text: On June 18, 1866, Congress adopted the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed citizenship and equal protection under the laws regardless of race, and sent it to the states for ratification. After a bitter struggle that included attempted rescissions of ratification by two states, the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted on July 28, 1868.


title: Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

text: Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment punished, by reduced representation in the House of Representatives, any state that disenfranchised any male citizens over 21 years of age. By failing to adopt a harsher penalty, this signaled to the states that they still possessed the right to deny ballot access based on race. Northern states were generally as averse to granting voting rights to blacks as Southern states. In the year of its ratification, only eight Northern states allowed blacks to vote. In the South, blacks were able to vote in many areas, but only through the intervention of the occupying Union Army. Before Congress had granted suffrage to blacks in the territories by passing the Territorial Suffrage Act on January 10, 1867 (Source: Congressional Globe, 39th Congress, 2nd Session, pp. 381-82), blacks were granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia on January 8, 1867.


text: Anticipating an increase in Democratic membership in the following Congress, Republicans used the lame-duck session of the 40th United States Congress to pass an amendment protecting black suffrage. Representative John Bingham, the primary author of the Fourteenth Amendment, pushed for a wide-ranging ban on suffrage limitations, but a broader proposal banning voter restriction on the basis of "race, color, nativity, property, education, or religious beliefs" was rejected. A proposal to specifically ban literacy tests was also rejected. Some Representatives from the North, where nativism was a major force, wished to preserve restrictions denying the franchise to foreign-born citizens, as did Representatives from the West, where ethnic Chinese people were banned from voting. Both Southern and Northern Republicans also wanted to continue to deny the vote temporarily to Southerners disenfranchised for support of the Confederacy, and they were concerned that a sweeping endorsement of suffrage would enfranchise this group.


text: A House and Senate conference committee proposed the amendment's final text, which banned voter restriction only on the basis of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude." To attract the broadest possible base of support, the amendment made no mention of poll taxes or other measures to block voting, and did not guarantee the right of blacks to hold office. Preliminary drafts did include officeholding language, but scholars disagree as to the reason for this change. This compromised proposal was approved by the House on February 25, 1869, and the Senate the following day.


text: The vote in the House was 144 to 44, with 35 not voting. The House vote was almost entirely along party lines, with no Democrats supporting the bill and only 3Republicans voting against it, some because they thought the amendment did not go far enough in its protections. The House of Representatives passed the amendment, with 143 Republicans and oneConservative Republican voting "Yea" and 39 Democrats, three Republicans, oneIndependent Republican and oneConservative voting "No"; 26 Republicans, eightDemocrats, and oneIndependent Republican did not vote. The final vote in the Senate was 39 to 13, with 14 not voting. The Senate passed the amendment, with 39 Republicans voting "Yea" and eightDemocrats and five Republicans voting "Nay"; 13 Republicans and oneDemocrat did not vote. Some Radical Republicans, such as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, abstained from voting because the amendment did not prohibit literacy tests and poll taxes. Following congressional approval, the proposed amendment was then sent by Secretary of State William Henry Seward to the states for ratification or rejection.


text: Though many of the original proposals for the amendment had been moderated by negotiations in committee, the final draft nonetheless faced significant hurdles in being ratified by three-fourths of the states. Historian William Gillette wrote of the process, "it was hard going and the outcome was uncertain until the very end."


text: One source of opposition to the proposed amendment was the women's suffrage movement, which before and during the Civil War had made common cause with the abolitionist movement. State constitutions often connected race and sex by limiting suffrage to "white male citizens." However, with the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, which had explicitly protected only male citizens in its second section, activists found the civil rights of women divorced from those of blacks. Matters came to a head with the proposal of the Fifteenth Amendment, which barred race discrimination but not sex discrimination in voter laws. One of Congress's most explicit discussions regarding the link between suffrage and officeholding occurred during discussions about the Fifteenth Amendment. Initially, both houses passed a version of the amendment that included language referring to officeholding but ultimately the language was omitted.


text: During this time, women continued to advocate for their own rights, holding conventions and passing resolutions demanding the right to vote and hold office. Some preliminary versions of the amendment even included women. However, the final version omitted references to sex, further splintering the women's suffrage movement. After an acrimonious debate, the American Equal Rights Association, the nation's leading suffragist group, split into two rival organizations: the National Woman Suffrage Association of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who opposed the amendment, and the American Woman Suffrage Association of Lucy Stone and Henry Browne Blackwell, who supported it. The two groups remained divided until the 1890s.


text: Nevada was the first state to ratify the amendment, on March 1, 1869. The New England states and most Midwest states also ratified the amendment soon after its proposal. Southern states still controlled by Radical reconstruction governments, such as North Carolina, also swiftly ratified. Newly elected President Ulysses S. Grant strongly endorsed the amendment, calling it "a measure of grander importance than any other one act of the kind from the foundation of our free government to the present day." He privately asked Nebraska's governor to call a special legislative session to speed the process, securing the state's ratification. In April and December 1869, Congress passed Reconstruction bills mandating that Virginia, Mississippi, Texas and Georgia ratify the amendment as a precondition to regaining congressional representation; all four states did so. The struggle for ratification was particularly close in Indiana and Ohio, which voted to ratify in May 1869 and January 1870, respectively. New York, which had ratified on April 14, 1869, tried to revoke its ratification on January 5, 1870. However, in February 1870, Georgia, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas ratified the amendment, bringing the total ratifying states to twenty-nine—one more than the required twenty-eight ratifications from the thirty-seven states, and forestalling any court challenge to New York's resolution to withdraw its consent.


text: Secretary of State Hamilton Fish certified the amendment on March 30, 1870, also including the ratifications of:


text: The amendment's adoption was met with widespread celebrations in black communities and abolitionist societies; many of the latter disbanded, feeling that black rights had been secured and their work was complete. President Grant said of the amendment that it "completes the greatest civil change and constitutes the most important event that has occurred since the nation came to life." Many Republicans felt that with the amendment's passage, black Americans no longer needed federal protection; congressman and future president James A. Garfield stated that the amendment's passage "confers upon the African race the care of its own destiny. It places their fortunes in their own hands." Congressman John R. Lynch later wrote that ratification of those two amendments made Reconstruction a success.


text: In the year of the 150th anniversary of the Fifteenth Amendment Columbia University history professor and historian Eric Foner said about the Fifteenth Amendment as well as its history during the Reconstruction era and Post-Reconstruction era:


text: African Americans called the amendment the nation's "second birth" and a "greater revolution than that of 1776" according to historian Eric Foner in his book "The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution".


text: The first black person known to vote after the amendment's adoption was Thomas Mundy Peterson, who cast his ballot on March 31, 1870, in a Perth Amboy, New Jersey referendum election adopting a revised city charter. African Americans—many of them newly freed slaves—put their newfound freedom to use, voting in scores of black candidates. During Reconstruction, 16 black men served in Congress and 2,000 black men served in elected local, state and federal positions.


text: In "United States v. Reese" (1876), the first U.S. Supreme Court decision interpreting the Fifteenth Amendment, the Court interpreted the amendment narrowly, upholding ostensibly race-neutral limitations on suffrage including poll taxes, literacy tests, and a grandfather clause that exempted citizens from other voting requirements if their grandfathers had been registered voters. The Court also stated that the amendment does not confer the right of suffrage, but it invests citizens of the United States with the right of exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective franchise on account of their race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and empowers Congress to enforce that right by "appropriate legislation". The Court wrote:


text: White supremacists, such as the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), used paramilitary violence to prevent blacks from voting. A number of blacks were killed at the Colfax massacre of 1873 while attempting to defend their right to vote. The Enforcement Acts were passed by Congress in 1870–1871 to authorize federal prosecution of the KKK and others who violated the amendment. However, as Reconstruction neared its end and federal troops withdrew, prosecutions under the Enforcement Acts dropped significantly. In "United States v. Cruikshank" (1876), the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government did not have the authority to prosecute the perpetrators of the Colfax massacre because they were not state actors.


text: Congress further weakened the acts in 1894 by removing a provision against conspiracy. In 1877, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president after a highly contested election, receiving support from three Southern states in exchange for a pledge to allow white Democratic governments to rule without federal interference. As president, he refused to enforce federal civil rights protections, allowing states to begin to implement racially discriminatory Jim Crow laws. A Federal Elections Bill (the "Lodge Bill" of 1890) was successfully filibustered in the Senate.


text: From 1890 to 1910, poll taxes and literacy tests were instituted across the South, effectively disenfranchising the great majority of black men. White male-only primary elections also served to reduce the influence of black men in the political system. Along with increasing legal obstacles, blacks were excluded from the political system by threats of violent reprisals by whites in the form of lynch mobs and terrorist attacks by the Ku Klux Klan. Some Democrats even advocated a repeal of the amendment, such as William Bourke Cockran of New York.


text: In the 20th century, the Court began to read the Fifteenth Amendment more broadly. In "Guinn v. United States" (1915), a unanimous Court struck down an Oklahoma grandfather clause that effectively exempted white voters from a literacy test, finding it to be discriminatory. The Court ruled in the related case "Myers v. Anderson" (1915), that the officials who enforced such a clause were liable for civil damages.


