.1%; this means that, out of the sample studied, 255 preterm births were likely avoided; 2) Introduction of E-ZPass was correlated with a reduction in the incidence of low birth weight by between 8.5% and 11.3%; that means 275 cases of low birth weight may have been avoided.


title: E-ZPass

text: Civil liberties and privacy rights advocates have expressed concern about how the position data gathered through E-ZPass is used. , several states that employ E-ZPass had provided electronic toll information in response to court orders in civil cases, including divorces and other non-criminal matters.


title: E-ZPass

text: Position data is collected by antennas at locations in addition to fee collection locations. The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT), for example, collect transponder information to provide real-time estimates of travel times between common destinations. By subtracting the time when vehicles pass under the first sign from the current time, the sign can display the expected travel time between the sign and the destination point ahead. This information is also used to determine the best times to schedule maintenance-related lane closures and for other traffic management purposes. According to NYSDOT, the individual tag information is encrypted, and is deleted as soon as the vehicle passes the last reader, and is never made available to the Department.


title: E-ZPass

text: Within the IAG, each member agency has its own billing and customer service center, and each establishes its own fee and discount structures. The agencies also set their own customer account policies. Areas of variation include the refundable deposit or nonrefundable charge for a tag, periodic maintenance fees, paper statement fees, the low account threshold, and replenishment amounts. E-ZPass is usually offered as a debit account: tolls are deducted from prepayments made by the users. Users may opt to have prepayments automatically deposited when their account is low, or they may submit prepayments manually, either by phone or a toll authority's web portal, depending on the agency. For commercial accounts, some agencies allow postpaid plans with a security deposit (which effectively renders them prepaid accounts, with a different replenishment policy).


title: E-ZPass

text: Some agencies have imposed periodic account maintenance fees on their subscribers. After New Jersey began losing money with the E-ZPass system, a monthly account fee of one dollar was implemented on July 15, 2002 and is still in effect for both individual and business accounts. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey also charges a monthly individual account fee of one dollar. On July 1, 2009, the Maryland Transportation Authority began charging a fee of $1.50 a month to account holders which, , only applies to non-residents and is waived if three Maryland E-ZPass tolls were incurred during the previous month.


title: E-ZPass

text: The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority (TBTA) in New York City once imposed a monthly account fee starting on July 1, 2005, claiming to defray the administrative costs. However, New York State Assembly Bill A06859A in 2005 and 2006 and Senate Bill S6331 in 2006 both considered such a fee threatening the efficiency to move traffic faster with lower tolls and sought to ban it. When the New York State Law started to ban the monthly account fee, the TBTA repealed it on June 1, 2006, and those, especially New Jerseyans, seeking New York accounts and avoiding the monthly fee still imposed by New Jersey and Port Authority, would have to apply for the TBTA or the New York State Thruway accounts at an E-ZPass New York Service Center.


title: E-ZPass

text: Several agencies offer discounted tolls to E-ZPass customers. The details vary widely, and can include general discounts for all E-ZPass users, variable pricing discounts for off-peak hours, commuter plans with minimum usage levels, flat rate plans offering unlimited use for a period of time, carpool plans for high-occupancy vehicles, and resident plans for those living near particular toll facilities. Many of these plans are available only to customers whose tags are issued by the agency that owns the toll facility in question (reciprocity applies to tag acceptance, not to discounts). Eight authorities in the Northeast (Maine, the Massachusetts Turnpike, the New Hampshire Turnpike, Rhode Island, the New York TBTA, the New York State Thruway, the New Jersey Turnpike, DelDOT and Maryland) restrict their general discounts to their own respective tagholders. The Delaware Memorial Bridge restricts its discount plans to New Jersey tags despite its toll plaza being located in Delaware (DelDOT-issued tags cannot obtain the discount plans).


title: E-ZPass

text: Some agencies charge a one-time fee between $20 and $30 for each new transponder, including the Delaware Department of Transportation, the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, and the Maine Turnpike Authority. At least two agencies, the Delaware River and Bay Authority and the Maryland Transportation Authority, once charged multiple fees. In a press release dated July 17, 2007, the DRBA stated: "Beginning January 1, 2008, all DRBA E-ZPass account holders will be charged an account management fee of $1.50 per month. The transponder cost will also be passed on to E-ZPass customers for each new transponder." E-ZPass New York charges a monthly fee of 50 cents for each tag in connection with a business account. The DRBA since merged its service center with New Jersey's E-ZPass service center. On July 1, 2015, a plan put forth by Governor Larry Hogan eliminated Maryland's monthly fee (except accounts without a Maryland address, unless using Maryland toll facilities at least three times in the previous statement period) along with decreasing some toll rates especially for Maryland-issued E-ZPass tags.


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass users are not required to maintain their account with an agency in their home state (or if in a toll-free state, the closest one to them). Subscribers can open an E-ZPass account with any member of the IAG regardless of residency. This means that users have the option of choosing an agency based on the fees that it charges, effectively allowing them to circumvent transponder and account maintenance fees.


title: E-ZPass

text: Each of the E-ZPass states operates its own E-ZPass Service Center. NJ E-ZPass manages accounts for the Burlington County Bridge Commission, Delaware River and Bay Authority, Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission and Delaware River Port Authority. The E-ZPass New York Service Center operates accounts for the Buffalo and Port Erie Public Bridge Authority, the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the New York State Thruway Authority. The Virginia Department of Transportation is Virginia's sole member of the E-ZPass Interagency Group, but not all E-ZPass facilities in Virginia are operated by VDOT.


title: E-ZPass

text: The following tolled roads, bridges, tunnels, airports, and parking facilities accept E-ZPass. Crossings between jurisdictions are listed in the state where the toll collection point is located, or linked to (in the case of international border crossings).


title: E-ZPass

text: Before 2021, E-ZPass was only on the Central Florida Expressway Authority’s 125-mile toll road network. However, now the entire state of Florida accepts E-ZPass toll tag.


title: E-ZPass

text: Although not part of the E-ZPass-Plus program, E-ZPass users may also pay for parking at Pittsburgh International Airport. The E-ZPass transponder is used for identification only. The Southern Beltway, which also uses E-ZPass, has its western terminus at the airport.


title: E-ZPass

text: The New York State Fair offered E-ZPass Plus as a payment option at two of its parking lots for the first time in 2007, and offered the service again for subsequent seasons. The service was administered by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), and motorists' E-ZPass accounts were charged the same $5 parking fee that cash customers were charged. Unlike other E-ZPass Plus implementations, the State Fair systems charged motorists at the parking lot entrances; drivers opting to pay by E-ZPass Plus used dedicated "E- ZPass Plus Only" lanes. Since the lots only charge for parking during the twelve days of the State Fair, mobile, self-contained E-ZPass units were used to process vehicles. The units were mounted on trailers with a collapsible gantry for the E-ZPass antennas, used a cellular wireless connection to send transactions to the NYSTA back-office system, and were powered by batteries that were kept replenished by photovoltaic solar panels, with a generator for backup. This service seems to be still existent (as the E-ZPass website lists the State Fair as part of its Plus program).


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass can be used to pay for parking at the Route 128 station in Westwood, Massachusetts; this is available for Massachusetts customers only. E-ZPass can also be used to pay for parking at John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in New York City as well as Newark Liberty International Airport.


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass was tested in a since-discontinued program by some McDonald's restaurants on Long Island, New York, at which drive-through customers were given the option to pay using their E-ZPass accounts to test out cardless payment platforms. In late 2013, Wendy's started a similar system called drive-thru that is E-ZPass compatible, and it underwent testing at five Staten Island Wendy's locations. In 2018, a one-year pilot project with the startup Verdeva was announced to test drive-thru and gas station payments via separate accounts set up with the E-ZPass system.


title: E-ZPass

text: In December 2021, PayByCar launched a pilot program to accept E-ZPass (or its own RFID stickers) at 27 Alltown gas stations in the Boston area.


title: E-ZPass

text: E-ZPass transponders are also used to monitor traffic. A transponder-reader is placed above the roadway at various intervals, and the time a particular tag takes between scans at each interval provides information about the speed of traffic between those points. This transit time information is often relayed back to motorists via electronic signs on the roadway or via traffic reporting agencies who use the information as part of radio and television traffic reports. The individual tag data is not collected or used for ticketing purposes, as some sources have suggested.


title: E-ZPass

text: There are many toll facilities, mostly bridges run by independent authorities, that are not part of the E-ZPass network even though they are in a state that is in the E-ZPass region. With Congress seeking a national electronic toll-collection system in place by mid-2016 for federal highways, E-ZPass officials are talking to other states that have electronic tolls "to find a common way to do business". However, the congressional legislation did not include any penalties for agencies and states that failed to comply with the implementation of such a system. , most Florida and Minnesota toll facilities had become compatible with E-ZPass. Georgia toll roads were in the process of becoming compatible by 2022. Other states, like Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, California, and Washington were not scheduled to become compatible with E-ZPass in the near future.


