title: Half Dome

text: The impression from the valley floor that this is a round dome that has lost its northwest half, is just an illusion. From Washburn Point, Half Dome can be seen as a thin ridge of rock, an arête, that is oriented northeast–southwest, with its southeast side almost as steep as its northwest side except for the very top. Although the trend of this ridge, as well as that of Tenaya Canyon, is probably controlled by master joints, 80 percent of the northwest "half" of the original dome may well still be there.


title: Half Dome

text: As late as the 1870s, Half Dome was described as "perfectly inaccessible" by Josiah Whitney of the California Geological Survey. The summit was finally reached by George G. Anderson in October 1875, via a route constructed by drilling and placing iron eye bolts into the smooth granite. Anderson had previously tried a variety of methods, including using pitch from nearby pine trees for extra friction.


title: Half Dome

text: Anderson subsequently went on to add ropes to his eye bolts, so that other people could climb. Among those who took advantage was the first woman to climb Half Dome in 1876, S. L. Dutcher, of San Francisco. In 1877 James Mason Hutchings along with Anderson led a climb which included Hutchings' daughter Cosie, his son Willie, his mother-in-law Florence Sproat (aged 65), and two other women.


title: Half Dome

text: Today, Half Dome may be ascended in several different ways. Thousands of hikers reach the top each year by following an trail from the valley floor. After a rigorous approach, including several hundred feet of granite stairs, the final pitch up the peak's steep but somewhat rounded east face is ascended with the aid of a pair of post-mounted steel cables originally constructed close to the Anderson route in 1919.


title: Half Dome

text: Alternatively, over a dozen rock climbing routes lead from the valley up Half Dome's vertical northwest face. The first technical ascent was in 1957 via a route pioneered by Royal Robbins, Mike Sherrick, and Jerry Gallwas, today known as the Regular Northwest Face. Their five-day epic was the first Grade VI climb in the United States. Their route has now been free climbed several times in a few hours' time. Other technical routes ascend the south face and the west shoulder.


title: Half Dome

text: The Half Dome Cable Route hike runs from the valley floor to the top of the dome in (via the Mist Trail), with of elevation gain. The length and difficulty of the trail used to keep it less crowded than other park trails, but in recent years the trail traffic has grown to as many as 800 people a day. The hike can be done from the valley floor in a single long day, but many people break it up by camping overnight in Little Yosemite Valley. The trail climbs past Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, then continues into Little Yosemite Valley, then north to the base of the northeast ridge of Half Dome itself.


title: Half Dome

text: The final ascent is steeply up the rock between two steel cables used as handholds. The cables are fixed with bolts in the rock and raised onto a series of metal poles in late May (the poles do not anchor the cables). The cables are taken down from the poles for the winter in early October, but they are still fixed to the rock surface and can be used. The National Park Service recommends against climbing the route when the cables are down or when the surface of the rock is wet and slippery. The "Cable Route" is rated class 3, while the same face away from the cables is rated class 5.


title: Half Dome

text: The Cable Route can be crowded. In past years, as many as 1,000 hikers per day have climbed the dome on a summer weekend, and about 50,000 hikers climb it every year.


title: Half Dome

text: Since 2011, all hikers who intend to ascend the Cable Route must now obtain permits before entering the park when the cables are up between May and October. Permits are checked by a ranger on the trail, and no hikers without permits are allowed to hike beyond the base of the sub-dome or to the bottom of the cables. Hikers caught bypassing the rangers to visit either the sub-dome or main dome without a permit face fines of up to $5,000 and/or 6 months in jail.


title: Half Dome

text: Backpackers with an appropriate wilderness permit can receive a Half Dome permit when they pick up their wilderness permit with no additional reservation required. Rock climbers who reach the top of Half Dome without entering the subdome area can descend on the Half Dome Trail without a permit.


title: Half Dome

text: The top of Half Dome is a large, flat area where climbers can relax and enjoy their accomplishment. The summit offers views of the surrounding areas, including Little Yosemite Valley and the Valley Floor. A notable location to one side of Half Dome is the "Diving Board", where Ansel Adams took his photograph "Monolith, the Face of Half Dome" on April 10, 1927. Often confused with "the Visor," a small overhanging ledge at the summit, the Diving Board is on the shoulder of Half Dome.


title: Half Dome

text: From 1919 when the cables were erected through 2011, there have been seven fatal falls from the cables. The latest fatality occurred on September 5, 2019.


title: Half Dome

text: Lightning strikes can be a risk while on or near the summit. On July 27, 1985, five hikers were struck by lightning, resulting in two fatalities.


title: Half Dome

text: The ashes of Ansel Adams, whose photographs of the formation are iconic images, were scattered on Half Dome.


title: Half Dome

text: Half Dome was originally called ""Tis-sa-ack"", meaning Cleft Rock in the language of the local Ahwahnechee people. Tis-sa-ack is also the name of the fourth route on the formation, ascended by Royal Robbins and Don Peterson over eight days in October 1969. Tis-sa-ack is the name of a mother from a native legend. The face seen in Half Dome is supposed to be hers. Tis-sa-ack is the name of a Mono Lake Paiute girl in the Yosemite Native American legend. John Muir interchangeably used "Tissiack," "South Dome," and "Half Dome" in his writings.


title: Half Dome

text: Others say Ahwahneechee Native Americans named Half Dome "Face of a Young Woman Stained with Tears" ("Tis-se’-yak") because of the colonies of brown-black lichens that form dark vertical drip-like stripes along drainage tracks in the rock faces.


title: Half Dome

text: In 1971, outdoor recreation and climbing equipment company The North Face created their company logo, based upon a stylised depiction of the Half Dome formation. It is still their logo 50 years later.


title: Half Dome

text: In 1988, Half Dome was featured on a 25 cent United States postage stamp. An image of Half Dome, along with John Muir and the California condor, appears on the California State Quarter, released in January 2005.


title: Half Dome

text: From 2010 until the introduction of REAL ID, California driver's licenses featured an illustration of Half Dome.


title: Triple parentheses

text: Triple parentheses or triple brackets, also known as an <nowiki>(((</nowiki>echo<nowiki>)))</nowiki>, are an antisemitic symbol that has been used to highlight the names of individuals assumed to be of a Jewish background, or organizations thought to be owned by Jews. The practice originated from the alt-right-affiliated, neo-Nazi blog "The Right Stuff"; the blog's editors have explained that the symbol is meant to symbolize that the historic actions of Jews caused their surnames to "echo throughout history". The triple parentheses have been adopted as an online stigma by antisemites, neo-Nazis, browsers of the "Politically Incorrect" board on 4chan, and white nationalists to identify individuals of Jewish background as targets for online harassment, such as Jewish political journalists critical of Donald Trump during his 2016 election campaign.


title: Triple parentheses

text: Use of the notation was brought to mainstream attention by an article posted by Mic in June 2016. The reports also led Google to remove a browser extension meant to automatically place the "echo" notation around Jewish names on web pages, and the notation being classified as a form of hate speech by the Anti-Defamation League. In the wake of these actions, some users, both Jews and non-Jews, have intentionally placed their own names within triple parentheses as an act of reappropriation or solidarity.


title: Triple parentheses

text: Prior to its use as an antisemitic label or identifier, ((( "screen name" ))) had been used in online communities such as AOL to indicate that a user was "cyberhugging" the user with the specified screen name.


title: Triple parentheses

text: The use of the "echo" originated from a 2014 episode of "The Daily Shoah," a podcast produced by the alt-right, antisemitic, white nationalist blog "The Right Stuff." The podcast includes a segment known as the "Merchant Minute", where Jewish names are spoken with a cartoonish echo effect to single them out. The editors of "The Right Stuff" explained that the use of an echo, represented in text using triple parentheses, was an internal meme meant to symbolize an opinion that the actions of Jews in the past cause their names to "echo throughout history". From the inside out, each parenthesis represents perceived Jewish involvement in mass media, mass immigration, and global Zionism.


title: Triple parentheses

text: The triple parentheses have since been used on social networking services such as Twitter by antisemites, alt-righters, neo-Nazis, and white nationalists as a signal to target Jews for harassment. A number of Jewish journalists told the website Mic that after their names were mentioned in echoes, they began to receive messages from trolls containing antisemitic messages, Holocaust photos, and death threats. "The Jerusalem Post" reported that the triple parentheses had "emerged as a weapon in the arsenal of the so-called 'alt-right', an amorphous, primarily online conservative movement that has been becoming more visible and vocal in the midst of Donald Trump's presidential campaign", and that these tactics were increasingly being used to target Jewish journalists posting content that was critical of the Republican Party candidate. A user who engages in these "dog-piling" actions described the echo notation as being like a "dog whistle". Search engines typically ignore punctuation contained in a query, meaning that it can be difficult to intentionally locate posts containing this notation.


title: Triple parentheses

text: In a June 2016 article detailing the phenomenon, Mic also reported that an extension had been developed for the Google Chrome web browser known as "Coincidence Detector", which automatically places the triple parentheses around the names of individuals who "[have] been involved in certain political movements and media empires". The extension contains a list of 8,771 names, including common Jewish names and surnames, those of media personalities who have been critical of Trump, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as organizations such as Ben & Jerry's and Kars4Kids.


title: Triple parentheses

text: The absurdist Twitter user dril sparked controversy in June 2016 after posting a tweet in which he made satirical use of the triple parentheses. Specifically, dril tweeted: "i refuse to consume any product that has been created by, or is claimed to have been created by, the (((Keebler Elves)))". Journalist Jay Hathaway wrote that most of dril's followers understood the tweet to be an ironic joke exploring the uncertain "etiquette around this very 2016 expression of bigotry ... Can a non-Jew apply the (((echoes))) to his own name as a show of allyship? Is it OK to use the parentheses in a joke at the white supremacists' expense? There's no clear consensus." Regardless, some far-right users of Twitter saw the tweet as a genuine signal of support for antisemitism, and others found the tweet to be in poor taste even as a joke.


