title: French Quarter

text: The original Johnny White's bar is a favorite of motorcycle bikers. In 2005 an offshoot called Johnny White's Hole in the Wall, along with Molly's at the Market, drew national media attention as the only businesses in the city to stay open throughout Hurricane Katrina and the weeks after the storm.


title: French Quarter

text: Spirits on Bourbon was featured on the season three of "Bar Rescue." It has become a staple of Bourbon Street, with its light-up skull cup and Resurrection drink.


title: French Quarter

text: The Bourbon Pub and Oz, both located at the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann Streets, are the two largest gay clubs in New Orleans. Café Lafitte in Exile, located at the intersection of Bourbon and Dumaine, is the oldest continuously running gay bar in the United States. These and other gay establishments sponsor the raucous Southern Decadence Festival during Labor Day weekend. This festival is often referred to as New Orleans' Gay Mardi Gras. St. Ann Street is often called "the Lavender Line" or "the Velvet Line" in reference to its being on the edge of the French Quarter's predominately gay district. While gay residents live throughout the French Quarter, that portion northeast of St. Ann Street is generally considered to be the gay district.


title: French Quarter

text: New Orleans and its French Quarter are one of a few places in the United States where possession and consumption of alcohol in open containers is allowed on the street. French Quarter Street is also home to jazz music; there are many street performers and jazz shops. Many streets are filled with jazz clubs with live jazz performances, making it an attractive destination in the neighborhood.


title: French Quarter

text: The neighborhood contains many restaurants, ranging from formal to casual, patronized by both visitors and locals. Some are well-known landmarks, such as Antoine's and Tujague's, which have been in business since the 19th century. Arnaud's, Galatoire's, Broussard's, and Brennan's are also venerable.


title: French Quarter

text: Less historic—but also well-known—French Quarter restaurants include those run by chefs Paul Prudhomme ("K-Paul's"), Emeril Lagasse ("NOLA"), and John Besh. Port of Call on Esplanade Avenue has been in business for more than 30 years, and is recognized for its popular "Monsoon" drink (their answer to the "Hurricane" at Pat O'Brien's Bar) as well as for its food.


title: French Quarter

text: The Gumbo Shop is another traditional eatery in the Quarter and where casual dress is acceptable. For a take-out lunch, Central Grocery on Decatur Street is the home of the original muffaletta Italian sandwich, with New Orleans being a major center for Italian cuisine in the American South.


title: French Quarter

text: Accommodations in the French Quarter range from large international chain hotels, to bed and breakfasts, to time-share condominiums and small guest houses with only one or two rooms. The French Quarter is known for its traditional-style hotels, such as the Bourbon Orleans, Hotel Monteleone (family-owned), Royal Sonesta, the Astor, and the Omni Royal Orleans. The Hotel St. Pierre is a small hotel also consisting of historic French Quarter houses, with a courtyard patio.


title: French Quarter

text: The Audubon Cottages are a collection of seven Creole cottages, two of which were utilized by John James Audubon in the early 19th century when he worked in New Orleans for a short time. Also utilized by Audubon was the current breakfast room of the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, a 111-room hotel located on Dauphine Street. The Dauphine Orleans Hotel's on-site bar, May Baily's Place, was once one of New Orleans' most-known brothels, and it is rumored that the ghosts of prostitutes and American Civil War soldiers haunt the property.


title: French Quarter

text: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans operates area Catholic schools. Cathedral Academy, originally St. Louis Cathedral School, was in the French Quarter. It opened in 1914, and had a building separate from that of its parish. In 2012 the archdiocese decided to close the school. It had 156 students in 2012, and the archdiocese's criterion for optimal enrollment in a K–7 was 200. St. Stephen School in Uptown New Orleans offered places to St. Louis Cathedral students. Cathedral Academy parents stated opposition against the closure.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24 "Volga" is a car manufactured by the Gorky Automobile Plant (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod, GAZ) from 1970 to 1985 as a generation of its Volga marque. A largely redesigned version (practically, a new car in a modified old body) – GAZ-24-10 – was produced from 1985 to 1992. The Belgian-assembled rebadged models were sold as Scaldia-Volga M24 and M24D for the Western European market.


title: GAZ-24

text: Development of the GAZ-24 (then called M-24) was mostly finished in 1966, when 12 of the third-series prototypes had been built and their design approved. It was unveiled towards the end of 1967. Only 32 units were built in 1968, though, primarily for road tests, with another 215 units built in 1969. The 1968/1969-built Volgas are often called "preserial" because full-scale manufacturing started only in 1970 (18,486 units built). Distinctive features of the first several prototypes were two outside rearview mirrors fixed on the front fenders. Most of the preserial and all serial cars got one mirror placed on front left door.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24 was developed to replace the outdated Volga GAZ-21 developed in the 1950s. The new Volga had a longer wheelbase () than the GAZ-21 (2700 mm (106 in), but slightly shorter overall length ( compared to ) and was substantially lower at ) compared to . Width remained untouched. A long wheelbase, boxier styling, bucket seats with lower bases, and a flat roof made the new Volga generously sized inside, with comfortable five- or six-passenger seating. The car was designed to last for years in severe road conditions, and its reinforced unibody construction gave the Volga extra weight compared to foreign analogues, yet power steering was not even an option, and it gained the nickname "barzha" (barge).


title: GAZ-24

text: The standard engine was aluminium-block overhead-valve ZMZ-24D inline-four producing with one twin-choke carburetor. Only a four-speed manual transmission with floor-mounted shifter was offered (though GAZ did prototype an automatic, a column-shift manual, and a three-speed manual with overdrive).


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-21 trim lines ("standard" and "improved") were dropped, all GAZ-24 Volgas had similar trim. No specific options or extras were listed, but standard equipment included self-adjusting power drum brakes with front/rear split brake system, three-wave radio with power antenna, interior safety padding, central armrests (both front and rear), alternator, three-speed windshield wiper and foot-operated windshield washer, heater with defroster, rear window defogger, electric clock, and trunk and engine-compartment lights. Early cars had "ribbon" speedometers, with gauges that filled up with red, in a thermometer fashion. The interior was available in three colours – red, brown, or light gray. Interior colour selection was often in contrast to the color of the exterior. Official cars were almost always black outside and red inside. The dashboard was made of aluminium and painted in exterior colour, the upper part covered with safety padding and black vinyl.


title: GAZ-24

text: Some features of the Volga's styling were thematically quite similar to those of the GAZ-21, such as the vertical tail lights, so-called "baleen plates" grille, and tiny fins on the rear fenders. Some of the most recognizable features of the GAZ-24 Volga sedan styling are chromed rhombic vents on the C-pillar. Among other distinctive features can be mentioned dashboard handles with "ivory" plastic inserts, two chromed "fangs" under the front bumper, a large, two-spoke steering wheel, and a large chromed parking-brake handle placed under the dashboard on the right.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24 was displayed at the London Motor Show in 1970. Full-scale manufacturing started 15 July 1970. Export sales began in 1971. From 1970 until 1974, the Volga remained almost unchanged. Only minor modifications took place in 1972–1973, when the car got a new trunk decklid lock, flat ashtrays in rear doors instead of early ashtrays that were built in rear doors armrests, new rear bumper and new radio with more pleasant appearance and modified construction. In 1973, a dashboard with a simulated wood insert appeared (also a "silver" grained finish was used until 1974). After 1973, the ignition switch was moved from the dashboard to beneath the steering wheel, to prevent knee injuries in road accidents, although that was less convenient for the driver. Also in 1974, the Volga got additional parking lights on the C-pillars, akin to the opera lights popular on American cars at the time. The GAZ-24-01 was joined in 1977 by the GAZ-24-07, which was fitted to use liquified propane.


title: GAZ-24

text: The original strip speedometer was changed to a dial in 1975, the same year the ignition switch was moved from the dash to the steering column. Beginning in 1977, seatbelts were offered.


title: GAZ-24

text: In 1978, about 1,000 right-hand drive GAZ-24-56s were built for export to India, Pakistan, and Singapore; powered by the Peugeot XDP 4.90 engine, they were not assembled in Belgium, and were the last right-hand drive vehicles GAZ built.


title: GAZ-24

text: The Volga was a status symbol in the Soviet Union, being large and luxurious, with a three-band radio. Unlike the GAZ-21, however, for most of its production lifetime, it was not commonly available to the public; those that were sold required a special permit to purchase them. This would not begin to change until the 1980s.


title: GAZ-24

text: Volga cars were almost the only taxis in the USSR. In 1971, the GAZ-24-01 taxi was introduced. It had cheap and easy-to-wash all-vinyl interior, a low-compression ZMZ-24-01 engine (85 PS, SAE 95 PS) able to run on 76 octane fuel (most commonly available in the Soviet Union), taximeter under the dash, and distinctive checkerboard stripe on front doors. At first, Volga taxis were painted in different light colors; later, most taxis were painted in lime-yellow. The GAZ-24 is still famous for its roadworthiness and durability. Volga taxicabs often have more than on their odometers, and several engine rebuilds. Taxicab drivers nicknamed GAZ-24 sedan the "Shrimp" due to its slim appearance (when compared to the GAZ-21, nicknamed the "Holy Cow") and the two "fangs" beneath the front bumper that resembled shrimp's claws. Wagon taxis GAZ-24-04 (station wagons were used as cargo taxies) were nicknamed the "Shed" due to vast interior space; they had a payload of , due to stiffer rear springs.


title: GAZ-24

text: In 1972, the GAZ-24-02 four-door station wagon was introduced, fitted with three rows of seats. To inhibit small, private enterprises, Volga wagons were not sold to private owners without special permit. For example, families with many children or sportsmen who had to carry heavy sport equipment (like parachutes) were allowed to purchase a Volga wagon. Famous clown and actor Yuri Nikulin was permitted to own a GAZ-24-02 wagon because he often transported heavy circus equipment. This restriction came from the small volume of GAZ-24-02 production. Wagons were primarily used by hospitals (as ambulances), state-owned shops, taxi companies, Militsiya, GAI, post offices, and other state enterprises. The wagon was sold freely in export markets.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24-02 had generous interior area with three rows of seats and seven- or eight-passenger seating. The area behind the front seat could be converted into a spacious, one-level cargo compartment. The GAZ-24-02 had heavy-duty rear leaf springs (six leaves as opposed to the sedan's five) and could carry up to , thanks to stiffer rear springs.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24-04 was a taxicab variant of the Volga station wagon with special features similar to those of the sedan taxi.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ never built GAZ-24 convertibles. All convertibles were produced by a military plant in the city of Bronnitsy. They were used for military parades.