title: E-ZPass

text: None of the toll bridges or tunnels partially in or fully in Michigan (Ambassador Bridge, privately-owned, along with the public Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, Blue Water Bridge, Mackinac Bridge, or International Bridge) use E-ZPass despite Michigan's adjacency to two states (Indiana and Ohio) that use it for their toll roads.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth version existing for acts of joint military service performed under the Department of Defense.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Commendation Medal was originally only a service ribbon and was first awarded by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard in 1943. An Army Commendation Ribbon followed in 1945 and in 1949 the Navy, Coast Guard, and Army Commendation ribbons were renamed the "Commendation Ribbon with Metal Pendant". By 1960 the Commendation Ribbons had been authorized as full medals and were subsequently referred to as Commendation Medals.


title: Commendation Medal

text: Additional awards of the Army and Air Force Commendation Medals are denoted by bronze and silver oak leaf clusters. The Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal and Coast Guard Commendation Medal are authorized gold and silver 5/16 inch stars to denote additional awards. The Operational Distinguishing Device ("O" device) is authorized for wear on the Coast Guard Commendation Medal upon approval of the awarding authority. Order of Precedence is following the Air Medal but before the Prisoner of War Medal and all campaign medals. Each of the military services also awards separate Achievement Medals which are below the Commendation Medals in precedence.


title: Commendation Medal

text: For valorous actions in direct contact with an enemy but of a lesser degree than required for the award of the Bronze Star Medal, a Commendation Medal with "V" Device or Combat "V" (Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard) is awarded; the "V" device may be authorized for wear on the service and suspension ribbon of the medal to denote valor. On January 7, 2016 The "C" Device or Combat "C” was created and may be authorized for wear on the service and suspension ribbon of the Commendation Medal to distinguish an award for meritorious service or achievement under the most arduous combat conditions (while the Soldier/Sailor/Marine was personally exposed to hostile action or in an area where other Servicemembers were actively engaged). A Commendation Medal with Combat Device is unofficially named the “Combat Commendation” and is often considered to be a higher level form of the Commendation Medal, regardless of the Awarding Branch. Retroactive award of the “C” device is not approved for medals awarded before January 7, 2016.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Joint Service Commendation Medal (JSCM) was authorized on June 25, 1963 and is awarded in the name of the Secretary of Defense to members of the Armed Forces of the United States who, after January 1, 1963, distinguished themselves by meritorious achievement or service in a joint duty capacity.


title: Commendation Medal

text: This award is intended for senior service on a joint military staff and is senior in precedence to service-specific Commendation Medals. As such, it is worn above the service Commendation Medals on a military uniform.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Army Commendation Medal is awarded to any member of the Armed Forces of the United States other than General Officers who, while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army after December 6, 1941, distinguished themselves by heroism, meritorious achievement or meritorious service. The medal may be awarded to a member of another branch of the U.S. Armed Forces or of a friendly foreign nation who, after June 1, 1962, distinguishes themselves by an act of heroism, extraordinary achievement, or significant meritorious service which has been of mutual benefit to the friendly nation and the United States.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Army Commendation Medal is awarded to American and foreign military personnel in the grade of O-6 (Colonel in the U.S. Army) and below who have performed noteworthy service in any capacity with the United States Army. Qualifying service for the award of the medal can be for distinctive meritorious achievement and service, acts of courage involving no voluntary risk of life, or sustained meritorious performance of duty. Approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel (O-6) or higher.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The medallion of the Army Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagon, 1 inches wide. On the medallion is an American bald eagle with wings spread horizontally, grasping in its talons three crossed arrows. On its breast is a shield paly of thirteen pieces and a chief. The reverse bears a panel for naming between the words "FOR MILITARY" above and "MERIT" below, all placed above a laurel sprig. The ribbon is 1 inches wide primarily of myrtle green. It is edged in white and in the center are five thin white stripes spaced equally apart.


title: Commendation Medal

text: After the First World War, the Department of the Navy authorized the Navy Commendation Star, a ribbon device to be placed on the World War I Victory Medal. The inch silver star was identical to the Army Citation Star, but not comparable, as the later recognized "gallantry in action", while the Navy Commendation Star denoted those who had been cited and commended for performance of duty by the Secretary of the Navy.


title: Commendation Medal

text: An independent Navy Commendation Ribbon was established in November 1943. On March 22, 1950 a metal pendant (of the same design as the pendant of the Army Commendation Medal) was authorized and the Commendation Ribbon was renamed the Navy Commendation Ribbon with Metal Pendant. This award was re-designated as the Navy Commendation Medal in September 1960, and renamed the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal in 1994. This decoration was previously awarded only by flag rank operational commanders, requiring the signature of an admiral or general officer in the grade of O-7, allowing interpretation of the criteria for which the medal may be awarded. Authority to award this decoration was later expanded to captains and colonels in the grade of O-6 currently holding operational command as a commodore, carrier air wing commander or commanding officer.


title: Commendation Medal

text: In contrast to the Army and the Air Force, in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal has historically considered its commendation medal to be a higher level and less frequently awarded decoration. Outside of those instances where it has been awarded for combat action with a Combat "V", it has typically been reserved for Department Head level officers at the O-4 level, senior Navy Chief Petty Officers (CPO) and Marine Corps Staff Non-Commissioned Officers (SNCO) at the E-8 and E-9 level as an "end of tour" award in a given command/organization/unit, and, following a full career, as a retirement award for enlisted personnel between pay grades E-6 and E-9. For more junior personnel, it has occasionally been awarded as an "impact award" for a significant contribution of service, to include those instances of combat service where it has included the Combat "V". In contrast, the awarding of the Army Commendation Medal in the U.S. Army and the Air Force Commendation Medal in the U.S. Air Force, is not limited to senior service members, and can be awarded to junior NCOs in the grade of E-6 and below (with some recipients as low as E-3) and junior officers in the grade O-3 and below. However, since the early 2000s, the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal has been observed as being increasingly awarded to junior USN officers in pay grade O-3 as an "end of tour" award in a given command/unit/organization in a manner similar to that employed by the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force since the late 1960s.


title: Commendation Medal

text: Recipient members of the U.S. Marine Corps have always been issued the Navy's commendation medal and there is not a separate commendation medal intended only for Marines. This lack of difference was recognized on August 19, 1994 when Secretary of the Navy John Howard Dalton changed the name of the Navy Commendation Medal to the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The U.S. Coast Guard awards a separate Coast Guard Commendation Medal, with a ribbon similar in design to that of its Navy and Marine Corps counterpart. Initially established as the Coast Guard Commendation Ribbon in 1947, it was redesignated as the Coast Guard Commendation Medal in 1959. Criteria for its award has paralleled that of the Navy and Marine Corps.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The U.S. Air Force began issuing its own Air Force Commendation Medal in 1958 with additional awards denoted by oak leaf clusters. Prior to this time, USAF recipients received the Army Commendation Medal. It was not until 1996 that the "V" device was authorized on the Air Force Commendation Medal; prior to 1996, there was not a valor distinction in effect for the Air Force Commendation Medal. On January 7, 2016, the "C" device and "R" device was authorized on the Air Force Commendation Medal as well. For USAF enlisted personnel, the Air Force Commendation Medal is worth three points under the Air Force enlisted promotion system.


title: Commendation Medal

text: On 16 November 2020, it was renamed the Air and Space Commendation Medal ("ASCOM") by the Secretary of the Air Force.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Air Force Commendation Medal is awarded to both American and foreign military personnel of any service branch in the U.S. military grade of O-6 and below, the NATO grade of OF-5 and below, or of any other Allied or Coalition nation in the grade of Colonel or equivalent or below, or the naval grade of Captain or equivalent or below, who have performed noteworthy service in any capacity with the United States Air Force. Qualifying service for the award of the medal can be for distinctive meritorious achievement and service, acts of courage involving no voluntary risk of life, or sustained meritorious performance of duty. Approval of the award must be made by an officer in the grade of Colonel or higher.


title: Commendation Medal

text: The Air Force Commendation Medal is a bronze hexagonal medallion. On the medallion is a shield surmounted by an eagle superimposed over clouds. On the shield bears a pair of flyer's wings and a vertical baton with an eagle's claw at either end; behind the shield are eight lightning bolts. The design on the shield is derived from the Seal of the Department of the Air Force. The ribbon of the Air Force Commendation Medal is golden yellow with blue edges. In the center are three bands of blue, the outer stripes are thin with the center stripe being wider.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Kazi Nazrul Islam (, ; 24 May 1899 – 29 August 1976) was a Bengali poet, writer, musician, and is the national poet of Bangladesh. Nazrul is regarded as one of the greatest poets in Bengali literature. Popularly known as Nazrul, he produced a large body of poetry, music, messages, novels, stories, etc. with themes that included equality, justice, anti-imperialism, humanity, rebellion against oppression and religious devotion. Nazrul's activism for political and social justice as well as writing a poem titled as "Bidrohī", meaning "the rebel" in Bengali, earned him the title of "Bidrohī Kôbi" ("Rebel Poet"). His compositions form the avant-garde music genre of Nazrul Gīti ("Music of Nazrul").