title: Triple parentheses

text: During the Stalinist purges, Jews who were accused of being “rootless cosmopolitans” had their names placed in single parentheses. It is unknown if the modern triple-parentheses practice is derived from the Soviet one or not. However, the epithet “rootless cosmopolitans” has recently been revived in a right-wing populist context in the United States, allegedly as a euphemism for Jews.


title: Triple parentheses

text: On June 3, 2016, following the publishing of the Mic article, Google pulled the Coincidence Detector extension from the Chrome Web Store, citing a violation of its policies prohibiting "promotions of hate or incitement of violence". It had been downloaded around 2,500 times before its removal. In the wake of Google's removal of the extension, some Twitter users, including Jews and non-Jews, intentionally put triple parentheses around their usernames in an act of reappropriation or solidarity. White nationalists, in turn, put inverted echo parentheses—like )))this(((—around their usernames to indicate their non-Jewish heritage. Author Jeffrey Goldberg from "The Atlantic" said that he hoped that Jews could reclaim the symbolism in the same way as some LGBT people had reclaimed the word "queer". Jonathan Weisman, an editor at "The New York Times", included the triple parentheses in the title of his 2018 book release, "(((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump".


title: Triple parentheses

text: On June 6, 2016, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced that it had placed the triple parentheses in its database of symbols that it considers hate speech. CEO Jonathan Greenblatt explained that the symbol was "the online equivalent of tagging a building with anti-Semitic graffiti or taunting someone verbally", and that the ADL was "working with our partners in the tech industry to investigate this phenomenon more deeply".


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: Svetlana Vladimirovna Medvedeva (, ; née Linnik, ; born 15 March 1965) is a Russian economist who was the First Lady of Russia from 2008 to 2012. She is married to the former prime minister and president, Dmitry Medvedev.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: Svetlana Linnik was born into a military family in Kronstadt, a town administered by Leningrad. Medvedeva was the youngest child in her family.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: Medvedeva was active in extracurricular activities in school, and took an active part in school-held KVNs, spectacles, performances and other events. Medvedeva met her future husband in Middle School #305, in , near Leningrad.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: In 1987, Medvedeva began studying at the Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance. In her first year at the university, Medvedeva switched to taking evening courses and started working full-time. The Medvedevs married in 1993, after they had completed their studies. In 1995, Medvedeva gave birth to their son, Ilya, and stopped working. In the same year, Medvedeva was baptized into the Russian Orthodox Church.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: After the couple moved to Moscow, Medvedeva directed several Russian-Italian initiatives, "Sister cities Milan – Saint Petersburg" and "Venice – Saint Petersburg", which intended to develop tourism between these cities. In 2006, Medvedeva initiated the annual Russian Art Festival in Bari, Italy.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: Medvedeva became First Lady when her husband, Dmitry Medvedev, took over as President following his victory in Russian Presidential elections on 7 May 2008. In the same year, Medvedeva headed the initiative for the institution of Family Day in Russia. Medvedeva has already caused something of a media frenzy, even though she shies away from photographers and rarely gives interviews. Medvedeva currently chairs the management council of multi-tier program "Spiritual and moral culture of younger generation of Russia" created with blessing of Alexy II of Moscow. In an interview, Medvedeva detailed her views on the interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Government of Russia in promoting family policies. Medvedeva has taken up an anti-abortion cause in Russia's efforts to restrict abortion in 2011.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: On 20 August 2010, Medvedeva visited the National Gallery and the History Museum of Armenia, along with visiting the Armenian First Lady, Rita Sargsyan. Together they admired the works of various painters, including Ivan Aivazovsky, Vardges Surenyants, Gevorg Bashinjaghyan, and Panos Terlemezyan. Following the exhibition, the Armenian First Lady showed her a 5500-year-old shoe, which was discovered in 2008 in the Vayots Dzor Province.


title: Svetlana Medvedeva

text: Svetlana married Dmitry Medvedev on 24 December 1993. The couple have a son, Ilya, born on 3 August 1995.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In industrial design, it was used in railroad locomotives, telephones, toasters, buses, appliances, and other devices to give the impression of sleekness and modernity.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: In France, it was called the "style paquebot", or "ocean liner style", and was influenced by the design of the luxury ocean liner SS "Normandie", launched in 1932.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: As the Great Depression of the 1930s progressed, Americans saw a new aspect of Art Deco, "i.e.", streamlining, a concept first conceived by industrial designers who stripped Art Deco design of its ornament in favor of the aerodynamic pure-line concept of motion and speed developed from scientific thinking. The cylindrical forms and long horizontal windowing in architecture may also have been influenced by constructivism, and by the New Objectivity artists, a movement connected to the German Werkbund. Examples of this style include the 1923 Mossehaus, the reconstruction of the corner of a Berlin office building in 1923 by Erich Mendelsohn and Richard Neutra. The Streamline Moderne was sometimes a reflection of austere economic times; sharp angles were replaced with simple, aerodynamic curves, and ornament was replaced with smooth concrete and glass.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: The style was the first to incorporate electric light into architectural structure. In the first-class dining room of the SS "Normandie", fitted out 1933–35, twelve tall pillars of Lalique glass, and 38 columns lit from within illuminated the room. The Strand Palace Hotel foyer (1930), preserved from demolition by the Victoria and Albert Museum during 1969, was one of the first uses of internally lit architectural glass, and coincidentally was the first Moderne interior preserved in a museum.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: Streamline Moderne appeared most often in buildings related to transportation and movement, such as bus and train stations, airport terminals, roadside cafes, and port buildings. It had characteristics common with modern architecture, including a horizontal orientation, rounded corners, the use of glass brick walls or porthole windows, flat roofs, chrome-plated hardware, and horizontal grooves or lines in the walls. They were frequently white or in subdued pastel colors.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: An example of this style is the Aquatic Park Bathhouse in the Aquatic Park Historic District, in San Francisco. Built beginning in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration, it features the distinctive horizontal lines, classic rounded corners railing and windows of the style, resembling the elements of ship. The interior preserves much of the original decoration and detail, including murals by artist and color theoretician Hilaire Hiler. The architects were William Mooser Jr. and William Mooser III. It is now the administrative center of Aquatic Park Historic District.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: The Normandie Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which opened during 1942, is built in the stylized shape of the ocean liner SS "Normandie", and displays the ship's original sign. The Sterling Streamliner Diners in New England were diners designed like streamlined trains.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: Although Streamline Moderne houses are less common than streamline commercial buildings, residences do exist. The Lydecker House in Los Angeles, built by Howard Lydecker, is an example of Streamline Moderne design in residential architecture. In tract development, elements of the style were sometimes used as a variation in postwar row housing in San Francisco's Sunset District.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: In France, the style was called "Paquebot", meaning ocean liner. The French version was inspired by the launch of the ocean liner "Normandie" in 1935, which featured an Art Deco dining room with columns of Lalique crystal. Buildings using variants of the style appeared in Belgium and in Paris, notably in a building at 3 boulevard Victor in the 15th arrondissement, by the architect Pierre Patout. He was one of the founders of the Art Deco style. He designed the entrance to the Pavilion of a Collector at the 1925 Exposition of Decorative Arts, the birthplace of the style. He was also the designer of the interiors of three ocean liners, the "Ile-de-France" (1926), the "L'Atlantique" (1930), and the "Normandie" (1935). Patout's building on Avenue Victor lacked the curving lines of the American version of the style, but it had a narrow "bow" at one end, where the site was narrow, long balconies like the decks of a ship, and a row of projections like smokestacks on the roof. Another 1935 Paris apartment building at 1 Avenue Paul-Daumier in the 16th arrondissement had a series of terraces modelled after the decks of an ocean liner.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: The Flagey Building was built on the Place Flagey in Ixelles (Brussels), Belgium, in 1938, in the "paquebot" style, and has been nicknamed "Packet Boat" or "paquebot". It was designed by , and selected as the winning design in an architectural competition to create a building to house the former headquarters of the Belgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting (INR/NIR). The building was extensively renovated, and in 2002, it reopened as a cultural centre known as Le Flagey.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: The defining event for streamline moderne design in the United States was the 1933–34 Chicago World's Fair, which introduced the style to the general public. The new automobiles adapted the smooth lines of ocean liners and airships, giving the impression of efficiency, dynamism, and speed. The grills and windshields tilted backwards, cars sat lower and wider, and they featured smooth curves and horizontal speed lines. Examples include the 1934 Chrysler Airflow and the 1934 Studebaker Land Cruiser. The cars also featured new materials, including bakelite plastic, formica, Vitrolight opaque glass, stainless steel, and enamel, which gave the appearance of newness and sleekness.


title: Streamline Moderne

text: Other later examples include the 1950 Nash Ambassador "Airflyte" sedan with its distinctive low fender lines, as well as Hudson's postwar cars, such as the Commodore, that "were distinctive streamliners—ponderous, massive automobiles with a style all their own".