title: GAZ-24

text: Volga-based pickup trucks were built by different car repairing plants all over the country. Exteriors differed.


title: GAZ-24

text: During the winter of 1973–74, five AWD GAZ-24-95s were built. It used a UAZ transfer case, with a heavily modified floorpan. The front axle ended up being a Volga rear axle turned backwards, attached to UAZ joints for the steering, with front leaf springs (on stronger frame rails, to carry the greater load). The sump also had to be modified. In all, the changes added . Some disadvantages were discovered during the tests and this modification remained experimental. One survives in the GAZ plant's museum, another perhaps is in private hands in Nizhny Novgorod.


title: GAZ-24

text: In 1975, the car was slightly modified- a more conventional speedometer and more convenient outside rearview mirror. The engine cooling system was modified to use antifreeze instead of water.


title: GAZ-24

text: From late 1974, a V8-powered version was produced in small numbers, the GAZ-24-24. It received an aluminium OHV ZMZ-24-24 V8 (derived from the GAZ-13), one four-barrel carburetor, a dual exhaust, three-speed automatic transmission (same as the Chaika), power steering, modified suspension, and a fuel tank, but the same drum brakes of the standard Volga. This modification is sometimes designated "device 2424", and was nicknamed the "Double" (for having a V8, rather than a straight four) and "Chaser" (Russian: догонялка, "dogonyalka"). The device 2424 was used by the KGB as interceptor and security car. It was an outrider vehicle accompanying governmental Chaika and ZIL limousines.


title: GAZ-24

text: In 1976–78, the car was completely refreshed. To improve the safety, bumper guards, yellow front fog lamps, secondary turning signals on front fenders and seat belts (both front and rear) became standard equipment. The car got modified interior. New dashboard consisted of aluminium body and two pieces of soft polyurethane foam padding. Upper door panels had the same construction. Lower door panels were completely different from the previous version. Seats got more convenient vinyl-and-cloth upholstery with cloth seat cushion. Due to installation of seatbelts, the front central armrest was eliminated. A new interior was available in red, brown, yellow, lime green, dark green, dark blue, or black. Interior trim became nonreflective.


title: GAZ-24

text: For the 1980 Summer Olympics, a special fleet of Volga sedans and station wagons was built with special two-tone white and yellow paint. They accompanied the Olympic Torch. The colour scheme was chosen by the local Moscow organizers, not the IOC- that year's Winter Games fleet was light blue (Ford products).


title: GAZ-24

text: When the Soviet of Ministers authorised the long-delayed assembly of the GAZ-3102 in 1981, hope arose that a full upgrade of the production line would follow, but as the first 3102s left Gorky for government garages in 1982, lobbying by GAZ for mass production of such a car would be pointless. Not only did no political support exist, but the cost of refitting the plant also would be too high. A more feasible route was thus chosen to use most of the features of the 3102 and retrofit them to the GAZ-24, in a simplified format. Yet a further two years were needed to gain this approval from Moscow, whose leadership was preoccupied with the political aftermath following the death of Leonid Brezhnev to allow for a modernisation to begin. The "upgrade" was thus done in several stages, mechanical and body.


title: GAZ-24

text: Compared to the GAZ-3102, it was a retrograde step, but nonetheless progress" vis-à-vis" the GAZ-24. Coincidentally, its introduction took place during the ascendency of Mikhail Gorbachev and the country entering into a new era—"perestroika". The GAZ-24-10 was small, but an icon of the period nonetheless. This was in part due to its greater availability to the general public as part of the liberalisation programme. With the 3102 capitalising the prestige and exclusivity of the Volga brand, the GAZ-24-10 is merited at upholding its practical role. Thus, despite its obvious archaism in terms of design, and despite never being exported outside the Eastern Bloc, the GAZ-24-10 was a success overall. Its price was 16,300 rubles, compared to 15,300 for the 3102.


title: GAZ-24

text: For the mechanical upgrade, work began with the engine, in accordance to the new standard now known as ZMZ-402. This produced , but needed 92 octane petrol. The other option was the ZMZ-4021, which gave but only needed the more common 76 octane. The main novelty of the ZMZ-4022 was stratified charge ignition. This was immediately ruled out, due to its complication for the mass-produced car. Other changes, however, were retained. These included fingerless crankshaft bearing caps, new cast-iron camshaft supports with no bushings, inlet and outlet valves of increased diameter with double-wound-springs, a new water pump, a vibration damper on the crankshaft pulley, contactless ignition system with a new alternator, new spark plugs, and an upgraded K-126GM carburettor. Some cars featured the K-151 carburettor with a paper air filter (as opposed to the traditional oil-bath filter), and an idle fuel cutoff solenoid with exhaust gas recirculation. These would often carry the aluminium cylinder block from the ZMZ-4022. Power was now . took 19 seconds, top speed was , and fuel economy . The GAZ-3102's braking system was also improved, with a tandem brake cylinder that featuring a dual-chambered vacuum servo and pressure regulator on the rear brakes; the 3102's front disk brakes were left out. The 3.9:1 rear axle, clutch, and 205/70R14 radial tyres with "aerodynamic" hub cups were also carried across. The dashboard and steering wheel were also from the 3102 parts bin.


title: GAZ-24

text: With these additions, the Volga was shown in a 1984 Soviet car show and in early 1985 the first cars left the assembly line as "hybrid" cars with the GAZ-24-10 mechanicals and GAZ-24 bodies (unofficially called GAZ-24Ms); only in 1986 were "pure" GAZ-24-10s offered. The second part of the modernisation was the interior. Most of the 3102's layout, including separate front seats with headrests, was carried across. However, the cars differed; the 3102's trim was velour, whereas the GAZ-24-10 received standard fabric cloth. The dashboard of the GAZ-3102 was made of shock-absorbing foam with a coloured finish, while the mass-produced Volga had to do with hard black plastic. Though the exact layout of switches and ventilation outlets differed, the instrument clusters were identical. The GAZ-24-02 estate was similarly upgraded in 1986 to become the GAZ-24-12, with production beginning in 1987.


title: GAZ-24

text: For the exterior, GAZ developed a simplified project repeating the 3102's silhouette, but in a much simplified trim, with many chrome details, notably the "baleen" grille and the bumpers replaced by black plastic. Given that the car was to serve a temporary role, it was chosen to avoid replacing the body panels on grounds of cost, with the exception of the doors. To somehow improve the car's aesthetics, a novel decision was chosen to simplify the look. Thus, most of the chrome details were removed: the boot lip trim, the cursive "Волга" name on the front fenders, mirrors, and the wipers were now painted black. The bumper over riders were also removed, as was the comfort light on the C-pillar ornament. Marker lights were integrated into the headlamp, and rectangular fog lamps replaced the circular ones. As a final touch, the baleen radiator grille was replaced by a black plastic one (originally developed for export models to Benelux countries that were retrofitted with local diesels). Introduced in April 1986, this completed the transition (the estate's upgrade lingered on until 1987).


title: GAZ-24

text: As the car was but an upgrade, it did not receive a new type name. As it was significantly different from the previous GAZ-24, it was issued the -10 suffix. The taxi (which retained its 80 RON petrol) was thus GAZ-24-11, the estate GAZ-24-12, ambulance GAZ-24-13, taxi estate GAZ-24-14, and the natural gas-powered was GAZ-24-17.


title: GAZ-24

text: The limited-production V8 chaser models were now called GAZ-24-34. These were initially fitted with the ZMZ-24-34, an updated version of the GAZ-24-24 engine with a closed crankcase ventilation, but were modernized into the ZMZ-503.10 V8, though a few are believed to have been fitted with dual-carburettor ZMZ-505.10s derived from the ZMZ-14/Chaika. The GAZ-24-34 was produced between 1987 and 1992.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24-10 also spawned a 1985 four-wheel drive prototype, the 3105, which GAZ hoped could replace both the 3102 and Chaika. Only 55 were made between its public debut in 1992 and 1996, all by hand.


title: GAZ-24

text: The RAF-2203 "Latvija" van by Rīgas Autobusu Fabrika (in production 1976–97) was based on drivetrain and suspensions of GAZ-24 Volga.


title: GAZ-24

text: GAZ-3102 Volga (produced since 1982) and almost all later GAZ passenger cars (31029, 3110, 31105) use the central body shell of the GAZ-24.


title: GAZ-24

text: The GAZ-24 Volga was exported to many countries, from Indonesia and Latin America to Western Europe. Right-hand drive export versions also existed. In Europe, some of the most popular Volgas were cars, both sedans and wagons, assembled in Antwerp by Scaldia-Volga S.A. These cars were shipped to Belgium without engines, where they were fitted with Indenor diesels (the same as in the Peugeot 404), a 2.1-litre unit with until the 2300 D was introduced for 1980. The 2.3-litre XD2 has . Those models were called M24D and M24DB (Break, station wagon), and also a "Luxe" version was made. Standard Volgas with Soviet engines were sold as M24 and M24B (Break). Cars that were sold in Europe often had such features as metallic paint, simulated vinyl roof, leather interior and other luxuries. Station wagons sometimes had simulated "wood" decoration and often a rear window wiper and heater. These features were usually installed by local European GAZ dealers.


title: GAZ-24

text: The petrol engine began disappearing from Western European price lists towards the end of the 1970s. The Volga offered good value for money, with the retail price being lower than that of a Volkswagen Golf Diesel, but the resale value was abysmal. Sales were never significant in volume; in 1982 Europe-wide sales of diesel-engined Volgas amounted to 255 cars, followed by 215 more in 1983.


