title: Calculus of variations

text: Taking the total derivative of formula_39 where formula_40 and formula_41 are considered as functions of formula_24 rather than formula_43 yields


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_49 when formula_37 and we have used integration by parts on the second term. The second term on the second line vanishes because formula_51 at formula_22 and formula_53 by definition. Also, as previously mentioned the left side of the equation is zero so that


title: Calculus of variations

text: According to the fundamental lemma of calculus of variations, the part of the integrand in parentheses is zero, i.e.


title: Calculus of variations

text: which is called the Euler–Lagrange equation. The left hand side of this equation is called the functional derivative of formula_8 and is denoted formula_57


title: Calculus of variations

text: In general this gives a second-order ordinary differential equation which can be solved to obtain the extremal function formula_58 The Euler–Lagrange equation is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for an extremum formula_59 A sufficient condition for a minimum is given in the section Variations and sufficient condition for a minimum.


title: Calculus of variations

text: In order to illustrate this process, consider the problem of finding the extremal function formula_60 which is the shortest curve that connects two points formula_61 and formula_62 The arc length of the curve is given by


title: Calculus of variations

text: Note that assuming is a function of loses generality; ideally both should be a function of some other parameter. This approach is good solely for instructive purposes.


title: Calculus of variations

text: The Euler–Lagrange equation will now be used to find the extremal function formula_65 that minimizes the functional formula_66


title: Calculus of variations

text: Since formula_3 does not appear explicitly in formula_70 the first term in the Euler–Lagrange equation vanishes for all formula_65 and thus,


title: Calculus of variations

text: is a constant and therefore that the shortest curve that connects two points formula_61 and formula_82 is


title: Calculus of variations

text: and we have thus found the extremal function formula_65 that minimizes the functional formula_85 so that formula_86 is a minimum. The equation for a straight line is formula_87 In other words, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.


title: Calculus of variations

text: In physics problems it may be the case that formula_88 meaning the integrand is a function of formula_65 and formula_90 but formula_91 does not appear separately. In that case, the Euler–Lagrange equation can be simplified to the Beltrami identity


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_93 is a constant. The left hand side is the Legendre transformation of formula_73 with respect to formula_95


title: Calculus of variations

text: The intuition behind this result is that, if the variable formula_91 is actually time, then the statement formula_97 implies that the Lagrangian is time-independent. By Noether's theorem, there is an associated conserved quantity. In this case, this quantity is the Hamiltonian, the Legendre transform of the Lagrangian, which (often) coincides with the energy of the system. This is (minus) the constant in Beltrami's identity.


title: Calculus of variations

text: If formula_98 depends on higher-derivatives of formula_99 that is, if formula_100 then formula_1 must satisfy the Euler–Poisson equation, formula_102


title: Calculus of variations

text: The discussion thus far has assumed that extremal functions possess two continuous derivatives, although the existence of the integral formula_103 requires only first derivatives of trial functions. The condition that the first variation vanishes at an extremal may be regarded as a weak form of the Euler–Lagrange equation. The theorem of Du Bois-Reymond asserts that this weak form implies the strong form. If formula_73 has continuous first and second derivatives with respect to all of its arguments, and if


title: Calculus of variations

text: Hilbert was the first to give good conditions for the Euler–Lagrange equations to give a stationary solution. Within a convex area and a positive thrice differentiable Lagrangian the solutions are composed of a countable collection of sections that either go along the boundary or satisfy the Euler–Lagrange equations in the interior.


title: Calculus of variations

text: However Lavrentiev in 1926 showed that there are circumstances where there is no optimum solution but one can be approached arbitrarily closely by increasing numbers of sections. The Lavrentiev Phenomenon identifies a difference in the infimum of a minimization problem across different classes of admissible functions. For instance the following problem, presented by Manià in 1934:


title: Calculus of variations

text: Clearly, formula_109minimizes the functional, but we find any function formula_110 gives a value bounded away from the infimum.


title: Calculus of variations

text: Examples (in one-dimension) are traditionally manifested across formula_111 and formula_112 but Ball and Mizel procured the first functional that displayed Lavrentiev's Phenomenon across formula_113 and formula_114 for formula_115 There are several results that gives criteria under which the phenomenon does not occur - for instance 'standard growth', a Lagrangian with no dependence on the second variable, or an approximating sequence satisfying Cesari's Condition (D) - but results are often particular, and applicable to a small class of functionals.


title: Calculus of variations

text: Connected with the Lavrentiev Phenomenon is the repulsion property: any functional displaying Lavrentiev's Phenomenon will display the weak repulsion property.


title: Calculus of variations

text: For example, if formula_116 denotes the displacement of a membrane above the domain formula_117 in the formula_118 plane, then its potential energy is proportional to its surface area:


title: Calculus of variations

text: Plateau's problem consists of finding a function that minimizes the surface area while assuming prescribed values on the boundary of formula_117; the solutions are called minimal surfaces. The Euler–Lagrange equation for this problem is nonlinear:


title: Calculus of variations

text: It is often sufficient to consider only small displacements of the membrane, whose energy difference from no displacement is approximated by


title: Calculus of variations

text: The functional formula_123 is to be minimized among all trial functions formula_124 that assume prescribed values on the boundary of formula_125 If formula_126 is the minimizing function and formula_127 is an arbitrary smooth function that vanishes on the boundary of formula_128 then the first variation of formula_129 must vanish:


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_93 is the boundary of formula_128 formula_134 is arclength along formula_93 and formula_136 is the normal derivative of formula_126 on formula_138 Since formula_127 vanishes on formula_93 and the first variation vanishes, the result is


title: Calculus of variations

text: for all smooth functions v that vanish on the boundary of formula_125 The proof for the case of one dimensional integrals may be adapted to this case to show that


title: Calculus of variations

text: The difficulty with this reasoning is the assumption that the minimizing function u must have two derivatives. Riemann argued that the existence of a smooth minimizing function was assured by the connection with the physical problem: membranes do indeed assume configurations with minimal potential energy. Riemann named this idea the Dirichlet principle in honor of his teacher Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet. However Weierstrass gave an example of a variational problem with no solution: minimize


title: Calculus of variations

text: formula_149 can be made arbitrarily small by choosing piecewise linear functions that make a transition between −1 and 1 in a small neighborhood of the origin. However, there is no function that makes formula_150 Eventually it was shown that Dirichlet's principle is valid, but it requires a sophisticated application of the regularity theory for elliptic partial differential equations; see Jost and Li–Jost (1998).


title: Calculus of variations

text: This corresponds to an external force density formula_152 in formula_128 an external force formula_154 on the boundary formula_155 and elastic forces with modulus formula_156acting on formula_138 The function that minimizes the potential energy with no restriction on its boundary values will be denoted by formula_158 Provided that formula_3 and formula_160 are continuous, regularity theory implies that the minimizing function formula_126 will have two derivatives. In taking the first variation, no boundary condition need be imposed on the increment formula_162 The first variation of formula_129 is given by


title: Calculus of variations

text: If we first set formula_166 on formula_155 the boundary integral vanishes, and we conclude as before that


title: Calculus of variations

text: in formula_125 Then if we allow formula_127 to assume arbitrary boundary values, this implies that formula_126 must satisfy the boundary condition


title: Calculus of variations

text: on formula_138 This boundary condition is a consequence of the minimizing property of formula_126: it is not imposed beforehand. Such conditions are called natural boundary conditions.


title: Calculus of variations

text: The preceding reasoning is not valid if formula_175 vanishes identically on formula_138 In such a case, we could allow a trial function formula_177 where formula_178 is a constant. For such a trial function,


title: Calculus of variations

text: By appropriate choice of formula_180 formula_123 can assume any value unless the quantity inside the brackets vanishes. Therefore, the variational problem is meaningless unless


title: Calculus of variations

text: This condition implies that net external forces on the system are in equilibrium. If these forces are in equilibrium, then the variational problem has a solution, but it is not unique, since an arbitrary constant may be added. Further details and examples are in Courant and Hilbert (1953).


title: Calculus of variations

text: Both one-dimensional and multi-dimensional eigenvalue problems can be formulated as variational problems.


title: Calculus of variations

text: The functions formula_188 and formula_189 are required to be everywhere positive and bounded away from zero. The primary variational problem is to minimize the ratio formula_190 among all formula_124 satisfying the endpoint conditions. It is shown below that the Euler–Lagrange equation for the minimizing formula_126 is


title: Calculus of variations

text: It can be shown (see Gelfand and Fomin 1963) that the minimizing formula_126 has two derivatives and satisfies the Euler–Lagrange equation. The associated formula_194 will be denoted by formula_198; it is the lowest eigenvalue for this equation and boundary conditions. The associated minimizing function will be denoted by formula_199 This variational characterization of eigenvalues leads to the Rayleigh–Ritz method: choose an approximating formula_126 as a linear combination of basis functions (for example trigonometric functions) and carry out a finite-dimensional minimization among such linear combinations. This method is often surprisingly accurate.


title: Calculus of variations

text: The next smallest eigenvalue and eigenfunction can be obtained by minimizing formula_201 under the additional constraint


title: Calculus of variations

text: This procedure can be extended to obtain the complete sequence of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions for the problem.


title: Calculus of variations

text: The variational problem also applies to more general boundary conditions. Instead of requiring that formula_124 vanish at the endpoints, we may not impose any condition at the endpoints, and set


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_205 and formula_206 are arbitrary. If we set formula_207the first variation for the ratio formula_190 is


title: Calculus of variations

text: If we first require that formula_127 vanish at the endpoints, the first variation will vanish for all such formula_127 only if


title: Calculus of variations

text: If formula_126 satisfies this condition, then the first variation will vanish for arbitrary formula_127 only if


title: Calculus of variations

text: These latter conditions are the natural boundary conditions for this problem, since they are not imposed on trial functions for the minimization, but are instead a consequence of the minimization.


title: Calculus of variations

text: Eigenvalue problems in higher dimensions are defined in analogy with the one-dimensional case. For example, given a domain formula_117 with boundary formula_219 in three dimensions we may define


title: Calculus of variations

text: with no condition prescribed on the boundary formula_224 The Euler–Lagrange equation satisfied by formula_126 is


title: Calculus of variations

text: on the boundary formula_224 This result depends upon the regularity theory for elliptic partial differential equations; see Jost and Li–Jost (1998) for details. Many extensions, including completeness results, asymptotic properties of the eigenvalues and results concerning the nodes of the eigenfunctions are in Courant and Hilbert (1953).


title: Calculus of variations

text: Fermat's principle states that light takes a path that (locally) minimizes the optical length between its endpoints. If the formula_91-coordinate is chosen as the parameter along the path, and formula_232 along the path, then the optical length is given by


title: Calculus of variations

text: If we try formula_235 then the first variation of formula_236 (the derivative of formula_236 with respect to ε) is


title: Calculus of variations

text: The light rays may be determined by integrating this equation. This formalism is used in the context of Lagrangian optics and Hamiltonian optics.


