title: Ciao

text: The greeting has several variations and minor uses. In Italian and Portuguese, for example, a doubled / means specifically "goodbye", whilst the tripled or quadrupled word (but said with short breaks between each one) means "Bye, I'm in a hurry!"


title: Ciao

text: Pronounced with a long , it means "Hello, I'm so glad to meet you!" (be it sincere or sarcastic) in Italian, and a sarcastic or humorous use of "bye!" (cf. American English) in Portuguese. It can be used in Italian to express sarcasm at another person's point of view about one topic, especially when that opinion sounds outdated, in which case the meaning is comparable to the English "Yeah, right!"


title: Ciao

text: In all these cases, however, the special meaning is conferred more by the vocal inflection than by the modified use.


title: Songbird

text: A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin "oscen", "songbird". The Passeriformes contains 5000 or so species found all over the world, in which the vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate bird song.


title: Songbird

text: Songbirds form one of the two major lineages of extant perching birds (~4000 species), the other being the Tyranni (~1000 species), which are most diverse in the Neotropics and absent from many parts of the world. The Tyranni have a simpler syrinx musculature, and while their vocalizations are often just as complex and striking as those of songbirds, they are altogether more mechanical sounding. There is a third perching bird lineage, the Acanthisitti from New Zealand, of which only two species remain alive today.


title: Songbird

text: Some evidence suggests that songbirds evolved 50 million years ago in the part of Gondwana that later became India, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea and Antarctica, before spreading around the world.


title: Songbird

text: The song in this clade is essentially territorial, because it communicates the identity and whereabouts of an individual to other birds, and also signals sexual intentions. Sexual selection among songbirds is highly based on mimetic vocalization. Female preference has shown in some populations to be based on the extent of a male's song repertoire. The larger a male's repertoire, the more females a male individual attracts. It is not to be confused with bird calls that are used for alarms and contact and are especially important in birds that feed or migrate in flocks. While almost all living birds give calls of some sort, well-developed songs are only given by a few lineages outside the songbirds. And still, not all songbirds proffer a call that is distinctly melodious. Songbirds do, however, possess a highly developed vocal organ, the syrinx, that enables their sonorous activity. This organ, also known as a song box, can be found where the windpipe meets diverging bronchial tubes which lead to the lungs. The organ is a solid, bony structure lined with a film of membranes which air passes through as the songbird calls. While the song boxes of songbirds vary in size and intricacy, this does not necessarily determine the songbird's ability to voice their song. Researchers believe this has more to do with the length of the windpipe.


title: Songbird

text: Other birds (especially non-passeriforms) sometimes have songs to attract mates or hold territory, but these are usually simple and repetitive, lacking the variety of many oscine songs. The monotonous repetition of the common cuckoo or little crake can be contrasted with the variety of a nightingale or marsh warbler. On the other hand, although many songbirds have songs that are pleasant to the human ear, this is not invariably the case. Many members of the crow family (Corvidae) communicate with croaks or screeches, which sound harsh to humans. Even these, however, have a song of sorts, a softer twitter that is given between courting partners. And even though some parrots (which are not songbirds) can be taught to repeat human speech, vocal mimicry among birds is almost completely restricted to songbirds, some of which (such as the lyrebirds or the aptly-named mockingbirds) excel in imitating the sounds of other birds or even environmental noises.


title: Songbird

text: The birds from higher altitudes have evolved thicker downs (also known as jackets) to protect themselves from the changes in climate. Their feathers have outer and inner portions, with the lower down being fluffier and warmer to provide increased warmth.


title: Songbird

text: Sexual selection can be broken down into several different studies regarding different aspects of a bird's song. As a result, song can vary even within a single species. Many believe that song repertoire and cognition have a direct relationship. However, a study published in 2013 has shown that all cognitive ability may not be directly related to the song repertoire of a songbird. Specifically, spatial learning is said to have an inverse relationship with song repertoire. So for example, this would be an individual who does not migrate as far as others in the species, but has a better song repertoire. This suggests an evolutionary trade-off between possible alleles. With natural selection choosing traits best fit for reproductive success there could be a trade off in either direction depending on which trait would produce a higher fitness at that time period.


title: Songbird

text: Song repertoire can be attributed to male songbirds as it is one of the main mechanisms of courtship. Song repertoires differ from male individual to male individual and species to species. Some species may typically have large repertoires while others may have significantly smaller ones. Mate choice in female songbirds is a significant realm of study as song abilities are continuously evolving. Males often sing to assert their dominance over other males in competition for a female, sometimes in lieu of a combative episode, and to arouse the female by announcing a readiness to mate. Though less frequent, females have also been known to sing and occasionally in duet with a mate as an affirmation of their partnership. While some will sing their song from a familiar perch, other species common to grasslands will sing a familiar song each time they fly. Currently there have been numerous studies involving songbird repertoires, unfortunately, there has yet been concrete evidence to confirm that every songbird species prefers larger repertoires. A conclusion can be made that it can vary between species on whether a larger repertoire is connected to better fitness. With this conclusion, it can be inferred that evolution via natural selection, or sexual selection, favors the ability to retain larger repertoires for these certain species as it leads to higher reproductive success. During times of courtship, it is said that male songbirds increase their repertoire by mimicking other species songs. The better the mimicking ability, retaining ability, and the quantity of other species mimicked has been proven to have a positive relationship with mating success. Female preferences cause the constant improvement of accuracy and presentation of the copied songs. Another theory known as the "song-sharing hypothesis" suggests that females prefer simpler, more homogenous songs that signal a male of familiar territory. As birdsong can be broken into regional dialects through this process of mimicry, the foreign song of a newcomer suggests the lack of territorial possession. This can be costly in the wake of territorial conflicts between disparate songbird populations and may compel a female to prefer a male spouting a familiar song of the area.


title: Songbird

text: Sibley and Alquist divided songbirds into two "parvorders", Corvida and Passerida (standard taxonomic practice would rank these as infraorders), distributed in Australo-Papua and Eurasia respectively. Subsequent molecular studies, however, show this treatment to be somewhat erroneous. Passerida is a highly diverse lineage, uniting over one third of all bird species to include (in 2015) 3885 species). These are divided into three major superfamilies (though not exactly corresponding to the Sibley-Ahlquist arrangement), in addition to some minor lineages.


title: Songbird

text: In contrast, Sibley & Alquist's "Corvida" is a phylogenetic grade, and an artefact of the phenetic methodology. The bulk of the "Corvida" make up the large clade Corvides (812 species as of 2015), which is a sister group to the Passerida. The remaining 15 oscine families (343 species in 2015) form a series of basally branching sister groups to the Corvoid - Passerid clade. All of these groups, which form at least six successively branching basal clades, are found exclusively or predominantly in Australasia. Australian endemics are also prominent among basal lineages in both Corvoids and Passerids, suggesting that songbirds originated and diverged in Australia.


title: Songbird

text: Scrub-birds and lyrebirds, of which there are just two species of each, represent the oldest lineage of songbirds on Earth. The rufous scrubbird, "Atrichornis rufescens", is essentially confined to the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, occurring in both Queensland and New South Wales sections. It is now only found at elevations above 600 m.


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: Shenmue the Animation, also known simply as Shenmue, is a Japanese anime television series based on the "Shenmue" video game series by Yu Suzuki and published by Sega. A co-production between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim, the series aired from February to May 2022. A Japanese streaming release followed in April 2022. Shortly after its streaming debut in Japan, it was decided that a televised broadcast of the series would commence a month later on Tokyo MX in May 2022. The anime series adapts the storyline of the first two games, "Shenmue" (1999) and "Shenmue II" (2001).


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: After he witnesses his father's murder at the family dojo, Ryo Hazuki dedicates his life to finding the man responsible – a mission that takes him from the streets of Yokosuka, Japan, to the sprawling metropolis of Hong Kong and beyond. Ryo will learn that larger, mystical forces are at play as he trains to become the ultimate martial artist in his quest for revenge.


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: The series was announced on September 4, 2020, at the virtual Crunchyroll Expo. The series was directed by Chikara Sakurai, best known for directing the second season of "One-Punch Man". "Shenmue" creator Yu Suzuki was an executive producer on the series. Kento Shimoyama wrote the series' scripts, Kensuke Ishikawa designed the characters, and Kana Shibue composed the music. The series was animated by Telecom Animation Film with production management by Sola Entertainment. The opening theme is "UNDEAD-NOID" performed by Kashitarō Itō, while the ending theme is "Sympathy" performed by Narudora. The series consists of 13 episodes and it aired on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block and was streamed on Crunchyroll from February 6 to May 1, 2022. The English dubbing of the series was provided by Sentai Filmworks. The series premiered in Japan on multiple streaming services on April 7, 2022. Shortly after its streaming launch in Japan, it was announced that Tokyo MX would begin broadcasting the series a month later starting on May 3, 2022.


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: According to the producer Yuu Kiyozono, the anime was in development for around two to three years during the time "Shenmue III" was produced and released. Kiyozono said that the production crew went to Yokosuka to get an accurate feel of the city's streets and atmosphere. Most of the core Japanese voice actors returned from the video games, although some of the cast included new voice actors to appeal to the game's younger fanbase.