title: GAZ-24

text: By late 1983, Belgian Volgas were also no longer available with sedan bodywork. The Diesel Break came either as the "N" ("Normale") or the better equipped "GL". The car was also sold in Austria, where importer ÖAF-Gräf & Stift referred to it as the "Wolga Attaché GAZ-24." ÖAF-Gräf & Stift stopped bringing in new Volgas after early 1981, although stock continued to be available until the end of the year, and the company also kept providing occasional cars for Czech and Soviet diplomats stationed in Austria. As in most European markets, the car found its main market amongst taxi drivers, who appreciated its low price and robustness, while being less concerned with resale values.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Inert gas asphyxiation is a form of asphyxiation which results from breathing a physiologically inert gas in the absence of oxygen, or a low amount of oxygen, rather than atmospheric air (which is composed largely of nitrogen and oxygen). Examples of physiologically inert gases, which have caused accidental or deliberate death by this mechanism, are argon, helium, nitrogen and methane. The term "physiologically inert" is used to indicate a gas which has no toxic or anesthetic properties and does not act upon the heart or hemoglobin. Instead, the gas acts as a simple diluent to reduce oxygen concentration in inspired gas and blood to dangerously low levels, thereby eventually depriving all cells in the body of oxygen.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: According to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, in humans, "breathing an oxygen deficient atmosphere can have serious and immediate effects, including unconsciousness after only one or two breaths. The exposed person has no warning and cannot sense that the oxygen level is too low." In the US, at least 80 people died from accidental nitrogen asphyxiation between 1992 and 2002. Hazards with inert gases and the risks of asphyxiation are well established.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: An occasional cause of accidental death in humans, inert gas asphyxia with gases including helium, nitrogen, methane and argon has been used as a suicide method. Inert gas asphyxia has been advocated by proponents of euthanasia, using a gas-retaining plastic hood device colloquially referred to as a suicide bag.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Nitrogen asphyxiation has been approved in some places as a method of capital punishment, but has not yet been used for this purpose.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: When humans breathe in an asphyxiant gas, such as pure nitrogen, helium, neon, argon, methane, or any other physiologically inert gas(es), they exhale carbon dioxide without re-supplying oxygen. Physiologically inert gases (those that have no toxic effect, but merely dilute oxygen) are generally free of odor and taste. Accordingly, the human subject detects little abnormal sensation as the oxygen level falls. This leads to asphyxiation (death from lack of oxygen) without the painful and traumatic feeling of suffocation (the hypercapnic alarm response, which in humans arises mostly from carbon dioxide levels rising), or the side effects of poisoning. In scuba diving rebreather accidents, there is often little sensation, however, a slow decrease in oxygen breathing gas content has effects which are quite variable. By contrast, suddenly breathing pure inert gas causes oxygen levels in the blood to fall precipitously, and may lead to unconsciousness in only a few breaths, with no symptoms at all.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Some animal species are better equipped than humans to detect hypoxia, and these species are more uncomfortable in low-oxygen environments that result from inert gas exposure; however, the experience is still less aversive than CO exposure.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: A typical human breathes between 12 and 20 times per minute at a rate influenced primarily by carbon dioxide concentration, and thus pH, in the blood. With each breath, a volume of about 0.6 litres is exchanged from an active lung volume (tidal volume + functional residual capacity) of about three litres. The normal composition of the Earth's atmosphere is about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and 1% argon, carbon dioxide, and other gases. After just two or three breaths of nitrogen, the oxygen concentration in the lungs would be low enough for some oxygen already in the bloodstream to exchange back to the lungs and be eliminated by exhalation.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Unconsciousness in cases of accidental asphyxia can occur within one minute. Loss of consciousness results from critical hypoxia, when arterial oxygen saturation is less than 60%. "At oxygen concentrations [in air] of 4 to 6%, there is loss of consciousness in 40 seconds and death within a few minutes". At an altitude over , where the ambient oxygen concentration is equivalent to a concentration of 3.6% at sea level, an average individual can perform flying duties efficiently for only 9 to 12 seconds without oxygen supplementation. The US Air Force trains air crews to recognize their individual subjective signs of approaching hypoxia. Some individuals experience headache, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and euphoria, and some become unconscious without warning.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Loss of consciousness may be accompanied by convulsions and is followed by cyanosis and cardiac arrest. About seven minutes of oxygen deprivation causes death of the brainstem.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In a 1963 study by RAF Institute of Aviation Medicine, subjects were asked to hyperventilate in a nitrogen atmosphere. Among the results:


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: "Controlled atmosphere killing" ("CAK") or "controlled atmosphere stunning" ("CAS") is a method for slaughtering animals such as chickens or cane toads by placing the animals in a container in which the atmosphere lacks oxygen and consists of an asphyxiant gas (one or more of argon, nitrogen or carbon dioxide), causing the animals to lose consciousness. Argon and nitrogen are important components of a gassing process which seem to cause no pain, and for this reason many consider some types of controlled atmosphere killing more humane than other methods of killing. However, "stunning" is often done using carbon dioxide. If carbon dioxide is used, controlled atmosphere killing is not the same as inert gas asphyxia, because carbon dioxide at high concentrations (above 5%) is not biologically inert, but rather is toxic and also produces initial distress in some animal species. The addition of toxic carbon dioxide to hypoxic atmospheres used in slaughter without animal distress is a complex and highly species-specific matter, which also depends on concentration of carbon dioxide.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Diving animals such as rats and minks and burrowing animals are sensitive to low-oxygen atmospheres and (unlike humans) will avoid them, making purely hypoxic techniques possibly inhumane for them. For this reason, the use of inert gas (hypoxic) atmospheres (without CO) for euthanasia is also species-specific.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Accidental nitrogen asphyxiation is a possible hazard where large quantities of nitrogen are used. It causes several deaths per year in the United States, which is asserted to be more than from any other industrial gas. In one accident in 1981, shortly before the launch of the first Space Shuttle mission, five technicians lost consciousness and two of them died after they entered the Orbiter aft compartment. Nitrogen had been used to flush oxygen from the compartment as a precaution against fire. They were not wearing air packs because of a last-minute change in safety procedures.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: During a pool party in Mexico in 2013, eight party-goers were rendered unconscious and one 21-year-old male was put into a coma after liquid nitrogen was poured into the pool.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Occasional deaths are reported from recreational inhalation of helium, but these are very rare from direct inhalation from small balloons. The inhalation from larger helium balloons has been reportedly fatal. A fatal fall from a tree occurred after the inhalation of helium from a toy balloon, which caused the person to become either unconscious or lightheaded.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In 2015, a technician at a health spa was asphyxiated while conducting unsupervised cryotherapy using nitrogen.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In 2021, six people died of asphyxiation and 11 more were hospitalized following a liquid nitrogen leak at a poultry plant in Gainesville, Georgia.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Use of inert gas for suicide was first proposed by a Canadian, Dr Bruce Dunn. Dunn commented that, "...the acquisition of a compressed gas cylinder, an appropriate pressure reducing regulator, and suitable administration equipment... [was] not inaccessible to a determined individual, but relatively difficult for a member of the public to acquire casually or quickly." Dunn collaborated with other researchers, notably the Canadian campaigner, John Hofsess, who in 1997 formed the group "NuTech" with Derek Humphry and Philip Nitschke. Two years later, NuTech had streamlined Dunn's work by using readily-available party balloon cylinders of helium.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: The method of suicide based on self-administration of helium in a bag, a colloquial name being the "exit bag" or suicide bag, has been referenced by some medical euthanasia advocacy groups. Originally such bags were used with helium, and 30 deaths were reported with use of them from 2001 to 2005, and another 79 from 2005 to 2009. This suggested to one set of reviewers that the popularity of the technique was increasing, as also did the increase in helium suicides in Sweden during the latter half of the same decade.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: After attempts were made by authorities to control helium sales in Australia, a new method was introduced that instead uses nitrogen. Nitrogen became the main gas promoted by euthanasia advocates, such as Philip Nitschke, who founded a company called "Max Dog Brewing" in order to import canisters of nitrogen into Australia. Nitschke stated that the gas cylinders can be used for both brewing and, if required, to end life at a later stage in a "peaceful, reliable [and] totally legal" manner. Nitschke said that nitrogen is "undetectable even by autopsy, which was important to some people".


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Nitschke produced a 3D printed pod, "Sarco", that fills with nitrogen at the push of a button, claiming to cause its user to become unconscious within a minute and then die of oxygen deprivation.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: Execution by nitrogen asphyxiation was discussed briefly in print as a theoretical method of capital punishment in a 1995 "National Review" article. The idea was then proposed by Lawrence J. Gist II, an attorney at law, under the title, International Humanitarian Hypoxia Project.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In a televised documentary in 2007, the British political commentator and former MP Michael Portillo examined execution techniques in use around the world and found them unsatisfactory; his conclusion was that nitrogen asphyxiation would be the best method.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In April 2015, Governor Mary Fallin of Oklahoma signed a bill allowing nitrogen asphyxiation as an alternative execution method. Three years later, in March 2018, Oklahoma announced that, due to the difficulty in procuring lethal injection drugs, nitrogen gas will be used to carry out executions. After making "good progress" in designing a nitrogen execution protocol, but not actually carrying out any executions, Oklahoma announced in February 2020 it had found a new reliable source of lethal injection drugs, but would continue working on nitrogen execution as a contingency method.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In March 2018, Alabama became the third state (after Oklahoma and Mississippi), to authorize the use of nitrogen asphyxiation as a method of execution.


title: Inert gas asphyxiation

text: In the case "Bucklew v. Precythe", decided 1 April 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Missouri death row inmate could not avoid death by lethal injection and choose inert gas asphyxiation using nitrogen, since it has never been used in any execution in the world.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin, also known as growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH) or by several other names, is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G protein-coupled somatostatin receptors and inhibition of the release of numerous secondary hormones. Somatostatin inhibits insulin and glucagon secretion.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin has two active forms produced by the alternative cleavage of a single preproprotein: one consisting of 14 amino acids (shown in infobox to right), the other consisting of 28 amino acids.