title: Streamline Moderne

text: Streamline style can be contrasted with functionalism, which was a leading design style in Europe at the same time. One reason for the simple designs in functionalism was to lower the production costs of the items, making them affordable to the large European working class. Streamlining and functionalism represent two different schools in modernistic industrial design.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Quidditch, also known as quadball, is a sport of two teams of seven players each mounted on a broomstick, and is played on a hockey rink-sized pitch. The sport was created in 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont, and was inspired by the fictional game Quidditch in the "Harry Potter" books by author J. K. Rowling. It is sometimes referred to as "muggle quidditch" to distinguish it from the books-based fictional game that involves magical elements such as flying broomsticks and enchanted balls; in the "Harry Potter" universe, a Muggle is a person without the power to use magic. The sport is played around the world.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In contrast with the books, in which the pitch is oval, the "muggle" pitch is rectangular with 3 hoops of varying heights at either end. The ultimate goal is to have more points than the other team by the time the snitch, a tennis ball inside a long sock hanging from the shorts of an impartial official dressed in yellow, is caught. Rules of the sport are governed by the International Quadball Association (the IQA) and events are sanctioned by either the IQA or that nation's governing body.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: To score points, chasers or keepers must get the quaffle, a slightly deflated volleyball, into one of three of the opposing hoops, which scores the team 10 points. To impede the quaffle from advancing down the pitch, chasers and keepers can tackle opposing chasers and keepers at the same time as beaters using their bludgers—dodgeballs—to take out opposing players. Once a player is hit by an opposing bludger, that player must dismount their broom, drop any ball being held, and return to touch their hoops before being allowed back into play. The game is ended once the snitch is caught by one of the seekers, awarding that team 30 points.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: A team consists of a minimum of seven (maximum 21) players, of which six are always on the pitch: three chasers, one keeper, and two beaters. The seeker comes onto the pitch after the 'seeker floor', which is 20 minutes under USQ rules and 17 under IQA. Teams are required to abide by the gender rule, which states that a team may have a maximum of four players who identify as the same gender on the field at one time, making quidditch one of the few sports that not only offers a co-ed environment but an open community to those who identify as nonbinary. After the seeker floor, the snitch runner moves onto the pitch and tries to evade the two seekers.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In games that use the IQA rulebook, a snitch catch adds 30 points. Catches that result in the catching team leading in points end the game immediately with the catching team winning. In the event a team catches the snitch but this results in them still trailing in points (or being in a tie for points), the game goes into an overtime period where a target score of the non-catching team's score plus 30 points is set. The first team to reach the target score wins the game, however either team may concede at any time during this overtime period. Matches or games often run about 30 to 40 minutes but tend to be subject to varying lengths of time due to the unpredictable nature of the snitch catch.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In MLQ and USQ, catching the snitch results in 35 points which help teams reach a set score, 60 (MLQ) or 70 (USQ) points above the leading team before the seeker floor. The first team to reach this set score wins the game.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Quidditch has its roots in the fictional "Harry Potter" sport of the same name. To denote the difference, the fictional sport uses the capitalized "Quidditch" whereas the sport played as per the IQA rules uses the uncapitalised "quidditch". In April 2017 Oxford Dictionaries recognized "quidditch" as a word.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The sport was brought to life in 2005 at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont, by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe, who later became the first commissioner of quidditch. It has grown into its own separate and distinct sport after ten publications of rulebooks.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: After beginning in 2005, the sport grew to the point where, in 2007, the first Quidditch World Cup took place with Middlebury taking the place of the top team. Since then, yearly until 2014, there was a World Cup within the United States, where collegiate and community teams would compete to be the best team. While Canada often sent several Ontario or Quebec teams, and Australia, Mexico and France each sent a team once, the World Cup in its state never saw true international competition. In 2012, the IQA hosted the Summer Games, where five nations sent national teams. Two years later, the IQA hosted the Global Games, during which the United States defeated Australia for the gold medal. There is now an IQA World Cup every two years, though the 2020 World Cup was cancelled and the 2022 World Cup has been delayed.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Since beginning at Middlebury College, the sport has grown through universities such as UC Berkeley in the United States. It soon grew internationally, arriving in Canada through McGill University and Carleton University in 2009. In 2010, UCLA became the first major university to create a permanent Quidditch pitch, through the generosity of actor-alumnus Matthew Perry. Quidditch began to take shape around the world with teams beginning in Australia, the UK, and France. It soon spread across Europe and the Americas, arriving in Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. There are now active teams in Malaysia, China, Uganda, the Philippines, New Zealand and Vietnam.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In December 2021, it was reported that some leagues involved in the sport, US Quidditch and Major League Quidditch, were planning to change the name of the sport they engage in. The leagues had stated that this was in order to distance themselves from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling's views on transgender people and related civil rights, that have been criticized by some people as transphobic, as well as the fact that the film studio Warner Bros holds the trademark to the word "Quidditch". Names suggested include Quidball, Quadball, Quickball, Quicker, Quidstrike and Quadraball. In July 2022, the new name of "Quadball" was announced.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Each match begins with six of the starting players (excluding the seekers) along the starting line within their keeper zone with brooms on the ground and the four balls lined in the centre of the pitch. The head referee then calls "brooms up!" at which players run to gain possession of the balls. The snitch goes on the field at 17 minutes, and the seekers are released at 18 minutes.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The play runs rapidly, with quick change-of-hands of the quaffle, because every goal (each being worth 10 points) scored against a team gives that team the ball. Once a point is scored, the quaffle must be given to the other team's keeper, and almost immediately returns to the offensive with the chasers returning to their keeper zone or proper side of the pitch; beaters are not bound to return to their side of the pitch nor exit the opposing team's keeper zone at any point. Games can last any length of time longer than 18 minutes, depending on the skill and endurance of the seekers and snitch.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In the new iteration of Rulebook 10, mandatory handicaps for the snitch runner go into effect if the snitch has not been caught within a certain time. These handicaps are cumulative and remain in effect until the end of the game. Once the seekers are released, the runner must remain between the two keeper zones. If the snitch has not been caught at the 23-minute mark, the first handicap is issued, requiring the runner to stay within of mid-pitch. The second handicap, at 28 minutes, constrains the runner to keep one arm behind their back; the third and final one, at 33 minutes, restricts them to within of the intersection of mid-pitch and the sideline opposite the scorekeeper and benches.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The game ends after the snitch has been caught through what is called a clean catch. The catch is determined by the Snitch Referee, The Head Referee, and the Snitch Runner. The team that caught the snitch is awarded 30 points, regardless if they are winning or losing the game. The winner is determined not by the snitch catch, but by the number of points earned throughout the entirety of the game. Depending on the score teams will delay the snitch catch to better their chances of winning. Teams that are losing will defend the snitch by placing themselves between the Snitch Runner and the opposing seeker.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The game is played with six standing hoops, three on each side of a square pitch. Each player must hold a broomstick between their legs. There are three different types of balls in play, and five in total: the quaffle, three bludgers, and the snitch.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Probably the most iconic piece of equipment for quidditch, the broomstick serves the purpose of being a "handicap" such as one-handed dribbling in basketball or using only one's feet in association football. The player must stay mounted on their broomstick for every moment of play unless they have been hit with a bludger, in which case the player needs to dismount from their broom and return to their hoops. To be mounted on the broomstick means that the player must hold the broom between their legs and not have it fully on the ground. It can be supported by their thighs or hands equally, just as long as it is not attached to their person nor fully resting on the ground. Because it is a handicap, sometimes players do not play with the brooms.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Players can substitute a variety of objects for brooms depending on the level of seriousness. Many teams play on PVC pipes of about 3 feet or 1 meter in length; these are usually made, but can also be purchased from specialist quidditch suppliers.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Three hoops are placed on either side of the pitch of differing heights (, and ), placed two broomsticks apart (). Chasers and keepers can score by throwing the quaffle through any one of the hoops, from either front or back, gaining ten points for their team per score. Any player experiencing a knock-out effect from either dismounting their broomstick or getting hit with a bludger must touch with any part of their body excluding the broom any one of their hoops before returning to play.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The quaffle is a slightly deflated regulation volleyball that can only be manipulated by chasers or keepers. Used for scoring, it may pass through any hoop from either side. Regardless of which team caused the quaffle to pass through the hoop, as long as it is in play, a goal is scored against the team whose hoop was scored upon, which is counted to be 10 points.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The bludger is a slightly deflated dodgeball that can only be manipulated by beaters. At any given time there are four beaters in play, but only three bludgers. The bludgers are used to hit any other player on the field. Upon being hit by a bludger previously in the possession of an opposing beater, the player suffers the knockout effect. This means they must dismount their broom, drop any ball that they may have been carrying, and touch their team's hoops before resuming play. There is no friendly fire, meaning that bludgers thrown by beaters cannot affect any of their teammates.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The snitch is a tennis ball placed at the bottom of a long yellow pouch that is attached to the back of the snitch runner's shorts as if it were a tail. The snitch runner may do everything in their power to protect the snitch from being caught by seekers, for example pushing, running, or even throwing the player's broom away. Only seekers may make advances towards the snitch or the snitch runner, and no forceful contact with the snitch runner is allowed. If the snitch is not caught within a certain period of time, a series of handicaps go into effect against the runner to limit their freedom of movement, one at a time. In most leagues, the game ends when one of the seekers grabs the snitch, awarding 30 points to their team. However, some leagues are tinkering with snitch rules. For example, in 2019, Major League Quidditch made the snitch worth 40 points. Instead of ending the game, a catch contributed to a "set score" that a team must surpass to win.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: As of the release of Rulebook 8, the snitch is relegated to playing only on the field in the same fashion as the other players. Previously, snitch runners left the pitch to be pursued by seekers returning to the field after a predetermined amount of time.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: USQ (originally IQA) has released 15 iterations of the Rulebook, each building upon the last. The modern IQA has released 5 iterations of the Rulebook since it split from USQ.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Each match begins with six of the starting players (excluding the seekers) along the starting line within their keeper zone with brooms on the ground and the four balls lined in the centre of the pitch. The head referee then calls "brooms up!" at which players run to gain possession of the balls. After brooms up is called, the seekers must not interfere with other positions, and wait near the pitch until the end of the seeker floor, usually 18 minutes. The snitch goes on the field at 17 minutes, and the seekers are released at 18 minutes.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Play runs rapidly, with quick change-of-hands of the quaffle, because every goal (each being worth 10 points) scored against a team gives that team the ball. Once a point is scored, the quaffle must be given to the other team's keeper, and almost immediately returns to the offensive with the chasers returning to their keeper zone or proper side of the pitch; beaters are not bound to return to their side of the pitch nor exit the opposing team's keeper zone at any point. Games can last any length of time longer than 18 minutes, depending on the skill and endurance of the seekers and snitch. Many tournaments introduce snitch handicaps, such as asking the snitch to use only one hand, no hands, or remain on the centre line, to ensure games fit within reasonable time slots.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The game is won only after the snitch has been caught cleanly, and the team that caught the snitch is awarded 30 points. The winner is determined not by the snitch catch but by the number of points earned; thus it is not unknown for teams that are losing by a wide margin to try delaying a snitch catch so that they can narrow the opponents' lead, along with the reverse, with the winning team trying to extend their lead.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Depending on the severity of the foul, a player found committing an illegal play will result in a blue, yellow, and/or a red card. Cards are issued at the discretion of the Head Referee. If need be the Head Referee may consult with their AR's (Assistant Referees) to determine which card should be given to the offending player.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: When a blue card is issued, it is considered to be a non-stacking yellow card, and can either result in being sent back to hoops or spend one minute in the penalty box. When a yellow card is issued, the player must sit in the penalty box for one minute and the rest of the team plays a person down for that minute. If the opposing team scores before the minute is up then the player will be allowed to return to the game. They are still considered off-broom and must tag their team's hoops to resume play. If a player receives two yellow cards, then they are ejected from the game but do not receive a red card. If a player receives a red card, then that player is barred from the rest of the game and the player's team has to continue with a player down for two minutes.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: If a Keeper is sent to the penalty box, they must give their headband to another chaser on their team, both teams are required to have a keeper on the pitch at all times.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Contact rules are fairly straightforward and are similar to other contact sports. Tackles are legal between the knees and shoulders. Two-handed tackling is allowed. All tackles must be initiated from the front side of the opposing player. Any back tackles made will result in a yellow card, however, if the player turns their back into the tackle with no chance for adjustment, it is not considered illegal. Players can only tackle other players of their same position (with keepers considered chasers) if they have the ball. Pushes are allowed if the arm is held straight; it is illegal to push if the arm is bent and then extended when pushing another player. Players are not allowed to dive for balls, slide into contact, trip opposing players, or initiate contact around the neck or over the shoulder. If a player is found making any of these offences it will result in a card depending on the severity of the offence.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: After several various types of illegal play, after an injury, or after a snitch catch, the head referee will blow their whistle three times to indicate stoppage of play, in which every player must drop in place their broom.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The snitch can no longer leave the pitch and is also subject to 'brooms down' (which is when play stops and no one can change location or headband), but can 'take a knee' by having any part of their body except their feet touch the floor. In this case, the seekers cannot advance towards the snitch at all until three seconds after the snitch is back up – if they do so, they will be sent back to hoops.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The quidditch pitch is usually marked with cones or with painted lines, and it is where all play occurs (a rectangle of around the pitch). Balls are not allowed to be kicked off the pitch under penalty, nor is play allowed in the spectator zones. Players are asked to return to the pitch when play continues out of bounds.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: On the edge of the pitch is a penalty box where players who have committed fouls that warrant yellow cards are sent for one minute.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Each official game requires having several referees present as well as an official snitch. The referees consist of:


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The snitch runner, being a neutral player and assistant referee, may help the referees to determine whether or not the catch was clean.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The rules of quidditch have changed significantly as the sport has developed over time. New rulebooks are released approximately every one or two years.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The release of Rulebook 8 coincided partially with the reformation of the IQA. As USQ released the rulebook, the IQA chose to adopt the eighth iteration as the de facto international standard where the proceeding rulebook will be released under the guise of the IQA. The changes from Rulebook 7 to Rulebook 8 were minimal except in two areas: blue cards and snitching.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: A technical foul results in a blue card on a player where that player must substitute with another player of the same position. The substitution does not, however, result in a power play for the other team, and play is not stopped when this card is rendered. A play may accrue an unlimited number of technical fouls during a match.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Snitching also changed in Rulebook 8 resulting in the deletion of off-pitch seeking. Where before, the snitch would be "released" before each match by running off the pitch during a set amount of time, now the snitch is released to the field, limited to the playing area, at 17 minutes (the seekers being released at 18 minutes). Many NGBs chose to continue playing under Rulebook 7 rules.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The release of Rulebook 9 coincided partially with the reformation of the IQA. As USQ released the rulebook, the IQA chose to adopt the eighth iteration as the de facto international standard where the proceeding rulebook will be released under the guise of the IQA. The changes from Rulebook 8 to Rulebook 9 were minimal.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Rulebook 9 requires that if a chaser or keeper decides to reset the play by throwing the quaffle back to their side of the pitch, there must be a chaser and/or keeper to receive the quaffle. If there is no one to receive the ball, it will be considered a turnover and the offending team will lose possession of the quaffle.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The release of Rulebook 10 coincided partially with the reformation of the IQA. As USQ released the rulebook, the IQA chose to adopt the eighth iteration as the de facto international standard where the proceeding rulebook will be released under the guise of the IQA. The changes from the Rulebook 9 to 10 were minimal.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Rulebook 10 now requires that once an opposing team has scored, the keeper and or point chaser must keep the ball moving forward at all times. The rulebook has become more strict on tackling and cards are given at the discretion of the head referee. In addition, moving screens are illegal. This means that if a person wishes to screen for another player that has the quaffle, the person setting the screen must have their feet planted.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The 2020-2021 IQA rulebook is notable for making significant changes to several aspects of the game. The most major changes are chaser positioning when restarting play (after third bludger interference and most penalty cards), two yellow cards no longer resulting in a red card, a new setup for the start of games and snitch catches when the catching team is behind no longer ending the game.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The start setup was altered so players no longer line up on their starting line but instead enter the pitch from the side. One bludger starts in the middle of each team's keeper line, whereas the quaffle and third bludger are placed on the midline. One beater and one chaser from each team are chosen as designated runners who line up on the midline. The other players on the team all line up anywhere on the sideline on their half of the pitch, excluding one chaser who acts as the offensive zone chaser and starts on the sideline in the opponents' half.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In the event a team catches the snitch but this results in them still trailing in points (or being in a tie for points), the game now goes into an overtime period where a target score of the non-catching team's score plus 30 points is set. The first team to reach the target score wins the game, however either team may concede at any time during this overtime period. Catches that result in the catching team leading in points still end the game immediately with the catching team winning.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The upcoming 2022 IQA rulebook will add in two-arm wrappings and tackling, allow initiating contact from behind if a player has come to a complete stop and extend the seeker floor from 17 to 20 minutes (bringing it in line with the current USQ/MLQ seeker floor). It also adds other minor rules such as required extra breaks during high heat or humidity, allowing plastic shin guards and metal cleats, penalizing beats thrown to the head from less than 5 meters away and new rules about specific scenarios with regard to resetting and stalled quaffles.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: One additional change was proposed but failed receive enough votes which was a "3 maximum" gender rule that would allow teams to only have up to a maximum of 3 players of the same gender on pitch before the seeker floor (compared to the current 4 maximum of the same gender on pitch at any time). QuadballUK have decided to implement this rule change starting in 2023.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The International Quidditch Association serves as the central governing body for quidditch worldwide and helps to coordinate with national associations around the world through the IQA Congress. Previously, The IQA held a World Cup for qualifying members of the association at the end of every season, the first being held in 2007, ending in 2014 with its restructuring. Now, the IQA hosts World Cups featuring national teams, as well as Continental Games in the years between World Cups.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Each nation in which quidditch is played has or is in the process of developing a national organisation. The job of the national organisation is to organise quidditch within the country, create membership policies for teams, organize referees, snitches, and coaches and be the bridge between that nation's teams and the IQA.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Previously known as the Global Games and Summer Games, the World Cup is the IQA's tournament for national teams. It takes place every 2 years and any quidditch-playing nation is offered the chance at competing on the world level at this tournament. The next tournament will be held in Richmond, United States in 2023.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The original World Cup was titled "Summer Games" to match the Olympics being held in London, United Kingdom. July 2012 saw 5 national teams from around the world compete in this first international tournament run by the IQA, taking place in University Parks, Oxford, England. The five teams were from the US, Canada, France, UK, and Australia.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Similar to the World Cup, the European Games is an international tournament open to national teams. Inclusion within the European Games is limited to members of the European Committee (also known as Quidditch Europe or QEurope). The first European Games were held in Sarteano, Italy in July 2015.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The European Quidditch Cup, also known as EQC and formerly known as the European Quidditch Championship, is a yearly championship tournament for teams in Europe. EQC began first in France in Lesparre-Médoc on 13 October 2012 where a minimal number of teams attended due to the fact that quidditch was only recently introduced to Europe. The tournament quickly grew however and during the 2015–2016 season, Gallipoli, Italy, hosted EQC IV on 16–17 April 2016, with 40 teams attending from 13 countries. The next European Quidditch Cup will be held in Mechelen, Belgium, on 25–26 March 2017, and will see 32 attending teams from 15 countries.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The inaugural Asian Quidditch Cup took place between the 30 and 31 July 2016 in Malaysia. It was held again in 2017 and held biennially to match the World Cup/Regional tournament alternations. The teams that competed at the inaugural Asian Quidditch Cup were the Australian National University Owls (ANU), Damansara Dementors, and Subang Chimaeras. The ANU Owls emerged champions.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Canadian Nationals is the national championship tournament for Quidditch Canada. The 2014–2015 national championship was held in Burnaby, British Columbia on 28 March 2015. Its precursors, East and West Regionals, were held in Kingston, Ontario and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan on 1 and 7 February 2015, respectively.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Major League Quidditch (MLQ) was founded in 2015. MLQ features standardized schedules, officiation, statistics, and live or previously recorded footage of all games. The league included eight teams across the United States and Canada for its inaugural season in the summer of 2015. The league expanded to 16 teams for the 2016 season with the slogan "#16for16". For its third season in 2017, the league introduced practice squads behind the 16 teams, as well as developed a policy to allow league official teams to play unaffiliated teams.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Yearly, the Australian Quidditch Association hosts QUAFL (Quidditch united Australian federated league), an all-Australian championship that determines which Australian team is the best. The first tournament was held in December 2011 at UNSW, Sydney and won by the hosts. The second tournament was hosted by Macquarie University and was won again by the UNSW Snapes on a plane. The tournament in 2013 was held at the University of Western Sydney on 30 November and 1 December. The winning team was the Perth Phoenixes. Melbourne Manticores defeated UNSW Snapes On A Plane in the 2014 tournament final held at Macquarie University. The same teams would make the 2015 tournament final, held at Monash University, where the Manticores would once again emerge triumphant. Wrackspurts QC from Victoria took out the 2016 tournament held at the Australian Institute of Sport. Most recently in the 2017 tournament held at the same location as 2016, the Whomping Willows of Victoria (in their first year as a team) took out the QUAFL cup.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Beginning in 2017, the Quidditch Premier League (QPL) is a league in the United Kingdom that, as of 2019, is split into four divisions and 17 teams.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The US Quidditch Cup (previously known as the IQA World Cup or Quidditch World Cup) is the national championship tournament for US Quidditch. The tournament is a continuation of the IQA's original "Quidditch World Cup", having changed names for the 2015–2016 season and US Quidditch Cup 9. The change came about as the IQA shifted to become solely an international governing body for the sport and USQ took over quidditch governance in the United States. Each year, teams from around the United States compete at their respective regional championships to qualify for the US Quidditch Cup tournament held at the end of the college school year. In the 2017–2018 season, USQ introduced separate divisions for college and community/club teams.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The goal of the USQ Championships is to compete to see which team is the best in the United States. USQ membership policy dictates that any team outside the US will be eligible to compete in this and any other USQ tournament as long as they pay the membership fees in full, but, to date, only two teams outside the US have registered as such: University of British Columbia's A and B teams. This policy, however, has since been discontinued. The first US Quidditch Cup champion, since the forming of a separate USQ nationals, was Quidditch Club Boston (QCB) in 2016.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The IQA World Cup is the former "world" championship of quidditch, which was held yearly in the United States. As it was maintained by the former IQA, it was almost a purely US-based tournament, seeing little turnout from teams outside of the country. This tournament was discontinued in 2014 when the IQA took on its new role as an international sports federation, choosing instead to host the then-Global Games now-World Cup as a world championship with individual teams relying on their national governing body for a culminating tournament.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: The British Quidditch Cup was first held in Oxford, England, on 9 and 10 November 2013, and was won by the Oxford University's first team, The Radcliffe Chimeras. The BQC was repeated on the weekend of 7 March 2015 held in Wollaton Park, Nottingham. At this tournament, the defending Champions, The Radcliffe Chimeras, were defeated in the final by Southampton Quidditch Club 1, with Keele Squirrels coming third. In total 24 teams were registered to compete with 23 doing so.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Also significant in the UK are the two regional tournaments – Northern Cup and Southern Cup. Originally devised as independently organised tournaments by Keele University Quidditch Club in March 2014, and the Southampton Quidditch Club the following November, the inaugural tournaments were won by Bangor Broken Broomsticks and Radcliffe Chimeras. The tournaments were then taken over by QuadballUK, to ensure consistency between the two, as the tournaments are now used as qualification criteria for the European Quidditch Cup. The second Northern Cup took place on the 31 October–1 November 2015, and was won by Nottingham Nightmares, who defeated Durhamstrang in the final. The second Southern Cup took place on the 14–15 November and was won by the Radcliffe Chimeras, who defeated Warwick Quidditch Club in the final. The following year, the Velociraptors won Northern and Warwick Quidditch Club Southern. The top three teams from each regional tournament (from Northern: the Velociraptors, Durhamstrang, and Tornadoes Quidditch Club and from Southern: Warwick Quidditch Club, Werewolves of London, and Brizzlebears) qualified for the European Quidditch Cup, which took place on the 25–26 March 2017.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In 2017, the increasing number of teams led to the introduction of the Development Cup, or Dev Cup for short, where teams that did not qualify for BQC could play. The style is a round-robin tournament, leading to all teams playing eight games (in the first one) over two days. The first winners of this were the Liverpuddly Cannons, who won all of their games.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Other long-standing tournaments include the Annual Mercian Cup, a mercenary tournament hosted by Derby Union Quidditch, Highlander Cup hosted by the Edinburgh Holyrood Hippogriffs, Reading University's Whiteknights Tournament, and Oxford's unique Valentines Cup, a fantasy tournament where players signed up in pairs. Since awareness of quidditch in the UK is rising exponentially, every year new tournaments are being devised.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Each season, regions generally host one to two larger tournaments, mostly following the North American/European school model of two terms (autumn-winter, winter-spring) where there is one larger tournament per semester in addition to that region's regional championship.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Fantasy tournaments are tournaments where players sign up individually and are seeded to teams at a drawing by the team captains. Each year, there are quite a few fantasy tournaments, with greater numbers being during June–August during the off-season.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Since its inception, quidditch has sought gender equality on the pitch. One of the most important requirements within the sport is its 'four maximum' rule:


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: In 2013, US Quidditch created Title , a branch of the IQA that actively promotes advocacy and awareness as well as gender equality and inclusivity, whose role moved on to the IQA under its "Initiatives". The sport has also been illustrated to yield a positive experience for athletes of all genders, increased desires for inclusivity and stereotype reduction. Testimonials include: "The gender rule makes playing safe for me. I'm trans and genderqueer, two reasons I never know which team to join ... so having a non-binary option means I don't have to choose."


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: There are other variants of real-life Quidditch, notably played in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Hungary amongst other places. These variants often play with rules similar to the fictional sport within the "Harry Potter" universe but differ wildly from the IQA rules, including: playing without brooms, brooms serving a different purpose, referees throwing balls to act as snitches, differing bludger and beater roles, riding bicycles instead of brooms, etc.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: A version of "real life" quidditch is also portrayed in the film "The Internship", however it strays wildly from quidditch's ruleset.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: While Middlebury College certainly began the sporting craze for quidditch, an independent form of the sport originated in the early spring of 2007 on the campus of the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia. This version of the sport uses a Flying Disk as its quaffle, dodge balls as bludgers, and a golden-yellow 'super ball' for the snitch. This form of the game (known affectionately as 'Corrigan Quidditch' after its originator, an English professor at the university who taught a "Harry Potter" class that term and developed the game for tournament play as an outgrowth of that course) does not call for players to hold a broom between the legs. Additionally, all of the playing apparatus is located within the playing pitch (quaffle, bludgers, snitch, beater's bats, and keeper's brooms). The two brooms are used only to defend the goals, which rise , , and above the pitch at each end of an elongated octagonal playing field approximately long. 'Corrigan Quidditch', as does the Middlebury version, has its own official rule book but features whimsical offences including a 'Queensbury' (moving both feet whilst holding the quaffle) and an 'Impermissible' (which allows the offended chaser to run with the quaffle (without incurring a Queensbury offence) and make a 'try' at the goals, defended only by the opposing keeper). Play includes non-participating teams who stand around the pitch and take control of both 'bludgering' players as well as 'sending off' the snitch at irregular intervals during play to allow the seekers (who are kept secret during play) to attempt a game-winning catch. 'Corrigan Quidditch' was the form of play originally covered in the world press during that significant summer when the seventh "Harry Potter" book (and fifth "Harry Potter" movie) was released. Unlike the world-popular Middlebury version, 'Corrigan Quidditch' remains a local event still played on its originating campus.


title: Quidditch (real-life sport)

text: Modified rules with less contact have been used for younger (school age) players. These rules include no tackling, modified hoops, and a little lee-way on calls made by referees.


title: Kathryn Walker

text: Walker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wells College in Aurora, New York, and was a Fulbright Scholar in music and drama.


title: Kathryn Walker

text: Walker's career began on the off-Broadway New York stage with her performance in "Slag" in 1971. On Broadway she appeared in "The Good Doctor" (1974), "A Touch of the Poet" (1977), "Private Lives" (1983) and "Wild Honey" (1986), among others. She also has been a sporadic presence on daytime drama, including "Search for Tomorrow" and "Another World", and received an Emmy award for her outstanding performance as First Lady Abigail Adams in PBS's 13-part epic miniseries "The Adams Chronicles" (1976). On film, she has co-starred or played secondary femme roles in "Blade" (1973), "Slap Shot" (1977), "Girlfriends" (1978), and "Rich Kids" (1979), and she also played John Belushi's wife in the dark, oddball comedy "Neighbors" (1981). Walker also narrated the 2004 PBS reality series, "Colonial House," based on the format of experiential history.