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: Producer Joseph Chou said that Suzuki was heavily involved in the production to plan out the narrative with backstory information that was never implemented in the games. Sakurai added that some free roaming aspects were included with Ryo talking to people in the streets. On October 8, 2021, "Shenmue"s first official trailer was revealed at New York Comic Con.


title: Shenmue (TV series)

text: On September 28, 2022, Jason DeMarco confirmed that a second season had been cancelled and the series was removed from Adult Swim's website.


title: Ataraxia

text: Ataraxia (Greek: ἀταραξία, from ("a-", negation) and "tarachē" "disturbance, trouble"; hence, "unperturbedness", generally translated as "imperturbability", "equanimity", or "tranquility") is a Greek term first used in Ancient Greek philosophy by Pyrrho and subsequently Epicurus and the Stoics for a lucid state of robust equanimity characterized by ongoing freedom from distress and worry. In non-philosophical usage, the term was used to describe the ideal mental state for soldiers entering battle.


title: Ataraxia

text: Achieving "ataraxia" is a common goal for Pyrrhonism, Epicureanism, and Stoicism, but the role and value of "ataraxia" within each philosophy varies in accordance with their philosophical theories. The mental disturbances that prevent one from achieving "ataraxia" vary among the philosophies, and each philosophy has a different understanding as to how to achieve "ataraxia".


title: Ataraxia

text: Ataraxia is the central aim of Pyrrhonist practice. Pyrrhonists view ataraxia as necessary for bringing about "eudaimonia" (happiness) for a person, representing life's ultimate purpose. The Pyrrhonist method for achieving ataraxia is through achieving "epoché" (i.e., suspension of judgment) regarding all matters of dogma (i.e., non-evident belief). The Pyrrhonist philosopher Sextus Empiricus summarized Pyrrhonism as "a disposition to oppose phenomena and noumena to one another in any way whatever, with the result that, owing to the equipollence among the things and statements thus opposed, we are brought first to epoché and then to ataraxia... Epoché is a state of the intellect on account of which we neither deny nor affirm anything. Ataraxia is an untroubled and tranquil condition of the soul."


title: Ataraxia

text: We always say that as regards belief (i.e., dogma) the Pyrrhonist's goal is ataraxia, and that as regards things that are unavoidable it is having moderate pathē. For when the Pyrrhonist set out to philosophize with the aim of assessing his phantasiai – that is, of determining which are true and which are false so as to achieve ataraxia – he landed in a controversy between positions of equal strength, and, being unable to resolve it, he suspended judgment. But while he was thus suspending judgment there followed by chance the sought-after ataraxia as regards belief. For the person who believes that something is by nature good or bad is constantly upset; when he does not possess the things that seem to be good, he thinks he is being tormented by things that are by nature bad, and he chases after the things he supposes to be good; then, when he gets these, he falls into still more torments because of irrational and immoderate exultation, and, fearing any change, he does absolutely everything in order not to lose the things that seem to him good. But the person who takes no position as to what is by nature good or bad neither avoids nor pursues intensely. As a result, he achieves ataraxia. Indeed, what happened to the Pyrrhonist is just like what is told of Apelles the painter. For it is said that once upon a time, when he was painting a horse and wished to depict the horse's froth, he failed so completely that he gave up and threw his sponge at the picture – the sponge on which he used to wipe the paints from his brush – and that in striking the picture the sponge produced the desired effect. So, too, the Pyrrhonists were hoping to achieve ataraxia by resolving the anomaly of phenomena and noumena, and, being unable to do this, they suspended judgment. But then, by chance as it were, when they were suspending judgment the ataraxia followed, as a shadow follows the body. We do not suppose, of course, that the Pyrrhonist is wholly untroubled, but we do say that he is troubled only by things unavoidable. For we agree that sometimes he is cold and thirsty and has various feelings like those. But even in such cases, whereas ordinary people are affected by two circumstances – namely by the pathē themselves and not less by its seeming that these conditions are by nature bad – the Pyrrhonist, by eliminating the additional belief that all these things are naturally bad, gets off more moderately here as well. Because of this we say that as regards belief the Pyrrhonist's goal is ataraxia, but in regard to things unavoidable it is having moderate pathē.


title: Ataraxia

text: Ataraxia is a key component of the Epicurean conception of the highest good. Epicureans value ataraxia highly because of how they understand pleasure. Epicureans argue that pleasure is the highest good. They break pleasure down into two categories: the physical and the mental. They consider mental, not physical, pleasures to be the greatest sort of pleasure because physical pleasures exist only in the present; whereas mental pleasures exist in the past, the present, and the future.


title: Ataraxia

text: Epicureans further separate pleasure into what they call kinetic and katastematic pleasures. Kinetic pleasures are those pleasures which come about through action or change. Such an action could be satisfying a desire or removing a pain, as that very sort of act is pleasurable in itself. Actions that feel good, even if not done to satisfy a desire or remove a pain, such as eating good-tasting food, also fall under the category of kinetic pleasures. Mental pleasures could also be kinetic in nature. Epicurus is said to have described joy as an example of a kinetic mental pleasure.


title: Ataraxia

text: Katastematic pleasure is pleasure which comes about from the absence of pain or distress. This sort of pleasure can be physical or mental. Physical katastematic pleasure comes in freedom from physical disturbances, such as simply being in the state of not being thirsty. Comparatively, mental katastematic pleasure comes in freedom from mental disturbance. Those who achieved freedom from physical disturbance were said to be in a state of "aponia," while those who achieved freedom from mental disturbances were said to be in a state of "ataraxia."


title: Ataraxia

text: Katastematic pleasures were regarded to be better than kinetic pleasures by Epicurus, believing that one could feel no more pleasure than the removal of all pain. Indeed, he is reported to have said:


title: Ataraxia

text: The magnitude of pleasure reaches its limit in the removal of all pain. When pleasure is present, so long as it is uninterrupted, there is no pain either of body or of mind or of both together.Being both a mental and katastematic pleasure, "ataraxia" has a supreme importance in Epicurean ethics and is key to a person's happiness. In the Epicurean view, a person experiences the highest form of happiness should they ever be both in a state of aponia and ataraxia at the time.


title: Ataraxia

text: Unlike in Pyrrhonism and Epicureanism, in Stoicism ataraxia is not the ultimate goal of life. Instead, a life of virtue according to nature is the goal of life. However, according to the Stoics, living virtuously in accordance with nature would lead to ataraxia as a byproduct.


title: Ataraxia

text: An important distinction to be made is the difference in Stoicism between "ataraxia" and the Stoic idea of "apatheia." While closely related to "ataraxia", the state of "apatheia" was the absence of unhealthy passions; a state attained by the ideal Stoic sage. This is not the same as "ataraxia". "Apatheia" describes freedom from the disturbance of emotions, not tranquility of the mind. However, "apatheia" is integral for a Stoic sage to reach the stage of "ataraxia". Since the Stoic sage does not care about matters outside of himself and is not susceptible to emotion because of his state of "apatheia", the Stoic sage would be unable to be disturbed by anything at all, meaning that he was in a stage of mental tranquility and thus was in the state of "ataraxia".


title: Ataraxia

text: Buddhism, a religion based on the teachings of Siddharta Gautama in the sixth century BC, affirms that the main cause of pain due to anguish is desire (any desire, which, because it is always associated with fear and hope, makes the heart anguish). So the flight or redemption of pain lies in the extinction or nakedness of all desire or disturbing affection, as especially the desire to live.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen (, , ; ) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies at the centre of the Ruhr, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth largest city after Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. The Ruhr is located in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas. Gelsenkirchen is the fifth largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, Bochum, Bielefeld and Münster, and it is one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. The city is home to the football club Schalke 04, which is named after . The club's current stadium Veltins-Arena, however, is located in .


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen was first documented in 1150, but it remained a tiny village until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution led to the growth of the entire area. In 1840, when the mining of coal began, 6,000 inhabitants lived in Gelsenkirchen; in 1900 the population had increased to 138,000. In the early 20th century, Gelsenkirchen was the most important coal mining town in Europe. It was called the "city of a thousand fires" for the flames of mine gases flaring at night. In 1928, Gelsenkirchen was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and . The city bore the name Gelsenkirchen-Buer, until it was renamed Gelsenkirchen in 1930. The city remained a center of coal mining and oil refining during the Nazi Era, so it was often a target of Allied bombing raids during World War II. There are no longer colliers in Gelsenkirchen with the city searching for a new image, having been hit for decades with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. Today Germany's largest solar power plant is located in the city. In Gelsenkirchen-Scholven there is a coal-fired power station with the tallest chimneys in Germany (302 m).


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Although the part of town now called Buer was first mentioned by Heribert I in a document as "Puira" in 1003, there were hunting people on a hill north of the Emscher as early as the Bronze Age – earlier than 1000 BC. They did not live in houses as such, but in small yards gathered together near each other. Later, the Romans pushed into the area. In about 700, the region was settled by the Saxons. A few other parts of town which today lie in Gelsenkirchen's north end were mentioned in documents from the early Middle Ages, some examples being: "Raedese" (nowadays "Resse"), Middelvic ("Middelich", today part of Resse), "Sutheim" ("Sutum"; today part of Beckhausen) and "Sculven" (nowadays "Scholven"). Many nearby farming communities were later identified as "" ("near Buer").


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: It was about 1150 when the name "Gelstenkerken" or "Geilistirinkirkin" appeared up for the first time. At about the same time, the first church in town was built in what is now Buer. This "" ("church at Buer") was listed in a directory of parish churches by the sexton from Deutz, Theodericus. This settlement belonged to the Mark. However, in ancient times and even in the Middle Ages, only a few dozen people actually lived in the settlements around the Emscher basin.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Up until the middle of the 19th century, the area in and around Gelsenkirchen was only thinly settled and almost exclusively agrarian. In 1815, after temporarily belonging to the Grand Duchy of Berg, the land now comprising the city of Gelsenkirchen passed to the Kingdom of Prussia, which assigned it to the province of Westphalia. Whereas the Gelsenkirchen of that time – not including today's north-end communities, such as Buer – was put in the "Amt" of Wattenscheid in the Bochum district, in the governmental region of Arnsberg, Buer, which was an "Amt" in its own right, was along with nearby Horst joined to Recklinghausen district in the governmental region of Münster. This arrangement came to an end only in 1928.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: After the discovery of coal – lovingly known as "Black Gold" – in the Ruhr area in 1840, and the subsequent industrialisation, the Cologne–Minden Railway and the Gelsenkirchen Main Railway Station were opened. In 1868, Gelsenkirchen became the seat of an "Amt" within the Bochum district which encompassed the communities of Gelsenkirchen, Braubauerschaft (since 1900, ), Schalke, Heßler, Bulmke and Hüllen.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Friedrich Grillo founded the Corporation for Chemical Industry ("Aktiengesellschaft für Chemische Industrie") in Schalke in 1872, as well as founding the "Vogelsang & Co." with the Grevel family (later "Schalker Eisenhütte Maschinenfabrik"), and also the Schalke Mining and Ironworks Association ("Schalker Gruben- und Hüttenverein"). A year later, and once again in Schalke, he founded the Glass and Mirror Factory Incorporated ("Glas- und Spiegel-Manufaktur AG").


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: In 1885, after the Bochum district was split up, Gelsenkirchen became the seat of its own district ("Kreis"), which would last until 1926. The cities of Gelsenkirchen and Wattenscheid, as well as the Ämter of Braubauerschaft (in 1900, Bismarck), Schalke, Ückendorf, Wanne and Wattenscheid all belonged to the Gelsenkirchen district. A few years later, in 1896, Gelsenkirchen split off from Gelsenkirchen district to become an independent city (). In 1891, Horst was split off from the "Amt" of Buer, which itself was raised to city status in 1911, and to an independent city status the next year. Meanwhile, Horst became the seat of its own "Amt". In 1924, the rural community of Rotthausen, which until then had belonged to the Essen district, was made part of the Gelsenkirchen district.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: In 1928, under the Prussian local government reforms, the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Buer along with the "Amt" of Horst together became a new "kreisfreie Stadt" called Gelsenkirchen-Buer, effective on 1 April that year. From that time, the whole city area belonged to the governmental district of Münster. In 1930, on the city's advice, the city's name was changed to "Gelsenkirchen", effective 21 May. By this time, the city was home to about 340,000 people.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: In 1931, the Gelsenkirchen Mining Corporation () founded the Gelsenberg Petrol Corporation (). In 1935, the Hibernia Mining Company founded the "Hydrierwerk Scholven AG GE-Buer" Coal liquefaction plant. Scholven/Buer began operation in 1936 and achieved a capacity of ""200,000 tons/year of finished product, mainly aviation base gasoline."" After 1937, Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG opened the Nordstern plant for converting bituminous coal to synthetic oil.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The 9 November 1938 Kristallnacht antisemitic riots destroyed Jewish businesses, dwellings and cemeteries, and a synagogue in Buer and one in downtown Gelsenkirchen. A new downtown Gelsenkirchen synagogue was opened on 1 February 2007.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen was a target of strategic bombing during World War II, particularly during the 1943 Battle of the Ruhr and the Oil Campaign. Three quarters of Gelsenkirchen was destroyed and many above-ground air-raid shelters such as near the town hall in Buer are in nearly original form.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The Gelsenberg Lager subcamp of KZ Buchenwald was established in 1944 to provide forced labor of about 2000 Hungarian women and girls for Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG. About 150 died during September 1944 bombing raids (shelters and protection ditches were forbidden to them).


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: From 1933 to 1945, the city's mayor was the appointed Nazi Carl Engelbert Böhmer. In 1994, the Institute for City History opened the documentation centre "Gelsenkirchen under National Socialism" ().


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: On 17 December 1953, the "Kokerei Hassel" went into operation, billed as Germany's "first new coking plant" since the war. When postal codes ("Postleitzahlen") were introduced in 1961, Gelsenkirchen was one of the few cities in West Germany to be given two codes: Buer was given 466, while Gelsenkirchen got 465. These were in use until 1 July 1993. The "first comprehensive school in North Rhine-Westphalia" was opened in 1969. Scholven-Chemie AG (the old hydrogenation plant) merged with Gelsenberg-Benzin-AG to form the new corporation VEBA-Oel AG. In 1987, Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass before 85,000 people at Gelsenkirchen's Parkstadion. The Pope also became an honorary member of FC Schalke 04.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: In 1997, the Federal Garden Show ("Bundesgartenschau" or "BUGA") was held on the grounds of the disused coalmine in Horst. In 1999, the last phase of the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park, an undertaking that brought together many cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, was held. Coke was produced at the old Hassel coking works for the last time on 29 September 1999. This marked the shutdown of the last coking plant in Gelsenkirchen, after being a coking town for more than 117 years. In the same year, Shell Solar Deutschland AG took over production of photovoltaic equipment. On 28 April 2000, the Ewald-Hugo colliery closed – Gelsenkirchen's last colliery. Three thousand coalminers lost their jobs. In 2003, Buer celebrated its thousandth anniversary of first documentary mention, and FC Schalke 04 celebrated on 4 May 2004 its hundredth anniversary.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The Jewish community of Gelsenkirchen was officially established in 1874, relatively late compared to the Jewish Ashkenazi communities in Germany. In a list of 1829 to determine the salary for the Chief Rabbi of Westphalia, , three families were named: the families of Ruben Levi, Reuben Simon, and Herz Heimann families. With the growth of the town during the second half of the 19th century, its Jewish population also grew bigger, with about 120 Jews living in town in 1880, and a synagogue established in 1885. With the growth of the community, a bigger building was built to serve as the community school.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The community continued to grow and around 1,100 Jews were living in Gelsenkirchen in 1901, a number that reached its peak of 1,300 individuals in 1933. At the turn of the 20th century the Reform Jewish community was the most dominant among all Jewish communities in town, and after an organ was installed inside the synagogue, and most prayers performed mostly in German instead of traditional Hebrew, the town's orthodox community decided to stop attending the synagogue and tried to establish a new orthodox community, led by Dr. Max Meyer, Dr. Rubens and Abraham Fröhlich, most of them living on Florastraße. In addition, another Jewish orthodox congregation of Polish Jews was found in town. In 1908, a lot on Wanner Straße was purchased and served the community as its cemetery until 1936, today containing about 400 graves. In addition, another cemetery was built in 1927 in the suburb of .


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: With the rise of Hitler and National Socialism in 1933, Jewish life in Gelsenkirchen was still relatively unaffected at first. In August 1938, 160 Jewish businesses were still open in town. In October 1938, though, an official ban restricted these businesses and all Jewish doctors became unemployed. In the same month, the Jewish community of the town was expelled. Between 1937 and 1939, the Jewish population of Gelsenkirchen dropped from 1,600 to 1,000. During Kristallnacht, the town's synagogue was destroyed, after two thirds of the town's Jewish population had already left. On 27 January 1942, 350 among the 500 remaining Jews in town were deported to the Riga Ghetto; later, the last remaining Jews were deported to Warsaw and the Theresienstadt concentration camp.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: On 31 March 1942, a Nazi deportation train set out from Gelsenkirchen and, carrying 48 Jews from the town area, made its way to the Warsaw Ghetto. The train was the first to deport Jews to Warsaw and not to Trawniki concentration camp in southern Poland, as used before. After it left Gelsenkirchen, the train was boarded by other Jews from Münster, Dortmund and a few other stops along the way, and mostly by the Jews of Hanover, 500 in number. The arrival of this transport from Westphalia and Upper Saxony was recorded in his diaries by Adam Czerniakov, the last chairman of the Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat. He stated that those older than 68 were allowed to stay in Germany. The majority of these deportees were killed later on the different death sites around modern-day Poland.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: In 1946, 69 Jews returned to Gelsenkirchen and in 1958, a synagogue and cultural centre were built for the remaining community. In 2005, about 450 Jews were living in town. During the last decade of the 20th century, a noted number of Jews came to the town, after emigrating out of the former USSR. This situation made it necessary to extend the synagogue. Eventually, a new and bigger synagogue was built to serve the increasing Jewish community of Gelsenkirchen. The current community practices Orthodox Judaism, even though no family practices it at home. On 16 May 2014, antisemitic graffiti were painted on the town synagogue.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The building at Husemannstraße 75 belonged to Dr. Max Meyer, who built it between 1920 and 1921. A mezuzah sign can still be seen on the top right side of the door. On Florastraße, near Kennedyplatz, (formerly Schalker Straße 45), stands the house of the Tepper family, a Jewish family that vanished during the Holocaust. As part of the national Stolperstein project, five bricks, commemorating the Jewish inhabitants, were installed outside the house.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen presents itself as a centre of solar technology. Shell Solar Deutschland GmbH produces solar cells in Rotthausen. Scheuten Solar Technology has taken over its solar panel production. There are other large businesses in town: , Gelsenwasser, e.on, BP Gelsenkirchen GmbH, Shell Solar Deutschland GmbH and Pilkington. ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen is a zoo founded in 1949 as "Ruhr-Zoo" which is now operated by the city.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen lies on autobahns A 2, A 40, A 42 and A 52, as well as on Bundesstraßen (Federal Highways) B 224, B 226 and B 227. Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof (central station) lies at the junction of the Duisburg–Dortmund, the Essen–Gelsenkirchen and the Gelsenkirchen–Münster lines.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The Rhine–Herne Canal has a commercial-industrial harbour in Gelsenkirchen. has a yearly turnover of 2 million tonnes and a water surface area of about , one of Germany's biggest and most important canal harbours, and is furthermore connected to Deutsche Bahn's railway network at Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Local transport in Gelsenkirchen is provided by the Bochum/Gelsenkirchen tramway network and buses run by the Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahn AG (BOGESTRA), as well as by buses operated by Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH in the city's north (despite its name, it nowadays runs only buses). Some Stadtbahn and tram lines are operated by . All these services have an integrated fare structure within the VRR. There are three tram lines, one light rail line, and about 50 bus routes in Gelsenkirchen.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen is the headquarters of the "Verband Lokaler Rundfunk in Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. (VLR)" (Network of Local Radio in North Rhine-Westphalia Registered Association). REL ("Radio Emscher-Lippe") is also headquartered in Gelsenkirchen.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Among newspapers, the "Buersche Zeitung" was a daily till 2006. The "Ruhr Nachrichten" ceased publication in Gelsenkirchen in April 2006. Now, the "Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung" is the only local newspaper in Gelsenkirchen. The local station also reports the local news.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: There is also a free weekly newspaper, the "Stadtspiegel Gelsenkirchen", along with monthly, or irregular, local publications called the "Familienpost" and the "Beckhausener Kurier".


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen has 51 elementary schools (36 public schools, 12 Catholic schools, 3 Protestant schools), 8 "Hauptschulen", 6 "Realschulen", 7 "Gymnasien", and 5 "Gesamtschulen", among which the "Gesamtschule Bismarck", as the only comprehensive school run by the Westphalian branch of the Evangelical (Lutheran) Church, warrants special mention.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The "Fachhochschule Gelsenkirchen", founded in 1992, also has campuses in Bocholt and Recklinghausen. It offers courses in Economics, Computer Science, Engineering Physics, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Supply and Disposal Engineering.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The Institute for Underground Infrastructure, founded in 1994 and associated with the Ruhr University Bochum, provides a wide range of research, certification, and consulting services. The science park created in 1995 by Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park, , provides a pathway to restructure the local economy from coal- and steel-based industries to solar energy and project management.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The current Mayor of Gelsenkirchen is Karin Welge of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) since 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: The Gelsenkirch city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Gelsenkirchen is home of the football club FC Schalke 04, currently in the Bundesliga, the first tier of German football. The club has won 7 Bundesliga titles. Schalke's home ground, Arena AufSchalke. It was one of 12 German cities to host matches during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, hosting matches between Poland and Ecuador, Argentina and Serbia and Montenegro, Portugal and Mexico, and USA and Czech Republic.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: German football players İlkay Gündoğan, Mesut Özil, Olaf Thon and Manuel Neuer were born in Gelsenkirchen. German football manager Michael Skibbe was also born in Gelsenkirchen.


title: Gelsenkirchen

text: Since 1912, Gelsenkirchen owns the harness racing track Trabrennbahn Gelsenkirchen (also referred as GelsenTrabPark).


title: Denise Coates

text: Denise Coates (born 26 September 1967) is a British billionaire businesswoman, the founder, majority shareholder and joint chief executive of online gambling company Bet365.


title: Denise Coates

text: In October 2019, "Forbes" magazine estimated Coates's net worth at $12.2 billion. In 2020, she earned a salary of £422 million and dividends of £48 million. As of 2021, she has been the highest paid chief executive in Britain for several years, and is one of the wealthiest women in Britain, according to the "Sunday Times" Rich list.


title: Denise Coates

text: Denise Coates was born the eldest daughter of Peter Coates, chairman of Stoke City F.C. and a director of Bet365. She earned a first class degree in econometrics from the University of Sheffield.


title: Denise Coates

text: While at school, Coates started work in the cashiers' department of Provincial Racing, a bookmaking firm owned by her family. After leaving university, she continued to work at Provincial Racing, as an accountant. Following this, Coates became managing director over the small chain of shops in 1995. That same year, Coates obtained a loan from Barclays to acquire a neighbouring chain.


title: Denise Coates

text: In January 2000, Coates purchased the domain name Bet365.com. Bet365.com was launched in 2001 as an online betting site. The business borrowed £15 million from RBS against the family's betting shop estate. In 2005, these shops were sold to Coral for £40 million, which allowed Coates to pay off the loan to RBS.


title: Denise Coates

text: As of 2016, Bet365 is one of the world's largest online gambling companies, with $2 billion in revenues and facilitating $45 billion in yearly bets. The company also owns a majority stake in Stoke City Football Club. In 2015, Bet365 moved its headquarters from Stoke to Gibraltar because of its favourable regulations. Coates still runs the company alongside her brother, and co-CEO, John Coates.


title: Denise Coates

text: Coates owns around half of Bet365. Her personal fortune is estimated at $5.2 billion, as of December 2022.


title: Denise Coates

text: In 2017, Coates was criticised for paying herself £217 million, with Mike Dixon, CEO of Addaction, saying "It cannot be right that the CEO of a betting company is paid 22 times more than the whole industry ‘donates’ to treatment." In 2018, it was announced that her salary had increased to £265 million, around 9,500 times more than the average UK salary, with Luke Hildyard of the High Pay Centre commenting, "Obviously, people who build successful companies need to be rewarded for their hard work, but this is an obscene amount of money for someone who is already a billionaire. It's weird to think that someone so rich would want to get their hands on even more, rather than put it to a more useful purpose." Her salary of £421 million in 2020 was 50% higher than it was in 2019, and higher than all FTSE 100 Index CEOs combined.


title: Denise Coates

text: Coates set up the Bet365 Foundation in August 2012, and in February 2016 it was renamed to Denise Coates Foundation. It is a registered charity under English law and it donated £100 million to twenty UK charities as of 2014. In 2022 the charity donated £1 million to help families in Ukraine.


title: Denise Coates

text: Charities which have received funds include Oxfam, CAFOD, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice for cancer sufferers in Stoke, and relief programmes for victims caught in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. University scholarships and theatre donations have also been offered.


title: Denise Coates

text: The Foundation pledged £230,000 to St Joseph's College, in Trent Vale, for the school's work to help support vulnerable young people in Bo, Sierra Leone.


title: Denise Coates

text: In March 2020 the foundation granted £235,000 to The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme for essential refurbishment and redevelopment.


title: Denise Coates

text: In April 2020, Coates donated £10 million through her foundation to University Hospitals of North Midlands to support staff fighting coronavirus.


title: Denise Coates

text: Coates is married to Richard Smith, and they live in Betchton near Sandbach, Cheshire. She drives an Aston Martin with personalised number plates bearing her initials.


title: Denise Coates

text: They have five children, including four that in March 2014 were reported as being "recently adopted from the same family".


title: Denise Coates

text: In January 2012, Coates was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the community and business. In 2012, she received an honorary doctorate from Staffordshire University.


title: Denise Coates

text: In 2013, Coates was named as one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by "Woman's Hour" on BBC Radio 4.


title: Denise Coates

text: In 2019, Coates was inducted to the Sports Betting Hall of Fame run by Sports Betting Community (SBC) for her leadership in the gambling industry.


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of acclaimed singer K. J. Yesudas.


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay made his debut as a singer with the 2000 Malayalam film "Millennium Stars", which had music composed by Vidyasagar. Vijay Yesudas won three Kerala State Film Awards for Best Singer for the songs "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" in "Nivedyam" (2007), "Akaleyo Nee" in "Grandmaster" and "Mazhakondu Mathram" in "Spirit" (2012), and "Poomuthole" in "Joseph" (2018). He has also won five Filmfare Awards for Best Singer and four SIIMA Awards for Best Male Playback Singer. He made a foray into acting by playing the villain role in the Tamil film "Maari" (2015) and the lead role in the Tamil film "Padaiveeran" (2018).


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay Yesudas was born to singer K. J. Yesudas and Prabha. He is the second son in the family, having an elder brother named Vinod and a younger one, Vishal. He is the grandson of stage singer Augustine Joseph. He studied in Chennai until 9th grade and went to the U.S. for further studies. He graduated from Florida International University with a BA in music.


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay Yesudas started learning Carnatic music in the early 1997. He is popular for songs sung under composer Yuvan Shankar Raja. He has collaborated with various other composers such as Dakshinamoorthy Swami, Ilaiyaraja, A. R. Rahman, Raveendran, Hamsalekha, Deva, Ouseppachan, Vidyasagar, Mani Sharma, M. M. Keeravani, and Mohan Sitara along with new-generation composers such as Karthik Raja, M. Jayachandran, Sabesh–Murali, Harris Jayaraj, G. V. Prakash Kumar, D. Imman, Srikanth Deva, and Deepak Dev.


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay made his playback debut in the 2000 Malayalam film "Millennium Stars", on the composition of Vidyasagar. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for "Kolakkuzhal Vili Ketto" in "Nivedyam" (2007). Vijay made his acting debut in the 2010 Malayalam film "Avan". In 2013, he won his second Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer for "Akaleyo Nee" in "Grandmaster" and "Mazhakondu Mathram" in "Spirit" (2012). In 2015, Vijay sang "Malare" in the Malayalam film "Premam", went viral among young audiences. The song was often shared soon after its video release, he also had another successful song, "Hemnathamen Kaikumbili" from "Kohinoor". That year, he also acted as villain in the commercially successful Tamil film "Maari". His performance received appreciation. He has sung 178 Malayalam songs and 118 Tamil songs.


title: Vijay Yesudas

text: Vijay met his future wife Darshana at a music concert held in Dubai on 2002 Valentine's Day. After five years of dating, he married Darshana in 2007 at Trivandrum. They have a daughter, Ammeya, and a son, Avyan.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: Shimazu Toyohisa, while involved at the Battle of Sekigahara, manages to mortally wound Ii Naomasa, but is critically injured in the process. As he walks from the field wounded and bleeding, Toyohisa finds himself transported to a corridor of doors, where a bespectacled man at a desk waits for him. This man, Murasaki, sends Toyohisa through the nearest door where he wakes up in another world. There, Toyohisa meets other great warriors like him who have been transported as well, to be part of a group known as "Drifters".


title: Drifters (manga)

text: This world contains both native humans and a number of fantastical races, including elves, dwarves, and hobbits. However, the world is at war, with the humans waging a losing conflict against another group of great warriors, the "Ends", who wish to take over the world and kill all of the Drifters. Under the Ends' command are many horrible creatures, including giants and dragons, which they use to destroy everything in their path. At the start of the series, the Ends' army has control of the northern part of the continent, and are trying to invade the south through a pivotal fortress at the northernmost tip of a nation called Carneades. Meanwhile, the "Octobrist Organization", a group of human magicians native to this world, attempts to bring together the many individual Drifters to save their world from the brutal Ends.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: Written and illustrated by Kouta Hirano, "Drifters" debuted in Shōnen Gahosha's "seinen" manga magazine "Young King Ours" on April 30, 2009. It is licensed in North America by Dark Horse Comics, in France by Éditions Tonkam, in Germany by Panini Comics, in Italy by J-POP, in Taiwan by Tong Li Comics and in Poland by Japonica Polonica Fantastica.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: A 150-second anime adaptation of "Drifters" was packaged with the final volume of the "Hellsing Ultimate" video series in December 2012. The short, produced under the supervision of Ryoji Nakamori, technical director Kazuya Miura, and animation director Masayori Komine, featured the voices of Yūichi Nakamura as Shimazu Toyohisa and Mitsuru Miyamoto as Murasaki, with music composed by Yasushi Ishii.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: In the May 2015 issue of "Young King OURs", it was announced that a "Drifters" anime adaptation was in the works. A production site for the anime has been released. The anime was directed by Kenichi Suzuki, produced by NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, animated by Hoods Drifters Studio, written by Hideyuki Kurata and Yōsuke Kuroda, featuring character designs by Ryoji Nakamori. Yasushi Ishii and Hayato Matsuo composed the music together. The opening theme, "Gospel Of The Throttle 狂奔REMIX ver.", is performed by Minutes til Midnight, while the ending theme, "Vermillion", is performed by Maon Kurosaki.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: The 12-episode series began airing on October 7, 2016, on Tokyo MX. A specially edited version of the first and second episodes with a runtime of 36 minutes was bundled with the manga's fifth volume, and released on June 6, 2016. A special limited-pressing Blu-ray box set was released on December 30, 2016. The box set includes all twelve episodes (with added unaired footage), an exclusive box illustrated by Hirano, a 200-page animation sketch collection by chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a 52-page booklet, a bonus extras disc, and a two-CD original soundtrack. The bonus extras disc contained an omake titled """", promotional videos, and other materials. Customers who pre-ordered the box set from participating retailers before November 6, 2016, would receive an exclusive illustration card set. Additionally, the box set included a form for advance ticket sales for an event that was held on April 2, 2017, at Maihama Amphitheater in Chiba.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: In Japan, the anime is exclusively streamed on the AbemaTV service simultaneously as the anime aired on Japanese television, starting on October 7 at 11p.m. The series has been licensed by Funimation for streaming in English-speaking countries and home video and on-demand distribution for the U.S. Additionally, Funimation streamed "Drifters" in English beginning on November 6, 2016, at 10:00 p.m. ET. As part of Funimation's partnership with Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll also streamed "Drifters" as it aired in Japan. "Drifters" was also broadcast on Aniplus Asia. Funimation released a DVD/Blu-ray combo package for "Drifters" on October 3, 2017. Universal Pictures UK acquired the series for the United Kingdom and Ireland, and released it on October 8, 2018. Universal Sony classified the series for release in Australia and New Zealand, and released it on October 17, 2018.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: At the end of the anime's twelfth episode, a second season was announced with the message "See You Again, Tokyo 20XX". On October 10, 2017, it was announced the thirteenth and fourteenth episodes, the first two episodes of the second season were released on December 23, 2017, on Blu-ray discs in regular and limited-edition versions. The limited edition includes an outer case illustrated by manga creator Kouta Hirano, a jacket illustrated by character designer and chief animation director Ryoji Nakamori, a bonus video, a drama CD, a 72-page booklet, and a "mystery disc." A fifteenth episode was released on DVD with the manga's 6th volume special edition on November 30, 2018.


title: Drifters (manga)

text: The manga has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide in five different languages. "Drifters " has been nominated twice for the annual Manga Taishō Awards, once in the year 2011 and again in the year 2012. The manga was also received well by BAMFAS, saying that the "action paces itself throughout the volume, making sure to include only enough to keep readers moving quickly through the event until the next transition hits." Writers for Crunchyroll note that ""Drifters "has all but jumped the shark by belligerently knocking over all the narrative pillars of the genre." The Inquisitr agrees with this assessment, writing that "anime fans have been treated to a steady stream of the "Isekai" subgenre…but "Drifters" pretty much turns our expectations on its head."


title: Drifters (manga)

text: In a survey by the Japanese website "Anime Anime!", "Drifters" won fifth place among top 10 manga properties to have an animated adaptation.


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: Kimberly Jean Brown is an American actress, best known to audiences for her portrayal of the teen witch Marnie Piper in the "Halloweentown" films, in which she starred alongside Debbie Reynolds. Before being cast as Marnie, Brown found notoriety for her role as Marah Lewis on "Guiding Light", the third actress to take on the role, and as Annie Wheaton in the "Rose Red" miniseries, an original miniseries written by Stephen King. She also starred in the acclaimed movie "Tumbleweeds".


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: Brown's career began when she was very young. By the time she was 11 years old, Brown had already enjoyed success as a child model with Ford Models, performed in multiple Broadway shows and earned an Emmy nomination for her portrayal of Marah Lewis on "Guiding Light". She also found work as a voice actress, lending her voice to commercials, "A Bug's Life" and the English dub of "Vampire Princess Miyu."


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: At the age of 13, Brown was cast in her most notable film, the Disney Channel Original Movie "Halloweentown", in which she played 13-year-old Marnie Piper, a young witch who is determined to learn magic from her grandmother Aggie, portrayed by Debbie Reynolds. In September 2016, Brown recalled her audition for the film when she had to react to the conversation where it was revelaed the character Marnie is a witch. Brown read for the role twice before being cast. "Halloweentown" aired on October 17, 1998, and was well received by audiences, leading Disney Channel to produce three sequels; Brown reprised her role as Marnie in two of them. She was replaced by Sara Paxton in the fourth installment, "Return to Halloweentown", a decision over which Brown expressed confusion and disappointment. Fans of the franchise were unhappy with Paxton's portrayal of the character and some major entertainment outlets were critical. BuzzFeed said that the first three films were the best thing about Halloween while the fourth film was best left ignored, while MTV said fans should act as if the fourth film had never happened. Outside of "Halloweentown", Brown also starred in another Disney Channel original movie, the 2000 film "Quints". In 1999, Brown co-starred with Janet McTeer in "Tumbleweeds". The film received positive reviews.


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: Brown and a friend run the Etsy shop CraftilyCreative, which sells a variety of items, including "Halloweentown"-themed merchandise.


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: In 2016, Brown published a Halloween-themed children's book, "Poppin's Pumpkin Patch Parade", with co-author Diane Yslas.


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: In a 2010 interview, Brown said that she was close to graduating from college, though she did not disclose what her major was or the school at which she was studying. She later revealed in 2018 that she had received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business.


title: Kimberly J. Brown

text: In 2016, she reconnected with "" co-star Daniel Kountz for a "Halloweentown"-themed project for Brown's YouTube channel, and they soon began dating. In June 2022, Brown announced their engagement.


title: Salinity

text: Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal to ‰).


title: Salinity

text: Salinity is an important factor in determining many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and of biological processes within it, and is a thermodynamic state variable that, along with temperature and pressure, governs physical characteristics like the density and heat capacity of the water.


title: Salinity

text: Salinity in rivers, lakes, and the ocean is conceptually simple, but technically challenging to define and measure precisely. Conceptually the salinity is the quantity of dissolved salt content of the water. Salts are compounds like sodium chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium nitrate, and sodium bicarbonate which dissolve into ions. The concentration of dissolved chloride ions is sometimes referred to as chlorinity. Operationally, dissolved matter is defined as that which can pass through a very fine filter (historically a filter with a pore size of 0.45 μm, but nowadays usually 0.2 μm). Salinity can be expressed in the form of a mass fraction, i.e. the mass of the dissolved material in a unit mass of solution.


title: Salinity

text: Seawater typically has a mass salinity of around 35 g/kg, although lower values are typical near coasts where rivers enter the ocean. Rivers and lakes can have a wide range of salinities, from less than 0.01 g/kg to a few g/kg, although there are many places where higher salinities are found. The Dead Sea has a salinity of more than 200 g/kg. Precipitation typically has a TDS of 20 mg/kg or less.


title: Salinity

text: Whatever pore size is used in the definition, the resulting salinity value of a given sample of natural water will not vary by more than a few percent (%). Physical oceanographers working in the abyssal ocean, however, are often concerned with precision and intercomparability of measurements by different researchers, at different times, to almost five significant digits. A bottled seawater product known as IAPSO Standard Seawater is used by oceanographers to standardize their measurements with enough precision to meet this requirement.


title: Salinity

text: Measurement and definition difficulties arise because natural waters contain a complex mixture of many different elements from different sources (not all from dissolved salts) in different molecular forms. The chemical properties of some of these forms depend on temperature and pressure. Many of these forms are difficult to measure with high accuracy, and in any case complete chemical analysis is not practical when analyzing multiple samples. Different practical definitions of salinity result from different attempts to account for these problems, to different levels of precision, while still remaining reasonably easy to use.


title: Salinity

text: For practical reasons salinity is usually related to the sum of masses of a subset of these dissolved chemical constituents (so-called "solution salinity"), rather than to the unknown mass of salts that gave rise to this composition (an exception is when artificial seawater is created). For many purposes this sum can be limited to a set of eight major ions in natural waters, although for seawater at highest precision an additional seven minor ions are also included. The major ions dominate the inorganic composition of most (but by no means all) natural waters. Exceptions include some pit lakes and waters from some hydrothermal springs.


title: Salinity

text: The concentrations of dissolved gases like oxygen and nitrogen are not usually included in descriptions of salinity. However, carbon dioxide gas, which when dissolved is partially converted into carbonates and bicarbonates, is often included. Silicon in the form of silicic acid, which usually appears as a neutral molecule in the pH range of most natural waters, may also be included for some purposes (e.g., when salinity/density relationships are being investigated).


title: Salinity

text: The term 'salinity' is, for oceanographers, usually associated with one of a set of specific measurement techniques. As the dominant techniques evolve, so do different descriptions of salinity. Salinities were largely measured using titration-based techniques before the 1980s. Titration with silver nitrate could be used to determine the concentration of halide ions (mainly chlorine and bromine) to give a chlorinity. The chlorinity was then multiplied by a factor to account for all other constituents. The resulting 'Knudsen salinities' are expressed in units of parts per thousand (ppt or ‰).


title: Salinity

text: The use of electrical conductivity measurements to estimate the ionic content of seawater led to the development of the scale called the "practical salinity scale 1978" (PSS-78). Salinities measured using PSS-78 do not have units. The suffix psu or PSU (denoting "practical salinity unit") is sometimes added to PSS-78 measurement values. The addition of PSU as a unit after the value is "formally incorrect and strongly discouraged".


title: Salinity

text: In 2010 a new standard for the properties of seawater called the "thermodynamic equation of seawater 2010" (TEOS-10) was introduced, advocating absolute salinity as a replacement for practical salinity, and conservative temperature as a replacement for potential temperature. This standard includes a new scale called the "reference composition salinity scale". Absolute salinities on this scale are expressed as a mass fraction, in grams per kilogram of solution. Salinities on this scale are determined by combining electrical conductivity measurements with other information that can account for regional changes in the composition of seawater. They can also be determined by making direct density measurements.


title: Salinity

text: A sample of seawater from most locations with a chlorinity of 19.37 ppt will have a Knudsen salinity of 35.00 ppt, a PSS-78 practical salinity of about 35.0, and a TEOS-10 absolute salinity of about 35.2 g/kg. The electrical conductivity of this water at a temperature of 15 °C is 42.9 mS/cm.


title: Salinity

text: On the global scale, it is extremely likely that human-caused climate change has contributed to observed surface and subsurface salinity changes since the 1950s, and projections of surface salinity changes throughout the 21st century indicate that fresh ocean regions will continue to get fresher and salty regions will continue to get saltier.


title: Salinity

text: Limnologists and chemists often define salinity in terms of mass of salt per unit volume, expressed in units of mg/L or g/L. It is implied, although often not stated, that this value applies accurately only at some reference temperature because solution volume varies with temperature. Values presented in this way are typically accurate to the order of 1%. Limnologists also use electrical conductivity, or "reference conductivity", as a proxy for salinity. This measurement may be corrected for temperature effects, and is usually expressed in units of μS/cm.


title: Salinity

text: A river or lake water with a salinity of around 70 mg/L will typically have a specific conductivity at 25 °C of between 80 and 130 μS/cm. The actual ratio depends on the ions present. The actual conductivity usually changes by about 2% per degree Celsius, so the measured conductivity at 5 °C might only be in the range of 50–80 μS/cm.


title: Salinity

text: Direct density measurements are also used to estimate salinities, particularly in highly saline lakes. Sometimes density at a specific temperature is used as a proxy for salinity. At other times an empirical salinity/density relationship developed for a particular body of water is used to estimate the salinity of samples from a measured density.


title: Salinity

text: Marine waters are those of the ocean, another term for which is "euhaline seas". The salinity of euhaline seas is 30 to 35 ‰. "Brackish seas" or waters have salinity in the range of 0.5 to 29 ‰ and "metahaline seas" from 36 to 40 ‰. These waters are all regarded as "thalassic" because their salinity is derived from the ocean and defined as "homoiohaline" if salinity does not vary much over time (essentially constant). The table on the right, modified from Por (1972), follows the "Venice system" (1959).


title: Salinity

text: In contrast to homoiohaline environments are certain "poikilohaline" environments (which may also be "thalassic") in which the salinity variation is biologically significant. "Poikilohaline" water salinities may range anywhere from 0.5 to greater than 300 ‰. The important characteristic is that these waters tend to vary in salinity over some biologically meaningful range seasonally or on some other roughly comparable time scale. Put simply, these are bodies of water with quite variable salinity.


title: Salinity

text: Salinity is an ecological factor of considerable importance, influencing the types of organisms that live in a body of water. As well, salinity influences the kinds of plants that will grow either in a water body, or on land fed by a water (or by a groundwater). A plant adapted to saline conditions is called a halophyte. A halophyte which is tolerant to residual sodium carbonate salinity are called glasswort or saltwort or barilla plants. Organisms (mostly bacteria) that can live in very salty conditions are classified as extremophiles, or halophiles specifically. An organism that can withstand a wide range of salinities is euryhaline.


title: Salinity

text: Salts are expensive to remove from water, and salt content is an important factor in water use, factoring into potability and suitability for irrigation. Increases in salinity have been observed in lakes and rivers in the United States, due to common road salt and other salt de-icers in runoff.


title: Salinity

text: The degree of salinity in oceans is a driver of the world's ocean circulation, where density changes due to both salinity changes and temperature changes at the surface of the ocean produce changes in buoyancy, which cause the sinking and rising of water masses. Changes in the salinity of the oceans are thought to contribute to global changes in carbon dioxide as more saline waters are less soluble to carbon dioxide. In addition, during glacial periods, the hydrography is such that a possible cause of reduced circulation is the production of stratified oceans. In such cases, it is more difficult to subduct water through the thermohaline circulation.


title: Salinity

text: Not only is salinity a driver of ocean circulation, but changes in ocean circulation also affect salinity, particularly in the subpolar North Atlantic where from 1990 to 2010 increased contributions of Greenland meltwater were counteracted by increased northward transport of salty Atlantic waters. However, North Atlantic waters have become fresher since the mid-2010s due to increased Greenland meltwater flux.


title: The Killers discography

text: American rock band the Killers have released seven studio albums, one live album, three compilation albums, one extended play, 38 singles, four promotional singles, and 39 music videos. Part of the post-punk revival movement, the Killers are influenced by music styles of the 1980s and 1990s. The band has sold over 28 million records worldwide. The group's debut album, "Hot Fuss" (2004), brought the band mainstream success, spawning four UK top-20 singles, including "Mr. Brightside". The album has since been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and seven-times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), selling seven million copies worldwide.


title: The Killers discography

text: The Killers' second studio album, "Sam's Town", was released in October 2006, being met initially by mixed reviews but nonetheless proving a commercial success, debuting at number two on the "Billboard" 200 with opening sales of 315,000 units, and going on to be certified platinum by the RIAA. In the UK, the album debuted atop the chart and went on to be certified five-times platinum by the BPI. The compilation album "Sawdust" was released in November 2007, containing B-sides, rarities, and new material.


title: The Killers discography

text: The band's third album, "Day & Age", produced by Stuart Price, was released in November 2008 and spawned the commercially successful single "Human", described by Brandon Flowers as "our biggest song, pound for pound". "Day & Age" proved a commercial success in Europe, was certified Gold by the RIAA. Their fourth album, "Battle Born", was released in September 2012, becoming the band's fourth consecutive album to reach number one in both the UK and Ireland.


title: The Killers discography

text: In November 2013, in celebration of their first decade together, the band released their first greatest hits album, titled "Direct Hits", a contractual requirement with their record label. The compilation features two new tracks, including "Shot at the Night", produced by Anthony Gonzalez of M83. In September 2017, the Killers released their fifth studio album, "Wonderful Wonderful", becoming the band's fifth consecutive album to top the UK Albums Chart, as well as their first number-one album on the US "Billboard" 200. In August 2020, the band released their sixth studio album, "Imploding the Mirage", becoming the band's sixth consecutive album to top the UK Albums Chart and their highest rated by critics in the aggregate.


title: The Killers discography

text: In August 2021, the band released their seventh studio album, "Pressure Machine", and have begun work on recording an eighth.


title: Michael Malarkey

text: Michael Karim Malarkey (born 21 June 1983) is a British-American actor and musician. He is best known for playing the role of Enzo in the series "The Vampire Diaries".


title: Michael Malarkey

text: Malarkey was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to an Irish American father and a British mother of Palestinian and Italian origins. He is the oldest of three brothers and was raised in Yellow Springs, Ohio. In 2006, Malarkey travelled to England to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.


title: Michael Malarkey

text: Malarkey is married to Nadine Lewington since 2009, an English actress, with whom he has two sons, Marlon (2014) and Hugo (2019). They played together in one episode of "Project Blue Book".


title: Michael Malarkey

text: Malarkey had his beginnings on the London stage appearing in various theatre productions including lead roles in "Spring Storm" by Tennessee Williams and "Beyond the Horizon" by Eugene O'Neill at Royal National Theatre, an adaptation of "The Great Gatsby" in the role of Jay Gatsby and in the Original London Company of "Million Dollar Quartet" in the role of singer Elvis Presley.


title: Michael Malarkey

text: Malarkey also appeared in several film and television projects including recurring roles in series' "Raw" for Rte and Mr. Sloane with Nick Frost before landing the role of Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John in season 5 of the television series "The Vampire Diaries" as a recurring character. After gaining popularity with the viewing public, Malarkey's role was upgraded to a series regular starting in Season 6 and through the end of Season 8.


title: Michael Malarkey

text: In 2017 he appeared as "Dizel" in "Jean-Claude Van Johnson" for Amazon Video, as "Sam Foster" in "The Oath" for Crackle and as "Cinch Barton" in film "A Violent Separation".


title: Michael Malarkey

text: As a musician, after two EPs in 2014 and 2015, he released his debut full-length record, "Mongrels" on 8 September 2017 accompanied by music videos for singles "Uncomfortably Numb" and "Mongrels". In January 2020, Malarkey released his second album, "Graveracer."