text: The Court addressed the white primary system in a series of decisions later known as the "Texas primary cases". In "Nixon v. Herndon" (1927), Dr. Lawrence A. Nixon sued for damages under federal civil rights laws after being denied a ballot in a Democratic party primary election on the basis of race. The Court found in his favor on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, while not discussing his Fifteenth Amendment claim. After Texas amended its statute to allow the political party's state executive committee to set voting qualifications, Nixon sued again; in "Nixon v. Condon" (1932), the Court again found in his favor on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment.


text: Following "Nixon", the Democratic Party's state convention instituted a rule that only whites could vote in its primary elections; the Court unanimously upheld this rule as constitutional in "Grovey v. Townsend" (1935), distinguishing the discrimination by a private organization from that of the state in the previous primary cases. However, in "United States v. Classic" (1941), the Court ruled that primary elections were an essential part of the electoral process, undermining the reasoning in "Grovey". Based on "Classic", the Court in "Smith v. Allwright" (1944), overruled "Grovey", ruling that denying non-white voters a ballot in primary elections was a violation of the Fifteenth Amendment. In the last of the Texas primary cases, "Terry v. Adams" (1953), the Court ruled that black plaintiffs were entitled to damages from a group that organized whites-only pre-primary elections with the assistance of Democratic party officials.


text: The Court also used the amendment to strike down a gerrymander in "Gomillion v. Lightfoot" (1960). The decision found that the redrawing of city limits by Tuskegee, Alabama officials to exclude the mostly black area around the Tuskegee Institute discriminated on the basis of race. The Court later relied on this decision in "Rice v. Cayetano" (2000), which struck down ancestry-based voting in elections for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs; the ruling held that the elections violated the Fifteenth Amendment by using "ancestry as a racial definition and for a racial purpose".


text: After judicial enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment ended grandfather clauses, white primaries, and other discriminatory tactics, Southern black voter registration gradually increased, rising from five percent in 1940 to twenty-eight percent in 1960. Although the Fifteenth Amendment was never interpreted to prohibit poll taxes, in 1962 the Twenty-fourth Amendment was adopted banning poll taxes in federal elections, and in 1966 the Supreme Court ruled in "Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections" (1966) that state poll taxes violate the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.


text: Congress used its authority pursuant to Section2 of the Fifteenth Amendment to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, achieving further racial equality in voting. Sections 4 and5 of the Voting Rights Act required states and local governments with histories of racial discrimination in voting to submit all changes to their voting laws or practices to the federal government for approval before they could take effect, a process called "preclearance". By 1976, sixty-three percent of Southern blacks were registered to vote, a figure only five percent less than that for Southern whites.


text: The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Sections 4 and5 in "South Carolina v. Katzenbach" (1966). However, in "Shelby County v. Holder" (2013), the Supreme Court ruled that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act, which established the coverage formula that determined which jurisdictions were subject to preclearance, was no longer constitutional and exceeded Congress's enforcement authority under Section2 of the Fifteenth Amendment. The Court declared that the Fifteenth Amendment "commands that the right to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race or color, and it gives Congress the power to enforce that command. The Amendment is not designed to punish for the past; its purpose is to ensure a better future." According to the Court, "Regardless of how to look at the record no one can fairly say that it shows anything approaching the 'pervasive', 'flagrant', 'widespread', and 'rampant' discrimination that faced Congress in 1965, and that clearly distinguished the covered jurisdictions from the rest of the nation." In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote, "Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet." While the preclearance provision itself was not struck down, it will continue to be inoperable unless Congress passes a new coverage formula.


title: Bantamweight (MMA)

text: The bantamweight division sits between the lighter flyweight (116–125 lb) division and the heavier featherweight division (136–145 lb).


title: Bantamweight (MMA)

text: For the sake of uniformity, many American mixed martial arts websites refer to competitors between 126 and 135 lb (57 and 61 kg) as bantamweights, as it encompasses both the Shooto Featherweight division (132 lb / 60 kg) and the King of the Cage Flyweight division (135 lb / 61 kg). The Association of Boxing Commissions, which governs MMA in the United States, uses the 126-135 standard for "bantamweight".


title: Bantamweight (MMA)

text: Prior to "UFC 31", 150-pound (68 kg) fighters were known as bantamweights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after which the weight limit was raised to 155 lb (70 kg), and the division was reinstated as the lightweight class.


title: Bantamweight (MMA)

text: The bantamweight limit, as defined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the Association of Boxing Commissions is 135 lb (61.36 kg).


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross railway station, also known as London King's Cross, is a passenger railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, on the edge of Central London. It is in the London station group, one of the busiest stations in the United Kingdom and the southern terminus of the East Coast Main Line to North East England and Scotland. Adjacent to King's Cross station is St Pancras International, the London terminus for Eurostar services to continental Europe. Beneath both main line stations is King's Cross St Pancras tube station on the London Underground; combined they form one of the country's largest and busiest transport hubs.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station was opened in Kings Cross in 1852 by the Great Northern Railway on the northern edge of Central London to accommodate the East Coast Main Line. It quickly grew to cater for suburban lines and was expanded several times in the 19th century. It came under the ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway as part of the Big Four grouping in 1923, who introduced famous services such as the Flying Scotsman and locomotives such as "Mallard". The station complex was redeveloped in the 1970s, simplifying the layout and providing electric suburban services, and it became a major terminus for the high-speed InterCity 125. , long-distance trains from King's Cross are run by London North Eastern Railway to , and ; other long-distance operators include Hull Trains and Grand Central. In addition, Great Northern runs suburban commuter trains in and around north London.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: In the late 20th century, the area around the station became known for its seedy and downmarket character, and was used as a backdrop for several films as a result. A major redevelopment was undertaken in the 21st century, including restoration of the original roof, and the station became well known for its association with the "Harry Potter" books and films, particularly the fictional Platform 9¾. Following extensive track remodelling in 2021, platform 10 was taken out of use, with platform 11 becoming the new 10.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station stands on the London Inner Ring Road at the eastern end of Euston Road, next to the junction with Pentonville Road, Gray's Inn Road and York Way, in what is now the London Borough of Camden. Immediately to the west, on the other side of Pancras Road, is St Pancras railway station. Several London bus routes, including 30, 59, 73, 91, 205, 390 and 476 pass in front of or to the side of the station.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross can be spelled both with and without an apostrophe. "King's Cross" is used in signage at the Network Rail and London Underground stations, on the Tube map and on the official Network Rail webpage. It rarely featured on early Underground maps, but has been consistently used on them since 1951. "Kings X", "Kings +" and "London KX" are abbreviations used in space-limited contexts. The National Rail station code is "KGX".


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The area of King's Cross was previously a village known as Battle Bridge which was an ancient crossing of the River Fleet, originally known as Broad Ford, later Bradford Bridge. The river flowed along what is now the west side of Pancras Road until it was rerouted underground in 1825. The name "Battle Bridge" is linked to tradition that this was the site of a major battle between the Romans and the Celtic British Iceni tribe led by Boudica. According to folklore, King's Cross is the site of Boudica's final battle and some sources say she is buried under one of the platforms. Platforms 9 and 10 have been suggested as possible sites. Boudica's ghost is also reported to haunt passages under the station, around platforms 8–10.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross station was built in 1851–52 as the London terminus of the Great Northern Railway (GNR), and was the fifth London terminal to be constructed. It replaced a temporary station next to Maiden Lane (now York Way) that had been quickly constructed with the line's arrival in London in 1850, and had opened on 7 August 1850.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station took its name from the King's Cross building, a monument to King George IV that stood in the area and was demolished in 1845. Construction was on the site of a smallpox hospital.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Plans for the station were made in December 1848 under the direction of George Turnbull, resident engineer for constructing the first of the Great Northern Railway out of London. The station's detailed design was by Lewis Cubitt, the brother of Thomas Cubitt (the architect of Bloomsbury, Belgravia and Osborne House), and Sir William Cubitt (who was chief engineer of the Crystal Palace built in 1851, and consulting engineer to the Great Northern and South Eastern Railways). The design comprised two great arched train sheds, with a brick structure at the south end designed to reflect the arches behind. Its main feature was a high clock tower that held treble, tenor and bass bells, the last of these weighing 1 ton 9 cwt (1.47 tonnes). In size, it was inspired by the long Moscow Riding Academy of 1825, leading to its built length of .


