title: Bill Bradley

text: Later in 2000, Bradley was offered the chairmanship of the United States Olympic Committee, which he turned down. In September 2002, Bradley turned down a request from New Jersey Democrats to replace Robert Torricelli on the ballot for his old Senate seat, which another former senator, Frank Lautenberg, accepted. Oxford University awarded Bradley an honorary Doctor of Civil Law (DCL) in 2003, with a citation that described him in part as "an outstandingly distinguished athlete, a weighty pillar of the Senate, and still a powerful advocate of the weak". In 2007 Bradley was awarded the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. This award is given in recognition of community service more than 25 years after a scout first earns the Eagle badge.


title: Bill Bradley

text: In January 2004, Bradley and Gore both endorsed Howard Dean for president in the 2004 Democratic primaries. In January 2008, Bradley announced that he was supporting Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic primary. He campaigned for Obama and appeared on political news shows as a surrogate. Bradley's name was mentioned as a possible replacement for Tom Daschle as nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Obama administration after Daschle withdrew from consideration; the position went to Kansas governor Kathleen Sebelius. He has occasionally been involved in political matters, most recently consulting the Senate Finance Committee on tax reform along with former colleague Bob Packwood.


title: Bill Bradley

text: He has worked as a corporate consultant and investment banker. He has been a managing director of Allen & Company LLC, since 2001, was chief outside advisor to McKinsey & Company's nonprofit division, the McKinsey Global Institute, from 2001 to 2004, and is a member of the board of directors of QuinStreet and Starbucks and the private company Raydiance. Bradley is a senior advisor to the private equity firm Catterton Partners. Bradley is also a board member of DonorsChoose.org, an online charity that connects individuals to classrooms in need. He is also the Chair of the Advisory Council for Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture fund that uses entrepreneurial approaches to solve the problems of global poverty. Bradley is a co-chair for the advisory board of Issue One, a non-profit whose goal is to reduce the influence of money in American politics.


title: Bill Bradley

text: Bradley is a member of the board of directors of the American Committee on East-West Accord. And he has been member of the advisory board of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.


title: Bill Bradley

text: Bradley married Ernestine (née Misslbeck) Schlant, a German-born professor of comparative literature, in 1974. She has a daughter, Stephanie, from a previous marriage, and they have one daughter, Theresa Anne. Bradley and Schlant divorced in 2007, and he lives with former LBJ Library director Betty Sue Flowers.


title: Acharya Prashant

text: Prashant Tripathi, known as Acharya Prashant, is an Indian author, and an Advaita teacher. He teaches seventeen forms of Gita and sixty forms of Upanishads. He is the founder of a non-profit organization named PrashantAdvait Foundation, and is a vegan activist.


title: Acharya Prashant

text: Prashant Tripathi received his bachelor's degree in engineering from IIT Delhi and later did post graduation in management from IIM Ahmedabad in 2003. He worked for Indian Civil Services briefly before starting as a Vedanta teacher and an author.


title: Acharya Prashant

text: "The Times of India", in their review of Acharya's "Karma: Why Everything You Know About It Is Wrong," remarked that while the book "presents the cryptic teachings of the Upanishads in a contemporary and relatable manner", its usage of terms from Advaita Vedanta makes it a difficult read for a layman. "The Financial Express" wrote that the four sections of "Karma" mirror the four stages in the life of a seeker, and that the book "is not a classic case of prolific and bestselling authors in self-help segment repackaging and remarketing their existing body of work." "Dainik Bhaskar" observed that the author has quoted from the Vedas and spiritual texts like the "Bhagavad Gita" and "Ramcharitmanas" to substantiate his perspective on the concept of Karma. A "micro review" of "Karma" in "The Times of India" called it a book which helped the reader understand their Karma better. In August 2021, the book topped the Nielsen Bookscan's bestseller list, and in October 2021, secured eighth position in the bestseller list released by "The Asian Age".


title: Acharya Prashant

text: "Dainik Jagran" wrote about Acharya's "Sambandh" that ""the best part about the book is that it has been written in the everyday spoken language and contains examples that are easy to understand. It is, however, difficult to keep the pace with his" [author's] "thoughts and writings."" "Punjab Kesari" called "Sambandh" "a mirror to human relationships"; and highlighted the need for better structuring of the book.


title: Acharya Prashant

text: In an article titled "New Light on Ancient Texts: Illumination or Nebulation" published in "The North East Times", Acharya Prashant was criticized for his interpretation of some central Indic concepts like reincarnation ("punarjanma"), enlightenment ("moksha"), liberation ("mukti") and action ("karma"). Some of his interpretations were reported to be strikingly at odds with the ones provided by some of the ancient and acclaimed commentators, forming the core of the common Indic identity. Shubham Ahuja concluded his article by the comment, "It is hard to believe that many of the well-known gurus and commentators whose interpretations are openly and strongly refuted by Acharya were fundamentally mistaken."


title: Polly Draper

text: Polly Carey Draper (born June 15, 1955) is an American actress, writer, producer, and director. Draper has received several awards, including a Writers Guild of America Award (WGA), and is noted for speaking in a "trademark throaty voice." She gained recognition for her starring role in the ABC drama television series "Thirtysomething" (1987–91).


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper co-starred in her screenwriting debut "The Tic Code" (1998) and Off-Broadway in her playwriting "Getting into Heaven" (2003). In mid-2004, she wrote her directing debut "", and created and showran the Nickelodeon musical comedy series "The Naked Brothers Band" (2007–09), which won her a WGA for Children's Script: Long Form or Special. Draper also wrote, directed, and co-starred in the film "Stella's Last Weekend" (2018).


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper was born in Gary, Indiana, to Phyllis (née Culbertson), a Peace Corps administrator, and William Henry Draper III, who was the CEO of the United Nations Development Programme and president and chairman of the US Export-Import Bank. She has two siblings: venture capitalist Tim Draper and Rebecca Draper. Her grandfather is banker and diplomat William Henry Draper Jr.


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper grew up in Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Palo Alto and Arlington, California. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University (1977) and Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama (1980).


title: Polly Draper

text: Following a seven-year marriage with playwright Kevin Wade, Draper married musician Michael Wolff after meeting him in 1991 when making a cameo appearance on the syndicated late-night talk show "Arsenio Hall", where Wolff served as the bandleader. Wolff's life with Tourette syndrome influenced "The Tic Code"; he provided the score. She and Wolff have two sons, Nat and Alex; the latter three played the father and sons in "The Naked Brothers Band" series and , which also featured Draper's niece, Jesse, as the band's babysitter. More recently, she starred with her sons as their mother in "Stella's Last Weekend".


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper is a member of the Democratic Party; she voted for Democratic presidential candidates John Kerry and Barack Obama in 2004 and 2008, respectively. Her father and late grandfather, William Henry Draper Jr., were members of the Republican Party. Draper's late mother, Phyllis, was also a friend of former US first lady Barbara Bush's since the late 1980s; the two first met when Draper's father was leading the United Nations.


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper began her acting career appearing Off-Broadway, including a role in "Split" (1980). She later starred as Ellyn Warren in the ABC drama television series "Thirtysomething" (1987–91), and in 1993, as Adrian in the NBC television movie adaptation of Danielle Steel's "Heartbeat".


title: Polly Draper

text: She starred in the off-Broadway production of "Four Dogs and a Bone" (1993), and also made appearances on TV shows, such as "The Larry Sanders Show" (1998); "Monk"; and "", both in 2002; as well as in the Lifetime TV movie "Too Young to Marry" in 2007.


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper played Laura Caraday in her screenwriting debut "The Tic Code" (1999). In 2003, she starred as Cat, a lesbian with a drug addiction, and provided lead vocals and lyrics for, her playwriting "Getting Into Heaven" (2003) at The Flea Theater; the music was also composed and performed by her husband. She played Nina in the Broadway production of "Brooklyn Boy" in 2005. In addition, Draper was the creator, showrunner, head writer, and director of the hit Nickelodeon musical comedy series "The Naked Brothers Band" (2007–09), which was adapted by that she originally wrote and directed as an independent film in mid-2004.


title: Polly Draper

text: In 2010, she appeared with a recurring guest role in the Showtime comedic television drama "The Big C". Draper directed her youngest son's play "What Would Woody Do?" (2010) at The Flea Theater. In 2011, she also wrote and starred in an episode of the Current TV science fiction series "Bar Karma" and appeared in the play "My Brilliant Divorce" (2012) at the Bay Street Theater. Since then, she appeared in the film "Side Effects" and in the CBS television drama "Golden Boy", both in 2013. In 2014, Draper appeared in the film "Obvious Child".


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper portrayed Sally in her film, "Stella's Last Weekend", released in 2018. In 2020, she appeared in Emma Seligman's film "Shiva Baby" as the main character's mother, Debbie. "IndieWire" said that "Draper's refreshing take on a Jewish mother brightens" the film, and "Variety" called her performance "delightfully witty". "Edge" said that "Draper deserves awards attention for her amusing yet keen embodiment of the Jewish mother". "Rough Cut" compares her performance in the film to her similar role in "Obvious Child".


title: Polly Draper

text: In 1988, Draper’s work on "Thirtysomething" earned her an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In addition, "Four Dogs and a Bone" (1993) won her a "New York Magazine" award for Best Broadway Actress. For "The Tic Code" (1998), she received the Bronze Gryphon award for Best Actress at the Giffoni Film Festival.


title: Polly Draper

text: Draper obtained the Audience Award for a Family Feature Film for "" at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005. She received two Writers Guild Award nominations for "The Naked Brothers Band" TV series (2007–09). The first, in 2007, Draper was nominated in the section of Children's Episodic Shows & Specials for the episode "Nat is a Stand Up Guy". She also won the Children's Script: Long Form or Special category for the TV movie "Polar Bears" in 2009.


title: Willie Francis

text: Willie Francis (January 12, 1929 – May 9, 1947) was an African American teenager known for surviving a failed execution by electrocution in the United States. He was a juvenile offender sentenced to death at age 16 by the state of Louisiana in 1945 for the murder of Andrew Thomas, a Cajun pharmacy owner in St. Martinville who had once employed him. He was 17 when he survived the first attempt to execute him, as the chair malfunctioned. After an appeal of his case taken to the US Supreme Court failed, he was executed in 1947 at age 18.