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The succession to Muhammad is the central issue that split the Muslim community into several divisions in the first century of Islamic history, with the most prominent among these sects being the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. Sunni Islam maintains that Abu Bakr was the legitimate successor to Muhammad on the basis of election. Shia Islam holds that Ali ibn Abi Talib was the designated successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The contrasting opinions regarding the succession are primarily based on different interpretations of the events in early Islamic history as well as of hadiths (sayings of Muhammad). The Sunni believe that Muhammad had not appointed a successor and had instead intended for the Muslim community to choose a leader from among themselves. They accept the rule of Abu Bakr, who was elected at Saqifah, and that of his successors, who are together referred to as the Rashidun Caliphs. On the other hand, the Twelver Shia believe that Ali had previously been nominated by Muhammad as his heir, most notably during the Event of Ghadir Khumm, following the revelation of verse 5:67 of the central religious text of Islam, the Quran. They view the rulers who followed Muhammad as illegitimate. Instead, the rightful successors of Muhammad are believed to be Ali and eleven divinely-appointed Imams of his lineage. In Twelver Shia belief, the last of these Imams, Mahdi, went into occultation in 260 AH (874 CE), compelled by the hostility of his enemies. The advent of Mahdi is awaited by most Muslims, though different sects hold different views about him.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Most of the Islamic history was transmitted orally until after the rise of the Abbasid Caliphate. Historical works of later Muslim writers include the traditional biographies of Muhammad and quotations attributed to him—the "sira" and "hadith" literature—which provide further information on Muhammad's life. The earliest surviving written "sira" (biography of Muhammad) is "Sirat Rasul Allah" ("Life of God's Messenger") by Ibn Ishaq (d. 761 or 767 CE). Although the original work is lost, portions of it survive in the recensions of Ibn Hisham (d. 833) and Al-Tabari (d. 923). Many scholars accept these biographies although their accuracy is uncertain. Studies by Schacht and Goldziher have led the scholars to distinguish between legal and historical traditions. According to Watt, although legal traditions could have been invented, historical material may have been primarily subject to "tendential shaping" rather than being invented. Modern Western scholars approach the classic Islamic histories with circumspection and are less likely than Sunni Islamic scholars to trust the work of the Abbasid historians.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Hadith compilations are records of the traditions or sayings of Muhammad. The development of hadith is a crucial element of the first three centuries of Islamic history. Early Western scholars mistrusted the later narrations and reports, regarding them as fabrications. Caetani considered the attribution of historical reports to Ibn Abbas and Aisha as mostly fictitious, preferring accounts reported without "isnad" by early historians such as Ibn Ishaq. Madelung has rejected the indiscriminate dismissal of everything not included in "early sources", instead judging later narratives in the context of history and compatibility with events and figures.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The only contemporaneous source is The Book of Sulaym ibn Qays ("Kitab al-Saqifah") by Sulaym ibn Qays (died 75-95 AH or 694-714 CE). This collection of hadith and historical reports from the first century of the Islamic calendar narrates in detail events relating to the succession. However, there have been doubts regarding the reliability of the collection, with some believing that it was a later creation given that the earliest mention of the text only appears in the eleventh century.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: In the immediate aftermath of Muhammad's death in 11/632, a gathering of the Ansar (Medinan Muslims) took place at the Saqifa () of the Banu Sa'ida clan, while Muhammad's close relatives were preparing for his burial. The conventional wisdom is that the Ansar met there to decide on a new leader for the Muslim community among themselves, with the intentional exclusion of the Muhajirun. The leading candidate was possibly Sa'd ibn Ubada, a companion of Muhammad and a chief of the Banu Khazraj, the majority tribe of the Ansar. Their motive has been questioned by Madelung and Jafri, who contend that the Ansar only wanted to re-establish their control over their city, Medina.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: When they found out about the meeting via an informant, Abu Bakr and Umar rushed to the Saqifa, accompanied by Abu Ubaida. These three companions were the only members of the Muhajirun in the Saqifa meeting, possibly accompanied by some relatives and servents.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Once there, Abu Bakr warned the Ansar that Arabs will not recognize the rule of anyone outside of Muhammad's tribe, the Quraysh. The Muhajirun, Abu Bakr argued, were the best of Arabs in lineage and location, had accepted Islam earlier, and were closer to Muhammad in kinship. Abu Bakr then reportedly invited the Ansar to choose Umar or Abu Ubaida as Muhammad's successor. Since his two candidates lacked any realistic chance of success, this manoeuvre presented Abu Bakr as an acceptable alternative to Umar and Abu Ubaida for the Ansar.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Someone countered Abu Bakr with the suggestion that the Quraysh and the Ansar should choose their separate rulers among themselves. A heated argument ensued until Umar asked Abu Bakr to stretch his hand and pledged allegiance to the latter, followed by others. In the process, Sa'd was beaten into submission by Umar, which indicates that a substantial number of the Ansar must have initially refused to follow Umar's lead. Otherwise, there would have been no need to beat up their chief Sa'd, according to Madelung.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Muhammad had been buried by the time the Saqifa meeting ended, with the exclusion of Abu Bakr from the funeral rites. The authority of Abu Bakr was precarious at first, until Umar secured the pledges of allegiance from the Medinans with help from the Banu Aslam and Banu Aws tribes. In chronological order, Abu Bakr obtained the backing of Uthman and of the Banu Umayyad, of Sa'd and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, of the Banu Zuhra, of Zubayr, and finally of Ali.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The Banu Hashim and some companions of Muhammad gathered at Ali's house in protest after learning about the appointment of Abu Bakr. Among them were Muhammad's uncle Abbas and Zubayr. These held Ali to be the rightful successor to Muhammad, possibly referring to the announcement by the latter at the Ghadir Khumm. Ordered by Abu Bakr, Umar then led an armed mob to Ali's residence and threatened to set the house on fire if Ali and his supporters would not pledge their allegiance to Abu Bakr. The scene soon grew violent, but the mob retreated without Ali's pledge after his wife Fatima pleaded with them.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Abu Bakr soon placed a boycott on Ali and also on Muhammad's clan, the Banu Hashim, to abandon their support for Ali. The boycott was successful, and those who initially supported Ali gradually turned away and pledged their allegiance to Abu Bakr. Most likely, Ali did not pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr until his wife Fatima died within six months of her father Muhammad. In Shia sources, the death (and miscarriage) of the young Fatima are attributed to an attack on her house to subdue Ali at the order of Abu Bakr. Sunnis categorically reject these allegations. After Fatima's death and in the absence of popular support, Ali is said to have relinquished his claims to the caliphate for the sake of the unity of a nascent Islam, In contrast with Muhammad's lifetime, Ali is believed to have retired from public life during the caliphates of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman, which has been interpreted as a silent censure of the first three caliphs.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Umar later criticized the Saqifa affair, "The oath of allegiance for Abu Bakr was a [i.e., a precipitate and ill-considered deal], but God averted the evil of it." This was a reference to the exclusion of the majority of the Muhajirun and particularly Muhammad's kin, whose participation was vital for a legitimate outcome at the Saqifa. Possibly because of its questionable legal authority, Umar also warned Muslims against ever following the example of Saqifa. Similar concerns about the legitimacy of the Saqifa are raised by contemporary authors. Some have further criticized the Saqifa affair as a "backroom deal" and a "coup" which was heavily influenced by the pre-Islamic tribal politics. The evil of the "" which, Umar thought, had been averted by God would erupt later in the form of the First Fitna, suggests Madelung.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Abu Bakr adopted the title of "khalifat rasul Allah", commonly translated as the successor to the messenger of God. This was shortened to "khalifa", from which the word caliph arose. Abu Bakr's tenure as the caliph lasted just over two years. Though he was appointed caliph by those at Saqifah, Abu Bakr designated Umar as his successor, reportedly against the advice of the Quraysh elders. Umar was instrumental in the ascension of Abu Bakr to the caliphate.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: In 644, on his deathbed, Umar tasked a committee of six with choosing the next caliph among themselves. The committee included Ali, Uthman ibn Affan, and his brother-in-law, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf. The tie breaker vote belonged to Abd al-Rahman, Othman's brother-in-law, and it has been suggested that the makeup and configuration of this committee left a small possibility for the nomination of Ali.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: In the final showdown, Abd al-Rahman offered the caliphate to Ali on two conditions: first, he should follow the way of the Quran and the Sunnah of Muhammad, and second, he should follow the example of Abu Bakr and Umar. Ali is said to have accepted the first condition but declined the second one, adding that he would rely only on his own judgment in the absence of any precedent from the Quran or the Sunnah. Abd al-Rahman then presented the same conditions to Uthman who readily accepted them. It has been suggested that Abd al-Rahman was well aware of Ali's disagreements with the past two caliphs and that Ali, known for his sincerity, would have inevitably rejected the second condition.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Uthman's reign was marked with widespread accusations of nepotism. Under Uthman's rule, his tribe, the Banu Umayyad, is said to have regained its pre-Islamic influence and power. Uthman installed his relatives, including his cousin, Muawiya, to rule the Islamic territories. According to Glassé, Uthman was assassinated by rebels in 656, in a climate of growing dissension against the despotism of the Banu Umayyad.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Shortly after the assassination of Uthman, the caliphate was offered to Ali, who declined the position at first. Aslan attributes Ali's initial refusal to the polarizing impact of Uthman's murder on the community, while Durant writes that, "[Ali] shrank from drama in which religion had been displaced by politics, and devotion by intrigue." In the absence of any serious opposition and urged particularly by the Ansar and the Iraqi delegations, Ali eventually accepted the first pledges of allegiance in the Prophet's Mosque in Medina. It appears that Ali personally did not force anyone for a pledge though the strong pro-Ali atmosphere of Medina might have exerted some pressure on his opponents. In particular, Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, Abdullah ibn Umar and Usama ibn Zayd refused to acknowledge the authority of Ali. Talha and Zubayr, both companions of Muhammad with ambitions for the high office, likely gave their pledges though they later broke their oaths, claiming that they had pledged their allegiance to Ali under public pressure. There is, however, less evidence for violence here than in Abu Bakr's election, according to Madelung.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Ali inherited the internal problems of Uthman's reign. Immediately after his election, Ali quelled an armed insurrection led by Aisha, a widow of Muhammad, and Talhah and Zubayr. Afterwards, Uthman's governor of Syria, Muawiya, declared war on Ali and a long and indecisive civil war ensued. The first four caliphs are referred to by the Sunni as the Rashidun (rightly-guided) Caliphs, though only Ali is recognized by the Twelver Shia.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Abu Bakr's view that the caliphate should remain within the Quraysh tribe persisted in later generations. According to Cooperson, however, this definition of the caliphate had its costs. First, it facilitated the rise of the Umayyads who, despite being of the Quraysh, were among the most powerful enemies of Muhammad before their late conversion to Islam. Their rise to power marginalized both the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and reduced the caliphate, as an institution, to no more than a worldly kingship. Second, according to Cooperson, was the exclusion of Ali, who, insofar as the kinship of the Quraysh with Muhammad was concerned, had an arguably better claim to the caliphate. Ali eventually became caliph, but not in time to stop the rise of the Umayyads.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: After the assassination of Ali in 661, his eldest son, Hasan, was elected caliph in Kufa. Muawiya then marched on Kufa with his army, whereas Hasan's military response to Muawiya suffered defections in large numbers, largely facilitated by military commanders and tribal chiefs who had been swayed to Muawiya's side by promises and offers of money. Under attack from Muawiya and after a failed assassination attempt on his life, a wounded Hasan ceded the caliphate to Muawiya in 661. Notably, under their agreement, it is said that Muawiya appointed Hasan as his successor. However, Hasan died in 669 at the age of forty six, before Muawiya. It is believed that he was poisoned at the instigation of Muawiya.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Before his death in 680, Muawiya arranged for the succession of his son, Yazid, who is often remembered as a debaucher who openly violated the Islamic norms. In particular, Muawiya summoned a council ("shura") of the Muslim elite in 676 and won their support through flattery, bribes, and threats. Notably, Muawiya was unsuccessful in securing the oath of allegiance from Hasan's younger brother, Husayn, who, after Muawiya's death, publicly denounced Yazid's legitimacy. In 680, after surrounding them in Karbala and cutting off their access to water for multiple days, Yazid's forces slaughtered Husayn, alongside his family and his small group of supporters. The women and children were taken prisoner and marched to Kufa and then Damascus, some of whom are said to have perished from mistreatment. The tragic death of Husayn and his supporters marked the Second Fitna, which finalized the schism between the Sunni and the Shia. The latter consider Husayn as their third Imam.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The succession subsequently transformed under the Umayyads from an elective/appointed position to being effectively hereditary within the family.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The Quran, as the central religious text of Islam, does not explicitly identify a successor to Muhammad, though it grants key privileges to the families of the past prophets. After the past prophets, their descendants become the spiritual and material heirs to them in the Quran. The scripture describes how the past prophets prayed for (and were granted) the divine favor to be succeeded by their close kin in kingship, in rule, in wisdom, in imamate, etc. From Noah to Jesus, Madelung notes that the prophets of the Israelites were all descendants of one family. In particular, Solomon inherited from David both his kingship and his prophetic wisdom in verses 27:16 and 21:78, and John the Baptist inherited from Zechariah in verses 19:5-6.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Verse 2:124 includes the exchange, "[God] said [to Abraham], 'I shall make you an imam for the people.' He said: 'And also of my off-spring?' [God] said: 'My compact will not comprise the evil-doers.'" God's pledge in this verse thus extends to just descendants of Abraham. Elsewhere in verse 29:27, God praises Abraham, "And We gave him Isaac and Jacob and placed among his progeny prophethood and the Book."