title: Kathryn Walker

text: With the late William Alfred, she co-founded The Athens Street Company. In 1997, she was Rothschild Artist in Residence at Radcliffe College. Her six-part documentary series "The Millennium Journal" has been shown on the PBS cable channel, Metro Arts. Over the years, she has become a strong force outside of acting. She has helmed many of the 92nd Street Y's classical theater productions, directing and/or adapting such plays as Euripides' "Hekabe" (2004); Sophocles' "Elektra" (2002); Euripides' "Medea" (2001); "The Bacchae of Euripides" (2000); and her own adaptation of Fagles' "The Iliad" (2006). She lives in both New York City and Tesuque, New Mexico.


title: Kathryn Walker

text: Walker's relationship with writer Douglas Kenney lasted until his death in 1980 at the age of 33. She was married to singer James Taylor from 1985 to 1996.


title: Kathryn Walker

text: Walker was portrayed in the film "Burton & Taylor" by Sarah Hadland, and by Emmy Rossum in the film "A Futile and Stupid Gesture".


title: Vincent Tan

text: Vincent Tan Chee Yioun (; born 1952) is a Malaysian Chinese businessman and investor. He is the founder of Berjaya Corporation Berhad, a diversified conglomerate listed on the Malaysian stock exchange. Besides holding stakes through the Berjaya Corporation group of companies, Tan's other stakes include interest in internet–related businesses, water utilities, media, retail and telecommunications.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In 2010, he entered the Forbes billionaire list with an estimated worth of USD 1.6 billion (RM4.2 billion). Tan's success in the Malaysian business sector has been attributed in part to his close association with prominent Malay political figures.


title: Vincent Tan

text: Tan had originally planned to study law in New Zealand, but as his father's business was failing, he found work as a clerk in a bank instead. He then sold life insurance for AIA and became an agency manager at AIA by the age of 23.


title: Vincent Tan

text: Tan then started private companies in trading, credit, general insurance and real estate. He started a joint venture with Tokio Marine & Fire Insurance that became United Prime Insurance. In 1981, he won a McDonald's franchise in Malaysia, took an advance operations course at Hamburger University, and became the managing director of McDonald's Malaysia in 1982.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In 1984, Tan moved into Berjaya, which purchased 48% of the consumer durables company Regnis the same year. Tan had association with the then finance minister Daim Zainuddin. In 1985, Tan bought 51% of Sports Toto from the Malaysian government. Pre-tax profit of Sports Toto rose from RM 5 million in 1985 to RM 36 by April 1989. He injected his shares in Sports Toto into Berjaya to gain control of Berjaya. In 1988, he swapped his shares in Berjaya for Raleigh Bhd, a lost-making company linked to Daim, which was then renamed Inter-Pacific and turned into Berjaya's holding company. Under his leadership, Berjaya's pretax profit rose from RM 700,000 in 1984 to RM 70 million in 1989.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In 2010, Tan received a gaming license for his wholly owned subsidiary Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd. However the license was revoked in October 2010, and as of July 2018 the government said it had no plans to reissue it.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In May 2010, Tan became the owner of Cardiff City after a consortium of Malaysian investors (led by Dato Chan Tien Ghee) bought 30% of the club's shares.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In May 2012, the consortium said they would invest £100 million to increase the stadium's capacity and build a new training ground, providing they were given permission to rebrand the club from blue to red. The plans sparked outrage among Cardiff supporters, who quickly organised an emergency meeting to discuss how they would respond to the proposal. The plans were subsequently dropped.


title: Vincent Tan

text: One month later, the club went ahead with the rebranding, to expand Cardiff's appeal in foreign markets. Cardiff's badge was redesigned to include a red dragon, while their home kit was changed from blue to red. The club's £30 million debt to the Langston Corporation was also cleared.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In April 2013, following Cardiff's promotion to the Premier League, Tan promised to spend £25 million to help Cardiff establish themselves in the top flight, and publicly stated his interest in listing his 36.1% stake on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE). An initial public offering (IPO) would sell shares in the club to the public for the first time, in an attempt to gain capital to expand the business.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In October 2013, Tan created more controversy after suspending Iain Moody, the club's head of recruitment, who had apparently overspent by £15 million during the summer transfer window. Moody was initially added to the backroom staff by then manager Malky Mackay, and helped Cardiff sign several players ahead of their inaugural Premier League campaign. He was replaced by Alisher Apsalyamovby, a 23-year-old Kazakh who was previously on work experience with the club and is a friend of Tan's son. A few months later, following an investigation over Apsalyamovby's visa, he was forced to leave the club.


title: Vincent Tan

text: Despite going over budget during the summer, Mackay publicly stated his plans to boost his squad during the January transfer window, which upset Tan, who said that no money would be made available. Mackay said he would not resign following Tan's criticism, and was subsequently backed by Cardiff fans. Towards the end of December, Tan told Mackay to resign or be sacked. He managed two more games before being sacked. After his sacking, it was alleged that Mackay had sent texts of an anti-Chinese nature, which was defended by Dave Whelan, owner of his subsequent employers Wigan Athletic. Tan responded by calling both of them racists, and saying "I hope that stops at two racists in Wigan, not snowballing to 2,000 or 20,000 racists in Wigan."


title: Vincent Tan

text: On 2 January 2014, former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjær was hired as Mackay's replacement, but he was unable to save Cardiff from relegation. Solskjær left the club later that year and was replaced by Russell Slade.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In October 2016, Tan hired Neil Warnock, at the time the oldest working coach in Britain, as manager. By 2018, Cardiff City was promoted to the Premier League once again. In their one season back in the Premier League, they finished 18th and were relegated back to the Championship.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In December 2013 Tan bought Bosnian club FK Sarajevo. Under the deal, Cardiff will cooperate with FK Sarajevo, exchanging players and taking part in a football academy, yet to be established, which Tan has said will lure new talents. FK Sarajevo have since brought in players such as Miloš Stojčev, Džemal Berberović and Nemanja Bilbija, who helped the club win the 2013–14 Bosnian Cup, their first title since winning the domestic Premier League in 2006–07. Prior to the Cup triumph, Robert Jarni was brought in as manager of the club in December 2013 by Tan, but was dismissed after only four months (on 7 April 2014, while the team were still in the semi-finals of the Bosnian Cup) because the club had failed to keep their chances of winning the premier league title alive during the later stages of the 2013-14 season. In July 2014 FK Sarajevo played a friendly match against Tan's Cardiff City FC U21, winning 4–1. FK Sarajevo qualified for the Play-off round of the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League, where they lost to German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In May 2014, the heaviest rains and floods in 120 years hit Bosnia and the surrounding region. The worst affected areas were the towns of Doboj and Maglaj, which were cut off from the rest of the country when all major roads flooded. Damage from landslides and floods was estimated to run into hundreds of millions of euros and twenty-four people were killed. The cost of the disaster, officials said, could exceed that of the Bosnian War. In June 2014, Tan made a personal donation of €114,000, while the people of Malaysia raised a total of €169,000 toward Bosnia's flood relief fund.


title: Vincent Tan

text: On 17 July 2014, during the halftime break of the Europa League qualifying match between FK Sarajevo and Norwegian club FK Haugesund at the Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo, Tan presented pledges of assistance of €255,000 each to two hospitals in Doboj and Maglaj, to be used for medical equipment. He said in a pre-match interview, "Because of my involvement with Sarajevo Football Club, when I heard about the floods, I urged the "Sun" newspaper to run a campaign to raise donations to help Bosnia."


title: Vincent Tan

text: KV Kortrijk was bought for 5 million euro by Vincent Tan on 12 May 2015. In 2019, Tan has convinced the club to sign Malaysian teen sensation Luqman Hakim Shamsudin of Selangor F.C. for a five-year contract.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In 2014, it was announced that Tan was part of a large ownership group involved with Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC, who joined the league in 2018.


title: Vincent Tan

text: Reports from 2017 indicate that Tan is looking to sell Cardiff City, his stake in Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles FC, and his professional teams in Bosnia and Belgium.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In April 2014, Tan (through one of his representatives) bought a two-year-old colt from Doncaster Bloodstock Breeze-Up Sales for £190,000. It will be trained by Australian Jeremy Gask in Wiltshire. Eamonn Wilmott, Gask's business partner, said: "We are very excited, and pleased to have Mr Tan involved. The horse looks exceptional and dominated the parade rings outside the sales."


title: Vincent Tan

text: Tan is the founder of the Better Malaysia Foundation, which provides interest-free loans and scholarships to students in need. In 2011 he was featured on Forbes Asia's list of Heroes of Philanthropy due to his pledge to donate half his fortune to social causes.


title: Vincent Tan

text: In 2017 Vincent Tan donated RM500,000 to Mercy Malaysia and Tzu Chi Malaysia, bringing the total sum of his donations to both organizations to RM7.6 million.


title: India de Beaufort

text: De Beaufort is of British and Indian background. Her maternal grandfather was born in Calcutta, where his family lived for around 350 years. She has stated that her surname, "de Beaufort", comes from distant French ancestry. She attended Esher College in Surrey, England.


title: India de Beaufort

text: In 1994, de Beaufort appeared in a music video, "Every Woman Knows", for the artist Lulu, and in 1996 had a brief appearance as an orphan child in an episode of Penelope Keith's "Next of Kin".


title: India de Beaufort

text: In 2002, aged 15, de Beaufort signed to Entertainment Rights as a singer-songwriter and actress, In the same year she was cast as a principal character in the BAFTA nominated "The Basil Brush Show" as India Beau. De Beaufort went on to shoot three seasons with the show, and also performed as a featured artist on the Christmas single "Boom Boom, Its Basil Brush". The song remained on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks at position 44. During de Beaufort's time with the cast of the CBBC sitcom, she performed at Proms in the Park and took part in a nationwide tour.