title: Willie Francis

text: In 1944, Andrew Thomas, a pharmacist in St. Martinville, Louisiana, was shot and killed. His murder remained unsolved for nine months, but in August 1945, Willie Francis was detained in Texas due to his proximity to an unrelated crime. Police claimed that he was carrying Thomas' wallet in his pocket, though no evidence of this claim was submitted during the trial.


title: Willie Francis

text: Francis initially named several others in connection with the murder, but the police dismissed these claims. A short time later, while under interrogation, Francis confessed to Thomas' murder, writing, "It was a secret about me and him." He had no counsel with him. The meaning of his statement is still uncertain. Author Gilbert King, in his book, "The Execution of Willie Francis" (2008), alludes to rumors in St. Martinville of sexual abuse of the youth by the pharmacist. Francis later directed the police to where he had disposed of the holster used to carry the murder weapon. The gun used to kill Thomas was found near the crime scene. It belonged to a deputy sheriff in St. Martinville who had once threatened to kill Thomas. The gun, and the bullets recovered from the crime scene and Thomas' body, disappeared from police evidence just before the trial.


title: Willie Francis

text: Despite two separate written confessions, Francis pleaded not guilty. During his trial, the court-appointed defense attorneys offered no objections, called no witnesses, and put up no defense. The validity of Francis' confessions were not questioned by the defense, although he had no counsel at the time. Two days after the trial began, Francis was quickly convicted of murder and was sentenced to death by twelve White jurors and the judge despite Francis having been underage at 15 at the time of the crime.


title: Willie Francis

text: On May 3, 1946, Francis survived an attempt at execution by the electric chair. Witnesses reported hearing the teenager scream from behind the leather hood, "Take it off! Take it off! Let me breathe!" as the supposedly lethal surge of electricity was being applied. The portable electric chair, known as "Gruesome Gertie", was found to have been improperly set up by an intoxicated prison guard and inmate from the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola. The sheriff, E.L. Resweber, was later quoted as saying: "This boy really got a shock when they turned that machine on."


title: Willie Francis

text: After the botched execution, a young lawyer, Bertrand DeBlanc, decided to take Francis' case. He felt it was unjust, and cruel and unusual punishment, as prohibited in the Constitution, to subject him again to the execution process. DeBlanc had been best friends with Thomas and his decision was greeted with dismay by the citizens in the small Cajun town. DeBlanc took Francis' case to the Supreme Court in "Francis v. Resweber", 329 U.S. 459 (1947), citing various violations of his Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights. These included violations of equal protection, double jeopardy, and cruel and unusual punishment.


title: Willie Francis

text: The US Supreme Court rejected the appeal. Subsequently, Willie Francis was returned to the electric chair on May 9, 1947. He told reporter Elliott Chaze a couple of days prior to the execution that he was going to meet the Lord with his "Sunday pants and Sunday heart." He was pronounced dead in the chair at 12:10 p.m. (CST).


title: Willie Francis

text: Willie Francis' life was the subject of a 2006 documentary, titled "Willie Francis Must Die Again," written and directed by filmmaker Allan Durand. The film, narrated by actor Danny Glover, chronicles the full story of his case and the unprecedented court battle that followed his failed execution. Produced by regional film director/producer Glen Pitre, the film includes first hand accounts of Francis' original trial, interviews with Sister Helen Prejean, author of "Dead Man Walking", a book about the death penalty, and Gilbert King, author of "The Execution of Willie Francis" (2008); and cultural perspective provided by director Allan Durand.


title: Amy Tan

text: Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel "The Joy Luck Club," which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan has written several other novels, including "The Kitchen God's Wife", "The Hundred Secret Senses", "The Bonesetter's Daughter", "Saving Fish from Drowning", and "The Valley of Amazement". Tan's latest book is a memoir entitled "Where The Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir" (2017). In addition to these, Tan has written two children's books: "The Moon Lady" (1992) and "Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat" (1994), which was turned into an animated series that aired on PBS.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan was born in Oakland, California. She is the second of three children born to Chinese immigrants John and Daisy Tan. Her father was an electrical engineer and Baptist minister who traveled to the United States in order to escape the chaos of the Chinese Civil War. Tan attended Marian A. Peterson High School in Sunnyvale for one year. When she was fifteen years old, her father and older brother Peter both died of brain tumors within six months of each other.


title: Amy Tan

text: Daisy subsequently moved Amy and her younger brother, John Jr., to Switzerland, where Amy finished high school at the Institut Monte Rosa, Montreux. During this period, Amy learned about her mother's previous marriage to another man in China, of their four children (a son who died as a toddler and three daughters), and how her mother left these children behind in Shanghai. This incident was the basis for Tan's first novel "The Joy Luck Club". In 1987, Amy traveled with Daisy to China, where she met her three half-sisters.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan had a difficult relationship with her mother. At one point, Daisy held a knife to Amy's throat and threatened to kill her while the two were arguing over Amy's new boyfriend. Her mother wanted Tan to be independent, stressing that Tan needed to make sure she was self-sufficient. Tan later found out that her mother had three abortions while in China. Daisy often threatened to kill herself, saying that she wanted to join her mother (Tan's grandmother, who died by suicide). She attempted suicide but never succeeded. Daisy died in 1999.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan and her mother did not speak for six months after Tan dropped out of the Baptist college her mother had selected for her, Linfield College in Oregon, to follow her boyfriend to San Jose City College in California. Tan met him on a blind date and married him in 1974. Tan later received bachelor's and master's degrees in English and linguistics from San José State University. She took doctoral courses in linguistics at University of California, Santa Cruz and University of California, Berkeley.


title: Amy Tan

text: While in school, Tan worked odd jobs—serving as a switchboard operator, carhop, bartender, and pizza maker—before starting a writing career. As a freelance business writer, she worked on projects for AT&T, IBM, Bank of America, and Pacific Bell, writing under non-Chinese-sounding pseudonyms.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan began writing her first novel, "The Joy Luck Club", while working as a business writer, and joined a writers' workshop, the Squaw Valley Program, to refine her draft. She submitted a part of the draft novel as a story titled 'Endgame' to the workshop"." Author Molly Giles, who was teaching at the workshop, encouraged Tan to send some of her writing to magazines. Stories by Tan, drawn from the manuscript of "The" "Joy Luck Club", were published by both FM Magazine and "Seventeen," although a story was rejected by the "New Yorker""." Working with agent Sandra Dijkstra, Tan published several other parts of the novel as short stories, before it was sent as a draft novel manuscript. She received offers from several major publishing houses, including A.A. Knopf, Vintage, Harper & Row, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Simon and Schuster, and Putnam Books, but declined them all as they offered compensation that she and agent considered to be insufficient. She eventually accepted a second offer from Putnam Books, for $50,000 in December 1987. "The Joy Luck Club", consists of eight related stories about the experiences of four Chinese–American mother–daughter pairs.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan's second novel, "The Kitchen God's Wife", also focuses on the relationship between an immigrant Chinese mother and her American-born daughter. Tan's third novel, "The Hundred Secret Senses", was a departure from the first two novels, in focusing on the relationships between sisters, inspired partly by one of the half-siblings Tan sponsored to the United States. Tan's fourth novel, "The Bonesetter's Daughter", returns to the theme of an immigrant Chinese woman and her American-born daughter.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan was the "lead rhythm dominatrix", backup singer and second tambourine with the Rock Bottom Remainders literary garage band. Before the band retired from touring, it had raised more than a million dollars for literacy programs. Tan appeared as herself in the third episode of Season 12 of "The Simpsons", "Insane Clown Poppy."


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan's work has been adapted into several different forms of media. "The Joy Luck Club" was adapted into a play in 1993; that same year, director Wayne Wang adapted the book into a film. "The Bonesetter's Daughter" was adapted into an opera in 2008. Tan's children's book, "Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat" was adapted into an PBS animated television show, also named "Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat".


title: Amy Tan

text: In May, 2021, the documentary, "Amy Tan: Unintended Memoir" was released, first on PBS, and later on Netflix.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan has received criticism from some for her depiction of Chinese culture. Sau-ling Cynthia Wong, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, wrote that Tan's novels "appear to possess the authority of authenticity but are often products of the American-born writer's own heavily mediated understanding of things Chinese". She stated that the popularity of Tan's work can mostly be attributed to Western consumers "who find her work comforting in its reproduction of stereotypical images". Author Frank Chin has said that the storylines of her novels "demonstrate a vested interest in casting Chinese men in the worst possible light". He has accused Tan of "pandering to the popular imagination" of Westerners regarding Chinese people.


title: Amy Tan

text: Amy Tan has dismissed these criticisms, stating that her works are not intended to be viewed as representative of general Chinese/Asian American experiences.


title: Amy Tan

text: While Tan was studying at Berkeley, her roommate was murdered and Tan had to identify the body. The incident left her temporarily mute. She said that every year for ten years, on the anniversary of the day she identified the body, she lost her voice.


title: Amy Tan

text: In 1998, Tan contracted Lyme disease, which went misdiagnosed for a few years. As a result, she suffers complications like epileptic seizures. Tan co-founded LymeAid 4 Kids, which helps uninsured children pay for treatment. She wrote about her life with Lyme disease in "The New York Times".