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station, the biggest in England, opened on 14 October 1852. Originally it had one arrival and one departure platform (today's platforms 1 and 8), and the space between was used for carriage sidings. The platforms have been reconfigured several times. They were numbered 1 to 8 in 1972. In 2010 the station was reconfigured again and now has 12 platforms numbered 0 - 11. Suburban traffic quickly grew with the opening of stations at Hornsey in 1850, Holloway Road in 1856, in 1859 and Seven Sisters Road (now ) in 1861. Midland Railway services to via and began running from King's Cross on 1 February 1858. More platforms were added in 1862; No. 2 was full-length but No. 3 was stepped into the northern end of the station. In 1866, a connection was made via the Metropolitan Railway to the London, Chatham and Dover Railway at , with goods and passenger services to South London via . A separate suburban station to the west of the main building, housing platforms 9–11 and known initially as "Kings Cross Main Line (Local) Station", opened in August 1875. It was followed by a connection to the Metropolitan line on 1 February 1878. Two platforms (now 5 and 6) were opened on 18 December 1893 to cater for increased traffic demands. An iron footbridge was built halfway down the train shed to connect all the platforms. By 1880, half the traffic at King's Cross was suburban.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: A significant bottleneck in the early years of operations was at Gas Works tunnel underneath the Regent's Canal immediately to the north of the station, which was built with a single up track and a single down track. Commercial traffic was further impeded by having to cross over on-level running lines to reach the goods yard. Grade separation of goods traffic was achieved by constructing the skew bridge that opened in August 1877, and the second and third Gas Works tunnels opened in 1878 and 1892 respectively.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: On 15 September 1881, a light engine and a coal train collided near the mouth of the Copenhagen Tunnel north of the station because of a signalman's error. One person was killed and another was severely injured. Bad weather contributed to occasional flooding in the tunnels. One such incident in July 1901 suspended all traffic from the station for more than four hours, which happened at no other London terminus.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross sustained no damage during World War I even though large amounts of high explosives were carried to the station in passenger trains during the war. When possible, trains were parked in tunnels in the event of enemy aircraft overhead.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Kings Cross came into the ownership of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) following the Railways Act 1921. The LNER made improvements to various amenities, including toilets and dressing rooms underneath what is now platform 8. The lines through the Gas Works tunnels were remodelled between 1922 and 1924 and improved signalling made it easier to manage the increasing number of local trains.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: A number of famous trains have been associated with King's Cross, such as the Flying Scotsman service to Edinburgh. The Gresley A3 and later streamlined A4 Pacific steam locomotives handled express services from the 1930s until 1966. The most famous of these was "Mallard", which holds the world speed record for steam locomotives at , set in 1938.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross handled large numbers of troops alongside civilian traffic during World War II. Engine shortages meant that up to 2,000 people had to be accommodated on each train. In the early hours of Sunday 11 May 1941, two bombs fell on the, then, platform 10 at the west side of the station, damaging a newspaper train in that platform and destroying the general offices, booking hall and a bar, and bringing down a large section of roof. Twelve people were killed.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: On 4 February 1945, a passenger train to Leeds and Bradford stalled in Gasworks Tunnel, ran back and was derailed in the station. Two people were killed and 25 were injured. Services were not fully restored until 23 February.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, King's Cross came under the management of British Railways' Eastern Region. Diesel services were introduced during the 1950s when steam was being phased out. All main line services were converted to diesel by June 1963. Platform numbers were reorganised in 1972, to run consecutively from 1 (east) to 14 (west). The track layout was simplified in the 1970s by reusing an old flyover for freight near the Copenhagen Tunnels at Holloway, and reducing the number of running lines through the Gas Works tunnels from six to four. At the same time, electrification started with the installation of a 25 kV overhead line to cater for suburban services as part of the Great Northern Suburban Electrification project. The works were completed on 3 April 1977, and electric services began running from King's Cross to Hertford, and


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The construction of the Victoria line and its interchange at King's Cross was seen by British Rail as an opportunity to modernise the station. A single-storey extension containing the main passenger concourse and ticket office, designed in house, was built at the front of the station in 1972. Although intended to be temporary, it was still standing 40 years later, obscuring the Grade I-listed façade of the original station. Before the extension was built, the façade was hidden behind a small terrace of shops. The extension was demolished in late 2012, revealing the Lewis Cubitt architecture. In its place, the King's Cross Square was created, and opened to the public on 26 September 2013.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: On 10 September 1973, a Provisional IRA bomb exploded in the booking hall at 12.24 p.m., causing extensive damage and injuring six people, some seriously. The device was thrown without warning by a youth who escaped into the crowd and was not caught.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross was a London terminus for InterCity 125 high speed services, along with Paddington. By 1982, almost all long-distance trains leaving King's Cross were 125s. The service proved to be popular, and the station saw regular queues across the concourse to board departing trains.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The King's Cross fire in 1987 started in the machine room for a wooden escalator between the main line station and the London Underground station's Piccadilly line platforms. The escalator burned and much of the tube station caught fire, killing 31 people, with smoke spreading to the main line station.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: In 1987, British Rail proposed building a new station with four platforms for international trains through the Channel Tunnel, and four for Thameslink trains under King's Cross. After six years of design work, the plans were abandoned, and the international terminal was constructed at St Pancras.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: British Rail completed electrification of the East Coast Main Line to and Edinburgh between 1985 and 1991, and electric InterCity 225 rolling stock was introduced to work express services. These began service between King's Cross and Leeds on 2 October 1989, and to Edinburgh on 8 July 1991.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Before privatisation, the King's Cross area had a reputation for run-down buildings and prostitution in front of the main entrance. There was a major clean-up during the 1990s and the station's atmosphere was much improved by the end of the decade.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Following the privatisation of British Rail in 1996, express services into the station were taken over by the Great North Eastern Railway (GNER). The company refurbished the British Rail Mark 4 "Mallard" rolling stock used for long-distance services from King's Cross and the inauguration of the new-look trains took place in the presence of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh in 2003.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: GNER successfully re-bid for the franchise in 2005 but surrendered it the following year. National Express East Coast took over the franchise in late 2007 after an interim period when trains ran under a management contract. In 2009, it was announced that National Express was no longer willing to finance the East Coast subsidiary, and the franchise was taken back into public ownership and handed over to East Coast in November. In March 2015 the franchise was re-privatised and taken over by Virgin Trains East Coast. In November 2017, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling announced the early termination of the East Coast franchise in 2020, three years ahead of schedule, following losses on the route by the operator. The current provider of ECML services is London North Eastern Railway.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The £500 million restoration plan announced by Network Rail in 2005 was approved by Camden London Borough Council in 2007. It involved restoring and reglazing the original arched train shed roof and removing the 1972 extension at the front of the station and replacing it with an open-air plaza.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The new semi-circular departures concourse opened to the public in March 2012. Situated to the west of the station behind the Great Northern Hotel, it was designed by John McAslan and built by Taylor Woodrow Construction, part of Vinci. It caters for much-increased passenger flows and provides greater integration between the intercity, suburban and underground sections of the station. The architect claimed that the roof is the longest single-span station structure in Europe and the semi-circular structure has a radius of and more than 2,000 triangular roof panels, half of which are glass.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Land between and behind Kings Cross and St Pancras stations is being redeveloped as King's Cross Central with around 2,000 new homes, of offices and new roads. In the restoration, refurbished offices have opened on the east side of the station to replace ones lost on the west side, and a new platform, numbered 0, opened underneath them on 20 May 2010. Diesel trains cannot normally use this platform for environmental reasons. The restoration project was awarded a European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2013.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: In October 2021, Lumo commenced operating services to Edinburgh Waverley via Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: In January 2018, it was announced that half the station would close for 3 months from January to March 2020 for remodelling work to the station and its approach, expected to cost £237 million. This includes rationalisation of the tracks, reopening the third tunnel to the approach of the station and closure of platform 10. In June 2021, Network Rail released a time lapse video showing the completion of the works.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: There have been many accidents at King's Cross over the years. The most serious were the King's Cross railway accident on 4 February 1945 which killed two people and injured 25 and a collision in Gasworks Tunnel on 15 September 1881 which killed one person and seriously injured another. The most recent was on 17 September 2015 when a passenger train collided with the buffer stops, injuring fourteen people.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: On 5 November 1979, Martin Allen was seen saying goodbye to his friends at King's Cross. He set off in the direction of the Piccadilly line platform, but he was never seen again. The station is also where Andrew Gosden was last seen before going missing on 14 September 2007. He had caught a train there from under controversial and unexplained circumstances.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: From 1863, part of King's Cross was an intermediate station. On the extreme east of the site, King's Cross York Road station was served by suburban trains from Finsbury Park before they followed the sharply curved and steeply graded York Road Tunnel to join the City Widened Lines to Farringdon, Barbican and Moorgate. In the other direction, trains from Moorgate came off the Widened Lines via the Hotel Curve, to platform 16 (latterly renumbered 14) which rose to the main line level. Services to and from Moorgate were diverted via the Northern City Line from November 1976. The station remained in occasional use until it was completely closed on 5 March 1977.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The Great Northern Cemetery Station was built just to the east of the northern portal to Gasworks Tunnel, some distance to the north of the main station, to transport coffins and mourners from the city to the burial grounds at New Southgate Cemetery. The station opened in 1861 but was never profitable and closed in 1873.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station hosts services on inter-city routes to the East of England, Yorkshire, North East England and eastern and northern Scotland, connecting to major cities and towns such as Cambridge, Peterborough, Hull, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford, York, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness. Since June 2018, these major routes have been under government control, taking over from Stagecoach and Virgin.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: London North Eastern Railway operates high speed inter-city services along the East Coast Main Line. The standard off-peak service pattern is as follows:


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Govia Thameslink Railway operates outer-suburban services to North London, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and West Norfolk under their "Thameslink" and "Great Northern" brands.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Hull Trains operates daily inter-city services to Hull and a limited weekday service to Beverley via the East Coast Main Line. Unlike other train companies in FirstGroup, Hull Trains operates under an open-access arrangement and is not a franchised train operating company.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Grand Central operates inter-city services to Bradford and Sunderland along the East Coast Main Line and is an open-access operator. On 23 May 2010 it began services to Bradford Interchange via Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield, Pontefract and Doncaster which had originally been due to begin in December 2009.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: On Monday-Friday, there are 4 trains per day to Bradford Interchange (of which 2 will call at Pontefract Monkhill) and 5 trains per day to Sunderland.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Lumo operates five services per day to Edinburgh via Newcastle. Most trains run non-stop to Newcastle, then call only at Morpeth and Edinburgh, but some also call to pick up passengers at Stevenage.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross station shares a London Underground station with neighbouring St Pancras station. King's Cross St Pancras tube station is served by more lines than any other station on the London Underground. In , King's Cross St Pancras was the station on the system, with million passengers entering and exiting the station. It is in Travelcard Zone 1 and caters for both King's Cross and the neighbouring St Pancras railway station.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station opened as part of the first section of Metropolitan Railway project on 10 January 1863; the first part of the Underground to open. A separate station for the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now the Piccadilly line) opened on 15 December 1906, with the City & South London Railway (now the Northern line) opening on 12 May 1907. The Metropolitan line platforms were moved to their current location in 1941.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The Victoria line platforms were opened on 1 December 1968. A major expansion to accommodate High Speed 1 at St Pancras opened in November 2009.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station is mentioned in Chapter 2 of E.M. Forster's 1910 novel "Howards End", where it suggests "infinity" to the eldest Schlegel daughter, Margaret, and contrasted with the "facile splendours" of St. Pancras. In the Reverend Wilbert Awdry's 1957 children's book "The Eight Famous Engines", Gordon the Big Engine undertakes a journey to London, hoping to reach King's Cross, but ends up at St Pancras instead.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: In the 1994 children's book "The Secret of Platform 13" by Eva Ibbotson. Platform 13 of King's Cross Station in London has been closed for years. Changes to the platform always result in failure for mysterious reasons. The reason is that the platform hides a gump, described as an "opening that opens once every nine years for nine days". The gump leads to the Island, a wonderful mythical paradise filled with both normal and magical creatures.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross features in the "Harry Potter" books, by J. K. Rowling, as the starting point of the Hogwarts Express. The train uses a secret Platform accessed through the brick wall barrier between platforms 9 and 10. In fact, platforms 9 and 10 are in a separate building from the main station and are separated by two intervening tracks. Instead, the brick roof-support arches between platforms 4 and 5 were redressed by the film crew and used to represent a brick wall that does not exist between the real platforms 9 and 10.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Within King's Cross, a cast-iron "Platform " plaque was erected in 1999, initially in a passageway connecting the main station to the platform 9–11 annexe. Part of a luggage trolley was installed below the sign: the near end of the trolley was visible, but the rest had disappeared into the wall. The location quickly became a popular tourist spot amongst Harry Potter fans. The sign and a revamped trolley, complete with luggage and bird cage, were relocated in 2012, following the development of the new concourse building, and are now sited next to a Harry Potter merchandise shop. Because of the temporary buildings obscuring the façade of the real King's Cross station until 2012, the Harry Potter films showed St. Pancras in exterior station shots instead.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: When The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando Resort expanded to Universal Studios Florida, the Wizarding Worlds in both Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida and Hogsmeade at Universal's Islands of Adventure were connected with the Hogwarts Express. The Universal Studios Florida station is based on King's Cross station and Platform , including a quarter-scale replica of the façade of King's Cross as the entrance to the station and it was opened on July 8, 2014 alongside Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts replacing the Jaws ride and the Amity Island themed area based on the "Jaws" franchise which was permanently closed on January 2, 2012.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The station, its surrounding streets and the railway approach feature prominently in the 1955 Ealing comedy film "The Ladykillers". In the story, a gang robs a security van near the station after planning in a house overlooking the railway. When they fall out, members of the gang are dropped into passing goods wagons from the parapet of the Copenhagen Tunnel north of the station.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: The 1986 crime drama film "Mona Lisa" is set around King's Cross. At the time, the downmarket and seedy area surrounding the station, coupled with urban decay, made it an ideal location. Subsequent early 1990s tabloid coverage of crime and prostitution around King's Cross referred back to the film.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: Pet Shop Boys released a song titled "King's Cross" on the 1987 album "Actually" and the station was extensively filmed in for the group's 1988 feature film "It Couldn't Happen Here". The band's singer Neil Tennant said that the station was a recognisable landmark coming into London, attempting to find opportunities away from the high unemployment areas of Northeast England at the time. The song was primarily about "hopes being dashed" and "an epic nightmare". The group subsequently asked filmmaker Derek Jarman to direct a background video for "King's Cross" for their 1989 tour, which featured a black and white sequence of juddery camera movements around the local area. Despite the song's reference to "dead and wounded on either side," it was actually released a few months "before" the King's Cross fire.


title: London King's Cross railway station

text: King's Cross station is a square on the British "Monopoly" board. The other three stations in the game are Marylebone, Fenchurch Street and Liverpool Street, and all four were LNER termini at the time the game was being designed for the British market in the mid-1930s.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 19, 1986, through Capitol Records. The project was originally handled by Combat Records, resulting in the original mix of the album being co-produced by Randy Burns. Capitol Records then bought the rights to the album and hired another producer named Paul Lani to mix it himself. The recording of the album was difficult for the band, because of the ongoing drug issues the members had at the time. Drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland were fired shortly after the album's promotional tour for drug abuse, making it the last Megadeth album for Samuelson before his death and the last for Poland until he reappeared as a session musician on "The System Has Failed". The title track, noted for its politically conscious lyrics, was released as the album's second single, but the band's first music video. The album's cover art, featuring the band's mascot Vic Rattlehead in front of a desolated United Nations Headquarters, was created by Ed Repka.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" is often regarded as a thrash metal classic and as an album that gave prominence to extreme metal. It has been featured in several publications' best album lists, including Robert Dimery's "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and Martin Popoff's "Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". The album has been reissued several times over the years. In 2004, the album was remixed and remastered by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine, with extensive liner notes detailing the album's background. In 2011, the three different versions were reissued as part of the album's 25th anniversary celebration. All of them with the exception of the 2004 mixes feature new remastering.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: In an interview for "Metal Forces" in December 1985, frontman Dave Mustaine revealed that the band had already started writing new material for the second album. He said that two songs ("Black Friday" and "Bad Omen") were finished and described them as a "total blur", being much faster than "Rattlehead" from their debut album, "Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!" Speaking about the lyrical content of "Peace Sells...", Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson stated that they wanted to change the public perception of heavy metal by writing songs that contained socially aware lyrics. Mustaine further noted that the band was not unaware of the political situation at the time, and that some of his political beliefs were reflected in the songs. Professional rock critic Steve Huey noted the album's combination of "punkish political awareness with a dark, threatening, typically heavy metal worldview".


