title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland remained part of Denmark, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century, an independence movement emerged. The Althing, which had been suspended in 1799, was restored in 1844, and Iceland gained sovereignty after World War I, becoming the Kingdom of Iceland on 1 December 1918. However, Iceland shared the Danish Monarchy until World War II. Although Iceland was neutral in the Second World War, the United Kingdom invaded and peacefully occupied it in 1940 to forestall a Nazi occupation, after Denmark was overrun by the German Wehrmacht. Due to the island's strategic position in the North Atlantic, the Allies occupied the island until the end of the war, with the United States taking over occupation duties from the British in 1941. In 1944, Iceland severed its remaining ties with Denmark (then still under Nazi occupation) and declared itself a republic. Following the Second World War, Iceland was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and joined the United Nations one year after its establishment. Its economy grew rapidly largely through fishing, although this was marred by disputes with other nations.


title: History of Iceland

text: Vigdis Finnbogadottir assumed Iceland's presidency on August 1, 1980, on which date she made history as the first elected female head of state in the world.


title: History of Iceland

text: Following rapid financial growth, the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis occurred. Iceland continues to remain outside the European Union.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland is very remote, and so has been spared the ravages of European wars but has been affected by other external events, such as the Black Death and the Protestant Reformation imposed by Denmark. Iceland's history has also been marked by a number of natural disasters.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland is a relatively young island in the geological sense, being formed about 20 million years ago by a series of volcanic eruptions in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, but it is still growing from fresh volcanic eruptions. The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to million years ago.


title: History of Iceland

text: In geological terms, Iceland is a young island. It started to form in the Miocene era about 20 million years ago from a series of volcanic eruptions on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where it lies between the North American and Eurasian plates. These plates spread at a rate of approximately 2.5 centimeters per year. This elevated portion of the ridge is known as the "Reykjanes Ridge". The volcanic activity is attributed to a hotspot, the "Iceland hotspot", which in turn lies over a mantle plume (the "Iceland Plume") anomalously hot rock in the Earth's mantle which is likely to be partly responsible for the island's creation and continued existence. For comparison, it is estimated that other volcanic islands, such as the Faroe Islands have existed for about 55 million years,


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland remained, for a long time, one of the world's last uninhabited larger islands (the others being New Zealand and Madagascar). It has been suggested that the land called Thule by the Greek geographer Pytheas (fourth century BC) was actually Iceland, although it seems highly unlikely considering Pytheas' description of it as an agricultural country with plenty of milk, honey, and fruit: The name is more likely to have referred to Norway, or possibly the Faroe Islands or Shetland. Many of the early settlers were Thelir, fleeing the recent union of Norway under Harald Fairhair and came from Telemark. A similar argument explains the name of Greenland from Grenland, neighbouring Telemark and also populated by Thelir. The exact date that humans first reached the island is uncertain. Roman currency dating to the third century has been found in Iceland, but it is unknown whether they were brought there at that time or came later with Vikings after circulating for centuries.


title: History of Iceland

text: There is some literary evidence that monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission may have settled in Iceland before the arrival of the Norsemen. The "Landnámabók" ("Book of Settlements"), written in the 1100s, mentions the presence of Irish monks, called the Papar, prior to Norse settlement and states that the monks left behind Irish books, bells, and crosiers, among other things. According to the same account, the Irish monks abandoned the country when the Norse arrived or had left prior to their arrival. The twelfth-century scholar Ari Þorgilsson's "Íslendingabók" reasserts that items including bells corresponding to those used by Irish monks were found by the settlers. No such artifacts have been discovered by archaeologists, however. Some Icelanders claimed descent from Cerball mac Dúnlainge, King of Osraige in southeastern Ireland, at the time of the "Landnámabók"s creation.


title: History of Iceland

text: Another source mentioning the Papar is Íslendingabók, dating from between 1122 and 1133. According to this account, the previous inhabitants, a few Irish monks known as the Papar, left the island since they did not want to live with pagan Norsemen. One theory suggests that those monks were members of a Hiberno-Scottish mission, Irish and Scottish monks who spread Christianity during the Middle Ages. They may also have been hermits.


title: History of Iceland

text: Recent archaeological excavations have revealed the ruins of a cabin in Hafnir on the Reykjanes peninsula (close to Keflavík International Airport). Carbon dating reveals that the cabin was abandoned somewhere between 770 and 880, suggesting that Iceland was populated well before 874. This archaeological find may also indicate that the monks left Iceland before the Norse arrived.


title: History of Iceland

text: According to the "Landnámabók", Iceland was discovered by Naddodd, one of the first settlers in the Faroe Islands, who was sailing from Norway to the Faroes but lost his way and drifted to the east coast of Iceland. Naddodd called the country "Snæland" "Snowland". Swedish sailor Garðar Svavarsson also accidentally drifted to the coast of Iceland. He discovered that the country was an island and called it "Garðarshólmi" "Garðar's Islet" and stayed for the winter at Húsavík.


title: History of Iceland

text: The first Norseman who deliberately sailed to "Garðarshólmi" was Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson. Flóki settled for one winter at Barðaströnd. After the cold winter passed, the summer came and the whole island became green, which stunned Flóki. Realizing that this place was in fact habitable, despite the horribly cold winter, and full of useful resources, Flóki restocked his boat. He then returned east to Norway with resources and knowledge.


title: History of Iceland

text: The first permanent settler in Iceland is usually considered to have been a Norwegian chieftain named Ingólfr Arnarson and his wife, Hallveig Fróðadóttir. According to the "Landnámabók", he threw two carved pillars (Öndvegissúlur) overboard as he neared land, vowing to settle wherever they landed. He then sailed along the coast until the pillars were found in the southwestern peninsula, now known as Reykjanesskagi. There he settled with his family around 874, in a place he named Reykjavík "Smoke Cove", probably from the geothermal steam rising from the earth. This place eventually became the capital and the largest city of modern Iceland. It is recognized, however, that Ingólfr Arnarson may not have been the first one to settle permanently in Iceland—that may have been Náttfari, one of Garðar Svavarsson's men who stayed behind when Garðar returned to Scandinavia.


title: History of Iceland

text: Much of the information on Ingólfr comes from the "Landnámabók", written some three centuries after the settlement. Archeological findings in Reykjavík are consistent with the date given there: there was a settlement in Reykjavík around 870.


title: History of Iceland

text: According to Landnámabók, Ingólfr was followed by many more Norse chieftains, their families and slaves who settled all the habitable areas of the island in the next decades. Archeological evidence strongly suggests that the timing is roughly accurate; "that the whole country was occupied within a couple of decades towards the end of the 9th century." These people were primarily of Norwegian, Irish, and Scottish origin. Some of the Irish and Scots were slaves and servants of the Norse chiefs, according to the sagas of Icelanders, the "Landnámabók", and other documents. Some settlers coming from the British Isles were "Hiberno-Norse," with cultural and family connections both to the coastal and island areas of Ireland and/or Scotland and to Norway.


title: History of Iceland

text: The traditional explanation for the exodus from Norway is that people were fleeing the harsh rule of the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair, whom medieval literary sources credit with the unification of some parts of modern Norway during this period. Viking incursions into Britain were also expelled thoroughly during this time, potentially leading to a need for peaceful settlement in other lands. It is also believed that the western fjords of Norway were simply overcrowded in this period.


title: History of Iceland

text: The settlement of Iceland is thoroughly recorded in the aforementioned "Landnámabók", although the book was compiled in the early 12th century when at least 200 years had passed from the age of settlement. Ari Þorgilsson's "Íslendingabók" is generally considered more reliable as a source and is probably somewhat older, but it is far less thorough. It does say that Iceland was fully settled within 60 years, which likely means that all arable land had been claimed by various settlers.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 930, the ruling chiefs established an assembly called the "Alþingi" (Althing). The parliament convened each summer at Þingvellir, where representative chieftains (Goðorðsmenn or Goðar) amended laws, settled disputes and appointed juries to judge lawsuits. Laws were not written down but were instead memorized by an elected Lawspeaker ("lǫgsǫgumaðr"). The Alþingi is sometimes said to be the world's oldest existing parliament. Importantly, there was no central executive power, and therefore laws were enforced only by the people. This gave rise to feuds, which provided the writers of the sagas with plenty of material.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland enjoyed a mostly uninterrupted period of growth in its commonwealth years. Settlements from that era have been found in southwest Greenland and eastern Canada, and sagas such as "Saga of Erik the Red" and "Greenland saga" speak of the settlers' exploits.


title: History of Iceland

text: The settlers of Iceland were predominantly pagans and worshiped the Norse gods, among them Odin, Thor, Freyr, and Freyja. By the tenth century, political pressure from Europe to convert to Christianity mounted. As the end of the first millennium grew near, many prominent Icelanders had accepted the new faith.


title: History of Iceland

text: In the year 1000, as a civil war between the religious groups seemed likely, the Alþingi appointed one of the chieftains, Thorgeir Ljosvetningagodi, to decide the issue of religion by arbitration. He decided that the country should convert to Christianity as a whole, but that pagans would be allowed to worship privately.


title: History of Iceland

text: The first Icelandic bishop, Ísleifur Gissurarson, was consecrated by bishop Adalbert of Hamburg in 1056.