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Born into a Bengali Muslim Kazi family hailing from Burdwan district in Bengal Presidency (now in West Bengal, India), Nazrul Islam received religious education and as a young man worked as a muezzin at a local mosque. He learned about poetry, drama, and literature while working with the rural theatrical group "Leṭor Dôl", "Leṭo" being a folk song genre of West Bengal usually performed by the people from Muslim community of the region. He joined the British Indian Army in 1917 and was posted in Karachi. Nazrul established himself as a journalist in Calcutta after the war ended. He criticised the British Raj and called for revolution through his famous poetic works, such as "Bidrohī" ("বিদ্রোহী", 'The Rebel') and "Bhangar Gan" ("ভাঙ্গার গান", 'The Song of Destruction'), as well as in his publication "Dhūmketu" ('The Comet'). His nationalist activism in Indian independence movement led to his frequent imprisonment by the colonial British authorities. While in prison, Nazrul wrote the "Rajbôndīr Jôbanbôndī" ("রাজবন্দীর জবানবন্দী", 'Deposition of a Political Prisoner'). His writings greatly inspired Bengalis of East Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul's writings explored themes such as freedom, humanity, love, and revolution. He opposed all forms of bigotry and fundamentalism, including religious, caste-based and gender-based. Nazrul wrote short stories, novels, and essays but is best known for his songs and poems. He introduced the ghazal songs in Bengali language and is also known for his extensive use of Arabic, Persian and Urdu words in his works.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul wrote and composed music for nearly 4,000 songs (many recorded on HMV and gramophone records), collectively known as "Nazrul Gīti." In 1942 at the age of 43, he began to suffer from an unknown disease, losing his voice and memory. A medical team in Vienna diagnosed the disease as Pick's disease, a rare incurable neurodegenerative disease. It caused Nazrul's health to decline steadily and forced him to live in isolation. He was also admitted in Ranchi (Jharkhand) psychiatric hospital for many years. At the invitation of the Government of Bangladesh, Nazrul's family took him to Bangladesh and moved to Dhaka in 1972. He died four years later on 29 August 1976.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul was born on Wednesday 24 May 1899 in the village of Churulia, Asansol Sadar, Paschim Bardhaman district of the Bengal Presidency (now in West Bengal, India). He was born into a Bengali Muslim Kazi family and was the second of three sons and a daughter. Nazrul's father Kazi Faqeer Ahmed was the imam and caretaker of the local Pirpukur mosque and mausoleum of Haji Pahlawan. Nazrul's mother was Zahida Khatun. Nazrul had two brothers, Kazi Saahibjaan and Kazi Ali Hussain, and a sister, Umme Kulsum. He was nicknamed "Dukhu Miañ" (দুখু মিঞা literally, 'the one with grief', or 'Mr. Sad Man'). Nazrul studied at a maktab and madrasa, run by a mosque and a dargah respectively, where he studied the Quran, Hadith, Islamic philosophy, and theology. His father died in 1908 and at the age of ten, Nazrul took his father's place as a caretaker of the mosque to support his family. He also assisted teachers in the school. He later worked as the muezzin at the mosque.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Attracted to folk theatre, Nazrul joined a "leto" (travelling theatrical group) run by his uncle Fazle Karim. He worked and travelled with them, learning to act, as well as writing songs and poems for the plays and musicals. Through his work and experiences, Nazrul began studying Bengali and Sanskrit literature, as well as Hindu scriptures such as the Puranas. Nazrul composed folk plays for the group, which included "Chāshār Shōng" ('the drama of a peasant'), and plays about characters from the Mahabharata including "Shokunībōdh" ('the Killing of "Shakuni"), Rājā Judhisthirer Shōng ('the drama of King Yudhishthira), "Dātā Kōrno" ('the philanthropic "Karna'), Ākbōr Bādshāh" ('Akbar the emperor'), "Kobi Kālidās" ('poet Kalidas'), "Bidyan Hutum" ('the learned owl'), and "Rājputrer Shōng" ('the prince's sorrow').


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: In 1910, Nazrul left the troupe and enrolled at the Searsole Raj High School in Raniganj. In school, he was influenced by his teacher, a Jugantar activist, Nibaran Chandra Ghatak, and began a lifelong friendship with fellow author Sailajananda Mukhopadhyay, who was his classmate. He later transferred to the Mathrun High English School, studying under the headmaster and poet Kumud Ranjan Mullick. Unable to continue paying his school fees, Nazrul left the school and joined a group of kaviyals. Later he took jobs as a cook at Wahid's, a well-known bakery of the region, and at a tea stall in the town of Asansol. In 1914, Nazrul studied in the Darirampur School (now Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University) in Trishal, Mymensingh District. Amongst other subjects, Nazrul studied Bengali, Sanskrit, Arabic, Persian literature and Hindustani classical music under teachers who were impressed by his dedication and skill.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul studied up to grade10 but did not appear for the matriculation pre-test examination; instead in 1917, he joined the British Indian Army at the age of eighteen. He had two primary motivations for joining the British Indian Army: first, a youthful desire for adventure and, second, an interest in the politics of the time. Attached to the 49th Bengal Regiment, he was posted to the Karachi Cantonment, where he wrote his first prose and poetry. Although he never saw active fighting, he rose in rank from corporal to havildar (sergeant), and served as quartermaster for his battalion.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: During this period, Nazrul read extensively the works of Rabindranath Tagore and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, as well as the Persian poets Hafez, Omar Khayyam, and Rumi. He learned Persian poetry from the regiment's Punjabi Moulvi, practiced music, and pursued his literary interests. His first prose work, ""Life of a Vagabond"" ("'Baunduler Atmakahini"'), was published in May 1919. His poem "Mukti" ("মুক্তি", 'Freedom') was published by the "Bengali Muslim Literary Journal" ("Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Samiti") in July 1919.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Kazi Nazrul Islam joined the army in late 1917. Nazrul left the British Indian army in 1920 when the 49th Bengal Regiment was disbanded. and settled in Calcutta. He joined the staff of the "Bangiya Mussalman Sahitya Samiti" ("Bengali Muslim Literary Society"). He published his first novel "Bandhan-hara" ("বাঁধন-হারা", 'Freedom from Bondage') in 1920, on which he continued to work over the next seven years. His first collection of poems, which included "Bodhan", "Shat-il-Arab", "Kheya-parer Tarani", and "Badal Prater Sharab", received critical acclaim.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul grew close to other young Muslim writers, while working at the Bengali Muslim Literary Society, including Mohammad Mozammel Haq, Kazi Abdul Wadud, and Muhammad Shahidullah. Nazrul and Muhammad Shahidullah remained close throughout their lives. He was a regular at the social clubs for Calcutta's writers, poets, and intellectuals such as the Gajendar Adda and the Bharatiya Adda. Nazrul did not have the formal education of Rabindranath and as a result his poems did not follow the literary practices established by Rabindranath. Due to this he faced criticism from followers of Rabindranath. Despite their differences, Nazrul looked to Rabindranath Tagore as a mentor. In 1921, Nazrul was engaged to Nargis, the niece of a well-known Muslim publisher, Ali Akbar Khan, in Daulatpur, Comilla. On 18 June 1921, the day of the wedding, upon public insistence by Khan that the term "Nazrul must reside in Daulatpur after marriage" be included in the marriage contract, Nazrul walked away from the wedding ceremony.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul reached the peak of his fame in 1922 with "Bidrohi" (The Rebel), which remains his most famous work, winning the admiration of India's literary society for his description of a rebel. Published in the "Bijli" "(বিজলী", "Lightning") magazine, the rebellious language and theme were well received, coinciding with the Non-Cooperation Movementthe first mass nationalist campaign of civil disobedience against British rule. Nazrul explores the different forces at work in a rebel, the destroyer, and the preserver who is able to express rage as well as beauty and sensitivity. He followed up by writing "Pralayollas" ('Destructive Euphoria'), and his first anthology of poems, the "Agni-veena" ("অগ্নি-বীণা", 'Lyre of Fire') in 1922, which enjoyed commercial and critical success. He also published a volume of short stories, the "Byathar Dan" "ব্যথার দান" ('Gift of Sorrow'), and "Yugbani" ("যুগবাণী"), an anthology of essays.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul started a bi-weekly magazine, "Dhumketu" ("ধূমকেতু", 'Comet') on 12 August 1922 that was critical of the British Empire. Earning the moniker of the "rebel poet", Nazrul aroused the suspicion of British Raj authorities. The Police raided the office of "Dhumketu" after it published "Anondomoyeer Agomone" ("আনন্দময়ীর আগমনে"), a political poem, in September 1922. Nazrul was arrested on 23 January 1923 and charged with sedition. He presented a long argument in the court, an excerpt of what he said:


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: On 14 April 1923, he was moved from Alipore Jail to Hooghly Jail in Hooghly. He began a 40-day fast to protest mistreatment by the British jail superintendent, breaking his fast more than a month later and eventually being released from prison in December 1923. Nazrul composed numerous poems and songs during his period of imprisonment. In the 1920s, the British Indian government banned many of his writings. Rabindranath Tagore dedicated his play "Basanta" to Nazrul in 1923. Nazrul wrote the poem "Aj Srishti Shukher Ullashe" to thank Tagore. His book "Bisher Banshi" ('The Flute of Poison'), published in August 1924, was banned by the British Raj. "Bisher Banshi" called for rebellion in India against the British Raj. "Bisher Banshi" was read and distributed in secret following the ban.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul was a critic of the Khilafat Movement in British India which he condemned as "hollow religious fundamentalism". His rebellious expression extended to rigid orthodoxy in the name of religion and politics. He also criticised the Indian National Congress for not embracing outright political independence from the British Empire. Nazrul became active in encouraging people to agitate against British rule, and joined the Bengal state unit of the Indian National Congress. Along with Muzaffar Ahmed, Nazrul also helped organise the Sramik Praja Swaraj Dal (Workers and Peasants Party), a socialist political party committed to national independence and the service of the working class. On 16 December 1925, Nazrul began publishing the "Langal" ('Plough'), a weekly, and served as its chief editor.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: During his visit to Comilla in 1921, Nazrul met a young Bengali Hindu woman, Pramila Devi, with whom he fell in love, and they married on 25 April 1924. Brahmo Samaj criticised Pramila, a member of the Brahmo Samaj, for marrying a Muslim. Muslim religious leaders criticized Nazrul for his marriage to a Hindu woman. He also was criticised for his writings. Despite controversy, Nazrul's popularity and reputation as the "rebel poet" increased significantly.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: With his wife and young son Bulbul, Nazrul settled at Grace Cottage, Krishnanagar in Krishnanagar in 1926. His work began to transform as he wrote poetry and songs that articulated the aspirations of the working class, a sphere of his work known as "mass music".


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: In what his contemporaries regarded as one of his greatest flairs of creativity, Nazrul vastly contributed in profusely enriching ghazals in Bengali, transforming a form of poetry written mainly in Persian and Urdu. Nazrul's recording of Islamic songs was a commercial success and created interest in gramophone companies about publishing his works. A significant impact of Nazrul's work in Bengal was that it made Bengali Muslims more comfortable with the Bengali arts, which used to be dominated by Bengali Hindus. His Islamic songs are popular during Ramadan in Bangladesh. He also wrote devotional songs on the Hindu Goddess Kali. Nazrul also composed a number of notable "Shyamasangeet", "Bhajan" and "Kirtan", combining Hindu devotional music. In 1928, Nazrul began working as a lyricist, composer, and music director for His Master's Voice Gramophone Company. The songs written and music composed by him were broadcast on radio stations across India, including on the Indian Broadcasting Company.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul believed in the equality of women, a view his contemporaries considered revolutionary, as expressed in his poem Naari (women). Nazrul's poems strongly emphasised the confluence of the roles of both sexes and their equal importance to life. His poem "Barangana" (Prostitute) stunned society with its depiction of prostitutes who he addresses in the poem as "mother".


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: In the poem, Nazrul accepts the prostitute as a human being first, reasoning that this person was breastfed by a noble woman and belonged to the race of "mothers and sisters"; he criticises society's negative views on prostitutes.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: An advocate of women rights, Nazrul portrayed both traditional and nontraditional women in his work. He talked about the working poor through his works such as the


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul wrote thousands of songs, known collectively as "Nazrul Geeti". The exact number is uncertain. The complete text of 2,260 is known, and the first lines of 2,872 have been collected, but according to musicologist Karunamaya Goswami, it is popularly believed that the total is much higher. Goswami has written that some contemporaries put the number near 4,000.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul was born a Orthodox Sunni Muslim, but engaged in religious syncretism so often such that he was seen by laymen as only a proud pluralist. Nazrul wrote an editorial in "Joog Bani" in 1920 about religious pluralism,


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: In another article entitled "Hindu Mussalman", published in "Ganabani" on 2 September 1922, he wrote that the religious quarrels were between priests and Imams and not between individual Muslims and Hindus. He wrote that the Prophets had become property like cattle but they should instead be treated like a light that is for all men.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul criticized religious fanaticism, denouncing it as evil and inherently irreligious. He wrote about human equality in his writings. He also explored the philosophy of the Qur'an and Muhammad by writing about them. Nazrul has been compared to William Butler Yeats by Serajul Islam Choudhury, Bengali literary critic and professor emeritus at the University of Dhaka, for being the first Muslim poet to create imagery and symbolism of Muslim historical figures such as Qasim ibn Hasan, Ali, Umar, Kamal Pasha, and Muhammad. His condemnation of extremism and mistreatment of women provoked condemnation from Muslim and Hindu fundamentalists who opposed his liberal views on religion.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul's mother died in 1928, and his second son, Bulbul, died of smallpox the following year. His first son, Krishna Mohammad, had died prematurely. Pramila gave birth to two more sonsSabyasachi in 1928 and Aniruddha in 1931but Nazrul remained grief-stricken and aggrieved for a long time. His works changed significantly from the rebellious exploration of society to a deeper examination of religious themes. His works in these years led Islamic devotional songs into the mainstream of Bengali folk music, exploring the Islamic practices of "namaz" (prayer), "roza" (fasting), "hajj" (pilgrimage), and "zakat" (charity). He wrote the song "O Mon Romzaner Oi Rozar Sheshe" on fasting during Ramadan. This was regarded by his contemporaries as a significant achievement, as Bengali Muslims had been strongly averse to devotional music.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul was not limited to Islamic devotional music but also wrote Hindu devotional music. He composed Agamanis, Bhajans, Shyama sangeet, and kirtan. Nazrul wrote over 500 Hindu devotional songs. However, a section of Muslims criticized for writing Shyama Sangeet and declared him Kafir (infidel). On the other hand, he became displeased with some Hindus for writing devotional songs about Hindu goddesses because he was a muslim. Nazrul's poetry and songs explored the philosophy of Islam and Hinduism. Nazrul's poetry imbibed the passion and creativity of Shakti, which is identified as the Brahman, the personification of primordial energy. He also composed many songs of invocation to Lord Shiva and the goddesses Lakshmi and Saraswati and on the love of Radha and Krishna. Nazrul was an exponent of humanism. Although a Muslim, he named his sons with both Hindu and Muslim names: Krishna Mohammad, Arindam Khaled (Bulbul), Kazi Sabyasachi and Kazi Aniruddha.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: In 1930, his book "Pralayshikha" was banned and he faced charges of sedition by the British Indian colonial government. He was sent to jail and released in 1931, after the Gandhi–Irwin Pact was signed. In 1933, Nazrul published a collection of essays titled "Modern World Literature", in which he analyses different styles and themes of literature. Between 1928 and 1935, he published 10 volumes containing 800 songs, of which more than 600 were based on classical "ragas". Almost 100 were folk tunes after "kirtans", and some 30 were patriotic songs. From the time of his return to Kolkata until he fell ill in 1941, Nazrul composed more than 2,600 songs, many of which have been lost. His songs based on "baul", "jhumur", Santhali folksongs, jhanpan, or the folk songs of snake charmers, "bhatiali", and "bhaoaia" consist of tunes of folk-songs on the one hand and a refined lyric with poetic beauty on the other. Nazrul also wrote and published poems for children.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul's success soon brought him into Indian theatre and the then-nascent film industry. His first film as a director was "Dhruva Bhakta," which made him the first Muslim director of a Bengali film"." The film "Vidyapati" (Master of Knowledge) was produced based on his recorded play in 1936, and Nazrul served as the music director for the film adaptation of Tagore's novel "Gora". Nazrul wrote songs and directed music for Sachin Sengupta's biographical epic play based on the life of Siraj-ud-Daula. He worked on the plays "Jahangir" and "Annyapurna" by Monilal Gangopadhyay. In 1939 Nazrul began working for Calcutta Radio, supervising the production and broadcasting of the station's musical programs. He produced critical and analytic documentaries on music, such as "Haramoni" and "Navaraga-malika". Nazrul also wrote a large variety of songs inspired by the raga "Bhairav".


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul's wife Pramila fell seriously ill in 1939 and was paralysed from the waist down. To provide for his wife's medical treatment, he mortgaged the royalties of his gramophone records and literary works for 400 rupees. He returned to journalism in 1940 by working as chief editor for the daily newspaper "Nabajug" ('New Age'), founded by the Bengali politician A. K. Fazlul Huq.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: On hearing about the death of Rabindranath Tagore on 8 August 1941, a shocked Nazrul composed two poems in Tagore's memory. One of the two poems, "Rabihara" (loss of Rabi, or without Rabi), was broadcast on the All India Radio. Within months, Nazrul himself fell ill and gradually began losing his power of speech. His behaviour became erratic, he started spending recklessly and fell into financial difficulties. In spite of her own illness, his wife constantly cared for her husband. However, Nazrul's health had seriously deteriorated and he grew increasingly depressed. He received treatment under homeopathy as well as Ayurveda, but little progress was achieved before mental dysfunction intensified and he was admitted to a mental asylum in 1942. Spending four months there without making progress, Nazrul and his family began living a quiet life in India. In 1952, he was transferred to a psychiatric hospital in Ranchi. Through the efforts of a large group of admirers who called themselves the "Nazrul Treatment Society", Nazrul and Pramila were sent to London, then to Vienna for treatment. The examining doctors said he had received poor care, and Dr. Hans Hoff, a leading neurosurgeon in Vienna, diagnosed that Nazrul was suffering from Pick's disease. His condition was judged to be incurable, Nazrul returned to Calcutta on 15 December 1953. On 30 June 1962 Pramila died, and Nazrul remained in intensive medical care. He stopped working due to his deteriorating health.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: On 24 May 1972, the newly independent nation of Bangladesh brought Nazrul to live in Dhaka with the consent of the Government of India. In January 1976, he was accorded the citizenship of Bangladesh. Despite receiving treatment and attention, Nazrul's physical and mental health did not improve. In 1974. his youngest son, Kazi Aniruddha, a guitarist, died, and Nazrul soon succumbed to his long-standing ailments on 29 August 1976. In accordance with a wish he had expressed in one of his poems, he was buried beside a mosque on the campus of the University of Dhaka. Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral; Bangladesh observed two days of national mourning, and the Parliament of India observed a minute of silence in his honour.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: According to literary critic Serajul Islam Choudhury, Nazrul's poetry is characterised by abundant use of rhetorical devices, which he employed to convey conviction and sensuousness. He often wrote without care for organisation or polish. His works have often been criticized for egotism, but his admirers counter that they carry more a sense of self-confidence than of ego. They cite his ability to defy God, or rather orthodox conceptions of God, yet maintain an inner, humble devotion to Him. Nazrul's poetry is regarded as rugged but unique in comparison to Tagore's sophisticated style. Nazrul's use of Persian vocabulary was controversial, but it increased the range of his work.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: The government of Bangladesh conferred upon him the status of "national poet" in 1972. He was awarded an Honorary D.Litt. by the University of Dhaka in 1974 and in 1976


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: he was awarded the Ekushey Padak by the President of Bangladesh Justice Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem. Many centres of learning and culture in Bangladesh and India had been founded and dedicated to his memory. The Bangladesh Nazrul Sena is a large public organization working for the education of children throughout the country. The Nazrul Endowment provides funding for research into the life and work of Kazi Nazrul Islam in U.S. Universities like California State University, Northridge and Connecticut State University. Nazrul was awarded the Jagattarini Gold Medal in 1945the highest honour for work in Bengali literature by the University of Calcuttaand awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award of India, in 1960.


title: Kazi Nazrul Islam

text: Nazrul's works for children have won acclaim for his use of rich language, imagination, enthusiasm, and an ability to fascinate young readers. Nazrul is regarded for his secularism. His poetry has been translated to languages English, Spanish, and Portuguese. A major avenue is named after him in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Kazi Nazrul University in Asansol, West Bengal, India is named after him and Kabi Nazrul College In Birbhum, West Bengal. Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University in Mymensingh, Bangladesh is a public university named after him. Kabi Nazrul Government College in Dhaka, Bangladesh is also named after him. There is a cultural institution called Nazrul Academy, which is spread throughout Bangladesh. Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport in Andal, West Bengal, is India's first private greenfield airport. A chair has been named after him in University of Calcutta and the Government of West Bengal has opened a Nazrul Tirtha in Rajarhat, a cultural centre with library, auditorium and movie theatre dedicated to his memory. On May 25, 2020, Google celebrated his 121st birthday with a Google Doodle. On 20 November, 2020, a documentary film about Kazi Nazrul Islam was released in Dhaka titled "Biography of Nazrul".


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Swara Bhasker (also spelled Bhaskar; born 9 April 1988) is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. Best known for her supporting work in mainstream productions and starring roles in independent films, she has won two Screen Awards and has been nominated for a Filmfare Award on three occasions.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Swara made her film debut with a supporting role in the 2009 drama "Madholal Keep Walking", a commercial failure. She got wider recognition for her supporting role in the commercially 2011 successful romantic comedy "Tanu Weds Manu". Her performance in the film was well received by critics and she garnered a Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Swara garnered further praise for her performance in the critically acclaimed romantic drama "Raanjhanaa" (2013), the role earned her second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination. She then reprised her role from "Tanu Weds Manu" in the film's sequel and later appeared in the family drama "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo"; both productions were among the highest-grossing Bollywood films of 2015. Her starring roles in the independent films "Nil Battey Sannata" (2016), and "Anaarkali of Aarah" (2017) earned her further acclaim.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: She won the Screen Award for Best Actress (Critics) for the former and was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress (Critics) for the latter.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Swara Bhasker was born on 9 April 1988 in Delhi to C. Uday Bhaskar, an Indian Navy officer of Telugu descent, and his wife Ira Bhaskar, a professor of cinema studies in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi who is of Bihari origin. Her maternal grandmother was from Varanasi.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker grew up in Delhi, where she did her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. She subsequently studied English literature at Delhi University's Miranda House where she was classmates with another actress, Minissha Lamba. She did her master's degree in sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Before Bhasker started acting in films she was associated with N. K. Sharma's "Act One" theater group in Delhi. She shifted to Mumbai in 2008 and made her acting debut with the 2009 film "Madholal Keep Walking", which was screened at the 33rd Cairo International Film Festival but underperformed at the box office India. She then played a supporting role in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's drama "Guzaarish" (2010), alongside Hritik Roshan and Aishwariya Rai.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker then appeared in Srinivas Sunderrajan's black and white thriller "The Untitled Kartik Krishnan Project", which was touted as India's first mumblecore film, made on the budget of and completed in one year, was also the first Indian film to be screened at the Transilvania International Film Festival. However, both "Guzaarish" and "The Untitled Kartik Krishnan Project" were box-office failures and Bhasker remained unnoticed for her performances.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker garnered widespread recognition from the audiences and critics by appearing in the 2011's commercially successful film "Tanu Weds Manu" in which she played the role of Payal, the best friend of the lead actress Kangana Ranaut. She received praise and several nominations, including the Best Supporting Actress conferred by the Filmfare Awards.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: In 2013, she played the lead role in "Listen... Amaya" (2013), which also saw the reunion of actors Farooq Sheikh and Deepti Naval after 28 years, and earned positive reviews from critics. She then appeared in "Raanjhanaa", along with Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor, which was one of the highest-grossing Bollywood film of the year. She received wide critical praise as well as her second Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role of Bindiya in the film. She appeared in a lead female role in the box-office flop "Sabki Bajegi Band" opposite Sumeet Vyas and in the moderate successful "Machhli Jal Ki Rani Hai" with Bhanu Uday.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker served as a host for Shyam Benegal's television mini-series "Samvidhaan", which was based on the making of the Indian Constitution. The series aired on Rajya Sabha TV from March 2014 to May 2014. On her trip to Lahore, Pakistan, Bhasker appeared as a guest in the Pakistani TV comedy show, "Mazaaq Raat" which was aired in April 2015.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker had three releases in 2015. In her first release, she reprised her role of Payal in the romantic comedy "Tanu Weds Manu Returns", a sequel to the 2011 film "Tanu Weds Manu". The film and Bhasker's performance received wide critical acclaim. The film was a financial success as well and became one of the few women-centric films that rank among the highest-grossing Indian films. Her next release was the romantic drama "Prem Ratan Dhan Payo", in which she played the role of Rajkumari Chandrika alongside Salman Khan and Sonam Kapoor. Directed by Sooraj Barjatya, the film received mixed reviews. However, Bhasker's performance was well received by the critics and audience. With an estimated collection of , the film became one of the highest-grossing Indian films. That same year, she played a minor role in the collaborative bilingual "". The film was directed by eleven filmmakers, and Bhasker appeared in Nalan Kumarasamy's segment, "Summer Holiday", which revolves around a young boy (played by Anshuman Jha), who goes to South India for summer holidays where an Aunty seduced him so that her husband can rape him. Although the film received mixed reviews, but her role of Aunty was particularly praised. Namrata Joshi of "The Hindu" wrote ""X: Past Is Present" belongs to its women".


title: Swara Bhasker

text: In 2016, Bhasker played the lead in Anand L. Rai's comedy drama "Nil Battey Sannata" which marked her fourth collaboration with Rai. Bhasker was initially skeptical about the film because of the age difference between her and her character. However, she changed her mind after reading the script and played the role of a mother of a teenager. Upon the release, the film as well as Bhasker's performance received critical acclaim and she was awarded with the Best Actress trophy at the Silk Road International Film Festival in September 2015. She began working in web series with "It's Not That Simple", which is produced by Viacom 18's streaming service Voot. The show revolves around the idea of marriage, relationships, a woman's stand in a marriage, love etc. The series stars Bhasker along with television stars Vivan Bhatena, Akshay Oberoi and Karanveer Mehra, with Danish Aslam as the director.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: , Bhasker had completed shooting for Abbas Tyrewala's comedy drama "Mango", starring Chandan Roy Sanyal and Monali Thakur, being produced under the banner of Kaleidoscope Entertainment. The film has been infinitely delayed. She also played the lead role in Shashanka Ghosh's "Veere Di Wedding", a romantic comedy, co-starring Kareena Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor and Shikha Talsania, about four girls who embark on a trip from Delhi to Europe. Her masturbation scene using a vibrator in the film was praised for its frank portrayal of women's sexuality.


title: Swara Bhasker

text: Bhasker has been a vocal critic of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the Indian Prime minister Narendra Modi. She has participated in the Citizenship Amendment Act protests.


title: Kylie Bunbury

text: Bunbury was born in Montreal, Canada, to Kristi Novak and Alex Bunbury, a soccer player. Her father is Guyanese-Canadian. She spent her childhood in England (for two years), Madeira, Portugal (for seven years) and Prior Lake, Minnesota, US. She considers Prior Lake home. She has two younger brothers, Teal and Mataeo.


title: Kylie Bunbury

text: Bunbury became engaged to Jon-Ryan Alan Riggins on April 8, 2018. They married on January 1, 2020. Her pregnancy was announced in June 2021, and their son was born on December 6, 2021.


title: Kylie Bunbury

text: Bunbury originally worked as a model, and began acting at her agency's suggestion. She landed her first role as Kathleen in "Days of Our Lives" for one episode. She also had roles in "Prom" and "The Sitter". Bunbury portrayed Eva in the science fiction CBS television series "Under the Dome". Bunbury starred in the Fox drama series "Pitch", where she portrayed the (fictional) first female player in Major League Baseball. "Pitch" was canceled by Fox after one season on May 1, 2017.


title: Kylie Bunbury

text: Bunbury starred as Angie Richardson in the Netflix miniseries "When They See Us", which premiered on May 31, 2019.


title: Kylie Bunbury

text: In 2020, Bunbury was in the main cast for the Peacock adaptation of Aldous Huxley’s "Brave New World". The series was cancelled after one season. That same year, she began playing Cassie Dewell in the ABC crime drama series "Big Sky".


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. First settled in 1757 by ferry owner John Lynch, the city's population was 79,009 at the 2020 census. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or the "Hill City". In the 1860s, Lynchburg was the only city in Virginia that was not recaptured by the Union before the end of the American Civil War.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg lies at the center of a wider metropolitan area close to the geographic center of Virginia. It is the fifth-largest MSA in Virginia, with a population of 261,593. It is the site of several institutions of higher education, including Virginia University of Lynchburg, Randolph College, University of Lynchburg, Central Virginia Community College and Liberty University. Nearby cities include Roanoke, Charlottesville, and Danville.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Monacan Indian Nation and other Siouan Tutelo-speaking tribes had lived in the area since at least 1270, driving the Virginia Algonquians eastward to the coastal areas. Explorer John Lederer visited one of the Siouan villages (Saponi) in 1670, on the Staunton River at Otter Creek, southwest of the present-day city, as did the Thomas Batts and Robert Fallam expedition in 1671.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Siouan peoples occupied this area until about 1702; they had become weakened because of high mortality from infectious diseases. The Seneca people, who were part of the "Haudenosaunee", or Iroquois Confederacy based in New York, defeated them. The Seneca had ranged south while seeking new hunting grounds through the Shenandoah Valley to the West. At the Treaty of Albany in 1718, the Iroquois Five Nations ceded control of their land east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, including Lynchburg, to the Colony of Virginia; they confirmed this in 1721.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: First settled by Anglo-Americans in 1757, Lynchburg was named for its founder, John Lynch. When about 17 years old, Lynch started a ferry service at a ford across the James River to carry traffic to and from New London, where his parents had settled. The "City of Seven Hills" quickly developed along the hills surrounding Lynch's Ferry.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In 1786, Virginia's General Assembly recognized Lynchburg, the settlement by Lynch's Ferry on the James River. The James River Company had been incorporated the previous year (and President George Washington was given stock, which he donated to charity) in order to "improve" the river down to Richmond, which was growing and was named as the new Commonwealth's capital. Shallow-draft James River bateau provided a relatively easy means of transportation through Lynchburg down to Richmond and eventually to the Atlantic Ocean. Rocks, downed trees, and flood debris were constant hazards, so their removal became expensive ongoing maintenance. Lynchburg became a tobacco trading, then commercial, and much later an industrial center.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Eventually the state built a canal and towpath along the river to make transportation by the waterway easier, and especially to provide a water route around the falls at Richmond, which prevented through navigation by boat. By 1812, U.S. Chief Justice John Marshall, who lived in Richmond, reported on the navigation difficulties and construction problems on the canal and towpath.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The General Assembly recognized the settlement's growth by incorporating Lynchburg as a town in 1805; it was not incorporated as a city until 1852. In between, Lynch built Lynchburg's first bridge across the James River, a toll structure that replaced his ferry in 1812. A toll turnpike to Salem, Virginia was begun in 1817. Lynch died in 1820 and was buried beside his mother in the graveyard of the South River Friends Meetinghouse. Quakers later abandoned the town because of their opposition to slaveholding. Presbyterians took over the meetinghouse and adapted it as a church. It is now preserved as a historic site.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: To avoid the many visitors at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson in 1806 developed a plantation and house near Lynchburg, called Poplar Forest. He often visited the town, noting, "Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to be useful to the town of Lynchburg. I consider it as the most interesting spot in the state." In 1810, Jefferson wrote, "Lynchburg is perhaps the most rising place in the U.S... It ranks now next to Richmond in importance..."


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Early Lynchburg residents were not known for their religious enthusiasm. The established Church of England supposedly built a log church in 1765. In 1804, evangelist Lorenzo Dow wrote: "...where I spoke in the open air in what I conceived to be the seat of Satan's Kingdom. Lynchburg was a deadly place for the worship of God'." That referred to the lack of churches, which was corrected the following year. Itinerant Methodist Francis Asbury visited the town; Methodists built its first church in 1805. Lynchburg hosted the last Virginia Methodist Conference that bishop Asbury attended (February 20, 1815). As Lynchburg grew, prostitution and other "rowdy" activities became part of the urban mix of the river town. They were often ignored, if not accepted, particularly in a downtown area referred to as the "Buzzard's Roost." Methodist preacher and later bishop John Early became one of Lynchburg's civic leaders; unlike early Methodist preachers who had urged abolition of slavery during the Great Awakening; Early was of a later generation that had accommodated to this institution in the slave societies of the South.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: On December 3, 1840, the James River and Kanawha Canal from Richmond reached Lynchburg. It was extended as far as Buchanan, Virginia in 1851, but never reached a tributary of the Ohio River as originally planned. Lynchburg's population exceeded 6,000 by 1840, and a water works system was built. Floods in 1842 and 1847 wreaked havoc with the canal and towpath. Both were repaired. Town businessmen began to lobby for a railroad, but Virginia's General Assembly refused to fund such construction. In 1848 civic boosters began selling subscriptions for the Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: By the 1850s, Lynchburg (along with New Bedford, Massachusetts) was among the richest towns per capita in the US. Tobacco (including the manufacture of plug tobacco in factories using rented slave labor), slave-trading, general commerce, and iron and steel manufacturing powered the economy.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Railroads had become the wave of the future. Construction on the new Lynchburg and Tennessee railroad had begun in 1850 and a locomotive tested the track in 1852. A locomotive called the "Lynchburg" blew up in Forest, Virginia (near Poplar Forest) later that year, showing the new technology's dangers. By the Civil War, two more railroads had been built, including the South Side Railroad from Petersburg. It became known as the Atlantic, Mississippi and Ohio Railroad in 1870, then a line in the Norfolk and Western Railway, and last as part of the Norfolk Southern Railway. The Orange and Alexandria Railroad stopped in Lynchburg.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: During the American Civil War, Lynchburg served as a Confederate transportation hub and supply depot. It had 30 hospitals, often placed in churches, hotels, and private homes.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In June 1864, Union forces of General David Hunter approached within as they drove south from the Shenandoah Valley. Confederate troops under General John McCausland harassed them. Meanwhile, the city's defenders hastily erected breastworks on Amherst Heights. Defenders were led by General John C. Breckinridge, who was an invalid from wounds received at the Battle of Cold Harbor. Union General Philip Sheridan appeared headed for Lynchburg on June 10, as he crossed the Chickahominy River and cut the Virginia Central Railroad. However, Confederate cavalry under General Wade Hampton, including the 2nd Virginia Cavalry from Lynchburg under General Thomas T. Munford, defeated his forces at the two-day Battle of Trevillian Station in Louisa County, and they withdrew. This permitted fast-marching troops under Confederate General Jubal Early to reach within four miles of Lynchburg on June 16 and tear up the tracks of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad to inhibit travel by Union reinforcements, while Confederate reinforcements straggled in from Charlottesville.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: On June 18, 1864, in the Battle of Lynchburg, Early's combined forces, though outnumbered, repelled Union General Hunter's troops. Lynchburg's defenders had taken pains to create an impression that the Confederate forces within the city were much larger than they were in fact. For example, a train was continuously run up and down the tracks while drummers played and Lynchburg citizens cheered as if reinforcements were disembarking. Local prostitutes took part in the deception, misleading their Union clients about the large number of Confederate reinforcements. Narcissa Owen (Cherokee), wife of the president of the Lynchburg and Tennessee Railroad, later wrote about her similar deception of Union spies.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: From April 6 to 10, 1865, Lynchburg served as the capital of Virginia after the Confederate government fled from Richmond. Governor William Smith and the Commonwealth's executive and legislative branches escaped to Lynchburg as Richmond surrendered on April 3. Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, roughly east of Lynchburg, ending the Civil War. Lynchburg surrendered on April 12, to Union General Ranald S. Mackenzie.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Ten days later, Confederate Brigadier General James Dearing died. He was a native of nearby Campbell County and descendant of John Lynch; he had been wounded on April 6 at High Bridge during that Appomattox campaign. Mackenzie had visited his wounded friend and former West Point classmate, easing the transition of power.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The railroads that had driven Lynchburg's economy were destroyed by the war's end. The residents of the city deeply resented occupying forces under General J. L. Gregg, and worked more readily with his affable successor General N.M. Curtis. Thomas J. Kirkpatrick became superintendent for the public education established under Virginia's Reconstruction-era legislature and Constitution of 1869, and built four new public schools. Previously, the only education for students from poor families was provided through St. Paul's Episcopal Church.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Floods in 1870 and 1877 destroyed the city's bridges (which were rebuilt) and the James River and Kanahwa Canal (which was not rebuilt). The towpath was used as the bed for laying the rails of the Richmond and Allegheny Railroad, a project conceived five decades earlier.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The city limits expanded in 1874. In 1881 that railroad was completed to Lynchburg, and another railroad reached it through the Shenandoah Valley. Lynchburg had a telegraph, about 15,000 residents, and the beginnings of a streetcar system. Many citizens, believing their city crowded enough, did not join the boosters who wanted Lynchburg to become the junction of that valley line and what became the Norfolk and Western Railroad, so the junction was moved to Big Lick. This later developed as the City of Roanoke.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In the latter 19th century, Lynchburg embraced manufacturing (the city being sometimes referred to as the "Pittsburgh of the South"). On a per capita basis, it became one of the wealthiest cities in the United States. In 1880, Lynchburg resident James Albert Bonsack invented the first cigarette-rolling machine. Shortly thereafter Dr. Charles Browne Fleet, a physician and pharmacological tinkerer, introduced the first micro-enema to be mass marketed over-the-counter. By the city's centennial in 1886, banking activity had increased sixfold over the 1860 level, which some attributed to slavery's demise. The Lynchburg Cotton Mill and Craddock-Terry Shoe Co. (which would become the largest shoe manufacturer in the South) were founded in 1888. The Reusens hydroelectric dam began operating in 1903 and soon delivered more power.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In 1886, Virginia Baptists founded a training school, the Lynchburg Baptist Seminary. It began to offer a college-level program to African-American students in 1900. Now named the Virginia University of Lynchburg, it is the city's oldest institution of higher learning. Not far outside town, Randolph-Macon Woman's College and Sweet Briar College were founded as women's colleges in 1893 and 1901, respectively. In 1903, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) founded Lynchburg Christian College (later Lynchburg College) in what had been the Westover Hotel resort, which went bankrupt in the Panic of 1901. During the 2018-19 school year, the college's name was changed to the University of Lynchburg, reflecting its expansion of graduate-level programs and research. Lynchburg's first public library, Jones Memorial Library, opened in 1907.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: During World War I, the city's factories supported the war effort, and the area also supplied troops. The city powered through the Roaring Twenties and survived the Great Depression. Its first radio station, WLVA, began in 1930, and its airport opened in 1931. In 1938, the former fairgrounds were redeveloped as side-by-side baseball and football stadiums.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg's factories again worked 24 hours daily during World War II. In 1955, both General Electric and Babcock & Wilcox built high technology factories in the area.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg lost its bid to gain access to an interstate highway. In the late 1950s, interested citizens, including Virginia Senator Mosby G. Perrow, Jr., asked the federal government to change its long-planned route for the interstate highway, now known as I-64, between Clifton Forge and Richmond.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Since the 1940s, maps of the federal interstate highway system showed a proposed northern route, bypassing the manufacturing centers at Lynchburg and Roanoke. But federal officials assured Virginia that the state would decide the route. Although initially favoring that northern route, Virginia's State Highway Commission eventually supported a southern route from Richmond via US-360 and US-460, which connected Lynchburg and Roanoke via US-220 from Roanoke to Clifton Forge, then continued west following US-60 into West Virginia. However, in July 1961, Governor J. Lindsay Almond and US Secretary of Commerce Luther Hodges announced that the route would not be changed. Lynchburg was left as the only city with a population in excess of 50,000 (at the time) that was not served by an interstate.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded (now known as the Central Virginia Training School), was established outside Lynchburg in Madison Heights. For several decades throughout the mid-20th century, the state of Virginia authorized compulsory sterilization of the mentally retarded for the purpose of eugenics. The operations were carried out at the institution. An estimated 8,300 Virginians were relocated to Lynchburg and sterilized there, making the city a "dumping ground" of sorts for the feeble-minded, poor, blind, epileptic, and those otherwise seen as genetically "unfit". Carrie Buck challenged the state sterilization, but it was finally upheld by the United States Supreme Court in "Buck v. Bell". She was classified as "feeble-minded" and sterilized while a patient at the Virginia State Colony.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Sterilizations were carried out for 35 years until 1972, when the operations were halted. Later in the late 1970s, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit against the state of Virginia on behalf of the sterilization victims. In the settlement, victims received formal apologies from the state and counseling if they chose, but the judiciary denied requests for the state to pay for reverse sterilization operations. In 1994, Buck's sterilization and litigation were featured as a television drama, "Against Her Will: The Carrie Buck Story". The Manic Street Preachers address the issue in their song "Virginia State Epileptic Colony" on their 2009 album "Journal for Plague Lovers".


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Liberty University, founded in 1971 as Lynchburg Baptist College and renamed in 1985, is one of the country's largest institutions of higher education and the largest employer in the Lynchburg region. The university states that it generates over $1 billion in economic impact to the Lynchburg area annually.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg has ten recognized historic districts, four of them in the downtown residential area. Since 1971, 40 buildings have been individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Downtown Lynchburg has undergone significant revitalization, with hundreds of new loft apartments created through adaptive reuse of historic warehouses and mills. Since 2000, downtown has attracted private investments of more than $110 million, and business activity increased by 205% from 2004 to 2014. In 2014, 75 new apartment units were added to downtown Lynchburg, with 155 further units under construction, increasing the number of housing units downtown by 48% from 2010 to 2014.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In 2015, the $5.8 million Lower Bluffwalk pedestrian street zone opened. Notable projects underway in downtown by the end of 2015 include the $25 million Virginian Hotel restoration project, a $16.6 million restoration of the Academy Center of the Arts, and $4.6 million expansion of Amazement Square Children's Museum.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg has a four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen "Cfa"), with cool winters and hot, humid summers. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July. Nights tend to be significantly cooler than days throughout much of the year due in part to the moderate elevation. In a typical year, there are 27.4 days with a high temperature or above, and 6.2 days with a high of or below. Snowfall averages per season but this amount varies highly with each winter; the snowiest winter is 1995–96 with of snow, but the following winter recorded only trace amounts, the least on record.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Temperature extremes range from , recorded on July 10, 1936, down to , recorded on January 21, 1985 and February 5, 1996. However, several decades may pass between and readings, with the last such occurrences being July 8, 2012 and February 20, 2015, respectively.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: One of the most prominent nicknames of Lynchburg is the "City of Seven Hills." This is due to one prominent feature of its geography- the seven hills that are spread throughout the region. They are as follows: College Hill, Garland Hill, Daniel's Hill, Federal Hill, Diamond Hill, White Rock Hill, and Franklin Hill.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: "Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race."


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: As of the 2010 census, there were 75,568 people, 25,477 households, and 31,992 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,321.5 people per square mile (510.2/km). There were 27,640 housing units at an average density of 559.6 per square mile (216.1/km). The racial makeup of the city was 63.0% White, 29.3% African American, 0.2% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.63% from other races, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.0% of the population.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: There were 25,477 households, out of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were married couples living together, 16.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.8% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.92.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The age distribution of the city had: 22.1% under the age of 18, 15.5% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 20.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.1 males.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The median income for a household in the city was $32,234, and the median income for a family was $40,844. Males had a median income of $31,390 versus $22,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,263. About 12.3% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.4% of those under age 18 and 10.7% of those age 65 or over.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg ranks below the 2006 median annual household income for the U.S. as a whole, which was $48,200, according to the US Census Bureau.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In 2009, almost 27% of Lynchburg children lived in poverty. The state average that year was 14 percent.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Of Virginia's larger metro areas, "Forbes" Magazine ranked Lynchburg the 5th best place in Virginia for business in 2006, with Virginia being the best state in the country for business. Lynchburg achieved the rank of 109th in the whole nation in the same survey.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Industries within the Lynchburg MSA include nuclear technology, pharmaceuticals, and material handling. A diversity of small businesses with the region has helped maintain a stable economy and minimized the downturns of the national economy.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg uses a council-manager system. The Lynchburg City Council is composed of seven members that each serve a four-year term. There are four wards that elect a member; the remaining three are elected in at-large elections in which the top three candidates obtain a seat. The City Council is also responsible for appointing a city manager, city attorney, and city clerk.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The city is served by the Lynchburg City Public Schools. The school board is appointed by the Lynchburg City Council.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg is also home to the Central Virginia Governor's School for Science and Technology located in Heritage High School. This magnet school consists of juniors and seniors selected from each of the Lynchburg area high schools. As one of eighteen Governor's Schools in Virginia, the Central Virginia Governor's School focuses on infusing technology into both the math and science curriculum.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The city is also home to a number of religious and non-religious private schools, including Appomattox Christian Academy, Desmond T Doss Christian Academy, James River Day School, Liberty Christian Academy, New Covenant Classical Christian School, Temple Christian School, Virginia Episcopal School, and New Vistas School.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The Greater Lynchburg Transit Company (GLTC) operates the local public transport bus service within the city. The GLTC additionally provides the shuttle bus service on the Liberty University campus.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The GLTC selected a property directly across from Lynchburg-Kemper Street Station as its top choice of sites upon which to build the new transfer center for their network of public buses. They were interested in facilitating intermodal connections between GLTC buses and the intercity bus and rail services which operate from that location. The project was completed and opened to the public on June 16, 2014.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: On August 23, 2017, the GLTC launched The Hopper, a free downtown circulator bus with a $479,348 grant from the Virginia Smart Scale program. On June 29, 2019, the GLTC ended service for The Hopper due to "consistently low ridership" and the expiration of a $117,820 state grant that covered operating costs.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Intercity passenger rail and bus services are based out of Kemper Street Station, a historic, three-story train station recently restored and converted by the city of Lynchburg to serve as an intermodal hub for the community. The station is located at 825 Kemper Street.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Greyhound Lines located their bus terminal in the main floor of Kemper Street Station following its 2002 restoration. Greyhound offers transport to other cities throughout Virginia, the US, Canada, and Mexico.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Amtrak's long distance "Crescent" and a "Northeast Regional" connect Lynchburg with Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Birmingham, New Orleans and intermediate points.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In October 2009, Lynchburg became the southern terminus for a "Northeast Regional" that previously had overnighted in Washington. The forecast ridership was 51,000 for the 180-mile extension's first year, but the actual count was triple that estimate, and the train paid for itself without any subsidy. By FY 2015, the "Regional" had 190,000 riders. The Lynchburg station alone served a total of 85,000 riders in 2015. It is located in the track level ground floor of Kemper Street Station.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg has two major freight railroads. It is the crossroads of two Norfolk Southern lines. One is the former mainline of the Southern Railway, upon which Kemper Street Station is situated. NS has a classification yard located next to the shopping mall. Various yard jobs can be seen. Railfans who wish to visit the NS Lynchburg yard are advised to inquire with an NS official. CSX Transportation also has a line through the city and a small yard.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg Regional Airport is solely served by American Eagle to Charlotte, North Carolina. American Eagle, a subsidiary of American Airlines, is the only current scheduled airline service provider, with seven daily arrivals and departures to Charlotte Douglas International Airport. In recent years air travel has increased, with 157,517 passengers flying in and out of the airport in 2012, representing 78% of the total aircraft load factor for that time period.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Primary roadways include U.S. Route 29, U.S. Route 501, U.S. Route 221, running north–south, and U.S. Highway 460 (Richmond Highway), running east–west. While Lynchburg is the largest city in Virginia not served by an interstate, parts of Route 29 have been upgraded to interstate standards and significant improvements have been made to Highway 460 in the immediate vicinity to Lynchburg and suburban areas.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: In a "Forbes" magazine survey, Lynchburg ranked 189 for cultural and leisure out of 200 cities surveyed.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: The first neighborhoods of Lynchburg developed upon seven hills adjacent to the original ferry landing. These neighborhoods include:


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Other major neighborhoods, with more upside, include Tinbridge Hill, Boonsboro, Trents Ferry, Rivermont, Fairview Heights (Campbell Ave corridor), Jackson Heights, Federal Hill (Federal Street, Jackson Street, Harrison Street) Fort Hill, Forest Hill (Old Forest Rd. Area), Timberlake, Windsor Hills, Sandusky, Sheffield, Linkhorne, Cornerstone and Wyndhurst.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: Lynchburg has traditionally been a conservative stronghold. This predates the influence of Liberty University; it was one of the first areas of the state where the old-line Byrd Democrats began splitting their tickets at the national level. However, conservative Democrats continued to hold most local offices well into the 1970s.


title: Lynchburg, Virginia

text: However, the Democratic Party has seen a gradual increase in popularity in the city since the 1990s, and Lynchburg's political atmosphere has become increasingly moderate. In the 2020 United States presidential election, a plurality of voters in Lynchburg voted for Democratic challenger Joe Biden over Republican incumbent Donald Trump. Biden was the first Democrat to carry Lynchburg since Harry S. Truman in 1948.


title: 2020–21 Manchester United F.C. season

text: The 2020–21 season was Manchester United's 29th season in the Premier League and their 46th consecutive season in the top flight of English football. The club finished second in the Premier League, their joint-highest finish since the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, were knocked out of the EFL Cup in the semi-finals by local rivals Manchester City, in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup by Leicester City and finished third in their UEFA Champions League group, therefore being relegated to the UEFA Europa League.


title: 2020–21 Manchester United F.C. season

text: The season threatened to be overshadowed by the attempted formation of a European Super League. On 18 April 2021, Manchester United announced they were joining 11 other European clubs as founding members of the Super League, a proposed 20-team competition intended to rival the UEFA Champions League. The announcement drew an unprecedented backlash from supporters, other clubs, media partners, sponsors, players and the UK Government, forcing the club to withdraw just two days later. The failure of the project led to the resignation of executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward, while resultant protests against Woodward and owners The Glazer Family led to a pitch invasion ahead of a league match against Liverpool on 2 May 2021, which saw a Premier League game get postponed due to supporter protests for the first time in the competition's history.


title: 2020–21 Manchester United F.C. season

text: On the pitch, United equalled the biggest win in Premier League history with a 9–0 victory against Southampton on 2 February 2021, but ended the season with defeat on penalties in the UEFA Europa League final against Villarreal, going four straight seasons without a trophy and one season away from equalling their worst trophy drought since the club was last relegated.


title: 2020–21 Manchester United F.C. season

text: Due to the belated end to the previous season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Manchester United played just one friendly before the start of their 2020–21 Premier League season, away to Aston Villa on 12 September 2020. Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins scored the only goal of the game in the 16th minute.


title: 2020–21 Manchester United F.C. season

text: Manchester United's opening match of the 2020–21 Premier League season was due to be away to Burnley on 12 September, but was postponed to ensure a minimum of 30 days between seasons, as per Premier League regulations; the club's final game of the 2019–20 season was on 16 August. Instead, United began their season on 19 September at home to Crystal Palace. After Andros Townsend opened the scoring for the visitors early on, David de Gea denied Jordan Ayew from the penalty spot in the second half, only for the video assistant referee (VAR) to intervene as De Gea had advanced from his line before Ayew had struck the ball; former Manchester United winger Wilfried Zaha scored from the re-take. Donny van de Beek, making his debut after coming on midway through the second half, pulled a goal back for United, but Zaha scored a third for Palace five minutes later, making him the first former United player to score more than one Premier League goal in a single match against United. It was the third time United had lost their opening home match of a Premier League season and the first since 2014–15. The following week, away to Brighton & Hove Albion, United came back from a goal down via an own goal by Lewis Dunk and one from Marcus Rashford – the 10,000th goal in the club's history – to lead 2–1 as the match entered stoppage time at the end of the second half; however, as additional time drew to an end, Solly March equalised for the home side. As United searched for a last-minute winning goal, the referee blew the final whistle with the score at 2–2, only for the VAR to award a penalty to United for a handball by Neal Maupay. Bruno Fernandes scored the penalty to give United their first league win of the season.