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: During the first two months of 1986, Megadeth commenced a brief tour of the East Coast of the United States. At the shows, which were practically a continuation of the Killing for a Living tour, the band performed a number of songs from its upcoming album. Following the conclusion of the tour, the band intended to start making the record at the Music Grinder studio on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Mustaine lifted the title from an article in "Reader's Digest", which was titled "Peace Would Sell But No One Would Buy It". Their label at the time, Combat Records, provided a recording budget of $25,000, which allowed the band to hire a freelance producer, Randy Burns. The recording of the album turned out to be very difficult for the band, because Mustaine and Ellefson were both homeless at the time. Furthermore, guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson would not show up for hours because of their heroin addiction. Shortly after the band finished the final recordings of the album for Combat, they were approached by Tim Carr, an A&R representative of Capitol Records. After securing a contract with the group, Capitol hired producer Paul Lani to remix the original mixes done by Randy Burns, the previous producer.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: Poland was the only member who had multiple instruments, as Ellefson and Mustaine only had one bass and guitar respectively. Unlike Mustaine's previous band, both he and Poland laid down lead and rhythm tracks.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Wake Up Dead" features lyrics which describe a man who has been cheating on his wife or girlfriend and is sneaking into his house, knowing that if his wife finds out about his other lover, she will kill him. Mustaine said that "Wake Up Dead" was written about him cheating on a girl with whom he was living. He stayed with her because he was homeless at the time and needed a place to stay. Unfortunately, he was in love with another girl and thought the one he lived with would be mad because he was cheating on her. He had to leave her because he thought she had intentions to kill him. "The Conjuring", according to author Bob Larson, simulates a Satanic ceremony, and makes references about being the devil's advocate and his salesman. Mustaine explained the song is about black magic and contains instructions for hexes. However, because the subject matter appears incompatible to his conversion to Christianity, the song had not been played live since 2001, until June 12, 2018, when Megadeth performed "The Conjuring" live for the first time in 17 years at the Home Monitoring Aréna in Plzeň, Czech Republic.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Peace Sells" reflects Mustaine's political and social beliefs. The lyrics are a disapproval of the American way and convey Mustaine's wish for a new social structure. Ellefson has stated that during the tour prior to recording the album, the band could tell then that the song was going to be a hit. The video for the title track became an MTV mainstay and the opening bass line was used as introduction to MTV News. However, Mustaine proclaimed that they received no royalties because the song was excluded shortly before MTV would have to pay them for its use. "Devils Island" is a reference to a former French penal colony off the coast of French Guiana. The lyrics detail the thoughts of a condemned prisoner awaiting execution. He is spared by God, but must spend the rest of his life on the island.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Good Mourning/Black Friday" is a two-piece song, which begins with an instrumental section called "Good Mourning". Lyrically, Mustaine has described "Black Friday" as being about "a homicidal madman who goes on a killing spree". With an excessive use of gory language and violent imagery, the song chronicles the acts of a serial killer. It was inspired by Dijon Carruthers, who was briefly the band's drummer prior to the hiring of Gar Samuelson. According to Mustaine, Carruthers was hanging out with people who were practicing occultism, and they inspired him to write songs based on spiritual themes.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Bad Omen" explores the theme of occultism. Mustaine described "Bad Omen" like "two happy campers who have stumbled onto a Satanic orgy in the middle of the woods" and then "they see these fools waiting around for Satan's blessing". Asked whether the band members really believe in the subject matters they write, Mustaine responded: "We're aware of the subjects we write about—witchcraft, Satanic sacrifices and the like—but we're not condoning them." "I Ain't Superstitious" was written by Willie Dixon and originally recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1961. However, Megadeth's version is vastly different from the original. "My Last Words" is about a game of Russian roulette and the fear one goes through when playing the game. Despite being one of the lesser known tracks on the record, music journalist Martin Popoff said that the song was an example of the band's "fast thrashers" and an evidence why Megadeth were dubbed as the "fearless speed progenitors". Lars Ulrich, founding member of Metallica and former bandmate of Mustaine, has stated that "My Last Words" is his favorite Megadeth song.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" was released on September 19, 1986. The album's artwork was designed by Ed Repka, who would go on to do several other pieces of artwork for the band. The cover art depicts the band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, in front of a ruined United Nations Headquarters. He is portrayed as a real estate agent, who is selling the devastated remains of the organization's headquarters. Repka considers the art cover to be a "significant milestone" in his career.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: The title track was released as a single, for which the band filmed its first video. In 1987, a video was made for the lead single, "Wake Up Dead", which exposed the band performing in a steel cage. Soon after the album's release, Megadeth began a tour as a supporting band for Motörhead. The tour took place in California and the southwestern parts of the United States. However, due to disagreements between the managements of the two bands, Megadeth were pulled from the last three shows. Following the short stint with Motörhead, Megadeth were added as the opening act on Alice Cooper's Constrictor tour, which took place at the beginning of 1987. Later in 1987, after the conclusion of the album's promotional tour, Mustaine fired Poland and Samuelson due to their substance abuse issues.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" was well received by contemporary music critics. "Billboard"'s critic Fred Goodman facetiously remarked that the album is an "array of impressive tracks" that he does not recommend for "the weak-hearted". Colin Larkin, writing in the "Encyclopedia of Popular Music", viewed the album as a vast improvement over their previous record, from both technical and musical aspect. "Kerrang!" deemed "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" as the album that saw the inception of Megadeth's always-distinctive sound. Writing in "The Rolling Stone Album Guide", author Nathan Brackett said that Megadeth were representing "the dark and nasty side" of American thrash throughout the 1980s. However, he considered the album to be almost identical to the rest of their discography from this period.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: In retrospect, "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" has been regarded as a milestone of the American thrash metal movement. Along with Metallica's "Master of Puppets" and Slayer's "Reign in Blood", which were also released in 1986, "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" is considered pivotal in giving prominence to extreme metal. AllMusic's Steve Huey recognized the record as a notable achievement in the band's history, and called it a "classic of early thrash". Similarly, Chad Bowar of About.com said that the album captured Megadeth in their prime, and recommended it as a "mandatory" recording for the fans of this genre. Sputnikmusic's Mike Stagno named the album a "bona-fide masterpiece" and said it was the main reason why Megadeth became one of the leading acts of the underground scene. Joel McIver, writing in "Record Collector", said that the album's main strength was its fluidity, with all songs moving in a continuous, steady stream. According to him, the album was "flip the bird" to the critics who were hostile to this type of music at the time.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: Pitchfork Media's Jess Harvell said that thanks to this album, Megadeth developed a strong cult following. He viewed the record as a resistance against the glam metal acts from the day, because bands like Megadeth were more appealing to the "dead-end kids". Adrien Begrand of PopMatters praised the album for making strong impression both musically and visually. Although Begrand acknowledged that this was not Megadeth's most technically proficient album, he explained that the unique combination of "the extreme and the accessible" is why this album remained a fan-favorite. "Spin" magazine's Mike Powell cited the record as an example of "glossy hardcore" with Satanic lyricism. Jeff Treppel from "Decibel" noted that the album exhibits a distinctive sound, which set Megadeth apart from their contemporaries: ""Peace Sells" was a leaner, nastier predator. Megadeth preferred to kill with speed and precision instead of size and power." According to him, the album influenced countless heavy metal bands that followed, from Arch Enemy to DragonForce.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: In addition to being critically acclaimed, the album received numerous accolades since its release. It has been featured in Robert Dimery's book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die", as well as in Martin Popoff's edition of the "Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time". About.com ranked it third on their list of "Essential Thrash Metal Albums", commenting that more than two decades after its release, the record holds a status as an undisputed classic. In 2017, it was ranked 8th on "Rolling Stone" list of "100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: In 2003, Capitol Records re-released the album on DVD-Audio, with the original track list, in 96k/24-bit resolution for both surround and stereo mixes, and music videos for "Wake Up Dead" and "Peace Sells". The album was remixed and remastered in 2004 along with the rest of the band's Capitol Records albums. This reissue featured four alternate mixes of the album's songs as bonus tracks.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: On July 12, 2011, the band re-released the album in both a 2-Disc reissue and a special 5-Disc + 3-LP box set, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the album. The reissue features liner notes written by Mustaine and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. The 25th anniversary re-release sold approximately 2,000 units in its first week of release.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: The 25th Anniversary edition box set features five discs. Discs 1–3 all feature the original album, with disc 1 having the original mix (remastered version from 2011), disc 2 featuring the 2004 remix, and disc 3 featuring the Randy Burns mixes (several examples of which appear as bonus tracks on the album's 2004 release). Disc 4 features the same 1987 show available on the 2-disc set. Disc five contains both the original album (again, remastered version from 2011), and the above listed 1987 show in hi-resolution audio. The 25th anniversary 2 CD edition features the original album on disc one and a previously unreleased 1987 concert on disc two.


title: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

text: Except where otherwise cited, all listed accolades attributed to "Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?" are adapted from Acclaimed Music.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Luca Zinedine Zidane (born 13 May 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Segunda División club Eibar. He is the son of former footballer Zinedine Zidane.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Luca was born in Marseille, and is the son of the FIFA World Cup-winning French footballer Zinedine Zidane and his wife Veronique Fernández. He is the second of four brothers, and all of them – Enzo, Théo, and Elyaz – are footballers who developed at the youth academy of Real Madrid. Luca is of Spanish descent through his mother, and of Algerian descent through his father.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Luca joined the Real Madrid youth academy at the age of six in 2004 and plays as a goalkeeper. He worked his way up from the academy, eventually joining Castilla, the reserve team.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Luca's father Zinedine Zidane came to manage Real Madrid, and became Luca's manager early in his career. Luca made his professional debut for Real Madrid in their last league game of the 2017–18 season: a 2–2 La Liga tie with Villarreal CF on 19 May 2018. During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he was the third-choice goalkeeper, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Luca was loaned to Racing Santander of Segunda División on 8 July 2019 for the 2019–20 season. He made his debut on 17 August 2019 in a 1–0 home loss to Málaga, in which he suffered an injury to the muscle on the back of his right leg.


title: Luca Zidane

text: On 5 October 2020, Luca joined Rayo Vallecano. He made his debut on 2 December, coming as substitute for Stole Dimitrievski who was sent off in a 1–0 loss to Leganés. When Dimitrievski played in UEFA Euro 2020 for North Macedonia, he played in all the remaining games of the season and led the team to promotion to the top flight after defeating Girona in the play-off final.


title: Luca Zidane

text: On 1 September 2022, free agent Luca signed a two-year contract with SD Eibar in the second division.


title: Luca Zidane

text: Born in France to French-born parents of Algerian and Spanish descent, Luca is a youth international for France. He represented the France U17s in their winning campaign at the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, and the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup. He was capped once for the under-20s on 23 March 2018, in a 1–0 friendly loss to the United States in Spain. He remains available to represent the senior teams of France, Spain and Algeria, but has not decided which nations to represent.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie (; 25 June 1936 – 11 September 2019) was an Indonesian engineer and politician who was the third president of Indonesia from 1998 to 1999. Less than three months after his inauguration as the seventh vice president in March 1998, he succeeded Suharto who resigned after 31 years in office. His presidency was seen as a landmark and transition to the Reformation era. Upon becoming president, he liberalized Indonesia's press and political party laws, and held an early democratic election three years sooner than scheduled, which resulted in the end of his presidency. His 517-day presidency and 71-day vice presidency were the shortest in the country's history.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie was a native of Parepare, in South Sulawesi. He was of ethnic Bugis-Gorontalese-Javanese descent from Kabila in Gorontalo and Yogyakarta. His parents, Alwi Abdul Jalil Habibie, an agriculturist of Bugis-Gorontalese descent, and R. A. Tuti Marini Puspowardojo, a Javanese noblewoman from Yogyakarta, met while studying in Bogor. Habibie's paternal family comes from Kabila, just to the east of the town of Gorontalo in northern Sulawesi. He was the fourth of eight children. Habibie's father died when he was 14 years old. In 2018, the Gorontalo provincial government agreed to support the construction of the B.J. Habibie's Monument in front of the main gate of Djalaluddin Airport in Gorontalo Regency. In addition, it was proposed that State University of Gorontalo be renamed in honour of Habibie although, in the end, the suggestion was not adopted.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie went to Delft, the Netherlands, to study aviation and aerospace at the Technische Hogeschool Delft (Delft University of Technology), but for political reasons (the West New Guinea dispute between the Netherlands and Indonesia), he had to continue his study at the Technische Hochschule Aachen (RWTH Aachen University) in Aachen, Germany. In 1960, Habibie received an engineer's degree in Germany with the title "Diplom-Ingenieur". He remained in Germany as a research assistant under Hans Ebner at the Lehrstuhl und Institut für Leichtbau, RWTH Aachen to conduct research for his doctoral degree.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In 1962, Habibie returned to Indonesia for three months on sick leave. During this time, he was reacquainted with Hasri Ainun, the daughter of R. Mohamad Besari. Habibie had known Hasri Ainun in childhood, junior high school and in senior high school at SMA Kristen Dago (Dago Christian Senior High School), Bandung. The two married on 12 May 1962, returning to Germany shortly afterwards.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie and his wife settled in Aachen for a short period before moving to Oberforstbach. In May 1963 they had a son, Ilham Akbar Habibie.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie later found employment with the railway stock firm Waggonfabrik Talbot, where he became an advisor in designing train wagons. Due to his work with Makosh, the head of train construction offered his position to Habibie upon retirement three years later, but Habibie refused the position.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In 1965, Habibie delivered his dissertation in aerospace engineering and received the grade of "very good," giving him the title "Doktoringenieur" (Dr.-Ing.). The same year, he accepted Hans Ebner's offer to continue his research on "Thermoelastisitas" and work toward his Habilitation, but he declined the offer to join RWTH as a professor. His thesis about light construction for supersonic or hypersonic states also attracted offers of employment from companies such as Boeing and Airbus, which Habibie again declined.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie did accept a position with Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in Hamburg. There, he developed theories on thermodynamics, construction, and aerodynamics known as the Habibie Factor (thermodynamics), Habibie Theorem (construction), and Habibie Method (aerodynamics), respectively. He worked for Messerschmitt on the development of the Airbus A-300B aircraft. In 1974, he was promoted to vice president of the company.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In 1974, Suharto recruited Habibie to return to Indonesia as part of his drive to industrialize and develop the country. Habibie initially served as a special assistant to Ibnu Sutowo, chief executive officer of the state oil company Pertamina and Chair of Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (, BPPT). Two years later, Habibie was made CEO of the new state-owned enterprise "Industri Pesawat Terbang Nurtanio" (IPTN; Nurtanio Aircraft Industry), which in 1985 changed its name to "Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara" (Nusantara Aircraft Industry; also abbreviated as IPTN) and is known as Indonesian Aerospace (PT. Dirgantara Indonesia) since 2000).


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In 1978, he was appointed as State Minister of Research and Technology (, Menristek). He continued to play an important role in IPTN other "strategic" industries in this post. By the 1980s, IPTN had grown considerably, specializing in the manufacture of helicopters and small passenger planes. Under Habibie's leadership, IPTN became a manufacturer of aircraft including Puma helicopters and CASA planes. It pioneered a small passenger airplane, the N-250 Gatotkaca, in 1995, but the project was a commercial failure. In developing Indonesia's aviation industry, he adopted an approach called "Begin at the End and End at the Beginning". In this method, elements such as basic research became the last things upon which to focus, whilst actual manufacturing of the planes was placed as the first objective.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: By 1991, Habibie oversaw ten state-owned industries including ship- and train-building, steel, arms, communications, and energy. A 1993 estimate determined that the estimates used nearly $2 billion a year in state funding, although the government's opaque accounting practices meant that the size of the industries was not completely known.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: As minister, Habibie created the OFP (Overseas Fellowship Program), STMDP (Science Technology and Manpower Development Program) and STAID (Science and Technology for Industrial Development). These three programs provided scholarships to thousands of high school graduates to earn their bachelor's degrees in the STEM fields and for other technical professionals to continue their study for master's and doctorate program in the United States, Europe, Japan, and other countries.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In Suharto's regime, as was expected of senior government executives, Habibie became a member of the Golkar organisation. Suharto appointed him as deputy daily coordinator for the chairman of the executive board in 1992, and the following year he became the daily coordinator.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: While serving in cabinet, Habibie was also elected as the first Chair of the Indonesian Association of Muslim Intellectuals (ICMI) in 1990. This modernist Muslim organization provided him with a political base, linked to but independent of the Suharto administration.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In January 1998, after accepting nomination for a seventh term as president, Suharto announced the selection criteria for the nomination of a vice president. Suharto did not mention Habibie by name, but his suggestion that the next vice president should have a mastery of science and technology made it obvious he had Habibie in mind.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In that year, in the midst of the Asian Financial Crisis, this suggestion was received badly, causing the rupiah to fall. Despite this, Habibie was elected as vice president in March 1998.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: On 21 May 1998, just two months into Habibie's vice presidency, Suharto announced his resignation. Habibie, as the Constitution says, succeeded him as president. The following day, Habibie announced the Development Reform Cabinet, which removed some of the most controversial ministers in Suharto's last cabinet while maintaining others – with no major figures from the opposition. Within days of his appointment, he asked his relatives to resign from government positions, promised an early election, repealed some legislation, and ordered the release of political prisoners.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Timorese independence forces led by the National Council of Timorese Resistance had been calling for a referendum in the territory for some time. Its chief diplomat, José Ramos-Horta, proposed a transitional period of autonomy leading up to a referendum. In late 1998, John Howard, the Prime Minister of Australia, sent a letter to Habibie suggesting that Indonesia defuse the East Timorese issue by providing autonomy to be followed by the promise of a referendum in the long run, following the method used by France to settle New Caledonian demands for independence. Wishing to avoid the impression that Indonesia ruled East Timor as a colony, Habibie surprised some by announcing that a referendum, offering a choice between special autonomy and independence, would be held immediately in East Timor. Leaders of the Indonesian armed forces (ABRI) were not consulted on this decision.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: On 30 August 1999, the referendum was held and the East Timorese people overwhelmingly chose independence. Subsequently, pro-Indonesian militias killed and displaced large numbers of people during the 1999 East Timorese crisis. On 10 September, General Wiranto allegedly threatened to stage a military coup if Habibie allowed in peacekeeping forces, causing Habibie to back down. On 12 September, however, Habibie accepted a UN-mandated peacekeeping force to halt violence. A period of UN administration followed and East Timor became independent in May 2002.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: The MPR Special Session in November 1998 decried the presence of corruption in Indonesia, focusing particularly on Suharto. In response to this, Habibie then appointed Andi Muhammad Ghalib as Attorney General. A tape of a telephone conversation between Habibie and Ghalib was made public. It raised concerns about the veracity of the investigation by suggesting that the interrogation of Suharto was intended only for public appearances.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Under Habibie, the Indonesian government also began investigating and prosecuting Suharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra (commonly known as Tommy Suharto). Ghalib charged Tommy in December 1998 in conjunction with the Goro scandal, where the government, under pressure from Tommy, allegedly gave him a desirable parcel and below-market loan for the construction of a Goro supermarket. However, Tommy was found innocent in the case after several key witnesses, including Habibie aide Rahardi Ramelan, changed their testimony and declared that the deal did not cause losses to the state.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie's government stabilized the economy in the face of the Asian financial crisis and the chaos of the last few months of Suharto's presidency. Habibie's government began to make conciliatory gestures towards Chinese-Indonesians who, because of their elite status, were targeted in the riots of 1998. In September 1998, Habibie issued a 'Presidential Instruction' forbidding use of the terms "pribumi" and "non-pribumi" to differentiate indigenous and non-indigenous Indonesians.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In May 1999, Habibie directed that an ID card was sufficient proof of Indonesian citizenship, revoking the previous requirement for a 'Letter of Evidence of Republic of Indonesia Citizenship' (SBKRI). Additionally, he lifted restrictions on the teaching of Mandarin Chinese.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Under Habibie, Indonesia made significant changes to its political system that expanded competition and freedom of speech. Shortly after taking office, in June 1998, Habibie's government lifted the Suharto-era restriction on political parties and ended censorship by dissolving the Information Ministry. He also quickly committed to holding democratic elections, albeit on an initially vague timetable. In December, he proposed political reform laws that were passed by the legislature and MPR. These laws set elections for December 1999, reduced the number of seats in parliament held by the military, and barred political activity by civil servants.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: However, political opponents criticized Habibie for allowing the military to retain some seats in parliament, and taking little action on other military and judicial reforms.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie's government also passed laws which granted significant autonomy to regional governments, namely at the regency and city level. The laws resulted in indirect elections for mayors and regents, and allowed local legislatures to hold said executives accountable, though it was not implemented until after his presidency.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Although he had been viewed as leading a transitional government, Habibie seemed determined to continue as president. He was initially unclear about whether he would seek a full term as president when he announced parliamentary elections in June 1998. Habibie faced opposition from many within the government party, Golkar; in July 1998, he struggled to win control of Golkar by appointing Akbar Tandjung as chair of the party, but was ultimately able to defeat a rival camp including former Vice President Try Sutrisno, Defence Minister Edi Sudrajat, Siswono Yudhohusodo, and Sarwono Kusumaatmadja. Habibie began to lose support from Akbar Tandjung and a faction in Golkar, composed of both reformers and hardliners, that wanted to oust him. In March 1999, Golkar put forth five presidential nominees: Habibie, Tandjung, Wiranto, Hamengkubuwono X, and Ginandjar Kartasasmita. In May 1999, after extensive lobbying, Golkar announced that Habibie would be their presidential candidate, but a large faction in the party remained loyal to Tandjung and opposed to Habibie. His political credibility was tarnished by the exposure of the 1999 Bank Bali scandal, in which banking funds were funneled to members of Habibie's re-election team.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: At the 1999 MPR General Session in October, Habibie delivered an accountability speech. MPR members then began voting to decide if they would accept or reject his speech. Habibie attempted to win the support of the military by offering the vice-presidency to General Wiranto, but his offer was declined. Tandjung's Golkar faction broke ranks and voted against him, and his accountability speech was rejected by 355 votes to 322, and Habibie withdrew his nomination as president. He was succeeded by Abdurrahman Wahid.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: After relinquishing the presidency, Habibie spent more time in Germany than in Indonesia, though he was active during Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's presidency as a presidential adviser. During this time, he established the Habibie Centre, an independent think tank.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In September 2006, he released a book called "Detik-Detik Yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi" (Decisive Moments: Indonesia's Long Road Towards Democracy). The book recalled the events of May 1998 which led to his rise to the presidency. In the book, he controversially accused Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, Suharto's son-in-law (at that time) and the Kostrad Commander, of planning a coup d'état against him in May 1998.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In early September 2019, he was admitted to Gatot Soebroto Army Hospital, where he was undergoing treatments for heart problems, namely cardiomyopathy, and died on 11 September 2019. He became the first president of Indonesia to be buried at the Kalibata Heroes Cemetery, next to his wife's grave.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: In response to his death, the Government of Indonesia announced a three-day national mourning period starting on 12 September, and announced that the Indonesian flag is to be flown at half-staff during the period.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: On 12 September 2019, video was released showing East Timor's former President, Xanana Gusmão, visiting Habibie in hospital on 22 July 2019. Gusmão is shown talking briefly to Habibie while crying, then kissing Habibie on the forehead and lowering his face to Habibie's chest, with the other holding his head. A wreath in Gusmão's name was at the funeral, with a sign reading: "Profound Condolences – With heartfelt sympathy for the loss of Big Brother President B.J. Habibie – Timorese people will remember you forever – Rest in Peace - Xanana Gusmão".


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie was married to Hasri Ainun Besari, a medical doctor, from 12 May 1962 until her death on 22 May 2010. Their wedding was held in Javanese and Gorontalese culture. The couple had two sons, Ilham Akbar Habibie and Thareq Kemal Habibie.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: B. J. Habibie's brother, Junus Effendi Habibie, was Indonesian ambassador to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. After his wife's death, Habibie published a book titled "Habibie & Ainun" which recounts his relationship with Hasri Ainun from their courtship until her death. The book was adapted into a film of the same name which was released on 20 December 2012.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie received several honorary degrees for his contributions in the fields of technology and science, e.g. he was awarded an Honorary DSc degree from the Cranfield Institute of Technology (United Kingdom) and Dr.h.c. degrees from Chungbuk National University and Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (South Korea) for his services to aircraft technology. In 2010, Habibie was honored with an Honorary PhD degree in Technology by the University of Indonesia for his contribution to science in practice as a technocrat.


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie was appointed a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in 1990. In 1993, he was awarded an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (HonFRAeS). He was also named an honorary member of several professional bodies, including:


title: B. J. Habibie

text: As vice president, and later president of Indonesia, he was automatically bestowed the highest class of all civilian and military Star Decorations from Indonesia and received some foreign decorations, namely:


title: B. J. Habibie

text: Habibie has been portrayed in several biopic movies based on both his political and personal life. In the first installment of "Habibie & Ainun" (2012) and its prequels, "Rudy Habibie" (2016) and "" (2019), Habibie is portrayed by Reza Rahadian, while Bima Azriel and Bastian Bintang Simbolon portrayed Habibie during his childhood, and teenage years in "Rudy Habibie" respectively.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: This article is about the demographic features of the population of Romania, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations, and other aspects of the population.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: About 88.9% of the people of Romania are ethnic Romanians, whose language, Romanian, is a Balkan Romance language, descended from Latin with some French, German, English, Greek, Slavic, and Hungarian borrowings.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Romanians are by far the most numerous group of speakers of an Eastern Romance language today. It has been said that they constitute "an island of Latinity" in Eastern Europe, surrounded on all sides either by Slavic peoples or by the Hungarians. The Hungarian minority in Romania constitutes the country's largest minority, 6.1 per cent of the population. With a population of about 19,000,000 people in 2022, Romania received 989,357 Ukrainian refugees on 27 May 2022, according to the United Nations (UN).


title: Demographics of Romania

text: The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine that began on 24 February 2022 triggered a major refugee crisis in Europe. In connection with the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, as part of the Russian-Ukrainian war, by 15 May 2022, more than 6,223,821 Ukrainian refugees left the territory of Ukraine, moving to the countries closest to the west of Ukraine, of which more than 919,574 people fled to neighboring Romania.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Romania's population has declined steadily in recent years, from 21.83 million in 2002 to 19.95 million in 2014. Among the causes of population decline are high mortality, a low fertility rate after 1989, and tremendous emigration.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: In 1990, Romania's population was estimated to be 23.21 million inhabitants. For the entire period 1990–2006, the estimated population loss tops 1.5 million, but it is likely to be higher, given the explosion of migration for work after 2001 and the tendency of some migrants to settle permanently in the countries where they live.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Sources give varied estimates for Romania's historical population. The National Institute for Research and Development in Informatics (NIRDI) gives the following numbers (the figure for 2020 was provided by the National Institute of Statistics - INSSE):


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Slightly more than 10% of the population of Romania is formed of minorities of Romania. The principal minorities are Hungarians and Roma, although other smaller ethnic groups exist too. Before World War II, minorities represented more than 28% of the total population. During the war that percentage was halved, largely by the loss of the border areas of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina (to the former Soviet Union, now Moldova and Ukraine) and southern Dobrudja (to Bulgaria). Two-thirds of the ethnic German population either left or were deported after World War II, a period that was followed by decades of relatively regular (by communist standards) migration. During the interwar period in Romania, the total number of ethnic Germans amounted to as much as 786,000 (according to some sources and estimates dating to 1939), a figure which had subsequently fallen to circa 36,000 as of 2011 in contemporary Romania. One of the reasons for which the number of Germans in Romania fell is because after the Romanian Revolution there has been a mass migration of Transylvania Saxons to Germany, in what was referred by British daily newspaper "Guardian" to as 'the most astonishing, and little reported, ethnic migration in modern Europe'.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Of a total population of three quarter million Jews before World War II, about a third were killed during the Holocaust. Mass emigration, mostly to Israel and United States, has reduced the surviving Jewish community to less than 6,000 in 2002 (it is estimated that the real numbers could be 3-4 times higher).


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Hungarians (Magyars; "see Hungarians in Romania", especially in Harghita, Covasna, and Mureș counties) and Romani (Roma; "see Romani people in Romania") are the principal minorities, with a declining German population (Banat Swabians in Timiș; Transylvanian Saxons in Sibiu, Brașov and elsewhere), and smaller numbers of Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and Banat Bulgarians (in Banat), Ukrainians (especially in Maramureș and Bukovina), Greeks of Romania (especially in Brăila and Constanța), Turks and Tatars (mainly in Constanța), Armenians, Russians (Lipovans, Old Believers in Tulcea), Jews and others. Since the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Bucharest and other cities have again become increasingly cosmopolitan, including identifiable presences from outside the EU (Chinese, Turks, Moldovans, Syrians, Iraqis, Africans) as well as from the EU (French, Italians, Germans, British, Greeks). In Romania, there are also guest workers from countries such as Vietnam and Nepal.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Minority populations are greatest in Transylvania and the Banat, areas in the north and west of the country, which were part of the Kingdom of Hungary (after 1867 the Austria-Hungary) until the end of World War I. Even before the union with Romania, ethnic Romanians comprised the overall majority in Transylvania. However, ethnic Hungarians and Germans were the dominant urban population until relatively recently, while Hungarians still constitute the majority in Harghita and Covasna counties.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Romani people constitute one of Romania's largest minorities. According to the 2011 Romanian census, they number 621,573 people or 3.08% of the total population, being the second-largest ethnic minority in Romania after Hungarians, with significant populations in Mureș (8.9%) and Călărași (7,47%) counties. There are different estimates about the size of the total population of people with Romani ancestry in Romania because a lot of people of Romani descent do not declare themselves Romani. The number of Romani people is usually underestimated in official statistics and may represent 5–11% of Romania's population.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: After Hungarians and Romani, Ukrainians of Romania are the third-largest minority. According to the 2011 Romanian census they number 51,703 people, making up 0.3% of the total population. Ukrainians mainly live in northern Romania, in areas close to the Ukrainian border. Over 60% of all Romanian Ukrainians live in Maramureș County (where they make up 6.77% of the population).


title: Demographics of Romania

text: The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Romania has 41 counties and one city with a special status, namely Bucharest. Ilfov County has the highest crude birth rate (12.0‰), while Vâlcea County has the lowest crude birth rate (6.6‰). Birth rates are generally higher in rural areas compared to urban areas.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Romania is one of the least urbanised countries in Europe. Just a slight majority, 56.4 percent, lives in urban areas (12,546,212 people in total). The remainder, 43.6 percent, lives in rural areas (9,695,506 people in total).


title: Demographics of Romania

text: As a consequence of the pro-natalist policies of the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime (see Decree 770), Romania has a higher proportion of people born in the late 1960s and 1970s its population than any other Western country except Slovenia. The generations born in 1967 and 1968 were the largest, although fertility remained relatively high until 1990. 8.55% of the Romanian population was born in the period from 1976 to 1980, compared with 6.82% of Americans and 6.33% of Britons.


title: Demographics of Romania

text: Religious affiliation tends to follow ethnic lines, with most ethnic Romanians identifying with the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Greek Catholic or Uniate church, reunified with the Orthodox Church by fiat in 1948, was restored after the 1989 revolution. The 2002 census indicates that 0.9% of the population is Greek Catholic, as opposed to about 10% prior to 1948. Roman Catholics, largely ethnic Hungarians and Germans, constitute 4.7% of the population; Calvinists, Baptists (see Baptist Union of Romania and Convention of the Hungarian Baptist Churches of Romania), Pentecostals, and Lutherans make up another 5%. There are smaller numbers of Unitarians, Muslims, and other religions.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: In the United Kingdom, devolution is the Parliament of the United Kingdom's statutory granting of a greater level of self-government to the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), the Northern Ireland Assembly and the London Assembly and to their associated executive bodies the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government, the Northern Ireland Executive and in England, the Greater London Authority and combined authorities.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Devolution differs from federalism in that the devolved powers of the subnational authority ultimately reside in central government, thus the state remains, "de jure", a unitary state. Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by parliament in the same way as any statute.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Legislation passed following the EU membership referendum, including the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, has undermined and restricted the authority of the devolved legislatures in both Scotland and Wales.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The issue of Irish home rule was the dominant political question of British politics at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Earlier in the 19th century, Irish politicians like Daniel O'Connell had demanded a repeal of the Act of Union 1800 and a return to two separate kingdoms and parliaments, united only in the personal union of the monarch of Great Britain and Ireland. In contrast to this, demands for home rule called for autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, with a subsidiary Irish parliament subject to the authority of the parliament at Westminster. This issue was first introduced by the Irish Parliamentary Party led by Isaac Butt, William Shaw and Charles Stewart Parnell.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Over the course of four decades, four Irish Home Rule Bills were introduced into the British Parliament:


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Home Rule came into effect for Northern Ireland in 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 ("Fourth Home Rule Act"). The Parliament of Northern Ireland established under that act was prorogued (the session ended) on 30 March 1972 owing to the destabilisation of Northern Ireland upon the onset of the Troubles in late 1960s. This followed escalating violence by state and paramilitary organisations following the suppression of civil rights demands by Northern Ireland Catholics.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The Northern Ireland Parliament was abolished by the Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973, which received royal assent on 19 July 1973. A Northern Ireland Assembly was elected on 28 June 1973 and following the Sunningdale Agreement, a power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive was formed on 1 January 1974. This collapsed on 28 May 1974, due to the Ulster Workers' Council strike. The Troubles continued.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The Northern Ireland Constitutional Convention (1975–1976) and second Northern Ireland Assembly (1982–1986) were unsuccessful at restoring devolution. In the absence of devolution and power-sharing, the UK Government and Irish Government formally agreed to co-operate on security, justice and political progress in the Anglo-Irish Agreement, signed on 15 November 1985. More progress was made after the ceasefires by the Provisional IRA in 1994 and 1997.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The 1998 Belfast Agreement (also known as the Good Friday Agreement), resulted in the creation of a new Northern Ireland Assembly, intended to bring together the two communities (nationalist and unionist) to govern Northern Ireland. Additionally, renewed devolution in Northern Ireland was conditional on co-operation between the newly established Northern Ireland Executive and the Government of Ireland through a new all-Ireland body, the North/South Ministerial Council. A British–Irish Council covering the whole British Isles and a British–Irish Intergovernmental Conference (between the British and Irish Governments) were also established.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: From 15 October 2002, the Northern Ireland Assembly was suspended due to a breakdown in the Northern Ireland peace process but, on 13 October 2006, the British and Irish governments announced the St Andrews Agreement, a 'road map' to restore devolution to Northern Ireland. On 26 March 2007, Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley met Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams for the first time and together announced that a devolved government would be returning to Northern Ireland. The Executive was restored on 8 May 2007. Several policing and justice powers were transferred to the Assembly on 12 April 2010.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The 2007–2011 Assembly (the third since the 1998 Agreement) was dissolved on 24 March 2011 in preparation for an election to be held on Thursday 5 May 2011, this being the first Assembly since the Good Friday Agreement to complete a full term. The fifth Assembly convened in May 2016. That assembly dissolved on 26 January 2017, and an election for a reduced Assembly was held on 2 March 2017 but this did not lead to formation of a new Executive due to the collapse of power-sharing. Power-sharing collapsed in Northern Ireland due to the Renewable Heat Incentive scandal. On 11 January 2020, after having been suspended for almost three years, the parties reconvened on the basis of an agreement proposed by the Irish and UK governments.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The Acts of Union 1707 merged the Scottish and English Parliaments into a single Parliament of Great Britain. Ever since, individuals and organisations advocated the return of a Scottish Parliament. The drive for home rule for Scotland first took concrete shape in the 19th century, as demands for home rule in Ireland were met with similar (although not as widespread) demands in Scotland. The National Association for the Vindication of Scottish Rights was established in 1853, a body close to the Scottish Unionist Party and motivated by a desire to secure more focus on Scottish problems in response to what they felt was undue attention being focused on Ireland by the then Liberal government. In 1871, William Ewart Gladstone stated at a meeting held in Aberdeen that if Ireland was to be granted home rule, then the same should apply to Scotland. A Scottish home rule bill was presented to the Westminster Parliament in 1913 but the legislative process was interrupted by the First World War.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: The demands for political change in the way in which Scotland was run changed dramatically in the 1920s when Scottish nationalists started to form various organisations. The Scots National League was formed in 1920 in favour of Scottish independence, and this movement was superseded in 1928 by the formation of the National Party of Scotland, which became the Scottish National Party (SNP) in 1934. At first the SNP sought only the establishment of a devolved Scottish assembly, but in 1942 they changed this to support all-out independence. This caused the resignation of John MacCormick from the SNP and he formed the Scottish Covenant Association. This body proved to be the biggest mover in favour of the formation of a Scottish assembly, collecting over two million signatures in the late 1940s and early 1950s and attracting support from across the political spectrum. However, without formal links to any of the political parties it withered, devolution and the establishment of an assembly were put on the political back burner.


title: Devolution in the United Kingdom

text: Harold Wilson's Labour government set up a Royal Commission on the Constitution in 1969, which reported in 1973 to Edward Heath's Conservative government. The Commission recommended the formation of a devolved Scottish assembly, but was not implemented.