title: India de Beaufort

text: In 2006, de Beaufort was cast as Maya in Simon Pegg's "Run Fatboy Run", directed by David Schwimmer. She has said that this production switched her path from singer to actress. In 2008, de Beaufort was cast as the pagan warrior Aneka in BBC/Comedy Central parody series, "Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire". The comedy was shot in Budapest, Hungary.


title: India de Beaufort

text: In 2009, de Beaufort joined the cast of The CW teen drama series "One Tree Hill" as Miranda Stone during the seventh season.


title: India de Beaufort

text: From 2010 to 2012, de Beaufort played India Jourdain in the ABC Family comedy-drama series "Jane by Design". She later had the recurring roles in "Necessary Roughness" and "Chicago P.D." She also guest starred on "Chuck", "How I Met Your Mother", "Castle" and "The Night Shift". From 2014 to 2017, de Beaufort did her first voice role as Clover in the Netflix show "All Hail King Julien".


title: India de Beaufort

text: In 2015, de Beaufort was cast as Jules Jackman in the ABC prime-time television soap opera "Blood & Oil". In 2016, de Beaufort was cast in recurring roles on "Younger" and "". She also guest starred on "2 Broke Girls". In 2017, de Beaufort joined the cast of "Veep". She was also cast in the ABC pilot "The Gospel of Kevin", later changed to "Kevin (Probably) Saves the World"; it was picked up to series and premiered on 3 October 2017.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The Haji Ali Dargah is a mosque and dargah or the monument of Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari located on an islet off the coast of Worli in the southern Mumbai.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: An exquisite example of Indo-Islamic Architecture, associated with legends about doomed lovers, the dargah contains the tomb of Haji Ali Shah Bukhari. Bukhari was a Sufi saint and a wealthy merchant from Uzbekistan. Near the heart of the city proper, the dargah is one of the most recognisable landmarks of Mumbai.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The Haji Ali Dargah was constructed in 1431 in memory of a wealthy Muslim merchant, Sayyed Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari, who gave up all his worldly possessions before making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Hailing from Bukhara, in present-day Uzbekistan, Bukhari travelled around the world in the early to mid 15th century, and eventually settled in present-day Mumbai.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: According to legends surrounding his life, once the saint saw a poor woman crying on the road, holding an empty vessel. He asked her what the problem was, she sobbed that her husband would thrash her as she stumbled and accidentally spilled the oil she was carrying. He asked her to take him to the spot where she spilt the oil. There, he jabbed a finger into the soil and the oil gushed out. The overjoyed woman filled up the vessel and went home.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: Later, Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari had a recurring and disturbing dream that he had injured Earth by his act. Full of remorse and grief from that day he started keeping unwell. Then with the permission of his mother, he traveled to India with his brother and finally reached the shore of Mumbai – near Worli or at some place opposite the present tomb. His brother went back to their native place. Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari sent a letter with him to their mother informing her that he was keeping good health and that he had decided to reside at that place permanently for the spread of Islam and that she should forgive him.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: Until his death he kept spreading knowledge about Islam to the people and his devotees would regularly visit him. Before his death he advised his followers that they should not bury him at any proper place or graveyard and should drop his shroud ('kafan') in the ocean such that it should be buried by the people where it is found.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: His wish was obeyed by his followers. That is why the Dargah Sharief is built at the very site where his Shroud came to rest in the middle of the sea where it perched on a small mound of rocks rising above the sea. The Tomb and Dargah Sharief were built in the years to come.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: On Thursdays and Fridays, the shrine is visited by an enormous number of pilgrims. Irrespective of faith and religion, people visit the dargah to get the blessings of the holy saint. Sometimes, especially on Fridays, various Sufi musicians perform a form of devotional music called Qawwali at the dargah.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The "Dargah" is built on a tiny islet located 500 meters from the coast, in the middle of Worli Bay, in the vicinity of Worli. The edifice is a brilliant specimen of the Indo-Islamic style of architecture. The islet is linked to the city precinct of Mahalakshmi by a narrow causeway, which is nearly a kilometre (0.62 mile) long.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The accessibility to the dargah is dependent on the tides. As the causeway is not bound by railings, when the causeway gets submerged during high tide it becomes inaccessible. Therefore, the "dargah" is accessible only during low tide. This walk on the causeway, with the sea on both sides, is one of the highlights of a trip to the shrine.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The whitewashed structure occupies an area of a marble courtyard contains the central shrine. The tomb within the mosque is covered by a brocaded red and green "chaddar" (tomb cover sheet). It is supported by an exquisite silver frame, supported by marble pillars. The main hall has marble pillars embellished with artistic mirror work: blue, green, yellow chips of glass arranged in kaleidoscopic patterns interspersed with Arabic patterns which spell the ninety-nine names of Allah. As per the Muslim traditions separate praying rooms for ladies and gents are provided here to pay their respects. During the high tide, the dargah seems completely isolated with no access.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The six-hundred-year-old dargah structure constantly erodes, due to saline winds and the impact of 80,000 visitors per week. While extensive renovations were carried out in 1960 and 1964, the most recent structural upgrade of the dargah started in October 2008. The dargah will be beautified with first and second quality white marble, which will be brought from Makrana, Rajasthan, the same place from where marble for the Taj Mahal was brought.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: The repair and structural work is envisaged to take twenty-four months to be conducted in two phases. "Phase One" will involve reconstruction of the mosque and minarets, "Phase Two" will involve renovation of the sanitarium building. When the reconstruction work is complete, the holy shrine will have the feel of a "taj" right in Mumbai's brackish sea water.


title: Haji Ali Dargah

text: 'Haji Ali for all' is a feminist movement launched by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and Bhumata Brigade to secure equal 'right to pray' even near sanctum sanctorum i.e. traditional patriarchal prohibited area. On 26 August 2016, the Bombay High Court ruled that women could enter the sanctum sanctorum. The trust of the shrine informed the Supreme Court on 24 October that women will be allowed to enter it in a month. Women were allowed to enter the shrine on 29 November 2016, after a ban imposed on them in June 2012.


title: Identity and Democracy

text: Identity and Democracy (, ID) is a right-wing to far-right political group of the European Parliament, launched on 13 June 2019 for the Ninth European Parliament term. It is composed of nationalist, right-wing populist and eurosceptic national parties from ten European nations. It is the successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom group formed during the eighth term.


title: Identity and Democracy

text: In April 2019, the Danish People's Party and the Finns Party (at the time members of the European Conservatives and Reformists) announced their intention to form a new grouping with Alternative for Germany, formerly of the ECR, ENF and EFDD groups, and Italy's League following the 2019 elections. AfD spokesman Jörg Meuthen appeared alongside Northern League leader Matteo Salvini to formally announce the formation of the new European political alliance with the Finns Party and Danish People's Party which was provisionally named "European Alliance for People and Nations".


title: Identity and Democracy

text: On 12 June 2019, it was announced that the group would be named "Identity and Democracy" (ID), include Italy's League (LSP), the French National Rally (RN) and Alternative for Germany as member parties, and be a successor to the Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF). The Finns Party also joined the group. Lega MEP Marco Zanni was announced as the new group's chairman. The group, composed at that time of 73 MEPs, was launched in Brussels by RN leader Marine Le Pen on 13 June 2019. It was expanded to include former ENF members Vlaams Belang and the Freedom Party of Austria, as well the new Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party from the Czech Republic and the Conservative People's Party of Estonia.


title: Identity and Democracy

text: The Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV) failed to secure any seats at the election; however, it gained one in the post-Brexit apportionment of seats. Before Brexit occurred, Party leader Geert Wilders stated his intention to align the PVV with ID, provided that the post-Brexit apportionment was confirmed by the European Council. PVV MEP Marcel de Graaff subsequently took the seat, but in 2022 defected to the Forum for Democracy, citing his support for the FvD's policies against the COVID-19 vaccine. The FvD accordingly changed it affiliation from the ECR group to Identity and Democracy.


title: Identity and Democracy

text: The group lists its core priorities as protecting European cultural heritage and the sovereignty of European nations, creating jobs and growth, increasing security, stopping illegal immigration, regulating legal immigration, fighting EU bureaucracy and preventing what it describes as the potential Islamisation of Europe. Identity and Democracy also opposes the possible accession of Turkey to the European Union. The group calls for a Europe based on cooperation and further reforms of the EU through "more transparency and accountability" at Brussels, but rejects any further evolution towards a European Superstate. Political commentators have variously described Identity and Democracy as nationalist, right-wing populist and Eurosceptic, although the group emphasises itself as sovereigntist as opposed to "anti-European".


title: Jean Renoir

text: Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. As a film director and actor, he made more than forty films from the silent era to the end of the 1960s. His films "La Grande Illusion" (1937) and "The Rules of the Game" (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greatest films ever made. He was ranked by the BFI's "Sight & Sound" poll of critics in 2002 as the fourth greatest director of all time. Among numerous honours accrued during his lifetime, he received a Lifetime Achievement Academy Award in 1975 for his contribution to the motion picture industry. Renoir was the son of the painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir and the uncle of the cinematographer Claude Renoir. He was one of the first filmmakers to be known as an "auteur".