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan also suffers from depression, for which she takes antidepressants. Part of the reason that Tan chose not to have children was a fear that she would pass on a genetic legacy of mental instability—her maternal grandmother died by suicide, her mother threatened suicide often, and she herself has struggled with suicidal ideation.


title: Amy Tan

text: Tan resides near San Francisco in Sausalito, California, with her husband Lou DeMattei (whom she married in 1974), in a house they designed "to feel open and airy, like a tree house, but also to be a place where we could live comfortably into old age" with accessibility features.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: The Vanishing, previously titled Keepers, is a 2018 British psychological thriller drama film directed by Kristoffer Nyholm and written by Celyn Jones and Joe Bone. Based on the 1900 disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse crew, it stars Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, and Connor Swindells as three lighthouse keepers whose shift takes a dark turn. The film premiered at Sitges Film Festival in October 2018, which was followed by a United Kingdom release in March 2019.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: Three men begin their six-week shift tending to the remote Flannan Isles Lighthouse. Donald, the youngest, is inexperienced and learning the trade of the lighthouse keeper from James and Thomas. James has a family waiting for him on the mainland, while Thomas is still mourning the loss of his wife and children.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: After a storm the men discover a boat, a body, and a wooden chest washed ashore. Donald descends the cliffs to check on the man, who appears lifeless. As they are hauling up the chest, the man awakens and attacks Donald. In self-defence, Donald smashes the man's head with a rock and kills him.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: Thomas is against opening the chest, but opens it alone, and keeps what he finds to himself. Eventually the other two give in to their curiosity and find several gold bars inside. Urging caution and secrecy, Thomas proposes they dispose of the body, sneak the gold back to the mainland, and lie low for a year before splitting their shares.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: Another boat arrives with two strangers, Locke and Boor, crewmates of the deceased. They interrogate Thomas, who claims the body and cargo have been reported and taken away, as per protocol. The visitors leave, but attempt to contact the lighthouse by radio. Thomas and James are unable to respond due to their malfunctioning radio, revealing their lie. The strangers return, circling the island until nightfall. In a violent struggle, James manages to strangle Boor and Donald kills Locke, using the woolding. Sensing another intruder outside, the keepers chase him through the darkness and James slashes him with a hook. He is horrified to discover he has killed a young boy, reminding him of his son.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: After dumping the bodies into the sea the three men endure their remaining time on the island, despite mounting distrust and tension. James in particular becomes unhinged, secluding himself in the tiny chapel nearby. Donald grows uneasy and insists that he and Thomas leave with the gold. James suddenly reappears, apologising for his behaviour. Once Donald and Thomas let their guards down, James locks Thomas in the pantry and strangles Donald. Thomas breaks free and subdues James by rendering him unconscious.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: Finally ready to depart the island, Thomas and James board the dead visitors' boat with the gold. After throwing Donald's body overboard, James admits that he cannot bear to live with his guilt and lowers himself into the water to end his life. He calls to Thomas for help with this last act and Thomas complies by holding James' head under water before sailing on alone.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: On 31 October 2016 it was announced that a psychological thriller "Keepers" was in development, which Kristoffer Nyholm would make his directing debut from a script by Celyn Jones and Joe Bone. Kodiak Pictures would fully finance the film along with Cross Creek Pictures, which would be produced by Andy Evans, Ade Shannon, and Sean Marley for Mad as Birds along with Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel for G-BASE, Maurice Fadida for Kodiak Pictures, and Brian Oliver for Cross Creek. Butler, Peter Mullan and Connor Swindells would star as James, Thomas, and Donald, respectively, in the film inspired by a true unresolved 1900 mystery at the Flannan Isles Lighthouse.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: Principal photography on the film began in mid-April 2017 in Galloway, Scotland. Locations included the Mull of Galloway, Port Logan harbour, Killantringan Lighthouse near Portpatrick and Corsewall Lighthouse near Stranraer.


title: The Vanishing (2018 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "Suspenseful atmosphere, an evocative setting, and a strong cast keep audiences invested throughout "The Vanishing"'s patient approach to unraveling its mystery." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Norman Osborn is a fictional character portrayed by Willem Dafoe in Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy and later temporarily integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise–based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name–also known by his villainous alternate identity, the Green Goblin. Osborn is introduced in "Spider-Man" (2002) as a wealthy industrialist who tests an unstable performance-enhancing serum on himself, developing superhuman strength and a crazed alternate personality. The Goblin, equipped with a glider and pumpkin bombs, engages in fights with the vigilante Spider-Man, but ultimately dies with Osborn by being impaled by his own glider.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Returning in "" (2021) due to a spell rupturing the multiverse, Osborn abandons his Green Goblin mask in an alternate reality to seek refuge in F.E.A.S.T., encountering that universe's Peter Parker. He works together with Parker in curing the other universe-displaced visitors, including his closest friend and colleague Otto Octavius, before his mind is taken over by the Green Goblin, who kills Parker's aunt May. After a duel with Parker on the Statue of Liberty, Osborn is cured of the Green Goblin identity and is returned to his universe.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: A hallucination of Osborn appears in "Spider-Man 2" (2004) and "Spider-Man 3" (2007), haunting his son Harry. Dafoe's portrayal has been praised by critics and audiences, being considered one of the most iconic villains in superhero films. Dafoe and Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire hold the "Guinness World Record" for "the longest career as a live-action Marvel character."


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: The Green Goblin was originally created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, first appearing in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #14 (July 1964) as a character without a human identity unlike other Spider-Man villains, but the issue had suggested his identity would be revealed in the future; the Goblin revealed himself as Norman Osborn at the end of "The Amazing Spider-Man" #39 (June 1966), the first of a two-part story arc. The Goblin became one of Spider-Man's most popular enemies during the 1960s and was eventually killed off in the second part of "The Night Gwen Stacy Died" storyline (July 1973). The character resurfaces in "The Clone Saga" and has been adapted into other media separate from comics.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: While rewriting "Spider-Man" (2002) from James Cameron's original "scriptment", David Koepp added the Green Goblin as well as the character Doctor Octopus as a secondary antagonist. Director Sam Raimi felt the Green Goblin and the surrogate father-son theme between Norman Osborn and Peter Parker in the then-recent Ultimate Marvel comics was much more interesting than adding "a third complex origin story" to the film, so Doctor Octopus was removed by Scott Rosenberg (who was hired to rewrite Koepp's material) and eventually became the antagonist of "Spider-Man 2" (2004).


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After being cast, Willem Dafoe concentrated on Osborn due to his belief that the Goblin was an aspect of Osborn and already made by external things like his costume and the film's special effects. Dafoe explained that Osborn was "a very complex character on the page", and that he could relate to him due to "[his] ambition and his desire for perfection and how that perverts so much of his relationship to people". During promotion for "Spider-Man", Dafoe came up for an idea to reintroduce Osborn via a hallucination of him haunting his son Harry, which he compared to the ghost of Hamlet's father; he played the hallucination in "Spider-Man 2" and "Spider-Man 3" (2007).


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers began exploring the idea of the multiverse and potentially revisiting characters from past "Spider-Man" films while writing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film "" (2021). The duo ultimately decided to fully integrate the characters into the film and worked hard to prevent "No Way Home" from being "fan service" by using the returning characters to progress Peter Parker's (portrayed by Tom Holland) story. Osborn / Goblin was originally not the main villain of the film despite appearing as an antagonist, but was later realized that, after the film lost "other characters", McKenna and Sommers "had to" have him as the villain and rewrote the script to give him a second chance to replicate his actions in "Spider-Man", but in a darker way related to Holland's Spider-Man. Goblin would have fought alongside Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus (portrayed by Alfred Molina) against Spider-Man in a scene on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge; Goblin's introduction was moved into a climactic explosion with his pumpkin bombs, not engaging with Octavius or Spider-Man—but does encounter them.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Dafoe felt that the Green Goblin had advanced from his original portrayal and that Osborn and the Goblin had "a few more tricks up [their] sleeves" in "No Way Home". Dafoe was digitally de-aged in order to replicate his 2002 likeness. To prevent his appearance in the film from leaking, Dafoe was required to wear cloaks around set with Holland learning of his involvement in the film by meeting him for the first time after accidentally bumping into him. Green Goblin was confirmed to be in the film in the official teaser released in August 2021, with Dafoe confirmed in the official trailer released in November.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After John Malkovich turned down the opportunity to take the role, Dafoe was cast as Osborn / Goblin in November 2000; Kevin Spacey would have portrayed the Goblin in Cameron's unproduced "Spider-Man" film.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Raimi contacted Dafoe while the latter was filming in Spain and described the film's story to him in "such incredible psychological detail", talking about the relationships without the Spider-Man (portrayed by Tobey Maguire)–Goblin story. Dafoe realized that Raimi was "not cynical about this story", deeply loving the characters and feeling "an obligation as a Spider-Man fan to present these characters truthfully". Dafoe was initially hesitant to reprise the role, but was more open when producer Amy Pascal and director Jon Watts pitched "No Way Home" to him before he had received a script; he described this as "the same, but different". A rematch between Osborn and Maguire's Spider-Man was considered during the filming of "No Way Home", but was ultimately cut by the film's release.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Dafoe particularly enjoys the "mirror scene" depicting Osborn's conversation with the Goblin identity after murdering the Oscorp board of directors; before filming the scene with Dafoe, Raimi gave him a copy of "Jekyll and Hyde" to prepare for the scene, which filmed in one take multiple times before Raimi split it. Dafoe further differentiated the two identities by wearing dental prosthetics providing Osborn's straight teeth, and using his natural crooked teeth when portraying the Goblin.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Norman Osborn is portrayed as a workaholic scientist–businessman with a complicated relationship with his son Harry, being a career-focused man who prioritizes science, business, and success and is quite disappointed with Harry. The Green Goblin is subsequently created through Osborn's exposure to gas, being portrayed as a violent, sadistic, and unhinged psychopath that believes his powers place him above normal people, attempting to recruit Spider-Man into joining him.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: The Goblin was introduced in early "Spider-Man" comics as an alternate identity separate from Osborn, which was adapted to the films; however, later comics would depict the Goblin as a costumed alias used by Osborn to commit his villainous deeds.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: "Gizmodo" James Whitbrook contrasts Maguire's Peter Parker / Spider-Man with Osborn / Goblin and James Franco's Harry Osborn in the way they choose to exercise their power in the film series, as he notes Parker, Osborn, and Harry appear to hold some form of power. While Parker learns the responsibility with his powers, Osborn gives into fear of losing his position within Oscorp, choosing to pursue an alternate power in the Goblin, attacking his former colleagues and the people he cares about, namely Harry and Parker, while descending further into madness and insanity. Adam Rosenberg from "Mashable" opined that Dafoe "owned every single one of his scenes" as he "charted Osborn's experimental serum-fueled descent into madness", and that the actor's voice sounded similar to what a reader would hear in their head when reading a comic book villain's speech bubbles.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: The Goblin was felt by Oliver Vandervoort of "Game Rant" as "a bit more sinister" in "No Way Home" compared to his original portrayal, with the character being "a little darker and a little more dangerous" in the film. Praising the decision to have the character maskless in "No Way Home", James Troughton at "The Gamer" called Dafoe's facial expressions "viscerally unsettling", going from a "lost old man desperate for help" to an unhinged killer "as easy as slipping on a pair of gloves", crediting this as giving a slasher edge to a superhero film. Writing for "Screen Rant", Jake Gleason credits "No Way Home" with revealing Osborn as the "most tragic character" in the "Spider-Man" films by showing his kindness in interactions with Holland's Parker, May Parker, and Octavius as himself. Osborn's reactions to the Goblin's crimes are cited by Gleason as "proof that he is not evil" despite being an "imperfect" father to Harry and letting his "arrogant ambitions spiral out of control".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Amalgamated Dynamics created the original Goblin animatronic headgear for "Spider-Man". The suit was originally designed much more faithfully to the comics, allowed for a full range of emotions to be expressed by the wearer, was scrapped after the concept was deemed "too creepy" by studio executives and due to technical difficulties and time constraints. Dafoe insisted on wearing the new, uncomfortable costume as he felt that a stuntman would not convey the character's necessary body language. The 580-piece suit took half an hour to put on. Costume designer James Acheson said that Dafoe told him that he wanted the costume to be flexible enough for him to do splits, further explaining that Dafoe was a yogi and "probably the most flexible actor [Acheson] ever worked with". When they started designing the costume, there was only a puppet of the design and they "picked out the major points where [they] would be hooking wires up to a harness under the costume", which became the basis from which they could lift him from his back or hips as well as do "several different things on wires". Acheson also experimented with a potential helmet-like design for the suit, which was then scrapped.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: In "No Way Home", the character obtains upgrades to his costume which make him more closely resemble his comic book counterpart. Goblin first appears wearing his 2002 costume before the mask is destroyed by Osborn. The upgraded costume is depicted with a purple undersuit beneath the green armor with the Goblin wearing goggles and having blades from his glider affixed to his armor. "Screen Rant" Dan Zinski described the suit as tattered and noted the goal of the MCU's costume designs is "to find some middle ground" between the comic book version and the "more realistic".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Dr. Norman Osborn is a scientist and the founder of Oscorp Industries, doubling as CEO for the company. He is the father of Harry Osborn, with whom he has a strained relationship. Fellow scientist Otto Octavius's work was funded by Osborn via Oscorp, but he was considered greedy and misguided by Octavius. During a school field trip, Osborn is introduced to Harry's best friend Peter Parker, whose intelligence impresses him.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After meeting Parker, Osborn returns to Oscorp and hears Dr. Mendel Stromm reveal to military officials overseeing a super-soldier serum project that some test subjects have gone insane; Osborn is threatened with a tight deadline and decides to experiment on himself. An alternate, crazed personality–the "Green Goblin"–of Osborn is developed by the process, who kills Stromm and the military officials and Quest Aerospace scientists present at the super-soldier test. However, Quest expands and assumes control of Oscorp, requesting Osborn to step down as CEO. During a festival in Times Square, the Green Goblin kills the Oscorp board of directors, encountering Spider-Man in the festival. The Green Goblin leads his next attack at the "Daily Bugle" editor-in-chief J. Jonah Jameson for who takes pictures of Spider-Man. Spider-Man appears at the "Bugle", but is kidnapped by the Green Goblin, who offers him a partnership and belittles his choice to become a hero, warning that the city will eventually turn against him. The Green Goblin baits Spider-Man to a burning apartment, asking if he accepted his offer, but Spider-Man refuses to partner with him.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After Thanksgiving dinner with Parker, his aunt May, Harry, and his girlfriend Mary Jane Watson, Osborn deduces Parker is Spider-Man, prompting the Green Goblin to attack and hospitalize May, and kidnap Watson. The Green Goblin makes Spider-Man choose whether to save Watson or a Roosevelt Island Tramway car full of children, but he saves both. The Green Goblin lands in an abandoned building and brutally beats Spider-Man, but is counterattacked. The Green Goblin thinks to fool Parker by unmasking himself as Osborn, with Osborn stating that Parker was like a son to him while the Green Goblin attempts to impale Parker with the glider. The latter dodges, causing the glider to fatally stab Osborn, who tells Parker not to tell Harry about the Green Goblin's actions as he dies.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: At Osborn's funeral, Harry mourns the loss, vowing vengeance on Spider-Man after witnessing him with his father's body; Otto Octavius states at some point following his death, Osborn's identity as the Green Goblin and death are widely reported on. Two years later, Harry discovers Parker's identity as Spider-Man and is haunted by a hallucination of Osborn demanding to be avenged, but the hallucination's mirror is broken by Harry, who discovers a hidden lair containing Green Goblin's arsenal. Harry becomes the "New Goblin" a year later, with Osborn re-appearing to remind Harry to avenge him and to go after Parker's heart. Harry eventually learns the truth about Osborn's death and gives up his vendetta against Spider-Man, sacrificing himself to save Parker.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: In the alternate reality of Earth-616, Dr. Stephen Strange casts a spell to erase people's memories of Peter Parker (later nicknamed "Peter-One")'s identity as Spider-Man after it was revealed by Mysterio. However, Peter-One's frequent alterations causes the spell to bring in people from across the multiverse who knew Parker's identity, including Osborn, who was taken from sometime after he had deduced his Spider-Man's identity. The Green Goblin encounters Peter-One and Octavius at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Osborn retakes control and breaks the Green Goblin's mask in an alley, seeking refuge in F.E.A.S.T. after seeing an ad for Spider-Man there. Osborn meets the alternate May Parker, who calls in Peter-One; Osborn realizes that Peter-One is not his Parker, but goes with him to the New York Sanctum to its undercroft. Osborn learns of the multiverse and reunites with Octavius, but learns from Flint Marko that they both died during their final fight with Spider-Man. Osborn is then imprisoned by Strange, who prepares to use the Macchina de Kadavus to send him and the other villains back to meet their fates but is later released after Peter-One traps Strange in the Mirror Dimension, taking his box. Osborn then works with Peter-One to cure himself, Octavius, Marko, Curt Connors, and Max Dillon.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After Peter-One cures Octavius, the Green Goblin retakes control of Osborn's mind and turns on Peter-One, convincing Dillon and Marko to reject their cures and escape, engaging in a duel with him across Happy Hogan's apartment. In the lobby, the Green Goblin summons his glider and throws pumpkin bombs, causing the apartment to explode. The glider fatally strikes May before he escapes. After Marko, Dillon, and Connors are cured with Octavius help, the Green Goblin attacks and destroys a contained spell–which had previously caused him, Octavius, and the latters to transport from their universes–from its original caster Doctor Strange; the destruction causes the barriers between universes to break, prompting Strange to try to seal them. An enraged Peter-One nearly kills the Green Goblin but is stopped by an older version of Osborn's Parker (nicknamed "Peter-Two"), whom the Green Goblin stabs. Another version of Parker (nicknamed "Peter-Three"), throws Peter-One a cure Parker developed which he injects the Green Goblin with, restoring him to a remorseful Norman Osborn. Afterwards, Strange casts a spell to make the alternate reality forget Peter-One's existence, causing Osborn, Parker, Octavius, and Marko to return to their universe.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Dafoe's performance has been praised by critics and audiences, with Dafoe himself calling the role one of his favorite parts to play, having particularly enjoyed portraying the unhinged character due to his dual personalities and his balance between a dramatic and comedic performance. Dafoe's "No Way Home" co-stars Holland, Jamie Foxx, and Andrew Garfield praised his performance as well as his cackle; Foxx had also called his Green Goblin performance "terrifying" and "personal". Holland and his MCU "Spider-Man" films co-star Jacob Batalon called Goblin "a landmark villain", praising Dafoe's ability "to bring a difficult character to life" and particularly the mirror scene, before filming "No Way Home"; Holland had believed the Goblin "[was] difficult to pull off in live-action" in August 2019, a year before his praises with Batalon.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: A "New York Daily News" reviewer felt Dafoe put the "scare in archvillain", and Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" deemed him "strong support"; Conversely, critic A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" wrote that Dafoe's performance was "uninspired and secondhand". While reviewing the films in April 2007, "IGN" Richard George commented that Green Goblin's armor, particularly the helmet, was "almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression". Steven Scaife at "Vice" wrote that Dafoe's Goblin "represents everything that’s fun about superhero villains, as well as everything that’s great about Raimi's campy films", also commending Dafoe's voice and body language, which helped overcome the bulky Green Goblin costume that he compared to that of a "Power Rangers" villain. Dafoe's Goblin is acclaimed as one of the greatest superhero film villains, with "Vulture" ranking the character 19th on the top 25 superhero film villains in 2018, while "Collider" ranked him the 5th greatest Spider-Man film villain in 2020.


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: "The Lantern" Brett Price wrote that Dafoe was "on another level" in "No Way Home" and not having his mask made him even more intimidating than he was in the 2002 film. Peter Travers of "Good Morning America" and Jade King at "The Gamer" praised Dafoe and Molina, with King asserting that the two "stole the show as Green Goblin and Doc Ock" and described the depictions as brilliant. Amelia Emberwing of "IGN" praised the performances of Dafoe, Molina, and Foxx in "No Way Home", while "Vulture" Bilge Ebiri said Dafoe "once again gets to have some modest fun with his character's divided self".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: After Spider-Man had joined the MCU and Sony Pictures partnered with Marvel Studios to co-produce "Spider-Man" films, Pascal spoke in August 2016 of an attempt to differentiate the new Spider-Man films from previous ones, citing the Goblin's exclusion, "I mean, I don't know how many more times we can do – at least for now – I don't know how many more times we can do the Green Goblin. I've certainly tried to do it fifty". Similarly, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige reflected that the MCU "Spider-Man" films chose to not reuse "Spider-Man" characters or elements, outside of the major ones, that were already adapted in previous Sony films, saying "it never occurred to us to do a new Goblin story, or to do an Oscorp story, or to do Doc Ock, or anyone that had been done before".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Osborn's line "you know, I'm something of a scientist myself", which became an internet meme in the years preceding the release of "No Way Home", was reprised during the film. "Screen Rant" Dustin Brewer claimed the "sparing" use of Goblin in "Spider-Man" influenced the usage of villains in later superhero films such as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" (2008), furthering that this approach enables villains to "come and go more sporadically, giving them the ability to cause maximum mayhem every time they come on screen".


title: Norman Osborn (Sam Raimi film series)

text: Dafoe has received several nominations, mostly in a "Best Villain" category, for his portrayal of Norman Osborn / Green Goblin; Dafoe's only win was a Critics' Choice Super Award in 2022 for his "No Way Home" performance. Separate from their film accolades, Dafoe and Maguire hold the "Guinness World Record" for "the longest career as a live-action Marvel character."


title: Monorail

text: A monorail (from "mono", meaning "one", and "rail") is a railway in which the track consists of a single rail or a beam.


title: Monorail

text: Colloquially, the term "monorail" is often used to describe any form of elevated rail or people mover. More accurately, the term refers to the style of track.


title: Monorail

text: The term possibly comes from 1897, from German engineer Eugen Langen, who called an elevated railway system with wagons suspended the "Eugen Langen One-railed Suspension Tramway" (Einschieniges Hängebahnsystem Eugen Langen).


title: Monorail

text: Monorails have found applications in airport transfer and medium capacity metros. To differentiate monorails from other transport modes, the Monorail Society defines a monorail as a "single rail serving as a track for passenger or freight vehicles. In most cases rail is elevated, but monorails can also run at grade, below grade or in subway tunnels. Vehicles either are suspended from or straddle a narrow guide way. Monorail vehicles are wider than the guide way that supports them.”


title: Monorail

text: Monorails are often elevated, sometimes leading to confusion with other elevated systems such as the Docklands Light Railway, Vancouver SkyTrain, the AirTrain JFK and cable propelled systems like the Cable Liner people mover which run on two rails.


title: Monorail

text: Monorail vehicles often appear similar to light rail vehicles, and can be staffed or unstaffed. They can be individual rigid vehicles, articulated single units, or multiple units coupled into trains. Like other advanced rapid transit systems, monorails can be driven by linear induction motors; like conventional railways, vehicle bodies can be connected to the beam via bogies, allowing curves to be negotiated.


title: Monorail

text: Monorails are in use urban areas alongside conventional parallel railed metro systems. Mumbai Monorail serves alongside Mumbai Metro, while monorail lines are integrated with conventional rail lines in Bangkok's BTS Skytrain network.


title: Monorail

text: Unlike some trams and light rail systems, modern monorails are always separated from other traffic and pedestrians due to the geometry of the rail. They are both guided and supported via interaction with the same single beam, in contrast to other guided systems like rubber-tyred metros, the Sapporo Municipal Subway; or guided buses or trams, such as Translohr. Monorails do not use pantographs.


title: Monorail

text: From the passenger's perspective, monorails can have some advantages over trains, buses, and automobiles. As with other grade-separated transit systems, monorails avoid red lights, intersection turns, and traffic jams. Surface-level trains, buses, automobiles, and pedestrians can collide each one with the other, while vehicles on dedicated, grade-separated rights-of-way such as monorails can collide only with other vehicles on the same system, with much fewer opportunities for collision. As with other elevated transit systems, monorail passengers enjoy sunlight and views and by watching for familiar landmarks, they can know better when to get off to reach their destinations. Monorails can be quieter than diesel buses and trains. They obtain electricity from the track structure, eliminating costly and, to many people, unsightly overhead power lines and poles. Compared to the elevated train systems of New York, Chicago and elsewhere, a monorail beamway casts a narrow shadow. ("See 'Chicago "L"' ")


title: Monorail

text: Under the Monorail Society's beam-width criterion, some, but not all, maglev systems are considered monorails, such as the Transrapid and Linimo. Maglevs differ from other monorails in that they do not physically contact the beam while moving.


title: Monorail

text: The first monorail prototype was made in Russia in 1820 by Ivan Elmanov. Attempts at creating monorail alternatives to conventional railways have been made since the early part of the 19th century.


title: Monorail

text: The Centennial Monorail was featured at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876. Based on its design the Bradford and Foster Brook Railway was built in 1877 and ran for one year from January 1878 until January 1879.


title: Monorail

text: Around 1879 a "one-rail" system was proposed independently by Haddon and by Stringfellow, which used an inverted "V" rail (and thus shaped like "Λ" in cross-section). It was intended for military use, but was also seen to have civilian use as a "cheap railway." Similarly, one of the first systems put into practical use was that of French engineer Charles Lartigue, who built a line between Ballybunion and Listowel in Ireland, opened in 1888 and lasting 36 years, being closed in 1924 (due to damage from Ireland's Civil War). It used a load-bearing single rail and two lower, external rails for balance, the three carried on triangular supports. It was cheap to construct but tricky to operate. Possibly the first monorail locomotive was a 0-3-0 steam locomotive on this line. A high-speed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester.


title: Monorail

text: The Boynton Bicycle Railroad was a steam-powered monorail in Brooklyn on Long Island, New York. It ran on a single load-bearing rail at ground level, but with a wooden overhead stabilising rail engaged by a pair of horizontally opposed wheels. The railway operated for only two years beginning in 1890.


title: Monorail

text: The Hotchkiss Bicycle Railroad was a monorail on which a matching pedal bicycle could be ridden. The first example was built between Smithville and Mount Holly, New Jersey, in 1892. It closed in 1897. Other examples were built in Norfolk from 1895 to 1909, Great Yarmouth, and Blackpool, UK from 1896.


title: Monorail

text: Early designs used a double-flanged single metal rail alternative to the double rail of conventional railways, both guiding and supporting the monorail car. A surviving suspended version is the oldest still in service system: the Wuppertal monorail in Germany. Also in the early 1900s, Gyro monorails with cars gyroscopically balanced on top of a single rail were tested, but never developed beyond the prototype stage. The Ewing System, used in the Patiala State Monorail Trainways in Punjab, India, relies on a hybrid model with a load-bearing single rail and an external wheel for balance. A highspeed monorail using the Lartigue system was proposed in 1901 between Liverpool and Manchester.


title: Monorail

text: In 1910, the Brennan gyroscopic monorail was considered for use to a coal mine in Alaska. In June 1920, the French Patent Office published FR 503782, by Henri Coanda, on a 'Transporteur Aérien' -Air Carrier.


title: Monorail

text: The first half of the 20th century saw many further proposed designs that either never left the drawing board or remained short-lived prototypes. One of the first monorails planned in the United States was in New York City in the early 1930s, scrubbed for an elevated train system.


title: Monorail

text: In the latter half of the 20th century, monorails had settled on using larger beam- or girder-based track, with vehicles supported by one set of wheels and guided by another. In the 1950s, a 40% scale prototype of a system designed for speed of on straight stretches and on curves was built in Germany. There were designs with vehicles supported, suspended or cantilevered from the beams. In the 1950s the ALWEG straddle design emerged, followed by an updated suspended type, the SAFEGE system. Versions of ALWEG's technology are used by the two largest monorail manufacturers, Hitachi Monorail and Bombardier.


title: Monorail

text: In 1956, the first monorail to operate in the US began test operations in Houston, Texas. Disneyland in Anaheim, California, opened the United States' first daily operating monorail system in 1959. Later during this period, additional monorails were installed at Walt Disney World in Florida, Seattle, and in Japan. Monorails were promoted as futuristic technology with exhibition installations and amusement park purchases, as seen by the legacy systems in use today. However, monorails gained little foothold compared to conventional transport systems. In March 1972, Alejandro Goicoechea-Omar had patent DE1755198 published, on a 'Vertebrate Train', build as experimental track in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain.


title: Monorail

text: Niche private enterprise uses for monorails emerged, with the emergence of air travel and shopping malls, with shuttle-type systems being built.


title: Monorail

text: From 1950 to 1980, the monorail concept may have suffered, as with all public transport systems, from competition with the automobile. At the time, the was riding high and people were buying automobiles in large numbers due to suburbanization and the Interstate Highway System. Monorails in particular may have suffered from the reluctance of public transit authorities to invest in the perceived high cost of un-proven technology when faced with cheaper mature alternatives. There were also many competing monorail technologies, splitting their case further. One notable example of a public monorail is the AMF Monorail that was used as transportation around the 1964-1965 World's Fair.


title: Monorail

text: This high-cost perception was challenged most notably in 1963 when the ALWEG consortium proposed to finance the construction of a major system in Los Angeles County, California in return for the right of operation. This was turned down by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors under pressure from Standard Oil of California and General Motors (which were strong advocates for automobile dependency), and the later subway system faced criticism by famed author Ray Bradbury as it had yet to reach the scale of the proposed monorail.


title: Monorail

text: Several monorails initially conceived as transport systems survive on revenues generated from tourism, benefiting from the unique views offered from the largely elevated installations.


title: Monorail

text: From the 1980s, most monorail mass transit systems are in Japan, with a few exceptions. Tokyo Monorail, is one of the world's busiest, averages 127,000 passengers per day and has served over 1.5 billion passengers since 1964. China recently started development of monorails in the late 2000s, already home to the world's largest and busiest monorail system and has a number of mass transit monorails under construction in several of cities. A Bombardier Innovia Monorail-based system is under construction in Wuhu and several "Cloudrail" systems developed by BYD under construction a number of cities such as Guang'an, Liuzhou, Bengbu and Guilin. Monorails have seen continuing use in niche shuttle markets and amusement parks.


title: Monorail

text: Modern mass transit monorail systems use developments of the ALWEG beam and tire approach, with only two suspended types in large use. Monorail configurations have also been adopted by maglev trains. Since the 2000s, with the rise of traffic congestion and urbanization, there has been a resurgence of interest in the technology for public transport with a number of cities, such as Malta and Istanbul, today investigating monorails as a possible mass transit solution.


title: Monorail

text: In 2004, Chongqing Rail Transit in China adopted a unique ALWEG-based design with rolling stock that is much wider than most monorails, with capacity comparable to heavy rail. This is because Chongqing is criss-crossed by numerous hills, mountains and rivers, therefore tunneling is not feasible except in some cases (for example, lines 1 and 6) due to the extreme depth involved. Today it is the largest and busiest monorail system in the world.


title: Monorail

text: São Paulo, Brazil is building two high capacity monorail lines as part of its public transportation network. Line 15 was partially opened in 2014, will be long when completed in 2022 and has a capacity of 40,000 pphpd using Bombardier Innovia Monorail trains. Line 17 will be long and is using the BYD SkyRail design. Other significant monorail systems are under construction such as two lines for the Cairo Monorail, two lines for the MRT (Bangkok) and the SkyRail Bahia in Brazil.


title: Monorail

text: Modern monorails depend on a large solid beam as the vehicles' running surface. There are a number of competing designs divided into two broad classes, "straddle-beam" and "suspended" monorails. The most common type is the straddle-beam, in which the train straddles a steel or reinforced concrete beam wide. A rubber-tired carriage contacts the beam on the top and both sides for traction and to stabilize the vehicle. The style was popularized by the German company ALWEG. There is also a historical type of "suspension monorail" developed by German inventors Nicolaus Otto and Eugen Langen in the 1880s. It was built in the twin cities of Barmen and Elberfeld in Wuppertal, Germany, opened in 1901, and is still in operation. The Chiba Urban Monorail is the world's largest suspended network.


title: Monorail

text: Almost all modern monorails are powered by electric motors fed by dual third rails, contact wires or electrified channels attached to or enclosed in their guidance beams, but diesel-powered monorail systems also exist. Historically some systems, such as the Lartigue Monorail, used steam locomotives.


title: Monorail

text: Magnetic levitation train (maglev) systems such as the German Transrapid were built as straddle-type monorails. The Shanghai Maglev Train runs in commercial operation at , and there are also slower maglev monorails intended for urban transport in Japan (Linimo), Korea (Incheon Airport Maglev) and China (Beijing Subway Line S1 and the Changsha Maglev Express). However, it is argued that the larger width of the guideway for the maglevs makes it not legitimate to be called monorails.


title: Monorail

text: Some early monorails (notably the suspended monorail at Wuppertal, Germany) have a design that makes it difficult to switch from one line to another. Some other monorails avoid switching as much as possible by operating in a continuous loop or between two fixed stations, as in the Seattle Center Monorail.


title: Monorail

text: Current monorails are capable of more efficient switching than in the past. With suspended monorails, switching may be accomplished by moving flanges inside the beamway to shift trains to one line or another.


title: Monorail

text: Straddle-beam monorails require that the beam moves for switching, which was an almost prohibitively ponderous procedure. Now the most common way of achieving this is to place a moving apparatus on top of a sturdy platform capable of bearing the weight of vehicles, beams and its own mechanism. Multiple-segmented beams move into place on rollers to smoothly align one beam with another to send the train in its desired direction, with the design originally developed by ALWEG capable of completing a switch in 12 seconds. Some of these beam turnouts are quite elaborate, capable of switching between several beams or simulating a railroad double-crossover. Vehicle specifications are generally not open to the public, as is standard for rolling stock built for public services


title: Monorail

text: An alternative to using a wye or other form of switch, is to use a turntable, where a car sits upon a section of track that can be reoriented to several different tracks. For example, this can be used to switch a car from being in a storage location, to being on the main line. The now-closed Sydney Monorail had a traverser at the depot, which allowed a train on the main line to be exchanged with another from the depot. There were about six lines in the depot, including one for maintenance.


title: Monorail

text: Rubber-tired monorails are typically designed to cope with a 6% grade. Rubber-tired light rail or metro lines can cope with similar or greater grades - for example, the Lausanne Metro has grades of up to 12% and the Montreal Metro up to 6.5%, while VAL systems can handle 7% grades.


title: Monorail

text: Manufacturers of monorail rolling stock with operating systems include Hitachi Monorail, BYD, Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom), PBTS (a joint venture of CRRC Nanjing Puzhen & Bombardier), Intamin and EMTC.


title: Monorail

text: Other developers include CRRC Qingdao Sifang, China Railway Science and Industry Group, Zhongtang Air Rail Technology, Woojin and SkyWay Group.


title: Monorail

text: François Truffaut's 1966 film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel "Fahrenheit 451" contains suspended monorail exterior scenes filmed at the French SAFEGE test track in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire near Orléans, France (since dismantled).


title: Monorail

text: The "Thunderbirds" February 1966 episode "Brink of Disaster" is about the financing and building of a high speed driverless cross-country monorail project. Two of the Thunderbirds find themselves trapped on board the a monorail train, and with no possibility of escape, when it is discovered it is speeding towards a stricken bridge.


title: Monorail

text: The James Bond film franchise features monorails in three movies, all belonging to the villain. In "You Only Live Twice" (1967) there is a working ground level monorail inside the SPECTRE volcano base. The principal actors ride the monorail during the film. In 1973's "Live and Let Die" in the villain's lair on the fictional Caribbean island of San Monique a prop monorail is shown and in the 1977 "The Spy Who Loved Me" there is another working monorail on the villain's "supertanker" (submarine dock).


title: Monorail

text: In 1987, Lego released a monorail among the "Futuron" Space line. Despite being the most expensive Lego set of its time (due to being massive and including electrical elements), it was very popular, with Lego releasing a "Town" themed monorail in 1990 and another Space monorail in 1994 among the "Unitron" line, as well as additional track. The monorail system was also prominent in the unreleased "Seatron" Space line and prototype "Wild West" sets. Its popularity has still endured over thirty years later, where Lego has paid homage in promotional sets and fans have manufactured compatible components.


title: Monorail

text: The fourth season of the American animated television show "The Simpsons" features the episode "Marge vs. the Monorail", in which the town of Springfield impulsively purchases a faulty monorail from a con man at a wildly inflated price. The Monorail Society, an organization with 14,000 members worldwide, has blamed the episode for sullying the reputation of monorails, to which "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening responded "That's a by-product of our viciousness...Monorails are great, so it makes me sad, but at the same time if something's going to happen in The Simpsons, it's going to go wrong, right?"


title: Monorail

text: The 2005 feature film "Batman Begins" features a monorail, constructed by Bruce Wayne's father through Gotham City, that is part of the climax of the film. The monorail is also included in the spin-off video game.


title: Monorail

text: Blaine the Mono is a train featured in Stephen King's "The Dark Tower" series of books and first appears in "".


title: Monorail

text: Monorails have also appeared in a number of other video games including Transport Tycoon (since 1999), "Japanese Rail Sim 3D: Monorail Trip to Okinawa" by Sonic Powered, Cities in Motion 2, in the "Mass transit" expansion pack of 2017, Planet Zoo and a non-operating monorail system in the 2020 Cyberpunk 2077


title: Monorail

text: Monorails have been used for number of applications other than passenger transportation. Small suspended monorail are also widely used in factories either as part of moveable assembly lines.


title: Monorail

text: Inspired by the Centennial Monorail demonstrated in 1876, in 1877 the Bradford and Foster Brook Railway began construction of a line connecting Bradford and Foster Township, McKean County in Pennsylvania. The line operated from 1878 until 1879 delivering machinery and oil supplies. The first twin-boiler locomotive wore out quickly. It was replaced by a single boiler locomotive which was too heavy and crashed through the track on its third trip. The third locomotive again had twin boilers. On a trial run one of the boilers ran dry and exploded, killing six people. The railway was closed soon after.


title: Monorail

text: Monorails in Central Java were used to transport timber from the forests of Central Java located in the mountains to the rivers. In 1908 and 1909, the forester H. J. L. Beck built a manually operated monorail of limited but sufficient capacity for the transport of small timber and firewood in the Northern Surabaya forest district. In later years, this idea was further developed by L. A. van de Ven, who was a forester in the Grobogan forest district around 1908–1910. Monorails were built by plantation operators and wood processing companies throughout the mountains of Central Java. In 1919/1920, however, the hand-operated monorails gradually disappeared and were replaced by narrow-gauge railways with steam locomotives as forest utilization changed.


title: Monorail

text: In the 1920s the Port of Hamburg used a petrol powered, suspended monorail to transport luggage and freight from ocean-going vessels to a passenger depot.


title: Monorail

text: In the northern Mojave desert, the Epsom Salts Monorail was built in 1924. It ran for 28 miles from a connection on the Trona Railway, eastward to harvest epsomite deposits in the Owlshead Mountains. This Lartigue type monorail achieved gradients of up to ten percent. It only operated until June 1926, when the mineral deposits become uneconomic, and was dismantled for scrap in the late 1930s.


title: Monorail

text: In the Soviet Union the Lyskovsky monorail in the Nizhny Novgorod region was designed by the engineer of the timber industry Ivan Gorodtsov. A Lartigue type line of about long was opened in November 1934 to connect the village of Selskaya Maza with the villages of Bakaldy and Yaloksha to carry timber. Following this example a separate cargo-and-passenger monorail was built from the town of Bor to the village of Zavrazhnoe, where forest and peat were exploited. The Lyskovsky monorail stopped operating in 1949.


title: Monorail

text: The British firm "Road Machines (Drayton) Ltd" developed a modular-track ground-level monorail system with a high rail segments, long, running between support plates. The first system was sold in 1949 and it was used in industrial, construction and agricultural applications around the world. The company ceased trading in 1967. The system was adapted for the use in the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. An example of the system exists at the Amberley Museum & Heritage Centre in Britain.


title: Monorail

text: Very small and light weight systems are used widely on farms to transport crops such as bananas. First developed in Japan, industrial versions of slope cars are used in agriculture in steep sloped areas such as citrus orchards in Japan and vineyards in Italy. One European manufacturer says they have installed 650 systems worldwide.


title: Monorail

text: In the mining industry suspended monorails have been used because of their ability to descend and climb steep tunnels using rack and pinion drive. This significantly reduces cost and length of tunnels, by up to 60% in some cases, which otherwise must be at gentle gradients to suit road vehicles or conventional railways.


title: Monorail

text: A suspended monorail capable of carrying fully loaded 20' and 40' containers has been under construction since 2020 at the Port of Qingdao, the first phase of which was put into operation in 2021.


title: José Martí

text: José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the liberation of his country from Spain. He was also an important figure in Latin American literature. He was very politically active and is considered an important philosopher and political theorist. Through his writings and political activity, he became a symbol of Cuba's bid for independence from the Spanish Empire in the 19th century, and is referred to as the "Apostle of Cuban Independence". From adolescence, he dedicated his life to the promotion of liberty, political independence for Cuba, and intellectual independence for all Spanish Americans; his death was used as a cry for Cuban independence from Spain by both the Cuban revolutionaries and those Cubans previously reluctant to start a revolt.


title: José Martí

text: Born in Havana, Spanish Empire, Martí began his political activism at an early age. He traveled extensively in Spain, Latin America, and the United States, raising awareness and support for the cause of Cuban independence. His unification of the Cuban émigré community, particularly in Florida, was crucial to the success of the Cuban War of Independence against Spain. He was a key figure in the planning and execution of this war, as well as the designer of the Cuban Revolutionary Party and its ideology. He died in military action during the Battle of Dos Ríos on May 19, 1895. Martí is considered one of the great turn-of-the-century Latin American intellectuals. His written works include a series of poems, essays, letters, lectures, a novel, and a children's magazine.


title: José Martí

text: He wrote for numerous Latin American and American newspapers; he also founded a number of newspapers. His newspaper "Patria" was an important instrument in his campaign for Cuban independence. After his death, many of his verses from the book, "Versos Sencillos (Simple Verses)" were adapted to the song "Guantanamera", which has become a prominent representative song of Cuba. The concepts of freedom, liberty, and democracy are prominent themes in all of his works, which were influential on the Nicaraguan poet Rubén Darío and the Chilean poet Gabriela Mistral. Following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Martí's ideology became a major driving force in Cuban politics. He is also regarded as Cuba's "martyr".


title: José Martí

text: José Julián Martí Pérez was born on January 28, 1853, in Havana, at 41 Paula Street, to Spanish parents, a Valencian father, Mariano Martí Navarro, and Leonor Pérez Cabrera, a native of the Canary Islands. Martí was the older brother to seven sisters: Leonor, Mariana, María del Carmen, María del Pilar, Rita Amelia, Antonia and Dolores. He was baptized on February 12 in Santo Ángel Custodio church. When he was four, his family moved from Cuba to Valencia, Spain, but two years later they returned to the island where they enrolled José at a local public school, in the Santa Clara neighborhood where his father worked as a prison guard.


title: José Martí

text: In 1865, he enrolled in the Escuela de Instrucción Primaria Superior Municipal de Varones that was headed by Rafael María de Mendive. Mendive was influential in the development of Martí's political philosophies. Also instrumental in his development of a social and political conscience was his best friend Fermín Valdés Domínguez, the son of a wealthy slave-owning family. In April the same year, after hearing the news of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Martí and other young students expressed their pain—through group mourning—for the death of a man who had decreed the abolition of slavery in the United States. In 1866, Martí entered the Instituto de Segunda Enseñanza where Mendive financed his studies.


title: José Martí

text: Martí signed up at the Escuela Profesional de Pintura y Escultura de La Habana (Professional School for Painting and Sculpture of Havana) in September 1867, known as Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro, to take drawing classes. He hoped to flourish in this area but did not find commercial success. In 1867, he also entered the school of San Pablo, established and managed by Mendive, where he enrolled for the second and third years of his bachelor's degree and assisted Mendive with the school's administrative tasks. In April 1868, his poem dedicated to Mendive's wife, "A Micaela. En la Muerte de Miguel Ángel" appeared in Guanabacoa's newspaper "El Álbum".


title: José Martí

text: When the Ten Years' War broke out in Cuba in 1868, clubs of supporters for the Cuban nationalist cause formed all over Cuba, and José and his friend Fermín joined them. Martí had a precocious desire for the independence and freedom of Cuba. He started writing poems about this vision, while, at the same time, trying to do something to achieve this dream. In 1869, he published his first political writings in the only edition of the newspaper "El Diablo Cojuelo", published by Fermín Valdés Domínguez. That same year he published "Abdala", a patriotic drama in verse form in the one-volume "La Patria Libre" newspaper, which he published himself. "Abdala" is about a fictional country called Nubia which struggles for liberation. His sonnet "10 de Octubre", later to become one of his most famous poems, was also written during that year, and was published later in his school newspaper.


title: José Martí

text: In March of that year, colonial authorities shut down the school, interrupting Martí's studies. He came to resent Spanish rule of his homeland at an early age; likewise, he developed a hatred of slavery, which was still practiced in Cuba.


title: José Martí

text: On October 21, 1869, aged 16, he was arrested and incarcerated in the national jail, following an accusation of treason and bribery from the Spanish government upon the discovery of a "reproving" letter, which Martí and Fermín had written to a friend when the friend joined the Spanish army. More than four months later, Martí confessed to the charges and was condemned to six years in prison. His mother tried to free her son (who at 16 was still a minor) by writing letters to the government, and his father went to a lawyer friend for legal support, but these efforts failed. Eventually, Martí fell ill; his legs were severely lacerated by the chains that bound him. As a result, he was transferred to another part of Cuba known as Isla de Pinos instead of further imprisonment. Following that, the Spanish authorities decided to exile him to Spain. In Spain, Martí, who was 18 at the time, was allowed to continue his studies with the hopes that studying in Spain would renew his loyalty to Spain.


title: José Martí

text: In January 1871, Martí embarked on the steam ship "Guipuzcoa", which took him from Havana to Cádiz. He settled in Madrid in a guesthouse in Desengaño St. #10. Arriving at the capitol he contacted fellow Cuban Carlos Sauvalle, who had been deported to Spain a year before Martí and whose house served as a center of reunions for Cubans in exile. On March 24, Cádiz's newspaper "La Soberania Nacional", published Martí's article "Castillo" in which he recalled the sufferings of a friend he met in prison. This article would be reprinted in Sevilla's "La Cuestión Cubana" and New York's "La República". At this time, Martí registered himself as a member of independent studies in the law faculty of the Central University of Madrid. While studying here, Martí openly participated in discourse on the Cuban issue, debating through the Spanish press and circulating documents protesting Spanish activities in Cuba.


title: José Martí

text: Martí's maltreatment at the hands of the Spaniards and consequent deportation to Spain in 1871 inspired a tract, "Political Imprisonment in Cuba", published in July. This pamphlet's purpose was to move the Spanish public to do something about its government's brutalities in Cuba and promoted the issue of Cuban independence. In September, from the pages of "El Jurado Federal", Martí and Sauvalle accused the newspaper "La Prensa" of having calumniated the Cuban residents in Madrid. During his stay in Madrid, Martí frequented the Ateneo and the National Library, the Café de los Artistas, and the British, Swiss and Iberian breweries. In November he became sick and had an operation, paid for by Sauvalle.


title: José Martí

text: On November 27, 1871, eight medical students, who had been accused (without evidence) of the desecration of a Spanish grave, were executed in Havana. In June 1872, Fermín Valdés was arrested because of the November 27 incident. His sentence of six years of jail was pardoned, and he was exiled to Spain where he reunited with Martí. On November 27, 1872, the printed matter "Dia 27 de Noviembre de 1871" (27 November 1871) written by Martí and signed by Fermín Valdés Domínguez and Pedro J. de la Torre circulated Madrid. A group of Cubans held a funeral in the Caballero de Gracia church, the first anniversary of the medical students' execution.


title: José Martí

text: In 1873, Martí's ""A mis Hermanos Muertos el 27 de Noviembre"" was published by Fermín Valdés. In February, for the first time, the Cuban flag appeared in Madrid, hanging from Martí's balcony in Concepción Jerónima, where he lived for a few years. In the same month, the Proclamation of the First Spanish Republic by the Cortes on February 11, 1873 reaffirmed Cuba as inseparable to Spain, Martí responded with an essay, "The Spanish Republic and the Cuban Revolution", and sent it to the Prime Minister, pointing out that this new freely elected body of deputies that had proclaimed a republic based on democracy had been hypocritical not to grant Cuba its independence. He sent examples of his work to Nestor Ponce de Leon, a member of the Junta Central Revolucionaria de Nueva York (Central revolutionary committee of New York), to whom he would express his will to collaborate on the fight for the independence of Cuba.


title: José Martí

text: In May, he moved to Zaragoza, accompanied by Fermín Valdés to continue his studies in law at the Universidad Literaria. The newspaper "La Cuestión Cubana of Sevilla", published numerous articles from Martí.


title: José Martí

text: In June 1874, Martí graduated with a degree in Civil Law and Canon Law. In August he signed up as an external student at the Facultad de Filosofia y Letras de Zaragoza, where he finished his degree by October. In November he returned to Madrid and then left to Paris. There he met Auguste Vacquerie, a poet, and Victor Hugo. In December 1874 he embarked from Le Havre for Mexico. Prevented from returning to Cuba, Martí went instead to Mexico and Guatemala. During these travels, he taught and wrote, advocating continuously for Cuba's independence.


title: José Martí

text: In 1875, Martí lived on Calle Moneda in Mexico City near the Zócalo, a prestigious address of the time. One floor above him lived Manuel Antonio Mercado, Secretary of the Distrito Federal, who became one of Martí's best friends. On March 2, 1875, he published his first article for Vicente Villada's "Revista Universal", a broadsheet discussing politics, literature, and general business commerce. On March 12, his Spanish translation of Hugo's "Mes Fils" (1874) began serialization in "Revista Universal". Martí then joined the editorial staff, editing the "Boletín" section of the publication.


title: José Martí

text: In these writings, he expressed his opinions about current events in Mexico. On May 27, in the newspaper "Revista Universal", he responded to the anti-Cuban-independence arguments in "La Colonia Española", a newspaper for Spanish citizens living in Mexico. In December, Sociedad Gorostiza (Gorostiza Society), a group of writers and artists, accepted Martí as a member, where he met his future wife, Carmen Zayas Bazán, during his frequent visits to her Cuban father's house to meet with the Gorostiza group.


title: José Martí

text: On January 1, 1876, in Oaxaca, elements opposed to Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada's government, led by Gen. Porfirio Díaz, proclaimed the Plan de Tuxtepec, which instigated a bloody civil war. Martí and Mexican colleagues established the Sociedad Alarcón, composed of dramatists, actors, and critics. At this point, Martí began collaborating with the newspaper "El Socialista" as leader of the Gran Círculo Obrero (Great Labor Circle) organization of liberals and reformists who supported Lerdo de Tejada. In March, the newspaper proposed a series of candidates as delegates, including Martí, to the first Congreso Obrero, or congress of the workers. On June 4, La Sociedad Esperanza de Empleados (Employees' Hope Society) designated Martí as delegate to the Congreso Obrero. On December 7, Martí published his article "Alea Jacta Est" in the newspaper "El Federalista", bitterly criticizing the Porfiristas' armed assault upon the constitutional government in place. On December 16, he published the article "Extranjero" (foreigner; abroad), in which he repeated his denunciation of the Porfiristas and bade farewell to Mexico.


title: José Martí

text: In 1877, using his second name and second surname Julián Pérez as pseudonym, Martí embarked for Havana, hoping to arrange to move his family away to Mexico City from Havana. He returned to Mexico, however, entering at the port of Progreso from which, via Isla de Mujeres and Belize, he travelled south to progressive Guatemala City. He took residence in the prosperous suburb of Ciudad Vieja, home of Guatemala's artists and intelligentsia of the day, on Cuarta Avenida (Fourth Avenue), 3 km south of Guatemala City. While there, he was commissioned by the government to write the play "Patria y Libertad (Drama Indio)" (Country and Liberty (an Indian Drama)). He met personally the president, Justo Rufino Barrios, about this project. On April 22, the newspaper "El Progreso" published his article ""Los códigos Nuevos"" (The New Laws) pertaining to the then newly enacted Civil Code. On May 29, he was appointed head of the Department of French, English, Italian and German Literature, History and Philosophy, on the faculty of philosophy and arts of the Universidad Nacional. On July 25, he lectured for the opening evening of the literary society 'Sociedad Literaria El Porvenir', at the Teatro Colón (the since-renamed Teatro Nacional), at which function he was appointed vice-president of the Society, and acquiring the moniker "el doctor torrente," or Doctor Torrent, in view of his rhetorical style. Martí taught composition classes free at the A"cademia de Niñas de Centroamérica" girls' academy, among whose students he enthralled young María García Granados y Saborío, daughter of Guatemalan president Miguel García Granados. The schoolgirl's crush was unrequited, however, as he went again to México, where he met Carmen Zayas Bazán and whom he later married.


title: José Martí

text: In 1878, Martí returned to Guatemala and published his book "Guatemala", edited in Mexico. On May 10, socialite María García Granados died of lung disease; her unrequited love for Martí branded her, poignantly, as 'la niña de Guatemala, la que se murió de amor' (the Guatemalan girl who died of love). Following her death, Martí returned to Cuba. There, he resigned signing the Pact of Zanjón which ended the Cuban Ten Years' War, but had no effect on Cuba's status as a colony. He met Afro-Cuban revolutionary Juan Gualberto Gómez, who would be his lifelong partner in the independence struggle and a stalwart defender of his legacy during this same journey. He married Carmen Zayas Bazán on Havana's Calle Tulipán Street at this time. In October, his application to practice law in Cuba was refused, and thereafter he immersed himself in radical efforts, such as for the Comité Revolucionario Cubano de Nueva York (Cuban Revolutionary Committee of New York). On November 22, 1878 his son José Francisco, known fondly as "Pepito", was born.


title: José Martí

text: In 1881, after a brief stay in New York, Martí travelled to Venezuela and founded in Caracas the "Revista Venezolana", or Venezuelan Review. The journal incurred the wrath of Venezuela's dictator, Antonio Guzmán Blanco, and Martí was forced to return to New York. There, Martí joined General Calixto García's Cuban revolutionary committee, composed of Cuban exiles advocating independence. Here Martí openly supported Cuba's struggle for liberation, and worked as a journalist for "La Nación" of Buenos Aires and for several Central American journals, especially "La Opinion Liberal" in Mexico City. The article "El ajusticiamiento de Guiteau," an account of President Garfield's murderer's trial, was published in "La Opinion Liberal" in 1881, and later selected for inclusion in The Library of America's anthology of American True Crime writing. In addition, Martí wrote poems and translated novels to Spanish. He worked for Appleton and Company and, "on his own, translated and published Helen Hunt Jackson's "Ramona". His repertory of original work included plays, a novel, poetry, a children's magazine, "La Edad de Oro", and a newspaper, "Patria", which became the official organ of the Cuban Revolutionary party". He also served as a consul for Uruguay, Argentina, and Paraguay. Throughout this work, he preached the "freedom of Cuba with an enthusiasm that swelled the ranks of those eager to strive with him for it".


title: José Martí

text: Tension existed within the Cuban revolutionary committee between Martí and his military compatriots. Martí feared a military dictatorship would be established in Cuba upon independence, and suspected Dominican-born General Máximo Gómez of having these intentions. Martí knew that the independence of Cuba needed time and careful planning. Ultimately, Martí refused to cooperate with Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo Grajales, two Cuban military leaders from the Ten Years' War, when they wanted to invade immediately in 1884. Martí knew that it was too early to attempt to win back Cuba, and later events proved him right.


title: José Martí

text: On January 1, 1891, Martí's essay "Nuestra America" was published in New York's "Revista Ilustrada", and on the 30th of that month in Mexico's "El Partido Liberal". He actively participated in the Conferencia Monetaria Internacional (The International Monetary Conference) in New York during that time as well. On June 30 his wife and son arrived in New York. After a short time, during which Carmen Zayas Bazán realized that Martí's dedication to Cuban independence surpassed that of supporting his family, she returned to Havana with her son on August 27. Martí would never see them again. The fact that his wife never shared the convictions central to his life was an enormous personal tragedy for Martí. He turned for solace to Carmen Miyares de Mantilla, a Venezuelan who ran a boarding house in New York, and he is presumed to be the father of her daughter María Mantilla, who was in turn the mother of the actor Cesar Romero, who proudly claimed to be Martí's grandson. In September Martí became sick again. He intervened in the commemorative acts of The Independents, causing the Spanish consul in New York to complain to the Argentine and Uruguayan governments. Consequently, Martí resigned from the Argentinean, Paraguayan, and Uruguayan consulates. In October he published his book "Versos Sencillos".


title: José Martí

text: On November 26 he was invited by the "Club Ignacio Agramonte", an organization founded by Cuban immigrants in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to a celebration to collect funding for the cause of Cuban independence. There he gave a lecture known as ""Con Todos, y para el Bien de Todos"", which was reprinted in Spanish language newspapers and periodicals across the United States. The following night, another lecture, "" Los Pinos Nuevos"", was given by Martí in another Tampa gathering in honor of the medical students killed in Cuba in 1871. In November artist Herman Norman painted a portrait of José Martí.


title: José Martí

text: On January 5, 1892, Martí participated in a reunion of the emigration representatives, in Cayo Hueso (Key West), the Cuban community where the "Bases del Partido Revolucionario" (Basis of the Cuban Revolutionary Party) was passed. He began the process of organizing the newly formed party. To raise support and collect funding for the independence movement, he visited tobacco factories, where he gave speeches to the workers and united them in the cause. In March 1892 the first edition of the "Patria" newspaper, related to the Cuban Revolutionary Party, was published, funded and directed by Martí. During Martí's Key West years, his secretary was Dolores Castellanos (1870-1948), a Cuban-American woman born in Key West, who also served as president of the Protectoras de la Patria: Club Político de Cubanas, a Cuban women's political club in support of Martí's cause, and for whom Martí wrote a poem titled "A Dolores Castellanos." On April 8, he was chosen delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Party by the Cayo Hueso Club in Tampa and New York.


title: José Martí

text: From July to September 1892 he traveled through Florida, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica on an organization mission among the exiled Cubans. On this mission, Martí made numerous speeches and visited various tobacco factories. On December 16 he was poisoned in Tampa.


title: José Martí

text: In 1893, Martí traveled through the United States, Central America and the West Indies, visiting different Cuban clubs. His visits were received with a growing enthusiasm and raised badly needed funds for the revolutionary cause. On May 24 he met Rubén Darío, the Nicaraguan poet in a theatre act in Hardman Hall, New York City. On June 3 he had an interview with Máximo Gómez in Montecristi, Dominican Republic, where they planned the uprising. In July he met with General Antonio Maceo Grajales in San Jose, Costa Rica.


title: José Martí

text: In 1894 he continued traveling for propagation and organizing the revolutionary movement. On January 27 he published ""A Cuba!"" in the newspaper "Patria" where he denounced collusion between the Spanish and American interests. In July he visited the president of the Mexican Republic, Porfirio Díaz, and travelled to Veracruz. In August he prepared and arranged the armed expedition that would begin the Cuban revolution.


title: José Martí

text: On January 12, 1895, the North American authorities stopped the steamship "Lagonda" and two other suspicious ships, "Amadis" and "Baracoa", at the port of Fernandina in Florida, confiscating weapons and ruining Plan de Fernandina (Fernandina Plan). On January 29, Martí drew up the order of the uprising, signing it with general Jose Maria Rodriguez and Enrique Collazo. Juan Gualberto Gómez was assigned to orchestrate war preparations for La Habana Province, and was able to work right under the noses of the relatively unconcerned Spanish authorities. Martí decided to move to Montecristi, Dominican Republic to join Máximo Gómez and to plan out the uprising.


title: José Martí

text: The uprising finally took place on February 24, 1895. A month later, Martí and Máximo Gómez declared the Manifesto de Montecristi, an "exposition of the purposes and principles of the Cuban revolution". Martí had persuaded Gómez to lead an expedition into Cuba.