title: Somatostatin

text: Among the vertebrates, there exist six different somatostatin genes that have been named "SS1, SS2, SS3, SS4, SS5" and "SS6". Zebrafish have all six. The six different genes, along with the five different somatostatin receptors, allow somatostatin to possess a large range of functions.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin is secreted by delta cells at several locations in the digestive system, namely the pyloric antrum, the duodenum and the pancreatic islets.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin released in the pyloric antrum travels via the portal venous system to the heart, then enters the systemic circulation to reach the locations where it will exert its inhibitory effects. In addition, somatostatin release from delta cells can act in a paracrine manner.


title: Somatostatin

text: In the stomach, somatostatin acts directly on the acid-producing parietal cells via a G-protein coupled receptor (which inhibits adenylate cyclase, thus effectively antagonising the stimulatory effect of histamine) to reduce acid secretion. Somatostatin can also indirectly decrease stomach acid production by preventing the release of other hormones, including gastrin and histamine which effectively slows down the digestive process.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin is produced by neuroendocrine neurons of the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus. These neurons project to the median eminence, where somatostatin is released from neurosecretory nerve endings into the hypothalamohypophysial system through neuron axons. Somatostatin is then carried to the anterior pituitary gland, where it inhibits the secretion of growth hormone from somatotrope cells. The somatostatin neurons in the periventricular nucleus mediate negative feedback effects of growth hormone on its own release; the somatostatin neurons respond to high circulating concentrations of growth hormone and somatomedins by increasing the release of somatostatin, so reducing the rate of secretion of growth hormone.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin is also produced by several other populations that project centrally, i.e., to other areas of the brain, and somatostatin receptors are expressed at many different sites in the brain. In particular, populations of somatostatin neurons occur in the arcuate nucleus, the hippocampus, and the brainstem nucleus of the solitary tract.


title: Somatostatin

text: Somatostatin is classified as an inhibitory hormone, and is induced by low pH. Its actions are spread to different parts of the body. Somatostatin release is inhibited by the Vagus nerve.


title: Somatostatin

text: Octreotide (brand name Sandostatin, Novartis Pharmaceuticals) is an octapeptide that mimics natural somatostatin pharmacologically, though is a more potent inhibitor of growth hormone, glucagon, and insulin than the natural hormone, and has a much longer half-life (about 90 minutes, compared to 2–3 minutes for somatostatin). Since it is absorbed poorly from the gut, it is administered parenterally (subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intravenously). It is indicated for symptomatic treatment of carcinoid syndrome and acromegaly. It is also finding increased use in polycystic diseases of the liver and kidney.


title: Somatostatin

text: Lanreotide (Somatuline, Ipsen Pharmaceuticals) is a medication used in the management of acromegaly and symptoms caused by neuroendocrine tumors, most notably carcinoid syndrome. It is a long-acting analog of somatostatin, like octreotide. It is available in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada, and was approved for sale in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration on August 30, 2007.


title: Somatostatin

text: Pasireotide, sold under the brand name Signifor, is an orphan drug approved in the United States and the European Union for the treatment of Cushing's disease in patients who fail or are ineligible for surgical therapy. It was developed by Novartis. Pasireotide is somatostatin analog with a 40-fold increased affinity to somatostatin receptor 5 compared to other somatostatin analogs.


title: Somatostatin

text: Six somatostatin genes have been discovered in vertebrates. The current proposed history as to how these six genes arose is based on the three whole-genome duplication events that took place in vertebrate evolution along with local duplications in teleost fish. An ancestral somatostatin gene was duplicated during the first whole-genome duplication event (1R) to create "SS1" and "SS2". These two genes were duplicated during the second whole-genome duplication event (2R) to create four new somatostatin genes:"SS1, SS2, SS3", and one gene that was lost during the evolution of vertebrates. Tetrapods retained "SS1" (also known as "SS-14" and "SS-28") and "SS2" (also known as cortistatin) after the split in the Sarcopterygii and Actinopterygii lineage split. In teleost fish, "SS1, SS2", and "SS3" were duplicated during the third whole-genome duplication event (3R) to create "SS1, SS2, SS4, SS5," and two genes that were lost during the evolution of teleost fish. "SS1" and "SS2" went through local duplications to give rise to "SS6" and "SS3".


title: Austin Ekeler

text: Austin Ekeler ( ; born May 17, 1995) is an American football running back for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Western Colorado and signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2017.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: Ekeler attended Eaton High School in Eaton, Colorado, where he played high school football for The Fightin' Reds.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: As a freshman, Ekeler started nine games. He led the team with 1,049 rushing yards to go along with seven rushing touchdowns. As a sophomore, he had 14 rushing touchdowns and set school records with 1,676 rushing yards, 2,093 total all-purpose yards, and 190.3 all-purpose yards per game. As a junior, he had 19 rushing touchdowns and led Division II in all-purpose yards per game with 203.9 and scoring, averaging 12.6 points per game. As a senior, he had 1,495 rushing yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: Ekeler signed a three-year, $1.66 million contract that includes a $5,000 signing bonus with the Los Angeles Chargers as an undrafted free agent following the 2017 NFL Draft.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In March 2020, Ekeler, as a restricted free agent running back, agreed to a 4-year, $24.5 million deal. The contract includes $15 million guaranteed. Ekeler can become a free agent after the 2023 season.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In the season opening 24–21 loss to the Denver Broncos on "Monday Night Football", Ekeler had two receptions for 18 yards in his NFL debut. In Week 4, against the Philadelphia Eagles, he had his first career touchdown, a 35-yard rush, on his first NFL carry. On November 12, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 10 carries for 42 yards to go along with five receptions for 77 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Overall, he finished his rookie season with 260 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 27 receptions, 279 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In the 2018 season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ekeler had 39 rushing yards to go along with five receptions for 87 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown in the 38–28 loss. He scored a receiving touchdown in Weeks 4 and 5 against the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders. In Week 14, against the Cincinnati Bengals, he aggravated a neck injury, which sidelined him for two games. He returned for the regular season finale against the Denver Broncos and scored a rushing touchdown. Overall, in the 2018 season, he finished with 554 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 39 receptions, 404 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. The Chargers earned the #5-seed for the AFC Playoffs. In the against the Baltimore Ravens, he had 43 scrimmage yards in the 23–17 victory. In the against the New England Patriots, he had three receptions for 19 yards in the 41–28 loss.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: Ekeler began the season as the starter while Melvin Gordon was in a contract dispute. In Week 1, Ekeler rushed 12 times for 58 yards and the game-winning touchdown, in addition to catching six passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns in the 30–24 overtime win over the Indianapolis Colts. In Week 2 against the Detroit Lions, he rushed 17 times for 66 yards and a touchdown with additional work in the receiving game, recording six receptions for 67 in the team's 10–13 loss to the Lions. In Week 3 against the Houston Texans, Ekeler rushed nine times for 36 yards and caught seven receptions for 45 yards. In Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins, Ekeler rushed 18 times for 60 yards and one touchdown and caught five passes for 62 yards and one touchdown in the 30–10 win. During Week 7 against the Tennessee Titans, Ekeler had only seven rushing yards but had 118 receiving yards as the Chargers lost 20–23. In Week 11 against the Kansas City Chiefs on "Monday Night Football", Ekeler rushed five times for 24 yards and caught eight passes for 108 yards in the 24–17 loss. During Week 14 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Ekeler finished with 101 rushing yards on just eight carries, with four receptions for 112 receiving yards, and a touchdown as the Chargers won 45–10. He was the sixth player ever, and the first since Herschel Walker in 1986, to average over 10 yards per carry and reception in a 100/100 game. Overall, he finished the 2019 season with 557 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to go along with 92 receptions for 993 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: On March 16, 2020, Ekeler signed a four-year $24.5 million contract extension with the Chargers. In Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Ekeler rushed 16 times for 93 yards and caught 4 passes for 55 yards during the 23–20 overtime loss. In Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers, Ekeler recorded 143 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown during the 21–16 loss. In Week 4, Ekeler suffered a hamstring injury and a hyperextended knee and was expected to miss four to six weeks. He was placed on injured reserve on October 9, 2020. He was activated on November 28, 2020. Ekeler made his return from injury in Week 12 against the Buffalo Bills. During the game, he recorded 44 rushing yards and 85 receiving yards during the 27–17 loss. In Week 14 against the Atlanta Falcons, he recorded 146 yards from scrimmage during the 20–17 win. Ekeler finished the 2020 season with 116 carries for 530 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with 54 receptions for 403 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In Week 4, against the Las Vegas Raiders, Ekeler had 15 carries for 117 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and one receiving touchdown in the 28–14 victory. The following week, against the Cleveland Browns, Ekeler had 119 scrimmage yards, two rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown in the 47–42 victory. In Week 11, against the PIttsburgh Steelers, he had 115 scrimmage yards, two rushing touchdowns, and two receiving touchdowns in the 41–37 victory. Ekeler tallied 206 attempts for 911 rushing yards and 12 rushing touchdowns to go along with 70 receptions for 647 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Ekeler had eight games going over 100 yards from scrimmage. With 20 total touchdowns, Ekeler joined Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson as the only two players in Chargers franchise history to score that many touchdowns in a single season. Ekeler, along with Colts running back Jonathan Taylor, led the NFL in touchdowns. Ekeler was ranked 46th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In Week 4, against the Houston Texans, Ekeler had 109 scrimmage yards, two rushing touchdowns, and one receiving touchdown in the 34–24 victory. In Week 5, against the Cleveland Browns, he had 16 carries for 173 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with a receiving touchdown in the 30–28 victory.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: Austin Ekeler's younger brother, Wyett Ekeler, plays football at the University of Wyoming. His mother is Suzanne Ekeler.