title: History of Iceland

text: During the 11th and 12th centuries, the centralization of power had worn down the institutions of the commonwealth, as the former, notable independence of local farmers and chieftains gave way to the growing power of a handful of families and their leaders. The period from around 1200 to 1262 is generally known as the Age of the Sturlungs. This refers to Sturla Þórðarson and his sons, Sighvatr Sturluson, and Snorri Sturluson, who were one of two main clans fighting for power over Iceland, causing havoc in a land inhabited almost entirely by farmers who could ill-afford to travel far from their farms, across the island to fight for their leaders.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 1220, Snorri Sturluson became a vassal of Haakon IV of Norway; his nephew Sturla Sighvatsson also became a vassal in 1235. Sturla used the power and influence of the Sturlungar family clan to wage war against the other clans in Iceland. The Norwegian king's power of Iceland increased over the course of the 13th century. After decades of internal conflict, the Icelandic chieftains agreed to accept the sovereignty of Norway and signed the Old Covenant ("Gamli sáttmáli") establishing a union with the Norwegian monarchy. The end of the Icelandic Commonwealth is typically dated to the signing of the Old Covenant (1262–1264) or to the adoption of Jónsbók in 1281.


title: History of Iceland

text: The period also saw the "staðamál", two major disputes over whether secular aristocrats should benefit from the tithes of proprietary churches they had founded. The latter, concluded in 1297, saw a significant shift of wealth and power from the aristocracy to the Church, which was increasingly independent of secular influence.


title: History of Iceland

text: Little changed in the decades following the treaty. Norway's consolidation of power in Iceland was slow, and the Althing intended to hold onto its legislative and judicial power. Nonetheless, the Christian clergy had unique


title: History of Iceland

text: opportunities to accumulate wealth via the tithe, and power gradually shifted to ecclesiastical authorities as Iceland's two bishops in Skálholt and Hólar acquired land at the expense of the old chieftains.


title: History of Iceland

text: Around the time Iceland became a vassal state of Norway, a climate shift occurred—a phenomenon now called the Little Ice Age. Areas near the Arctic Circle such as Iceland and Greenland began to have shorter growing seasons and colder winters. Since Iceland had marginal farmland in good times, the climate change resulted in hardship for the population. A serfdom-like institution called the vistarband developed, in which peasants were bound to landowners for a year at a time.


title: History of Iceland

text: It became more difficult to raise barley, the primary cereal crop, and livestock required additional fodder to survive longer and colder winters. Icelanders began to trade for grain from continental Europe, which was an expensive proposition. Church fast days increased demand for dried codfish, which was easily caught and prepared for export, and the cod trade became an important part of the economy.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland remained under Norwegian kingship until 1380, when the death of Olaf II of Denmark extinguished the Norwegian male royal line. Norway (and thus Iceland) then became part of the Kalmar Union, along with Sweden and Denmark, with Denmark as the dominant power. Unlike Norway, Denmark did not need Iceland's fish and homespun wool. This created a dramatic deficit in Iceland's trade. The small Greenland colony, established in the late 10th century, died out completely before 1500.


title: History of Iceland

text: With the introduction of absolute monarchy in Denmark–Norway in 1660 under Frederick III of Denmark, the Icelanders relinquished their autonomy to the crown, including the right to initiate and consent to legislation. Denmark, however, did not provide much protection to Iceland, which was raided in 1627 by a Barbary pirate fleet that abducted almost 300 Icelanders into slavery, in an episode known as the Turkish Abductions.


title: History of Iceland

text: After the end of the Kalmar Union, the royal government asserted greater control of Iceland. In particular, it took stronger actions to stop the involvement of English traders with Iceland.


title: History of Iceland

text: English and German merchants became more prominent in Iceland at the start of the 15th century. Some historians refer to the 15th century as the "English Age" in Iceland's history, due to the prominence of English traders and fishing fleets. What drew foreigners to Iceland was primarily fishing in the fruitful waters off the coast of Iceland. The Icelandic trade was important to some British ports; for example, in Hull, the Icelandic trade accounted for more than ten percent of Hull's total trade. The trade has been credited with raising Icelandic living standards.


title: History of Iceland

text: The 16th century has been referred to as the "German Age" by Icelandic historians due to the prominence of German traders. The Germans did not engage in much fishing themselves, but they owned fishing boats, rented them to Icelanders and then bought the fish from Icelandic fishermen to export to the European Continent.


title: History of Iceland

text: An illicit trade continued with foreigners after the Danes implemented a trade monopoly. Dutch and French traders became more prominent in the mid-17th century.


title: History of Iceland

text: By the middle of the 16th century, Christian III of Denmark began to impose Lutheranism on his subjects. Jón Arason and Ögmundur Pálsson, the Catholic bishops of Skálholt and Hólar respectively, opposed Christian's efforts at promoting the Protestant Reformation in Iceland. Ögmundur was deported by Danish officials in 1541, but Jón Arason put up a fight.


title: History of Iceland

text: Opposition to the reformation ended in 1550 when Jón Arason was captured after being defeated in the Battle of Sauðafell by loyalist forces under the leadership of Daði Guðmundsson. Jón Arason and his two sons were subsequently beheaded in Skálholt. Following this, the Icelanders became Lutherans and remain largely so to this day.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 1602, Iceland was forbidden to trade with countries other than Denmark, by order of the Danish government, which at this time pursued mercantilist policies. The Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly remained in effect until 1786.


title: History of Iceland

text: In the 18th century, climatic conditions in Iceland reached an all-time low since the original settlement. On top of this, Laki erupted in 1783, spitting out of lava. Floods, ash, and fumes killed 9,000 people and 80% of the livestock. The ensuing starvation killed a quarter of Iceland's population. This period is known as the "Móðuharðindin" or "Mist Hardships".


title: History of Iceland

text: When the two kingdoms of Denmark and Norway were separated by the Treaty of Kiel in 1814 following the Napoleonic Wars, Denmark kept Iceland, as well as Faroe and Greenland, as dependencies.


title: History of Iceland

text: Throughout the 19th century, the country's climate continued to grow worse, resulting in mass emigration to the New World, particularly Manitoba in Canada. However, a new national consciousness was revived in Iceland, inspired by romantic nationalist ideas from continental Europe. This revival was spearheaded by the "Fjölnismenn", a group of Danish-educated Icelandic intellectuals.


title: History of Iceland

text: An independence movement developed under the leadership of a lawyer named Jón Sigurðsson. In 1843, a new Althing was founded as a consultative assembly. It claimed continuity with the Althing of the Icelandic Commonwealth, which had remained for centuries as a judicial body and had been abolished in 1800.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 1874, a thousand years after the first acknowledged settlement, Denmark granted Iceland a constitution and home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. The constitution was revised in 1903, and a minister for Icelandic affairs, residing in Reykjavík, was made responsible to the Althing, the first of whom was Hannes Hafstein.


title: History of Iceland

text: The Act of Union, a 1 December 1918, agreement with Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state—the Kingdom of Iceland—joined with Denmark in a personal union with the Danish king. Iceland established its own flag. Denmark was to represent its foreign affairs and defense interests. Iceland had no military or naval forces, and Denmark was to give notice to other countries that it was permanently neutral. The act would be up for revision in 1940 and could be revoked three years later if agreement was not reached. By the 1930s the consensus in Iceland was to seek complete independence by 1944 at the latest.


title: History of Iceland

text: In the quarter of a century preceding the war, Iceland had prospered. However, Iceland became more isolated during World War I and suffered a significant decline in living standards. The treasury became highly indebted, and there was a shortage of food and fears over an imminent famine.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland was part of neutral Denmark during the war. Icelanders were, in general, sympathetic to the cause of the Allies. Iceland also traded significantly with the United Kingdom during the war, as Iceland found itself within its sphere of influence. In their attempts to stop the Icelanders from trading with the Germans indirectly, the British imposed costly and time-consuming constraints on Icelandic exports going to the Nordic countries. There is no evidence of any German plans to invade Iceland during the war.


title: History of Iceland

text: 1,245 Icelanders, Icelandic Americans, and Icelandic Canadians were registered as soldiers during World War I. 989 fought for Canada, whereas 256 fought for the United States. 391 of the combatants were born in Iceland, the rest were of Icelandic descent. 10 women of Icelandic descent and 4 women born in Iceland served as nurses for the Allies during World War I. At least 144 of the combatants died during World War I (96 in combat, 19 from wounds suffered during combat, 2 from accidents, and 27 from disease), 61 of them were Iceland-born. Ten men were taken as prisoners of war by the Germans.


title: History of Iceland

text: The war had a lasting impact on Icelandic society and Iceland's external relations. It led to major government interference in the marketplace that lasted until the post-World War II period. Iceland's competent governance of internal affairs and relations with other states—while relations with Denmark were interrupted during the war—showed that Iceland was capable of acquiring further powers, which resulted in Denmark recognizing Iceland as a fully sovereign state in 1918. It has been argued that the thirst for news of the war helped "Morgunblaðið" to gain a dominant position among Icelandic newspapers.


title: History of Iceland

text: Icelandic post-World War I prosperity came to an end with the outbreak of the Great Depression, a severe worldwide economic crash. The depression hit Iceland hard as the value of exports plummeted. The total value of Icelandic exports fell from 74 million kronur in 1929 to 48 million kronur in 1932, and did not rise again to the pre-1930 level until after 1939. Government interference in the economy increased: "Imports were regulated, trade with foreign currency was monopolized by state-owned banks, and loan capital was largely distributed by state-regulated funds". The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War cut Iceland's exports of saltfish by half, and the depression lasted in Iceland until the outbreak of World War II, when prices for fish exports soared.


title: History of Iceland

text: With war looming in the spring of 1939, Iceland realized its exposed position would be very dangerous in wartime. An all-party government was formed, and Lufthansa's request for civilian airplane landing rights was rejected. German ships were all about, however, until the British blockade of Germany put a stop to that when the war began in September. Iceland demanded Britain allow it to trade with Germany, to no avail.


title: History of Iceland

text: The occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany began on 9 April 1940, severing communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on 10 April, the Parliament of Iceland took temporary control of foreign affairs (setting up what would be the forerunner of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs) and the Coast Guard. Parliament also elected a provisional governor, Sveinn Björnsson, who later became the Republic's first president. Iceland became "de facto" fully sovereign with these actions. At the time, Icelanders and the Danish King considered this state of affairs to be temporary and believed that Iceland would return these powers to Denmark when the occupation was over.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland turned down British offers of protection after the occupation of Denmark, because that would violate Iceland's neutrality. Britain and the U.S. opened direct diplomatic relations, as did Sweden and Norway. The German takeover of Norway left Iceland highly exposed; Britain decided it could not risk a German takeover of Iceland.


title: History of Iceland

text: On 10 May 1940, British military forces began an invasion of Iceland when they sailed into Reykjavík harbour in Operation Fork.


title: History of Iceland

text: There was no resistance, but the government protested against what it called a "flagrant violation" of Icelandic neutrality, though Prime Minister Hermann Jónasson called on Icelanders to treat the British troops with politeness, as if they were guests. They behaved accordingly, and there were no mishaps. The occupation of Iceland lasted throughout the war.


title: History of Iceland

text: At the peak, the British had 25,000 troops stationed in Iceland, all but eliminating unemployment in the Reykjavík area and other strategically important places. In July 1941, responsibility for Iceland's occupation and defence passed to the United States under a U.S.-Icelandic agreement which included a provision that the U.S. recognize Iceland's absolute independence. The British were replaced by up to 40,000 Americans, who outnumbered all adult Icelandic men. (At the time, Iceland had a population of around 120,000.)


title: History of Iceland

text: Approximately 159 Icelanders' lives have been confirmed to have been lost in World War II hostilities. Most were killed on cargo and fishing vessels sunk by German aircraft, U-boats or mines. An additional 70 Icelanders died at sea, but it has not been confirmed whether they lost their lives as a result of hostilities.


title: History of Iceland

text: The occupation of Iceland by the British and the Americans proved to be an economic boom, as the occupiers injected money into the Icelandic economy and launched various projects. This eradicated unemployment in Iceland and raised wages considerably. According to one study, "by the end of World War II, Iceland had been transformed from one of Europe’s poorest countries to one of the world’s wealthiest."


title: History of Iceland

text: On 31 December 1943, the Act of Union agreement expired after 25 years. Beginning on 20 May 1944, Icelanders voted in a four-day plebiscite on whether to terminate the personal union with the King of Denmark and establish a republic. The vote was 97% in favour of ending the union and 95% in favour of the new republican constitution. Iceland became an independent republic on 17 June 1944, with Sveinn Björnsson as its first president. Denmark was still occupied by Germany at the time. Danish King Christian X sent a message of congratulations to the Icelandic people.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland had prospered during the course of the war, amassing considerable currency reserves in foreign banks. In addition to this, the country received the most Marshall Aid per capita of any European country in the immediate postwar years (at US$209, with the war-ravaged Netherlands a distant second at US$109).


title: History of Iceland

text: The new republican government, led by an unlikely three-party majority cabinet made up of conservatives (the Independence Party, "Sjálfstæðisflokkurinn"), social democrats (the Social Democratic Party, "Alþýðuflokkurinn"), and socialists (People's Unity Party – Socialist Party, "Sósíalistaflokkurinn"), decided to put the funds into a general renovation of the fishing fleet, the building of fish processing facilities, the construction of a cement and fertilizer factory, and a general modernization of agriculture. These actions were aimed at keeping Icelanders' standard of living as high as it had become during the prosperous war years.


title: History of Iceland

text: The government's fiscal policy was strictly Keynesian, and their aim was to create the necessary industrial infrastructure for a prosperous developed country. It was considered essential to keep unemployment down and to protect the export fishing industry through currency manipulation and other means. Because of the country's dependence both on reliable fish catches and foreign demand for fish products, Iceland's economy remained unstable well into the 1990s, when the country's economy was greatly diversified.


title: History of Iceland

text: In October 1946, the Icelandic and United States governments agreed to terminate U.S. responsibility for the defense of Iceland, but the United States retained certain rights at Keflavík, such as the right to re-establish a military presence there, should war threaten.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland became a charter member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 30 March 1949, with the reservation that it would never take part in offensive action against another nation. The membership came amid an anti-NATO riot in Iceland. After the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, and pursuant to the request of NATO military authorities, the United States and Iceland agreed that the United States should again take responsibility for Iceland's defense. This agreement, signed on 5 May 1951, was the authority for the controversial U.S. military presence in Iceland, which remained until 2006. The U.S. base served as a hub for transports and communications to Europe, a key chain in the GIUK gap, a monitor of Soviet submarine activity, and a linchpin in the early warning system for incoming Soviet attacks and interceptor of Soviet reconnaissance bombers.


title: History of Iceland

text: Although U.S. forces no longer maintain a military presence in Iceland, the U.S. still assumes responsibility over the country's defense through NATO. Iceland has retained strong ties to the other Nordic countries. As a consequence, Norway, Denmark, Germany, and other European nations have increased their defense and rescue cooperation with Iceland since the withdrawal of U.S. forces.


title: History of Iceland

text: According to a 2018 study in the "Scandinavian Journal of History", Iceland benefited massively from its relationship with the United States during the Cold War. The United States provided extensive economic patronage, advocated on Iceland's behalf in international organizations, allowed Iceland to violate the rules of international organizations, and helped Iceland to victory in the Cod Wars. Despite this, the relationship with the United States was contentious in Icelandic domestic politics, leaving some scholars to describe Iceland as a "rebellious ally" and "reluctant ally." Iceland repeatedly threatened to leave NATO or cancel the US defence agreement during the Cold War, which is one reason why the United States went to great lengths to please the Icelanders.


title: History of Iceland

text: The Cod Wars were a series of militarized interstate disputes between Iceland and the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the mid-1970s. The Proto Cod War (1952–1956) revolved around Iceland's extension of its fishery limits from 3 to 4 nautical miles. The First Cod War (1958–1961) was fought over Iceland's extension from 4 to 12 nautical miles (7 to 22 km). The Second Cod War (1972–1973) occurred when Iceland extended the limits to 50 miles (93 km). The Third Cod War (1975–1976) was fought over Iceland's extension of its fishery limits to 200 miles (370 km). Icelandic patrol ships and British trawlers clashed in all four Cod Wars. The Royal Navy was sent to the contested waters in the last three Cod Wars, leading to highly publicized clashes.


title: History of Iceland

text: During these disputes, Iceland threatened closure of the U.S. base at Keflavík, and the withdrawal of its NATO membership. Due to Iceland's strategic importance during the Cold War, it was important for the U.S. and NATO to maintain the base on Icelandic soil and to keep Iceland as a member of NATO. While the Icelandic government did follow through on its threat to break off diplomatic relations with the UK during the Third Cod War, it never went through on its threats to close the U.S. base or to withdraw from NATO.


title: History of Iceland

text: It is rare for militarized interstate disputes of this magnitude and intensity to occur between two democracies with as close economic, cultural, and institutional ties as Iceland and the UK.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 1991, the Independence Party, led by Davíð Oddsson, formed a coalition government with the Social Democrats. This government set in motion market liberalisation policies, privatising a number of state-owned companies. Iceland then became a member of the European Economic Area in 1994. Economic stability increased and previously chronic inflation was drastically reduced.


title: History of Iceland

text: In 1995, the Independence Party formed a coalition government with the Progressive Party. This government continued with free market policies, privatising two commercial banks and the state-owned telecom Landssíminn. Corporate income tax was reduced to 18% (from around 50% at the beginning of the decade), inheritance tax was greatly reduced, and the net wealth tax was abolished. A system of individual transferable quotas in the Icelandic fisheries, first introduced in the late 1970s, was further developed.


title: History of Iceland

text: The coalition government remained in power through elections in 1999 and 2003. In 2004, Davíð Oddsson stepped down as Prime Minister after 13 years in office. Davíð Oddsson was Iceland’s longest-serving Prime Minister and held the job from 1991 until 2004. Halldór Ásgrímsson, leader of the Progressive Party, took over as prime minister from 2004 to 2006, followed by Geir H. Haarde, Davíð Oddsson's successor as leader of the Independence Party.


title: History of Iceland

text: Following a recession in the early 1990s, economic growth was considerable, averaging about 4% per year from 1994. The governments of the 1990s and 2000s adhered to a staunch but domestically controversial pro-U.S. foreign policy, lending nominal support to the NATO action in the Kosovo War and signing up as a member of the Coalition of the willing during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.


title: History of Iceland

text: In March 2006, the United States announced that it intended to withdraw the greater part of the Icelandic Defence Force. On 12 August 2006, the last four F-15's left Icelandic airspace. The United States closed the Keflavík Air Base in September 2006. In 2016, it was reported that the United States was considering re-opening the base.


title: History of Iceland

text: Following elections in May 2007, the Independence Party, headed by Haarde, remained in government, albeit in a new coalition with the Social Democratic Alliance.


title: History of Iceland

text: In October 2008, the Icelandic banking system collapsed, prompting Iceland to seek large loans from the International Monetary Fund and friendly countries. Widespread protests in late 2008 and early 2009 resulted in the resignation of the Haarde government, which was replaced on 1 February 2009 by a coalition government led by the Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement. Social Democrat minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was appointed Prime Minister, becoming the world's first openly homosexual head of government of the modern era. Elections took place in April 2009, and a continuing coalition government consisting of the Social Democrats and the Left-Green Movement was established in May 2009.


title: History of Iceland

text: The financial crisis gave rise to the Icesave dispute, where Iceland on the one hand and the United Kingdom and Netherlands on the other disputed whether Iceland was obligated to repay British and Dutch depositors who lost their savings when Icesave collapsed.


title: History of Iceland

text: The crisis resulted in the greatest migration from Iceland since 1887, with a net exodus of 5,000 people in 2009.


title: History of Iceland

text: Iceland's economy stabilized under the government of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and grew by 1.6% in 2012, but many Icelanders remained unhappy with the state of the economy and government austerity policies; the centre-right Independence Party was returned to power, in coalition with the Progressive Party, in the 2013 elections. In September 2017, the 9-month-old center-right coalition of Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, leader of the Independence Party, collapsed after one party, a small centrist Bright Future, left the government. However, the ruling centre-right parties lost their majority after a tight 2017 election. On 30 November 2017, Katrín Jakobsdóttir became Iceland's new prime minister despite the fact her party, Left-Green Movement, came second in the election - behind the Independence Party.


title: History of Iceland

text: On 1 August 2016, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson became the new president of Iceland. He was re-elected with an overwhelming majority of the vote in the 2020 presidential election.


title: History of Iceland

text: After the 2021 parliamentary election, the new government was, just like the previous government, a tri-party coalition of the Independence Party, the Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement, headed by Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir.


title: History of Iceland

text: While it is convenient to divide history into named periods, it is also misleading because the course of human events neither starts nor ends abruptly in most cases, and movements and influences often overlap. One period in Icelandic history, as Gunnar Karlsson describes, can be considered the period from 930 CE to 1262–1264, when there was no central government or leader, political power being characterised by chieftains ("goðar"). This period is referred to therefore as the "þjóðveldisöld" or "goðaveldisöld" (National or Chieftain State) period by Icelandic authors, and the "Old Commonwealth" or "Freestate" by English ones.


title: History of Iceland

text: There is little consensus on how to divide Icelandic history. Gunnar's own book "A Brief History of Iceland" (2010) has 33 chapters with considerable overlap in dates. Jón J. Aðils' 1915 text, "Íslandssaga" (A History of Iceland) uses ten periods:


title: History of Iceland

text: In another of Gunnar's books, "Iceland's 1100 Years" (2000), Icelandic history is divided into four periods:


title: History of Iceland

text: These are based mainly on forms of government, except for the last which reflects mechanisation of the fishing industry.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975) is the first compilation album by the American rock band the Eagles, released by Asylum Records on February 17, 1976. It contains a selection of songs from the band's first four albums, which were released from 1972 to 1975. On the U.S. "Billboard" 200 chart, the album reached number one, where it stayed for five weeks.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive the RIAA's Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that ship one million copies in the United States. It was ranked number four on "Billboard"s year-end album chart for 1976, and has spent a total of 239 weeks on the "Billboard" 200 (as of August 2018). The RIAA has certified the album 38 times platinum, indicating sales of 38 million copies in America alone, which would make "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" the best-selling album of the 20th century in the United States (it was surpassed in platinum certifications by Michael Jackson's "Thriller" after Jackson's death in 2009, but regained the title in August 2018). In 2017, the album was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant".


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" comprises nine singles released between 1972 and 1975, plus the album track "Desperado". All of the singles except "Tequila Sunrise" had charted in the top 40 of the "Billboard" Hot 100, and five had reached the top ten. "One of These Nights" and "Best of My Love" had both topped the chart.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: Irving Azoff, the manager of the Eagles, said: "We decided it was time to put out the first greatest-hits because we had enough hits." According to Don Felder, however, none of the band members had any say in the decision to release the compilation album, which they complained was "nothing more than a ploy by the record company to sell product without having to pay additional production costs". Don Henley was unhappy that songs like "Tequila Sunrise" and "Desperado" were lifted out of the context of the original album in a way that he thought was detrimental to the nature, quality, and meaning of the music. He said: "All the record company was worried about were their quarterly reports. They didn't give a shit whether the greatest hits album was good or not, they just wanted product." Despite being unhappy with the album's release, the band nevertheless reasoned that it gave them more time to work on the "Hotel California" album, which was released later in 1976.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: The cover of the album is an image of a piece of art created by artist Boyd Elder (aka "El Chingadero"), whose work was also used for the cover of "One of These Nights". The piece consists of a painted plastic cast of an eagle skull against a light-blue background made of silver mylar. The bumpy appearance of the background gave rise to a myth that it was covered in cocaine powder that the band snorted after the photo shoot. The band chose not to debunk that myth, though Glenn Frey reportedly also noticed the resemblance and told Elder that the background reminded him of "a field of blow" (a slang term for cocaine). The artist was paid $5,000 for his work on the cover.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: As with "One of These Nights", the original vinyl editions of "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" featured messages printed onto the inner dead wax. In this case, "Happy New Year, Glyn" and "With Love from Bill" appear on sides one and two, respectively.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: William Ruhlmann of AllMusic said the songs in the compilation are melodic, immediately engaging, and lyrically consistent, so, "unlike the albums from which they come, these songs make up a collection consistent in mood and identity, which may help explain why "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" works so much better than the band's previous discs and practically makes them redundant. No wonder it was such a big hit out of the box".


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: In a 1978 poll of 50 rock critics and DJs organized by Paul Gambaccini, the album was ranked number 141. It was voted by the public as the sixth best compilation album in the 1994 edition of "All Time Top 1000 Albums".


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: "Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)" debuted at number four on the U.S. "Billboard" 200 album chart and reached number one the following week, where it stayed for five weeks. It ranked number four on "Billboard"s year-end album chart for 1976, and has spent a total of 239 weeks on the Billboard 200 (as of August 2018). Of its 465 weeks on the "Billboard" Top Pop Catalog Albums chart, the album has spent 15 non-consecutive weeks at number one.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: The album has the distinction of being the first album to receive the RIAA's Platinum certification, which was introduced in 1976 to recognize albums that ship one million copies in the United States. It received its first platinum certification a week after its release (on February 24, 1976), was certified 12× platinum in August 1990, 14× platinum in 1993, and 22× platinum in 1995. On November 10, 1999, the album became the best-selling album of the 20th century in the United States when it was certified 26× platinum. In a 2001 radio interview, Randy Meisner said neither he nor Bernie Leadon were notified of the 1999 certification, "so we had to call and we finally received it." The album was certified 29× platinum on January 30, 2006, and, in August 2018, it was certified 38x platinum under a new system that tallies album and track sales as well as streams, surpassing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (certified 34× platinum) to again become the highest-certified album by the RIAA.


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: There is skepticism of the album's RIAA certifications. The additional certifications it received in 1995 indicate it had sold eight million units since 1993, but, per Nielsen SoundScan, it sold fewer than a million copies during that period, as well as just over five (rather than 17) million copies from 1991 (when SoundScan began tracking) to 2006, and 6.4 million album-equivalent units from 1991 to February 2020 (again, far fewer than the certifications credit). In 2018, Sony Music CEO Rob Stringer stated the album only sold 2.3 million units from 2006 to 2018, yet it received certifications for nine million additional units. Warner Music, which distributed "Their Greatest Hits", claimed the figure came from newly discovered sales dating back to 1976, but a representative from Michael Jackson's estate noted sales audits are usually restricted to three years and said, "The notion that they can go back 10, 15, 20 or 30 years and find units that were never counted before is absurd, they reviewed these records before. Why didn’t they find those uncounted records then?"


title: Their Greatest Hits (1971–1975)

text: Worldwide, the album has sold over 45 million copies as of 2020, making it the best-selling greatest-hits album, and the third best-selling album, of all time.


title: Roger Troutman

text: Roger Troutman (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known as Roger, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and heavily influenced West Coast hip hop due to the scene's heavy sampling of his music over the years. Troutman was well known for his use of the talk box, a device that is connected to an instrument (frequently a keyboard, but most commonly a guitar) to create different vocal effects. Roger used a custom-made talkbox—the Electro Harmonix "Golden Throat"—through a Moog Minimoog and later in his career a Yamaha DX100 FM synthesizer. As both band leader of Zapp and in his subsequent solo releases, he scored a bevy of funk and R&B hits throughout the 1980s and regularly collaborated with hip hop artists in the 1990s.


title: Roger Troutman

text: Born in Hamilton, Ohio, Roger was the fourth of ten children. A graduate of Central State University, his first band was called the Crusaders; however, they are not to be confused with the jazz group featuring Joe Sample and Wilton Felder. Troutman's band played in Cincinnati and recorded a single, "Busted Surfboard"/"Seminole". The band members were Rick Schoeny, Roy Beck, Dave Spitzmiller, and Denny Niebold. Troutman had formed various other bands with his four brothers, including Little Roger, and the Vels, and Roger and the Human Body. In 1977, he and the Human Body issued "Freedom", their first single.


title: Roger Troutman

text: Within two years, Roger and his brothers were discovered by George Clinton, who signed the newly christened Zapp to his Uncle Jam Records label in 1979. The original line-up consisted of Roger Troutman, Larry Troutman, Lester Troutman, Terry Troutman, Gregory Jackson and Bobby Glover. Zapp made their professional television debut on the first and only Funk Music Awards show.


title: Roger Troutman

text: A year later, as Uncle Jam Records was forced to close, Troutman signed with Bootsy Collins under Rubber Band Music to Warner Bros. Records and released his self-titled debut 'Zapp', which yielded "More Bounce to the Ounce", produced by Collins, co- produced, written, composed and performed by Troutman. The song peaked at number 2 on the "Billboard Soul Singles" chart in late 1980. The debut album reached the top 20 of the "Billboard" 200.


title: Roger Troutman

text: From 1980 to 1985, Zapp released the gold-selling albums "Zapp", "Zapp II", "Zapp III" and "The New Zapp IV U", including the Top 10 R&B singles "Be Alright", "Dance Floor", "I Can Make You Dance", "Heartbreaker", "It Doesn't Really Matter" and "Computer Love". Throughout Zapp's history, around 15 musicians participated. In 1993, Zapp released their biggest-selling album: "Zapp & Roger: All the Greatest Hits". It featured remixed cuts of Troutman's solo singles along with a new single "Slow and Easy", (featured vocalists Shirley Murdock and Ronnie Diamond). The album sold over two million copies. The album "" was released in 2002 by the remaining brothers after the deaths of Roger and Larry.


title: Roger Troutman

text: In 1981, Troutman cut "The Many Facets of Roger", his first solo album. Featuring a funk cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", which went to number 1 on the R&B singles chart, the album sold over a million copies. The album also featured the hit "So Ruff, So Tuff", which was similar to "More Bounce..." as were most Roger/Zapp singles during this time. The same year, Troutman recorded with Parliament-Funkadelic on the band's final Warner Brothers' album "The Electric Spanking of War Babies".


title: Roger Troutman

text: In 1984, Troutman issued his second solo album "The Saga Continues...", which featured the singles "Girl Cut It Out", "It's in the Mix" (which was dedicated to "Soul Train" and its host Don Cornelius), and a cover of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour", which featured gospel group the Mighty Clouds of Joy. In 1987, Troutman scored his most successful solo album with "Unlimited!", carried by the hit "I Want to Be Your Man" which rose to number 3 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 1 on the R&B chart.


title: Roger Troutman

text: Alongside his successful career as Zapp member and solo artist, Troutman also became a producer and writer for other artists including Shirley Murdock, whose 1985 Platinum debut featured the Roger-produced hit "As We Lay". He also produced for Zapp member Dale DeGroat on his solo efforts. In 1988, Troutman made an appearance on Scritti Politti's third album "Provision", providing talk box vocals on the songs "Boom There She Was" and "Sugar and Spice".


title: Roger Troutman

text: Three years later, Troutman released his final solo album with "Bridging the Gap", featuring the hit "Everybody (Get Up)". He worked with Elvis Costello on the song "The Other Side of Summer". In 1989, NBA Entertainment selected Troutman among a variety of candidates to record a tribute song called "I'm So Happy" for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.


title: Roger Troutman

text: Troutman toured after the release of "All the Greatest Hits". He was invited to appear as guest artist on several hip-hop albums, including Snoop Dogg's 1993 debut "Doggystyle". In 1995 he was featured on Eazy-E's posthumous album "Str8 off tha Streetz of Muthaphukkin Compton" on "Eternal E". The same year Troutman performed vocals on 2Pac and Dr. Dre's single "California Love". The song became Troutman's biggest-selling and most successful single to date as the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over two million copies, and received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Troutman then produced a top 10 R&B hit cover of the Persuaders' "Thin Line Between Love and Hate", performed by Shirley Murdock and R&B group H-Town, with talk box by Troutman. The movie soundtrack to "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate" also included a club hit "Chocolate City". In 1998, he appeared in a remix version of Sounds of Blackness' "Hold On (A Change Is Coming)", which sampled Zapp's "Doo-Wah Ditty (Blow That Thang)". Roger last recorded on the song "Master of the Game" from rapper Kool Keith's album "Black Elvis/Lost In Space".


title: Roger Troutman

text: On the morning of April 25, 1999, Troutman was found shot and critically wounded outside his northwest Dayton recording studio around 7:00 a.m. According to doctors, the 47-year-old had been shot several times in the torso. Troutman died during surgery at the Good Samaritan Hospital and Health Center. Roger's brother Larry was found dead in a car a few blocks away with a single self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The car matched the description of a vehicle leaving the scene of Roger Troutman's shooting, according to witnesses.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The was an early private sexology research institute in Germany from 1919 to 1933. The name is variously translated as "Institute of Sex Research", "Institute of Sexology", "Institute for Sexology" or "Institute for the Science of Sexuality". The Institute was a non-profit foundation situated in Tiergarten, Berlin. It was the first sexology research center in the world.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: It was headed by Magnus Hirschfeld, who since 1897 had run the ('Scientific-Humanitarian Committee'), which campaigned on progressive and rational grounds for LGBT rights and tolerance. The Committee published the long-running journal . Hirschfeld built a unique library at the institute on gender, same-sex love and eroticism.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute pioneered research and treatment for various matters regarding gender and sexuality, including gay, transgender, and intersex topics. In addition, it offered various other services to the general public: this included treatment for alcoholism, gynecological examinations, marital and sex counseling, treatment for venereal diseases, and access to contraceptive treatment. It offered education on many of these matters to both health professionals and laypersons.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The Nazi book burnings in Berlin included the archives of the institute. After the Nazis gained control of Germany in the 1930s, the institute and its libraries were destroyed as part of a Nazi government censorship program by youth brigades, who burned its books and documents in the street.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The "Institute of Sex Research" was founded by Magnus Hirschfeld and his collaborators Arthur Kronfeld, a once famous psychotherapist and later professor at the Charité, and Friedrich Wertheim, a dermatologist. Hirschfeld gave a speech on 1 July 1919, when the institute was inaugurated. It opened on 6 July 1919. The building, located in the Tiergarten district, was purchased by Hirschfeld from the government of the Free State of Prussia following World War I. A neighboring building was purchased in 1921, adding more overall space to the institute.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: As well as being a research library and housing a large archive, the institute also included medical, psychological, and ethnological divisions, and a marriage and sex counseling office. Other fixtures at the institute included a museum for sexual artifacts, medical exam rooms, and a lecture hall. The institute conducted around 18,000 consultations for 3,500 people in its first year. Clients often received advice for free. Poorer visitors also received medical treatment for free. According to Hirschfeld, about 1,250 lectures had been held in the first year.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: In addition, the institute advocated sex education, contraception, the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and women's emancipation. Inscribed on the building was the phrase "per scientiam ad justitiam" (translated as "through science to justice"). This was also the personal motto of Hirschfeld as well as the slogan of the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute was financed by the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Foundation, a charity which itself was funded by private donations. Along with Magnus Hirschfeld, a number of others (including many professional specialists) worked on the staff of the institute at different points in time, including:


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Some others worked for the institute in various domestic affairs. Some of the people who worked at the institute simultaneously lived there, including Hirschfeld and Giese. Affiliated groups held offices at the institute. This included the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, Helene Stöcker's "", and the World League for Sexual Reform (WLSR). The WLSR has been described as the "international face" of the institute. In 1929 Hirschfeld presided over the third international congress of the WLSR at Wigmore Hall. During his address there, he stated that "A sexual impulse based on science is the only sound system of ethics."


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Divisions for the institute included ones dedicated to sexual biology, pathology, sociology and ethnography. Plans were allotted for the institute to both research and practice medicine in equal measure, though by 1925 a lack of funding meant the institute had to cut its medical research. This was to include matters of sexuality, gender, venereal disease, and birth control.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute aimed to educate both the general public and specialists on its topics of focus. It became a point of scientific and research interest for many scientists of sexuality, as well as intellectuals and reformers from all over the world. Visitors included René Crevel, Christopher Isherwood, Harry Benjamin, Édouard Bourdet, Margaret Sanger, Francis Turville-Petre, André Gide and Jawaharlal Nehru.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute also received visits from national governments; in 1923 the institute was for instance visited by Nikolai Semashko, Commissar for Health in the Soviet Union. This was followed by numerous visits and research trips by health officials, political, sexual and social reformers, and scientific researchers from the Soviet Union interested in the work of Hirschfeld. In June 1926 a delegation from the institute, led by Hirschfeld, reciprocated with a research visit to Moscow and Leningrad.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: One particular fixture at the institute which aided its popularity was its museum of sexual subjects. This was built with both education and entertainment in mind. There were ethnographic displays about different sexual norms across different cultures internationally. It included exhibits about sexual fetishism and sadomasochism. A collection of phallic artifacts from around the world was also exhibited. Additionally, there were presentations regarding the diversity of human sexual orientation, particularly with regards to homosexuality. Upon visiting the institute, Dora Russell reflected that it was "where the results of researches into various sex problems and perversions could be seen in records and photographs."


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The neighboring property purchased in 1922 by the institute had an opening ceremony on 5 March 1922, after which it became a place for the institute's staff to interact with the public in an educational capacity. Lectures and question-and-answer sessions were held there to inform laypersons on topics of sexuality. The public especially tended to ask questions regarding contraception.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: One focus of the institute's research and services was sexual and reproductive health. A subdivision of the institute called the Eugenics Department for Mother and Child offered marital counseling services, and the Center of Sexual Counseling for Married Couples provided access to contraception. It was especially a goal of the institute to make contraceptive services accessible to the poor and working-class of Germany. This was despite a prohibition on advertising birth control in the Weimar Republic's constitution. Following looser regulation on advertising contraceptive methods, the institute published an educational pamphlet on the matter in 1928 which ultimately reached a distribution of about 100,000 copies by 1932. Hirschfeld and Hodann developed pioneering strategies for sex counseling services that would inspire later practices. The institute also offered general gynecology services and treatment for venereal diseases. Experimental treatments for impotence were also implemented.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: At the institute, Magnus Hirschfeld championed the doctrine of sexual intermediacy. This proposed form of classification said that every human trait existed on a scale from masculine to feminine. Masculine traits were characterized as dominant and active while feminine traits were passive and perceptive. The classification was further divided into the subgroups of sex organs, physical characteristics, sex drive or sexuality, and psychological characteristics. Hirschfeld's belief was that all human beings possess both masculine and feminine traits regardless of their sex. In fact, he believed that no one was fully masculine or fully feminine but rather a blend of the two. A man with a female sex drive, for example, would be homosexual, whereas someone with male sex organs and mostly female psychological characteristics would likely be transgender. Hirschfeld originally used the term "sexual intermediaries" in the late nineteenth century to refer mostly to homosexual men and lesbians. However, this later expanded to include intersex people, cross-dressers, and transsexuals. His concept of broad sexual intermediacy among humans has been traced to roughly similar ideas held by Charles Darwin and Galen of Pergamon.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Magnus Hirschfeld coined the term transsexual in a 1923 essay, "Die Intersexuelle Konstitution". This identified the clinical category which his colleague Harry Benjamin would later develop in the United States; only about thirty years after its coining by Hirschfeld did the term enter wider use, with Benjamin's work. Hirschfeld also originally coined the term transvestite in 1910, and he sometimes used the term "extreme transvestites" or "total transvestites" to refer to transsexuals.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Transgender people were on the staff of the institute as receptionists and maids, as well as being among the clients there. Various endocrinologic and surgical services were offered, including an early modern sex reassignment surgery in 1931. In fact, "a majority" of transvestites expressed "the wish to be castrated", according to one PhD student that studied there. Hirschfeld originally advised against sexual reassignment surgeries, but came to support them as a means of preventing suicide among transsexual patients.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Ludwig Levy-Lenz, the institute's primary surgeon for transsexual patients, also implemented an early form of facial feminization surgery and facial masculinization surgery. Additionally hair removal treatments using the institute's X-ray facility were developed, though this caused some side effects such as skin burns. Professor of history Robert M. Beachy stated that, "Although experimental and, ultimately, dangerous, these sex-reassignment procedures were developed largely in response to the ardent requests of patients." Levy-Lenz commented, "[N]ever have I operated upon more grateful patients."


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Hirschfeld worked with Berlin's police department to curtail the arrest of cross-dressers and transgender people, through the creation of transvestite passes. These were issued on behalf of the institute to those who had a personal desire to wear clothing associated with a gender other than the one assigned to them at birth.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: A compilation of works about homosexuality could be found at the institute. The institute's collections included the first comprehensive such compilation of works about sexuality. "Different from the Others", a film co-written by Hirschfeld that advocated greater tolerance for homosexuals, was screened at the institute in 1920 to audiences of statesmen. It also received a screening at the institute before a Soviet delegation in 1923, who responded with "amazement" that the film had been considered scandalous enough to censor.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Working off of the research of Eugen Steinach, who had recently succeeded in reversing the sexual behavior of animal test subjects, the institute once tested whether or not transplanting the testicles from a heterosexual man to a homosexual man would cure homosexuality. This method of "curing" homosexuality more often than not grew necrotized and resulted in the testicles having to be castrated. The practice was abandoned by the institute by 1924. Hirschfeld — who was homosexual himself — viewed homosexuality as natural and inborn, rather than an illness. The experiments were in fact intended to demonstrate the biological basis of homosexuality in the influence of sex hormones.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute put adaption therapy into practice as a far more humane and effective method than conversion therapy, as a means of helping patients cope with their sexuality. Rather than attempting to cure a patient's homosexuality, the focus was instead placed on helping the patient learn to navigate a homophobic society with the least discomfort possible. While the doctors at the institute could not outright recommend illegal practices (and, at this time, most all homosexual acts were illegal in Germany), they also did not promote abstinence. They made an effort to help their gay patients find a sense of community, either with other patients, through the Scientific-Humanitarian Committee, or through a network of venues known to the institute that were aimed at gay men, lesbians, and cross-dressers. Additionally, the institute offered them general psychological and medical assistance.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The institute presented expert reports about cases of intersex conditions. Hirschfeld is considered to have been a pioneer in this area of study. He advocated for the right of intersex individuals born with ambiguous genitalia to choose their own sex upon reaching the age of eighteen, and indeed assisted intersex people in attaining sex reassignment surgeries. However, he sometimes also advocated strategic sex assignment at birth, on a scientific basis. Photographs of intersex cases were among the collections at the institute — these were used as part of an effort to demonstrate sexual intermediacy to the average layperson.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: From about the early 1920s onward, Hirschfeld became a target of the far-right in Germany, including the Nazi Party. He was physically attacked during multiple incidents, including an incident in Munich on 4 October 1920 in which he was badly injured. "Deutschnationale Jugendzeitung", a nationalist paper, commented that it was "regrettable" Hirschfeld hadn't died. In another incident in Vienna, he was shot at. By 1929, frequent targeting by Nazis made it difficult for Hirschfeld to continue with his appearances in public. A caricature of him appeared on the front page of "Der Stürmer" in February 1929; the Nazi Party attacked his Jewish ancestry as well as his theories about sex, gender, and sexuality.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: In late February 1933, as the influence of Ernst Röhm weakened, the Nazi Party launched its purge of gay (then known as "homophile") clubs in Berlin, outlawed sex publications, and banned organised gay groups. As a consequence, many fled Germany (including, for instance, Erika Mann). In March 1933 Kurt Hiller, a lawyer affiliated with the institute, was sent to a concentration camp, where he was tortured, though he later fled Germany and survived the war.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: On 6 May 1933, while Hirschfeld was in Ascona, Switzerland, the "Deutsche Studentenschaft" made an organised attack on the institute of Sex Research. A brass band accompanied them as they arrived in the morning. After breaking into the building, the students destroyed much of what was inside, and looted tens of thousands of items — including works by authors who had been blacklisted in Nazi Germany. Following this, the leader of the students gave a speech before the institute, and the students sang "Horst-Wessel-Lied". It's presumed that Dora "Dörchen" Richter (the first known person to undergo complete male-to-female sex reassignment surgery) may have been killed in this or a subsequent attack on the institute. Members of the "Sturmabteilung" (SA) appeared later in the day to continue looting the institute.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Four days later, the institute's library and archives were publicly hauled out and burned in the streets of the Opernplatz by members of SA alongside the students. A bronze bust of Hirschfeld, taken from the institute, was placed on top of the bonfire. One estimate says that between 12,000 to 20,000 books and journals, and even larger number of images and sex subjects, were destroyed. Another estimate says that about 25,000 books were destroyed.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: This included artistic works, rare medical and anthropological documents, and charts concerning cases of intersexuality which were prepared for the International Medical Congress, among other things. A collection of works about sexuality, in any one place, similar to the one stored at the institute was not compiled until the founding of the Kinsey Institute in 1947. Also seized were the institute's extensive lists of names and addresses. In the midst of the burning, Joseph Goebbels gave a political speech to a crowd of around 40,000 people. The leaders of the "Deutsche Studentenschaft" proclaimed their own "Feuersprüche" (fire decrees). Books burned at the Opernplatz at this time were not solely looted from the institute. Also burned were books by Jewish writers, and pacifists such as Erich Maria Remarque that were removed from local public libraries, bookshops, and the Humboldt University.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The bronze bust of Hirschfeld survived. A street cleaner salvaged and stored it the day after the burnings, and it was donated to the Berlin Academy of Arts after World War II. Reportedly also spared from the destruction were a large collection of psycho-biological questionnaires, pertaining to Hirschfeld's research of homosexuality. The Nazis were assured that these were simple medical histories. However, few of these have since been rediscovered.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: A newspaper headline soon after the raids declared the "un-German Spirit" (or "undeutschen Geist") of the institute. It was forced to shut down. The Nazis took control of the buildings for their own purposes. The destruction of the institute preceded a wider campaign against sexual reform and contraception, which were perceived as a threat to the German birth rate.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: While many fled into exile, the radical activist Adolf Brand made a stand in Germany for five months after the book burnings, but in November 1933 he had given up gay activism. On 28 June 1934 Hitler conducted a purge of gay men in the ranks of the SA wing of the Nazis, which involved murdering them in the Night of the Long Knives. This was then followed by stricter laws on homosexuality and the round-up of gay men. The address lists seized from the Institute are believed to have aided Hitler in these actions.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Many tens of thousands of arrestees found themselves, ultimately, in slave-labour or death camps. That included some of the institute's staff, such as August Bessunger. Karl Giese committed suicide in 1938 when the Germans invaded Czechoslovakia; his heir, lawyer Karl Fein, was murdered in 1942 during deportation. Arthur Kronfeld and Felix Abraham also committed suicide. Many survived by fleeing Germany. Among them were Berndt Götz, Ludwig Levy-Lenz, Bernard Schapiro, and Max Hodann.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: A handful of staff for the institute stayed behind during Nazi rule, such as Hans Graaz. Friedrich Hauptstein, Arthur Röser, and Ewald Lausch even became Nazi collaborators. It is suspected that these may have been spies. Helene Helling, a tenant and receptionist, became a Nazi sympathizer following the raid and occupied the building for some time after it. However, the institute's buildings were a bombed-out ruin by 1944, and were demolished sometime in the mid-1950s.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Hirschfeld tried to re-establish his institute in Paris as the "Institut Français des Sciences Sexologiques", but dissolved it in 1934 after it failed to gain traction. He moved to Nice, and died in France in 1935. He was buried at the "Cimetière orthodoxe de Caucade".


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: The charter of the institute had specified that in the event of dissolution, any assets of the Dr. Magnus Hirschfeld Foundation (which had sponsored the institute since 1924) were to be donated to the Humboldt University of Berlin. Hirschfeld also wrote a personal will while in exile in Paris, leaving any remaining assets to his students and heirs Karl Giese and Li Shiu Tong (Tao Li) for the continuation of his work. However, neither stipulation was carried out. The West German courts found that the foundation's dissolution and the seizure of property by the Nazis in 1934 was legal. The West German legislature also retained the Nazi amendments to Paragraph 175, making it impossible for surviving gay men to claim restitution for the destroyed cultural center.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: Li Shiu Tong lived in Switzerland and the United States until 1956, but as far as is known, he did not attempt to continue Hirschfeld's work. Some remaining fragments of data from the library were later collected by W. Dorr Legg and ONE, Inc. in the USA in the 1950s.


title: Institut für Sexualwissenschaft

text: In 1973, a new "Institut für Sexualwissenschaft" was opened at the University of Frankfurt am Main (director: Volkmar Sigusch), and 1996 at the Humboldt University of Berlin.


title: Dave Lawson

text: Dave Lawson (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian comedian, actor, and TV and radio personality. He is a regular performer on the stand up comedy circuit, and at one time participated in a talk back radio segment on the commercial radio station Nova 100.


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson grew up in the Bayside area of Melbourne and completed his secondary education at Haileybury College. He performed in the band Born Backwards.


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson is known for his long involvement in hosting the Nickelodeon Australia shows "Saturday Nick Television", "Sarvo", "Nick Takes Over Your School" and "Camp Orange". He also co-hosted with fellow "Sarvo" host James Kerley and Sophie Monk for the 2006 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards. On 16 February 2007, he announced his intention to leave Nickelodeon Australia, although several remarks by Kerley hinted that Lawson might return at a later stage.


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson returned to television work in April 2008, co-hosting "The Dave & Kerley Show" with James Kerley on Channel V at 10am on Sunday mornings. He was also a host and participant in the Ten Network's "Guerrilla Gardeners", in which, because of his experience, he was hired primarily "to spin lines to the councils [attempting to stop the show] when they turned up".


title: Dave Lawson

text: He also appeared in the Toyota Memorable Moments series of television commercials, depicting great moments in the history of Australian rules football with fellow comedian Stephen Curry. Curry plays the straight man, while an over-enthusiastic Lawson annoys, and is usually hurt by, the players as they recreate the scenes. Lawson also appeared in the music videos for Alex Lloyd's "Green", Duncan James's "Speed of Life", and Gerling's "Dust Me Selecta".


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson is a great-grandson of the Australian poet and author Henry Lawson, and is reputed to have fashioned his laconic persona from several of his great-grandfather's ideas as expressed in such works as "The Cant and Dirt of Labour Literature" (1894), "The Advanced Idealist" (1895), "Diogenes" (1900), and "The Casual Australian" (1922).


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson has been awarded the coveted Comedy Custodians Award for Best New Talent for his comedy show entitled "Life as Henry Lawson's Grandson and other funny things about me".


title: Dave Lawson

text: Lawson appeared on the 2013 ABC comedy series "It's a Date", along with Poh Ling Yeow, and in the 2014 ABC comedy "Utopia".


title: Dave Lawson

text: In 2021, Lawson married "Succession" actor Sarah Snook in a private wedding in Brooklyn. The pair have been together since 2020.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: A DC-to-DC converter is an electronic circuit or electromechanical device that converts a source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. It is a type of electric power converter. Power levels range from very low (small batteries) to very high (high-voltage power transmission).


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Before the development of power semiconductors, one way to convert the voltage of a DC supply to a higher voltage, for low-power applications, was to convert it to AC by using a vibrator, then by a step-up transformer, and finally a rectifier. Where higher power was needed, a motor–generator unit was often used, in which an electric motor drove a generator that produced the desired voltage. (The motor and generator could be separate devices, or they could be combined into a single "dynamotor" unit with no external power shaft.) These relatively inefficient and expensive designs were used only when there was no alternative, as to power a car radio (which then used thermionic valves (tubes) that require much higher voltages than available from a 6 or 12 V car battery). The introduction of power semiconductors and integrated circuits made it economically viable by use of techniques described below. For example, first is converting the DC power supply to high-frequency AC as an input of a transformer - it is small, light, and cheap due to the high frequency — that changes the voltage which gets rectified back to DC. Although by 1976 transistor car radio receivers did not require high voltages, some amateur radio operators continued to use vibrator supplies and dynamotors for mobile transceivers requiring high voltages although transistorized power supplies were available.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: While it was possible to derive a "lower" voltage from a higher with a linear regulator or even a resistor, these methods dissipated the excess as heat; energy-efficient conversion became possible only with solid-state switch-mode circuits.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: DC-to-DC converters are used in portable electronic devices such as cellular phones and laptop computers, which are supplied with power from batteries primarily. Such electronic devices often contain several sub-circuits, each with its own voltage level requirement different from that supplied by the battery or an external supply (sometimes higher or lower than the supply voltage). Additionally, the battery voltage declines as its stored energy is drained. Switched DC to DC converters offer a method to increase voltage from a partially lowered battery voltage thereby saving space instead of using multiple batteries to accomplish the same thing.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Most DC-to-DC converter circuits also regulate the output voltage. Some exceptions include high-efficiency LED power sources, which are a kind of DC to DC converter that regulates the current through the LEDs, and simple charge pumps which double or triple the output voltage.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: DC-to-DC converters which are designed to maximize the energy harvest for photovoltaic systems and for wind turbines are called power optimizers.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Transformers used for voltage conversion at mains frequencies of 50–60 Hz must be large and heavy for powers exceeding a few watts. This makes them expensive, and they are subject to energy losses in their windings and due to eddy currents in their cores. DC-to-DC techniques that use transformers or inductors work at much higher frequencies, requiring only much smaller, lighter, and cheaper wound components. Consequently these techniques are used even where a mains transformer could be used; for example, for domestic electronic appliances it is preferable to rectify mains voltage to DC, use switch-mode techniques to convert it to high-frequency AC at the desired voltage, then, usually, rectify to DC. The entire complex circuit is cheaper and more efficient than a simple mains transformer circuit of the same output. DC-to-DC converters are widely used for DC microgrid applications, in the context of different voltage levels.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Practical electronic converters use switching techniques. Switched-mode DC-to-DC converters convert one DC voltage level to another, which may be higher or lower, by storing the input energy temporarily and then releasing that energy to the output at a different voltage. The storage may be in either magnetic field storage components (inductors, transformers) or electric field storage components (capacitors). This conversion method can increase or decrease voltage. Switching conversion is often more power-efficient (typical efficiency is 75% to 98%) than linear voltage regulation, which dissipates unwanted power as heat. Fast semiconductor device rise and fall times are required for efficiency; however, these fast transitions combine with layout parasitic effects to make circuit design challenging. The higher efficiency of a switched-mode converter reduces the heatsinking needed, and increases battery endurance of portable equipment. Efficiency has improved since the late 1980s due to the use of power FETs, which are able to switch more efficiently with lower at higher frequencies than power bipolar transistors, and use less complex drive circuitry.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Another important improvement in DC-DC converters is replacing the flyback diode with synchronous rectification using a power FET, whose "on resistance" is much lower, reducing switching losses. Before the wide availability of power semiconductors, low-power DC-to-DC synchronous converters consisted of an electro-mechanical vibrator followed by a voltage step-up transformer feeding a vacuum tube or semiconductor rectifier, or synchronous rectifier contacts on the vibrator.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Most DC-to-DC converters are designed to move power in only one direction, from dedicated input to output. However, all switching regulator topologies can be made bidirectional and able to move power in either direction by replacing all diodes with independently controlled active rectification. A bidirectional converter is useful, for example, in applications requiring regenerative braking of vehicles, where power is supplied "to" the wheels while driving, but supplied "by" the wheels when braking.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Although they require few components, switching converters are electronically complex. Like all high-frequency circuits, their components must be carefully specified and physically arranged to achieve stable operation and to keep switching noise (EMI / RFI) at acceptable levels. Their cost is higher than linear regulators in voltage-dropping applications, but their cost has been decreasing with advances in chip design.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: DC-to-DC converters are available as integrated circuits (ICs) requiring few additional components. Converters are also available as complete hybrid circuit modules, ready for use within an electronic assembly.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Linear regulators which are used to output a stable DC independent of input voltage and output load from a higher but less stable input by dissipating excess volt-amperes as heat, could be described literally as DC-to-DC converters, but this is not usual usage. (The same could be said of a simple voltage dropper resistor, whether or not stabilised by a following voltage regulator or Zener diode.)