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_241 and formula_242 are constants. Then the Euler–Lagrange equation holds as before in the region where formula_243 or formula_244 and in fact the path is a straight line there, since the refractive index is constant. At the formula_245 formula_3 must be continuous, but formula_247 may be discontinuous. After integration by parts in the separate regions and using the Euler–Lagrange equations, the first variation takes the form


title: Calculus of variations

text: The factor multiplying formula_241 is the sine of angle of the incident ray with the formula_91 axis, and the factor multiplying formula_242 is the sine of angle of the refracted ray with the formula_91 axis. Snell's law for refraction requires that these terms be equal. As this calculation demonstrates, Snell's law is equivalent to vanishing of the first variation of the optical path length.


title: Calculus of variations

text: It is expedient to use vector notation: let formula_253 let formula_254 be a parameter, let formula_255 be the parametric representation of a curve formula_155 and let formula_257 be its tangent vector. The optical length of the curve is given by


title: Calculus of variations

text: Note that this integral is invariant with respect to changes in the parametric representation of formula_138 The Euler–Lagrange equations for a minimizing curve have the symmetric form


title: Calculus of variations

text: This form suggests that if we can find a function formula_265 whose gradient is given by formula_266 then the integral formula_236 is given by the difference of formula_265 at the endpoints of the interval of integration. Thus the problem of studying the curves that make the integral stationary can be related to the study of the level surfaces of formula_269In order to find such a function, we turn to the wave equation, which governs the propagation of light. This formalism is used in the context of Lagrangian optics and Hamiltonian optics.


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_178 is the velocity, which generally depends upon formula_272 Wave fronts for light are characteristic surfaces for this partial differential equation: they satisfy


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_277 According to the theory of first-order partial differential equations, if formula_278 then formula_262 satisfies


title: Calculus of variations

text: These equations for solution of a first-order partial differential equation are identical to the Euler–Lagrange equations if we make the identification


title: Calculus of variations

text: We conclude that the function formula_265 is the value of the minimizing integral formula_236 as a function of the upper end point. That is, when a family of minimizing curves is constructed, the values of the optical length satisfy the characteristic equation corresponding the wave equation. Hence, solving the associated partial differential equation of first order is equivalent to finding families of solutions of the variational problem. This is the essential content of the Hamilton–Jacobi theory, which applies to more general variational problems.


title: Calculus of variations

text: In classical mechanics, the action, formula_285 is defined as the time integral of the Lagrangian, formula_286 The Lagrangian is the difference of energies,


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_288 is the kinetic energy of a mechanical system and formula_289 its potential energy. Hamilton's principle (or the action principle) states that the motion of a conservative holonomic (integrable constraints) mechanical system is such that the action integral


title: Calculus of variations

text: Hamiltonian mechanics results if the conjugate momenta are introduced in place of formula_297 by a Legendre transformation of the Lagrangian formula_73 into the Hamiltonian formula_299 defined by


title: Calculus of variations

text: Analogy with Fermat's principle suggests that solutions of Lagrange's equations (the particle trajectories) may be described in terms of level surfaces of some function of formula_272 This function is a solution of the Hamilton–Jacobi equation:


title: Calculus of variations

text: Calculus of variations is concerned with variations of functionals, which are small changes in the functional's value due to small changes in the function that is its argument. The first variation is defined as the linear part of the change in the functional, and the second variation is defined as the quadratic part.


title: Calculus of variations

text: For example, if formula_2 is a functional with the function formula_305 as its argument, and there is a small change in its argument from formula_1 to formula_307 where formula_308 is a function in the same function space as formula_309 then the corresponding change in the functional is


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_313 is a linear functional, formula_314 is the norm of formula_315 and formula_316 as formula_317 The linear functional formula_313 is the first variation of formula_2 and is denoted by,


title: Calculus of variations

text: where formula_323 is a linear functional (the first variation), formula_324 is a quadratic functional, and formula_316 as formula_317 The quadratic functional formula_324 is the second variation of formula_2 and is denoted by,


title: Calculus of variations

text: Using the above definitions, especially the definitions of first variation, second variation, and strongly positive, the following sufficient condition for a minimum of a functional can be stated.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Death of Superman" is a crossover story event featured in DC Comics' Superman-related publications. The crossover, which originated from editor Mike Carlin and writers Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern, Louise Simonson, Jerry Ordway, and Karl Kesel, began in December 1992 and lasted until October 1993. It was published in "Superman", "Action Comics", "The Adventures of Superman", "", "Justice League America", and "Green Lantern". Since its initial publication, "The Death of Superman" has been reprinted in various formats and editions.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Development began after a planned story, in which Clark Kent (Superman) and Lois Lane would be married, was postponed to coincide with a similar storyline in the television series "". While pitching possible replacements, Ordway jokingly suggested that they should kill Superman. As Superman comic sales had declined in recent years, the writing teams felt the character had been taken for granted and decided to temporarily kill him to emphasize his importance. They wanted the crossover to surprise readers and show Superman is not invincible.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Death of Superman" is divided into three story arcs: "Doomsday!", "Funeral for a Friend", and "Reign of the Supermen!". The first arc chronicles Superman's fight with the monster Doomsday and concludes with his death. The second depicts Superman's fellow superheroes and the rest of the DC Universe mourning his death, ending with his adoptive father Jonathan Kent having a heart attack. The third sees the emergence of four Superman imposters before the original is resurrected. A number of characters in "The Death of Superman", such as Doomsday, Superboy, the Cyborg Superman, Steel, and The Eradicator would recur in later DC publications.


title: The Death of Superman

text: When news broke that DC planned to kill Superman, a beloved cultural icon, "The Death of Superman" received unprecedented coverage from the mainstream media. "Superman" #75, which features Superman's death, sold over six million copies and became the top-selling comic of 1992. Retrospective reviewers are divided on the story, with some finding it ambitious and influential, while others dismiss it as a publicity stunt. The story has been adapted into various forms of media, including two novelizations in 1993 and a beat 'em up video game, "The Death and Return of Superman", in 1994. A loose animated film adaptation, "", was released in 2007. A second animated adaptation was released as a two-part film, "The Death of Superman" and "Reign of the Supermen", in 2018 and 2019, respectively.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Superman is a superhero created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character debuted in "Action Comics" #1 on April 18, 1938, to immediate success, and the following year became the first superhero to headline his own comic book, "Superman". Since his debut, Superman has been a cultural icon in the United States.


title: The Death of Superman

text: In 1985, DC launched the crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths", which took place in a variety of comics. Its conclusion resulted in the DC Universe—the shared universe that the publisher's comics, including those related to Superman, take place in—being rebooted. Writer/artist John Byrne re-envisioned Superman in his 1986 limited series, "The Man of Steel". The following year, Byrne relaunched "Superman" with a new first issue and the original series was renamed "The Adventures of Superman". In the reboot, Byrne removed various elements of the Superman mythos, like Supergirl, to streamline the character for modern audiences, which also allowed him to reintroduce them in a new way later on. The relaunch was a major success for DC and "The Man of Steel" #1 became the bestselling comic book issue of 1986. Byrne also wrote and illustrated "Action Comics", and scripted "The Adventures of Superman" with artist Jerry Ordway. Under Byrne, a new Superman comic was released every week and each series maintained continuity with the others. He spent two years on the Superman comics before leaving in 1988, dissatisfied with DC's lack of "conscious support" for him and that the version of Superman licensed for merchandising did not reflect Byrne's stories.


title: The Death of Superman

text: As a result of Byrne's departure, Superman group editor Mike Carlin had to assemble new creative teams to replace him. Ordway began to write "The Adventures of Superman", while Roger Stern, who had recently finished a 12-year stint at rival publisher Marvel Comics, took over "Action Comics". Connecting stories also became harder due to the new, more diverse creative teams, whereas Byrne had managed most of them on his own. To control consistency in stories, the teams regularly attended a "Superman Summit", which started in 1988. The summit was a unique method of making the writers work together, focusing their attention to the next year's worth of stories. These meetings were often dysfunctional, with "Superman" writer/penciler Dan Jurgens noting they frequently disagreed when discussing story ideas and argued until one person was "left standing". Carlin recalled that he had to act like a "babysitter" for the 18 creators during summits, and the teams often compromised. When the writing teams were having trouble deciding stories, Ordway would jokingly suggest they kill Superman.