title: Austin Ekeler

text: In 2021, Austin Ekeler started the Austin Ekeler Foundation with the mission is "to help create opportunities for people to fulfill their passions and ultimately their lives."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Laundry detergent pods of the Tide Pods brand have been sold since 2012. Like most detergents, Tide Pods can be deadly if ingested and have been labeled as a health risk by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Media reports have discussed how children and those with dementia could endanger their health or life by consuming the pods, mistaking them for candy. Between 2012 and 2013, poison control centers reported over 7,000 cases of young children eating laundry pods, and ingestion of Procter & Gamble laundry pods had resulted in six deaths by 2017. In response to the dangers, Procter & Gamble changed Tide Pod containers to an opaque design, introduced warning labels, and added a bitter tasting chemical to the pod contents.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In late December 2017, Tide Pods emerged within Internet meme culture. Teenagers and young adults were attracted to the zest and were intrigued by the texture of the tide pod, as it contained resemblance to Jell-O or candy. In early 2018, their presence in Internet memes led to the "Tide Pod Challenge", which involved a dare to intentionally consume the pods. Responding to the growing number of media outcry, Google and Facebook started removing videos that featured the challenge, and Procter & Gamble aired numerous advertisements urging people to avoid eating the pods.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Laundry detergent pods have been in use in the United States since 2010, although their use in Europe occurred a decade prior to 2012. During the Academy Awards telecast in 2012, P&G introduced their Tide Pods "in a sparkling, vibrant commercial."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: The health risks posed by the ingestion of Tide Pods—particularly by children—have been noted by several media outlets, which have referenced the visual similarity the pods have to candy as a reasoning behind their consumption. Tide's laundry detergent pods follow a trend of "food imitating products", in which makers of consumer products design their cleaners and personal hygiene products to "[exhibit] food or drink attributes." John Allen, an anthropologist at Indiana University described Tide Pods as "sort of like a cross between candy and a chicken nugget," acknowledging them as "bite sized, processed, colorful, with a non-threatening texture."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In September 2012, U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer commented on the appeal of pods, "These pods were supposed to make household chores easier, not tempt our children to swallow harmful chemicals. I saw one on my staffer's desk and I wanted to eat it." In October, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called them as a health risk.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In 2012 and 2013, an average of one child was admitted to hospital every day as a result of eating Tide Pods. In March 2013, "Consumer Reports" reported that "since early 2012, poison control centers nationwide have received reports of nearly 7,700 pod-related exposures to children age 5 years and younger."Individuals suffering from dementia have been reported to face health risks related to Tide Pods. "Consumer Reports" reported that between the Tide Pods' introduction in 2012 through early 2017, eight deaths had been reported due to the ingestion of laundry detergent pods; two of the eight deaths were children, while the other six were adults with dementia. Additionally, pods manufactured by P&G were responsible for six of the deaths.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: During the popularity of Tide Pods as an Internet meme, in the month of January 2018, the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) "recorded 606 exposures in children less than 5 years old," in addition to an increase in teenage exposures. In January 2018, there were more older kids, teenagers, and young adults exposed to the pods than in all of 2016 or 2017.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Due to initial reports of children consuming their laundry detergent pods, Procter & Gamble began distributing Tide Pods in opaque tubs and bags. In 2015, P&G announced it would implement a bitter taste to its Tide Pods as a means to deter people from biting into them. The pods were strengthened to reduce the chance of them bursting when squeezed. Tide would also include child safety features in its packaging and issue extensive warnings about locking up the pods in households shared with individuals who have Alzheimer's disease. Additionally, Tide's website includes a page discussing how to safely handle its products, and suggesting consumers drink a glass of water or milk if a product is swallowed and call a poison control center for help. Also in 2015, the American Society for Testing and Materials published the F3159-15 voluntary safety standard for liquid laundry packets.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In early 2018, media publications noted that shortly after the product's introduction, the consumption of Tide Pods became a topic of discussion on the Internet. Ultimately, eating Tide Pods became a meme, with its origins being credited to a 2013 thread on the Straight Dope's website and a 2015 article from "The Onion". "Mashable" quoted an instance of a tweet regarding this topic from 2012, "Why does a Tide Pod look so good to eat?" The Straight Dope thread's discussion was more centered on children accidentally eating Tide Pods, rather than the meme's iteration popularized in 2017, which portrays pods as a delicious food.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In the following years, eating Tide Pods became a popular joke online. In March 2017, CollegeHumor uploaded a sketch video titled "Don't Eat The Laundry Pods". Posts began to prefer "Tide Pods" to more generic terms such as "laundry pods" with a thread posted on Reddit's "intrusivethoughts" subreddit in July 2017. The thread, titled "Bite into one of those Tide Pods. Do it.", was referenced in another "Onion" article the following day. Posts on Tumblr contributed to the meme's rise, but in December 2017, the meme's popularity rose significantly due to various viral tweets. Many posts referred to the pods as a "forbidden fruit". Memes involving the Tide Pods included joking about how "delicious" they appear, as well as posting images with the pods on top of food. "Vox" described the meme as "pok[ing] fun at the idea of consuming the pods, while (usually) stopping short of actually doing so." The publication noted that part of the allure of discussing, wondering, and joking about consuming the pods stems from the product's warning to not eat the pods. In early January 2018, television personality Jimmy Kimmel referenced the meme when discussing a tweet from President Donald Trump: "sounds like somebody's been in the White House laundry room eating Tide Pods again because the President of the United States is starting his own award show for the media."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In 2018, following the meme's surge in popularity, media publications started reporting about people participating in the Tide Pod Challenge, an Internet challenge in which an individual consumes Tide Pods. Teenagers and young adults were the reported demographic participating in the challenge; they would record themselves chewing and gagging on pods and then daring others to do the same. Some of these videos were posted on YouTube. Some teenagers cooked the pods before eating them.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In response to the meme, a spokesperson from Procter & Gamble (P&G) was quoted in "BuzzFeed News" emphasizing the purpose of their pods and the health risks associated with children: "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the people who use our products. Our laundry pacs are a highly concentrated detergent meant to clean clothes and they're used safely in millions of households every day. They should only be used to clean clothes and kept up, closed and away from children. We have been consistently proactive in providing consumers with the right usage guidance and tools to enable them to use the product safely." Tide further stated, "They [pods] should not be played with, whatever the circumstance is, even if it is meant as a joke."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Ann Marie Buerkle from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission went on "Good Morning America" and commented on the meme, saying, "teens trying to be funny are now putting themselves in danger by ingesting this poisonous substance." Buerkle added, "This is what started out as a joke on the internet and now it's just gone too far."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Following the growth of the meme, YouTube and Facebook started removing (and age-restricting, for YouTube) videos that depicted people eating Tide Pods or videos about the eating of Tide Pods.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Following the meme's popularization on Twitter and Reddit, many media publications wrote articles discussing the phenomenon, while warning against eating Tide Pods. In January 2018, "The Washington Post" stated that the AAPCC reported 37 cases of pod ingestion among teenagers so far that year, half of them intentional. A related Internet meme, "Tide Pod-Chan", a "moe" anthropomorphization of a Tide Pod in a Japanese school uniform, was created in order to warn against pod consumption.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: Tide later partnered with American football player Rob Gronkowski, having him issue the message: "What the heck is going on, people? Use Tide Pods for washing. Not eating. Do not eat."


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: The majority of cases involving exposure to laundry detergent pods are due to ingestion. As a result, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are the most common effects. "Dysphagia secondary to oropharyngeal and esophageal mucosal burns and ulcers" may also happen as a result of ingestion. Other impacts resulting from pod consumption include seizures, detriments to the respiratory system, and renal and electrolyte abnormalities.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In 2012, the Carolinas Poison Center and the Poison Control Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia received reports of children experiencing "vomiting, mental status changes, and respiratory distress after ingesting the contents of laundry detergent pods." The hospital noted that "swallowing conventional detergent might result in mild stomach upset, but with highly concentrated detergent pods the ingestion can cause excessive vomiting, lethargy, and gasping, and in some reported cases, victims stopped breathing and required ventilation support." "The Daily Meal" cited a 2014 study by the "Journal of Medical Toxicology" that suggested ingestion of detergent pods may cause a swallowing dysfunction that could require surgery to repair.


title: Consumption of Tide Pods

text: In 2018, "Consumer Reports" published a story discussing the contents of laundry detergent pods and the consequences of ingesting them, which can include death. The story detailed that pods contain ethanol, hydrogen peroxide, and soap, that when ingested can result in caustic burns to the lining of one's mouth, as well as the esophagus, stomach, and other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Narayana Guru, , (20 August 1856 – 20 September 1928) was a philosopher, spiritual leader and social reformer in India. He led a reform movement against the injustice in the caste-ridden society of Kerala in order to promote spiritual enlightenment and social equality.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Narayanan, né Nanu, was born on 20 August 1856 to Madan Asan and Kuttiyamma in an Ezhava family, in the village of Chempazhanthy near Thiruvananthapuram, in the erstwhile state of Travancore. His early education was in the gurukula way under Chempazhanthi Mootha Pillai during which time his mother died when he was 15. At the age of 21, he went to central Travancore to learn from Raman Pillai Asan, a Sanskrit scholar who taught him Vedas, Upanishads and the literature and logical rhetoric of Sanskrit. He returned to his village in 1881, when his father was seriously ill, and started a village school where he taught local children which earned him the name "Nanu Asan". A year later, he married Kaliamma but soon disassociated himself from the marriage to commence his public life as a social reformer.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Leaving home, he traveled through Kerala and Tamil Nadu and it was during these journeys, he met Chattampi Swamikal, a social and religious reformer, who introduced Guru to Ayyavu Swamikal from whom he learned meditation and yoga. Later, he continued his wanderings until he reached the Pillathadam cave at Maruthwamala where he set up an hermitage and practiced meditation and yoga for the next eight years. In 1888, he visited Aruvippuram where he meditated for a while and during his stay there, he consecrated a piece of rock taken from the river, as the idol of Shiva, which has since become the Aruvippuram Shiva Temple. The act, which later came to be known as "Aruvipuram Pratishta", created a social commotion among the upper caste Brahmins who questioned Guru's right to consecrate the idol. His reply to them that "This is not a Brahmin Shiva but an Ezhava Shiva" later became a famous quote, used against casteism. It was here, the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP Yogam) was founded on 15 May 1903 by the efforts of Padmanabhan Palpu, better known as "Dr. Palpu", with Narayana Guru as its founder president.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Guru shifted his base to Sivagiri, near Varkala in 1904 where he opened a school for children from the lower strata of the society and provided free education to them without considering their caste. However, it took him seven years to build a temple there, the Sarada Mutt was built in 1912. He also built temples in other places such as Thrissur, Kannur, Anchuthengu, Thalassery, Kozhikode, and Mangalore and it took him to many places including Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) where he made his final visit in 1926. On his return to India, he was involved in a number of activities including the planning of the Sivagiri pilgrimage which was planned after his visit to Pallathuruthy in 1927 to attend the anniversary of the S.N.D.P. Yogam.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Soon after the meeting at Pallathuruthy, which was the last public function he attended, Guru became ill and underwent treatment at places such as Aluva, Thrissur, Palakkad, and finally to Chennai; the physicians attended to him included Ayurvedic physicians like Cholayil Mami Vaidyar, Panappally Krishnan Vaidyar and Thycauttu Divakaran Moos as well as allopathic physicians viz. . Krishnan Thampi, Panikker, Palpu and a European physician by name, Noble. He returned to Sarada Mutt and died on 20 September 1928, at the age of 72.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Casteism was practised in Kerala during the 19th and early 20th centuries and the lower caste people such as Ezhavas and the untouchable castes like Paraiyars, tribals and Pulayars had to suffer discrimination from the upper caste community It was against this discrimination that Guru performed his first major public act, the consecration of Siva idol at Aruvippuram in 1888. Overall, he consecrated forty five temples across Kerala and Tamil Nadu..His consecrations were not necessarily conventional deities; a slab inscribed with the words,