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir was born in the Montmartre district of Paris, France. He was the second son of Aline (née Charigot) Renoir and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, the renowned painter. His elder brother was Pierre Renoir, a French stage and film actor, and his younger brother Claude Renoir (1901–1969) had a brief career in the film industry, mostly assisting on a few of Jean's films. Jean Renoir was also the uncle of Claude Renoir (1913–1993), the son of Pierre, a cinematographer who worked with Jean Renoir on several of his films.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir was largely raised by Gabrielle Renard, his nanny and his mother's cousin, with whom he developed a strong bond. Shortly before his birth, she had come to live with the Renoir family. She introduced the young boy to the Guignol puppet shows in Montmartre, which influenced his later film career. He wrote in his 1974 memoirs "My Life and My Films", "She taught me to see the face behind the mask and the fraud behind the flourishes. She taught me to detest the cliché." Gabrielle was also fascinated by the new early motion pictures, and when Renoir was only a few years old she took him to see his first film.


title: Jean Renoir

text: As a child, Renoir moved to the south of France with his family. He and the rest of the Renoir family were the subjects of many of his father's paintings. His father's financial success ensured that the young Renoir was educated at fashionable boarding schools, from which, as he later wrote, he frequently ran away.


title: Jean Renoir

text: At the outbreak of World War I, Renoir was serving in the French cavalry. Later, after receiving a bullet in his leg, he served as a reconnaissance pilot. His leg injury left him with a permanent limp, but allowed him to develop his interest in the cinema, since he recuperated with his leg elevated while watching films, including the works of Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith and others. After the war, Renoir followed his father's suggestion and tried his hand at making ceramics, but he soon set that aside to create films. He was particularly inspired by Erich von Stroheim's work.


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1924, Renoir directed "Une Vie Sans Joie" or "Catherine," the first of his nine silent films, most of which starred his first wife, Catherine Hessling. She was also his father's last model. At this stage, his films did not produce a return. Renoir gradually sold paintings inherited from his father to finance them.


title: Jean Renoir

text: During the 1930s Renoir enjoyed great success as a filmmaker. In 1931 he directed his first sound films, "On purge bébé" ("Baby's Laxative") and "La Chienne" ("The Bitch"). The following year he made "Boudu Saved from Drowning" ("Boudu sauvé des eaux"), a farcical sendup of the pretensions of a middle-class bookseller and his family, who meet with comic, and ultimately disastrous, results when they attempt to reform a vagrant played by Michel Simon.


title: Jean Renoir

text: By the middle of the decade, Renoir was associated with the Popular Front. Several of his films, such as "The Crime of Monsieur Lange" ("Le Crime de Monsieur Lange", 1935), "Life Belongs to Us" (1936) and "La Marseillaise" (1938), reflect the movement's politics.


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1937, he made "La Grande Illusion", one of his better-known films, starring Erich von Stroheim and Jean Gabin. A film on the theme of brotherhood, relating a series of escape attempts by French POWs during World War I, it was enormously successful. It was banned in Germany, and later in Italy, after having won the Best Artistic Ensemble award at the Venice Film Festival. It was the first foreign language film to receive a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.


title: Jean Renoir

text: He followed it with "The Human Beast" ("La Bête Humaine") (1938), a film noir and tragedy based on the novel by Émile Zola and starring Simone Simon and Jean Gabin. This film also was a cinematic success.


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1939, able to co-finance his own films, Renoir made "The Rules of the Game" ("La Règle du Jeu"), a satire on contemporary French society with an ensemble cast. Renoir played the character Octave, who serves to connect characters from different social strata. The film was his greatest commercial failure, met with derision by Parisian audiences at its premiere. He extensively reedited the work, but without success at the time.


title: Jean Renoir

text: A few weeks after the outbreak of World War II, the film was banned by the government. Renoir was a known pacifist and supporter of the French Communist Party, which made him suspect in the tense weeks before the war began. The ban was lifted briefly in 1940, but after the fall of France that June, it was banned again. Subsequently, the original negative of the film was destroyed in an Allied bombing raid. It was not until the 1950s that French film enthusiasts Jean Gaborit and Jacques Durand, with Renoir's cooperation, reconstructed a near-complete print of the film. Since that time, "The Rules of the Game" has been reappraised and has frequently appeared near the top of critics' polls of the best films ever made.


title: Jean Renoir

text: A week after the disastrous premiere of "The Rules of the Game" in July 1939, Renoir went to Rome with Karl Koch and Dido Freire, subsequently his second wife, to work on the script for a film version of "Tosca". At the age of 45, he became a lieutenant in the French Army Film Service. He was sent back to Italy, to teach film at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome, and resume work on "Tosca". The French government hoped this cultural exchange would help maintain friendly relations with Italy, which had not yet entered the war. He abandoned the project to return to France and make himself available for military service in August 1939.


title: Jean Renoir

text: After Germany invaded France in May 1940, Renoir fled to the United States with Dido Freire. In Hollywood, Renoir had difficulty finding projects that suited him. His first American film, "Swamp Water" (1941), was a drama starring Dana Andrews and Walter Brennan. He co-produced and directed an anti-Nazi film set in France, "This Land Is Mine" (1943), starring Maureen O'Hara and Charles Laughton. "The Southerner" (1945) is a film about Texas sharecroppers that is often regarded as his best American film. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Directing for this work.


title: Jean Renoir

text: "Diary of a Chambermaid" (1946) is an adaptation of the Octave Mirbeau novel, "Le Journal d'une femme de chambre", starring Paulette Goddard and Burgess Meredith. His "The Woman on the Beach" (1947), starring Joan Bennett and Robert Ryan, was heavily reshot and reedited after it fared poorly among preview audiences in California. Both films were poorly received; they were the last films Renoir made in America. At this time, Renoir became a naturalized citizen of the United States.


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1949 Renoir traveled to India to shoot "The River" (1951), his first color film. Based on the novel of the same name by Rumer Godden, the film is both a meditation on human beings' relationship with nature and a coming of age story of three young girls in colonial India. The film won the International Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1951.


title: Jean Renoir

text: After returning to work in Europe, Renoir made a trilogy of color musical comedies on the subjects of theater, politics and commerce: "Le Carrosse d'or" ("The Golden Coach", 1953) with Anna Magnani; "French Cancan" (1954) with Jean Gabin and María Félix; and "Eléna et les hommes" ("Elena and Her Men", 1956) with Ingrid Bergman and Jean Marais. During the same period Renoir produced Clifford Odets' play "The Big Knife" in Paris. He also wrote his own play, "Orvet", and produced it in Paris featuring Leslie Caron.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir made his next films with techniques adapted from live television. "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe" ("Picnic on the Grass", 1959), starring Paul Meurisse and Catherine Rouvel, was filmed on the grounds of Pierre-Auguste Renoir's home in Cagnes-sur-Mer, and "Le Testament du docteur Cordelier" ("The Testament of Doctor Cordelier", also 1959), starring Jean-Louis Barrault, was made in the streets of Paris and its suburbs.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir's penultimate film, "Le Caporal épinglé" ("The Elusive Corporal", 1962), with Jean-Pierre Cassel and Claude Brasseur, is set among French POWs during their internment in labor camps by the Nazis during World War II. The film explores the twin human needs for freedom, on the one hand, and emotional and economic security, on the other.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir's loving memoir of his father, "Renoir, My Father" (1962) describes the profound influence his father had on him and his work. As funds for his film projects were becoming harder to obtain, Renoir continued to write screenplays for income. He published a novel, "The Notebooks of Captain Georges", in 1966. "Captain Georges" is the nostalgic account of a wealthy young man's sentimental education and love for a peasant girl, a theme also explored earlier in his films "Diary of a Chambermaid" and "Picnic on the Grass".


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir's last film is "Le Petit théâtre de Jean Renoir" ("The Little Theatre of Jean Renoir"), released in 1970. The film is a series of three short films made in a variety of styles. It is, in many ways, one of his most challenging, avant-garde and unconventional works.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Unable to obtain financing for his films and suffering declining health, Renoir spent his last years receiving friends at his home in Beverly Hills, and writing novels and his memoirs.


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1973 Renoir was preparing a production of his stage play, "Carola," with Leslie Caron and Mel Ferrer when he fell ill and was unable to direct. The producer Norman Lloyd, a friend and actor in "The Southerner", took over the direction of the play. It was broadcast in the series program "Hollywood Television Theater" on WNET, Channel 13, New York on February 3, 1973.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir's memoir, "My Life and My Films", was published in 1974. He wrote of the influence exercised by Gabrielle Renard, his nanny and his mother's cousin, with whom he developed a mutual lifelong bond. He concluded his memoirs with the words he had often spoken as a child, "Wait for me, Gabrielle."


title: Jean Renoir

text: In 1975 Renoir received a lifetime Academy Award for his contribution to the motion picture industry. That same year a retrospective of his work was shown at the National Film Theatre in London. Also in 1975, the government of France elevated him to the rank of commander in the Légion d'honneur.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Jean Renoir died in Beverly Hills, California, on February 12, 1979, of a heart attack. His body was returned to France and buried beside his family in the cemetery at Essoyes, Aube, France.


title: Jean Renoir

text: On his death, fellow director and friend Orson Welles wrote an article for the "Los Angeles Times", titled "Jean Renoir: The Greatest of All Directors". Renoir's films have also influenced many other directors, including Satyajit Ray, Éric Rohmer, Luchino Visconti, Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Peter Bogdanovich, François Truffaut, Robert Altman, Errol Morris Martin Scorsese and Mike Leigh.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Jean Renoir has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6212 Hollywood Blvd. Several of his ceramics were collected by Albert Barnes, who was a major patron and collector of Renoir's father. These can be found on display beneath Pierre-Auguste Renoir's paintings at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.


title: Jean Renoir

text: Renoir's son Alain Renoir (1921-2008) became a professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Berkeley and a scholar of medieval English literature.


title: CompuServe

text: CompuServe (CompuServe Information Service, also known by its initialism CIS) was an American online service provider, the first major commercial one in the world – described in 1994 as "the oldest of the Big Three information services (the others are Prodigy and America Online)."