title: Culper Ring

text: The general public was unaware of the Culper Ring's existence until the 1930s. Robert Townsend's identity as "Culper Jr." was discovered in 1929 upon examination of old letters written by Townsend in the Townsend family home. The historian Morton Pennypacker reviewed the letters and noticed that the handwriting in letters from the trunk, written by Robert Townsend, was similar to handwriting in letters written by "Samuel Culper Jr.", in Washington's collection. Other evidence later corroborated Townsend's identity. James Rivington was confirmed by scholars to be a member of the ring only in the 1950s.


title: British Council

text: The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh language in Argentina); encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational co-operation with the United Kingdom. The organisation has been called a soft power extension of UK foreign policy, as well as a tool for propaganda.


title: British Council

text: The British Council is governed by a Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its Chairman is Stevie Spring and its Chief Executive is Scott McDonald.


title: British Council

text: The British Council is a charity governed by Royal Charter. It is also a public corporation and an executive nondepartmental public body (NDPB), sponsored by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Its headquarters are in Stratford, London. Its chair is Stevie Spring, and its CEO Scott McDonald.


title: British Council

text: The British Council's total income in 2014–15 was £973 million principally made up of £154.9 million grant-in-aid received from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; £637 million income from fees and teaching and examinations services; and £164 million from contracts.


title: British Council

text: The British Council works in more than 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the UK and the English language; encouraging cultural, scientific, technological and educational understanding and co-operation; changing people's lives through access to UK education, skills, qualifications, culture and society; and attracting people who matter to the future of the UK and engaging them with the UK's culture, educational opportunities and its diverse, modern, open society.


title: British Council

text: In 2014–15 the British Council spent: £489 million developing a wider knowledge of the English language; £238 million encouraging educational co-operation and promoting the advancement of education; £155 million building capacity for social change; £80 million encouraging cultural, scientific and technological co-operation; and £10 million on governance, tax and trading expenses.


title: British Council

text: The British Council offers face-to-face teaching in more than 80 teaching centres in more than 50 countries


title: British Council

text: Three million candidates took UK examinations with the British Council in more than 850 towns and cities in 2014–15.


title: British Council

text: The British Council jointly runs the global IELTS English-language standardised test with University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations and IDP Education Australia. Over 2.5 million IELTS tests were delivered in 2014–15.


title: British Council

text: In 2014, the British Council launched its first MOOC, Exploring English: Language and Culture, on the UK social learning platform FutureLearn. This was accessed by over 230,000 people.


title: British Council

text: "Peacekeeping English" is a collaboration between the British Council, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Ministry of Defence to improve the English-language skills of military personnel through the Peacekeeping English Project (PEP). PEP is helping train approximately 50,000 military and police service personnel in 28 countries, amongst them Libya, Ethiopia and Georgia.


title: British Council

text: In 2013, the British Council relaunched the global website Education UK for international students interested in a UK education. The site receives 2.2 million visitors per year and includes a search tool for UK courses and scholarships, advice and articles about living and studying in the UK.


title: British Council

text: From 2014 to 2020, the British Council and Ecorys UK jointly administered almost €1 billion of the €14.7 billion Erasmus+ programme offering education, training, youth and sport opportunity for young people in the UK. It was expected that nearly 250,000 will have undertaken activities abroad with the programme.


title: British Council

text: Over 16,000 schools have taken part in an international school partnership or benefited from teacher training through the British Council Connecting Classrooms programmes.


title: British Council

text: ACCELERATE was a leadership programme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the creative arts, run jointly by the British Council and the Australia Council in partnership with Australian state arts agencies, between 2009 and 2016. During that time, 35 people participated in the program, with many alumni going on to excel in their fields.


title: British Council

text: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II hosted the official launch of the UK-India Year of Culture on 27 February 2017 at Buckingham Palace, with Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley representing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The British Council worked with the Palace and British-Indian start-up Studio Carrom to project a peacock, India's national bird, onto the facade of Buckingham Palace.


title: British Council

text: In 2015, the British Council launched fiveFilms4freedom a free, online, 10-day LGBT film festival with the British Film Institute supported by the UN Free & Equal campaign. It was the first global online LGBT film festival. The festival runs a 24-hour campaign to ask people to watch a movie and show that love is a human right. In 2016, films were viewed by over 1.5m people in 179 countries.


title: British Council

text: In October 2015 the British Council announced a global programme with the BBC, British Film Institute, the National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Shakespeare 400 consortium, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Shakespeare's Globe to celebrate Shakespeare's life and work on the 400th anniversary of this death.


title: British Council

text: "Selector Radio" is a weekly two-hour radio show, produced by Folded Wing for the British Council. Originally launched in 2001, the show is now broadcast in more than 30 countries around the world, connecting a global audience to a wide range of music the United Kingdom has to offer, covering a variety of genres from grime, indie, soul, dance and more. The show features interviews, guest DJ mixes and exclusive live sessions from some of the UK's most exciting artists. It avoids many mainstream acts, in favour of emerging talent and underground styles. It has an estimated listenership of over four million people. The show is hosted in the UK by Jamz Supernova – many countries take the English language version of the show and create a new show from the tracks and features, translating the 'links' into local language.


title: British Council

text: The British Council has been running a teacher training programme in North Korea since 2001. In July 2014 the British Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) for cultural and educational exchange.


title: British Council

text: The British Council-supported production of "Love's Labours Lost" in 2005 was the first performance of a Shakespeare play in Afghanistan in more than 17 years. The play was performed in the Afghan language of Dari.


title: British Council

text: The British Council Young Creative Entrepreneurs identify and support talented people from across the creative industries such as the International Young Publisher of the Year, International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year, International Young Music Entrepreneur of the Year and British Council West Africa Arts Program ~ Creative Entrepreneurs 2018 awards.


title: British Council

text: In 2010, Conservative MP Mark Lancaster, the then Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury, the then Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin, and other MPs were involved in rows over expenses incurred on undisclosed taxpayer-funded British Council trips. The British Council's then Chief Executive, Martin Davidson, also faced press criticism for expenses claimed in apparent breach of the British Council's own internal rules for overnight stays in London.


title: British Council

text: In 2007, the Russian government accused the British Council of illegal operation by breaking Russian tax laws and ordered the organisation to close two of its offices. Many believed that the council had become the victim of a diplomatic row between the UK and Russia. In 2018, Russia expelled 23 British diplomats and closed down the British Council (due to lack of regulations of its activities) along with the general consulate in St. Petersburg. The move was reported to be retaliation against the UK's actions toward Russia for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal.


title: British Council

text: The British Council has been a primary partner of the Palestine Festival of Literature since the Festival's beginning in 2008. In 2009, the Israeli police, acting on a court order, closed down the venue scheduled to host the Festival's closing event since there was Palestinian Authority involvement, but the British Council stepped in and the evening was relocated to its grounds.


title: British Council

text: The British Council supports the festival, also known as PalFest. A controversial issue arose in 2012, because PalFest's website states that they endorse the "2004 Palestinian call for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel". Susanna Nicklin, the council's director of literature said in response: "The British Council is a non-political organisation, and we believe that international cultural exchange makes a powerful contribution to a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous world. Therefore, the British Council does not support cultural or academic boycotts."


title: British Council

text: In April 2012, the British Council faced a storm of protest over the exclusion of dissident Chinese writers from The London Book Fair in 2012. Critics included English PEN and journalist Nick Cohen writing in "The Observer", as well as Alastair Niven, a former Literature Director of The British Council itself.


title: British Council

text: In March 2007, the British Council announced its "intention to increase its investment in the Middle East, North Africa and Central and Southern Asia". In June 2007, MPs were told of further closures in Tel Aviv and East Jerusalem (where there had been a British Council Library since 1946). The British Council libraries in Athens and in Belgrade are also to close. Similarly in India, the British Council Libraries at Bhopal and Trivandrum were closed despite protests from library users as part of the Council's policy to "reduce its physical presence" in the country and to divert funds to mega projects in the fields of culture, education, science and research.


title: British Council

text: British Council libraries and offices have also been closed in a number of other countries judged by the British Council to be of little strategic or commercial importance, as it refocused its activities on China and the Persian Gulf area. Council offices were closed in Lesotho, Swaziland, Ecuador and provincial Länder in Germany in 2000–2001 – as well as Belarus – prompting Parliamentary criticism. Subsequent promises by British Council Chair Neil Kinnock to a conference in Edinburgh that the Belarus closure would hopefully prove to be just a "temporary" withdrawal proved illusory. The British Council office in Peru also closed in September 2006 as part of a rethink of its strategy in Latin America. In Italy British Council closed its offices in Turin and Bologna, and reduced the size of offices in Milan and Rome (with the closure of the library in the latter).


title: British Council

text: Charles Arnold-Baker, author of "the Companion to British History" said of the British Council's shift in priorities: "This whole policy is misconstrued from top to bottom. We are going somewhere where we can't succeed and neglecting our friends in Europe who wish us well. The only people who are going to read our books in Beirut or Baghdad are converts already."


title: British Council

text: The article also points out that the Alliance française and the Goethe-Institut, unlike the British Council, are both expanding and replenishing libraries Europe-wide. France opened its new library in Tel Aviv in 2007, just a few months after the British Council closed there and shut down the British Council library in West Jerusalem. In Gaza, the Institut français supports the Gaza municipal library in partnership with the local authority and a municipal twinning link between Gaza City and the French port of Dunkerque. In Oslo British Council informs Norwegian callers that "our office is not open to the public and we do not have an enquiry service". Goethe Institute also has a more visible presence in Glasgow than the British Council. There is now, in contrast, only one British Council office left in Germany – and that is in Berlin.


title: British Council

text: Formally it is to its sponsoring department, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, that the UK Parliamentary Table Office refers any parliamentary questions about the British Council.


title: British Council

text: The effectiveness of British Council efforts to promote higher education in China was examined in the UK by the House of Commons Select Committee on Education and Skills in a report issued in August 2007. It expressed concern that in terms of joint educational programmes involving Chinese universities, the UK lagged behind Australia, USA, Hong Kong, Canada and France. In its evidence to this committee, the British Council had argued that "UK degrees are highly valued by international students for their global recognition. International students adopt an essentially utilitarian view of higher education which is likely to increasingly involve consideration of value for money, including opting for programmes at least partly delivered offshore". As their preferred marketing 'model', the British Council gave the example of India where their UK India Education and Research Initiative is being 'championed' by British multinational oil companies such as BP and Shell, the pharmaceutical giant GSK and arms company BAE Systems.


title: British Council

text: Criticism of British Council marketing efforts in this area have also come from Scotland where "The Sunday Herald" obtained documents under the Freedom of Information Act showing that the British Council's Marketing Co-ordinator in the USA had been referring to the University of Stirling as 'The University of Sterling' (sic) and also documenting 'tensions' between Scottish Executive civil servants and British Council in India and China over overseas promotion of universities in Scotland where education is a devolved responsibility. "The Sunday Herald" reported that these turf wars were undermining the Scottish Executive's key Fresh Talent policy.


title: British Council

text: Some of the activities of the British Council were examined in 2007/08 by the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO's report, "The British Council: Achieving Impact", concluded "that the British Council's performance is strong and valued by its customers and stakeholders". It also concluded, however, that its English classes are elitist and have unfair advantages over commercial providers, as well as questioning thousands of unanswered phone-calls and e-mails to British Council offices.


title: British Council

text: As part of its examination of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Annual Report, the Foreign Affairs Committee spends an hour each year examining witnesses from the British Council but even this level of scrutiny is undermined by a Commons ruling exempting MPs from the requirement to declare overseas trips paid for by The British Council.


title: British Council

text: Two members of the Public Accounts Committee (Nigel Griffiths MP and Ian Davidson MP) were office-bearers in the British Council Associate Parliamentary Group. Nigel Griffiths MP was Vice-Chair of this British Council lobby group until stepping down as an MP.


title: British Council

text: In 2008 the British Council was called before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) following earlier publication of a National Audit Office report. The subsequent PAC report confirmed that Nigel Griffiths MP – Vice Chair of The British Council Associate Parliamentary Group – was part of the small number of PAC members who approved this report on the British Council despite not having been recorded as being present during the evidence session – in June 2008 – where the British Council's Chief Executive was cross-examined. Mr Griffiths had earlier travelled to Russia and spoke favourably of British Council activities there in January 1998 around the time that their man in St Petersburg (Stephen Kinnock) was expelled.


title: British Council

text: In April 2009 the British Council was told to clean up its act by the Information Commissioner after losing staff data that included details of their trade union affiliations and lying about the encryption status of the computer disc lost.


title: British Council

text: Following the accusations made against the British Council in Russia (see above) Trevor Royle, the experienced Diplomatic Editor of "The Sunday Herald" quoted a 'British diplomatic source' admitting: "There is a widespread assumption that The British Council is a wing of our Secret Intelligence Services, however minor. Officially it is no such thing but there are connections. Why should it be otherwise because all information is invaluable? After all, the British Council also deals with trade missions and inevitably that involves low-grade intelligence-gathering."


title: British Council

text: In 2005, along with the Alliance française, the Società Dante Alighieri, the Goethe-Institut, the Instituto Cervantes, and the Instituto Camões, the British Council shared in the Prince of Asturias Award for the outstanding achievements of Western Europe's national cultural agencies in communications and the humanities. At the time of this joint award the full extent of The British Council's closure policies in Europe was not yet public knowledge.


title: British Council

text: Royle also goes on to note that the novel "The Russia House" by John Le Carré (former consular official David Cornwell) opens with a reference to The British Council. The organisation's "first ever audio fair for the teaching of the English language and the spread of British culture" is "grinding to its excruciating end" and one of its officials is packing away his stuff when he is approached by an attractive Russian woman to undertake clandestine delivery of a manuscript which she claims is a novel to an English publisher who she says is 'her friend'!


title: British Council

text: It is also featured in one of the scenes in Graham Greene's "The Third Man" – the character Crabbin, played by Wilfrid Hyde-White in the film, worked for The British Council. In 1946, the writer George Orwell advised serious authors not to work for it as a day-job arguing that "the effort [of writing] is too much to make if one has already squandered one's energies on semi-creative work such as teaching, broadcasting or composing propaganda for bodies such as the British Council". In her autobiography, Dame Stella Rimington, the first woman head of MI5, mentions working for British Council in India prior to joining the British Intelligence Services.


title: British Council

text: The British Council has been referred to (and its man on-station, "Goole") – frequently in a humorous way by Lawrence Durrell in his collection of anecdotes about a diplomat's life on foreign postings for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office – "Antrobus Complete".


title: British Council

text: In the six Olivia Manning novels that make up The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy, Guy Pringle is an employee of the British Council, and Council politics make up several of the plot points. The books portray Eastern Europe and the Middle East in the opening years of World War Two.


title: British Council

text: The role of British Council in Burma in 1947 came under scrutiny with release of classified documents to a BBC investigation by journalist Feargal Keane into the role of dissident British colonial officials in the assassination of the then Burmese independence leader Aung San (father of Aung San Suu Kyi). The BBC programme quoted from a 1948 document sent by the Chief of Police in Rangoon to the British Ambassador stating their belief that there had been British involvement in the assassination of Aung San and his Cabinet for which one of his political opponents was hanged and that "the go-between" had been a British Council official named in the programme.


title: British Council

text: In August 2011 a journalist from "The Irish Times" discovered a certificate dated 2007 issued by the British Council in Tripoli to a daughter of President Gadaffi who had previously been said to have been killed in a US raid on Gadaffi's residence in 1986.


title: British Council

text: In July 2011 the Hong Kong edition of "China Daily" reported on the flourishing "ghost-writing" industry that critics suggest has sprung up around the British Council IELTS tests in China.


title: British Council

text: In January 2012 the press in Pakistan reported that the Federal Investigations Agency was investigating a visa scam associated with the British Council's "Connecting Classrooms" programme.


title: British Council

text: Some staff at the British Council are members of unions. UK staff are represented by the Public and Commercial Services Union. Some employees in Japan belong to the General Union.


title: British Council

text: HistoryInitially titled "CETO news", ISSN 0574-9409, it became "Educational Television International: a journal of the Centre for Educational Television Overseas", ISSN 0424-6128, in March 1967 (volume 1, issue 1). The journal changed its name again, in March 1971, to "Educational Broadcasting International: a journal of the Centre for Educational Development Overseas", ISSN 0013-1970 (volume 5, issue 1). Its final name change was to "Media in Education and Development", ISSN 0262-0251, in December 1981 (volume 14 issue 4). The final issue went to print in 1989 (volume 22).


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Daulatabad Fort, also known as Devagiri or Deogiri, is a historic fortified citadel located in Daulatabad village near Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India. It was the capital of the Yadava dynasty (9th century–14th century CE), for a brief time the capital of the Delhi Sultanate (1327–1334), and later a secondary capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate (1499–1636).


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Around the 6th century CE, Devagiri emerged as an important uplands town near present-day Aurangabad, along caravan routes going towards western and southern India. The historical triangular fortress in the city was initially built around 1187 by the first Yadava king, Bhillama V. In 1308, the city was annexed by Sultan Alauddin Khalji of the Delhi Sultanate, which ruled over most of the Indian subcontinent. In 1327, Sultan Muhammad bin Tughluq of the Delhi Sultanate renamed the city from Devagiri to Daulatabad and shifted his imperial capital to the city from Delhi, ordering a mass migration of Delhi's population to Daulatabad. However, Muhammad bin Tughluq reversed his decision in 1334 and the capital of the Delhi Sultanate was shifted back to Delhi.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: In 1499, Daulatabad became a part of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, who used it as their secondary capital. In 1610, near Daulatabad Fort, the new city of Aurangabad, then named Khadki, was established to serve as the capital of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate by the Ethiopian military leader Malik Ambar, who was brought to India as a slave but rose to become a popular Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate. Most of the present-day fortifications at Daulatabad Fort were constructed under the Ahmadnagar Sultanate.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Lord Shiva is believed to have stayed on the hills surrounding this region. Hence the fort was originally known as Devagiri, literally "hills of god".


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The area of the city the hill-fortress of Devagiri (sometimes Latinised to Deogiri). It stands on a conical hill, about 200 meters high. Much of the lower slopes of the hill has been cut away by Yadava dynasty rulers to leave 50-meter vertical sides to improve defenses. The fort is a place of extraordinary strength. The only means of access to the summit is by a narrow bridge, with the passage for not more than two people abreast, and a long gallery, excavated in the rock, which has, for the most part, a very gradual upward slope.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: About midway along this gallery, the access gallery has steep stairs, the top of which is covered by a grating destined in time of war to form the hearth of a huge fire kept burning by the garrison above. At the summit, and at intervals on the slope, are specimens of massive old cannon facing out over the surrounding countryside. Also at the midway, there is a cave entrance meant to confuse the enemies.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Daulatabad (19°57’N 75°15’E) is located at a distance of 16 km northwest of Aurangabad, the district headquarters and midway to Ellora group of caves.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The original widespread capital city is now mostly unoccupied and has been reduced to a village. Much of its survival depends on the tourists to the old city and the adjacent fort.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The site had been occupied since at least 100 BC, and now has remains of Hindu & Jain temples similar to those at Ajanta and Ellora. A series of niches carved with Jain Tirthankara in cave 32.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The city is said to have been founded c. 1187 by Bhillama V, a Yadava prince who renounced his allegiance to the Chalukyas and established the power of the Yadava dynasty in the west. During the rule of the Yadava king Ramachandra, Alauddin Khalji of Delhi Sultanate raided Devagiri in 1296, forcing the Yadavas to pay a hefty tribute. When the tribute payments stopped, Alauddin sent a second expedition to Devagiri in 1308, forcing Ramachandra to become his vassal.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: In 1328, Muhammad bin Tughluq of Delhi Sultanate transferred the capital of his kingdom to Devagiri, and renamed it Daulatabad. The sultan made Daulatabad (Devagiri) his second capital in 1327. Some scholars argue that the idea behind transferring the capital was rational, because it lay more or less in the centre of the kingdom, and geographically secured the capital from the north-west frontier attacks.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: In the Daulatabad fort, he found the area arid & dry.His capital-shift strategy failed miserably. Hence he shifted back to Delhi & earned him the moniker "Mad King".


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The next important event in the Daulatabad fort time-line was the construction of the Chand Minar by the Bahmani ruler Hasan Gangu Bahmani, also known as Ala-ud-Din Bahman Shah (r. 3 August 1347 – 11 February 1358).


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Hasan Gangu built the Chand Minar as a replica of the Qutb Minar of Delhi, of which he was a great fan of. He employed Iranian architects to built the Minar who used Lapis Lazuli & Red Ocher for coloring. Currently, the Minar is out of bounds for the tourists, because of a suicide case.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: As we move further into the fort, we can see the Chini Mahal, a VIP prison built by Aurangzeb. In this prison, he kept Abul Hasan Tana Shah of the Qutb Shahi Dynasty of Hyderabad. The antecedents of Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last Qutub Shahi king are shrouded in mystery. Although a kinsman of the Golconda royals, he spent his formative years as a disciple of renowned Sufi saint Shah Raju Qattal, leading a spartan existence away from the pomp and grandeur of royalty. Shah Raziuddin Hussaini, popularly known as Shah Raju, was held in high esteem by both the nobility and commoners of Hyderabad. Abdullah Qutub Shah, the seventh king of Golconda was among his most ardent devotees. He died in prison leaving no male heir to the throne.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Most of the present-day fortification was constructed under the Bahmanis and the Nizam Shahs of Ahmadnagar.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The Mughal Governor of the Deccan under Shah Jahan, captured the fortress in 1632 and imprisoned the Nizam Shahi prince Hussain Shah.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: The outer wall, in circumference, once enclosed the ancient city of Devagiri and between this and the base of the upper fort are three lines of defenses.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Along with the fortifications, Daulatabad contains several notable monuments, of which the chief are the Chand Minar and the Chini Mahal. The Chand Minar is a tower . high and . in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful Persian glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his capture of the fort. The Chini Mahal (literally: China Palace), is the ruin of a building once of great beauty. In it, Abul Hasan Tana Shah, the last of the Qutb Shahi kings of Golconda, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb in 1687.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Daulatabad is in the outskirts of Aurangabad, and is on the Aurangabad - Ellora road (National Highway 2003). Aurangabad is well connected by road and 20 km away from Devagiri.


title: Daulatabad Fort

text: Daulatabad railway station is located on the Manmad-Purna section of South Central Railways and also on the Mudkhed-Manmad section of the Nanded Division of South Central Railway. Until reorganisation in 2005, it was a part of the Hyderabad Division Aurangabad is a major station near Daulatabad. The Devagiri Express regularly operates between Mumbai and Secunderabad, Hyderabad, via the city of Aurangabad.


title: Zander

text: The zander (Sander lucioperca), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Percidae, which includes the perches, ruffes and darters. It is found in freshwater and brackish habitats in western Eurasia. It is a popular game fish and has been introduced to a variety of localities outside its native range. It is the type species of the genus "Sander".


title: Zander

text: The zander was first formally described in 1758 as "Perca lucioperca" by Carolus Linnaeus in volume 1 of the tenth edition of "Systema Naturae" and he gave the type locality as "European lakes". When Lorenz Oken (1779-1851) created the genus "Sander" he made "Perca lucioperca" its type species. The zander is part of the European clade within the genus "Sander" which split from a common ancestor with the North American clade, which the walleye ("S. vitreus") and the sauger ("S. canadensis") belong to, around 20.8 million years ago. Within the European clade the Volga pikeperch ("S. volgaensis") is the most basal taxon and shares features with the North American clade, such as being a broadcast spawner. In contrast in the zander and the estuarine perch ("S. marinus") the males build nests and the female spawn into these nests and the males then guard the eggs and fry. The lineage leading to the zander is thought to have diverged from the common ancestor with the Volga pikeperch circa 13.8 million years ago while the split from the estuarine perch took place around 9.1 million years ago.


title: Zander

text: The zander is the largest member of the Percidae and it has a long, muscular body which bears some resemblance to a Northern pike ("Esox lucius"), hence the alternative English common name of pikeperch. Its upper part of the body is green-brown in colour and this extends onto the sides as dark vertical bars, in a pattern not dissimilar to that of the European perch ("Perca fluviatilis") while the lower part of the body is creamy-white. The caudal fin is dark and the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins are paler off-white in colour. The dorsal and caudal fins are marked with rows of black spots on the membranes between the spines and rays, these are largest and most obvious on the first dorsal fin. The juveniles are silvery in colour, becoming darker as the age. They have powerful jaws which are armed with many sharp teeth with two long canines in the front of each jaw. They have large bulbous eyes which are opaque when the fish is living in particularly turbid conditions, an adaptation to low light. There is a single flat spine on the operculum. Like other members of the perch family the zander has a split dorsal fin with the first dorsal fin having 13 - 20 spines and 18-24 soft rays, while the anal fin has 2-3 rays and 10 - 14 soft rays. The caudal fin is long and forked.


title: Zander

text: The zander has a maximum published standard length , although they are more commonly found at around . This species can reach of weight, although typical catches are considerably smaller. The IGFA All-Tackle world record zander was caught in Lago Maggiore, Switzerland in June 2016 weighing . Zander reach an average length of with a maximum length of .


title: Zander

text: The zander is very widely distributed across Eurasia, occurring in the drainages of the Caspian, Baltic, Black, Aral, North and Aegean Sea basins. Its northern distribution limit is Finland. It has been introduced to Great Britain, southern Europe, and continental Europe west of the Elbe, Ebro, Tagus and Jucar drainages, as well as to Anatolia, North Africa, Siberia, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.


title: Zander

text: In the UK, zander were originally introduced in 1878 by Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford, into lakes on his Woburn Abbey estate and soon after that into the Great Ouse Relief Channel in The Fens. British Waterways included zander among a "dirty dozen" non-native species most likely to harm native wildlife along rivers in Great Britain.


title: Zander

text: Their success in establishing themselves is owed to a number of factors, one of which is that they are particularly well adapted to life in the slow-flowing, sparsely vegetated, rather murky waters that comprise so many of the British lowland rivers. Zander thrive in water with rather low visibility, unlike pike, which often dominate the predator fish niche in clear water. However, zander need plenty of oxygen and soon disappear from eutrophic areas.


title: Zander

text: Zander was stocked in Spiritwood Lake, North Dakota in 1989 and has remained ever since. Ecologists believe that if establishment occurs in the Great Lakes they will compete with game fish such as the closely related Walleye or the Yellow perch for food and habitat. Therefore the Government of Ontario is preemptively treating zander as a future invasive species.


title: Zander

text: Zander inhabit freshwater bodies, preferentially large rivers and eutrophic lakes. They tolerate brackish water and will make use of coastal lakes and estuaries. Individuals living in brackish water habitats migrate upriver, as far as for spawning.


title: Zander

text: Zander are carnivorous and the adults feed on smaller schooling fish. Studies around the Baltic Sea have found them to prey on the European smelt ("Osmerus eperlanus"), ruffe ("Gymnocephalus cernua"), European perch, vendace ("Coregonus albula") and the common roach ("Rutilus rutilus"), They were also found to be cannibalistic on smaller zanders. They have also been recorded feeding on smolts of sea trout ("Salmo trutta" morph. "trutta") and Atlantic salmon ("Salmo salar"). In the United Kingdom zander thrive in canals where the water is turbid due to the boat traffic and although their favoured prey in these waters is common roach they have a high impact on the populations of gudgeon ("Gobio gobio").


title: Zander

text: The zander spawns over gravel in flowing water, the males defend a territory in which they dig shallow depressions in sand or gravel which are roughly across and in depth in sand or gravel. They will also nest among exposed plant roots and the eggs are laid onto these roots. The nests are normally at depths of in turbid water. Spawning takes place in pairs, at night and at daybreak. When they are spawning the female is stationary above the male's nest and the male rapidly swims around her, keeping a distance of around from the nesting depression. The male then orients itself perpendicular to the substrate and the pair swim around swiftly, releasing the eggs and sperm. The female departs the after releasing her eggs. The male remains at the nest and defends it, fanning the eggs using the pectoral fins. Each female lays all of her eggs at once and only spawns once a year. The larvae are attracted to light and after they leave the nest they feed on zooplankton and small pelagic animals. They normal spawning season is in April and May, although exceptionally they may spawn from late February through to July, and the actual period depends on latitude and altitude. The determining factor is that it needs temperatures to reach before spawning starts.


title: Zander

text: Zander has a maximum lifespan of 17 year and they are sexually mature at 3–10 years old, with 4 years old being typical.


title: Zander

text: A large number of parasites are known to infect the zander's skin, eyes and internal organs. Its gastrointestinal tract can host the nematode "Anisakis", which can be transmitted to humans if the fish is smoked, fried or otherwise cooked at temperatures lower than . The zander is also a vector of the trematode "Bucephalus polymorphus" and may have been responsible for spreading the parasite to some French river systems during the 1960s and 1970s, leading to decreases in populations of native cyprinids.


title: Zander

text: Recorded predators of the zander include other zanders, as well as European eels ("Anguilla anguilla"), Northern pike, European perch, the wels catfish ("Silurus glanis") and the Caspian seal ("Phoca caspia").


title: Zander

text: The zander is considered one of the most valuable food fish native to Europe. It is esteemed for its light, firm but tender meat with few bones and a delicate flavour. Although it is not generally bred for food, its adaptability makes zander fishery quite sustainable. Indeed, in some regions release of young zanders is restricted, as natural stocks already provide a sufficient supply for the market, while boosting the population of this large predator would have an adverse effect on populations of its prey. Zander is especially well suited for fish fillets. It can also be served whole, baked, smoked or cooked. In some culinary circles, zander is appreciated even more highly than salmon. Even the offals can be cooked into consommé.


title: Zander

text: In 2004, it was revealed that some restaurants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area of Minnesota were serving imported zander instead of the closely related North American walleye (the state fish, and a popular food in the region). While zander and walleye are almost indistinguishable by taste, the restaurants were selling the European fish under the name "walleye", which is an illegal practice. An investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration followed.


title: Zander

text: In Ohio, many restaurants were caught using juvenile zander fillets in the 40 to 80 gram range in place of the Lake Erie yellow perch. Shortages of the perch along with skyrocketing prices caused wholesalers and restaurants to use the juvenile zander for popular "pike perch fillets".


title: Zander

text: In Finland, as a conservation measure, the law regulates the minimum size of zander considered mature enough to be eaten.


title: Zander

text: In July 2009, in a rare occurrence, a zander bit bathers swimming in the Swiss part of Lake Maggiore, sending two people to the emergency room; the worst bite inflicted a wound about 10 centimeters long. The 70-cm 8-kg fish was later caught by the local police who cooked it and offered it to the tourists for the trouble it caused.


title: Zander

text: As the largest member of the perch family, the zander is a popular game fish in the United Kingdom. However, it is legally a non-native invasive species; any zander caught by anglers must be destroyed.


title: Zander

text: Increasing demand for zander for human consumption has attracted severe attention of fish farmers. Today, elaborated protocols for the reproduction and on-growing of zander are available. Throughout Europe, an increasing number of aquaculture facilities produce zander for stocking or human consumption, mainly in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). Production volume remains low, but is expected to increase. High investment and maintenance costs of RAS require farming of high value species with good market acceptance such as zander.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Ryan Allen Sheckler (born December 30, 1989) is an American professional skateboarder and entrepreneur, and was the star of the MTV-produced reality television series "Life of Ryan." He also starred in four seasons of the short-format video series "Sheckler Sessions" on Red Bull TV. Sheckler was listed in Fox Weekly's "15 Most Influential Skateboarders of All-Time" article.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler was raised in a family of three children—his two younger brothers are named Shane and Kane. Sheckler was introduced to skateboarding when he discovered his father's skateboard at the age of two years. Sheckler's father provided encouragement by revealing that he had learned his first kickflip when he was approximately six years of age. In a 2012 interview for the internet-based channel Network A, Sheckler revealed that the San Clemente skate park is the location where he began skateboarding with his best friend Jered Marburger and that he was present at the opening of the park.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler's sponsors were the Etnies skate shoe company and Oakley, Inc., both of which made contact with Sheckler when he was around seven years old. Etnies invited both Sheckler and his brother Shane to the company's California headquarters, where he was given his first pair of Etnies shoes; however, his official relationship with the brand ended in 1998.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In 1999 at the age of eight, Sheckler was featured on the cover of "Big Brother" magazine's controversial "Kids Issue". He was not allowed to read the issue by his parents due to the graphic material contained in it. Backlash of the publication resulted in lawsuits forcing the magazine being labeled as 'for adults only' due its inclusion of inappropriate interview questions of the teenage skateboard subjects, instructions on drug use, how to commit acts of self harm, and explicit photos throughout the magazine.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In 2003, professional skateboarders and entrepreneurs Rodney Mullen and Daewon Song founded the skateboard company Almost. Sheckler, together with Greg Lutzka, was a foundational member of this team and was promoted to professional status during his time with the company. Almost team member Chris Haslam explained in January 2012: "Almost is when Rodney [Mullen] came together with Daewon [Song] ... and Lutzka, and Sheckler."


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler appeared in the inaugural Almost video "Almost: Round Three" alongside Cooper Wilt, Haslam, Lutzka, Mullen, and Song; Sheckler's video part is edited to the Cure song "Why Can't I Be You?"


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: After appearing in "Almost: Round Three", Sheckler resigned from the company to join the relaunched Plan B Skateboards deck and apparel company in 2007—at that time, the team consisted of Brian Wenning, Pat Duffy, Ryan Gallant, PJ Ladd, Paul Rodriguez, Colin McKay, and Danny Way. Sheckler's MTV reality series, "Life of Ryan", premiered in August 2007. Jason Carbone and Sarah Kane were the show's executive producers, and both of Sheckler's brothers starred in the series, alongside his childhood friends Tony, Casey and Taylor.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Following his recruitment into the ranks of Plan B, Sheckler successfully cleared a gap on Bob Burnquist's Mega Ramp construction (a segmented ramp that typically consists of , , or -foot gaps, and a -tall "quarterpipe" ramp) in April 2008, with Way also in attendance. Sheckler appeared in the final section of Plan B's "Superfuture" promotional video, released in 2008, which also consisted of footage from Sheckler's Mega Ramp skateboarding.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The "Superfuture" part also featured a historic trick that Sheckler completed at a location known as the "Costco gap." Skateboard photographer Atiba Jefferson and filmer Ricki Bedenbaugh were present when Sheckler completed the trick, and both recalled in 2013 that they were very nervous due to the degree of difficulty involved. The trick was finalized on the fourth try and led to Sheckler appearing on the cover of "The Skateboard Mag" magazine, which Jefferson shot. Jefferson later described what he observed: "No hands down, no nothing. He just, like, once he caught it, he just ... set it down."


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The "Life of Ryan" series concluded in 2009 after three seasons, with only half of the planned episodes completed in the final season. Sheckler later explained the decision to cease production, which was entirely his own:


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: When I started the show I said, "If it gets me away from my actual skateboarding fans and gets me away from skateboarding, then I'm not going to do the show anymore." That's why our third season was just six episodes; we cut it in half. I was, like, "I can't do it anymore! It's going to be more detrimental to my career than positive." We just quit. We stopped it.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The Red Bull online series "Sheckler Sessions" was launched in June 2012 and the first episode featured the Plan B team at the Zumiez "Couch Tour" event. In an online interview that was published in September 2012, Sheckler revealed that, at the time of the interview, he was in the process of building a new skateboard training facility.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: By the beginning of 2013, discussion continued, among both skateboarding fans and the industry, regarding whether the relaunched Plan B team would release its first full-length video. Way confirmed that the production process was underway in a January 2013 interview for the online magazine "Jenkem", during which time he mentioned Sheckler:


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: They [Plan B team] are doing the best tricks consistently with every variation of it down the biggest stuff. And it doesn't take them long, so they have a lot of it. For example when we went to China recently, Sheckler alone has more footage from his one trip than all of the Girl team from their China trips combined. I'm not trying to diss on Girl, just trying to put it in perspective, what I think his strengths are.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler then appeared in the second teaser for the inaugural full-length video, which was published online in February 2013. Sheckler is filmed performing a kickflip in a street-based setting, while teammates Torey Pudwill and Duffy are also present. A promotional video was released in May 2013, commemorating Sheckler's 15th year with the Etnies brand. Sheckler explains in the video that he received his first pair of free skate shoes from the company and skated in Etnies shoes ever since.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The final episode of the second season of the "Sheckler Sessions" online series was aired in November 2013 and signaled the conclusion of the entire show. Titled "Southern Comfort," the episode was filmed in the U.S. state of North Carolina, and featured fellow professional skateboarders Zered Bassett and Bobby Worrest.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The Volcom clothing and apparel company announced in January 2014 that Sheckler rejoined the brand's team of sponsored skateboarders after a period of sponsorship during the early part of Sheckler's career. The announcement was made in the form of a 15-second online video in which Sheckler signs the Volcom contract on January 21, 2014.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: The first official trailer for the Plan B full-length video was published in July 2014, and served as the announcement of the video's title: "True." Following victories at the 2012 and 2013 Dew Tour Streetstyle events, Sheckler won the contest for the third consecutive time in August 2014. The Streetstyle event was a new downhill concept added to the tour in 2012 and spanned across four blocks above San Francisco's Bay Bridge. The event returned to San Francisco in 2013 and was held in Portland, Oregon, U.S., in 2014.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: As of February 2022, Sheckler is sponsored by Red Bull, Etnies, Oakley, Ethika, Grizzly, Independent Truck Company, Art of Sport, Woodward Skate Camp, and Melin.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler is a playable character in "Tony Hawk's Underground 2", "Tony Hawk's American Wasteland", "Tony Hawk's Project 8", "Tony Hawk's Proving Ground".


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In 2008, the Sheckler Foundation was created to assist children, and injured and recovering athletes—the Foundation presents its overall goal as the empowerment of "our community to "Be the Change!"." Two of the Foundation's major annual charity events are "Skate For A Cause" (the fourth event occurred in May 2013) and the "Ryan Sheckler X Games Celebrity Golf Tournament" (the fifth event occurred in 2012).


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: A November 12, 2013 press release introduced the foundation's inaugural "SkateBOARD" members. Consisting of professional skateboarders Greg Lutzka, Christian Hosoi, Fabrizio Santos, Filipe Gustavo, and Manny Santiago, the group will "help support and promote the Sheckler Foundation's projects", as the organization seeks to increase its exposure.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In May 2009, Sheckler launched the "RS" clothing line, but as of November 2013, the brand is not featured on Sheckler's personal website and an official website does not exist.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In a 2012 interview by Network A, Sheckler said that he enjoys surfing, relaxing, and spending time with his family when he is not skateboarding, adding that his priorities in life are: "Stay healthy, as much as I can; be a good brother; be a good son, to my parents; make sure I can do anything to keep my family safe; finish this Plan B part and just keep skating—keep filming video parts; be me, I guess—just be myself and not worry about what people think." However, Sheckler concluded by stating that his main priority is ensuring the health and safety of his family.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In late 2017, Sheckler stated that he had been an alcoholic for the last few years, until the point his addiction jeopardized his skateboarding career and was admitted into rehab.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: In November 2021, Sheckler proposed to his girlfriend Abigail Baloun of one and half years. On March 3, 2022, Sheckler and Baloun got married after a 90-day engagement.


title: Ryan Sheckler

text: Sheckler has utilized plyometrics, Olympic weightlifting techniques and unilateral strength and stability exercises to target qualities of fitness and specific adaptation.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system, after winning the League Two title. Nicknamed the "Robins", they have played at Whaddon Road since 1932. The club contests rivalries with Gloucester City and Forest Green Rovers.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Founded in 1887, the club spent much of its early history competing in local football circles, before moving to the Birmingham Combination in 1932 and then the Southern League in 1935. They spent the next 50 years in the Southern League, winning the Midland Division in 1982–83 and then claiming the Premier Division title in 1984–85. They were subsequently promoted into the Alliance Premier League in 1985, where they remained for seven seasons until they were relegated in 1992. They finished as runners-up of the Southern League Premier Division for four of the next five seasons, and were promoted into the Conference in 1997.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Under the stewardship of Steve Cotterill, Cheltenham won the 1998 FA Trophy final and then secured promotion into the Football League for the first time after winning the Conference title in 1998–99. He left the club after the 2001–02 season, having guided them to the FA Cup fifth round and promotion with victory in the 2002 Third Division play-off final. Immediately relegated after one season in the Second Division, they secured another promotion as manager John Ward guided them to victory in the 2006 League Two play-off final. Relegated after three seasons in the third tier, the club's 16-year stay in the Football League ended with relegation back to the National League in 2015. However manager Gary Johnson led Cheltenham to the Conference title with a 101 point tally in 2015–16, making them the first club in 26 years to secure an immediate return to the Football League as champions of the Conference. After Michael Duff took over from Johnson, he led the club to its first Football League title, winning the 2020–21 League Two title.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham has a history of football prior to The Robins. In 1849, the first use of three official referees in a match, two in field and one in tribune, was recorded in the town. However, the modern club was founded in 1887 by Albert Close White, a local teacher.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The club spent its first three decades in local football. Notable players from those days included former England international Philip Bach, cricketers Gilbert Jessop and brothers Charles Barnett and Edgar Barnett..


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: In December 1931 the club moved to Whaddon Road and turned semi-professional in 1932-33, joining the Birmingham Combination whilst adopting new colours of red and white hooped shirts, black shorts, and red and white stockings. Former England international George Blackburn was appointed player coach, and led the team to third place in their debut season. The following year the club entered the FA Cup, featuring a ten game journey to the third round before losing to Blackpool in front of a record attendance at the Athletic Ground in Cheltenham. Following a disappointing season in 1934-35, brightened only by winning the Leamington Hospital Cup and the discovery and sale of centre froward James Currier to Bolton Wanderers, the club applied for membership and were accepted to join the Southern League for the 1935-1936 season.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Town kicked-off their debut Southern League campaign with two firsts. The club appointed its first manager with "complete power" of team selection in George Carr, and fielded an all professional eleven in the first game of the season against Barry. Despite a flying start in the season opener, Town could only finish sixth in the Western and ninth in the Central sections of the league. However, the season did feature an FA Cup run to the first round where Brighton and Hove Albion were taken to a replay. A notable result during the run was the club's record victory, beating Chippenham Rovers 12-0 in the Third Round Qualifying.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The 1936-37 season was Carr's last, resigning in April 1937. Town finished eleventh as the Southern League switched to a single division, with the side featuring appearances from future England international Tim Ward before his move to Derby County. Off the field, the club moved to establish itself as a limited company.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Carr's replacement was former Arsenal forward James Brain. After losing two stalwart performers for the club - Cliff Lang to illness and Ernie Williams to injury - Brain couldn't improve on eleventh place in the league. But he took the team to the FA Cup first round, losing 3-0 to Watford, while Newport County knocked Town out the Welsh Cup at the quarter-final stage. Two of the side's consistent performers, winger Cliff Thorley and goalkeeper Jack Wheeler earned moves to Bristol City and Birmingham respectively. Crisis was averted when players, shareholders and supporters contributed to keep the club in business following a financial crunch.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham rebranded as "The Robins" for the 1938-39 campaign, wearing white shirts with a robin emblem and red sleeves. Another FA Cup run ended against league opposition in the first round as Cardiff City won a replay following a 1-1 draw at Whaddon Road. In the league, Town had another bottom half finish. All 16 league wins came at home, and only on six occasions did Cheltenham avoid a league defeat away from Whaddon Road. Once again, the threat of closure hung over the club.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: A promising start to the 1939-40 season was curtailed by the outbreak of World War II. Following a pause, the Southern League established a limited regional programme, often featuring guest players, and Cheltenham finished next to bottom of the league's Western division. At the season's end the club announced it would "not arrange any more fixtures until further notice".


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: They won promotion to the Alliance Premier League (now the Conference National) in 1985, but were relegated seven years later.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The appointment of Steve Cotterill as manager during the 1996–97 was the start of a period of success at the club which resulted in Cotterill being their most successful manager. Four months after taking charge he guided the club to runners-up spot in the Southern Football League Premier Division, but they won promotion to the Football Conference as champions Gresley Rovers were unable to meet the required ground capacity for Conference membership. In 1997–98, Cheltenham finished runners-up in the Conference and were close to champions Halifax Town until the end of April 1998. They secured a place at Wembley in the 1998 FA Trophy Final, beating Southport 1–0 in front of a crowd of 26,837 at Wembley Stadium. In 1998–99, Cheltenham secured the Conference title and entry to the Football League.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: After two mid-table finishes in Division Three, Cheltenham finally won promotion to Division Two (via the Division Three playoffs) at the end of the 2001–02 season. Shortly after winning promotion, Cotterill left Cheltenham to join Stoke City as their manager.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham replaced Cotterill with first-team coach Graham Allner who had won the Conference championship with Kidderminster Harriers in 1994. Allner and assistant manager Mike Davis, who was originally assistant to Cotterill, were sacked in January 2003, after six months in the job, with Cheltenham near the foot of Division Two. Cheltenham turned to Bobby Gould, one of the most experienced managers in English football whose exploits include an FA Cup victory with Wimbledon in 1988. Cheltenham continued to struggle, and defeat in their final game of the season condemned the club to relegation back to Division Three after just one season. Gould resigned as Cheltenham Town manager in November 2003 and was replaced by John Ward.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: During the 2005–06 season, a new stand for visiting fans was added (The Carlsberg Stand). They finished the season in 5th, earning a place in the play-offs. In the semi-final Cheltenham beat Wycombe Wanderers 2–1 away and drew 0–0 in the second leg at Whaddon Road. In the play-off final, Cheltenham beat Grimsby Town 1–0, securing a place in League One for 2006–07. The match at the Millennium Stadium on 28 May 2006 was attended by 29,196 people.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham started life in League One with a 1–0 win against Gillingham. Following Cheltenham's 3–0 defeat to Port Vale, manager John Ward announced he had agreed a four-year contract with League One side Carlisle United. A highlight of the season was winning twice against Leeds United. Cheltenham's survival was secured on the final day of the season as they beat Doncaster Rovers 2–1 at Whaddon Road, denying their opposition automatic promotion.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Early in the 2008–09 season, Keith Downing left Cheltenham Town and was replaced by Martin Allen. Allen's team started poorly with a club-record seven defeats in a row, part of a 15-game run without a victory. The club narrowly avoided administration, and the 10-point penalty that would go with it, before Allen revealed that all the players at the club were up for sale. The season finished with Cheltenham's relegation back to League Two on the penultimate day of the season after three seasons in League One as they had conceded over 100 goals in all competitions.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Cheltenham won their first match of the 2009–10 season against Grimsby Town 2–1, but fell dramatically down the table soon after. On 20 October, Martin Allen was "put on gardening leave" amid allegations he racially abused a nightclub bouncer, and assistant manager John Schofield took temporary charge. Allen was formally cleared of misconduct but still left the club by mutual consent in early December. Former Cheltenham captain and Kidderminster boss Mark Yates was appointed manager on 22 December 2009. Cheltenham continued to struggle through the rest of the season, only managing to avoid relegation on the final day of the season, although they finished four points ahead of the relegated sides.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Yates, ahead of his first full season with Cheltenham, revamped the squad, releasing eight players, including defender Shane Duff, who had just completed his tenth year with the club. The season proved to be successful to begin with, with the Robins remaining close to the play-off positions, but they collapsed in the second half of the season and finished 17th, with only five wins in 26 games in 2011.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Despite losing in the first round of the League Cup, they reached the Football League Trophy south quarter-finals and were handed a lucrative tie at Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup third round. Yates won the Manager of the Month award for November after three wins from three The Robins ended the season in 6th and defeated Torquay United 2–0 at home and then 1–2 away in the League 2 Play-off Semi-finals. The Play-off Final was contested at Wembley Stadium on Sunday, 27 May 2012. Crewe Alexandra defeated Cheltenham Town 2–0 with goals from Nick Powell and Byron Moore in front of a crowd of 24,029.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The Robins also enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup, eventually losing out 5–1 to Premier League side Everton. On 6 November 2012, manager Mark Yates oversaw his 150th game in charge of the team in a 1–0 win against league leaders Gillingham. Cheltenham finished 5th, once again qualifying for the end of season play-offs after being pipped to the third promotion spot on the last day of the season by Rotherham United. The season included a run of 21 home league games without defeat. The play-offs saw Cheltenham face Northampton Town with Cheltenham losing both home and away games by 1–0.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: After finishing in the play-offs for two consecutive seasons, Cheltenham Town's 2013–14 season proved to be difficult. Any hopes of a third consecutive play-off place were ended by March. The highlight of the season was a trip to Premier League side West Ham United, with the club eventually losing 2–1 at Upton Park. Cheltenham finished the season in 17th place.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: On 25 November 2014, Mark Yates was sacked by Cheltenham Town after almost five years in charge. Cheltenham subsequently appointed Paul Buckle as team manager, but he was dismissed after just 79 days. In March 2015 Gary Johnson was appointed manager. In April 2015, after Bryan Jacob, a lifelong supporter, gave the club's supporters trust £222,000 in his will, members voted to use the money to accept a long-standing offer from the club for a permanent seat on its board of directors. Football fan Clive Gowing was subsequently elected. The club said it would also name a stand and supporters' player-of-the-season award in Jacob's memory. On 25 April 2015, Cheltenham Town lost at Whaddon Road to Shrewsbury Town, which meant that Cheltenham were relegated from the Football League after sixteen seasons.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: After only one season outside of the Football League, Cheltenham secured an immediate return on 16 April 2016 with a 2–0 home win against FC Halifax Town. The team amassed 101 points, scoring the most and conceding the fewest goals, on their way to becoming Champions, finishing 12 points clear of second-placed local rivals Forest Green. January signing Dan Holman was joint winner of the National League's Golden Boot award, with 30 goals, having netted 16 times in just 18 games for the Robins. Danny Wright, a summer signing, finished the season with 22 league goals and 11 assists, winning the Supporters Player of the Year award.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: For the club's return to the Football League, manager Gary Johnson largely kept faith with the players that had won the previous year's National League. The 2016–17 season proved to be a struggle with a number of players finding the step up to League Two more difficult than had been hoped. The Whaddon Road pitch also came in for criticism, from both supporters and visiting managers, as it struggled to cope with its high levels of use (Gloucester City were in the final season of a ground-share at Cheltenham during 2016–17). Results improved somewhat during the spring, although Johnson was absent on sick leave from March onwards while recovering from heart bypass surgery, leaving his assistant Russell Milton in charge. The Robins secured their league status with a 1–0 win over Hartlepool United in the penultimate game of the season. They finished the season in 21st place.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: During the close season a recovered Gary Johnson returned to work and signed a new two-year contract. He oversaw a major clearout of the squad with eleven players released. In the 2017–18 season the club ultimately only gained one point more than in the previous year (51 compared to 50), and finished in 17th place in League Two. By far the biggest success of an otherwise low-key year was Sudanese striker Mohamed Eisa. Signed as a free transfer from non-league football, Eisa scored 23 league goals for Cheltenham during the season and ultimately moved to Bristol City, for a transfer fee reportedly in excess of £1m (a club record sale), in July 2018. At the end of the season, long-serving club chairman Paul Baker stood down from the role after 20 years, handing over the chairmanship to Andy Wilcox.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: On 10 September 2018, ex-Cheltenham player Michael Duff was appointed after the departure of Gary Johnson. Duff guided the Robins to 16th. The following 2019–20 season was very successful, narrowly missing out on automatic promotion in 4th place. Final league standings were decided on a points-per-game basis following disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Cheltenham missed out in the play-offs to Northampton Town, losing 3–2 on aggregate.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: In 2020–21, Cheltenham returned to League One as champions after five seasons in League Two. Due to the ongoing disruption caused by COVID-19, the vast majority of fixtures in 2020–21 took place behind closed doors. The Robins reached the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2006 before narrowly losing out to eventual 2020–21 Premier League champions Manchester City. Cheltenham were leading the match with ten minutes to play before eventually losing 3–1. Cheltenham guaranteed their return to League One with a 1–1 draw at home to Carlisle United. On 8 May 2021, Cheltenham won their first ever EFL title, beating Harrogate Town 4–1 on the final day to secure the League Two championship.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Gloucestershire outfit Forest Green Rovers are currently seen as the club's main rivals. Fixtures between the two are humorously nicknamed "El Glosico", a play on the "El Clasico" tag given to Barcelona vs Real Madrid matches. In recent years, the rivalry has grown heated due to the close proximity between the clubs, the fight for the 2015–16 National League title (Cheltenham and Forest Green finishing 1st and 2nd respectively) and, between 2017 and 2021, both competing in League Two.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: Traditionally, Cheltenham's main rivals were Gloucestershire neighbours Gloucester City. Due to Cheltenham's rise up the leagues, the last competitive meeting between the two sides was in 1997, meaning the rivalry is now of less significance but is still keenly discussed by both sets of fans. They also used to maintain a fierce rivalry with Hereford United. This rivalry is also now of less significance, however, due to United going out of business in 2014 and reforming as Hereford FC. The new club and Cheltenham are yet to meet in a competitive fixture.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: A survey conducted in August 2019 revealed that fans of "The Robins" also consider fellow West Country sides Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Oxford United and Swindon Town as rivals.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The club is owned by a core ownership group of four large shareholders and numerous smaller shareholders.


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The following have a "significant interest", as defined by the English Football League, in the club: Simon Keswick (who currently owns 29%), an individual represented by the Cayman Islands-based CTFC Investments Ltd (24%), former chairman of the club's board of directors Paul Baker (17%), and the Cheltenham Town supporters' trust the Robins Trust (9%).


title: Cheltenham Town F.C.

text: The only one of the four main owners directly represented on the club's board are the Robins Trust in the form of fan-elected director Dave Beesley.


title: Haori

text: The is a traditional Japanese hip- or thigh-length jacket worn over a kimono. Resembling a shortened kimono with no overlapping front panels (), the typically features a thinner collar than that of a kimono, and is sewn with the addition of two thin, triangular panels at either side seam. The is usually tied at the front with two short cords, known as , which attach to small loops sewn inside the garment.


title: Haori

text: During the Edo period, economic growth within the wealthy but low-status merchant classes resulted in an excess of disposable income, much of which was spent on clothing. It was during this period that, due to various edicts on dress mandated by the ruling classes, merchant-class Japanese men began to wear with plain external designs and lavishly-decorated linings, a trend still seen in men's today.


title: Haori

text: During the early 1800s, geisha in the of Fukagawa, Tokyo began to wear over their kimono. had until that point only been worn by men; the geisha of Fukagawa, well known for their stylish and unusual fashion choices, set a trend that saw women wearing become commonplace by the 1930s. In modern-day Japan, are worn by both men and women.


title: Physical abuse

text: Physical abuse is any intentional act causing injury or trauma to another person or animal by way of bodily contact. In most cases, children are the victims of physical abuse, but adults can also be victims, as in cases of domestic violence or workplace aggression. Alternative terms sometimes used include physical assault or physical violence, and may also include sexual abuse. Physical abuse may involve more than one abuser, and more than one victim.


title: Physical abuse

text: Physical abuse means any non-accidental act or behavior causing injury, trauma, or other physical suffering or bodily harm. Abusive acts toward children can often result from parents' attempts at child discipline through excessive corporal punishment.


title: Physical abuse

text: A number of causes of physical abuse against children have been identified, the most common of which, according to Mash and Wolfe, being:


title: Physical abuse

text: Physically abused children are at risk for later interpersonal problems involving aggressive behavior, and adolescents are at a much greater risk for substance use disorders. In addition, symptoms of depression, emotional distress, and suicidal ideation are also common features of people who have been physically abused. Studies have also shown that children with a history of physical abuse may meet DSM-IV-TR criteria for post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As many as one-third of children who experience physical abuse are also at risk to become abusive as adults


title: Physical abuse

text: Researchers have pointed to other potential psycho-biological effects of child physical abuse on parenting, when abused children become adults. These recent findings may, at least in part, be carried forward by epigenetic changes that impact the regulation of stress physiology. Many other potentially important consequences of childhood physical abuse on adolescent and adult physical and mental health and development have been documented via the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) studies.


title: Physical abuse

text: Seeking treatment is unlikely for a majority of people that are physically abused, and the ones who are seeking treatment are usually under some form of legal constraint. The prevention and treatment options for physically abused children include: enhancing positive experiences early in the development of the parent-child relationship, as well as changing how parents teach, discipline, and attend to their children.


title: Physical abuse

text: Evidence-based interventions include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as well as video-feedback interventions and child-parent psychodynamic psychotherapy; all of which specifically target anger patterns and distorted beliefs, and offer training and/or reflection, support, and modelling that focuses on parenting skills and expectations, as well as increasing empathy for the child by supporting the parent's taking the child's perspective.


title: Physical abuse

text: These forms of treatment may include training in social competence and management of daily demands in an effort to decrease parental stress, which is a known risk factor for physical abuse. Although these treatment and prevention strategies are to help children and parents of children who have been abused, some of these methods can also be applied to adults who have physically abused.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: The term sextuple is mainly used in the sports press for winning six important national and international titles in sport, especially in football, within one sporting year or season.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: During a football season, clubs typically take part in a number of national competitions, such as in a league and one or more cup competitions, and sometimes in continental competitions. Winning multiple competitions is considered a particularly significant achievement. Doubles and triples tend to be long-remembered achievements, but they occur with a certain frequency, while winning four or more trophies in a season is much less common. In the 2010s, the terms quadruple, quintuple, and sextuple were sometimes used to refer to four, five, and six trophies in a single season.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich are the only two teams to have achieved the sextuple, having achieved that in 2009 and 2020 respectively.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: In terms of football, the sextuple means that a club has to win six official competitions in a row. The performance can be achieved either through victories in the same season or in a calendar year, provided that these are temporally correlated.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: The following teams could not win the sixth official competition after the quintuple and thus missed the sextuple:


title: Sextuple (football)

text: On 11 February 2021, just minutes after the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup Final had ended, Pep Guardiola jokingly challenged Bayern Munich to a match with previous sextuple winner Barcelona. As these two teams were the only ones to achieve a sextuple in football history, he suggested that they could play for a seventh title.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: Technically it is possible to win seven trophies; for example, a top-flight English club can win the Premier League, the FA Cup, the EFL Cup, the FA Community Shield, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in a calendar year.


title: Sextuple (football)

text: Celtic were close to achieving this when they won the Scottish First Division, Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, and the European Cup in 1967. However, there was an absence of a Scottish or European Super Cup, and their loss against Argentine side Racing Club in the 1967 Intercontinental Cup prevented them from achieving seven major honors.


title: Lothario

text: Lothario is a male given name that came to suggest an unscrupulous seducer of women, based upon a character in "The Fair Penitent", a 1703 tragedy by Nicholas Rowe. In Rowe's play, Lothario is a libertine who seduces and betrays Calista; and his success is the source for the proverbial nature of the name in the subsequent English culture. It was first mentioned in this sense in 1756 in "The World", the 18th century London weekly newspaper, No. 202 ("The gay [meaning "joyful, merry"] Lothario dresses for the fight"). Samuel Richardson used “haughty, gallant, gay Lothario” as the model for the self-indulgent Robert Lovelace in his novel Clarissa (1748), and Calista suggested the character of Clarissa Harlowe. Edward Bulwer-Lytton used the name allusively in his 1849 novel "The Caxtons" ("And no woman could have been more flattered and courted by Lotharios and lady-killers than Lady Castleton has been."). Anthony Trollope in "Barchester Towers" (1857) wrote of "the elegant fluency of a practised Lothario".


title: Lothario

text: "The Fair Penitent" itself is an adaptation of "The Fatal Dowry" (1632), a play by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field. The name Lothario was previously used for a somewhat similar character in "The Cruel Brother" (1630) by William Davenant. A character with the same name also appears in "The Ill-Advised Curiosity", a story within a story in Miguel de Cervantes' 1605 novel, "Don Quixote", Part One, but Lothario there is most unwilling to seduce his friend's wife and does so only being urged by the former, who recklessly wants to test her fidelity.


title: Lothario

text: "The World", No. 157-209. The British Essayists in Forty-Five Volumes. Vol. XXIX. London: 1823. Includes a reprint of the No. 202 issue of "The World", November 11, 1756.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Texas is the second-most populous U.S. state, with a 2020 U.S. census resident population of 29,145,505, and apportioned population of 29,183,290. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the state of Texas has experienced strong population growth. Texas has many major cities and metropolitan areas, along with many towns and rural areas. Much of the population is concentrated in the major cities of Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and El Paso, and their corresponding metropolitan areas.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Texas passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population, after California. The state is also the most populous state in the South Central United States, and the most populous state in the South. Texas' population growth between 2000 and 2010 represents the highest population increase, by number of people, for any U.S. state during this time period. The large population increase can somewhat be attributed to Texas' relative insulation from the U.S. housing bubble.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: At the 2020 United States census it was reported that Texas had a resident population of 29,145,505, a 15.9% increase since the 2010 U.S. census. Its apportioned population in 2020 was 29,183,290. At the 2010 census, Texas had a population of 25.1 million—an increase of 4.3 million since the year 2000, involving an increase in population in all three subcategories of population growth: natural increase (births minus deaths), net immigration, and net migration.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: As of 2012, the state had an estimated 4.1 million foreign-born residents, constituting approximately 15% of the state population at the time. An estimated 1.7 million people were undocumented immigrants in 2014. The undocumented population of Texas decreased to an estimated 1,597,000 at the 2016 American Community Survey. Of the undocumented immigrant population, 960,000 have resided in Texas from less than 5 up to 14 years. An estimated 637,000 lived in Texas from 15 to 19 and 20 years or more. The undocumented immigrant population rebounded to 1,730,000 in 2018.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In 2021, 40.2% of the population was Hispanic and Latino American of any race, 39.3% non-Hispanic white, 11.6% Black or African American, 1.5% American Indian or Alaska Native, 5.1% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, 0.4% some other race, and 3.1% two or more races. At the 2020 census, the racial and ethnic composition of the state was 42.5% white (39.7% non-Hispanic white), 11.8% Black or African American, 5.4% Asian, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 13.6% some other race, 17.6% two or more races, and 39.3% Hispanic and Latin American of any race.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In 2015 non-Hispanic whites made up 11,505,371 (41.9%) of the population, followed by Black Americans at 3,171,043 (11.5%); other races 1,793,580 (6.5%); and Hispanics and Latinos (of any race) 10,999,120 (40.0%). At the 2010 United States census, the racial composition of Texas was the following: White American 70.4 percent, (Non-Hispanic whites 45.3 percent), Black or African American 11.8 percent, American Indian 0.7 percent, Asian 3.8 percent Pacific Islander 0.1 percent, some other race 10.5 percent, and two or more races 2.7 percent. In addition, 37.6 percent of the population was Hispanic or Latino (of any race) . In 2011, 69.8% of the population of Texas younger than age1 were minorities (meaning they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white).


title: Demographics of Texas

text: As of 1980 German, Irish, and English Americans have made the three largest European ancestry groups in Texas. German Americans made up 11.3 percent of the population and number over 2.7 million members. Irish Americans made up 8.2 percent of the population and number over 1.9 million. There are roughly over 600,000 French Americans, 472,000 Italian Americans, 369,161 Scottish Americans, and 288,610 Polish Americans residing in Texas; these four ethnic groups made up 2.5 percent, 2.0 percent, 1.5 percent, and 1.0 percent of the population respectively. In the 1980 United States census the largest ancestry group reported in Texas was English with 3,083,323 Texans citing they were of English or mostly English ancestry, making them 27 percent of the state at the time. Their ancestry primarily goes back to the original thirteen colonies (the census of 1790 gives 48% of the population of English ancestry, together with 12% Scots and Scots-Irish, 4.5% other Irish, and 3% Welsh, for a total of 67.5% British and Irish; 13% were German, Swiss, Dutch, and French Huguenots; 19% were African American), thus many of them today identify as "American" in ancestry, though they are of predominantly British stock. In 2012 there were nearly 200,000 Czech Americans living in Texas, the largest number of any state.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Hispanics and Latinos are the second-largest groups in Texas after non-Hispanic European Americans. More than 8.5 million people claim Hispanic or Latin American ethnicity. This group forms over 37 percent of Texas's population. People of Mexican descent alone number over 7.9 million, and made up 31.6 percent of the population. The vast majority of the Hispanic/Latino population in the state is of Mexican descent, the next two largest groups are Salvadorans and Puerto Ricans. There are more than 222,000 Salvadorans and more than 130,000 Puerto Ricans in Texas. Other groups with large numbers in Texas include Hondurans, Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Cubans, among others. The Hispanics in Texas are more likely than in some other states (such as California) to identify as white; according to the 2010 U.S. census, Texas is home to 6,304,207 White Hispanics and 2,594,206 Hispanics of "some other race" (usually mestizo).


title: Demographics of Texas

text: African Americans are the racial minority in Texas. Their proportion of the population has declined since the early 20th century after many left the state in the Great Migration. Blacks of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin made up 11.5 percent of the population in 2015; blacks of non-Hispanic origin formed 11.3 percent of the populace. African Americans of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic origin numbered at roughly 2.7 million individuals, increasing in 2018 to 3,908,287. The majority of the Black and African American population of Texas lives in the Greater Houston, Dallas and San Antonio metropolitan areas.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Native Americans are a smaller minority in the state. Native Americans made up 0.5 percent of Texas's population and number over 118,000 individuals as of 2015. Native Americans of non-Hispanic origin made up 0.3 percent of the population and number over 75,000 individuals. Cherokee made up 0.1 percent of the population, and numbered over 19,400. In contrast, only 583 identified as Chippewa.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Asian Americans are a sizable minority group in Texas. Americans of Asian descent formed 4.5 percent of the population in 2015. They total more than 1.2 million individuals. Over 200,000 Indian Americans make Texas their home. Texas is also home to more than 187,000 Vietnamese and 136,000 Chinese. In addition to 92,000 Filipinos and 62,000 Koreans, there are 18,000 Japanese Americans living in the state. Lastly, more than 111,000 people are of other Asian ancestry groups, such as Cambodian, Thai, and Hmong. Sugar Land, a city within the Houston metropolitan area, and Plano, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area, both have high concentrations of ethnic Chinese and Korean residents. The Houston and Dallas areas, and to a lesser extent, the Austin metropolitan area, all contain substantial Vietnamese communities.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Americans with origins from the Pacific Islands are the smallest minority in Texas. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, only 21,484 Texans are Pacific Islanders. The city of Euless, a suburb of Fort Worth, contains a sizable population of Tongan Americans, at nearly 900 people, over one percent of the city's population. Killeen has a sufficient population of Samoans and Guamanian, and people of Pacific Islander descent surpass one percent of the city's population.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Multiracial individuals are also a visible minority in Texas. People identifying as multiracial form 2.9 percent of the population, and number over 800,000 people. Over 80,000 Texans claim African and European heritage. People of European and American Indian ancestry number over 108,800. People of European and Asian ancestry number over 57,600. People of African and Native American ancestry were even smaller in number at 15,300.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: German descendants inhabit much of central and southeast-central Texas. Over one-third of Texas residents are of Hispanic origin; while many have recently arrived, some Tejanos have ancestors with multi-generational ties to 18th century Texas. The African American population in Texas is increasing due to the New Great Migration. In addition to the descendants of the state's former slave population, many African American college graduates have come to the state for work recently in the New Great Migration. Since the early 21st century, the Asian population in Texas has grown—primarily in Houston and Dallas. Other communities with a significantly growing Asian American population is in Austin, Corpus Christi, San Antonio, and the Sharyland area next McAllen, Texas. Three federally recognized Native American tribes reside in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In 2010, 49% of all births were Hispanics; 35% were non-Hispanic whites; 11.5% were non-Hispanic blacks, and 4.3 percent were Asians/Pacific Islanders. Based on U.S. Census Bureau data released in February 2011, for the first time in recent history, Texas's non-Hispanic white population is below 50% (45%) and Hispanics grew to 38%. Between 2000 and 2010, the total population growth by 20.6%, but Hispanics and Latin Americans growth by 65%, whereas non-Hispanic whites grew by only 4.2%. Texas has the fifth highest rate of teenage births in the nation and a plurality of these are to Hispanics or Latinos.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Romani Americans are present in Texas. In Texas, the two main Roma subgroups are Vlax and Romanichal. They mainly live in Houston and Fort Worth, though significant numbers of Romani families live in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and El Paso.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: "Note: Births in table don't add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number."


title: Demographics of Texas

text: The most common American English accent spoken was Texan English, which is a mix of Southern American English and Western American English dialects. Louisiana Creole language is spoken mostly in Southeast Texas. Chicano English is also widely spoken, as well as African American Vernacular English, and General American English.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In 2010, 65.80% (14,740,304) of Texas residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 29.21% (6,543,702) spoke Spanish, 0.75% (168,886) Vietnamese, and Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin) was spoken as a main language by 0.56% (122,921) of the population over the age of five. Other languages spoken include German (including Texas German) by 0.33% (73,137,) Tagalog with 0.29% (73,137) speakers, and French (including Cajun French) was spoken by 0.25% (55,773) of Texans. In total, 34.20% (7,660,406) of Texas's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: The 2019 American Community Survey estimated 64.4% of the population spoke only English, and 35.6% spoke a language other than English. Roughly 30% of the total population spoke Spanish. Approximately 50,742 Texans spoke French or a French-creole language. German and other West Germanic languages were spoken by 47,098 residents; Russian, Polish, and other Slavic languages by 27,956; Korean by 31,581; Chinese 22,616; Vietnamese 81,022; Tagalog 43,360; and Arabic by 26,281 Texans.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Texas, while historically and currently containing a substantial Catholic population, has long been part of the strongly socially conservative, Evangelical Protestant Bible Belt. The Dallas–Fort Worth area is home to three major evangelical seminaries and several of America's largest megachurches, including the Potter's House pastored by T.D. Jakes and Prestonwood Baptist pastored by Jack Graham. Houston is home to the largest Evangelical Protestant church in the U.S., Lakewood Church, pastored by Joel Osteen. Lubbock, Texas had the most churches per capita in the U.S. as of 2003.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, Christianity was the largest religion (77%). The following largest were the irreligious (18%), nothing in particular (13%), Judaism (1%), Islam (1%), Buddhism (1%) and Hinduism and other religions at less than 1 percent each. In a separate study by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020 however, while Christianity remained the largest religion (75.5%), its irreligious communities have increased to forming 20% of the Texan population.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: The largest Christian denomination as of 2014 has been the Catholic Church, per the Pew Research Center at 23% of the population, though Protestants altogether made up 50% of the Christian population in 2014; in the study by the Public Religion Research Institute in 2020, the Catholic Church's membership increased to encompassing 28% of the population identifying with a religious or spiritual belief. The largest Catholic jurisdictions in Texas are the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston—the first and oldest Latin Church diocese in Texas—the dioceses of Dallas, Fort Worth, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Antonio.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Among Protestant Christians, which as a whole declined to 47% of the population in a separate study by the Public Religion Research Institute, predominantly-white Evangelical Protestantism declined to 14% of the Protestant Christian population. Mainline Protestants in contrast made up 15% of Protestant Texas. Hispanic or Latino American-dominated Protestant churches and historically Black or African American Protestantism grew to a collective 13% of the Protestant population.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In contrast, Evangelical Protestants altogether were 31% of the population at the Pew Research Center's 2014 study, and Baptists were the largest Evangelical tradition (14%); per the 2014 study, they made up the second largest Mainline Protestant group behind Methodists (4%). Nondenominational and interdenominational Christians were the second largest Evangelical group (7%) followed by Pentecostals (4%). The largest Evangelical Baptists in the state were the Southern Baptist Convention (9%) and independent Baptists (3%). The Assemblies of God made the largest Evangelical Pentecostal denomination in 2014. Among Mainline Protestants, the United Methodist Church was the largest denomination (4%) and the American Baptist Churches USA comprised the second largest Mainline Protestant group (2%).


title: Demographics of Texas

text: According to the Pew Research Center in 2014, the largest historically African American Christian denominations were the National Baptist Convention (USA) and the Church of God in Christ. Black Methodists and other Christians made up less than 1 percent each of the Christian demographic. Other Christians made up 1 percent of the total Christian population, and the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox formed less than 1 percent of the statewide Christian populace. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the largest nontrinitarian Christian group in Texas alongside the Jehovah's Witnesses.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Non-Christian faiths accounted for 4% of the religious population in 2014, and 5% in 2020 per the Pew Research Center and Public Religion Research Institute. Adherents of many other religions reside predominantly in the urban centers of Texas. Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism were tied as the second largest religion as of 2014 and 2020. In 1990, the Islamic population was about 140,000 with more recent figures putting the current number of Muslims between 350,000 and 400,000 as of 2012. The Jewish population was around 128,000 in 2008. In 2020, the Jewish population grew to over 176,000. Around 146,000 adherents of religions such as Hinduism and Sikhism lived in Texas as of 2004. Texas is the fifth-largest Muslim-populated state in the country. Of the unaffiliated, an estimated 2% were atheists and 3% agnostic.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: As of 2010, the state has three cities with populations exceeding one million: Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas. These three rank among the 10 most populous cities of the United States. As of 2020, six Texas cities had populations greater than 600,000 people. Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso are among the 20 largest U.S. cities. Texas has four metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million: , , , and . The Dallas–Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas numbered about 7.5 million and 7 million residents as of 2019.


title: Demographics of Texas

text: Three interstate highways—I-35 to the west (Dallas–Fort Worth to San Antonio, with Austin in between), I-45 to the east (Dallas to Houston), and I-10 to the south (San Antonio to Houston) define the Texas Triangle megaregion. The region of contains most of the state's largest cities and metropolitan areas as well as 17 million people, nearly 75 percent of Texas's total population. Houston and Dallas have been recognized as beta world cities. These cities are spread out amongst the state. Texas has 254 counties, which is more than any other state by 95 (Georgia).


title: Demographics of Texas

text: In contrast to the cities, unincorporated rural settlements known as colonias often lack basic infrastructure and are marked by poverty. The office of the Texas Attorney General stated, in 2011, that Texas had about 2,294 colonias and estimates about 500,000 lived in the colonias. Hidalgo County, as of 2011, has the largest number of colonias. Texas has the largest number of people of all states, living in colonias.


title: John Herdman

text: John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager who is the head coach of the Canada men's national team.