title: Narayana Guru

text: "Truth, Ethics, Compassion, Love", a vegetarian Shiva, a mirror and a sculpture by an Italian sculptor were among the various consecrations made by him. He propagated the ideals of compassion and religious tolerance and one of his noted works, "Anukampadasakam", extols various religious figures such as Krishna, The Buddha, Adi Shankara, Jesus Christ.


title: Narayana Guru

text: The social protest of Vaikom Satyagraha was an agitation by the lower caste against untouchability in Hindu society of Travancore. It was reported that the trigger for the protest was an incident when Narayana Guru was stopped from passing through a road leading to Vaikom Temple by an upper caste person. It prompted Kumaran Asan and Muloor S.Padmanabha Panicker, both disciples of Guru, to compose poems in protest of the incident. T. K. Madhavan, another disciple, petitioned the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly in 1918 for rights to enter the temple and worship, regardless of the caste. A host of people including K. Kelappan and K. P. Kesava Menon, formed a committee and announced "Kerala Paryatanam movement" and with the support of Mahatma Gandhi, the agitation developed into a mass movement which resulted in the opening of the temple as well as three roads leading to it to people of all castes. The protest also influenced the Temple Entry Proclamation of 1936.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Sivagiri pilgrimage was conceived by three of the disciples of Guru viz. Vallabhasseri Govindan Vaidyar, T. K. Kittan Writer and Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker which Guru approved in 1928, with his own recommendations. He suggested that the goals of the pilgrimage should be the promotion of education, cleanliness, devotion to God, organization, agriculture, trade, handicrafts, and technical training and advised Vaidyar and Writer to organise a series of lectures on these themes to stress the need for the practice of these ideals, stating this to be the core purpose of Sivagiri pilgrimage. However, his death soon after delayed the project until 1932 when the first pilgrimage was undertaken from Elavumthitta in Pathanamthitta District.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Guru published 45 works in Malayalam, Sanskrit and Tamil languages which include "Atmopadesa Śatakam", a hundred-verse spiritual poem and "Daiva Dasakam", a universal prayer in ten verses. He also translated three major texts, "Thirukural" of Valluvar, "Ishavasya Upanishad" and "Ozhivil Odukkam" of Kannudaiya Vallalaar. It was he who propagated the motto, "One Caste, One Religion, One God for All" (Oru Jathi, Oru Matham, Oru Daivam, Manushyanu) which has become popular as a saying in Kerala. He furthered the non-dualistic philosophy of Adi Sankara by bringing it into practice by adding the concepts of social equality and universal brotherhood.


title: Narayana Guru

text: Guru organized an "All Religion Conference" in 1923 at Alwaye Advaita Ashram, which was reported to be first such event in India. It was an effort to counter the religious conversions Ezhava community was susceptible to and at the entrance of the conference, he arranged for a message to be displayed which read, "We meet here not to argue and win, but to know and be known". The conference has since become an annual event, organised every year at the Ashram.


title: Narayana Guru

text: In 1916, Ramana Maharshi hosted Narayana Guru at his Tiruvannamalai ashram when Guru was returning from a trip to Kancheepuram where Swami Govindananda, a disciple of Guru, had established the Sree Narayana Seva Ashram. Rabindranath Tagore met Narayana Guru at the latter's ashram in Sivagiri in November 1922. Tagore later said of Narayana Guru that, "I have never come across one who is spiritually greater than Swami Narayana Guru or a person who is at par with him in spiritual attainment". Three years later, Mahatma Gandhi visited Guru during his 1925 trip to Kerala to participate in the Vaikom Satyagraha after which the Indian independence movement leader stated that "it was a great privilege in his life to have the darshan of an esteemed sage like Sree Narayana Guru."


title: Narayana Guru

text: On 21 August 1967, Narayana Guru was commemorated on an Indian postage stamp of denomination 15 nP. Another commemorative stamp on him was issued by Sri Lanka Post on 4 September 2009. The Reserve Bank of India issued two sets of commemorative coins depicting Guru's image, each valued at 5 and 100 respectively, on the occasion of his 150th birth anniversary.


title: Narayana Guru

text: The first of the several statues of Narayana Guru was erected at Jagannath Temple, Thalassery in 1927 while he was still alive. His statues are seen in many places in Kerala which include a 24 feet statue at Kaithamukku in Thiruvananthapuram. The Government of Kerala observe the birthday, the Sri Narayana Jayanthi, and the date of death (Sree Narayana Guru Samadhi) of Narayana Guru as public holidays.


title: Narayana Guru

text: The life of Narayana Guru has been portrayed in a number of movies starting with the 1986 film "Sree Narayana Guru", made by award-winning director P. A. Backer. "Swamy Sreenarayana Guru", an Indian Malayalam-language film directed by Krishnaswamy, released the same year. Almost a decade and a half later, R. Sukumaran made a film on the life of Guru, titled "Yugapurushan" in 2010 with Thalaivasal Vijay playing the role of Guru and the film also featured Mammootty and Navya Nair. "Brahmashri Narayana Guru Swamy" is a Tulu film made in 2014 by Rajashekar Kotian on Guru's life and the film was the 50th film made in the language. His life during the eight years he spent at Maruthwamala (also known as Marunnumamala) has been adapted into a docufiction, titled "Marunnumamala" and the film was released by Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala on 9 August 2016.


title: Larry Carlton

text: Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts such as Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. He has participated in thousands of recording sessions, recorded on hundreds of albums in many genres, for television and movies, and on more than 100 gold records. He has been a member of the jazz fusion group the Crusaders, the smooth jazz band Fourplay, and has maintained a long solo career.


title: Larry Carlton

text: Carlton was born in Torrance, California, United States, and at the age of six began guitar lessons. His interest in jazz came from hearing guitarist Joe Pass on the radio, after which he moved on to jazz guitarists Barney Kessel and Wes Montgomery, and blues guitarist B.B. King. He went to junior college and Long Beach State College while playing professionally at clubs in Los Angeles.


title: Larry Carlton

text: During the 1970s, he found steady work as a studio musician on electric and acoustic guitar in a variety of genres: pop, jazz pop, rock, rhythm and blues, soul and country. Carlton appeared in hundreds of recording sessions with Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Sammy Davis, Jr., Paulinho Da Costa, Charly García, the Fifth Dimension, Herb Alpert, Christopher Cross, Dolly Parton, Andy Williams, and the Partridge Family. Carlton performed on Mike Post's 1981 "Theme from "Hill Street Blues"", which won Grammys for 'Best Instrumental Composition' and for 'Best Pop Instrumental Performance'. In 1982, he appeared on "The Nightfly" by Donald Fagen, lead singer for Steely Dan.


title: Larry Carlton

text: His guitar work on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" from their 1976 LP "The Royal Scam" was ranked No. 80 on a list of the best guitar songs by "Rolling Stone" magazine.


title: Larry Carlton

text: Carlton recorded his debut solo album, "With a Little Help from My Friends", in 1968. In the mid-1970s he built a home studio and called it Room 335 after the Gibson ES-335, an electric guitar he often played. He has recorded most of his albums at Room 335. In 1988, with his solo career in ascent, he was shot in the throat by a teenager outside Room 335 and suffered nerve and vocal cord damage, which delayed completion of the album he was working on at the time, "On Solid Ground". His left arm was paralyzed and for six months he was unable to play more than a few notes.


title: Larry Carlton

text: Carlton produced six albums from 1978 to 1984. His version of "Sleepwalk" by Santo Farina climbed the pop and adult contemporary charts. From 1985 to 1990, he did various solo projects, including the live album "Last Nite".


title: Larry Carlton

text: Carlton was commissioned to compose music for the King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, in honor of the king's birthday. He recorded "The Jazz King" (Sony BMG, 2008) with a jazz orchestra that included Tom Scott, Nathan East, and Earl Klugh.


title: Larry Carlton

text: Carlton is best known for his 1969 Gibson ES-335. Other guitars he owns and plays include a 1951 Fender Telecaster, a 1964 Fender Stratocaster, and a 1955 Gibson Les Paul Special. He has used a 1958 Fender Deluxe amplifier, and his standard setup included a Dumble.