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: There are also simple capacitive voltage doubler and Dickson multiplier circuits using diodes and capacitors to multiply a DC voltage by an integer value, typically delivering only a small current.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: In these DC-to-DC converters, energy is periodically stored within and released from a magnetic field in an inductor or a transformer, typically within a frequency range of 300 kHz to 10 MHz. By adjusting the duty cycle of the charging voltage (that is, the ratio of the on/off times), the amount of power transferred to a load can be more easily controlled, though this control can also be applied to the input current, the output current, or to maintain constant power. Transformer-based converters may provide isolation between input and output. In general, the term "DC-to-DC converter" refers to one of these switching converters. These circuits are the heart of a switched-mode power supply. Many topologies exist. This table shows the most common ones.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Magnetic DC-to-DC converters may be operated in two modes, according to the current in its main magnetic component (inductor or transformer):


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: A converter may be designed to operate in continuous mode at high power, and in discontinuous mode at low power.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: The half bridge and flyback topologies are similar in that energy stored in the magnetic core needs to be dissipated so that the core does not saturate. Power transmission in a flyback circuit is limited by the amount of energy that can be stored in the core, while forward circuits are usually limited by the I/V characteristics of the switches.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Although MOSFET switches can tolerate simultaneous full current and voltage (although thermal stress and electromigration can shorten the MTBF), bipolar switches generally can't so require the use of a snubber (or two).


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Many laptop and desktop motherboards include interleaved buck regulators, sometimes as a voltage regulator module.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Specific to these converters is that the energy flows in both directions of the converter. These converters are commonly used in various applications and they are connected between two levels of DC voltage, where energy is transferred from one level to another.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Multiple isolated bidirectional DC-to-DC converters are also commonly used in cases where galvanic isolation is needed.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Switched capacitor converters rely on alternately connecting capacitors to the input and output in differing topologies. For example, a switched-capacitor reducing converter might charge two capacitors in series and then discharge them in parallel. This would produce the same output power (less that lost to efficiency of under 100%) at, ideally, half the input voltage and twice the current. Because they operate on discrete quantities of charge, these are also sometimes referred to as charge pump converters. They are typically used in applications requiring relatively small currents, as at higher currents the increased efficiency and smaller size of switch-mode converters makes them a better choice. They are also used at extremely high voltages, as magnetics would break down at such voltages.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: A motor–generator set, mainly of historical interest, consists of an electric motor and generator coupled together. A "dynamotor" combines both functions into a single unit with coils for both the motor and the generator functions wound around a single rotor; both coils share the same outer field coils or magnets. Typically the motor coils are driven from a commutator on one end of the shaft, when the generator coils output to another commutator on the other end of the shaft. The entire rotor and shaft assembly is smaller in size than a pair of machines, and may not have any exposed drive shafts.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: Motor–generators can convert between any combination of DC and AC voltage and phase standards. Large motor–generator sets were widely used to convert industrial amounts of power while smaller units were used to convert battery power (6, 12 or 24 V DC) to a high DC voltage, which was required to operate vacuum tube (thermionic valve) equipment.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: For lower-power requirements at voltages higher than supplied by a vehicle battery, vibrator or "buzzer" power supplies were used. The vibrator oscillated mechanically, with contacts that switched the polarity of the battery many times per second, effectively converting DC to square wave AC, which could then be fed to a transformer of the required output voltage(s). It made a characteristic buzzing noise.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: A further means of DC to DC conversion in the kilowatts to megawatts range is presented by using redox flow batteries such as the vanadium redox battery.


title: DC-to-DC converter

text: DC-to-DC converters are subject to different types of chaotic dynamics such as bifurcation, crisis, and intermittency.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: Ghosts of War is a 2020 British supernatural horror film written and directed by Eric Bress. The film stars Brenton Thwaites, Theo Rossi, Skylar Astin, Kyle Gallner, and Alan Ritchson. It was released on DirecTV on 18 June 2020.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: During the Allied campaign across France in 1944, five troopers of the 82nd Airborne Division are assigned to guard a chateau. En route they ambush a German-captured jeep, executing the occupants who survive the initial attack, before encountering a group of Jewish refugees. They arrive at their destination, and the troops they're replacing clear out hurriedly. The paratroopers begin to settle into the chateau, only for eerie events to start happening. Chris, the group's commander, interprets a repetitive banging sound coming from the fireplace as Morse code, which Eugene transcribes as saying "I have no legs". The squad’s sniper, Taggert, is on guard duty up in the attic late one night, and sees the ghostly figure of a young boy suddenly appear in his sights. Frightened, he jerks back, only for the figure to promptly disappear when he checks again.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: Eugene later finds a journal kept by a German soldier detailing the fate of the Helwigs, the former owners. The Germans, having discovered the Helwigs had been sheltering Jews, brutally murdered them by burning the father alive, hanging the daughter and drowning the son in a bathtub. As Eugene is transcribing another Morse code message, his hand moves without his volition to spell out the message "If you leave, you die", which is repeated over the squad’s radio. A report comes in on the radio that a platoon of Germans is moving through the area, and the squad attempts to make the chateau appear as if it is deserted.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: That night, the German unit arrives at the chateau. The squad has padlocked the door to make it appear as if the place is locked up tight, and at first it seems like the Germans will simply move on. However, suddenly a loud banging noise erupts from the chateau, and the startled Germans attack. The Americans kill most of their number but Butchie is mortally wounded diving on a grenade. Some of the Germans successfully manage to storm into the chateau, however, and begin to spread out through the chateau to try and hunt down the paratroopers. The Americans witness some of the Germans being killed by unseen forces in the same manner as the Helwig family. Before he dies, Butchie rants that what the men are experiencing isn't real and exhorts Chris to "remember".


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: Convinced that the building is haunted, the survivors leave only to find themselves repeating the experiences that brought them to the chateau - the ambush of the jeep, the encounter with the refugees. Believing they are cursed and that their only hope is to give the bodies of the Helwig family a proper burial, they return to the chateau. An invisible force— revealed to be the ghostly form of a woman— grabs Chris and hauls him towards an outhouse where they find the Helwigs' remains. After burying the bodies, Eugene consults the diary and finds that the text is no longer German but Arabic and that the Helwigs were Afghan. The men are then attacked by spirits, one of which tries to drown Chris. The shock of the experience induces hallucinations before he finally snaps awake and finds himself being attended to by doctors in a futuristic hospital, surrounded by the mutilated and unconscious bodies of his comrades. Doctor Engel and his staff inform Chris that what he and his comrades had been experiencing is a simulated reality based on World War II intended to help soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: Chris' memories return. He and his men are not World War II veterans but soldiers of the present-day American military. Their final mission in Afghanistan was to evacuate a family called the Helwigs, who had been collaborating with the Americans, before an Islamic State patrol ambushed them. The men are ordered to hide by their CIA handler in a secret compartment within the walls. As the family is abused by ISIS fighters, the soldiers prepare to intervene against their orders, only for two more trucks full of ISIS troops to arrive outside, causing them to hesitate. The men watch as the Helwigs were slaughtered in the manner witnessed in the simulation. As the men left, the despairing mother of the family detonated a suicide bomb and with her dying breath uttered the word "Vetrulek", revealed to be an ancient curse that forces its recipients to endlessly relive their trauma. Back in the hospital the power fluctuates, confusing the medical staff. Chris realises that the curse is real and that the spirits of the Helwig family now haunt the simulation that the men are experiencing. Convinced the only way to lift the curse is to confront the family, apologise and atone for their sins, Chris explains this to the medical staff, and insist asking to returns to the simulation. While the medical staff is preparing Chris' reconnection to the simulation, they are confused by the mainframe computer launching deletion of the patient memory. They shout that fact to Chris just before the countdown for sending him back announce five seconds to resume link to the construct. Finally, the timer reach zero and procedure initiate. He reawakens where his experiences began - camped out at night with his comrades as a figure watches from the shadows.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: In February 2017, it was reported that Brenton Thwaites would star in "Ghosts of War", with Bress directing from his own script. Miscellaneous Entertainment's D. Todd Shepherd, Shelley Madison, Joe Simpson, and George Waud are producing and financing the film alongside Colleen Camp. A month later, Skylar Astin, Theo Rossi, Alan Ritchson, Kyle Gallner, and Shaun Toub were cast in the film.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: Highland Film Group is handling international sales. Principal photography took place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Using the Vrana Palace as the mansion.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: "Ghosts of War" released on DirecTV on 18 June 2020. It was released via virtual cinema screenings, On Demand, and digitally on 17 July 2020.


title: Ghosts of War (2020 film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average score of . The website's critics consensus reads: ""Ghosts of War" blends supernatural horror and period war drama to produce a muddled mashup that proves some ingredients are better left separate." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 38 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Russian horror webzine "Darker" review states that "Ghosts of War" can boast one of the most cliched and at the same time insanely convoluted endings of all time, making events of the movie pointless.


title: Aquaponics

text: Aquaponics is a food production system that couples aquaculture (raising aquatic animals such as fish, crayfish, snails or prawns in tanks) with hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) whereby the nutrient-rich aquaculture water is fed to hydroponically grown plants.


title: Aquaponics

text: As existing hydroponic and aquaculture farming techniques form the basis of all aquaponic systems, the size, complexity, and types of foods grown in an aquaponic system can vary as much as any system found in either distinct farming discipline.


title: Aquaponics

text: Floating aquaponics systems on polycultural fish ponds have been installed in China in more recent years on a large scale. They are used to grow rice, wheat and canna lily and other crops, with some installations exceeding .


title: Aquaponics

text: The development of modern aquaponics is often attributed to the various works of the New Alchemy Institute and the works of Dr. Mark McMurtry et al. at the North Carolina State University, who devised an "Integrated Aqua-Vegeculture System" (iAVs) based on the combination of aquaculture and sand-based grow beds.