title: The Death of Superman

text: DC editor Paul Levitz liked the success of the three interconnected Superman comics, so a fourth, "" (written by Louise Simonson and penciled by Jon Bogdanove), started. While the creative teams believed the quality of the comics increased because there were more people working on them, they experienced a decline in sales, primarily due to the popularity of violent antiheroes like the Punisher, Spawn, and Wolverine. A new Superman comic was released every week, each selling roughly 150,000 copies an issue—"a fraction" of the numbers bestselling comics like those featuring Spider-Man enjoyed. The writing teams increased the romantic tension between Clark Kent (Superman's civilian identity) and Lois Lane in an effort to make the comics more appealing. Eventually, they had Kent propose to Lane and reveal he was Superman, and began to plan a storyline about their marriage. According to Carlin, they developed the wedding arc between 1990 and 1991, and planned for it to conclude in "The Adventures of Superman" #500 (June 1993). They also considered a "Death of..." story, but did not work on it in depth.


title: The Death of Superman

text: While the Superman comics struggled, DC's sister company Warner Bros. developed "", a television series for ABC centered around the relationship between Lane and Kent. One of the ideas that arose during production was the wedding of Lane and Kent. Although the series did not exist in the same continuity as the comics, Warner Bros. wanted the Superman brand to remain consistent across all forms of media. As a result, Carlin and DC president Jenette Kahn decided to put the wedding in the comics on hold until "Lois & Clark" reached its wedding episode in order that the stories could coincide. With the original storyline set aside in the comics, the teams needed a new event to replace it.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The postponement disappointed the writing teams, as they had to put aside a year's worth of story planning and, according to Simonson, essentially had to come up with something at the last minute. At the 1991 summit, Ordway again made his joke, but no one laughed. Simonson spoke up and said, based on her experience from editing X-Men comics at Marvel, killing a major character "show[s] just how much that character means – to his friends, family, enemies, to the whole world!" Carlin liked the idea, and in the documentary film "" (2006), he recalled, "the world was taking Superman for granted, so we literally said 'let's show what the world would be like without Superman'". Jurgens formally pitched "The Death of Superman", and DC let the project move forward, which shocked Ordway.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Prior to moving forward, Carlin asked Siegel if he had any concerns with the concept of killing Superman. Siegel felt it was "a good way to shake things up"; the teams felt better knowing he approved. Bogdanove recalled how the story "almost began to write itself, from the end backwards. It felt like a story that could make the readers care again, the way we had always cared about Superman". "The Death of Superman" forced DC to cancel a non-canon, four-issue limited series Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner were working on, as it also featured the character's death. The initial plan called for Superman to be killed in "Superman" #75 (January 1993) and resurrected in "The Adventures of Superman" #500, as both were milestone issues.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Jurgens created the concepts of a monster tearing apart Metropolis and an issue dedicated to a single fight sometime before "The Death of Superman"; the teams combined these when developing the story. Carlin had previously rejected the fight idea whenever Jurgens brought it up, feeling it would not be effective without a good story. When deciding which villain should kill Superman, the writers determined that his existing foes relied too much on technology and intellect, and did not want to use one of them or his traditional weakness, Kryptonite. Thus, they concluded that a new villain had to take him on physically. They chose to name this villain "Doomsday" after Carlin wrote the phrase "doomsday for Superman" on the whiteboard used for planning, and did not feel giving him an origin was important. The teams wanted Doomsday to have a distinctive look, so they gave all artists a few minutes to create designs and voted for the one they thought was best. Jurgens' design—a massive, muscular humanoid with bones ripping through his skin, inspired by the design style of Image Comics—won.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The four issues showing Superman's fight with Doomsday feature a "countdown" of panels: the first has four per page, the second has three, the third has two, and the last simply comprises splash pages. Inker Brett Breeding conceived this, as he thought it would increase the suspense and speed of the action. Furthermore, Jurgens wanted to make an issue told through splash pages and the fight seemed like the perfect fit. The story was partly an effort to show the ramifications of a superpowered fight in a city, because, as Ordway said, it "had to have consequences". The final page of issue #75—a triple-page spread depicting Lane mourning Superman—took considerable time to create. The writers wanted "The Death of Superman" to surprise readers, as they hoped to emphasize that Superman is not invincible and could be killed by something besides Kryptonite.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Chronicling the fallout of Superman's death did not take long, according to Bogdanove. He thought, as "the real meat of the story", it allowed them to accomplish their goal: explaining why the character matters. Ordway recalled the most exciting part for him was exploring what the DC Universe would be like without Superman and had fun writing about other characters' reactions to his death. DC did not intend for Superman's death to be permanent and the teams kept this a secret; they signed non-disclosure agreements preventing them from revealing the character would return. Carlin expected fans to know the death would be temporary, and in 2018 said he still could not believe many did not. However, the teams delayed all Superman comics for three months to create the illusion that he had really been killed because DC's solicitation cycle would have spoiled the resurrection.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The media attention caused Carlin to delay Superman's resurrection beyond "The Adventures of Superman" #500. Furthermore, the teams knew bringing Superman back in that issue would be illogical and held an emergency summit at a hotel in Terrytown, New York, where they plotted the final parts of the story. The teams considered bringing Superman back harder than killing him, as they did not want to make fans feel like they had been cheated. They decided to introduce a new version of Superman before bringing back the original, but the writers each had different ideas. Simonson suggested that each writer create their own Superman, which not only solved the problem of what this new character should be like but also let the creative teams have independence after years of forced collaboration. These characters, known as the Supermen, were created using three existing characters (Eradicator, Superboy, and Hank Henshaw) and a new one (John Henry Irons). According to Bogdanove, they used the Supermen to reinforce "what makes Superman so super".


title: The Death of Superman

text: Stern characterized Eradicator as an "Old Testament" Superman who was more alien than human and compared his character to Jack Kirby's Silver Surfer. He wanted the character to be introduced in a way that readers would not be able to tell he was Eradicator until revealed. Karl Kesel conceived Superboy for another series he pitched to editor Karen Berger beforehand and characterized him as "an MTV generation" Superman. Jurgens chose to reintroduce Henshaw, whom he created a few years earlier, with his Cyborg Superman. He hoped to trick readers into thinking Henshaw was the real Superman before revealing him as a villain. Simonson and Bogdanove based Irons (Steel), an "everyman as Superman", on the African American folk hero John Henry and the Marvel character Iron Man. Additional replacements, including "Little-Boy Superman" and "Rock-Creature Superman" were created but never used. Even if their original idea was altered, each writer maintained a sense of individuality for their Superman.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Adventures of Superman" #500 was Ordway's last issue on the title, as he wanted to spend time with his family. His contract was supposed to expire with issue #499 (February 1993) but he desired to end his run on a "historical" note. Ordway also hoped to use a character from "The Sandman", Death, in issue #500 but was unable to do so because of an editorial mandate barring characters from DC's mature comics line appearing in mainstream books like "Superman". Kesel replaced him afterward. Because Jurgens did not want to simply use Superman's classic design when he was revived, he gave him long hair. The teams also deepened the red and blue of Superman's costume to signify that things would not be entirely the same for him. Superman briefly wore a black suit after his revival; this design came from a sketch Bogdanove made at a meeting.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Death of Superman" was first alluded to in Simonson's "Superman: The Man of Steel" #17 (November 1992); after the issue's story, a teaser panel shows Doomsday's fist repeatedly punching a wall. The crossover began the following issue, in which Doomsday is unleashed and begins to carve a brutal path of destruction across America. This leads to Superman's death in "Superman" #75, which DC published on November 18, 1992. There were several variants of issue #75: a standard newsstand edition; a direct market edition; and a collector's edition sold in a polybag with a black armband, poster, stickers, and a trading card, which cost more than the standard edition. Following the in-comics funeral, all the Superman publications went on hiatus until the release of "The Adventures of Superman" #500. Like "Superman" #75, collector's editions of "The Adventures of Superman" #500 came in polybags. One version had a translucent white bag with the red Superman logo, while another came in a black bag with a white logo. Each installment of the story received a second printing.


title: The Death of Superman

text: According to "Vulture"s Abraham Riesman, DC "aggressively" promoted "The Death of Superman" since it had financial incentives to do so, as comic book speculation was at its peak. Publishers like DC would designate certain comic book issues as significant, causing mint condition copies to be sold for more money. For "Superman" #75, DC issued a press kit to stores with a cardboard coffin, stickers, and a poster. At the height of the crossover, in May 1993 DC published a special issue, "Newstime: The Life and Death of The Man of Steel". It compiled fictional news stories about Superman's death, providing an in-universe look at the event.


title: The Death of Superman

text: DC published the story in three collected volumes from 1992 to 1993: "The Death of Superman", "World Without a Superman", and "The Return of Superman". "The Death of Superman" was released in time for the 1992 Christmas shopping season and, according to comics historian Matthew K. Manning, is the bestselling trade paperback of all time. Reprints of these collections were published in 2003, 1998, and 2004, respectively, while a recolored edition of "The Death of Superman" was released in 2013.


title: The Death of Superman

text: In September 2007, DC released an omnibus edition of the story, "The Death and Return of Superman Omnibus". It features all the issues from previous collections along with 40 pages dedicated to promotional materials and interviews, for a total of 784 pages. Jurgens also contributed new cover art. A new version of the omnibus edition was published in 2013, while another reissue was released in 2019.


title: The Death of Superman

text: An edition of "The Death of Superman" containing the DVD/Blu-ray versions of the 2007 film adaptation, "", was released in 2015. DC reissued "The Death of Superman" in four "New Edition" volumes on April 5, 2016: "Superman: The Death of Superman"; "Superman: Funeral for a Friend"; "Superman: Reign of the Supermen"; and "Superman: The Return of Superman". DC published another collection, "Superman: Doomsday", around the same time; it compiles comics that feature Doomsday's return.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Death of Superman" is divided into a trilogy of story arcs; the first is known as "Doomsday!", which leads to Superman's death at the hands of Doomsday. The second story arc, "Funeral for a Friend", which focuses on the immediate aftermath of Superman's death, began with "The Adventures of Superman" #498 (January 1993). The final story arc, "Reign of the Supermen!", began with a prologue in "The Adventures of Superman" #500 and introduced the Supermen. The title of this arc references Siegel and Shuster's first Superman story, "The Reign of the Superman". It crosses into the larger DC Universe, with "Green Lantern" #46 (October 1993) featuring a tie-in story. Despite the gap between the releases of "Funeral for a Friend" and "Reign of the Supermen!", no time passed within the continuity of the comics. "The Death of Superman" concluded in October 1993 with "The Adventures of Superman" #505, in which Superman returns to Metropolis.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Doomsday emerges from an underground bunker and encounters the Justice League International. He easily defeats them, but Superman arrives and the two fight across America. Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen are sent to cover the battle for television, while Lex Luthor dissuades Supergirl from joining the fight and convinces her that she is needed in Metropolis. Doomsday sees a commercial for a Metropolis wrestling competition and heads for the city.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Superman throws Doomsday on the mountain housing Project Cadmus, but fails to stop him from reaching Metropolis. Supergirl rebels against Luthor and goes to Superman's aid, but a single punch from Doomsday knocks her to the ground. Professor Emil Hamilton and Bibbo Bibbowski fire a laser cannon at Doomsday, but it does not harm him. Doomsday and an exhausted and badly injured Superman fight and strike each other with so much force that the shockwaves from their punches shatter windows. At the struggle's culminating moment in front of the "Daily Planet" building, both lay a massive blow upon each other, killing Doomsday and mortally wounding Superman. In the arms of a frantic Lane, Superman succumbs to his wounds and dies. Olsen, Justice League members Ice and Bloodwynd, and Guardian are also present at the end, with Olsen bitterly photographing Superman's fall.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Superman's death stuns and traumatizes the residents of the DC Universe. His funeral is attended by nearly every superhero, as well as some supervillains, President Bill Clinton, and First Lady Hillary Clinton. Every hero wears a black arm band featuring Superman's logo. After the funeral, Project Cadmus steals Superman's body from his mausoleum to clone him, but Lane and Supergirl recover it. With Superman gone, the crime rate rises; the costumed heroes of Metropolis, including a team funded by Luthor, rise to fill in as protectors but are insufficient.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Jonathan Kent takes Superman's death the hardest. One night, while reading a newspaper story Lane wrote in Superman's honor, Jonathan begins to feel responsible for his son's death and has a heart attack in his wife Martha's arms. In a coma, Jonathan meets Superman in the afterlife and convinces him to come back, before reawakening. Meanwhile, four men claiming to be Superman—Steel, the Cyborg Superman, Superboy, and Eradicator—emerge, and Lane discovers his grave is empty. Steel and Superboy are disproven as the original Superman, but the Cyborg and Eradicator both seem to recall some of his memories. Hamilton tests the Cyborg and concludes he is the real Superman. In actuality, Eradicator stole Superman's body and placed it in a regeneration matrix in the Fortress of Solitude, drawing on his recovering energies for power.


title: The Death of Superman

text: A powerless Superman, wearing a black costume, escapes the matrix. The Cyborg helps Mongul destroy Coast City and, in its ruins, they begin to build Engine City in an effort to recreate Mongul's home planet, Warworld. Superboy asks Steel to help him fight the Cyborg, and Superman and Supergirl join the two. They travel to Engine City, where the Cyborg launches a missile at Metropolis with the intent of destroying it and building a second Engine City in its place. Superboy manages to stop the missile before it strikes. Hal Jordan returns from space to find Coast City destroyed. Devastated, Jordan attacks Engine City and defeats Mongul. Eradicator joins the fight and shields Superman from Kryptonite gas. The gas kills Eradicator but also evolves within him. It passes into Superman, allowing him to regain his powers and defeat the Cyborg. Supergirl uses her powers to reconstruct Superman's original costume and they return to Metropolis.


title: The Death of Superman

text: As DC did not reveal that Superman would be revived at the end of the story, many fans believed "The Death of Superman" had permanently killed Superman, a beloved cultural icon. Thus, it attracted unprecedented coverage from the mainstream media; NPR's Glen Weldon stated "news outlets like "Newsweek", "People", and New York's "Newsday" pounced upon" the killing of Superman, and it made the front page of "Newsday". Details of "The Death of Superman" were covered by the media before DC wanted them to and the company's publicists were not ready to talk about the story when it appeared in "Newsday". Mark Potts of "The Washington Post" speculated the death would not last, but nonetheless expressed interest in what a world without Superman would be like.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") parodied "The Death of Superman" in a sketch in the seventh episode of its eighteenth season. The sketch depicts the casts of DC and Marvel attending Superman's funeral. Black Lightning, portrayed by Sinbad, tries to enter, but no one knows him even though he claims to have taught Superman how to fly. "Den of Geek!" named this the best of "SNL"s superhero-themed sketches.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The attention caused "The Death of Superman" to become an unforeseen success. Comic book retailers ordered five million copies of "Superman" #75 in advance and many people who had never read comics bought the issue hoping it would become an expensive collector's item. Numerous former readers looking for nostalgia also purchased "Superman" #75. DC shipped between 2.5 and 3 million copies of the issue on the day of release and it sold out across America. Some stores had one-per-customer limits on the issue to avoid mobs and lines of customers longer than a city block. The issue brought in a total of 30 million during its first day on sale and ultimately sold more than six million copies, making it the bestselling comic book issue of 1992. Sales from "Superman" #75 doubled DC's market share in November 1992. After the issue was released, Siegel met with Carlin to tell him that "The Death of Superman" impressed him. The success of the event turned Jurgens, who had been an average writer and penciller, into an industry star.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The four bestselling issues of 1993 were "The Adventures of Superman" #500, "Action Comics" #687, "Superman" #78, and "Superman: The Man of Steel" #22. Additionally, the first installments of "Reign of the Supermen!" were among the top five bestselling comic books of June 1993. Valiant Comics timed the release of "Bloodshot" #1 to the release of #75, and "" #1 to the release of "The Adventures of Superman" #500 to take advantage of the increased customers and boost sales. Both books included cover enhancements to attract customer attention. However, many retailers say "The Adventures of Superman" #500 was the beginning of a decline in the comic industry. Retailers and distributors were stuck with unsold copies, and thousands of stores closed. Additionally, those who bought "Superman" #75 could only sell first printings for cover price a few months after its release.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Some commentators have retrospectively dismissed "The Death of Superman" as little more than a publicity stunt to give the Superman comics a brief surge in sales. Indeed, each series' sales immediately declined following Superman's resurrection. While most fans figured the death was only temporary, those who did not felt deceived. "Worst Episode Ever" (2001), the eleventh episode of "The Simpsons" twelfth season, mocks this frustration through a scene in which Nelson Muntz holds the comic "The Death of Sad Sack" and declares "this better not be another fake-out". "Wizard" compared the phenomenon to the New Coke debacle, in which The Coca-Cola Company updated the formula to its signature drink before quickly changing it back after negative publicity, leading to rumors that the company simply did so in an effort to spike sales.


title: The Death of Superman

text: "ComicsAlliance" writer Chris Sims believed that most people bought "Superman" #75 just to see Superman's death, while Weldon speculated its sales were propelled by hopes it would become valuable. Gerard Jones, who wrote the "Green Lantern" tie-in story, theorized that the phenomenon may have been due in part to the then-relatively recent poor ending of the "Superman" film franchise. Sims recalled that when he worked in a comic book store in 2009, some customers were shocked that DC was still publishing Superman comics, as they did not read the story's conclusion.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Generally, DC writers have denied "The Death of Superman" was a publicity stunt. Jurgens, for instance, stated he did not anticipate the attention, while Stern believed the sensation was caused only because it was a good story. Levitz said DC had no reason to think the wider public would care because they killed Superman in stories before.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Despite these accusations, many view "The Death of Superman" favorably. Sims called the crossover DC's greatest success of the 1990s and a definitive Superman story. He thought that while killing off an important comics character was not an original idea, "The Death of Superman" was more ambitious and had a greater legacy than other similar events. Steve Morris of "Comics Beat" also thought it had a major impact, with "strong storytelling and a simple, if well-done, central narrative". He said the main story was well planned, especially considering that it could have easily misfired. Brian Salvatore, writing for "Multiversity Comics", believed the story was effective and "present[ed] some pretty compelling arguments for why Superman is the greatest superhero of all time, without ever really coming out and saying that". He also praised the characterization, forcing Superman to rely on pure instinct.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Conversely, "The Escapist"s Bob Chipman described the event as a "dumb story full of crappy characters embodying almost all of the worst trends of dreadful [1990s] comics", and lamented its influence on subsequent Superman films and comics in general. Chad Nevett of "Comic Book Resources" called the story boring and jumbled, comparing issue #75 to "trading cards that intend[ed] to tell a story than an actual comic story". Morris did criticize its subplots as nonsensical and felt Doomsday was terribly designed, disagreeing with Sims that it was a definitive Superman story. Salvatore felt it had missed opportunities and criticized the Justice League's role in the story, comparing them to punching bags. Both Salvatore and Nevett thought Doomsday came out of nowhere, and Nevett joked he was a "walking plot device" rather than a true villain. Penciler Curt Swan disliked the story because he thought it "came out of the blue. There was no build-up, no suspense developed. Superman had no foreboding of some force out there that would conquer him. It all occurred too quickly".


title: The Death of Superman

text: "The Death of Superman" had an immediate effect on DC's comics. DC timed a similar event featuring Batman, "", to happen shortly after "The Death of Superman", followed by the deaths of Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and the Flash. Green Lantern's event, "Emerald Twilight", in which he turned into the villain Parallax, ties to events that occur during "The Death of Superman". Marvel published the Spider-Man "Clone Saga" as a response to the media attention "The Death of Superman" garnered. It featured Spider-Man having a baby, which Marvel believed would appeal to news outlets. Despite these similar story attempts, Weldon commented that the industry "was in freefall" and "death/disabling stunts offered only brief sales spikes".


title: The Death of Superman

text: Some characters established during "The Death of Superman" became recurring characters in DC's comics. Superboy and Steel received ongoing series after the story's conclusion and Steel appears in a self-titled film (1997), portrayed by basketball player and Superman fan Shaquille O'Neal. Eradicator received a limited series, Superboy remained a fixture of the DC Universe until he was killed in "Infinite Crisis" (2005–2006), and the Cyborg Superman became a recurring enemy of Superman and Green Lantern. Later comics featuring Doomsday included "" (1995), which explores his origin, and "Reign of Doomsday" (2011), which heavily references "The Death of Superman" and features him hunting down the Supermen.


title: The Death of Superman

text: In 2011, DC relaunched its entire comics line in an initiative called The New 52, which revamped the DC Universe and erased certain events. The relaunch altered Superman considerably, characterizing him as shorter-tempered and no longer in love with Lois Lane. However, "The Death of Superman" remained intact in the new DC Universe. To coincide with the release of the animated film adaptation of the crossover in 2018, a 12-part "Death of Superman" webcomic series began, written by Simonson and illustrated by Cat Staggs, Joel Ojeda, and Laura Braga, among others. The first parts chronicle Superman's actions hours before Doomsday kills him; later parts follow Jimmy Olsen during the confrontation and the aftermath of Superman's death.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The 2019 one-shot "Tales from the Dark Multiverse: The Death of Superman" imagines a reality where Superman's death causes Lois Lane to have a psychological breakdown. Lois goes to the Fortress of Solitude and learns the Eradicator failed to restore Superman. Lois merges with the Eradicator and uses her new abilities to force the world to accept Superman's ideals. Her murder of criminals leads other heroes to oppose her, including the Cyborg Superman, Steel, and Superboy. Convinced she is correct, Lois fully adopts the identity of the Eradicator.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Stern wrote a novelization of "The Death of Superman", "The Death and Life of Superman", in 1993. Additionally, Simonson wrote another adaptation, "", around the same time. It features cover art by Alex Ross.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Blizzard Entertainment and Sunsoft developed a video game based on the story, "The Death and Return of Superman", which was released in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and in 1995 for the Sega Genesis. "The Death and Return of Superman" is a beat 'em up in which the player controls Superman and the Supermen as they attempt to save Metropolis. Retrospectively, "Nintendo Life"s Dave Cook considered it the game that "finally [gave] Superman the video game justice he deserves in what is undoubtedly one of his most celebrated stories" and "IGN"s Greg Miller called it one of his favorite games and said it was what inspired him to become a video game journalist.


title: The Death of Superman

text: In the wake of "The Death of Superman", Warner Bros. acquired the rights to produce Superman films, and hired Jon Peters to write a script for a sequel to "" (1987). The script, called "Superman Reborn", borrowed liberally from "The Death of Superman", including the fight between Superman and Doomsday. However, Warner Bros. disliked it due to its similar themes to "Batman Forever" (1995). Later rewrites altered the story considerably and the film ultimately never came to fruition. "Superman Lives", another canceled Superman film that would have been directed by Tim Burton, started as an adaptation of "The Death of Superman"; Warner Bros. executives believed the story was "the key" to revive the "Superman" franchise.


title: The Death of Superman

text: Warner Bros. released an animated direct-to-video film adaptation, "", in 2007. "Superman: Doomsday" is loosely based on "The Death of Superman"; to fit within a 75-minute runtime, the story was condensed and greatly altered. For example, the Justice League is not present and most aspects of "Reign of the Supermen!" were removed. The film was a commercial success and started the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line of direct-to-video releases.


title: The Death of Superman

text: The DC Extended Universe series of films contains references to "The Death of Superman", beginning with the appearance of Superman's black suit in "Man of Steel" (2013). The climax of "" (2016) draws narrative elements from "Doomsday!". In the film, Lex Luthor uses forbidden Kryptonian genetic engineering projects to combine General Zod's corpse with his own DNA, creating Doomsday. During their fight, Superman and Doomsday deliver killing blows, respectively, and both die. Jurgens received a "Special Thanks" credit at the end of the film. In "Justice League" (2017), the black suit reappears as an Easter egg in a deleted scene. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson explained that director Zack Snyder planned to have Superman wear the suit when he was resurrected in the film, but scrapped the idea in pre-production. Superman wore the black suit in Snyder's 2021 director's cut of the film, "Zack Snyder's Justice League".


title: The Death of Superman

text: A second animated film adaptation was made in two parts: "The Death of Superman" (2018) and "Reign of the Supermen" (2019), part of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line and of DC Animated Movie Universe. Compared to "Superman: Doomsday", the new adaptation is more faithful to the comic story. DC's Tim Beedle considered the films "much less condensed" and said they "include many of the fan-favorite moments from the story that were left out of "Doomsday"".


title: The Death of Superman

text: Elements of "The Death of Superman", and "Reign of the Supermen!" appear in television series set in the Arrowverse:


title: Galena

text: Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver.


title: Galena

text: Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms. It is often associated with the minerals sphalerite, calcite and fluorite.


title: Galena

text: Galena is the main ore of lead, used since ancient times, since lead can be smelted from galena in an ordinary wood fire. Galena typically is found in hydrothermal veins in association with sphalerite, marcasite, chalcopyrite, cerussite, anglesite, dolomite, calcite, quartz, barite, and fluorite. It is also found in association with sphalerite in low-temperature lead-zinc deposits within limestone beds. Minor amounts are found in contact metamorphic zones, in pegmatites, and disseminated in sedimentary rock.


title: Galena

text: In some deposits the galena contains up to 0.5% silver, a byproduct that far surpasses the main lead ore in revenue. In these deposits significant amounts of silver occur as included silver sulfide mineral phases or as limited silver in solid solution within the galena structure. These argentiferous galenas have long been an important ore of silver. Silver-bearing galena is almost entirely of hydrothermal origin; galena in lead-zinc deposits contains little silver.


title: Galena

text: Galena deposits are found worldwide in various environments. Noted deposits include those at Freiberg in Saxony; Cornwall, the Mendips in Somerset, Derbyshire, and Cumberland in England; the Madan and Rhodope Mountains in Bulgaria; the Sullivan Mine of British Columbia; Broken Hill and Mount Isa in Australia; and the ancient mines of Sardinia.


title: Galena

text: In the United States, it occurs most notably as lead-zinc ore in the Mississippi Valley type deposits of the Lead Belt in southeastern Missouri, which is the largest known deposit, and in the Driftless Area of Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin. Galena also was a major mineral of the zinc-lead mines of the tri-state district around Joplin in southwestern Missouri and the adjoining areas of Kansas and Oklahoma. Galena is also an important ore mineral in the silver mining regions of Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Montana. Of the latter, the Coeur d'Alene district of northern Idaho was most prominent.


title: Galena

text: Australia is world's leading producer of lead as of 2021, most of which is extracted as galena. Argentiferous galena was accidentally discovered at Glen Osmond in 1841, and additional deposits were discovered near Broken Hill in 1876 and at Mount Isa in 1923. Most galena in Australia is found in hydrothermal deposits emplaced around 1680 million years ago, which have since been heavily metamorphosed.


title: Galena

text: The largest documented crystal of galena is composite cubo-octahedra from the Great Laxey Mine, Isle of Man, measuring .


title: Galena

text: Galena is the official state mineral of the U.S. states of Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin; the former mining communities of Galena, Kansas, and Galena, Illinois, take their names from deposits of this mineral.


title: Galena

text: Galena belongs to the octahedral sulfide group of minerals that have metal ions in octahedral positions, such as the iron sulfide pyrrhotite and the nickel arsenide niccolite. The galena group is named after its most common member, with other isometric members that include manganese bearing alabandite and niningerite.


title: Galena

text: Divalent lead (Pb) cations and sulfur (S) anions form a close-packed cubic unit cell much like the mineral halite of the halide mineral group. Zinc, cadmium, iron, copper, antimony, arsenic, bismuth and selenium also occur in variable amounts in galena. Selenium substitutes for sulfur in the structure constituting a solid solution series. The lead telluride mineral altaite has the same crystal structure as galena.


title: Galena

text: Within the weathering or oxidation zone galena alters to anglesite (lead sulfate) or cerussite (lead carbonate). Galena exposed to acid mine drainage can be oxidized to anglesite by naturally occurring bacteria and archaea, in a process similar to bioleaching.


title: Galena

text: One of the oldest uses of galena was in the eye cosmetic kohl. In Ancient Egypt, this was applied around the eyes to reduce the glare of the desert sun and to repel flies, which were a potential source of disease.


title: Galena

text: In pre-Columbian North America, galena was used by indigenous peoples as an ingredient in decorative paints and cosmetics, and widely traded throughout the eastern United States. Traces of galena are frequently found at the Mississippian city at Kincaid Mounds in present-day Illinois. The galena used at the site originated from deposits in southeastern and central Missouri and the Upper Mississippi Valley.


title: Galena

text: Galena is a semiconductor with a small band gap of about 0.4 eV, which found use in early wireless communication systems. It was used as the crystal in crystal radio receivers, in which it was used as a point-contact diode capable of rectifying alternating current to detect the radio signals. The galena crystal was used with a sharp wire, known as a "cat's whisker" in contact with it.


title: The Cage (Star Trek: The Original Series)

text: "The Cage" is the first pilot episode of the American television series "". It was completed on January 22, 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964). The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. It was rejected by NBC in February 1965, and the network ordered another pilot episode, which became "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Much of the original footage from "The Cage" was later incorporated into the two-parter episode "" (1966); however, "The Cage" was first released to the public on VHS in 1986, with a special introduction by Gene Roddenberry, and was not broadcast on television in its complete form until 1988. The black and white version and shorter all-color version was also released in various standard-definition media including LaserDisc, VHS, and DVD formats.


text: The story concerns a starship crew's investigation of a far off planet which was the site of a shipwreck eighteen years earlier and their encounter with telepathic aliens who seek a human male specimen for their menagerie. The pilot introduced Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, who was the only cast member to be retained for the series in their original role.


text: "The Cage" has many of the features of the eventual series, but there are numerous differences. The captain of the starship USS "Enterprise" is not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock is present, but not as first officer. That role is taken by a character known only as Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of "Star Trek"; he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasts with the later more reserved and logical Spock. He also delivers the first line in all of "Star Trek": "Check the circuit!" followed by, "Can't be the screen then." The weaponry used in the pilot also differs from that seen in the series proper, identified as lasers rather than phasers, and different props are used for the communicator and handheld weapons.


text: NBC reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting the series outright, though, the network commissioned a second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before", which led to an order for the series for fall 1966.


text: During the first season, the need for new episodes to be delivered to the network to meet airdates became urgent, and a framing story with the series regulars was written around most of the original footage from "The Cage" resulting in the two-part episode "The Menagerie".


text: The process of editing the pilot into "The Menagerie" disassembled the original camera negative of "The Cage", and thus, for many years it was considered partly lost. Roddenberry's black-and-white 16mm print made for reference purposes was the only existing print of the show, and was frequently shown at conventions. Early video releases of "The Cage" used Roddenberry's 16mm print, intercut with the color scenes from "The Cage" that were used in "The Menagerie". It was only in 1987 that a film archivist found an unmarked (mute) 35mm reel in a Hollywood film laboratory with the negative trims of the unused scenes. Upon realizing what he had found, he arranged for the return of the footage to Roddenberry's company.


text: "The Cage" was first released on VHS in 1986, with a special introduction by Roddenberry, and was aired for the first time in its entirety, and in full color, in late November 1988 as part of "The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next", a two-hour retrospective special hosted by Patrick Stewart. It contained interviews with Gene Roddenberry, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Mel Harris, cast members from "Star Trek" and "", clips from both series and the "Star Trek" films I through IV with a small preview of . It was later rebroadcast on UPN in 1996 with a behind the scenes look at "".


text: According to "The Menagerie", the events of "The Cage" take place thirteen years before the first season of "Star Trek", in 2254. No stardate was given.


text: The USS "Enterprise", under the command of Captain Christopher Pike, receives a radio distress call from the fourth planet in the Talos star group. A landing party is assembled and beamed down to investigate. Tracking the distress signal to its source, the landing party discovers a camp of survivors from a scientific expedition that has been missing for eighteen years. Amongst the survivors is a beautiful young woman named Vina.


text: Captivated by her beauty, Pike is caught off guard and is captured by the Talosians, a race of humanoids with bulbous heads who live beneath the planet's surface. It is revealed that the distress call, and the crash survivors, except for Vina, are just illusions created by the Talosians to lure the "Enterprise" to the planet. While imprisoned, Pike uncovers the Talosians' plans to repopulate their ravaged planet using him and Vina as breeding stock for a race of slaves.


text: The Talosians use their power of illusion to try to interest Pike in Vina, and present her in various guises and settings, first as a Rigellian princess, a loving compassionate farm girl, then a seductive, green-skinned Orion. Pike resists all forms. After an earlier landing party failed to gain entry from the surface, six members of the "Enterprise" crew prepare to beam into the Talosians' underground complex, but only Pike's first officer and yeoman—both women—materialize in Pike's cell to offer further temptation. By then, however, Pike has discovered that primitive human emotions can block the Talosians' ability to read his mind, and he manages to escape to the surface of the planet along with the two members of his landing party.


text: The Talosians confront Pike and his companions before they can transport back to the "Enterprise". The captain tries to negotiate, but the first officer sets her weapon on a buildup to overload. Pike and Vina move closer to her, agreeing with her preference for death rather than captivity. After all, as Vina explains, if the Talosians have even one human being, they might try again. This demonstration of fatal resolve confirms what the Talosians have been gleaning from the records they've accessed from the "Enterprise's" computers: The human race despises captivity far too much to be useful.


text: Despite their last hope having been proven unsuitable, the Talosians are not vengeful. They let the humans go. The first officer and yeoman beam up immediately, but Pike remains behind with Vina, urging her to leave with him. Vina explains that she cannot leave. An expedition had indeed crash-landed on Talos IV; Vina was the sole survivor, but was badly injured. The Talosians were able to save her, but as they had no understanding of human physiology or aesthetics at the time, she was left horribly disfigured. With the aid of the Talosians' illusions, she is able to appear beautiful and in good health, as much to herself as to any others.


text: Realizing that the continued Talosian illusion of health and beauty is necessary for Vina, Pike is ready to return to the "Enterprise" without her. In an act of goodwill, the aliens show him that Vina sees an image of Pike next to her, and they walk up to the entrance that takes them into the Talosian habitat. Pike then beams up after the Keeper's closing words: "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant."


text: Jeffrey Hunter had a six-month exclusive option for the role of Captain Pike. Although he was required to continue if the series was picked up by the network in that time, he was not required to film the second pilot that NBC requested. Deciding to concentrate on motion pictures instead, he declined the role. Gene Roddenberry wrote to him on April 5, 1965:


text: Two weeks after the option expired on June 1, 1965, Hunter formally gave his letter requesting separation from the project. He died on May 27, 1969, one week before the original series ended its run. Roddenberry later suggested that he was the one who—unhappy with interference by Hunter's then-wife Dusty Bartlett—had decided not to rehire Hunter; however, executive producer Herbert F. Solow, who was present when Bartlett, acting as manager, refused the role on behalf of her husband, later said in his memoir, "Inside Star Trek", that it was the other way around.


text: "The Cage" was filmed at Desilu Productions' studio (now known as Culver Studios) in Culver City, California, from November 27 to mid-December 1964. Post-production work (pick-up shots, editing, scoring, special photographic and sound effects) continued to January 18, 1965.


text: Gene Roddenberry paid a lot of attention to what "The Outer Limits" team was doing at the time, and he was often present in their studios. He hired several "Outer Limits" alumni, among them Robert Justman and Wah Chang, for the production of "Star Trek". One of the creatures in the cages was reused from the episode "The Duplicate Man" of "The Outer Limits", where it was called a megasoid. The prop head from "The Outer Limits" episode "Fun and Games" was used to make a Talosian appear as a vicious creature. The process used to make pointed ears for David McCallum in "The Sixth Finger" was reused in "Star Trek" as well. The "ion storm" seen in "The Mutant" (a projector beam shining through a container holding glitter in liquid suspension) became the transporter effect.


text: The Talosians were portrayed by women, with their telepathic voices recorded by male actors. This was done to give the impression that the Talosians had focused their efforts on mental development to the detriment of their physical strength and size, and also to give that much more of an alien feel to the Talosians. However, the deep voice of Malachi Throne as the Keeper in "The Cage" was electronically processed to sound higher-pitched for "The Menagerie", as Throne also portrayed Commodore Mendez in the latter. The Keeper's voice from "The Menagerie" was kept for both the remastered and new "original" versions of "The Cage" which would be released later. Throne's unaltered voice work as The Keeper only survives as a brief sample that can be found in the preview trailer for "The Menagerie" (Part II).


text: Although most of this episode was edited into the original series episode "The Menagerie" (aired November 1966), no stand-alone version of "The Cage" pilot was available until a 1986 VHS release. Gene Roddenberry had in his possession a black-white film workprint version on 16 mm film, while the original 35 mm print was literally cut up in editing for "The Menagerie"; this left Roddenberry's copy as the only known surviving version when the VHS version was made. Thus, the original VHS release has a mix of full-color from existing footage with black-and-white from the 16 mm copy.


text: In 1987 the edited film sections were discovered and it became possible to complete a full-color version. The restored color version was broadcast in October 1988, which was the first television airing of "The Cage". It was broadcast as part of a television special hosted by Patrick Stewart called "The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation to the Next".


text: "The Cage" was released on LaserDisc in the United States; this version mixed B&W and color footage with a runtime of 73 minutes. On October 10, 1990 a Collector's Edition of "The Cage" with a runtime of 64 minutes featuring all-color footage was released on LaserDisc in the US.


text: "The Cage" was released on PAL-format LaserDisc in the United Kingdom as part of "The Pilots" collection, in April 1996. This included the color version of "The Cage", "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "Encounter at Farpoint", "Emissary", and "Caretaker" with a total runtime of 379 minutes.


text: Both versions of "The Cage" were included on the original series Season 3 DVD box set, along with the introduction by Roddenberry.


text: The original pilot episode "The Cage" is sometimes listed as episode 99. On the VHS home video releases, it was identified as Episode 1.


text: In 2016, SyFy ranked "The Cage" as the fifth best out of six "Star Trek" TV show pilots, with ""'s "" in first place.


text: In 2017, Inverse recommended "The Cage" as "essential watching" for "". They note that despite being the first episode of "Star Trek" to be made, it was not broadcast on television in its entirety until 1988.


text: In 2019, the "" episode "" saw Pike and Spock (roles re-cast) return to Talos IV; the recap at the beginning of the episode used scenes from "The Cage".


text: CBS All Access officially ordered "" to series in May 2020 featuring the characters of Captain Pike, Number One, and Spock. At 55 years between "The Cage" and the announcement of "Strange New Worlds", Co-Showrunner and Executive Producer Henry Alonso Myers calls this the longest pilot to series pick up in television history.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln () is a cathedral city, a non-metropolitan district, and the county town of Lincolnshire, England. In the 2021 Census, the Lincoln district had a population of 103,813. The 2011 census gave the urban area of Lincoln, including North Hykeham and Waddington, a population of 115,000.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Roman "Lindum Colonia" developed from an Iron Age settlement on the River Witham. Landmarks include Lincoln Cathedral (English Gothic architecture; for over 200 years the world's tallest building) and the 11th-century Norman Lincoln Castle. The city hosts the University of Lincoln, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln City FC and Lincoln United FC. Lincoln is the largest settlement in Lincolnshire, with the towns of Grimsby second largest and Scunthorpe third.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to remains of an Iron Age settlement of round wooden dwellings, discovered by archaeologists in 1972, which have been dated to the first century BCE. It was built by a deep pool (now Brayford Pool) in the River Witham at the foot of a large hill, on which the Normans later built Lincoln Cathedral and Lincoln Castle).


title: Lincoln, England

text: The name Lincoln may come from this period, when the settlement is thought to have been named in the Brittonic language of Iron Age Britain's Celtic inhabitants as "Lindon", "The Pool", presumably referring to Brayford Pool (compare the etymology of Dublin, from the Gaelic "dubh linn" "black pool"). The extent of the original settlement is unknown, as its remains are buried beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins and modern Lincoln.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The Romans conquered this part of Britain in 48 CE and soon built a legionary fortress high on a hill overlooking the natural lake, Brayford Pool, formed by the widening of the River Witham, and the northern end of the Fosse Way Roman road (A46). Celtic "Lindon" was later Latinised to "Lindum" and the title "Colonia" added when it became settled by army veterans.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The conversion to a "colonia" occurred when the legion moved on to York ("Eboracum") in 71 CE. Lindum colonia or more fully, Colonia Domitiana Lindensium, after the then Emperor Domitian, was set up within the walls of the hilltop fortress by extending it with about an equal area, down the hillside to the waterside.


title: Lincoln, England

text: It became a flourishing settlement accessible from the sea through the River Trent and through the River Witham. On the basis of a patently corrupt list of British bishops said to have attended the 314 Council of Arles, the city is often seen as having been the capital of the province of Flavia Caesariensis, formed during the late third century Diocletian Reforms. Subsequently, the town and its waterways declined. By the close of the fifth century, it was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a "Praefectus Civitatis" – Saint Paulinus visited a man holding this office in Lincoln in 629 CE.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Germanic tribes from the North Sea area settled Lincolnshire in the fifth to sixth centuries. The Latin "Lindum Colonia" shrank in Old English to Lindocolina, then to Lincylene.


title: Lincoln, England

text: After the first Viking raids, the city again rose to some importance with overseas trading ties. In Viking times Lincoln had its own mint, by far the most important in Lincolnshire and by the end of the tenth century, comparable in output to that of York. After establishment of the Danelaw in 886, Lincoln became one of the Five East Midland Boroughs. Excavations at Flaxengate reveal that an area deserted since Roman times received timber-framed buildings fronting a new street system in about 900. Lincoln underwent an economic explosion with the settlement of the Danes. Like York, the Upper City seems to have had purely administrative functions up to 850 or so, while the Lower City, down the hill towards the River Witham, may have been largely deserted. By 950, however, the Witham banks were developed, the Lower City resettled and the suburb of Wigford emerging as a trading centre. In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest of England, William I ordered Lincoln Castle to be built on the site of the old Roman settlement, for the same strategic reasons and controlling the same road.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Construction of the first Lincoln Cathedral within a "close" or walled precinct facing the castle began when the see was removed from the quiet backwater of Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. It was completed in 1092 and rebuilt after a fire, but succumbed to an earthquake in 1185. The rebuilt minster, enlarged eastwards several times, was on a grand scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputedly Europe's highest at . When complete, the central spire is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt as the world's tallest man-made structure.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The Lincoln bishops were among the magnates of medieval England. The Diocese of Lincoln, the largest in England, had more monasteries than the rest of England put together, and the diocese was supported by large estates. When Magna Carta was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln. One of only four surviving originals of the document is preserved in Lincoln Castle.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Among the famous bishops of Lincoln were Robert Bloet, the magnificent justiciar to Henry I, Hugh of Avalon, the cathedral builder canonised as St Hugh of Lincoln, Robert Grosseteste, the 13th century intellectual, Henry Beaufort, chancellor of Henry V and Henry VI, Thomas Rotherham, a politician deeply involved in the Wars of the Roses, Philip Repyngdon, chaplain to Henry IV and defender of Wycliffe, and Thomas Wolsey, the lord chancellor of Henry VIII. Theologian William de Montibus headed the cathedral school and was its chancellor until he died in 1213.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The administrative centre was the Bishop's Palace, the third element in the central complex. When built in the late 12th century by Hugh of Lincoln, the Bishop's Palace was one of the most important buildings in England. Its East Hall over a vaulted undercroft is the earliest surviving example of a roofed domestic hall. The chapel range and entrance tower were built by Bishop William of Alnwick, who modernised the palace in the 1430s. Both Henry VIII and James I were guests there. The palace was sacked in 1648 by royalist troops during the civil war.


title: Lincoln, England

text: During the Anarchy, in 1141 Lincoln was the site of a battle between King Stephen and the forces of Empress Matilda, led by her illegitimate half-brother Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. After fierce fighting in the city streets, Stephen's forces were defeated and Stephen himself captured and taken to Bristol.


title: Lincoln, England

text: By 1150, Lincoln was among the wealthiest towns in England, based economically on cloth and wool exported to Flanders; Lincoln weavers had set up a guild in 1130 to produce Lincoln Cloth, especially the fine dyed "scarlet" and "green", whose reputation was later enhanced by the legendary Robin Hood wearing woollens of Lincoln green. In the Guildhall, surmounting the city gate called the Stonebow, the ancient Council Chamber contains Lincoln's civic insignia, a fine collection of civic regalia.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Outside the precincts of cathedral and castle, the old quarter clustered round the Bailgate and down Steep Hill to the High Bridge, whose half-timbered housing juts out over the river. There are three ancient churches: St Mary le Wigford and St Peter at Gowts, both 11th century in origin, and St Mary Magdalene, from the late 13th century. The last is an unusual English dedication to a saint whose cult was coming into vogue on the European continent at the time.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln was home to one of five main Jewish communities in England, well established before it was officially noted in 1154. In 1190, anti-Semitic riots that started in King's Lynn, Norfolk, spread to Lincoln; the Jewish community took refuge with royal officials, but their homes were plundered. The so-called House of Aaron has a two-storey street frontage that is essentially 12th century and a nearby Jew's House likewise bears witness to the Jewish population. In 1255, the affair called "The Libel of Lincoln" in which prominent Lincoln Jews, accused of ritual murder of a Christian boy (Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln in medieval folklore) were sent to the Tower of London and 18 executed. The Jews were all expelled in 1290.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Thirteenth-century Lincoln was England's third largest city and a favourite of more than one king. In the First Barons' War it was caught in the strife between the king and rebel barons allied with the French. Here and at Dover the French and Rebel army was defeated. Thereafter the town was pillaged for having sided with Prince Louis. In the Second Barons' War, of 1266, the disinherited rebels attacked the Jews of Lincoln, ransacked the synagogue and burned the records that registered debts.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Some historians have the city's fortunes declining from the 14th century, but others argue that it remained buoyant in trade and communications well into the 15th. In 1409, the city became a county corporate: the County of the City of Lincoln, formerly part of the West Riding of Lindsey since at least the time of the "Domesday Book". Additional rights were then conferred by successive monarchs, including those of an assay town (controlling metal manufacturing, for example). The oldest surviving secular drama in English, "The Interlude of the Student and the Girl" (c. 1300), may have originated from Lincoln.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln's coat of arms, not officially endorsed by the College of Arms, is believed to date from the 14th century. It is "Argent on a cross gules a fleur-de-lis or". The cross is believed to derive from the Diocese. The fleur-de-lis symbolises the cathedral dedication to the Virgin Mary. The motto is CIVITAS LINCOLNIA ("City of Lincoln").


title: Lincoln, England

text: The dissolution of the monasteries cut Lincoln's main source of diocesan income and dried up the network of patronage controlled by the bishop. Seven monasteries closed in the city alone, as did several nearby abbeys, which further diminished the region's political power. A symbol of Lincoln's economic and political decline came in 1549, when the cathedral's great spire rotted and collapsed and was not replaced. However, the comparative poverty of post-medieval Lincoln preserved pre-medieval structures that would probably have been lost under more prosperous conditions.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Between 1642 and 1651 in the English Civil War, Lincoln was on a frontier between the Royalist and Parliamentary forces and changed hands several times. Many buildings were badly damaged. Lincoln now had no major industry and no easy access to the sea. It suffered as the rest of the country was beginning to prosper in the early 18th century, travellers often commenting on what had essentially become a one-street town.


title: Lincoln, England

text: By the Georgian era, Lincoln's fortunes began to pick up, thanks in part to the Agricultural Revolution. Reopening of the Foss Dyke canal eased imports of coal and other raw materials vital to industry.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Along with the economic growth of Lincoln in this period, the city boundaries were spread to include the West Common. To this day, an annual Beat the Boundaries walk takes place along its perimeter.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Coupled with the arrival of railway links, Lincoln boomed again during the Industrial Revolution, and several famous companies arose, such as Ruston's, Clayton's, Proctor's and William Foster's. Lincoln began to excel in heavy engineering, by building locomotives, steam shovels and all manner of heavy machinery.


title: Lincoln, England

text: A permanent military presence came with 1857 completion of the "Old Barracks" (now held by the Museum of Lincolnshire Life). They were replaced by the "New Barracks" (now Sobraon Barracks) in 1890, when Lincoln Drill Hall in Broadgate also opened.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln was hit by typhoid in November 1904 – August 1905 caused by polluted drinking water from Hartsholme Lake and the River Witham. Over 1,000 people contracted the disease and fatalities totalled 113, including the man responsible for the city's water supply, Liam Kirk of Baker Crescent. Near the beginning of the epidemic, Dr Alexander Cruickshank Houston installed a chlorine disinfection system just ahead of the poorly operating, slow sand filter, to kill the fatal bacteria. Chlorination of the water continued until 1911, when a new supply was implemented. Lincoln's chlorination episode was an early use of chlorine to disinfect a water supply. Westgate Water Tower was built to provide new supplies.


title: Lincoln, England

text: In the two world wars, Lincoln switched to war production. The first ever tanks were invented, designed and built in Lincoln by William Foster & Co. in the First World War and population growth provided more workers for greater expansion. The tanks were tested on land now covered by Tritton Road in the south-west suburbs. In the Second World War, Lincoln produced an array of war goods: tanks, aircraft, munitions and military vehicles.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Ruston & Hornsby produced diesel engines for ships and locomotives, then by teaming up with former colleagues of Frank Whittle and Power Jets Ltd, in the early 1950s, R & H (which became RGT) opened the first production line for gas turbine engines for land-based and sea-based energy production. Its success made it the city's largest single employer, providing over 5,000 jobs in its factory and research facilities, making it a rich takeover target for industrial conglomerates. It was subsumed by English Electric in November 1966, which was then bought by GEC in 1968, with diesel engine production being transferred to the Ruston Diesels Division in Newton-le-Willows, Lancashire, at the former Vulcan Foundry.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Pelham Works merged with Alstom of France in the late 1980s and was then bought in 2003 by Siemens of Germany as Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery. This includes what is left of Napier Turbochargers. Plans came early in 2008 for a new plant outside the city at Teal Park, North Hykeham. Still, Siemens made large redundancies and moved jobs to Sweden and the Netherlands. The factory now employs 1300. R & H's former Beevor Foundry is now owned by Hoval Group, making industrial boilers (wood chip). The Aerospace Manufacturing Facility (AMF) in Firth Road passed from Alstom Aerospace Ltd to ITP Engines UK in January 2009.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln's second largest private employer is James Dawson and Son, a belting and hose maker founded in the late 19th century. Its two sites are in Tritton Road. The main one, next to the University of Lincoln, used Lincoln's last coal-fired boiler until it was replaced by gas in July 2018.


title: Lincoln, England

text: New suburbs appeared after 1945, but heavy industry declined towards the end of the 20th century. Much development, notably around the Brayford area, has followed the construction of the University of Lincoln's Brayford Campus, which opened in 1996. In 2012, Bishop Grosseteste teaching college was also awarded university status.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln's economy is based mainly on public administration, commerce, arable farming and tourism, with industrial relics like Ruston (now Siemens) remaining, although many of Lincoln's industrial giants have ceased production, leaving empty industrial warehouse-like buildings. More recently these have become multi-occupied units, with the likes of Lincs FM radio station (in the "Titanic Works") and LA Fitness gym taking space. The main employment sectors are public administration, education and health, with 34 per cent of the workforce. Distribution, restaurants and hotels account for 25 per cent.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Like many other cities, Lincoln has a growing IT economy, with many e-commerce mail order companies, along with a plethora of other, more conventional small industrial businesses. One reason behind the University of Lincoln was to increase inward investment and act as a springboard for small firms. Its presence has also drawn more licensed premises to the town centre around the Brayford Pool. A small business unit next door to a university accommodation building, the Think Tank, opened in June 2009.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Of the two main electronics firms, Chelmsford-based e2V (Associated Electrical Industries before 1961) is situated between "Carholme Road" (A57) and the Foss Dyke, next-door to Carholme Golf Club; and Dynex Semiconductor (formerly Marconi Electronic Devices) in Doddington Road (B1190) near the A46 bypass and North Hykeham. Bifrangi, an Italian maker of crankshafts for off-road vehicles using a screw press, is based at the former "Tower Works" owned by Smith-Clayton Forge Ltd.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln is the hub for settlements such as Welton, Saxilby, Skellingthorpe and Washingborough, which look to it for most services and employment needs. Added they raise the population to 165,000. Lincoln is the main centre for jobs and facilities in Central Lincolnshire and performs a regional role over much of Lincolnshire and parts of Nottinghamshire. According to a document entitled "Central Lincolnshire Local Plan Core Strategy", Lincoln has a "travel-to-work" area with a population of about 300,000. Its two universities, gained since 1994, contribute to its growth in the services sector. Blocks of flats, restaurants and entertainment venues have appeared. Entertainment venues linked to the universities include The Engine Shed and The Venue Cinema.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Around the Tritton Road (B1003) trading estate, new businesses have begun trading from large units with car parking. Lincoln has a choice of seven large national supermarkets (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, Waitrose, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl).


title: Lincoln, England

text: St Mark's Square complex had a Debenhams as its flagship store until 2021. The accompanying trading estate still has well-known chain stores.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The city is a tourist centre for visitors to historic buildings that include the cathedral, the castle and the medieval Bishop's Palace.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The Collection, of which the Usher Gallery is now part, is an important attraction, partly in a purpose-built venue. It currently contains over 2,000,000 objects, and was one of the four finalists for the 2006 Gulbenkian Prize. Any material from official archaeological excavations in Lincolnshire is eventually deposited there. Other attractions include the Museum of Lincolnshire Life and the International Bomber Command Centre.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Tranquil destinations close by are Whisby Nature Reserve and Hartsholme Country Park (including the Swanholme Lakes SSSI), while noisier entertainment can be found at Waddington airfield, Scampton airfield (base of the RAF's Red Arrows jet aerobatic team), the County Showground or the Cadwell Park motor racing circuit near Louth.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Early each December the Bailgate area holds a Christmas Market in and around the Castle grounds, shaped by the traditional German-style Christmas markets, including that of Lincoln's twin town Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. In 2010, for the first time, the event was cancelled due to "atrocious" snowfalls across most of the United Kingdom. It succumbed again in December 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Lincoln, England

text: In the 2011 census, the population of Lincoln district was 100,160. The largest ethnic group was White British at over 95%, followed by South Asian at around 2%, Black British was nearly around 1% and British Mixed Race at over 1%. Making Lincoln overall 96% White British and 4% Ethnic Minorities. The religious makeup of Lincoln was 63% Christians, 34% non-religious, 1% Muslims, and other religions were made up the other 2%.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln is home to many active and former churches, the city has around 34 or more active churches. These serve the city centre and outer suburbs of the city and urban area. The city has three mosques; these are located on Orchard Street and Dixon Street. The Lincoln Grandstand is sometimes hired out for Jumu'ah Salaah prayers. The city has no Sikh or Hindu temples, with the nearest ones being in Scunthorpe, Grimsby, Nottingham and Doncaster. The city has two Jewish synagogues on Steep Hill and Eastbrook Road. As well as an international temple on James Street.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Many of the notable churches in the city include: St Mary le Wigford, St Benedicts, St Swithin's, Lincoln Cathedral, St Hugh's, St Katherine's, Alive Church, Saint Peter at Gowts, Central Methodist Church, St Nicholas and Greek Orthodox Church of St Basil the Great and St Paisios. Among others in the city and outer suburbs.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Lincoln lies north of London, at an altitude of by the River Witham up to on Castle Hill. It fills a gap in the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, which runs north and south through central Lincolnshire, with altitudes up to . The city lies on the River Witham, which flows through this gap. The city is 55 miles (123 km) southwest of Hull, 32 miles (51 km) north-east of Nottingham, 47 miles (76 km) north of Peterborough, 82 miles (133 km) southeast of Leeds and 40 miles (64 km) east south-east of Sheffield.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The city urban area extends to the town of North Hykeham and the villages of Bracebridge Heath, Branston, Burton, Canwick, Cherry Willingham, Dunholme, Heighington, Nettleham, North Greetwell, Saxilby, Skellingthorpe, South Hykeham, Thorpe on the Hill, Waddington, and Washingborough. These villages act as commuter villages to the city and to nearby towns of Doncaster, Gainsborough, Grantham, Grimsby, Louth, Market Rasen, Newark-on-Trent, Retford, Scunthorpe, Sleaford, Welton, and Worksop.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Due to the variation in altitude, which presents something of an obstacle, Lincoln is divided informally into two zones: uphill and downhill.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The uphill area comprises the northern part of the city, on top of the Lincoln Cliff (to the north of the gap). This includes the historical quarter, including Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace, known locally as The Bail (though described in tourist literature as the Cathedral Quarter). It also has residential suburbs to the north and north-east. The downhill area comprises the city centre and suburbs to the south and south-west. Steep Hill is a narrow, pedestrian street directly connecting the two. It passes through an archway known as the Stonebow.


title: Lincoln, England

text: This divide, peculiar to Lincoln, was once an important class distinction, with uphill more affluent and downhill less so. The distinction dates from the time of the Norman conquest, when the religious and military elite occupied the hilltop. The expansion of suburbs in both parts of the city since the mid-19th century has diluted the distinction.


title: Lincoln, England

text: The mute swan is an iconic species for Lincoln. Many pairs nest each year beside the Brayford, and they feature on the university's heraldic emblem. Other bird life within the city includes peregrine falcon, tawny owl and common kingfisher.


title: Lincoln, England

text: Mammals on the city edges include red fox, roe deer and least weasel. European perch, northern pike and bream are among fishes seen in the Witham and Brayford. Nature reserves around the city include Greetwell Hollow SSSI, Swanholme SSSI, Whisby Nature Park, Boultham Mere and Hartsholme Country Park.