title: Larry Carlton

text: In 2020, Carlton began endorsing Sire Guitars, with whom he has a signature line of electric guitars.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport () is Romania's busiest international airport, located in Otopeni, north of Bucharest's city centre. It is currently one of the two airports serving the capital of Romania. The other is Aurel Vlaicu Airport, which no longer serves scheduled passenger traffic.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The airport is named after Romanian flight pioneer Henri Coandă, builder of Coandă-1910 aircraft and discoverer of the Coandă effect of fluidics. Prior to May 2004, the official name was "Bucharest Otopeni International Airport" (Romanian: "Aeroportul Internațional București Otopeni"). Henri Coandă International Airport serves as headquarters for TAROM, the country's national airline. It also serves as a base of operations for low-cost airlines Animawings, Ryanair and Wizz Air and charter airlines Air Bucharest. It is managed by The National Company Bucharest Airports S.A. ("Compania Națională Aeroporturi București S.A."). The military section of the airport is used by the 90th Airlift Flotilla of the Romanian Air Force.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: During World War II, the airport in Otopeni was used as an airbase by the German Air Force. Until 1965, it was a major airfield for the Romanian Air Force, with Băneasa Airport serving as Bucharest's commercial airport. In 1965, with the growth of air traffic, the Otopeni airbase was converted to a commercial airport. The runway was modernized and extended to from the previous , making it one of the longest in Europe at that time.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: In August 1969, when United States President Richard Nixon visited Romania, a VIP lounge was inaugurated. A new passenger terminal (designed by Cezar Lăzărescu), with a capacity of 1,200,000 passengers per year, was opened on 13 April 1970, for domestic and international flights. An improvement program added a second runway in 1986, expanding capacity to 35 aircraft movements per hour.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The first stage of the plan (Phase I), taking place between 1994 and 1998, involved the construction of a new departures terminal and of a new airside concourse with five jetways and nine gates (referred to as 'the Finger') as well as the extension of airport ramps and of their associated taxiways.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The second phase (labeled Phase II/IIe) of the plan led to the construction of a terminal dedicated to domestic flights and of a multi-story car park (2003), the complete overhaul of the control tower (between 2005 and 2007) as well as the transformation of the old terminal building in a dedicated arrivals hall (in 2000). During the same phase, two high-speed taxiways (Victor and Whiskey) were constructed. Phase II was completed in 2007.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: Meanwhile, TAROM axed its service to New York City in November 2003, as it was losing a great deal of money on the flight. Delta Air Lines began plying the same route four years later with Boeing 767s. In late 2008, the company decided to suspend the link that winter and resume it seasonally in summer 2009. The 2009 season started in June and was supposed to run until October; however, Delta pulled out of Bucharest altogether in September. According to a representative of Delta's joint-venture partner Air France–KLM, the carrier made this decision due to the recession and the poor financial performance of the service.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The third stage of the plan (Phase III), which started in 2009, involved the extension of the airside concourse ('the Finger') with 15 new gates (nine of which have jetways), as well as the expansion of the Departure Hall (with 8 new gates). The airside concourse extension, designed by Studio Capelli Architettura & Associati, and measuring , was inaugurated on 29 March 2011. It was followed, in November 2012, by the extension of the Departure Hall to a total area of .


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: In March 2012, all air traffic except for business air traffic was transferred from Aurel Vlaicu International Airport (at that time Bucharest's low-cost hub) to Henri Coandă International Airport. Air Canada Rouge introduced seasonal routes to Toronto and Montreal in June 2018.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The airport's facilities consist of a single terminal with three main facilities (colloquially referred to as "Terminals"): the Departures Hall/Terminal, the Arrivals Hall/Terminal, and the Finger Terminal (the airside concourse). A walkway with shops connects the departures and arrivals buildings. The airside concourse is organized in two (domestic and international) passengers flows. The entire terminal has 104 check-in desks, 38 gates (of which 14 are equipped with jetways), and a total floor area of .


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: Beyond Phase III, a new terminal building (Henri Coandă 2) at the eastern end of the current location is envisaged. Henri Coandă 2 will be of a modular design, consisting of four separate buildings, each capable of handling 5 million passengers annually. Each module will be built as traffic demands dictate. By 2030, Terminal 2 alone should be able to handle the expected volume of 20 million passengers per year. The terminal will be directly connected to the A3 motorway and to the railway system. However, the plans might get delayed due to funding problems. There is a chance however that, if funds can be allocated in time, the airport can open its new terminal by 2025.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: On 18 January 2021, it has been announced that the airport purchased all the land it needs in order to begin the expansion. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work is set to begin in 2023.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights at Bucharest Henri Coandă Airport:


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: In 2018, 13,824,830 passengers passed through the airport, an increase of 7.95% compared to 2017. In 2018, the airport handled 13.8 million passengers (63.3% of the total number of passengers carried by Romanian airports) and 39,534 tons of cargo (81.4% of the total amount of cargo handled by Romanian airports).


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: An airport rail link service to the main railway station, Gara de Nord (Bucharest North), runs from the Airport railway station located near the parking lot of the Arrivals hall. As of August 2021, the trains, alternately operated by CFR and TFC depart every 40 minutes, seven days a week. A one-way trip takes 15-20 minutes.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: A new Metro Line M6 is also planned, connecting the airport to the Gara de Nord train station, and integrating the airport into the Bucharest Metro network.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: Henri Coandă Airport is connected to the public transport company STB system. The 783 route provides express bus service to the city center (Piața Unirii). Route 783 to the city center is running 24 hours a day.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: The airport is north of central Bucharest, to which it is connected by route DN1. The A3 motorway will connect the future terminal 2 and the city.


title: Henri Coandă International Airport

text: As of May 2013, taxis serving Henri Coandă Airport can be ordered using a touch screen system in the arrivals terminal, allowing the taxi drivers to enter the pick-up area. This measure was taken after many complaints from passengers who were being ripped off when using illegal, high-price taxis.


title: Báb

text: The Báb (b. ʿAlí Muḥammad; 20 October 1819 – 9 July 1850), was the founder of Bábism, and one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. He was a merchant from Shiraz in Qajar Iran who, in 1844 at the age of 25, claimed to be a messenger of God. He took the title "Báb" (; ), meaning "Gate" or "Door", a reference to the deputy of the promised Twelver Mahdi or al-Qá'im. He faced opposition from the Persian clergy and government, which eventually executed him and thousands of his followers, known as Bábís.


title: Báb

text: The Báb composed numerous letters and books in which he stated his claims and defined his teachings. He introduced the idea of He whom God shall make manifest, a messianic figure who would bring a greater message than his own. His ideas had roots in Shaykhism and possibly Hurufism and his writings were characterized by their extensive use of symbolism including the use of much numerical calculations. Abdu'l Baha summarises the Báb's impact: "Alone, He undertook a task that can scarcely be conceived... This illustrious Being arose with such power as to shake the foundations of the religious laws, customs, manners, morals, and habits of Persia, and instituted a new law, faith, and religion."


title: Báb

text: To Baháʼís, the Báb fills a similar role as Elijah or John the Baptist in Christianity: a predecessor or forerunner who paved the way for their religion. Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, was a follower of the Báb and claimed in 1863 to be the fulfillment of the Báb's prophecy, 13 years after the Báb's death.


title: Báb

text: Sayyed ʿAlí Muḥammad Shírází (; ) was born on 20 October 1819 (1 Muharram 1235 AH), in Shiraz to a middle-class merchant of the city and given the name Ali Muhammad. He was a descendant of Muhammad, a Sayyid, through Husayn ibn Ali through both his parents. His father was Muhammad Riḍá, and his mother was Fátimih (1800–1881), a daughter of a prominent Shiraz merchant. She later became a Baháʼí. His father died when he was quite young, and his maternal uncle Hájí Mírzá Siyyid ʿAlí, a merchant, reared him.


title: Báb

text: In Shiraz his uncle sent him to a maktab primary school, where he remained for six or seven years. In contrast to the formal, orthodox theology which dominated the school curriculum of the time, which included the study of jurisprudence and Arabic grammar, the Bab from a young age felt inclined towards unconventional subjects like mathematics and calligraphy, which were little studied. The Bab's preoccupation with spirituality, creativity and imagination also angered his teachers and was not tolerated in the atmosphere of the 19th century Persian school system. This led the Bab to become disillusioned with the education system, he later instructs adults to treat children with dignity, to allow children to have toys and engage in play and to never show anger or harshness to their students.


title: Báb

text: Sometime between age 15 and 20 he joined his uncle in the family business, a trading house, and became a merchant in the city of Bushehr, Iran, near the Persian Gulf. His business was focused on trade with India, Oman, and Bahrain. Some of his earlier writings suggest that he did not enjoy the business and instead applied himself to the study of religious literature. One of his contemporary followers described him as "very taciturn, and [he] would never utter a word unless it was absolutely necessary. He did not even answer our questions. He was constantly absorbed in his own thoughts, and was preoccupied with repetition of his prayers and verses. He is described as a handsome man with a thin beard, dressed in clean clothes, wearing a green shawl and a black turban." As a merchant, he was renowned for his honesty and trustworthiness in business and an Irish physician described him as "a very mild and delicate-looking man, rather small in stature and very fair for a Persian, with a melodious soft voice, which struck me much". Shoghi Effendi notes "the gentle, the youthful and irresistible person of the Báb" and praises him as being "matchless in His meekness, imperturbable in His serenity, magnetic in His utterance" This personality has been described as having "captivated many of those who met him".


title: Báb

text: In 1842, at age 23 he married 20 year old Khadíjih-Bagum (1822–1882), the daughter of a prominent merchant in Shíráz. The marriage proved a happy one, though their only child — a boy named Ahmad — died the year he was born (1843) and Khadijih never conceived again. The young couple occupied a modest house in Shiraz along with the Báb's mother. Later, Khadijih became a Baháʼí.


title: Báb

text: In the 1790s in Persia, Shaykh Ahmad (1753–1826) began a religious movement within Twelver Shia Islam. His followers, who became known as Shaykhis, were expecting the imminent appearance of the "al-Qa'im" of the Ahl al-Bayt, also called "the Mahdi". After Shaykh Ahmad's death, leadership passed to Kazim Rashti (1793–1843).


title: Báb

text: In 1841 the Báb went on pilgrimage to Iraq, and for seven months stayed mostly in and around Karbala. There he attended lectures of Kazim Rashti and became his follower.


title: Báb

text: As of his death in December 1843, Kazim Rashti counselled his followers to leave their homes to seek the Mahdi, who, according to his prophecies, would soon appear. One of these followers, Mullá Husayn, after keeping vigil for 40 days in a mosque, travelled to Shiraz, where he met the Báb.


