title: Split Enz

text: By the end of 1974 their fanbase in New Zealand, although small, was extremely strong and very dedicated, but the chances of further progress in that small market were obviously limited. In March 1975, the band issued its third single, "No Bother To Me", on the independent White Cloud label, and a few weeks later, Split Enz became the latest in a string of successful NZ groups and solo artists who moved to Australia to further their career. Although their highly unusual visual presentation and complex music were markedly out of step with the blues-based "pub rock" that was dominating Australian music at the time, and many concert-goers were puzzled by them, the band's powerful performances and the quality of their material impressed and as in New Zealand they soon acquired a small but fiercely loyal fan base. After nine months on the Australian pub and concert circuit they were spotted by Melbourne-based entrepreneur Michael Gudinski, who signed them to his new Mushroom Records label, which was then enjoying unprecedented success with the band Skyhooks, whose 1974 debut album had shot to the top of the charts, spawning a string of hit singles and becoming the highest-selling Australian LP ever released up to that time. Thanks to Gudinski's associated booking agency (Consolidated Rock) Split Enz were soon touring nationally and gaining valuable exposure playing prestigious support slots for several major international acts including Flo & Eddie, Lou Reed and Roxy Music.


title: Split Enz

text: In May 1975 the group went into Festival Records' Studio 24 in Sydney to record their first album, which was produced by their tour manager of the time, David Russell, a veteran NZ rock/pop musician who had previously played with Ray Columbus & The Invaders, Ray Brown and the New Whispers and Max Merritt & the Meteors. Their debut LP "Mental Notes" (Mushroom, 1975) did remarkably well, selling 12,000 copies on its first release and going to #19 on the Australian album chart and #7 in New Zealand. Not long after the album was released Wally Wilkinson was sacked and Rob Gillies returned to the band.


title: Split Enz

text: Following Split Enz' support slot on Roxy Music's first Australian tour, Roxy guitarist Phil Manzanera offered to produce their second album. With support from Manzanera and Gudinski, the band secured a UK recording deal with Chrysalis Records and they flew to the UK to record "Second Thoughts" (Mushroom, 1976) at the Basing Street Studios in London, "Second Thoughts" was issued in Australia in July 1976, and in the UK (as "Mental Notes") in September. It comprised four re-arranged and re-recorded tracks from "Mental Notes", their second Australian (non-album) single "Late Last Night", three new songs, and a new version of one of the earliest Judd-Finn compositions, "129", retitled "Matinee Idyll (129)". This song was released, backed by "Lovey Dovey", as a single in December 1976 and during the recording they were able to meet up with their old bandmate Miles Golding, then living in London, at a recital he gave at the Australian Embassy.


title: Split Enz

text: To promote the album they toured as support to English folk-rockers Jack the Lad. In November 1976 Emlyn Crowther was sacked and replaced by British drummer Malcolm Green.


title: Split Enz

text: The band's next single was another non-album track "Another Great Divide", released to promote their return to Australia/New Zealand in January 1977 for the "Courting the Act" tour. Chrysalis issued "Mental Notes" (the American title of "Second Thoughts") in the US, and at the end of February they set off for the US to support the album. The 23 day/40 show tour was a first attempt to establish themselves in America but it marked the end of an era in the band and proved to be the last tour with founding members Phil Judd and Mike Chunn. Chunn decided to leave at the end of the US tour, partly because he wanted to spend more time with his family but also because he suffered from agoraphobia. But tensions were also increasing between Phil and Tim. Although the band received a standing ovation in San Francisco, audience reactions in more remote areas ranged from puzzlement to outright hostility, and Phil was extremely sensitive to such negative reactions. Also like Mike Chunn he had a young family back in New Zealand and was tired of the endless grind of touring. The tensions climaxed after a concert when Phil, who was having trouble with an out-of-tune guitar, stormed off before the end of the set and when Tim challenged him backstage about what had happened, Phil punched him. The tour ended in April, and Phil left the band. They were due to begin their third English tour later that month, so Tim now took charge and hastily reorganised the group. On 4 April English bassist Nigel Griggs (ex-Octopus) was hired to replace Mike Chunn, who gave Tim a crucial piece of parting advice—he suggested Tim's younger brother Neil as the replacement for Phil Judd. At the time Neil was playing in local Auckland band Afterhours, led by Geoff Chunn, plus Neil and Mark Hough, (aka Buster Stiggs who later joined The Swingers with Phil Judd). Neil flew to England as soon as he received the call from Tim and he officially joined Split Enz on 7 April 1977.


title: Split Enz

text: Split Enz' third album was recorded at London's AIR Studios with producer (and former Beatles engineer) Geoff Emerick from June to July 1977. "Dizrythmia" (a title taken from the medical term for jet-lag, circadian dysrhythmia, meaning 'upset body rhythm') made no appreciable impact in the UK, but was very successful in Australasia, and gave them their first simultaneous hits on the Australian and New Zealand singles and album charts. They returned to Australia in August, coinciding with the release of the album, and began a 28-date tour Australasian tour in October/November. The album reached #18 in Australia. The first single, "My Mistake" (August), peaked at #18 during October, bolstered by the national tour and aided by another distinctive promotional video. In New Zealand "Dizrhythmia" reached #3, and "My Mistake" peaked at #21. The second single, "Bold as Brass" (December), which failed to chart in Australia, was accompanied by another specially-made video, co-directed by Noel and Rob.


title: Split Enz

text: Between November 1977 and February 1978 Split Enz toured solidly throughout the UK and Europe. At the turn of the year Rob Gillies left and despite their earlier falling out, Phil Judd returned, briefly, in early 1978 after Tim and Eddie heard some of his new material, but he apparently felt uncomfortable with their changing musical direction and style, and left the band for good about a month later. The Enz struggled to survive through 1978: they lost their Chrysalis contract and spent most of that year without a UK record deal, a booking agent or a manager. Debts mounted and, unable to get gigs, they were forced to go on the dole, but they continued writing new material and rehearsing constantly. It was at this point that the New Zealand Arts Council came to the rescue with a grant of $5000. This crucial break allowed them to book a tiny 8-track studio in Luton and with the help of 18-year-old English engineer David Tickle they made demos of 28 new songs in less than five days. These sessions—known as the "Rootin Tootin Luton Tapes"—became the basis for the group's new direction. One of Tim's new songs from these sessions – which showed the clear influence of British punk and New Wave – became their next single, "I See Red".


title: Split Enz

text: Split Enz entered Manor Studios in November 1978 to record a new album with producer Mallory Earl. The cover of "Frenzy" signalled the changes in the group—the wild costumes, hair and makeup were gone, and Phil Judd's painting depicted them in casual clothes, standing in front of a farm shed in a pastoral New Zealand landscape. The album included re-recordings of many songs from the Luton tapes, but the band felt that Earl had not fully captured the raw energy of the Luton demos. Many of the other Luton songs were never re-recorded, and were left as demos, although some eventually surfaced on A&M's American version of "Frenzy", released in North America in 1981. The same month, Mushroom issued "I See Red" as a single in Australia. It marked a significant move away from the band's earlier and more 'progressive' style and harked back to Tim's first love—simple, concise, accessible, high-energy guitar-based power pop. Although it didn't chart in the United Kingdom, "I See Red" gained a lot of critical attention and considerable airplay, and is credited as being the song that began the turn-around in their reputation in the UK.


title: Split Enz

text: The group went home to New Zealand for Christmas 1978 and before they headed back to the UK, they decided to play some local shows. Just after Christmas there was a serious setback when their equipment was destroyed in a suspicious fire at a rehearsal studio. Using borrowed equipment, Split Enz played what proved to be a pivotal concert in their later career, stunning friends and fans alike with their now-legendary performance at the second Nambassa Festival in January. "I See Red" eventually peaked at #15 in Australia in February 1979, and was followed by another historic release – "Give It a Whirl" (May 1979) – the first Enz single to be written by Neil Finn. Neither "Frenzy" nor "Give It A Whirl" charted, but one album track, "She Got Body She Got Soul", was later reworked for the soundtrack to the musical feature film "Starstruck". A self-produced, non-album single "Things" / "Semi-Detached" was released in October but failed to chart.


title: Split Enz

text: For their next (fifth) studio LP, David Tickle was brought to Australia to produce. The result, "True Colours", also marked the emergence of Neil as a significant pop songwriter. His song "I Got You" seems in retrospect an obvious choice as a first single although Mushroom didn't think there was a commercial track on the record, and that they had wasted their $A34,000 budget. Nevertheless, it proved to be a massive hit that finally established the group in the front rank of bands in Australasia. "True Colours" and "I Got You" were simultaneously released in January 1980 and simultaneously topped charts in both Australia and New Zealand during March – the album stayed at #1 in Australia for ten weeks, and the single for eight weeks and "I Got You" went on to become the highest selling single in Australia for the year – and the biggest international success of the band's career.


title: Split Enz

text: The band and management developed the entire marketing campaign, which included several 'world firsts' – they created a VHS video album (the first of its kind) with music videos for each song and released each new pressing of the LP in different coloured jackets, designed by band member Noel Crombie including once released in the US, a special laser-etched edition, courtesy Jeff Ayeroff of A&M. This version harnessed laser technology to etch geometric patterns into the playing surface of the album, creating prismatic effects without affecting the music playback. "True Colours" was a huge commercial success and went on to sell over 250,000 copies in Australasia. A&M issued the album in the UK, Canada and the USA. "I Got You" reached #12 on the UK charts during August and "True Colours" reached #42. The next single, "I Hope I Never" (b/w "Hypnotised" and "Carried Away") was released in May and reached #18 on the Australian charts during June. Videos for "I Got You" and "I Hope I Never" enjoyed airplay on video music shows in America, and the band played both songs on American television shows such as "Fridays" (10 Oct 1980).


title: Split Enz

text: The group toured extensively behind "True Colours" before returning to the studio in 1981. Their next album was released in Australia only as "Corroboree" and everywhere else as "Waiata" (Maori for "songs"). It continued the winning streak initiated by "True Colours" but their relationship with producer David Tickle had become strained and it would be their last collaboration. Notably A&M Records refusal to release "Waiata" in America with Noel's Maori-inspired original white-brown-black cover design (reportedly protesting that "brown is the colour of shit") and much to Noel's chagrin, they changed it to a feeble pastel blue, completely ruining the effect. Although it was not as well received by critics, the album gave Split Enz their second joint Australian and New Zealand #1 LP, led by Neil's "One Step Ahead" (#5 in November) and "History Never Repeats" (#4 in April 1981). The album's third single, Tim's "I Don't Wanna Dance" (June) failed to chart but "History Never Repeats" reached #63 in the UK during May.


title: Split Enz

text: It was also at this same time that Split Enz founder Phil Judd re-emerged with his new band Swingers and scored a huge Australian/New Zealand #1 hit with their debut single "Counting The Beat" produced by David Tickle, who produced the Enz albums "True Colours" and "Waiata". Internal tensions saw drummer Mal Green leave Split Enz in mid-1981 to work on solo projects; Noel Crombie took over as drummer and the band began on a world tour including North America, where they co-headlined with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.


title: Split Enz

text: In late 1981, after months of intensive touring, Split Enz returned to the studio to record what many critics regard as their most personal and creative album, "Time and Tide". Much of the material came out of Tim's recent personal turmoil—in January that year he had married English dancer Liz Malam, but the marriage collapsed in October and he suffered a nervous breakdown, an ordeal he recounted in "Six Months in a Leaky Boat", specifically the track 'Dirty Creature'. The album was produced by rising English producer/engineer Hugh Padgham. He was already well known on the music scene for his engineering work with producer Steve Lillywhite on landmark recordings by artists like Peter Gabriel, XTC and Genesis, and he is credited with inventing the "gated reverb" drum sound that became Phil Collins' trademark. Padgham reportedly had a much more relaxed style than Tickle which the Enz found ideally suited them. Released in April 1982, "Time and Tide" became Split Enz' third successive #1 album in Australia and New Zealand. The advent of MTV in America, and its interest in new wave acts also helped the band's growing cult status in America—both "Dirty Creature" and "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" (as well as earlier videos) were given wide airplay on the channel. "Dirty Creature" reached #6 in Australia in April and "Six Months In A Leaky Boat" went to #2 in June. "Never Ceases to Amaze Me" (August) was issued as the third single from the LP but failed to chart.


title: Split Enz

text: Initially, "Six Months in a Leaky Boat" also looked like it would at last furnish Split Enz with the breakthrough UK hit that they had been hoping for, but this failed to materialise; after the controversial sinking of the Argentine warship the "General Belgrano" by the British Navy during the Falklands War the BBC reportedly included the song on a covert "blacklist" of songs that were not to be played on air due to supposedly negative references to the war: although the BBC vehemently denied the blacklist at the time, they finally admitted to its existence in 1999. The year ended with the release of the band's first "Best of" collection "Enz of an Era", which went to #8 in Australia (December) and sold 30,000 copies in New Zealand alone.


title: Split Enz

text: Early in 1983, Tim took a break from the group to record a solo album with an all-star session group including producers Mark Moffatt (Divinyls, Ross Wilson) former Beach Boy Ricky Fataar, and legendary session singer Venetta Fields. "Escapade", released in June, was a major success in Australasia, spawning several hits singles including "Fraction Too Much Friction" and the gospel-styled "Made My Day". Tim won the 'Best Songwriter' gong at that year's TV Week/Countdown Awards, and Split Enz won 'Best Album' (for "Time & Tide") and Most Popular Group awards.


title: Split Enz

text: In March 1983 Noel Crombie briefly stepped into the limelight and issued a novelty solo single, "My Voice Keeps Changing On Me" and the same month, the new Enz single "Next Exit" was released as a stop-gap until the band could record a new album, but it failed to chart. Up to this time, Tim had been the primary writer in the group, but on the next LP his contributions were overshadowed for the first time by Neil, who wrote the majority of songs. The aptly titled "Conflicting Emotions" (November 1983) was less cohesive than the previous three albums, and (perhaps inevitably after three successive #1 LPs) it was a commercial letdown, reaching only #13 on the national chart in January. Nevertheless, Neil's songs fared well commercially — the jazzy "Strait Old Line" (October 1983), the anthemic "Message to My Girl" (January 1984) and "I Wake Up Every Night" (April 1984) all appeared as singles. The lead single "Strait Old Line" was a disappointment on the Australian chart, struggling to #42, but the second single "Message To My Girl" was more impressive and reached #12 in February 1984.


title: Split Enz

text: For the "Conflicting Emotions" tour, Tim again felt that the band needed a change in the rhythm section, so Paul Hester (ex-Deckchairs Overboard) was brought in on drums, and Noel returned to percussion (and spoons). However growing tensions between Tim and Neil and his solo success with "Escapade" eventually led to Tim's decision to leave Split Enz and in June 1984 he ended months of speculation by announcing that he would quit before the next LP was recorded, in order to promote the release of "Escapade" in Europe.


title: Split Enz

text: The remaining members decided to continue, but their next album "See Ya 'Round" proved to be their last. It came out in November 1984 and was dominated by Neil Finn songs, although Hester, now a permanent member, contributed one number. The first single from the album was Neil's stirring, bittersweet farewell to Tim and the Enz, "I Walk Away" which was released in September. It was followed by the darker "One Mouth Is Fed" in November. By this time the group had finally decided to call it a day, and they reunited with Tim and embarked on the "Enz with a Bang" Australasian farewell tour in October/November 1984. Split Enz played its last show on 4 December 1984 in Auckland. A double album recorded on the farewell tour, "The Living Enz", was released in December 1985.


title: Split Enz

text: Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester founded Crowded House. Tim Finn briefly joined Crowded House later on and also recorded two albums with Neil Finn as the Finn Brothers.


title: Split Enz

text: Phil Judd released a solo album and formed the Swingers with Buster Stiggs and Bones Hillman. He also formed Schnell Fenster with Noel Crombie and Nigel Griggs. They were joined by Eddie Rayner, but Rayner left to form The Makers. His group Enzso performed Split Enz songs in an orchestral setting with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Rayner also pursued a solo career. Geoff Chunn and Mike Chunn returned to New Zealand and formed Citizen Band.


title: Split Enz

text: In May 2018, Eddie Rayner announced that he was working on a new ENZSO project, titled ENZO, combining classical musicians and a pop ensemble including himself and various ex-Split Enz members.


title: Split Enz

text: In 1986, two years after Split Enz broke up, it reunited for a Greenpeace benefit concert. Three years later, Crowded House toured with Schnell Fenster, assembling an assortment of Split Enz alumni. The band reunited in 1993 for its twentieth anniversary tour, when they played Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland supported by The Holy Toledos. This appeared on TV in 2002 to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary. In 2006, Split Enz toured with a membership consisting of the classic 1979–1981 line-up of Tim Finn, Neil Finn, Nigel Griggs, Eddie Rayner, Noel Crombie, and Malcolm Green.


title: Split Enz

text: Another reunion tour followed in March 2008, with four shows in New Zealand featuring John Butler Trio drummer Michael Barker in place of Green who was unavailable. A final one-off reunion performance (with Green back on drums) took place on 14 March 2009 as part of the Sound Relief festival.


title: Split Enz

text: The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987. Split Enz were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005.


title: Split Enz

text: "Countdown" was an Australian pop music TV series on national broadcaster ABC-TV from 1974 to 1987, it presented music awards from 1979 to 1987, initially in conjunction with magazine "TV Week". The TV Week / Countdown Awards were a combination of popular-voted and peer-voted awards.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Mount Kinabalu (, Dusun: "Gayo Ngaran or Nulu Nabalu") is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of , it is third-highest peak of an island on Earth, and 20th most prominent mountain in the world by topographic prominence. The mountain is located in Ranau district, West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: In 1997, a re-survey using satellite technology established its summit (known as Low's Peak) height at above sea level, which is some less than the previously thought and hitherto published figure of .


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The mountain and its surroundings are among the most important biological sites in the world, with between 5,000 and 6,000 species of plants, 326 species of birds, and more than 100 mammalian species identified. Among this rich collection of wildlife are famous species such as the gigantic "Rafflesia" plants and orangutans. Mount Kinabalu has been accorded UNESCO World Heritage status.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Low's Peak can be climbed by a person in good physical condition and there is no need for mountaineering equipment at any point on the main route, but climbers must be accompanied by accredited guides at all times due to national park regulations and may experience altitude sickness.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Mount Kinabalu along with other upland areas of the Crocker Range is known worldwide for its biodiversity with plants of Himalayan, Australasian, and Indomalayan origin. A recent botanical survey of the mountain estimated a staggering 5,000 to 6,000 plant species (excluding mosses and liverworts but including ferns), which is more than all of Europe and North America (excluding tropical regions of Mexico) combined. It is therefore one of the world's most important biological sites. A reason for its rich diversity and endemisms is that its great height could have provided refuge to cold-adapted species during interglacials.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: In 2015, a major Malaysian-Dutch study showed that the unique flora, fauna, and fungi on the mountain summit are younger than the mountain itself, and have evolved from both local and distant montane ancestors.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The flora covers the mountain in zones of different types of habitat as one climbs up, beginning with a lowland belt of fig trees and carnivorous pitcher plants. Then between is a layer of short trees such the conifer "Dacrydium gibbsiae" and dwarf shrubs, mosses, lichens, liverworts, and ferns. Finally many of the world's richest variety of orchids are found on the high rockier slopes.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: These plants have high levels of endemism (i.e. species which are found only within Kinabalu Park and are not found anywhere else in the world). The orchids are the best-known example with over 800 species including some of the highly valued "Paphiopedilum" slipper orchids, but there are also over 600 species of ferns (more than the whole of Africa's 500 species) of which 50 are found nowhere else, and the richest collection in the world for the "Nepenthes" pitcher plants (five of the thirteen are found nowhere else on earth) which reach spectacular proportions (the largest-pitchered in the world being the endemic "Nepenthes rajah"). The parasitic "Rafflesia" plant, which has the largest single flower in the world, is also found in Kinabalu (particularly "Rafflesia keithii" whose flower grows to in diameter), though blooms of the flower are rare and difficult to find. Meanwhile, another "Rafflesia" species, "Rafflesia tengku-adlinii", can be found on the neighbouring Mount Trus Madi and the nearby Maliau Basin.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Its above average biodiversity in plant life is due to a combination of several unique factors: its setting in one of the richest plant regions of the world (the tropical biogeographical region known as western Malesia which comprises the island of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and the island of Borneo), the fact that the mountain covers a wide climatic range from near sea level to freezing ground conditions near the summit, the jagged terrain and diversity of rocks and soils, the high levels of rainfall (averaging about a year at park HQ), and the climatic instability caused by periods of glaciation and catastrophic droughts which result in evolution and speciation. This diversity is greatest in the lowland regions (consisting of lowland dipterocarp forests, so called because the tree family Dipterocarpaceae are dominant). However, most of Kinabalu's endemic species are found in the mountain forests, particularly on ultramafic soils (i.e. soils which are low in phosphates and high in iron and metals poisonous to many plants; this high toxic content gave rise to the development of distinctive plant species found nowhere else).


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The variety of plant life is also habitat for a great variety of birds and mammals. There are some 326 species of birds in Kinabalu Park, including the spectacular rhinoceros hornbill, mountain serpent-eagle, Dulit frogmouth, eyebrowed jungle flycatcher, and bare-headed laughingthrush. Twenty-four birds are mainly found on the mountain. The mountain is home to some 100 mammalian species mostly living high in the trees, including one of the four great apes, the orangutan (though sightings of these are uncommon; estimates of its numbers in the park range from 25 to 120). Other mammals include three kinds of deer, the Malayan weasel "(Mustela nudipes)", oriental small-clawed otter "(Aonyx cinerea)", and leopard cat "(Felis bengalensis)". Endemic mammals include the black shrew "(Suncus ater)". However, others of its endemisms, such as the Bornean ferret-badger "(Melogale everetti)" and "Rattus baluensis", have also recently been recorded in the nearby Mount Tambuyukon.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Endemic annelids number less than a dozen known species but include the Kinabalu giant red leech that preys on various earthworms, including the Kinabalu giant earthworm. In the summit zone, at least 26 endemic species of land snail exist. In 2012, a major scientific expedition, jointly organised by the Malaysian Sabah Parks and the Dutch Naturalis Biodiversity Center, performed DNA analysis of several dozen endemic flora, fauna, and fungi, to understand the evolutionary origin of the unique biodiversity of Kinabalu.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The steep mountainsides with poor soil are not suitable for farming or for the timber industry so the habitats and animal life of Kinabalu remain largely intact, with about a third of the original habitat now degraded. Kinabalu Park was established in 1964 and the nearby mountains were protected as the Crocker Range National Park in 1984. However even national park status does not guarantee full protection, as logging permits were granted on Trus Madi in 1984. Climate Change is likely to reduce the suitable habitat for cold-adapted species from the montane habitats.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Mount Kinabalu is essentially a massive pluton formed from granodiorite which is intrusive into sedimentary and ultrabasic rocks, and forms the central part, or core, of the Kinabalu massif. The granodiorite is intrusive into strongly folded strata, probably of Eocene to Miocene age, and associated ultrabasic and basic igneous rocks. It was pushed up from the earth's crust as molten rock millions of years ago. In geological terms, it is a very young mountain as the granodiorite cooled and hardened only about 10 million years ago.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The present landform is considered to be a mid-Pliocene peneplain, arched and deeply dissected, through which the Kinabalu granodiorite body has risen in isostatic adjustment. It is still pushing up at the rate of per annum. During the Pleistocene Epoch of about 100,000 years ago, the massive mountain was covered by huge sheets of ice and glaciers which flowed down its slopes, scouring its surface in the process and creating the deep Low's Gully (named after Hugh Low) on its north side. Its granitic composition and the glacial formative processes are readily apparent when viewing its craggy rocky peaks.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: In respect of it being 'one of the youngest granitic intrusions exposed on Earth and the site of spectacular tropical glacial landscapes', the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) included the 'Mount Kinabalu Neogene granite' in its assemblage of 100 'geological heritage sites' around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as 'a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history.'


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: British colonial administrator Hugh Low made the first recorded ascent of Mount Kinabalu's summit plateau in March 1851 with local Dusun guide Lemaing of Kampung Kiau. Low did not scale the mountain's highest peak, however, considering it "inaccessible to any but winged animals". In April and July 1858, Low was accompanied on two further ascents by Spenser St. John, the British Consul in Brunei. The highest point of Mount Kinabalu was finally reached in 1888 by zoologist John Whitehead. British botanist Lilian Gibbs became the first woman and the first botanist to summit Mount Kinabalu in February 1910.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Botanist E. J. H. Corner led two important expeditions of the Royal Society of Great Britain to the mountain in 1961 and 1964. Kinabalu National Park was established in 1964. The park was designated a natural World Heritage Site in 2000.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: On 5 June 2015 at 07:15 MST, the area around Mount Kinabalu was damaged by an earthquake. Eighteen people, including hikers and mountain guides, were killed by the earthquake and a massive landslide that followed it. Ranau and many parts of Sabah West Coast were affected and Donkey Ear's Peak was heavily damaged.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Six days before the earthquake, around ten western tourists (comprising six men and four women from Canada, Germany, Netherlands and the United Kingdom) "stripped and urinated at the mountain (which locals believe has angered the spirit at the sacred place)". The tourists also allegedly shouted vulgarities when they were told to desist by their mountain guide, but this was later dismissed by the judge in their trial. This provoked outrage among certain Sabahans, who want all of the alleged offenders charged in native court and forced to pay the "sogit", a type of compensation, given in the form of money or livestock, to appease the aggrieved party according to local Kadazan-Dusun customs. It is imposed on wrongdoers for the purpose of appeasing "the aggrieved", thus placating the community. However, as most of the detained tourists have been released from Malaysia's prison and escaping native court, the local villagers had to perform their own rituals. Following the incident, some of the tourists and their families have expressed their apologies to all involved parties, and the government of the United Kingdom began to review its travel advice for Malaysia.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Sabah Parks grants a summit-climbing permit only to climbers who stay at mountain huts. Due to the limited number of beds at the mountain huts, only 130 people are allowed to climb Mount Kinabalu per day.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Climbers must be accompanied by accredited guides at all times due to national park regulations. There are two main starting points for the climb: the Timpohon Gate (located from Kinabalu Park Headquarters, at an altitude of ), and the Mesilau Nature Resort. The latter starting point is slightly higher in elevation, but crosses a ridge, adding about two kilometres to the ascent and making the total elevation gain slightly higher. The Mesilau Trail is no longer accessible due to the earthquake in 2015. The two trails meet about before Laban Rata.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Accommodation is available inside the park or outside near the headquarters. Sabah Parks has privatised Mount Kinabalu activities to an organisation called Sutera Sanctuary Lodges. The mountain may be climbed on a single day trip, or hikers may (usually) stay one night at Laban Rata Resthouse at to complete the climb in 2 days, finishing the ascent and descending on the second day. The majority of climbers begin the ascent on day one of a two-day hike from Timpohon gate at , reaching this location either by minibus or by walking, and then walk to Laban Rata. Most people accomplish this part of the climb in 3 to 6 hours. Since there are no roads, the supplies for the Laban Rata Resthouse are carried by porters, who sometimes bring more than of supplies on their backs. Hot food and beverages are available at Laban Rata. Most rooms have no hot water in the bathrooms and whilst the dining area is heated, most rooms are not. The last , from the Laban Rata Resthouse at to Low's Peak (summit) at , takes between 2 and 4 hours. The last part of the climb is on bare granite rock.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Given the high altitude, some people may suffer from altitude sickness although staying overnight at the lodges before the climb and climbing at a lower rate of ascent may reduce the likelihood of this happening.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Low's Gully (named after Hugh Low who first looked down into it in 1851) is a deep gorge carved out by glaciation on the north side of Mount Kinabalu, which is exceptionally inhospitable due to its depth and high rainfall. In March 1994 two British Army officers were severely criticised after leading a party of 7 British and 3 Hong Kong soldiers in an attempt to abseil and climb down into the gully that required extensive rescue efforts from both the RAF and the Malaysian army. The party were not equipped with radios and the 2 officers and 3 Hong Kong soldiers were trapped for 16 days and did not eat for five days before being rescued when stretchers were lowered by helicopter. The breakaway party of five completed the first descent of the gully in three days. A book about the 31-day fight for survival entitled "Descent into Chaos" was published in 1996 and a film drama "The Place of the Dead" was released in 1997. The first successful complete descent of Low's Gully was achieved by a 27 strong joint Malaysian-British team led by mountaineer and former British Army officer Pat Gunson in 1998.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The first derivation of the word Kinabalu is extracted from the short form for the Kadazan-Dusun word 'Aki Nabalu', meaning "the revered place of the dead". Meanwhile, it can also be believed that the name "Kinabalu" comes from the Dusun phrase "tina balu" which means "a widow mother". So, assumably, "tina balu" is the spirit of the mount itself. Another consideration is Kinabalu is formed by two words of Dusun "ki" (have/has) and "nabalu" (mountain), so "ki-nabalu" means "have mountain". It is common for Dusun people to name places based on what the place has. For example, there is a place named "kiwaig" that literally means "have water". Considering the fact that the word "Kinabalu" in many Dusun dialects literally means 'mountain', this explanation is most likely.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: A popular story told to Western and Chinese tourists states that the name "Kinabalu" actually means "Cina Balu" (meaning "A Chinese Widow"). Due to the lingual influence among the Kadazan Dusun of Sabah, the pronunciation for the word "cina" (chee-na) was changed to "Kina" (kee-na). An earlier book by Spenser St. John published in 1863 mentioned the Kina Balu (Chinese widow) as a reference to the mountain.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: It was told that a Chinese prince was cast away to Borneo when his ship sank in the middle of the South China Sea. He was subsequently rescued by the natives from a nearby village. As he recovered, he was slowly accepted as one of the people of the village. Eventually, he fell in love with a local woman and married her. Years went by and he started to feel homesick. So he asked permission from his new family to go back to China to visit his parents (the Emperor and Empress of China). To his wife, he promised that as soon as he was done with his family duties in China, he would come back to Borneo to take her and their children back to China. When he made his return to China, he was given a grand welcome by his family. However, to his dismay, his parents disapproved of him bringing his Bornean wife to China. Worse, they told him that he was already betrothed to a princess of a neighbouring kingdom. Having no choice (due to high respect towards his parents), he obeyed with a heavy heart.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Meanwhile, back in Borneo, his wife grew more and more anxious. Eventually, she decided that she would wait for her husband's ship. However, since the village was situated far away from the coast, she couldn't afford to come to the shore and wait for him daily. Instead, she decided to climb to the top of the highest mountain near her village, so that she could have a better view of the ships sailing in the South China Sea. Thus, she was then seen climbing up the mountain at every sunrise, returning only at night to attend to her growing children. Eventually her efforts took their toll. She fell ill, and died at the top of the cold mountain while waiting for her husband. The spirit of the mountain, having observed her for years, was extremely touched by her loyalty towards her husband. Out of admiration for this woman, the spirit of the mountain turned her into a stone. Her face was made to face the South China Sea, so that she could wait forever for her dear husband's return. The people in her hometown who heard about this were also gravely touched by this. Thus, they decided to name the mountain "Kinabalu" in remembrance of her. To them, the mountain is a symbol of the everlasting love and loyalty that should be taken as a good example by women.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: Local legend among the people of Ranau, a district in Sabah, has it that St. John's Peak was the stone which her body was turned into.


title: Mount Kinabalu

text: The temperature of Mount Kinabalu usually stands from from December to January, and from June to September. Due to the coldness of the mountain from December to January, there are a few occasions where frost and ice appear at the summit of Mount Kinabalu. There was also snow thrice in this area; in 1975, 1993 and 2022.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Between 2006 and 2012, the series was adapted by J.C.Staff into four anime television series and an additional original video animation episode. The first anime series was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in English, but the license expired in 2011. Sentai Filmworks has since re-licensed and re-released the first series and released the other three series in North America. A manga adaptation illustrated by Nana Mochizuki was serialized in Media Factory's manga magazine "Monthly Comic Alive" between June 2006 and October 2009. The manga was released by Seven Seas Entertainment in North America. Three additional spin-off manga were also created (one of them also localized by Seven Seas Entertainment), as were three visual novels.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The nobles of Halkeginia are magicians known as "mages" or "magi", and must use a wand or a staff to cast spells. Not all magi are nobles, as some have been forcibly demoted or given up their nobility and use their magic for thievery or to work as mercenaries.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: There are four primary magic elements: Ignis ("Fire"), Aqua ("Water"), Ventus ("Air"), and Terra ("Earth"). Magi have an affinity to one of those elements. There is a fifth element, the legendary lost branch of element, known as void. Magi can combine different magical elements or even stack the same element on top of itself to make spells more powerful. The power of a mage is determined by how many elements he or she can combine. There are four ranks of magician based upon this factor. Those who cannot combine any element together have the first rank, which is symbolized as a dot. Most magic students are in this class. The ability to combine two, three or four elements together leads to a magic user being referred to as a line, triangle, or square mage. In myths, there is a fifth rank called pentagram mage.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: One of the major themes is that humans and technology from Earth displaced into the world of Halkeginia are considered to be highly magical, since Halkeginia itself has relatively primitive science and technology. For example, a magical item called the "Staff of Destruction" is, in reality, a human-made Vietnam-era M72 LAW rocket launcher. Other examples of Earth technology, often weaponry, appear throughout the story, such as a World War II era Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter plane.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière is a member of the nobility who is terrible at magic, as her attempts usually result in an explosion. She is nicknamed "Louise the Zero" by her classmates, due to her inability to use any of the four magic elements. Early in the school year at the Tristain Academy of Magic, the second year students perform a special ritual where they summon their familiar, which serves as their eternal companion, protector and partner, and is usually some sort of magical creature. But Louise summons Saito Hiraga, an ordinary teenage boy from Japan, leaving her totally humiliated.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Due to the sacredness of the ritual, Louise reluctantly accepts Saito as her familiar, but proceeds to treat Saito as any other familiar, only worse: making him wash her clothes, sleep on a bed of hay, and whipping him with a riding crop whenever he upsets her. "The Familiar of Zero" follows the adventures of Louise and Saito as they help their classmates and friends, while occasionally blundering into situations where they risk their lives to save one another and Tristain. Saito tries to find a way to get back to Japan, but he also gains a mysterious power that allows him to wield swords and other weapons to perform heroic feats. They also eventually learn the truth behind Louise's magic (in)abilities. As Saito's and Louise's friendship grows and they start to work together, they ultimately fall in love with each other.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: "The Familiar of Zero" began as a series of light novels written by Noboru Yamaguchi and illustrated by Eiji Usatsuka under the original title "Zero no Tsukaima". Media Factory published 20 volumes in Japan between June 25, 2004 and February 25, 2011. Further publication was threatened by Yamaguchi's advanced cancer, which he died from on April 4, 2013, leaving the series unfinished. Yamaguchi had planned the series to end with 22 volumes. However, it was later decided by the publisher to continue the series in the author's absence, due in part to calls from fans to continue the series, as well as Yamaguchi's family wanting to see it completed. Yamaguchi had dictated the remaining plot of the series, including its ending, and entrusted it to the editors. Media Factory released volume 21 on February 25, 2016 and the final volume 22 on February 24, 2017. Seven Seas Entertainment licensed the series in 2007 under the title "Zero's Familiar", but later cancelled the release of the novels before releasing any.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: A side-story, "Zero no Tsukaima Gaiden: Tabatha no Bōken", initially available as a mobile phone online serial, was released in three volumes between October 25, 2006 and March 25, 2009. It centers on the adventures of the character Tabitha, Louise's classmate. Another side story, "Kaze no Kishihime", was released in two volumes on October 23, 2009 and March 25, 2010. It is a prequel about Louise's mother's youth. A companion volume, "Zero no Tsukaima Memorial Book", was released on June 24, 2017. It collected various short stories and illustrations previously unpublished in book format, as well as character designs and other information, such as outlines for volumes 21 and 22 left behind by Yamaguchi. It also revealed that the last two volumes of the series were written by Yū Shimizu, author of "Bladedance of Elementalers", using Yamaguchi's notes.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: "The Familiar of Zero" has been adapted into an anime series running for four seasons by the animation studio J.C.Staff. The first season aired in Japan between July 3 and September 25, 2006, and contained thirteen episodes. In April 2007 at Anime Boston, Geneon announced that they had picked up the English dubbing rights of the first season of the anime series under the title "The Familiar of Zero". In July 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon Entertainment still retained the license, Funimation Entertainment assumed exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. "The Familiar of Zero" was one of several titles involved in the deal. Funimation released a complete box set of the series on November 4, 2008. Funimation reported their rights to the series expired in August 2011. Sentai Filmworks re-licensed the first series in North America in 2013 and released it digitally. Sentai released the Geneon English-language version on Blu-ray and DVD on April 8, 2014. Hanabee Entertainment later licensed the series in Australia in February 2014.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The second season under the extended title aired in Japan between July 9 and September 24, 2007, containing twelve episodes. Sentai Filmworks licensed the second season (under the name "The Familiar of Zero: Knight of the Twin Moons") in North America and released it on March 10, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The third season, also containing twelve episodes, entitled , aired on Japan's Chiba TV between July 6 and September 21, 2008, and Arts Central in Singapore between July 10 and September 24, 2008. An original video animation episode for the third season was released on December 24, 2008. Sentai Filmworks licensed the third season with the OVA (under the name "The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses") in North America and released them on May 12, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The fourth and final season titled "Zero no Tsukaima F" aired twelve episodes between January 7 and March 24, 2012. In 2012, Sentai Filmworks licensed the fourth season (under the name "The Familiar of Zero: F") in North America and released it on July 14, 2015 on Blu-ray and DVD.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The four anime seasons used two pieces of theme music each; one opening theme and one ending theme. The first season's opening theme is "First kiss" by Ichiko, released on July 26, 2006, and the ending theme is by Rie Kugimiya, released on August 9, 2006. The second season's opening theme is "I Say Yes" by Ichiko, released on July 25, 2007, and the ending theme is by Kugimiya, released on August 8, 2007. The first seasons original soundtrack was released on August 23, 2006, and the second seasons' soundtrack was released on August 22, 2007. The third season's opening theme is "You're The One" by Ichiko and the ending theme is "Gomen ne" by Kugimiya. The fourth season's opening theme is "I'll Be There For You" by Ichiko and the ending theme is "Kiss Shite Agenai" by Kugimiya, both released on February 1, 2012.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Both the first and second seasons released four character song albums each. The first CD is for Louise and Saito which is sung by Kugimiya and Satoshi Hino. The second CD is for Montmorency and Guiche which is sung by Mikako Takahashi and Takahiro Sakurai; the first two CDs were both released on September 6, 2006. The third CD is for Kirche and Tabitha which is sung by Nanako Inoue and Yuka Inokuchi. The fourth, and final CD from the first season, is for Henrietta and Siesta which is sung by Ayako Kawasumi and Yui Horie; the third and fourth CDs were both released on September 21, 2006. The first CD for the second season is for Louise which is sung by Kugimiya. The second CD is for Henrietta which is sung by Ayako Kawasumi; the first two CDs were both released on October 10, 2007. The third CD is for Siesta which is sung by Yui Horie. The fourth, and final CD from the second season, is for Eleanor and Cattleya which is sung by Kikuko Inoue and Kotomi Yamakawa; the third and fourth CDs were both released on October 24, 2007.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Two audio dramas were released for the second season. The first is a compilation of radio drama episodes from "The Familiar of Zero" Internet radio show "Zero no Tsukaima on the radio: Tristain Mahō Gakuin e Yōkoso" and was released on July 25, 2007. The second album is a drama CD featuring the characters Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha—voiced by Kugimiya, Nanako Inoue, and Yuka Inokuchi respectively—which was released on September 5, 2007.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: A manga series illustrated by Nana Mochizuki was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine "Monthly Comic Alive" between the August 2006 ("Monthly Comic Alive" debut issue) and October 2009 issues, published by Media Factory. Seven "tankōbon" volumes were released by Media Factory under their MF Comics imprint. The manga was licensed in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment under the title "Zero's Familiar", and released in three omnibus volumes. The manga was also licensed by Elex Media Komputindo in Indonesia and released up to volume three in English under the title "The Familiar of Zero", and in the Czech Republic by Zoner Press.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: A spin-off series, illustrated by Higa Yukari and titled "Zero no Tsukaima Chevalier", was serialized between the March 2010 and May 2013 issues of "Comic Alive" and later compiled in four volumes. It was also released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment under the name "Zero's Familiar: Chevalier". Two other spin-offs were serialized in "Comic Alive": "Zero no Tsukaima Gaiden: Tabatha no Bōken" (a series primarily about Tabitha and her adventures) by Takuto Kon, which was serialized between December 2007 and August 2010 issues and compiled in five volumes, and "Zero no Chukaima: Yōchien nano!" (in which all of "The Familiar of Zero" characters are depicted as kindergarten children) by Takamura Masaya, serialized between September 2009 and March 2012 and compiled in three volumes. Nine volumes of the official anthology manga were published between August 23, 2007 and September 23, 2008.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: Three visual novels for the PlayStation 2 were developed by Marvelous Interactive in which the player assumes the role of Saito Hiraga. The first, , was released in limited and regular editions on February 15, 2007 in Japan. This was followed by on November 29, 2007 and on November 6, 2008.


title: The Familiar of Zero

text: The light novels are one of the top selling series in Japan, with 6.8 million copies in print by February 2017. "The Familiar of Zero", and fan fiction based on it, helped pioneer the modern "isekai" ("other world") genre. It popularized the isekai genre in web novel and light novel media, along with the website Shōsetsuka ni Narō ("Let's Become Novelists"), known as Narō for short. "The Familiar of Zero" fan fiction became popular on Narō during the late 2000s, eventually spawning a genre of isekai novels on the site, which became known as Narō novels. "The Familiar of Zero" fan fiction writers eventually began writing original isekai novels, such as Tappei Nagatsuki who went on to create "" in 2012.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: A Better Tomorrow () is a 1986 Hong Kong crime action film directed and co-written by John Woo, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action cinema, and has been recognised as a landmark film credited with setting the template for the heroic bloodshed genre, with considerable influence on both the Hong Kong film industry and Hollywood.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Produced with a tight budget and released with virtually no advertising, "A Better Tomorrow" broke Hong Kong's box office record and went on to become a blockbuster in Asia. The film is highly regarded, ranking #2 in the Best 100 Chinese Motion Pictures. Its success led to a sequel, "A Better Tomorrow II", also directed by Woo, and "A Better Tomorrow 3: Love & Death in Saigon", a prequel directed by Tsui Hark. It has been remade several times.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The film was Chow Yun-fat's breakout role and launched him as one of the top superstars in the Hong Kong film industry. Chow's character "Mark Lee" has been imitated by many fans even decades after the film's release. Following this film, Chow went on to make several more notable films with Woo.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Sung Tse-Ho is a middleman for the Hong Kong Triad, managing a lucrative printing and distributing operation that produces counterfeit American bank notes. Ho is a respected member of the organization, entrusted with the most important transactions. Mark Lee is his best friend, bodyguard, and business partner. The prologue follows a day in the life of Ho and Mark as they watch a fresh batch of counterfeit notes being printed and meet with foreign clients to trade their product for counterfeit Chinese bank notes.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Meanwhile, Ho's younger brother, Kit, has just graduated high school and is currently training to join the police. Ho hides his criminal life from his brother and encourages Kit's career choice, while their ailing father pleads for Ho to leave his life of crime. Ho agrees, deciding that he will retire from the triad after his next deal in Taiwan. Shing, a low ranking triad, joins Ho after he agrees to mentor him. However, they are ambushed by the Taiwanese triads, leading to a shootout in which Ho and Shing flee into a sewage tunnel entrance, pursued by local law enforcement. Ho tells Shing to run, and surrenders to the police in order to buy time for him to escape, leading to a three year prison sentence.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: After learning of the deal, the triads attempt to kidnap Ho's father as leverage to ensure Ho's silence in prison; Ho's father is fatally stabbed before Kit and his girlfriend Jackie manage to subdue the attacker. With his dying breath, he pleads Kit to forgive his brother for his criminal actions, and an enraged Kit blames Ho for their father's death. Later, Mark travels to Taiwan to get answers from the Taiwanese triad. He visits a restaurant where the gangster who planned the ambush is dining, and kills him following a shootout with his bodyguards. However, Mark's leg is injured in the process, leaving him crippled and requiring a leg brace.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: After Ho is released from prison, he is approached by a policeman, who offers to take him back to triad headquarters so he can rejoin his old organization. Ho, determined to start a new life, declines the offer and instead begins working for a taxi company run by another ex-con named Ken. During one of his shifts, Ho encounters Mark, and he discovers that Mark has become bitter after Shing stripped him of his position in the triad and cast him aside in his rise to power. When they reunite, Mark urges Ho to confront Shing, but Ho refuses.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Ho then seeks out Kit, now a police officer, in hopes of reconciling. However, he is harshly rebuffed by Kit, who still blames Ho for their father's death and because his relation to Ho is preventing him from advancing his career. In an effort to prove himself and further distance himself from his brother, Kit becomes obsessed with bringing down Shing, despite Ho's warnings.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Shing, hearing of Ho's return to Hong Kong, tries to persuade him to return and help expand their triad into drug trafficking, but Ho refuses. Shing then has his men attack the taxi company, severely beat Mark, and lure Kit into a trap that leaves him critically wounded. Though Ho is still hesitant to take action, Mark is eventually able to persuade Ho to retaliate.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: Mark steals a computer tape containing printing plate data from the counterfeiting business and they then discover that it was Shing who set up the ambush three years prior. Meanwhile, Shing sets up triad leader Yie and shoots him dead; the witnesses are told to lie to the police that Ho was the killer. Ho and Mark then use the tape to blackmail Shing in exchange for money and an escape boat. Ho ensures that the tape is passed to Kit as proof of Shing's crimes. Using Shing as a hostage, Ho and Mark take the money to a pier, where Shing's men await. There, Ho implores Mark to escape by himself in the boat, and Mark hesitantly agrees.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: After Mark's departure, Kit arrives on the scene intending to arrest Shing, but ends up being taken hostage. A deal is made to exchange Shing for Kit, but the negotiation spirals into first a standoff and eventually a shootout. Ho and Kit work together against Shing's men, and are overwhelmed. Mark, hearing the sounds of gunfire, quickly returns to the scene. Ho, Kit and Mark kill several of Shing's henchmen, but also suffer injuries in the process. During a lull in the gunfight, Ho attempts to make peace with Kit but is rebuffed again. Mark then reprimands Kit, telling him that Ho's present actions have atoned for the past. As the three are distracted however, Mark is fatally shot in the back by Shing.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: As the police approach, Shing mocks Ho and Kit, proclaiming that once he enters police custody, his money and power will ensure his swift release. Kit then hands Ho his gun, allowing him to fatally shoot Shing. As Kit watches Shing's body fall to the ground, Ho suddenly handcuffs himself to Kit. The two brothers then begin walking together towards the gathered crowd of police.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The film is an uncredited remake of the 1967 Lung Kong film 英雄本色 (pinyin "Yīngxióng běnsè") which has the same Chinese name but a different English name: "Story of a Discharged Prisoner", which is No. 39 on the Hong Kong Film Awards list of the Top 100 Chinese Films. It was also partially inspired by "The Brothers", a 1979 Hong Kong crime film, plot elements of which were reimagined for "A Better Tomorrow". "The Brothers" had a similar plot about two brothers on opposing sides of the law, the elder brother a mobster and the younger brother a cop. In turn, "The Brothers" was a remake of "Deewaar" (1975), a hit Indian crime drama written by Salim–Javed.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The scene in which Mark Lee tells the story of being forced to drink urine is apparently based on a real incident involving Chow Yun-fat and director Ringo Lam. This scene was recreated in Woo's "Bullet in the Head," which was originally scripted as a prequel to "A Better Tomorrow," before being changed to a standalone film.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The English title is from the Lo Ta-yu song Tomorrow will be Better (明天会更好/明天會更好), which is traditionally sung during New Year's Eve, and is featured in the film.


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: In 2009, "Empire Magazine" named it #20 in a poll of the 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen* (*Probably)


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The success of "A Better Tomorrow" spawned two follow-ups. A direct sequel, "A Better Tomorrow 2", was released the following year. John Woo returned to direct, as did most of the main cast, with Chow Yun-fat playing Mark's hitherto-unmentioned twin brother Ken. A prequel, "", was released in 1989, with Chow returning to play Mark. Woo was not involved in the prequel, due to a falling-out with Tsui Hark, so Hark directed the film himself. Woo's unproduced screenplay draft was later made as "Bullet in the Head" (1990).


title: A Better Tomorrow

text: The film has two official remakes. "A Better Tomorrow" (2010) was produced in South Korea, directed by Song Hae-sung, with John Woo serving as executive producer. "A Better Tomorrow 2018" (2018) was produced in Mainland China, directed by Ding Sheng.


title: Assia Wevill

text: Assia Esther Wevill ( Gutmann; 15 May 1927 – 23 March 1969) was a German Jewish woman who escaped the Nazis at the beginning of World War II and emigrated to Palestine, via Italy, then later the United Kingdom, where she had an affair with the English poet Ted Hughes. While she was a successful advertising copywriter and a talented translator of poetry, she is mainly remembered in the context of her relationships with Sylvia Plath and Hughes.


title: Assia Wevill

text: Assia Gutmann was the daughter of a Jewish physician of Latvian origin, Lonya Gutmann, and a German Lutheran mother, Elisabeth "Lisa" (née Gaedeke). Her sister Celia was born on 22 September 1929. They escaped the Nazis at the beginning of World War II and emigrated to Palestine, now Israel. She spent most of her youth in Tel Aviv. Described by friends and family as a free-spirited young woman, she would go out to dance at the British soldiers' club, where she met Sergeant John Steele, with whom she moved to London in 1946 and who became her first husband in 1947.


title: Assia Wevill

text: According to her biographers, Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev, "she had entered an essentially loveless marriage with an Englishman at the age of 20 – largely to enable her family to emigrate to England." The couple later emigrated to Vancouver, Canada, where Assia enrolled at the University of British Columbia and met the man who would become her second husband, Canadian economist Richard Lipsey. Assia and Steele divorced in 1949 and she married Lipsey in 1952.


title: Assia Wevill

text: In 1956, on a ship to London, she met the 21-year-old Canadian poet David Wevill. They began an affair and Assia divorced Lipsey; she married Wevill in 1960.


title: Assia Wevill

text: Assia was linguistically gifted. She had a successful career in advertising and was an aspiring poet who published, under her maiden name Assia Gutmann, an English translation of the work of Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai.


title: Assia Wevill

text: In 1961, poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath rented their flat in Chalcot Square, Primrose Hill, London, to Assia and David Wevill, and took up residence at North Tawton, Devon. Hughes was immediately struck with Assia, as she was with him. He later wrote:


title: Assia Wevill

text: Plath noted their chemistry. Soon afterward, Hughes and Assia began an affair. At the time of Plath's suicide, Assia was pregnant with Hughes's child, but she had an abortion soon after Plath's death. The actual relationship, who instigated it, and its circumstances, have been hotly debated for many years.


title: Assia Wevill

text: After Plath's suicide, Hughes moved Assia into Court Green (the Devon home at North Tawton he had bought with Plath), where Assia helped care for Hughes's and Plath's two children, Frieda and Nicholas. Assia was reportedly haunted by Plath's memory; she even began using things that had once belonged to Plath. In their biography of Assia, "Lover of Unreason", Koren and Negev maintain that she used Plath's items not from obsession, but for the sake of practicality since she was maintaining a household for Hughes and his children. On 3 March 1965, at age 37, Assia gave birth to Alexandra Tatiana Elise, nicknamed Shura, while still married to David Wevill.


title: Assia Wevill

text: Ostracized by her lover's friends and family, and eclipsed by the figure of Plath in public life, Assia became anxious and suspicious of Hughes's infidelity, which was real enough. Hughes began affairs with Brenda Hedden, a married acquaintance who frequented their home, and Carol Orchard, a nurse 20 years his junior, whom he would later marry in 1970. Assia's relationship with Hughes was also fraught with other complexities, as shown by a collection of his letters to her acquired by Emory University. She was continually distraught by his reluctance to marry her and establish a home together, as well as his treatment of her as a "housekeeper". In his letter to Leonard Baskin on 16 July 1969, Hughes references Shura, his daughter with Wevill. He writes, "I have two nice children who make life a great pleasure... I had a third, a little marvel, but she died with her mother."


title: Assia Wevill

text: On 23 March 1969, Assia killed herself and four-year-old Shura in their London home at 3 Okeover Manor, Clapham Common. She had first sealed the kitchen door and window, then dissolved sleeping pills in a glass of water, chased with whisky, and then turned on the gas supply to the stove without lighting it. She and Shura were found by the family's German au pair, Else Ludwig, lying together on a mattress in the kitchen.


title: Assia Wevill

text: Assia composed the 90-second "Lost Island" advertisement for "Sea Witches" ladies' hair-dye product for both television and cinemas, called a "breakthrough in type" and a "huge success" by her biographers, Koren and Negev, that was "applauded in theaters." The advert can be viewed in some classic ad compilations or sometimes as an online posting.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Unidentified decedent or unidentified person (also abbreviated as UID or UP) is a term in American English used to describe a corpse of a person whose identity cannot be established by police and medical examiners. In many cases, it is several years before the identities of some UIDs are found, while in some cases, they are never identified. A UID may remain unidentified due to lack of evidence as well as absence of personal identification such as a driver's license. Where the remains have deteriorated or been mutilated to the point that the body is not easily recognized, a UID's face may be reconstructed to show what they had looked like before death. UIDs are often referred to by the placeholder names "John Doe" or "Jane Doe".


title: Unidentified decedent

text: There were approximately 40,000 UIDs in the United States as of 2006, and numerous others elsewhere. A body may go unidentified due to death in a state where the person was unrecorded, an advanced state of decomposition or major facial injuries. In many cases in the United States, teenagers with a history of running away would be removed from missing person files when they would turn 18, thus eliminating potential matches with existing unidentified person listings.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Some UIDs die outside their native state. The Sumter County Does, murdered in South Carolina, were thought to have been Canadian. Both were eventually identified as individuals from Pennsylvania and Minnesota. Barbara Hess Precht died in Ohio in 2006 but was not identified until 2014. She had been living as a transient with her husband in California for decades but returned to her native state of Ohio, where she died of unknown circumstances. In both of these cases, the UIDs were found in a recognizable state and had their fingerprints and dental records taken with ease. It is unknown if the Sumter County Does' DNA was later recovered, since their bodies would require exhumation to recover DNA. In Lourdes, France, a corpse believed to have been native to a different country was discovered. Many undocumented immigrants who die in the United States after crossing the border from Mexico remain unidentified.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Many UIDs are found long after they die and are found to have decomposed severely. This significantly changes their facial features and may prevent identification through fingerprints. Environmental conditions often are a major factor in decomposition, as some UIDs are found months after death with little decomposition if their bodies are placed in cold areas. Some are found in warm areas shortly after death, but hot temperatures and scavenging animals deteriorated the features. In some cases, warm temperatures mummify the corpse, which also distorts its features, though the tissues have survived initial decomposition. One example is the "Persian Princess", who died in the 1990s but, in an act of archaeological forgery, was untruthfully stated in Pakistan to have been over 2,000 years old. A man found in Idar-Oberstein, Germany, in 1994 had died months before his body was found, yet in some places, his skin had not deteriorated and tattoos were found, which are also used to identify the dead.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Putrefaction often occurs when bacteria decompose the remains and generate gasses inside, causing the corpse to swell and become discolored. In cases such as the Rogers family, who were murdered in 1989 by Oba Chandler, the bodies were deposited in water but surfaced after gasses in their remains caused them to float to the surface. They were deceased a short period of time but were already severely decomposed and unrecognizable, due to putrefaction that occurred while underwater and high temperatures. It was not until a week later that dental records revealed their identities.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Skeletonization occurs when the UID has decayed to the point that bones and possibly some tissues are all that is found, usually when death occurred a significant amount of time before discovery. If a skeletonized body is found, fingerprints and toeprints are impossible to recover, unless they have survived the initial decomposition of the remains. Fingerprints are often used to identify the dead and were used widely before DNA comparison was possible. In some cases, partial remains limit the available information; for example, a woman's skull found in Frankfurt, Germany, was insufficient to estimate her height and weight.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Skeletonized UIDs are often forensically reconstructed if searching dental records and DNA databases is unsuccessful.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Often, someone who tries to conceal a body attempts to destroy it or render it unrecognizable. The currently unidentified Yermo John Doe was killed approximately one hour before he was found, but was completely unrecognizable. When Lynn Breeden, a Canadian model, was murdered and set ablaze in a dumpster, her body was so severely damaged that DNA processing and fingerprint analysis were impossible. She was identified sometime later after her unique dentition matched her dental records, and DNA extracted from her blood at a different scene was matched. Linda Agostini's body was found burned near Albury, Australia in 1934. Her remains were identified ten years later through dental comparison.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Usually, bodies are identified by comparing their usually unique DNA, fingerprints and dental characteristics. DNA is considered the most accurate, but was not widely used until the 1990s. It is often obtained through hair follicles, blood, tissue and other biological material. Bodies can also be identified with other physical information, such as illnesses, evidence of surgery, breaks and fractures, and height and weight information. A medical examiner will often be involved with identifying a body.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Many police departments and medical examiners have made efforts to identify the deceased by placing mortuary photographs of the UID's face online. In some instances, the mortuary photographs would be retouched of wounds if they are to be released to the public. Dismembered corpses may also be digitally altered to appear attached to the body. This is not considered to be the most effective method, as the nature of death often distorts the UID's face. An example of this is that of "Grateful Doe," who was killed in a vehicular crash in 1995. He sustained extreme trauma that disfigured his face.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: A Jane Doe found in a river in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had died months earlier, but was preserved by the cold temperatures. Her morgue photographs were displayed publicly on a medical examiner's website, but her face had been distorted by swelling after absorbing water, with additional decomposition.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Death masks have also been used to assist with identification, which have been stated to be more accurate, as they are required to display "relaxed expressions," which often do not illustrate the faces of the UIDs as they were found, such as that of L'Inconnue de la Seine, a French suicide victim found in the late 1800s. However, a death mask will still depict sunken eyes or other characteristics of a long-term illness, which do not often show how they would have looked in life.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: When a body is found in an advanced state of decomposition or has died violently, reconstructions are sometimes required to receive assistance from the public, when releasing images of a corpse is considered taboo. Often, those in a recognizable state will often be reconstructed due to the same reason.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Faces can be reconstructed with a three-dimensional model or by 2D, which includes sketches or digital reconstructions, similar to facial composites.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: Sketches have been used in a variety of cases. Forensic artist Karen T. Taylor created her own method during the 1980s, which involved much more precise techniques, such as estimating locations and sizes of the features of a skull. This method has been shown to be fairly successful.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has developed methods to estimate the likenesses of the faces of UIDs whose remains were too deteriorated to create a two-dimensional sketch or reconstruction due to the lack of tissue on the bones. A skull would be placed through a CT scanner and the image would then be manipulated with a software that was intended for architecture design, to add digital layers of tissue based on the UID's age, sex and race.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: The following gallery depicts various ways UIDs have been reconstructed. None of those shown have been identified.


title: Unidentified decedent

text: In some cases, such as that of Colleen Orsborn, the true identity of the unidentified person is excluded from the case. In Orsborn's case, she had fractured one of the bones in her leg, but a medical examiner who performed the autopsy on her remains was not able to discover evidence of the injury and subsequently excluded her from the case. It was not until 2011 when DNA confirmed Orsborn was the victim found in 1984. In cases such as the Racine County Jane Doe, a rule out has also been subjected to criticism. Aundria Bowman, a teen who disappeared in 1989 who bore a strong resemblance to a body found in 1999, was excluded, according to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. On an online forum, known as Websleuths, users have disagreed with this ruling. In the case of Lavender Doe, a mother of a missing girl also disagreed with the exclusion of her missing daughter through DNA, as she claimed the reconstruction of the victim looked very similar to her daughter.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the Affairs of British North America following the Rebellions of 1837–1838.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Act of Union 1840, passed on 23 July 1840 by the British Parliament and proclaimed by the Crown on 10 February 1841, merged the Colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada by abolishing their separate parliaments and replacing them with a single one with two houses, a Legislative Council as the upper chamber and the Legislative Assembly as the lower chamber. In the aftermath of the Rebellions of 1837–1838, unification of the two Canadas was driven by two factors. Firstly, Upper Canada was near bankruptcy because it lacked stable tax revenues, and needed the resources of the more populous Lower Canada to fund its internal transportation improvements. Secondly, unification was an attempt to swamp the French vote by giving each of the former provinces the same number of parliamentary seats, despite the larger population of Lower Canada.


title: Province of Canada

text: Although Durham's report had called for the Union of the Canadas and for responsible government (a government accountable to an independent local legislature), only the first of the two recommendations was implemented in 1841. For the first seven years, the government was led by an appointed governor general accountable only to the British Crown and the Queen's ministers. Responsible government was not achieved until the second LaFontaine–Baldwin ministry in 1849, when Governor General James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin, agreed to request a cabinet be formed on the basis of the largest party in the Legislative Assembly, effectively making the premier the head of the government and reducing the governor general to a more symbolic role.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Province of Canada ceased to exist at Canadian Confederation on 1 July 1867, when it was divided into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Ontario included the area occupied by the pre-1841 British colony of Upper Canada, while Quebec included the area occupied by the pre-1841 British colony of Lower Canada (which had included Labrador until 1809, when Labrador was transferred to the British colony of Newfoundland). Upper Canada was primarily English-speaking, whereas Lower Canada was primarily French-speaking.


title: Province of Canada

text: Canada East was what became of the former colony of Lower Canada after being united into the Province of Canada. It would become the province of Quebec after Confederation.


title: Province of Canada

text: Canada West was what became of the former colony of Upper Canada after being united into the Province of Canada. It would become the province of Ontario after Confederation.


title: Province of Canada

text: The location of the capital city of the Province of Canada changed six times in its 26-year history. The first capital was in Kingston (1841–1844). The capital moved to Montreal (1844–1849) until rioters, spurred by a series of incendiary articles published in "The Gazette", protested against the Rebellion Losses Bill and burned down Montreal's parliament buildings. It then moved to Toronto (1849–1852). It moved to Quebec City from 1852 to 1856, then returned to Toronto for one year (1858) before returning to Quebec City from 1859 to 1866. In 1857, Queen Victoria chose Ottawa as the permanent capital of the Province of Canada, initiating construction of Canada's first parliament buildings, on Parliament Hill. The first stage of this construction was completed in 1865, just in time to host the final session of the last parliament of the Province of Canada before Confederation in 1867.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Governor General remained the head of the civil administration of the colony, appointed by the British government, and responsible to it, not to the local legislature. He was aided by the Executive Council and the Legislative Council. The Executive Council aided in administration, and the Legislative Council reviewed legislation produced by the elected Legislative Assembly.


title: Province of Canada

text: Sydenham came from a wealthy family of timber merchants, and was an expert in finance, having served on the English Board of Trade which regulated banking (including the colony). He was promised a barony if he could successfully implement the union of the Canadas, and introduce a new form of municipal government, the District Council. The aim of both exercises in state-building was to strengthen the power of the Governor General, to minimise the impact of the numerically superior French vote, and to build a "middle party" that answered to him, rather than the Family Compact or the Reformers. Sydenham was a Whig who believed in rational government, not "responsible government". To implement his plan, he used widespread electoral violence through the Orange Order. His efforts to prevent the election of Louis LaFontaine, the leader of the French reformers, were foiled by David Willson, the leader of the Children of Peace, who convinced the electors of the 4th Riding of York to transcend linguistic prejudice and elect LaFontaine in an English-speaking riding in Canada West.


title: Province of Canada

text: Bagot was appointed after the unexpected death of Thomson, with the explicit instructions to resist calls for responsible government. He arrived in the capital, Kingston, to find that Thomson's "middle party" had become polarised and he therefore could not form an executive. Even the Tories informed Bagot he could not form a cabinet without including LaFontaine and the French Party. LaFontaine demanded four cabinet seats, including one for Robert Baldwin. Bagot became severely ill thereafter, and Baldwin and Lafontaine became the first real premiers of the Province of Canada. However, to take office as ministers, the two had to run for re-election. While LaFontaine was easily re-elected in 4th York, Baldwin lost his seat in Hastings as a result of Orange Order violence. It was now that the pact between the two men was completely solidified, as LaFontaine arranged for Baldwin to run in Rimouski, Canada East. This was the union of the Canadas they sought, where LaFontaine overcame linguistic prejudice to gain a seat in English Canada, and Baldwin obtained his seat in French Canada.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Baldwin–LaFontaine ministry barely lasted six months before Governor Bagot also died in March 1843. He was replaced by Charles Metcalfe, whose instructions were to check the "radical" reform government. Metcalfe reverted to the Thomson system of strong central autocratic rule. Metcalfe began appointing his own supporters to patronage positions without Baldwin and LaFontaine's approval, as joint premiers. They resigned in November 1843, beginning a constitutional crisis that would last a year. Metcalfe refused to recall the legislature to demonstrate its irrelevance; he could rule without it. This year-long crisis, in which the legislature was prorogued, "was the final signpost on Upper Canada's conceptual road to democracy. Lacking the scale of the American Revolution, it nonetheless forced a comparable articulation and rethinking of the basics of political dialogue in the province." In the ensuing election, however, the Reformers did not win a majority and thus were not called to form another ministry. Responsible government would be delayed until after 1848.


title: Province of Canada

text: Cathcart had been a staff officer with Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars, and rose in rank to become commander of British forces in North America from June 1845 to May 1847. He was also appointed as Administrator then Governor General for the same period, uniting for the first time the highest Civil and military offices. The appointment of this military officer as Governor General was due to heightened tensions with the United States over the Oregon boundary dispute. Cathcart was deeply interested in the natural sciences, but ignorant of constitutional practice, and hence an unusual choice for Governor General. He refused to become involved in the day-to-day government of the conservative ministry of William Draper, thereby indirectly emphasising the need for responsible government. His primary focus was on redrafting the Militia Act of 1846. The signing of the Oregon Boundary Treaty in 1846 made him dispensable.


title: Province of Canada

text: Elgin's second wife, Lady Mary Louisa Lambton, was the daughter of Lord Durham and niece of Lord Grey, making him an ideal compromise figure to introduce responsible government. On his arrival, the Reform Party won a decisive victory at the polls. Elgin invited LaFontaine to form the new government, the first time a Governor General requested cabinet formation on the basis of party. The party character of the ministry meant that the elected premier – and no longer the governor – would be the head of the government. The Governor General would become a more symbolic figure. The elected Premier in the Legislative Assembly would now become responsible for local administration and legislation. It also deprived the Governor of patronage appointments to the civil service, which had been the basis of Metcalfe's policy. The test of responsible government came in 1849, when the Baldwin–Lafontaine government passed the Rebellion Losses Bill, compensating French Canadians for losses suffered during the Rebellions of 1837. Lord Elgin granted royal assent to the bill despite heated Tory opposition and his own personal misgivings, sparking riots in Montreal, during which Elgin himself was assaulted by an English-speaking Orange Order mob and the Parliament buildings were burned down.


title: Province of Canada

text: The appointment of Walker Head (a cousin of Francis Bond Head, whose inept governance of Upper Canada led to the Rebellion of 1837) is ironic. Some have argued that the Colonial Office meant to appoint Walker Head to be Lt. Governor of Upper Canada in 1836. The difference would have meant little. Both men were Assistant Poor Law Commissioners at the time. Walker Head's appointment in Wales led to the Chartist Newport Rising there in 1839. It was under Head, that true political party government was introduced with the Liberal-Conservative Party of John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier in 1856. It was during their ministry that the first organised moves toward Canadian Confederation took place.


title: Province of Canada

text: It was under Monck's governorship that the Great Coalition of all of the political parties of the two Canadas occurred in 1864. The Great Coalition was formed to end the political deadlock between predominantly French-speaking Canada East and predominantly English-speaking Canada West. The deadlock resulted from the requirement of a "double majority" to pass laws in the Legislative Assembly (i.e., a majority in both the Canada East and Canada West sections of the assembly). The removal of the deadlock resulted in three conferences that led to confederation.


title: Province of Canada

text: Thomson reformed the Executive Councils of Upper and Lower Canada by introducing a "President of the Committees of Council" to act as a chief executive officer for the council and chair of the various committees. The first was Robert Baldwin Sullivan. Thomson also systematically organised the civil service into departments, the heads of which sat on the Executive Council. A further innovation was to demand that every Head of Department seek election in the Legislative Assembly.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Legislative Council of the Province of Canada was the upper house. The 24 legislative councillors were originally appointed. In 1856, a bill was passed to replace the process of appointing members by a process of electing members. Members were to be elected from 24 divisions in each of Canada East and Canada West. Twelve members were elected every two years from 1856 to 1862. Members previously appointed were not required to relinquish their seats.


title: Province of Canada

text: Canada West, with its 450,000 inhabitants, was represented by 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly, the same number as the more-populated Canada East, with 650,000 inhabitants.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Legislature's effectiveness was further hampered by the requirement of a "double majority" where a majority of votes for the passage of a bill had to be obtained from the members of "both" Canada East and West.


title: Province of Canada

text: Each administration was led by two men, one from each half of the province. Officially, one of them at any given time had the title of "Premier", while the other had the title of "Deputy".


title: Province of Canada

text: Municipal government in Upper Canada was under the control of appointed magistrates who sat in Courts of Quarter Sessions to administer the law within a District. A few cities, such as Toronto, were incorporated by special acts of the legislature. Governor Thomson, 1st Baron Sydenham, spearheaded the passage of the District Councils Act which transferred municipal government to District Councils. His bill allowed for two elected councillors from each township, but the warden, clerk and treasurer were to be appointed by the government. This thus allowed for strong administrative control and continued government patronage appointments. Sydenham's bill reflected his larger concerns to limit popular participation under the tutelage of a strong executive. The Councils were reformed by the Baldwin Act in 1849 which made municipal government truly democratic rather than an extension of central control of the Crown. It delegated authority to municipal governments so they could raise taxes and enact by-laws. It also established a hierarchy of types of municipal governments, starting at the top with cities and continued down past towns, villages and finally townships. This system was to prevail for the next 150 years.


title: Province of Canada

text: During the year-long constitutional crisis in 1843–44, when Metcalfe prorogued Parliament to demonstrate its irrelevance, Baldwin established a "Reform Association" in February 1844, to unite the Reform movement in Canada West and to explain their understanding of responsible government. Twenty-two branches were established. A grand meeting of all branches of the Reform Association was held in the Second Meeting House of the Children of Peace in Sharon. Over three thousand people attended this rally for Baldwin. the Association was not, however, a true political party and individual members voted independently.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Parti rouge (alternatively known as the Parti démocratique) was formed in Canada East around 1848 by radical French Canadians inspired by the ideas of Louis-Joseph Papineau, the Institut canadien de Montréal, and the reformist movement led by the Parti patriote of the 1830s. The reformist "rouges" did not believe that the 1840 Act of Union had truly granted a responsible government to former Upper and Lower Canada. They advocated important democratic reforms, republicanism, separation of the state and the church. In 1858, the elected "rouges" allied with the Clear Grits. This resulted in the shortest-lived government in Canadian history, falling in less than a day.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Clear Grits were the inheritors of William Lyon Mackenzie's Reform movement of the 1830s. Their support was concentrated among southwestern Canada West farmers, who were frustrated and disillusioned by the 1849 Reform government of Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine's lack of democratic enthusiasm. The Clear Grits advocated universal male suffrage, representation by population, democratic institutions, reductions in government expenditure, abolition of the Clergy reserves, voluntarism, and free trade with the United States. Their platform was similar to that of the British Chartists. The Clear Grits and the Parti rouge evolved into the Liberal Party of Canada.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Parti bleu was a moderate political group in Canada East that emerged in 1854. It was based on the moderate reformist views of Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Liberal-Conservative Party emerged from a coalition government in 1854 in which moderate Reformers and Conservatives from Canada West joined with "bleus" from Canada East under the dual prime-ministership of Allan MacNab and A.-N. Morin. The new ministry were committed to secularise the Clergy reserves in Canada West and to abolish seigneurial tenure in Canada East. Over time, the Liberal-Conservatives evolved into the Conservative party.


title: Province of Canada

text: No provision for responsible government was included in the Act of Union 1840. Early Governors of the province were closely involved in political affairs, maintaining a right to make Executive Council and other appointments without the input of the legislative assembly.


title: Province of Canada

text: However, in 1848 the Earl of Elgin, then Governor General, appointed a Cabinet nominated by the majority party of the Legislative Assembly, the Baldwin–Lafontaine coalition that had won elections in January. Lord Elgin upheld the principles of responsible government by not repealing the Rebellion Losses Bill, which was highly unpopular with some English-speaking Loyalists who favoured imperial over majority rule.


title: Province of Canada

text: As Canada East and Canada West each held 42 seats in the Legislative Assembly, there was a legislative deadlock between English (mainly from Canada West) and French (mainly from Canada East). The majority of the province was French, which demanded "rep-by-pop" (representation by population), which the Anglophones opposed.


title: Province of Canada

text: The granting of responsible government to the colony is typically attributed to reforms in 1848 (principally the effective transfer of control over patronage from the Governor to the elected ministry). These reforms resulted in the appointment of the second Baldwin–Lafontaine government that quickly removed many of the disabilities on French-Canadian political participation in the colony.


title: Province of Canada

text: Once the English population, rapidly growing through immigration, exceeded the French, the English demanded representation-by-population. In the end, the legislative deadlock between English and French led to a movement for a federal union which resulted in the broader Canadian Confederation in 1867.


title: Province of Canada

text: In "The Liberal Order Framework: A Prospectus for a Reconnaissance of Canadian History" McKay argues that "the category 'Canada' should henceforth denote a historically specific project of rule, rather than either an essence we must defend or an empty homogeneous space we must possess. Canada-as-project can be analyzed as the implantation and expansion over a heterogeneous terrain of a certain politico-economic logic—to wit, liberalism." The liberalism of which McKay writes is not that of a specific political party, but of certain practices of state building which prioritise property, first of all, and the individual.


title: Province of Canada

text: The "Baldwin Act 1849", also known as the Municipal Corporations Act, replaced the local government system based on district councils in Canada West by government at the county level. It also granted more autonomy to townships, villages, towns and cities.


title: Province of Canada

text: Despite the controversy, the government compensated landowners in the "Rebellion Losses Bill 1849" for the actions during the Rebellion.


title: Province of Canada

text: The "Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty" of 1854, also known as the Elgin–Marcy Treaty, was a trade treaty between the United Province of Canada and the United States. It covered raw materials and was in effect from 1854 to 1865. It represented a move toward free trade.


title: Province of Canada

text: Education in Canada West was regulated by the province through the General Board of Education from 1846 until 1850, when it was replaced by the Department of Public Instruction, which lasted until 1876.


title: Province of Canada

text: French was reinstated as an official language of the legislature and the courts. The Legislature also codified the Civil Code of Lower Canada in 1866, and abolished the seigneurial system in Canada East.


title: Province of Canada

text: In 1849, King's College was renamed the University of Toronto and the school's ties with the Church of England were severed.


title: Province of Canada

text: The Grand Trunk Railway was incorporated by the Legislature in the 1850s. Exploration of Western Canada and Rupert's Land with a view to annexation and settlement was a priority of Canada West politicians in the 1850s leading to the Palliser Expedition and the Red River Expedition of Henry Youle Hind, George Gladman and Simon James Dawson.


title: Province of Canada

text: In 1857, the Legislature introduced the "Gradual Civilization Act", putting into law the principle that Indigenous persons should become British subjects and discard their Indian status, in exchange for a grant of land.


title: Jake Shields

text: Jake Sequoyah Shields (born January 9, 1979) is an American mixed martial artist and submission grappler. He was the last Rumble on the Rock Welterweight Champion, the only Elite XC Welterweight Champion, a former Shooto Welterweight Champion and former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion. He also fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) challenging Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship.


title: Jake Shields

text: He has trained extensively with Fairtex SF and Cesar Gracie and is a member of the "Skrap Pack," which includes fellow Cesar Gracie students Dave Terrell, Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz and Gilbert Melendez. After his loss to Akira Kikuchi he won 15 consecutive fights over six years, until his loss to UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre. He describes his style as American Jiu-jitsu.