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: In verses 20:29-32, Moses asks God to include his brother Aaron in his prophetic mission. His prayer is answered by God, as evidenced by verses 20:36-42, 25:35, and 28:35. Aaron thus becomes the chosen associate of Moses in his prophetic mission and in revelation, as described in verses 21:48-9 and 2:248.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Similar to the past prophets, Muhammad's family has an eminent position in the Quran. Elevating them above common Muslims, a state of purity is bestowed upon Muhammad's kin in verses 8:41, 59:7, the Verse of Purification 33:33, and the Verse of Mawadda 42:23 by some accounts. The praise in the Verse of Purification and the privileges in the Verse of Mubahala are specific to Muhammad's daughter Fatima, her husband Ali, and their two sons Hasan and Husayn, by Shia and some Sunni accounts. These five are known as the Ahl al-Bayt (lit. 'people of the household') in Shia, though various Sunni interpretations are broader and often include Muhammad's wives as well.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Insofar as the Quran reflects the views of Muhammad, Madelung concludes, he could have not seen his succession differently from the earlier prophets or considered Abu Bakr as his natural successor. This is because, he argues, the succession of prophets is a matter that is settled by divine selection in the Quran. In particular, God selects their successors from their own families, whether or not those successors become prophets themselves. Jafri and Abbas develop similar arguments.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Also known as the Verse of Wilaya, verse 5:55 of the Quran is translated by "The Study Quran" as, "Your protector [] is only [] God, and His Messenger, and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give alms [] while bowing down." Some Sunni exegeses link this verse to the hostility of the Jewish tribes in Medina, while Shia and some Sunni sources consider this verse a specific reference to the occasion where Ali gave away his ring to a beggar while he was bowing in worship. In particular, Nasr et al. suggest that the frequent association of this verse with Ali in early Sunni sources strongly support its authenticity.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: For the Shia, in this verse is interpreted as spiritual authority. Verse of Wilaya thus describes Ali as the rightful authority over the believers, after God and Muhammad, and underlines his right to succeed Muhammad as the spiritual and political leader of the Muslim community. Alternatively, those Sunni authors who acknowledge a link between this verse and Ali reject any Shia implications. For instance, the Sunni al-Razi () holds that in this verse is nothing more than friendship or mutual support. In response, Shia authors note that the particle () confines the in this verse to God, Muhammad, and those believers who gave alms while praying. As such, in this verse has a different significance than mere friendship, similar to that in verse 33:6.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Verse 26:214 of the Quran tasked Muhammad with presenting Islam to his relatives, some three years after his first divine revelation ( 617 CE). One of the two versions of how Muhammad attempted to do this is that he invited his relatives to a meal. After the meal, Muhammad introduced his relatives to Islam and asked for their support, "And which of you will assist me in this cause and become my brother, my trustee and my successor among you." Muhammad's cousin Ali, the youngest among them, was the only relative who offered his assistance to Muhammad, who then declared, "This [Ali] is my brother, my executor, and my successor among you, so listen to him and obey." This was the account of the Sunni al-Tabari (d. 923) and the proto-Shia Ibn Ishaq (d. 767), among others, though some Sunni reports do not include Muhammad's response to Ali or replace it with his rejection of Ali's offer. Muhammad's announcement was met with ridicule from Abu Lahab, Muhammad's uncle and his foe, and the guests dispersed.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Rubin writes that Ali's response to Muhammad's call contrasts the remainder of his tribe, the Quraysh. He adds that the early appointment of Ali as Muhammad's heir in this version supports Ali's right to succeed Muhammad, a central tenet of Shia Islam. Momen is of the same opinion. According to the Shia exegete Tabatabai (), Muhammad made it clear that the first relative to accept his invitation would become his successor and inheritor. Lastly, Rubin notes that the association of this account with verse 26:214 implies divine authorization. Burton comments that this banquet "won for [Muhammad] a proselyte worth a thousand sabers in the person of Ali, son of Abu Talib."


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Hadith of Position is a biblical analogy in favor of Ali that appears in canonical Sunni and Shia sources, including "Sahih al-Bukhari" and "Kitab al-kafi". Muhammad might have repeated this analogy on multiple occasions, though the Hadith of Position is most frequently linked to the Expedition of Tabuk in 9-10/630-631 against the Byzantine Empire. Muhammad is said to have left Ali in charge at Medina before leaving on his longest expedition. But when rumors spread that Ali was left behind because he was a burden to Muhammad, he left Medina and caught up with Muhammad, who reassured him, "Are you not content, Ali, to stand to me as Aaron stood to Moses, except that there will be no prophet after me?"


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: By divine designation, Aaron was the associate of Moses in his prophetic mission and in revelation. In Hebrew Bible, Aaron also performs miracles and is entrusted with the esoteric knowledge of the scripture. Of similar importance therein is the divine prerogatives bestowed upon Aaron's descendants.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Shia authors have used the Hadith of Position to argue for the special status of Ali and his designation as the successor of Muhammad. For instance, the Shia al-Mufid () writes that this hadith invested in Ali all the privileges which Aaron had received from Moses except prophethood. In particular, Ali was the deputy of Muhammad just as Aaron was the deputy of Moses, which implies that Ali was the rightful successor to Muhammad.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Despite its Shia coloring, the Hadith of Position nevertheless remains prominent in Sunni sources as one of the most important pieces of evidence supporting the finality of Muhammad in the chain of prophets."" In response to the Shia claims, Sunni scholars argue that the Hadith of Position is irrelevant to Muhammad's succession because Aaron died before Moses. The Shia Sharif al-Murtaza () counters that had Aaron survived Moses, the former would have surely succeeded the latter. The Shia al-Kulayni () adds that Moses' successor Joshua later designated the progeny of Aaron to succeed him instead of his own or Moses'. Al-Kulayni suggests that Joshua did so because it was the divine choice.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Shortly before his death in 632, Muhammad performed the Hajj rituals in Mecca. In his sermon in Mecca and again later at the Ghadir Khumm by some accounts, he alerted Muslims about his impending death. After the Hajj, Muhammad set off on the return journey from Mecca to Medina, accompanied by a large number of pilgrims. On the way, Muhammad called the Muslim caravan to a halt at the Ghadir Khumm before the pilgrims parted to go their separate ways.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: After the noon prayer, Muhammad delivered a sermon in which he famously said, "He whose I am, Ali is his ." Muhammad repeated this three or four more times, as reported in "Musnad Ibn Hanbal", a canonical Sunni source. By some Shia and Sunni accounts, he then continued, "O God, befriend the friend of Ali and be the enemy of his enemy," which might have been the standard formula for pledging allegiance at the time, used later both by Ali and his son Hasan during their caliphates. As reported in "Musnad Ibn Hanbal", Muhammad's companion Umar congratulated Ali after the sermon and told him, "You have now become of every faithful man and woman."


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: The historicity of the Ghadir Khumm is rarely disputed within the Muslim community, as its recorded tradition is "among the most extensively acknowledged and substantiated" in classical Islamic sources, even as the statements made at the event remain open to interpretation. In Shia and some Sunni sources, two verses of the Quran are also associated with the Ghadir Khumm: the Verse of Ikmal (5:3), which announces the perfection of Islam, and the Verse of Tabligh (5:67), which urges Muhammad to fulfill his divine instructions.


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: In the context of the Ghadir Khumm, the polysemous Arabic word ' is interpreted along sectarian lines. Shia sources interpret this word as meaning 'leader' or 'ruler', while Sunni accounts of this sermon tend to offer little explanation or substitute the word ' (of God, ) in place of ".


title: Succession to Muhammad

text: Shia Muslims view the Ghadir Khumm as Muhammad's most public announcement of Ali's succession. Supporting the Shia interpretation, the Shia Amini has compiled multiple volumes of Sunni and Shia historical documents about the Ghadir Khumm.