title: Báb

text: The Báb's mission as a religious leader began with a dream in which he drank the blood dripping from the lacerated throat of Imam Husayn — a significant martyr in Islam. Although previously inclined toward sharing the Qur'an, it was after this dream that he was able to write his own verses and prayers, claiming divine inspiration. In April, 1844, his wife Khadijih became the first to believe in his revelation.


title: Báb

text: The Báb's first religiously inspired experience, claimed and witnessed by his wife, is dated to about the evening of 3 April 1844. The Báb's first public connection with his sense of a mission came with the arrival of Mullá Husayn in Shiraz. On the night of 22 May Mullá Husayn was invited by the Báb to his home where Mullá Husayn told him of his search for the possible successor to Kazim Rashti, the Promised One. The Báb claimed this, and to be the bearer of divine knowledge. Mullá Husayn became the first to accept the Báb's claims to be an inspired figure and a likely successor to Kazim Rashti. The Báb had replied satisfactorily to all of Mullá Husayn's questions and had written in his presence, with extreme rapidity, a long tafsir, commentary, on surah "Yusuf", known as the Qayyúmu'l-Asmáʼ and considered the Báb's first revealed work. It has been adopted as a Baháʼí Holy Day.


title: Báb

text: Mullá Husayn became the Báb's first disciple. Within five months, seventeen other disciples of Kazim Rashti recognized the Báb as a Manifestation of God. Among them was a woman, Fátimih Zarrín Táj Barag͟háni, a poetess, who later received the name of Táhirih, the Pure. These 18 disciples later became known as the Letters of the Living (each soul containing one letter of the Spirit of God, which combine to form the Word) and given the task of spreading the new faith (understood as the return or continuation of the one Faith of Abraham) across Iran and Iraq. The Báb emphasized the spiritual station of these 18 individuals, who, along with himself, made the first "Unity" of his religion according to the Arabic term "wāḥid", unity, that has a numerical value of 19 using abjad numerals. The Báb's book, the "Persian Bayán", gives the metaphorical identity of the Letters of the Living as the Fourteen Infallibles of Twelver Shiʿi Islam: Muhammad, the Twelve Imams, and Fatimah, and the four archangels, paralleling the first followers of Christ.


title: Báb

text: After the eighteen Letters of the Living recognized him, the Báb and Quddús left on a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, the sacred cities of Islam. At the Kaaba in Mecca, the Báb publicly claimed to be the Qa'im, and wrote to the Sharif of Mecca, the Custodian of the Kaaba, proclaiming his mission. After their pilgrimage, the Báb and Quddús returned to Bushehr, where they last saw each other. Quddús' travel to Shiraz brought the Báb's claim to the attention of the governor, Husayn Khan, who tortured Quddús and summoned the Báb to Shiraz in June 1845. The Imam-Jum'ih of Shiraz questioned Báb about his claims. He denied that he was the representative of the Qá'im or an intermediary to the faithful; the Báb later repeated the same in front of a congregation at the Vakil Mosque. This renunciation saved him from immediate execution. Abbas Amanat states, "in conformity with his own policy of prudence" during the early stages of his mission, the Báb wrote a statement, apparently under pressure, recanting his claims to the position of Babiya (gatehood). He disowned those who advocated such beliefs about him in these words: "If certain words flowed from my pen, they are purely instinctive and entirely against the accepted norms and thus not to be taken as proofs of any cause."


title: Báb

text: The Báb was placed under house arrest at the home of his uncle until a cholera epidemic broke out in the city in September 1846. Once released he departed for Isfahan. There, many came to see him at the house of the Imam-Jum'ih, who became sympathetic. After an informal gathering where the Báb debated the local clergy and displayed his speed in producing instantaneous verses, his popularity soared. After the death of the governor of Isfahan, Manouchehr Khan Gorji, his supporter, pressure from the clergy of the province led to Mohammad Shah Qajar ordering the Báb to Tehran in January 1847. After spending several months in a camp outside Tehran, and before the Báb could meet the Shah, the Prime Minister sent the Báb to Tabriz in the northwestern corner of the country, to his confinement.


title: Báb

text: After 40 days in Tabriz, the Báb transferred to the fortress of Maku, Iran in the province of Azerbaijan near the Turkish border. During his incarceration there, the Báb began his most important work, the "Persian Bayán", that remained unfinished. Because of the Báb's growing popularity in Maku, even the governor of Maku converting, the prime minister transferred him to the fortress of Chehriq in April 1848. There too the Báb's popularity grew and his jailors relaxed restrictions on him. It was at this time that Áqa Bálá Big Shíshvání Naqshbandí painted the portrait of the Báb. Then the Prime Minister ordered the Báb back to Tabriz, where the government called on religious authorities to put the Báb on trial for blasphemy and apostasy.


title: Báb

text: In his early writings, the Báb appears to identify himself as the gate ("báb") to the Hidden Twelfth Imam, and later begins explicitly to proclaim his station as that of the Hidden Imam and a new messenger from God. Rather than being a discontinued or evolving consciousness, Saiedi states that the works of the Báb are unitary throughout, and that the gradual disclosure of the Báb's identity is defined by the principle of unity in diversity.


title: Báb

text: In the Báb's early writings, the exalted identity he was claiming was unmistakable, but because of the reception of the people, his writings appear to convey the impression that he is only the gate to the Hidden Twelfth Imam. To his circle of early believers, the Báb was equivocal about his exact status, gradually confiding in them as not merely a gate to the Hidden Imam, but the Manifestation of the Hidden Imam and the Qa'im himself. During his early meetings with Mullá Husayn, the Báb described himself as the Master and the Promised One. He did not consider himself as simply Kazim Rashti's successor, but claimed a prophetic status, a kind of deputy, delegated not just by the Hidden Imam but through Divine authority. His early texts such as the "Commentary on the Surih of Joseph" used Quranic language that implied divine authority and identified himself effectively with the Imam. When Mullá ʿAlí Basṭámí, the second Letter of the Living, was put on trial in Baghdad for preaching about the Báb, clerics studied the "Commentary on the Surih of Joseph", recognized in it a claim to divine revelation, and quoted from it in opposition to prove he had done so.


title: Báb

text: However, in the early phase of his declaration to the public, the title "báb" was emphasized as that of the gate leading to the Hidden Imam, as the Báb had told his early believers not to fully disclose his claims or reveal his name. The approach of laying claim to a lower position was intended to create a sense of anticipation for the appearance of the Hidden Imam, as well to avoid persecution and imprisonment, because a public proclamation of mahdi status could bring a swift penalty of death. After a couple of months, as the Báb observed further acceptance and readiness among his believers and the public, he gradually shifted his public claim to that of the Hidden Imam. Then in his final years he publicly claimed to be a Manifestation of God. In his trial, he boldly proclaimed himself, in the presence of the Heir to the Throne of Persia and other notables, the Promised One. Finally, in his last authored work, the Haykal al-din, he claimed the "essence of God", dhātu'llāh. In the early months of his public declarations, the adoption of a cautious policy had essentially achieved maximum attention with minimum controversy.


title: Báb

text: However, the gradual unfolding of his claims caused some confusion, both among the public and for some of his believers. A number of his early followers had instantly recognized his station as a messenger from God with divine authority, and this resulted in disagreement within the Bábi community. Even though the Báb had intended to convey his message with discretion, many of his followers such as Táhirih openly declared the coming of the promised Hidden Imam and Mahdi.


title: Báb

text: The trial, attended by the Crown Prince, occurred in July 1848 and involved numerous local clergy. They questioned the Báb about the nature of his claims, his teachings, and demanded that he produce miracles to prove his divine authority. They admonished him to recant his claims. There are nine extant eyewitness reports of the trial, of which several may originate from an earlier source. Six of the reports are from Muslim accounts, and portray the Báb in an unfavorable light. There are 62 questions found in the nine sources, however eighteen occur in one source, fifteen in two, eight in three, five in four, thirteen in five, and three in six. Not including "yes" and "he did not answer", only thirty-five answers remain, of which ten occur in one source, eight in two, six in three, three in four, two in five, five in six. Only one answer is found in all nine eyewitness sources, where the Báb states that "I am that person you have been awaiting for one thousand years."


title: Báb

text: The trial did not bring a decisive result. Some clergy called for capital punishment, but the government pressured them to issue a lenient judgement because the Báb was popular. The government asked medical experts to declare the Báb insane to prevent his execution. It is also likely that the government as a face-saving measure and to appease the religious clergy may have spread rumours that the Báb recanted.


title: Báb

text: The Shaykh al-Islām, a champion of the anti-Bábist campaign, not at the Báb's trial, issued a conditional death sentence if the Báb was found to be sane. A fatwa was issued establishing the Báb's apostasy and stated "The repentance of an incorrigible apostate is not accepted, and the only thing which has caused the postponement of thy execution is a doubt as to thy sanity of mind."


title: Báb

text: The crown prince's physician, William Cormick, examined the Báb and complied with the government's request to find grounds for clemency. The physician's opinion saved the Báb from execution for a time, but the clergy insisted that he face corporal punishment instead, so the Báb suffered foot whipping – 20 lashes to the bottoms of his feet.


title: Báb

text: The unsigned and undated official government report states that because of his harsh beating, the Báb orally and in writing recanted, apologized, and stated that he would not continue to advance claims of divinity. The document of his alleged recantation was written shortly after his trial in Tabriz.


title: Báb

text: Some authors theorise that the assertions were made to embarrass the Báb and undermine his credibility with the public, and that the language of this document is very different from the Báb's usual style, and so prepared by the authorities.


title: Báb

text: Orientalist Edward Granville Browne received copies of the trial documents from , the first French Baha'i. A facsimile of the recantation is published in Browne's "Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion", where he states, "[The document], unsigned and undated, was claimed to be in the Báb's handwriting and consists of a complete recantation and renunciation of any superhuman claim which he may have advanced or have appeared to advance. There is nothing to show to whom it is addressed, or whether it is the recantation referred to in the last paragraph of the [government report] or another. The handwriting, though graceful, is not easily legible..." This is a translation of the relevant section of the document: