title: LulzSec

text: At around the same time as Cleary's arrest, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents raided the Reston, Virginia facility of Swiss web hosting service DigitalOne. The raid took several legitimate websites offline for hours as the agency looked for information on an undisclosed target. Media reports speculated the raid may have been related to the LulzSec investigation.


title: LulzSec

text: A few days before LulzSec disbanded, the FBI executed a search warrant on an Iowa home rented by Laurelai Bailey. Authorities interviewed her for five hours and confiscated her hard drives, camera, and other electronic equipment, but no charges were filed. Bailey denied being a member of the group, but admitted chatting with members of LulzSec online and later leaking those chats. The FBI was interested in having her infiltrate the group, but Bailey claimed the members hated her and would never let her in. The questioning by the FBI led a local technical support company to fire Laurelai, claiming she embarrassed the company.


title: LulzSec

text: On 27 June 2011, the FBI executed another search warrant in Hamilton, Ohio. The local media connected the raid to the LulzSec investigation; however, the warrant was sealed, the name of the target was not revealed, and the FBI office in Cincinnati refused to comment on any possible connection between the group and the raid. No one was charged with a crime after the FBI served the warrant. Some reports suggested the house may have belonged to former LulzSec member m_nerva, whom was originally suspected of leaking a number of the group's logs to the press, and information leading to the warrant supplied by Ryan Cleary.


title: LulzSec

text: On 19 July 2011, the London Metropolitan Police announced the arrest of LulzSec member Tflow. A 16-year-old male was arrested in South London on charges of violating the Computer Misuse Act, as part of an operation involving the arrest of several other hackers affiliated with Anonymous in the United States and United Kingdom. LulzSec once again denied that any of their membership had been arrested, stating "there are seven of us, and we're all still here."


title: LulzSec

text: On the same day the FBI arrested 21-year-old Lance Moore in Las Cruces, New Mexico, accusing him of stealing thousands of documents and applications from AT&T that LulzSec published as part of their so called "final release".


title: LulzSec

text: The Police Central E-Crime Unit arrested an 18-year-old man from Shetland on 27 July 2011 suspected of being LulzSec member Topiary. They also searched the house of a 17-year-old from Lincolnshire possibly connected to the investigation, interviewing him. Scotland Yard later identified the man arrested as Yell, Shetland resident Jake Davis. He was charged with unauthorized access of a computer under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, encouraging or assisting criminal activity under the Serious Crime Act 2007, conspiracy to launch a denial-of-service attack against the Serious Organised Crime Unit contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977, and criminal conspiracy also under the Criminal Law Act 1977. Police confiscated a Dell laptop and a 100-gigabyte hard drive that ran 16 different virtual machines. Details relating to an attack on Sony and hundreds of thousands of email addresses and passwords were found on the computer. A London court released Davis on bail under the conditions that he live under curfew with his parents and have no access to the internet. His lawyer Gideon Cammerman stated that, while his client did help publicize LulzSec and Anonymous attacks, he lacked the technical skills to have been anything but a sympathizer.


title: LulzSec

text: In early September 2011, Scotland Yard made two further arrests relating to LulzSec. Police arrested a 24-year-old male in Mexborough, South Yorkshire and a 20-year-old male in Warminster, Wiltshire. The two were accused of conspiring to commit offenses under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990; police said that the arrests related to investigations into LulzSec member Kayla.


title: LulzSec

text: On 22 September 2011, the FBI arrested Cody Kretsinger, a 23-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona who was indicted on charges of conspiracy and the unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. He is suspected of using the name "recursion" and assisting LulzSec in their early hack against Sony Pictures Entertainment, though he allegedly erased the hard drives he used to carry out the attack. Kretsinger was released on his own recognizance under the conditions that he not access the internet except while at work and that he not travel to any states other than Arizona, California, or Illinois. The case against him was filed in Los Angeles, where Sony Pictures is located. Kretsinger pleaded guilty on 5 April 2012 to one count of conspiracy and one count of unauthorized impairment of a protected computer. On 19 April 2013, Kretsinger was sentenced for the "unauthorized impairment of protected computers" to one year in federal prison, one year of home detention following the completion of his prison sentence, a fine of $605,663 in restitution to Sony Pictures and 1000 hours of community service.


title: LulzSec

text: On 8 August 2013, Raynaldo Rivera, age 21, known by the online moniker "neuron", of Chandler, Arizona, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Kronstadt ordered Rivera to serve 13 months of home detention, to perform 1,000 hours of community service and to pay $605,663 in restitution to Sony Pictures.


title: LulzSec

text: On 6 March 2012, two men from Great Britain, one from the United States, and two from Ireland were charged in connection to their alleged involvement with LulzSec. The FBI revealed that supposed LulzSec leader Hector Xavier Monsegur, who went by the username Sabu, had been aiding law enforcement since pleading guilty to twelve counts, including conspiracy and computer hacking, on 15 August 2011 as part of a plea deal. In exchange for his cooperation, federal prosecutors agreed not to prosecute Monsegur for his computer hacking, and also not to prosecute him for two attempts to sell marijuana, possession of an illegal handgun, purchasing stolen property, charging $15,000 to his former employer's credit card in a case of identity theft, and directing people to buy prescription drugs from illegal sources. He still faces a misdemeanor charge of impersonating a federal agent. Five suspects were charged with conspiracy: Jake Davis, accused of being the hacker "Topiary" (who had been previously arrested); Ryan Ackroyd of London, accused of being "Kayla"; Darren Martyn of Ireland, accused of being "pwnsauce"; Donncha O’Cearrbhail of Ireland, accused of being "palladium"; and Jeremy Hammond of Chicago, accused of being "Anarchaos". While not a member of LulzSec, authorities suspect Hammond of being a member of Anonymous and charged him with access device fraud and hacking in relation to his supposed involvement in the December 2011 attack on intelligence company Stratfor as part of Operation AntiSec.


title: LulzSec

text: On 8 April 2013, Jake 'Topiary' Davis and three other LulzSec members pleaded guilty to charges of computer hacking at Southwark Crown Court in London.


title: LulzSec

text: On 24 April 2013, Australian Federal Police arrested 24-year-old Matthew Flannery of Point Clare, who boasted on Facebook "I’m the leader of LulzSec". Flannery, who went by the username Aush0k, was arrested for the alleged hacking of the Narrabri Shire Council website on which homepage sexually explicit text and an image were left. On 27 August 2014, Flannery entered guilty pleas to five charges of making unauthorised modification of data to cause impairment, and dishonestly obtaining the Commonwealth Bank details of a woman. Flannery, who said the reference to LulzSec was a joke, lost his job of computer technician in a security company. On 16 October 2014, he was sentenced to 15 months of house arrest which continues until mid-April 2016, alongside a 12 months good behaviour bond.


title: John McGinn

text: John McGinn (born 18 October 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Aston Villa, where he is captain, and the Scotland national team. McGinn previously played for St Mirren and Hibernian, and also represented Scotland at the under-19 and under-21 levels. He made his full international debut in March 2016, representing Scotland at UEFA Euro 2020.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn started his career as a youth player at St Mirren playing for the club's Ralston Academy. He broke into the first team in pre-season of the 2012–13 season, representing the club against English opposition Carlisle United and Accrington Stanley. In the same summer he also helped the under-20 side to victory in Kilbirnie Ladeside pre-season tournament, picking up joint player of the tournament with Jack Smith. McGinn made his competitive début against SPL champions Celtic in a 5–0 defeat, coming off the bench as a 78th-minute substitute.


title: John McGinn

text: On 29 November 2012, McGinn signed a new three-year contract, keeping him at St Mirren Park until summer 2015. McGinn played the first 81 minutes of the 2013 Scottish League Cup Final, as St Mirren won the League Cup by winning 3–2 against Hearts.


title: John McGinn

text: In April 2015, McGinn was "speared" in the thigh with a training pole thrown by St Mirren club captain Steven Thompson during a training session prank gone wrong. The resulting injury meant that McGinn missed the remainder of the season, and in turn he took legal action against the club.


title: John McGinn

text: On 31 July 2015, McGinn joined Hibernian on a four-year contract. Hibernian paid St Mirren a development fee for McGinn and promised them 30% of any future transfer fee. McGinn was part of the Hibernian team that won the 2015–16 Scottish Cup, the club's first victory in the competition for 114 years. In the following season, McGinn helped them win promotion to the Scottish Premiership.


title: John McGinn

text: Hibs rejected three offers from EFL Championship club Nottingham Forest for McGinn during August 2017. McGinn scored both of the Hibs goals in a 2–2 draw at Celtic on 30 September, and the first goal in a 2–1 win at Rangers on 3 February 2018. McGinn was one of four players nominated for the 2017–18 PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award.


title: John McGinn

text: Celtic made three offers for McGinn during July 2018, but these were all rejected by Hibernian. During this period of transfer speculation, McGinn continued to play regularly for Hibs and scored the winning goal in a Europa League qualifier against Asteras Tripolis. McGinn visited Aston Villa's training ground on 7 August to discuss a potential transfer, which was completed the following day.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn signed a four-year contract with Aston Villa on 8 August 2018 despite interest from Celtic. He made his debut for Villa in a 3–2 win against Wigan Athletic on 11 August, during which he provided an assist for the opening goal and his inswinging corner forced an own goal in the second half. McGinn scored his first goal in English football on 22 September, a swerving 25-yard volley in a 2–1 home defeat against Sheffield Wednesday which was later named EFL Championship goal of the season.


title: John McGinn

text: Despite consistent performances at his new club, which saw McGinn quickly become a new fan favourite, Villa began the season poorly, which eventually lead to the sacking of Steve Bruce as manager of the club in October 2018. Brentford manager Dean Smith was appointed as the new manager, and McGinn continued to be a key player in the Villa starting 11 for the new manager. The midfielder picked up his first goal under the new manager in a 3–0 win against Derby County and then picked up his first brace for the club in a 3–1 win over Nottingham Forest in March 2019. McGinn's good form continued, scoring goals against Middlesbrough and Sheffield Wednesday as Villa's form picked up heading into the final stages of the season. After picking up the club's Players' Player of the Season and Supporters' Player of the Season awards, McGinn scored the winner in the Championship Playoff Final to promote Aston Villa to the Premier League after 3 years in the Championship.


title: John McGinn

text: On 8 August 2019, McGinn signed a five-year contract with the club. He scored the first goal of Aston Villa's return to the Premier League in the first game of the season, in a 3–1 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on 10 August 2019. On 21 December 2019, McGinn suffered a fractured ankle in a 3–1 home defeat to Southampton and was expected to be out for up to three months. The break in the season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that McGinn returned later in the same season, and he featured in all of Villa's remaining games as they achieved Premier League survival.


title: John McGinn

text: On 11 December 2020, McGinn signed a new five-year contract, which sees him extend his stay at Villa Park until 2025. Following the departure of club captain Jack Grealish, McGinn was announced as the new vice-captain on 14 August 2021. He scored in Villa's league opener, a 3–2 defeat against Watford.


title: John McGinn

text: On 27 July 2022, ahead of the new season, Aston Villa manager Steven Gerrard named McGinn as the new captain, with Emiliano Martínez replacing him as vice-captain.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn received an international call-up when he was selected as part of a Scotland under-19 squad for a training camp in Turkey in January 2013. He later went on to make his international debut for the under-19 side against Netherlands in a 2–1 defeat. McGinn then captained the under-19s against Serbia in Stara Pazova. On 5 March 2014, he made his debut for the Scotland under-21 side in a 2–2 draw against Hungary at Tannadice. McGinn later captained the under-21 team.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn received his first call-up to the senior Scotland squad in March 2016, for a friendly against Denmark. McGinn played for the whole of the 1–0 win and was awarded man of the match.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn scored his first goal for Scotland in September 2019, during a Euro 2020 qualification match with Russia. McGinn scored the first hat-trick in his career in a Euro 2020 qualifier against San Marino on 13 October 2019, with all his goals coming in the first half. Two goals against Kazakhstan meant that McGinn finished with a total of 7 goals in the Euro 2020 qualifying group.


title: John McGinn

text: With regular captain Andrew Robertson suspended, McGinn captained Scotland during a 1–0 win against the Czech Republic on 14 October 2020.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn scored three goals for Scotland in March 2021 during the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches: a bicycle kick in a 2–2 draw against Austria and two in a 4–0 win against the Faroe Islands. In September of that year he played the whole match in Vienna as Scotland defeated Austria 1–0; his brother Paul was introduced as a substitute in the second half, and they became only the third siblings to play together for the national team since the end of World War II.


title: John McGinn

text: McGinn won his 50th cap for Scotland on 24 September 2022, in a 2–1 win against Republic of Ireland. During that same international period he again captained the team, as Andrew Robertson was absent due to injury. McGinn wore the armband in the 0-0 UEFA Nations League draw with Ukraine, a result that secured first place in the group, promotion to the top level of the Nations League and a guaranteed play-off appearance in qualifying for UEFA Euro 2024.


title: John McGinn

text: Raised in Clydebank where he attended St Peter the Apostle High School, John is the third of four children to parents Stephen and Mary. He has a twin sister, Katie, and his older brothers Stephen and Paul are also professional footballers. All three brothers have been with both St Mirren and Hibernian at some stage in their careers. Their grandfather Jack McGinn is a former Celtic chairman and Scottish Football Association president.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: The "Star Wars" opening crawl is a signature device of the opening sequences of every numbered film of the "Star Wars" series, an American epic space opera franchise created by George Lucas. Within a black sky background featuring a smattering of stars, the crawl is preceded both by the opening static blue text, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." and by the "Star Wars" logo which recedes toward a central point on the screen before disappearing. The crawl text, which describes the backstory and context of the film, then recedes toward a higher point in relation to the screen and with an apparent effect of disappearing in the distance. The visuals are accompanied by the "Main Title Theme", composed by John Williams.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: This sequence has featured at the beginning of each of the main "Star Wars" saga theatrical films produced by Lucasfilm. Although it has retained the same basic elements, the opening crawl has significantly evolved throughout the series. It is one of the most immediately recognizable elements of the franchise and has been frequently parodied.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: The opening crawl was not used in the animated film or in the "Star Wars" "Anthology" films, "Rogue One" and , although all three films begin with the opening text. Additionally, the opening sequence of "Solo" continues with a short backstory presented in the same style as the opening text, while "The Clone Wars" uses a narrator to provide exposition in a similar style to a newsreel.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: Each film begins with the static blue text, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...", followed by the "Star Wars" logo shrinking in front of a field of stars, as if moving away from the viewer. Initially, the logo's extremities are beyond the edge of the frame. While the logo is retreating, the "crawl" text begins, starting with the film's episode number and subtitle (with the exception of the original release of "Star Wars" – see below), and followed by a three-paragraph prologue to the film. The text scrolls up and away from the bottom of the screen towards a vanishing point above the top of the frame in a perspective projection. Each version of the opening crawl ends with a four-dot ellipsis, except for "Return of the Jedi," which has a three-dot ellipsis. When the text has nearly reached the vanishing point, it fades out, the camera tilts down (or, in the case of "Episode II: Attack of the Clones", up), and the film begins.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: Several words are in all-capital letters to emphasise their importance: "DEATH STAR" in "Star Wars", "GALACTIC EMPIRE" in "Return of the Jedi", "ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC" in "", "FIRST ORDER", "REPUBLIC" and "RESISTANCE" in "", "FIRST ORDER" and "RESISTANCE" again in "", and "REVENGE", "EMPEROR PALPATINE", "GENERAL LEIA ORGANA", "REY", "FIRST ORDER", and "KYLO REN" in "". Each line of the text spans the width of the screen when it enters from the bottom. In the "fullscreen" (4:3 aspect ratio for standard-definition television) versions of the films, the full lines of text are cut off on the sides until they have scrolled further onto the screen. As a result, by the time the full lines are visible, the text is much smaller and harder to read. In addition, the viewer also has less time to read it.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: Lucas has stated that the opening crawl was inspired by the opening crawls used at the beginning of each episode of the original "Flash Gordon" and "Buck Rogers" film serials, which were the inspiration for Lucas to write much of the "Star Wars" saga. The development of the opening crawl came about as part of a collaboration between Lucas and the seasoned film title designer Dan Perri. In 1976, Lucas invited Perri to Industrial Light & Magic, Lucasfilm's post-production operation at Van Nuys, California. Perri, who had previously worked on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "The Exorcist", suggested that they take inspiration from the 1939 Cecil B. DeMille film, "Union Pacific", whose opening credits are shown distorted by a sharp perspective and rolling along a railroad track towards a distant vanishing point. Lucas was keen on the idea, so Perri developed sketches and prototype mechanical artwork. One of the earliest iterations of the opening crawl is evidenced in storyboards drawn by the production artist Alex Tavoularis, depicting the title “THE STAR WARS” as a three-dimensional logo.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: Perri also designed a logotype, consisting of block-capital letters filled with stars and skewed towards a vanishing point to follow the same perspective as the opening crawl. Lucas eventually rejected Perri's logo due to readability problems, turning instead to the graphic designer Suzy Rice, an art director at the Los Angeles advertising agency Seiniger Advertising. Lucas had commissioned Rice to design a promotional brochure that was to be distributed to cinema theatre owners. He instructed Rice to produce a logo that would intimidate the viewer, and he reportedly asked for the logo to appear "very fascist" in style. Rice, inspired by historical German typography, produced a bold logotype using an outlined, modified Helvetica Black. After some feedback from Lucas, Rice decided to join the "S" and "T" of "STAR" and the "R" and "S" of "WARS". Lucas's producer, Gary Kurtz, found that Rice's logo worked well in the opening title; the logo was modified further to flatten the pointed tips on the letter "W" before it was inserted into the final cut. While Perri's skewed logo did not appear on-screen, it was used widely on pre-release print advertising, and it featured prominently on film posters promoting the release of "Star Wars" on cinema billboards in 1977 (notably Tom Jung's "", the by the Brothers Hildebrandt and Tom Chantrell's ).


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: In a 2005 interview, George Lucas described how the final phrasing of the text for "Star Wars" came about. "The crawl is such a hard thing because you have to be careful that you're not using too many words that people don't understand. It's like a poem. I showed the very first crawl to a bunch of friends of mine in the ’70s. It went on for six paragraphs with four sentences each. Brian De Palma was there...". De Palma helped to edit the text into the form used in the film.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: According to Dennis Muren, who worked on the first six films, crawls on the original trilogy films were accomplished by filming physical models laid out on the floor. The models were approximately 60 cm (2') wide and 1.80 m (6') long. The crawl effect was accomplished by the camera moving longitudinally along the model. It was difficult and time-consuming to achieve a smooth scrolling effect. Afterwards, versions in other languages (such as German, French and Spanish) were produced by Industrial Light & Magic.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: With the advent of computer-generated graphics, the crawls for the prequel trilogy were achieved much more quickly. The 2004 DVD special edition versions of the original trilogy were later updated with computer-generated crawls as part of their restoration and enhancement.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy stated that the 2016 spin-off film "Rogue One" would "more than likely" eschew certain traditional elements of the franchise, including the crawl, in an effort to distinguish it from the main film series. In fact, "Rogue One" retains "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...", but then immediately cuts to the opening scene with no crawl. At the end of the opening scene, the title "ROGUE ONE" recedes against a star field, like the "STAR WARS" title of the main series, then there is a cut to the next scene.


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: The second spin-off film "" does not feature a crawl, but does feature an introductory text shown sentence by sentence in the same font and color as and immediately after "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...".


title: Star Wars opening crawl

text: The opening crawl in the first "Star Wars" film is very different from Lucas's original intention. The original text, used in the rough cut he showed to friends and studio executives in February 1977, appears in the Marvel Comics adaptation of the film. When originally released in May 1977, the first film was simply titled "Star Wars", as 20th Century Fox forbade Lucas to use a subtitle on grounds that it could be confusing, since there had been no other "Star Wars" movies prior to 1977. In addition, it was not certain if the film would be followed with a sequel. When "The Empire Strikes Back" was released in 1980, the episode number, "Episode V", and subtitle "THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK" appeared as the first two lines of the opening crawl. To match its sequel's crawl, the episode number "Episode IV" and subtitle "A NEW HOPE" were added for the film's theatrical re-release in April 1981. The original version, without the subtitle, was not released again until the 2006 limited edition DVDs. Also, the original version of "Episode IV"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crawl uses a lowercase "R" for "Rebel spaceships" and "Rebel spies", as, at the time, "Rebel" (in its "Star Wars" meaning), just like "Imperial", was not considered some sort of demonym-like adjective as it is now.


title: Clog

text: Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture.


title: Clog

text: Traditional clogs remain in use as protective footwear in agriculture and in some factories and mines. Although they are sometimes negatively associated with cheap and folkloric footwear of farmers and the working class, some types are considered fashion wear today, such as Swedish träskor or Japanese geta.


title: Clog

text: Clogs are also used in several different styles of dance, where an important feature is the sound they produce against the floor. Clog dancing is one of the fundamental roots of tap dancing, but with tap shoes the taps are free to click against each other and produce a different sound from clogs.


title: Clog

text: The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clog as a "thick piece of wood", and later as a "wooden soled overshoe" and a "shoe with a thick wooden sole".


title: Clog

text: Welsh traditional clog maker Trefor Owen identified three main varieties of clogs: wooden upper, wooden soled and overshoes.


title: Clog

text: These divisions are not fixed: some overshoes look more like whole foot clogs, like Spanish albarca, whilst other wooden soled clogs raise and protect clothing in the way that overshoes do, such as Japanese geta.


title: Clog

text: The type of upper determines how the clogs are worn. Whole foot clogs need to be close fitting and can be secured by curling the toes. In contrast wooden soled clogs are fastened by laces or buckles on the welt and therefore the toes are relaxed as in shoes. Half open clogs may either be secured like whole foot clogs, or have an additional strap over the top of the foot. Some sandal types, and in particular toe peg styles, are worn more like "flip-flops" and rely on the grip between the big and next toe.


title: Clog

text: As they are primarily made from wood, clogs cannot flex under the ball of the foot as softer shoes do. To allow the foot to roll forward most clogs have the bottom of the toe curved up, known as the cast. Some styles of clogs have "feet", such as Spanish albarca. The clog rotates around the front edge of the front "feet". Some Japanese and Indian clogs have "teeth" or very high pegs attached to the soles. The clog can rotate around the front edge of the front "tooth" as the wearer strides forward. Some medieval pattens were in two pieces, heel through to ball and ball to toes. Joining the two was a leather strip forming a hinge, thus allowing the shoe above to flex. Klompen may have a carefully placed ease (space left around the foot), which allows the foot to bend, and the heel to lift within or out of the clog. Thick, springy wool socks provide flexibility in the fit.


title: Clog

text: The origin of wooden footwear in Europe is not precisely known. De Boer-Olij makes reference to the high, thick-soled boots of the Greek tragedy actors in Antiquity (the buskin) and to the shoes worn by Roman soldiers (the caligae). However, there is a possibility that the Celtic and Germanic peoples from Southern and Northern Europe were familiar with some sort of wooden foot covering. Archaeological finds of these are not known. Wooden footwear often ended up as firewood and, because of its nature, wood will rot away in the long run. The oldest surviving wooden footwear in Europe is found in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and dates from 1230 and 1280. These finds look very similar to the wooden shoes that are still worn in the Netherlands.


title: Clog

text: Since wooden footwear was a hand-made product, the shape of the footwear, as well as its production process showed great local and regional diversity in style. At the beginning of the 20th century machine-made wooden footwear was introduced. After WW2, in particular, wooden shoes disappeared from sight. They were replaced by more fashionable all-leather and synthetic footwear. At present, only the so-called Swedish clogs (wooden bottom and leather top) is still seen as a trendy fashion item, often as ladies’ high-heeled boots. Nevertheless, traditional wooden footwear is still popular in several regions in Europe and in some occupations, for its practical use. Some historic local variations have recently been replaced by uniform national models.


title: Clog

text: Presented below are typical clogs from the countries where they are found. Like many folk items, the boundaries of manufacture and use are regional and therefore do not always exactly follow those of modern states. So, in some countries two or more different types can be found. It is also possible that one type can be found in bordering countries. For example, Danish, German, Dutch, Belgian and clogs from Northwest France look quite similar. The links provide access to pages dealing with the different types of clog, their design, origin and manufacture.


title: Clog

text: In the 1970s and 1980s, Swedish clogs became popular fashion accessories for both sexes. They were usually worn without socks and were considered suitable attire for the "avant-garde" man.


title: Clog

text: In the 1980s and 1990s, clogs based on Swedish clogs returned in fashion for women. Platform clogs or sandals, often raised as high as 6 or even 8 inches right through between sole and insole, were worn in many western countries. The large mid layer was often made of solid cork, although some were merely of plastic with a cork covering. The sole, more often than not, was made of a light sandy-colored rubber.


title: Clog

text: In 2007, Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf introduced high heeled Dutch clogs on the catwalk, with their winter collection of 2007/08. In 2010, Swedish clogs for women returned again in Chanel's and Louis Vuitton's Spring / Summer 2010 collection.


title: Ćevapi

text: Ćevapi (, ), ćevapčići (formal: diminutive; , ) is a grilled dish of minced meat found traditionally in the countries of southeast Europe (the Balkans). It is considered a national dish of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia and is also common in Croatia, Montenegro, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Slovenia, Romania,Albania and Austria.


title: Ćevapi

text: They are usually served in groups of five to ten pieces on a plate or in a flatbread ("lepina" or "somun"), often with chopped onions, sour cream, kajmak (milk cream), ajvar (relish), and salt.


title: Ćevapi

text: Bosnian ćevapi are made from two types of minced beef meat, hand-mixed and formed with a funnel, while formed ćevapi are grilled. Serbian ćevapčići are made of beef, lamb or pork, or a mixture.


title: Ćevapi

text: The word "ćevap" is derived from the Turkish "kebap". The word is sometimes used in conjunction with the common South Slavic diminutive ending "-čići". ; ; / ; ; ; . The word "ćevapi" is plural; the singular form "ćevap" is rarely used, as a typical serving consists of several "ćevapi".


title: Ćevapi

text: During the Ottoman administration, "hajduks" (rebels, outlaws) made the "hajdučki ćevap" ("hajduk ćevap"), which was easy to make, out of pieces of meat and smoked lard on a skewer roasted over fire. The recipe of the "Leskovački ćevap" ("Leskovac ćevap"), a local specialty of Serbia, was based on traditional pljeskavica (meat patty), formed as ćevap.


title: Ćevapi

text: Leskovac has a long history of grill shops. In Belgrade, ćevapčići first came from Leskovac in the 1860s, into the kafana "Rajić" at the Great Marketplace (today Studentski Trg), from where they quickly spread across the city, and subsequently, country. The industry quickly multiplied, as ćevapčići was the drinking public's favourite.


title: Ćevapi

text: The ćevapčići were served at shops, known as "ćevabdžija" ( "ćevabdžije"). According to a 1927–28 study in Belgrade, people either ate in the restaurant or outside (""on the kaldrma""), often take-away. The shops served from early morning to 10 AM; often the dish was bought for breakfast.


title: Ćevapi

text: Before the 1930s, they spread to the rest of Yugoslavia, including east of Serbia and the Macedonia region. By 1932, ćevapčići were regarded a local specialty in southern Serbia, Skopje and Peć. In 1933, the first street food vendor appeared in Maribor, Slovenia, who came from Leskovac, and served grilled meat, including ćevapčići. In 1940, ten pieces cost one Yugoslav dinar. In the second half of the 20th century, ćevapčići and other Oriental dishes entered Croatian cuisine. The Leskovac-styled grilled meat, including ćevapčići, have today become part of everyday-diet in Slovenia. Today, ćevapčići are found outside former Yugoslavia in the diaspora communities.


title: Ćevapi

text: Leskovac organizes an annual grill festival, the Leskovac Grill Festival, as a showcase of ćevapi and other grilled meat.


title: Ćevapi

text: In Bosnia and Herzegovina, each bigger city or region has its own recipe. While Sarajevo-style ćevapi ("Sarajevski ćevapi") are the most popular, Banja Luka-style ćevapi ("Banjalučki ćevapi") differ from all others because they are prepared as a meat tile typically consisting of four ćevapi connected in a row. They are usually made just with ground beef, salt, and pepper, just like Sarajevo ćevapi, but ground veal and garlic are sometimes also added to the mix.


title: Ćevapi

text: Travnički ćevapi originates from the city of Travnik in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The ćevapi are made with a combination of beef, veal, mutton, and lamb, with the addition of salt, pepper, and a bit of baking soda. When grilled, the meat is often brushed with a clear broth that was prepared with beef bones and mutton.


title: Ćevapi

text: Tuzlanski ćevapi comes from Tuzla. The small meat logs are usually made with a combination of ground mutton, beef, and lamb (usually in a ratio of 2:1:1), although some places prepare them only with beef. The meat is mixed by hand and seasoned with salt and pepper, and it is recommended to leave the meat combination in the refrigerator for a few hours or a whole day before the preparation.


title: Ćevapi

text: There are variations in meat content and seasoning, usually salt and pepper. The dish is kept simple, and traditionally served with flatbread with chopped onions and/or kajmak and yogurt as appetizer.


Ministro Pistarini International Airport () , also known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location in the Ezeiza Partido in Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport south-southwest of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. Covering it is one of two commercial airports serving Buenos Aires and its metropolitan area, along with Aeroparque Jorge Newbery. Pistarini Airport is the country's largest international airport by number of passengers handled—85% of international traffic—and is a hub for international flights of Aerolíneas Argentinas, which operates domestic services from the airport as well. It has been operated by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 S.A. since 1998.


title: Ministro Pistarini International Airport

text: The airport is named after Juan Pistarini, Minister of Public Works during the presidency of Juan Perón, who placed the cornerstone of the project on 22 December 1945. It was designed and erected by Argentine technicians. Its construction, which took four years to be completed, was one of the major projects in the five-year plan of the first presidency of Juan Perón. The airport was inaugurated on 30 April 1949. When it opened it was the third-largest airport in the world. A 1949 diagram shows three runways crossing at 60-degree angles: runway 10/28, 4/22 and 16/34.


text: Since December 2012, citizens from countries requiring an entry visa for Argentine nationals including Australia and Canada are charged a "reciprocity fee" to enter Argentina, equivalent to the price the countries charge Argentine citizens for a visa. Until the tax was collected, in Argentine pesos or US dollars, at the airport; since then, the tax must be paid in advance online from the country of origin. As of 23 August 2016, the Argentine Government (Presidential Decree No. 959/2016) has resolved to suspend the collection of the reciprocity fee from US passport holders who visit the country for less than 90 days, for tourist or business purposes.


text: In October 2012 Ezeiza Airport recorded the highest annual traffic growth of all the airports operated by "Aeropuertos Argentina 2000". For this month, the airport handled 767,824 passengers, a 10.9% increase compared to the previous October; the volume of international and domestic traffic for October 2012 increased 8.7% and 108.3%, respectively, year-on-year. Overall, 2012 traffic figures for the airport indicated a 7.3% increase over the previous year. Figures for July 2013 showed that the airport handled 688,397 passengers, an 8.9% decrease over the previous year.


text: Terminal C was inaugurated in July 2011; , its facilities were in use by Aerolíneas Argentinas, Air France, and Alitalia for their operations. In March 2013 terminal B, with an area of , was inaugurated, for use by Aerolíneas Argentinas and KLM.


text: Qantas withdrew its service to the airport in favour of Santiago de Chile in March 2012; flights to Ezeiza Airport had begun in November 2008. This followed Malaysia Airlines' termination of its Boeing 747-served Kuala Lumpur–Cape Town–Buenos Aires route in early 2012 to cut costs. Aerolíneas Argentinas discontinued the Auckland stopover on the Buenos Aires–Sydney run in July 2012; Sydney was removed from the airline's network in April 2014. South African Airways discontinued its Johannesburg–Buenos Aires service in March 2014.


text: In , Qatar Airways launched direct flights between the airport and Doha, but in August 2020 cancelled the route. After a ten-year gap, KLM resumed operations at the airport in October 2011. Emirates launched services to the airport in , but in August 2020 discontinued the route. Turkish Airlines extended its Istanbul–São Paulo service to end at Ezeiza in December 2012. Air New Zealand started non-stop flights between the airport and Auckland in December 2015, but discontinued them in 2020. United Airlines cancelled non-stop flights from Newark, New Jersey in October 2019.


text: In January 2018, Aerolineas Argentinas cancelled the non-stop flight to Barcelona. Later, low-cost carriers LEVEL and Norwegian started long-haul flights to Ezeiza airport from Barcelona and London-Gatwick, respectively. The Norwegian carrier discontinued the route in April 2020. Ethiopian Airlines and Swiss carrier Edelweiss Air launched new flights to Buenos Aires. Aerolíneas Argentinas started flights to Orlando in December 2019 but in March 2020 the route was discontinued. LATAM Argentina ended its operations in June 2020 and discontinued routes to Miami and Brazil. In July 2020 American Airlines discontinued its Los Angeles route.


text: , Aviation Safety Network records 30 accidents/incidents for aircraft that departed from the airport or had it as a destination. The list below provides a summary of the fatal events that took place at or in the vicinity of the airport.


title: PechaKucha

text: PechaKucha (Japanese: ぺちゃくちゃ, IPA: ], "chit-chat") is a storytelling format in which a presenter shows 20 slides for 20 seconds of commentary each. At a PechaKucha Night, individuals gather at a venue to share personal presentations about their work. The PechaKucha format can be used, for example, in business presentations to clients or staff, as well as in education settings.


title: PechaKucha

text: Inspired by their desire to "talk less, show more", Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo's Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDa) created PechaKucha in February 2003. It was a way to attract people to SuperDeluxe, their experimental event space in Roppongi, and to enable young designers to meet, show their work, and exchange ideas in 6 minutes 40 seconds.


title: PechaKucha

text: In 2004, cities in Europe began hosting PK Nights and days, followed over the years by hundreds of others. As of April 2019, PKNs had been held in more than 1,142 cities worldwide. More than 3 million people have attended a PK Night.


title: PechaKucha

text: In January 2018, PK's Astrid Klein, Mark Dytham, and Sean Smyth established PK, Inc. to create software to expand the PK platform.


title: PechaKucha

text: A typical PechaKucha Night (PKN) includes 8 to 14 presentations. Organizers in some cities have customized their own format. For example, in Groningen, Netherlands, two six-minute, 40-second presentation slots are given to a live band, and the final 20 seconds of each presentation includes an immediate critique of the presentation by the host's sidekicks.


title: PechaKucha

text: The audience often represents design, architecture, photography, art, and creative fields, as well as academia. Presenters share creative work or speak about passion topics such as travels, research projects, student projects, hobbies, collections, or other interests. Video art has also been presented at some events.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Carol Drinkwater (born 22 April 1948) is a British actress, writer and filmmaker residing in France. She portrayed Helen Herriot (née Alderson) in the television adaptation of the James Herriot books "All Creatures Great and Small", which led to her receiving the Variety Club Television Personality of the Year award in 1985.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Drinkwater was a member of the National Theatre Company under the leadership of Laurence Olivier and has acted in numerous television series and films including the highly successful "Chocky", "Bouquet of Barbed Wire", "Another Bouquet" and "Golden Pennies". Drinkwater won a Critics' Circle Best Screen Actress award for her role, Anne, in the feature film "Father" (1990) in which she starred opposite Max von Sydow. Amongst many other film and television series, she has appeared in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" (1971), "Queen Kong" (1976), "The Shout" (1978), "Father" (1990), and the film adaptation of Beryl Bainbridge's novel "An Awfully Big Adventure" (1995), directed by Mike Newell and starring Hugh Grant and Alan Rickman.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Drinkwater portrayed Helen Herriot (née Alderson), the wife of James Herriot, for the first three series of the original BBC television series "All Creatures Great and Small". She left the role in 1979. "I'd given everything I could and I couldn't think where else I could take the role, because there was no more material. I wasn't leaving in any kind of spiteful thing. The BBC was so angry with me, they put a ban on using me. So they re-cast and another actress got the role. I was terribly upset because it was a wonderful role and would have been very good for me. I must say now, looking back on my career, it's one of the few things in my life I would do differently, and I wouldn't have left."


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: "Carol will always remain my favourite actress," "All Creatures" make-up artist Maggie Thomas recalled. "She was a breath of fresh air; never moody or difficult, a warm, merry and very natural girl. I can remember our first day on location. We were only working with Chris and a cow, which had fallen and become stuck in a small burn, so Carol had decided to come out to watch and meet everyone. She hadn't got any scenes that first day, so she was dressed for the summer in her own clothes. The shorts she wore were kind of Boy Scout-cum-M*A*S*H ex-army drill, but on her figure they looked anything but. There was always an impishness about her and an air of complete unawareness of her own effect on men. The male members of the crew went into meltdown. She was oblivious, smiling and chatting to everyone, just enjoying the beautiful weather and getting to know who was who on the crew. They all remained in love with her for as long as she was the leading lady."


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: While working in Australia, Drinkwater wrote her first successful children's book, "The Haunted School". She has since written further children's books. "The Haunted School" was produced as a television mini-series and film. Bought by Disney, it won the Chicago International Film Festival Gold Award for Children's Films. It was through this that she met her husband, Michel Noll, and relocated to Provence.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Her books for adults include commercial fiction and a series of best-selling memoirs about her experiences on her olive farm in Provence. In 2013 Drinkwater worked on a series of five documentary films inspired by her two Mediterranean travel books, "The Olive Route" and "The Olive Tree". The Olive Route films were completed in February 2013 and have since been broadcast on international networks worldwide.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: In 2015 Penguin Books UK announced a deal signed with Drinkwater to write two epic novels. The first, "The Forgotten Summer", was published in March 2016. The second, "The Lost Girl", was published in June 2017. Drinkwater alleged to The Guardian, in October 2017, that the experience of the starlet Marguerite in "The Lost Girl" was based on her own experience of being sexually assaulted by Elia Kazan while auditioning for the leading film role in his film "The Last Tycoon" (1976).


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: In 2018 Penguin signed a second deal with Drinkwater for two further novels. The first, published in May 2019, was "The House on The Edge of The Cliff". The second, "An Act of Love", was published on 29 April 2021.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: During the summer of 2021 Drinkwater spent four months filming a six-part documentary film series for UK’s Channel 5 called "Carol Drinkwater’s Secret Provence". The filming took place across Provence from the Italian border to the Camargue in the west of southern France.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Drinkwater is the daughter of the bandleader and agent Peter Regan (born Peter Albert Drinkwater) and Irish nurse Phyllis McCormack; her sister is actress and author Linda Regan.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: Drinkwater was born in London, and acquired her Irish passport (later in life) because she felt vulnerable when travelling on a British passport in certain countries, including those in North Africa.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: During the 1978–1980 first run of "All Creatures Great and Small", she had an affair with her on-screen husband, Christopher Timothy, which Drinkwater claims resulted in negative behaviour towards her by members of the general public.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: She is married to French television producer Michel Noll, and has two stepdaughters from Noll's first marriage.


title: Carol Drinkwater

text: In 2017, Drinkwater accused the late American film director Elia Kazan of sexual harassment and attempted rape which she alleges to have occurred in 1975 when she was under consideration for a part in Kazan's film "The Last Tycoon".


title: Transavia

text: Transavia Airlines C.V., trading as Transavia and formerly branded as "transavia.com", is a Dutch low-cost airline and a wholly owned subsidiary of KLM and therefore part of the Air France–KLM group. Its main base is Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and it has other bases at Rotterdam The Hague Airport and Eindhoven Airport. Transavia maintains Transavia France as its French subsidiary.


title: Transavia

text: The first brainstorming sessions about starting a second charter company in the Netherlands, after Martinair, started in spring 1966, when the American Chalmers Goodlin met with captain Pete Holmes. "Slick" Goodlin had recently bought the dormant small company Transavia Limburg, based in Maastricht, which had three DC-6's available. The Dutch government needed to be approached in order to obtain an operating license for the airline, both in order to be allowed to operate out of Amsterdam Airport, and for these DC-6s.


title: Transavia

text: At that stage John Block, a former member of the Martinair Holland management, was willing to take that on. He succeeded, the license was issued on 14 November 1966 and two days later on 16 November 1966 the airline's first commercial flight – Amsterdam/Naples/Amsterdam – was completed; flown by Captain Pete Holmes, on board were the Dutch Ballet Orchestra and the Dutch Dance Theatre. This was the first flight with the new name of Transavia Holland.


title: Transavia

text: The company found offices at the old Schiphol Airport, Hangar 7 and the fledgling's financier Slick Goodlin appointed the three-pronged management: Commercial Director J.N. Block, Director Operations H.G. Holmes, and Technical Director Kees de Blok. Some of the first employees were pilots John Schurman (Canadian), Hans Steinbacher & Pim Sierks (Dutch), Chief Stewardess Willy Holmes-Spoelder and her stewardesses: Senior Stewardess Wil Dammers and six carefully selected and trained young women.


title: Transavia

text: The first of fourteen secondhand Sud Caravelle twin-jet airliners to be operated by Transavia was delivered in summer 1969 and the type remained in service with the airline until being displaced by further deliveries of Boeing 737s in 1976.


title: Transavia

text: Building up the airline from scratch, ten years later Transavia had a marketshare of 45% of the Dutch holiday market and became the main competitor of Martinair. In 1986, the Transavia Holland brand was changed into Transavia Airlines. It was the first airline to take advantage of the first open skies agreement signed between the UK and Dutch governments. Transavia started operating its first scheduled service on the Amsterdam to London Gatwick route on 26 October 1986.


title: Transavia

text: During 1991, the airline's major shareholder, Nedlloyd, sold its 80% holding to KLM. In 1998, Transavia was the first foreign airline to operate domestic services in Greece following a change in Greek aviation law. In June 2003, KLM acquired the remaining 20% of Transavia, making it 100% KLM owned. The subsequent merger of Air France and KLM made Transavia a wholly owned subsidiary of Air France-KLM.


title: Transavia

text: In the early 2000s, Transavia was primarily a charter airline with a low-cost airline subsidiary called Basiq Air. To strengthen its brand image, the two were combined under the transavia.com domain name on 1 January 2005.


title: Transavia

text: Transavia has a French unit, Transavia France, based at Paris-Orly, which also operates 737-800s. A Danish unit, Transavia Denmark, based at Copenhagen, operated from 2008 until April 2011 when it was shut down after failing to meet expectations.


title: Transavia

text: A strike was organised by Air France pilots in September 2014, in protest against the Air France-KLM group's increased focus on the development of Transavia, whose pilots were being paid less than those of Air France.


title: Transavia

text: By early 2015, Transavia received a new corporate design dropping the ".com" from its public appearance and changed its primary colors from white/green/blue to white/green. The airline is now to be positioned as Air France-KLM's low-cost brand for the Netherlands and France.


title: Transavia

text: In February 2017, Transavia announced that it would shut down its base at Munich Airport by late October 2017 after only a year of service due to a change in their business strategy and negative economic outlook.


title: Transavia

text: In December 2019, Transavia announced the launch of its base at Brussels Airport, initially operating nine routes from the airport.


title: Transavia

text: In December 2021, after a delay due to the coronavirus, the base at Brussels Airport was opened. Transavia will station one aircraft at the Belgian airport.


title: Transavia

text: Transavia has its head office in the TransPort Building, Schiphol East, on the grounds of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands. Transavia moved into the new building on 3 May 2010 with about 400 employees. Previously the head office was in the Building Triport III at Schiphol Airport.


title: Transavia

text: Transavia Airlines C.V. is 100% owned by KLM, which in turn is owned by Air France–KLM; however Transavia is run as an independent operation. It holds a 4,49% interest in the French airline Transavia France S.A.S (the remaining 95,51% is owned by Air France S.A.), which operates in the French market. Transavia France also operates under the brand name of transavia, with an identical business model, website, and image.


title: Transavia

text: The financials for both parts of the Transavia brand (Transavia Netherlands and Transavia France) are fully incorporated in the published annual accounts of their ultimate parent, Air France-KLM. Results reported for the Transavia brand are (figures for years ending 31 December):


title: Transavia

text: Transavia operates as a low-cost carrier, and as such uses a single aircraft type (Boeing 737 in their case) with a single class of cabin. The airline offers the "Selection on Board" buy on board service offering food and drinks for purchase. Commencing 5 April 2011, Transavia introduced fees for hold luggage and changed the rules for hand luggage, with the maximum allowable weight for hand luggage increased from 5 kg to 10 kg.


title: Transavia

text: During the busy summer season, Transavia regularly leases additional 737 aircraft from Sun Country Airlines, a US airline based in Eagan, Minnesota. During the slower winter season, which corresponds to Sun Country's busy season, Sun Country leases several planes from Transavia. This reciprocal arrangement allows both airlines to balance their fleets to reflect seasonal demand. Transavia also leases services from different charter airlines during the peak summer season to operate flights on their behalf.


title: Transavia

text: No fatalities or complete loss of aircraft have occurred on Transavia flights. In 1997 two incidents occurred with substantial damage to the aircraft:


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is an action-adventure video game developed by MercurySteam and Kojima Productions, published by Konami and released on October 5, 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The PC version was released on August 27, 2013. The game is a reboot of the "Castlevania" series. Set in Southern Europe during the Middle Ages, the story focuses on Gabriel Belmont and his quest to defeat a malevolent order known as the Lords of Shadow and resurrect his wife. The player controls Gabriel in 3D environments as he uses melee skills to defeat enemies and solves puzzles to move through the game.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The game was originally announced as "Lords of Shadow" with no connection to the "Castlevania" series mentioned. This was done to keep their plans to radically change the direction of the "Castlevania" mythos a secret and to prevent the announcement of the game from upstaging another series release, "Castlevania Judgment". Hideo Kojima, creator of the "Metal Gear" series, helped produce the title. The music was composed by Spanish composer Óscar Araujo, who was acclaimed for his work on the game.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The game sold well and received positive reviews from video game publications. It was praised for new elements it provided to the franchise, with particular praise for its story, combat, visuals, music, and art direction. Konami requested that the development team produce more titles related to "Lords of Shadow". This includes two sequels titled "" and "".


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: "Lords of Shadow" is a third-person action-adventure game in which the player controls the main character, Gabriel Belmont. The combat involves a retractable chain whip called the Combat Cross. The player can perform up to forty unlockable combos with it. The commands consist of direct attacks for dealing damage to single enemies, and weak area attacks when surrounded by them. It is also capable of interactions with secondary weapons, such as knives, holy water and other items which can be upgraded. In addition, the Combat Cross's melee skills can be combined with the Light and Shadow magic system, which are spells aimed at defense and aggression, respectively. The whip is upgradeable and can also be used to guard against an opponent's attack.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The developers attempted to reach out to new audiences by distancing "Lords of Shadow" from previous "Castlevania" games, but kept some elements intact to not alienate franchise fans. For example, vampires and werewolves are recurring enemies in the game, but other existing enemies include trolls, giant spiders and goblin-like creatures. The enemies can be defeated for experience points, which can be used to purchase combos or to augment the player's abilities further. "Lords of Shadow" has large-scale bosses known as titans. The Combat Cross can be used to grapple onto their bodies and navigate them, and break the runes that animate the titan.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Similar to the original "Castlevania" titles, platforming and puzzles are a key component and are featured in fifty levels. The player can control Gabriel to jump most distances, dash or hold his balance above fatal pits. The Combat Cross can be used for exploration purposes like scaling walls, rappelling and swinging across gaps. Some sequences of the game require the player to solve physical puzzles or brain teasers. Alternatively, moving certain objects can set off chain reactions and open paths to new areas. Activating switches can also assist against traps. The player can explore the levels in order to find hidden items, which can increase health or magic abilities. These items are "gems"; there are three types, including life gems, light gems and dark gems. These can increase life endurance, light magical ability and dark magical ability, respectively.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Producer David Cox stated the game is a reboot of the franchise. The setting of "Lords of Shadow" is during "the end of days" in the year 1047. The Earth's alliance with the Heavens has been threatened by a malevolent force known as the Lords of Shadow. A dark spell has stopped the souls of the deceased from leaving, while evil creatures inhabit the dying land and attack living people.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The main character, Gabriel Belmont (voiced by Robert Carlyle), is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, an elite group of holy knights who protect and defend innocent people against the supernatural creatures. Gabriel's wife Marie (Natascha McElhone) was brutally murdered by one of them, and her soul cannot leave as it is trapped in limbo. Because she is now neither alive nor dead, she realizes what is at stake and guides Gabriel to his destiny to save the world as he investigates the dark spell. He travels the destroyed land, meeting other characters, such as the oldest living member of his order, Zobek (Patrick Stewart, who additionally narrates the game). Two masks referred to as the God and Devil Masks lie at the center of the plot, with the God Mask having powers to resurrect the dead. Gabriel intends to defeat the three factions of the Lords of Shadow in order to obtain the pieces of the God Mask and bring back his deceased wife.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Gabriel is sent by the Brotherhood of Light to the Lake of Oblivion, where his deceased wife, Marie, tells him that Spirits who founded the Brotherhood said that the Lords of Shadow's power will save the world. Gabriel meets a man from the Brotherhood called Zobek, who states that a prophecy has been kept a secret by a select few, which tells of a pure-hearted warrior who will claim the Lords of Shadow's power to overcome evil. Zobek says that he and Gabriel must enter the lands of the Dark Lords in order to unite the Heavens with the world again, and that with this Gabriel can bring Marie back from the dead. Gabriel defeats the werewolf chief Cornell (Richard Ridings) and the vampire queen Carmilla (Sally Knyvette) for the first two pieces of the God Mask on his journey, while learning that they were once two of the three founding members of the Order who fought the spawns of Satan in God's favor until they transformed into the Spirits, with power only second to God's. After they ascended to the Heavens, they left behind their dark sides, who were known as the Lords of Shadow.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Gabriel departs for the Land of the Necromancers for the last part of the mask. There, Zobek appears before Gabriel with the Devil Mask over his face, and divulges that he is the Lord of the Necromancers and that he grew tired of the Lords of Shadow dividing the power amongst the three of them. Orchestrating the events of the story, he searched Hell for this power until an evil force entered him and expanded his knowledge of the dark arts, which allowed him to cast the spell that separated the Earth from the Heavens so that the Spirits would contact the Brotherhood. Zobek discloses he used the Devil Mask on Gabriel to kill Marie and that all he needed was for Gabriel to restore the power of the Spirits to avoid suspicion from them. Satan (Jason Isaacs) emerges and takes the God Mask from Zobek, revealing himself as the mastermind who gave Zobek his powers so that Satan could have revenge on God and return to the Heavens. Gabriel confronts Satan and defeats him, releasing souls of the deceased from limbo. Gabriel discovers the God Mask cannot bring Marie back and that it only allows him to see through God's eyes. Marie tells him he has been given a new life to redeem himself before she departs with the God Mask.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The story is expanded in two DLC packs titled "Reverie" and "Resurrection". "Reverie" has Gabriel returning to Carmilla's castle to contain an ancient evil, the Forgotten One (Colin McFarlane), with the help of Carmilla's "daughter" Laura (Grace Vance), who is also a playable character that assists Gabriel in some sequences of the DLC. Before entering a portal into the Forgotten One's prison, Laura tells Gabriel he cannot enter it in his mortal form and dies after she has Gabriel drink her blood to use its powers to enter, turning him into a vampire. During "Resurrection", the Forgotten One aspires to destroy the humans' world, but he is defeated by Gabriel who claims his power for himself. Corrupted by the Forgotten One's power, Gabriel destroys his Combat Cross and leaves through the portal.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: In a post-credits scene after the base game's ending, Zobek is seen alive during modern times, and has uncovered Gabriel living as a vampire called Dracula. Zobek mentions the acolytes of Satan are preparing for his return and that they must stop him before he takes revenge on both of them. Before Gabriel disappears, Zobek tells him he will free him of his immortality if he helps him.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: "Castlevania" was rebooted due to the Konami's concern over the poor sales of contemporary "Castlevania" games. The team wished to expand the franchise's fanbase with this installment. A number of prototypes in parallel development competed to become the next "Castlevania" title. Konami told MercurySteam the game would be an original intellectual property (IP) when it was first greenlit as a "Castlevania" title. Konami eventually asked them to cease work on "Lords of Shadow" while it was still in its early stages, until David Cox showed the Japanese senior management the game and was offered help by video game designer Hideo Kojima. Konami then chose the pitch for it as the next "Castlevania" entry. The original concept for the game was to remake the first "Castlevania" starring Simon Belmont, but it was later decided to make a reboot of the franchise. "Lords of Shadow" still drew inspiration from earlier titles in the series, most notably "Castlevania" for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and "Super Castlevania IV".


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Kojima's input included advising Cox's team to redesign some of the lead character, Gabriel, who he felt needed a "more heroic face". Originally, Gabriel's design resembled a classic barbarian, before Kojima then advised the staff to refine him into a character that was more relatable for the player. Cox mentioned that the voice acting provided by Robert Carlyle helped humanize Gabriel's character. Kojima also oversaw the Japanese localization of the game, employing a number of voice actors from the Japanese versions of "Metal Gear Solid". Cox stated that Kojima otherwise allowed MercurySteam a lot of freedom with the project. MercurySteam wanted to depart from the art style of the other games in favour of one that was darker. Cox said, "The old games had this boyish depiction of vampires and monsters and we wanted them to have a darker edge this time around." VideoGamer.com drew comparisons between the art style and Guillermo del Toro's work.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The developers claimed to avoid the use of quick time events during combat, stating that they distracted the player from the action, but the game features many instances of them. When the game was 60% complete, MercurySteam was aiming for 30 frames per second performance, as opposed to 60 frames, which the company said was not a priority at that stage. The game reached gold status following an announcement on Twitter made by David Cox on September 9, 2010. The game's two downloadable content (DLC) episodes, "Reverie" and "Resurrection", were released in February 2011 and June 2011 respectively to explain the twist from the story's ending. David Cox referred to these DLC chapters as "a mistake."


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: A port for Microsoft Windows was announced in June 2013 with the subtitle of "Ultimate Edition". The downloadable content chapters are also included within the game. It was released in Steam on August 27, 2013 and in retail on August 30, 2013.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The game's musical score was written by Spanish composer Óscar Araujo using a 120-piece orchestra. It also features previous "Castlevania" musical themes. A soundtrack CD was also included in limited editions of the game, with twenty tracks in total. In October 2013, specialist label Sumthing Else Music Works issued the soundtrack in a more widely available CD release while selling a digital format of the previously issued tracks that were featured on the CD that came with collector's editions of the game alongside additional material exclusive to the digital release. Araujo was nominated by the International Film Music Critics Association for breakout composer of the year for his work on "Lords of Shadow". He won "Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media."


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: "Lords of Shadow" features voiced dialogue by a professional cast recorded in London, an aspect which has been acclaimed by the gaming press. The cast includes Robert Carlyle and Patrick Stewart. The part of Gabriel was originally going to be offered to Gerard Butler, but he was not available. The cast would make their own contributions to the characters during the recordings. David Cox mentioned that "What could have been an 'in and out' voiceover job for them [the voice actors] wasn't. Instead, their love of the script and praise saw them developing their characters and working through the motivations for them".


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: During its development, "Lords of Shadow" was placed on several lists for most anticipated video games. GameTrailers ranked it at number 7 for "Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2010." "GamesRadar+" placed "Lords of Shadow" at number 26 for 100 Most Anticipated Games of 2010, stating that "This could be a megaton release." "1UP.com" top 50 most anticipated games of E3 2010 ranked "Lords of Shadow" at number 17. Despite the heavy anticipation, Cox noted there was still a small number of fans who did not like the game's transition to the 3D format. He stated, "Fair enough, some people aren't going to like what we're doing and we accept that but generally what we're trying to do is bring the fans with us ... there's no point in going back and making the same game again – the point is to make a clean break and move forward with the series."


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: Reaction to "Lords of Shadow" was highly positive. "1UP.com" review praised how the game took elements from other series and executed them well. "GamesRadar+" drew favorable comparisons to other action games it has given a perfect score, including "God of War III", "Bayonetta" and "Dante's Inferno", while praising it for being "huge in scope, length, and depth, and it's polished with obvious love and passion". "Official Xbox Magazine" lauded the size of the game's content, writing "... [it] is big. Actually, big's too little a word. It's monolithic... From the "Resi 4" mood of the scarecrow puzzle to the unexpected oddity of the music box level, this is a game that seemingly hasn't heard of DLC – and decides to offer you immense value for money instead." The publication concluded it was otherwise a success. Other reviews noted that it was derivative of other games and that it was unlike the classic "Castlevania" series. "GameSpot" review calls the game "a good start for a series in need of some new blood – so to speak – it's just unfortunate so much of it comes from other games and not an original source." "IGN" found the combat repetitive but felt the puzzles and platforming provided good pacing. "Game Informer" Tim Turi praised its boss battles, its magic-based combat system, and its story. GameZone ranked it as the sixth best "Castlevania" title. The staff praised the developers' success at bringing "Castlevania" to 3D.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: "Xbox World 360" awarded the game the "Star Player Accolade" in 2010. "GamesMaster" also gave it the "Gold Award."


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: The game was a commercial success. By November 2010 Konami had shipped one million copies in North America and Europe. Despite not achieving a high rank on the sales chart, Konami was satisfied with the game's sales considering the budget it had and the staff's intentions. The game also became the best-selling "Castlevania" game, which resulted in Konami's request to produce more titles. Because of the game's success, "Lords of Shadow" is seen as the start of a possible second golden age of Spanish software.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: On May 29, 2012, "Nintendo Power" magazine revealed a sequel to "Lords of Shadow" for the Nintendo 3DS was in development by MercurySteam, titled "". The game takes place 25 years after "Lords of Shadow" and features 2.5D gameplay. It follows Trevor Belmont, Simon Belmont, Alucard and Gabriel Belmont at different points in history.


title: Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

text: On May 31, 2012, Konami announced the sequel at E3 2012, "". The game stars Gabriel as Dracula while he seeks to regain his lost powers in order to fight the Belmonts and the return of Satan. "Mirror of Fate" has a climax that sets up the events of "Lords of Shadow 2".


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: It was created when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, raised the County of Savoy into a duchy for Amadeus VIII. The duchy was an Imperial fief, subject of the Holy Roman Empire, until 1792, with a vote in the Imperial Diet. From the 16th century, Savoy belonged to the Upper Rhenish Circle.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Its territory included the current French departments of Savoy, Haute-Savoie and the Alpes-Maritimes, the current Italian region of Aosta Valley, a large part of Piedmont and the County of Geneva in Switzerland, which was then lost to the Old Swiss Confederacy.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Throughout its history, it was ruled by the House of Savoy and formed a part of the larger Savoyard state, which in 1720 became the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (also called "Kingdom of Savoy-Sardinia").


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The Duchy was created in 1416 when Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1433–1437) awarded the title of "Duke" to Count Amadeus VIII.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Being landlocked at its conception in 1388, the then-County of Savoy acquired a few kilometres of coastline around Nice. Other than this expansion, the 14th century was generally a time of stagnation. Pressure from neighboring powers, particularly France, prevented development, which characterizes the rest of the Renaissance era for Savoy.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The reign of Amadeus VIII was a turning point for the economy and the policy of the state, which deeply marked the history of the nation. His long reign was highlighted by wars (the country expanded its territory by defeating the Duchy of Monferrato and Lordship of Saluzzo), as well as reforms and edicts, and also some controversial actions. The first was in 1434, when he chose to withdraw to the Château de Ripaille, where, living the life of a hermit, he founded the Order of St. Maurice. In 1439, he received an appointment as antipope, which he accepted (under the name of Felix V), although he subsequently resigned a decade later out of a fear of undermining the religious unity of Christians.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The second important action of the Government of Amadeo VIII was the creation of the Principality of Piedmont in August 1424, the management of which was entrusted to the firstborn of the family as a title of honor. The duke left the territory largely formed from the old Savoy domain.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: As a cultured and refined man, Duke Amadeus gave great importance to art. Among others, he worked with the famous Giacomo Jaquerio in literature and architecture, encouraging the cultivation of the arts in the Italian Piedmont.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: However, his first son Amedeo died prematurely in 1431 and was succeeded by his second son Louis. Louis was in turn succeeded by the weak Amadeus IX, who was extremely religious (he was eventually declared blessed), but of little practical power, to the point that he allowed his wife, Yolande (Violante) of Valois, sister of Louis XI, to make very important decisions. During this period, France was more or less free to control the affairs of Savoy, which bound Savoy to the crown in Paris.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The Duchy's economy suffered during these years, not only because of war, but also because of the poor administration by Violante and the continued donations by Amadeus IX to the poor of Vercelli. The future of the nation was entrusted to the hands of a boy, Philibert I, who died at the early age of seventeen, after reigning for ten years. He was succeeded by Charles I, who died aged 21, and Charles II, who died aged 6. As a consequence of its participation in the Burgundian Wars, Savoy lost all its possessions north and south-east of Lake Geneva to the Swiss Confederacy.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: When Philibert II died in 1504, he was succeeded by Charles III the Good, a rather weak ruler. Since 1515, Savoy had been occupied by foreign armies, and Francis I of France was just waiting for the opportunity to permanently annex Savoy and its possessions. In 1536, Francis I ordered the occupation of the Duchy, which was invaded by a strong military contingent. Charles III realized too late the weakness of the state, and tried to defend the city of Turin. However, the city was lost on 3 April of the same year. Charles III retired in Vercelli, trying to continue the fight, but never saw the state free from occupation.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Emmanuel Philibert was the Duke who more than any other influenced the future policy of Savoy, managing to put an end to the more than twenty-year long occupation. The Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis, signed in 1559, restored full autonomy to the duchy, with his marriage to Margaret of France.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Emmanuel Philibert realized that Savoy could no longer trust France. So he moved the capital to Turin, and which he protected with a complex system of fortifications known as the Cittadella. (Remnants of the Citadalla can still can be seen, although it was largely destroyed by the subsequent expansion of the city.) From his military experience in Flanders, Emmanuel Philibert learned how to run an army, having won the famous Battle of St. Quentin. He was the first Duke of Savoy to establish a stable military apparatus that was not composed of mercenaries but rather by specially trained Savoyan soldiers.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: His son, Charles Emmanuel I, extended the duchy to the detriment of the lordships of Monferrato and the territory of Saluzzo, previously ceded to France, in 1601 under the Treaty of Lyon. Unfortunately, the wars of Charles Emmanuel ended mostly in defeats. Nevertheless, he is remembered as "Charles the Great", since he was a versatile and cultured man, a poet and a skillful reformer. He was able to manage the Duchy at a time of severe crisis vis-a-vis the European powers and found support from the Habsburgs. The policy of Charles Emmanuel was in fact based more on actions of international warfare, such as the possessions of the Marquis of Saluzzo, and the wars of succession in the duchies of Mantua and Monferrato. Generally, Savoy sided with Spain, but on occasion allied with France (as, for example, the Treaty of Susa required).


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: During the seventeenth century, the influence of the court of Versailles put pressure on Savoy. Due to the proximity of the Duchy of Milan, troops were stationed in France, and the disposal of Pinerolo (one of the most important strongholds of Savoy), were situated close to Turin. The court, which had been under Spanish influence with Charles Emmanuel I, became oriented towards France under his three successors. Vittorio Amedeo I (in office 1630–1637) had married Madame Royale, Maria Christina of Bourbon-France in 1619. Cristina held the real power in Savoy during the short period of the child-duke Francis Hyacinth (reigned 1637–1638) and during the minority (1638-1648) of Charles Emmanuel II.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: During the Thirty Years' War, Savoy was one of the states of the Holy Roman Empire that largely sided with France and against both the Emperor and Spain. Savoyard troops participated on the side of the French in the Savoyard-Genoese War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Tornavento campaign and, in part, in the Piedmontese Civil War, among other places.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The strong French influence, plus various misfortunes, repeatedly hit Savoy following the death of Charles Emmanuel I (26 July 1630). First of all, the plague ran rampant in 1630 and contributed significantly to the already widespread poverty.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The Wars of Succession of Monferrato (1628–1631) were very bloody in the countryside and subjected Casale Monferrato to a long siege (1629). Developments of arms and politics affected the economy and future history, exacerbating the already difficult situation after the death of Victor Amadeus I in 1637. He was succeeded for a short period of time by his eldest surviving son, the 5-year-old Francis Hyacinth. The post of regent for the next-oldest son, Carlo Emanuele II, also went to his mother Christine Marie of France, whose followers became known as "madamisti" (supporters of "Madama Reale"). Because of this, Savoy became a satellite state of the regent's brother, King Louis XIII of France. The supporters of Cardinal Prince Maurice of Savoy and Thomas Francis, Prince of Carignano (both sons of Charles Emmanuel I), together with their followers, took the name of "principisti" (supporters of the Princes).


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Each warring faction soon besieged the city of Turin. The "principisti" made early gains, making Turin subject to great looting on 27 July 1639. Only in 1642 did the two factions reach an agreement; by now, the widow of Victor Amadeus I had placed Victor's son Charles Emmanuel II on the throne and ruled as regent in his place, even past the child's age of majority.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: A resurgence of religious wars took place during the regency. Subsequently, in 1655, Savoyard troops massacred large numbers of the Protestant population of the Waldensian valleys, an event known as the Piedmontese Easter (). Eventually international pressure stopped the massacres. A final agreement with the Waldensians was carried out in 1664.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The government of Charles Emmanuel II was the first step towards major reforms carried out by his successor Victor Amadeus II in the next century. Of particular importance were the founding of militias in Savoy and the establishment of the first public school-system in 1661. A cultured man, but also a great statesman, Charles Emmanuel imitated Louis XIV. He wanted to limit this to the court in the sumptuous palace of Venaria Reale, a masterpiece of Baroque architecture, and a copy recreated in Italy of the magnificence of the Palace of Versailles. It was a time of great urban expansion, and Charles Emmanuel II promoted the growth of Turin and its reconstruction in the baroque style. After his death in 1675, there followed the period of the regency (1675-1684) of his widow, the new "Madama Reale", Maria Giovanna Battista of Savoy-Nemours.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Charles Emmanuel II was succeeded by his 11-year-old son, Victor Amadeus II of Savoy; his mother, the French born Marie Jeanne Baptiste of Savoy-Nemours was regent. Marie Jeanne sought to marry her son to the daughter and heir presumptive of King Peter II of Portugal. This could have led to Savoy becoming a possession of a foreign power.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: After Victor Amadeus II assumed power, Savoy became hostile to France, which invaded in the Nine Years' War. Savoy defeated the French in the Siege of Cuneo (1691), but was dramatically defeated in the battles of Staffarda and Marsaglia. Savoy became a French satellite, and Victor Amadeus II married Anne Marie d'Orléans, niece of King Louis XIV of France.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Savoy remained a French ally during the first phase of the War of the Spanish Succession, but changed sides later. France invaded again, and Savoy was saved by Austrian troops led by the duke's cousin, Prince Eugene of Savoy.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: At the end of the war in 1713, Victor Amadeus II received the Kingdom of Sicily. By the Treaty of London (1718), Victor Amadeus II exchanged Sicily for Sardinia in 1720. Sardinia then became the Kingdom of Sardinia. The various dominions held in personal union by Victor Amadeus II included Sardinia, Savoy, Piedmont, Aosta Valley, Nice, and Oneglia. The collection was usually referred to as "Sardinia", meaning the kingdom.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: After the French Revolution, Savoy was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army in 1792 and annexed to France. Savoy was first incorporated as the department of Mont-Blanc; then, in 1798, it was divided between the departments of Mont-Blanc and Léman. Savoy, Piedmont, and Nice were restored to the House of Savoy at the Congress of Vienna in 1814–1815.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: Under the terms of the Treaty of Turin (1860), the region of Savoy and the County of Nice were annexed by France. The last Duke of Savoy became King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The duchy was a notable regional military power, often getting involved in wars between the French and Habsburgs. In the 17th century, peacetime strength tended to hover around 4,800 professional soldiers (3,600 infantry and 1,200 cavalry), with a large peasant militia. In times of war, militiamen were trained and impressed and mercenaries were hired, and the size of the army quickly rose. In 1625, the duchy had an army of 26,600 regulars (25,381 infantry and 1,213 cavalry), plus about 8,000 militia. The regulars consisted of 5 to 7 regiments of Piedmontese, with mercenaries comprising the rest, including 9 regiments of French and 2 regiments of Italians. In 1635 the regular army was down to 12,250, then 15,710 in 1637, 18,000 in 1649, then 5,500 in the peacetime year of 1660, then 26,178 in 1672, and 35,000 in 1705 (with 10,000 militia called up to bolster them and more uncalled).


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The militia was relatively well-armed and consisted of 24,000 men in 1566, of whom about a third could be used outside of their immediate district.


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: The flag of Savoy is a white cross on a red field. It is based on a crusader flag, and as such is identical in origin to the flag of the Knights of Malta (whence the modern Flag of Malta and of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta), and others (flags of Denmark and Switzerland, with inverted colors to those of England and Genoa, among others).


title: Duchy of Savoy

text: In the 18th century, the letters "FERT" were sometimes added in the cantons to distinguish the flag from the Maltese one.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The Negro Motorist Green Book (also The Negro Motorist Green-Book, The Negro Travelers' Green Book, or simply the Green Book) was an annual guidebook for African-American roadtrippers. It was originated and published by African-American New York City mailman Victor Hugo Green from 1936 to 1966, during the era of Jim Crow laws, when open and often legally prescribed discrimination against African Americans especially and other non-whites was widespread. Although pervasive racial discrimination and poverty limited black car ownership, the emerging African-American middle class bought automobiles as soon as they could, but faced a variety of dangers and inconveniences along the road, from refusal of food and lodging to arbitrary arrest. In response, Green wrote his guide to services and places relatively friendly to African-Americans, eventually expanding its coverage from the New York area to much of North America, as well as founding a travel agency.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Many black Americans took to driving, in part to avoid segregation on public transportation. As the writer George Schuyler put it in 1930, "all Negroes who can do so purchase an automobile as soon as possible in order to be free of discomfort, discrimination, segregation and insult". Black Americans employed as athletes, entertainers, and salesmen also traveled frequently for work purposes using automobiles that they owned personally.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: African-American travelers faced hardships such as white-owned businesses refusing to serve them or repair their vehicles, being refused accommodation or food by white-owned hotels, and threats of physical violence and forcible expulsion from whites-only "sundown towns". Green founded and published the "Green Book" to avoid such problems, compiling resources "to give the Negro traveler information that will keep him from running into difficulties, embarrassments and to make his trip more enjoyable". The maker of a 2019 documentary film about the book offered this summary: "Everyone I was interviewing talked about the community that the Green Book created: a kind of parallel universe that was created by the book and this kind of secret road map that the Green Book outlined".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: From a New York-focused first edition published in 1936, Green expanded the work to cover much of North America, including most of the United States and parts of Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. The "Green Book" became "the bible of black travel during Jim Crow", enabling black travelers to find lodgings, businesses, and gas stations that would serve them along the road. It was little known outside the African-American community. Shortly after passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed the types of racial discrimination that had made the "Green Book" necessary, publication ceased and it fell into obscurity. There has been a revived interest in it in the early 21st century in connection with studies of black travel during the Jim Crow era.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Four issues (1940, 1947, 1954, and 1963) have been republished in facsimile (as of December 2017), and have sold well. Twenty-three additional issues have now been digitized by the New York Public Library Digital Collections.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Before the legislative accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement, black travelers in the United States faced major problems unknown to most whites. White supremacists had long sought to restrict black mobility, and were uniformly hostile to black strangers.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: As a result, simple auto journeys for black people were fraught with difficulty and potential danger. They were subjected to racial profiling by police departments ("driving while black"), sometimes seen as "uppity" or "too prosperous" just for the act of driving, which many whites regarded as a white prerogative. They risked harassment or worse on and off the highway. A bitter commentary published in a 1947 issue of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's magazine, "The Crisis", highlighted the uphill struggle blacks faced in recreational travel:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Thousands of communities in the US had enacted Jim Crow laws that existed after 1890; in such sundown towns, African-Americans were in danger if they stayed past sunset. Such restrictions dated back to colonial times, and were found throughout the United States. After the end of legal slavery in the North and later in the South after the Civil War, most freedmen continued to live at little more than a subsistence level, but a minority of African-Americans gained a measure of prosperity. They could plan leisure travel for the first time. Well-to-do blacks arranged large group excursions for as many as 2,000 people at a time, for instance traveling by rail from New Orleans to resorts along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: In the pre-Jim Crow era this necessarily meant mingling with whites in hotels, transportation and leisure facilities. They were aided in this by the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which had made it illegal to discriminate against African-Americans in public accommodations and public transportation. They encountered a white backlash, particularly in the South, where by 1877 white Democrats controlled every state government. The Act was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1883, resulting in states and cities passing numerous segregation laws. White governments in the South required even interstate railroads to enforce their segregation laws, despite national legislation requiring equal treatment of passengers.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in "Plessy v. Ferguson" (1896) that "separate but equal" accommodations were constitutional, but in practice, facilities for blacks were far from equal, generally being of lesser quality and underfunded. Blacks faced restrictions and exclusion throughout the United States: if not barred entirely from facilities, they could use them only at different times from whites or in (usually inferior) "colored sections".


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: In 1917, black writer W. E. B. Du Bois observed that the impact of "ever-recurring race discrimination" had made it so difficult to travel to any number of destinations, from popular resorts to major cities, that it was now "a puzzling query as to what to do with vacations". It was a problem that came to affect an increasing number of black people in the first decades of the 20th century. Tens of thousands of southern African-Americans migrated from farms in the south to factories and domestic service in the north. No longer confined to living at a subsistence level, many gained disposable income and time to engage in leisure travel.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: The development of affordable mass-produced automobiles liberated black Americans from having to rely on the "Jim Crow cars" – smoky, battered and uncomfortable railroad carriages which were the separate but decidedly unequal alternatives to more salubrious whites-only carriages. One black magazine writer commented in 1933, in an automobile, "it's mighty good to be the skipper for a change, and pilot our craft whither and where we will. We feel like Vikings. What if our craft is blunt of nose and limited of power and our sea is macademized; it's good for the spirit to just give the old railroad Jim Crow the laugh."


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Middle-class blacks throughout the United States "were not at all sure how to behave or how whites would behave toward them", as Bart Landry puts it. In Cincinnati, the African-American newspaper editor Wendell Dabney wrote of the situation in the 1920s that "hotels, restaurants, eating and drinking places, almost universally are closed to all people in whom the least tincture of colored blood can be detected". Areas without significant black populations outside the South often refused to accommodate them: black travelers to Salt Lake City in the 1920s were stranded without a hotel if they had to stop there overnight. Only six percent of the more than 100 motels that lined U.S. Route 66 in Albuquerque, admitted black customers. Across the whole state of New Hampshire, only three motels in 1956 served African-Americans.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: George Schuyler reported in 1943, "Many colored families have motored all across the United States without being able to secure overnight accommodations at a single tourist camp or hotel." He suggested that black Americans would find it easier to travel abroad than in their own country. In Chicago in 1945, St. Clair Drake and Horace Cayton reported that "the city's hotel managers, by general agreement, do not sanction the use of hotel facilities by Negroes, particularly sleeping accommodations". One incident reported by Drake and Cayton illustrated the discriminatory treatment meted out even to blacks within racially mixed groups:


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: While automobiles made it much easier for black Americans to be independently mobile, the difficulties they faced in traveling were such that, as Lester B. Granger of the National Urban League puts it, "so far as travel is concerned, Negroes are America's last pioneers". Black travelers often had to carry buckets or portable toilets in the trunks of their cars because they were usually barred from bathrooms and rest areas in service stations and roadside stops. Travel essentials such as gasoline were difficult to purchase because of discrimination at gas stations.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: To avoid such problems on long trips, African-Americans often packed meals and carried containers of gasoline in their cars. Writing of the road trips that he made as a boy in the 1950s, Courtland Milloy of the "Washington Post" recalled that his mother spent the evening before the trip frying chicken and boiling eggs so that his family would have something to eat along the way the next day.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: One black motorist observed in the early 1940s that while black travelers felt free in the mornings, by the early afternoon a "small cloud" had appeared. By the late afternoon, "it casts a shadow of apprehension on our hearts and sours us a little. 'Where', it asks us, 'will you stay tonight?'" They often had to spend hours in the evening trying to find somewhere to stay, sometimes resorting to sleeping in haylofts or in their own cars if they could not find anywhere. One alternative, if it was available, was to arrange in advance to sleep at the homes of black friends in towns or cities along their route. However, this meant detours and an abandonment of the spontaneity that for many was a key attraction of motoring.


title: The Negro Motorist Green Book

text: Finding accommodation was one of the greatest challenges faced by black travelers. Not only did many hotels, motels, and boarding houses refuse to serve black customers, but thousands of towns across the United States declared themselves "sundown towns", which all non-whites had to leave by sunset. Huge numbers of towns across the country were effectively off-limits to African-Americans. By the end of the 1960s, there were an estimated 10,000 sundown towns across the United States – including large suburbs such as Glendale, California (population 60,000 at the time); Levittown, New York (80,000); and Warren, Michigan (180,000). Over half the incorporated communities in Illinois were sundown towns. The unofficial slogan of Anna, Illinois, which had violently expelled its African-American population in 1909, was "Ain't No Niggers Allowed".