title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The web series "RWBY", produced by Texas-based company Rooster Teeth, is produced using an anime-influenced art style and has been referred to as an American anime by multiple sources. For example, when the series was licensed for release in Japan, "AdWeek" reported on the situation using the headline "American-made anime from Rooster Teeth gets licensed in Japan". The CEO of Rooster Teeth, Matt Hullum, commented on the licensing agreement, saying "This is the first time any American-made anime has been marketed to Japan. It definitely usually works the other way around, and we're really pleased about that." In 2013, Monty Oum, the creator of "RWBY", said “Some believe just like Scotch needs to be made in Scotland, an American company can’t make anime. I think that’s a narrow way of seeing it. Anime is an art form, and to say only one country can make this art is wrong."


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In 2015, Netflix announced that it intended to produce anime. In doing so, the company is offering a more accessible channel for distribution to Western markets.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Defining anime as style has been contentious amongst fans, with John Oppliger stating, "The insistence on referring to original American art as "anime" or "manga" robs the work of its cultural identity."


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: On the other hand, series like "", its sequel and "" have opened up more debates on whether these works should be called "anime", and whether the culturally abstract approach to the word's meaning may open up the possibility of anime produced in countries other than Japan. While some Westerners strictly view anime as a Japanese animation product, some scholars suggest defining anime as specifically or quintessentially Japanese may be related to a new form of orientalism with some fans and critics arguing that the term should be defined as a "style" rather than as a national product, which leaves open the possibility of anime being produced in other countries.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: "Stitch!" is the anime spin-off of Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" franchise and the successor to "". It debuted in Japan in October 2008. The show features a Japanese girl named Yuna in place of Lilo, and is set on a fictional island in the Ryukyus off the shore of Okinawa instead of Hawaii.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: ND Stevenson and the crew of "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" were strongly influenced by anime, especially those with magical girls.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The production on "The Animatrix" began when the Wachowskis visited some of the creators of the anime films that had been strong influences on their work, and decided to collaborate with them.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Japanese anime has influenced Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks productions. Glen Keane, the animator for successful Disney films such as "The Little Mermaid" (1989), "Beauty and the Beast" (1991), "Aladdin" (1992), and "Tangled", has credited Hayao Miyazaki as a "huge influence" on Disney's animated films ever since "The Rescuers Down Under" (1990). Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, the directors of Disney films such as "Beauty and the Beast", "Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1996), and "" (2001), are fans of anime and have cited Miyazaki's works as a major influence on their own work. Miyazaki's influence on Disney dates back to "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986), which was influenced by Miyazaki's "Lupin III" film "Castle of Cagliostro" (1979) and which in turn paved the way for the Disney Renaissance.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Controversially, Disney's "The Lion King" (1994) was accused of plagiarizing Osamu Tezuka's 1960s anime series "Kimba the White Lion", due to both works sharing numerous similarities, leading to a protest upon release in Japan. However, Disney denied the accusation of plagiarism. The controversy surrounding "Kimba" and "The Lion King" was parodied in a 1995 episode of "The Simpsons". A similar controversy surrounded another Disney film, "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", which was alleged to have plagiarized the Studio Gainax anime series "" (1990). "Atlantis" directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise denied the allegation, but nevertheless acknowledged Miyazaki's films as a major influence on their work.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Miyazaki's work deeply influenced Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, who described how Miyazaki's influence upon his life and work began when he first saw "Castle of Cagliostro". Pete Docter, director of the popular Pixar films "Monsters, Inc." (2001) and "Up" (2009) as well as a co-creator of other Pixar works, has also described anime, specifically Miyazaki, as an influence on his work. Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck cited the influence of Miyazaki's anime productions on "Frozen" (2013), stating that they were inspired by their sense of "epic adventure and that big scope and scale and then the intimacy of funny quirky characters." Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois described Miyazaki's flight and pacifist themes as an influence for creating "How to Train Your Dragon" (2010).


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Since the 2000s there have already been countless independent projects for animated series inspired by anime. One of the first attempts was an animated adaptation of the popular manga-styled comic "Holy Avenger" after its completion in 2003, however due to financial and production problems the series was never developed. Over the years several other attempts for independent projects for animation inspired by Brazil were created, the most notable being "Dogmons!", "XDragoon" and "Magma".


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Among the anime-inspired Brazilian animated series that premiered on TV are "Os Under-Undergrounds" that debuted in May 2016, Nickelodeon and "Turma da Mônica Jovem", based on the manga-styled comic created by Mauricio de Sousa, that debuted in November 7, 2019.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Despite being a series entirely made in Japan, "No Game No Life" is often credited by many Brazilians as an authentic Brazilian anime, due to the Brazilian origin of its creator Yuu Kamiya.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Animated series such as "Golpea Duro Hara", a show was an inspiration of the Japanese series such as "Dragon Ball" and "One-Punch Man", released in 2018. It gives the second season in 2020 on Cartoon Network.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In 2020, the Chilean animated film, "Nahuel and the Magic Book", inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki's projects such as "Future Boy Conan" and the entire "Studio Ghibli" with the mixtures of other Western animation such as "Steven Universe" and "Gravity Falls", was created and became the first Latin American won the "Tokyo Anime Award" for Award of Excellence a year later.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In 2007, the Canadian anime-style animated short "Flutter" became the first work from a non-Asian nation to win the Open Entries Grand Prize at the Tokyo Anime Awards.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The French-American international co-production "W.I.T.C.H.", a magical girl series, has been noted as having an anime-influenced visual style. First season director Marc Gordon-Bates cited anime such as "Neon Genesis Evangelion" as design inspiration. The animated series is based on Italian comics of the same name themselves drawn in line with manga conventions, as opposed to the more rounded style traditionally used by publisher and co-producer Disney. Co-executive producer Olivier Dumont noted that the high-quality animation was intended to be true to the detailed artwork of the comics series.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The producers of the French anime "Code Lyoko", one of the most successful works of European anime, explicitly stated in their introductory document that they were: "Influenced by the poetry and the visual impact of Japanese animation, the series proposes a graphic universe that's particularly original and strong."


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The animation and style in "" is practically influenced by various Magical girl anime. Toei Animation does some of the modeling for the series, and was originally going to be in an anime-esque art-style. Thomas Astruc, the creator of the show, stated that the production team switched to CGI instead because Ladybug's spots were hard to animate around that time.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Another example of anime-influenced animation can be seen in "", a flash animation series based on a video game of the same title.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In 2018, Movistar+ released "Virtual Hero", a Spanish animated series created by YouTube personality El Rubius. It was dubbed as the "first anime in Spanish history". The Netflix original "The Idhun Chronicles", based on The Idhún's Memories book saga written by Laura Gallego, premiered in 2021, also featuring an anime-style animation.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Some French-Canadian series have also been influenced by anime, such as "Totally Spies!", "Martin Mystery", and "Team Galaxy".


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The visual style of the American-Italian animated series "Winx Club" is a mixture of European and Japanese elements, and also very similar to magical girl subgenre.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: The UAE-Filipino produced TV series called "Torkaizer" is dubbed as the "Middle East's First Anime Show", and is currently in production, which is currently looking for funding.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: A Japanese-Filipino produced anime television series Barangay 143 is currently airing on GMA Network.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In April 2020, a studio named Manga Production from Saudi Arabia announced the release of "Future's Folktales (Mirai no Mukashibanashi)", co-produced with Toei.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In June 2021, the Filipino, anime-influenced TV series, Trese was released on Netflix. It is an adaption of the Filipino komik series of the same name produced by South East Asian BASE Entertainment.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: A Pakistani hand drawn romantic anime film called "The Glassworker" is currently in production. It is directed by Usman Riaz. The trailer of the film was released in October 2016. The film will release in 2023 as described by the animation studio's website. It is also Pakistan's and South Asia's first crowd funded movie as it had raised $116,000 on Kickstarter. The reason for this high raise was due to Usman Riaz being a famous musician, speaker. The movie is hand drawn so the scenes of the movie gives it a Studio Ghibli vibe.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: In India, "Karmachakra" was produced as one of the first Indian anime influenced animations under Studio Durga. It is a low budget 2D film, despite being anime influenced the pilot of the movie says otherwise, due to its low budget the developers made use of classic 2D style animation which makes it different from anime.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Occasionally, animated series are developed as outright international co-productions between Japan and one or more other countries, as opposed to having stylistic influence. In the 1980s, there were Japanese-European productions such as "Ulysses 31", "The Mysterious Cities of Gold", "Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds", "Sherlock Hound" and "The Jungle Book". More recent examples of Canadian and French co-productions include "Cybersix" (1999) as well as "Oban Star-Racers" and "Spider Riders", both from 2006.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: "Ōban Star-Racers" is known as one of the European animations that strongly resemble anime. While the majority of the creative directors and writers were French, the production team moved to Tokyo to collaborate with a Japanese production team.


title: Anime-influenced animation

text: Animation such as "Oban Star-Racers" and "Code Lyoko", like "Avatar: The Last Airbender", are examples over which some critics and fans debate about the term anime and whether it is defined as a "style" rather than as a national product, which leaves open the possibility of anime being produced in other countries.


title: Electro (music)

text: Electro (or electro-funk) is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines, and funk. Records in the genre typically feature drum machines and heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. This is the main distinction between electro and previously prominent genres such as disco, in which the electronic sound was only part of the instrumentation. It also palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie for being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.


title: Electro (music)

text: Following the decline of disco music in the United States, electro emerged as a fusion of funk and early hip-hop with principal influences from New York boogie, German and Japanese electronic pop music. The genre emerged with musicians Arthur Baker, Afrika Bambaataa, Warp 9, and Hashim. Seminal electro tracks included "Planet Rock" (1982) and "Nunk" (1982), both featuring its characteristic TR-808 drum beats.


title: Electro (music)

text: The early 1980s were electro's mainstream peak. By the mid 1980s, the genre moved away from its electronic and funk influences, using harder edged beats and rock samples, exemplified by Run DMC. Electro became popular again in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother and DJs such as Dave Clarke. A third wave of popularity occurred in 2007. Electro has branched out into subgenres, including electrocore and skweee.


title: Electro (music)

text: From its inception, one of the defining characteristics of the electro sound was the use of drum machines, particularly the Roland TR-808, as the rhythmic basis of the track. As the genre evolved, computers and sampling replaced drum machines in electronic music, and are now used by the majority of electro producers. It is important to note, that although the electro of the 1980s and contemporary electro (electronic dance music) both grew out of the dissolution of disco, they are now different genres.


title: Electro (music)

text: Classic (1980s) electro drum patterns tend to be electronic emulations of breakbeats with a syncopated kick drum, and usually a snare or clap accenting the backbeat. The difference between electro drumbeats and breakbeats (or breaks) is that electro tends to be more mechanical, while breakbeats tend to have more of a human-like feel, like that of a live drummer. The definition however is somewhat ambiguous in nature due to the various uses of the term.


title: Electro (music)

text: The Roland TR-808 drum machine was released in 1980, defining early electro with its immediately recognizable sound. Staccato, percussive drumbeats tended to dominate electro, almost exclusively provided by the TR-808. As an inexpensive way of producing a drum sound, the TR-808 caught on quickly with the producers of early electro because of the ability of its bass drum to generate extreme low-frequencies. This aspect of the Roland TR-808 was especially appealing to producers who would test drive their tracks in nightclubs (like NYC's Funhouse), where the bass drum sound was essential for a record's success. Its unique percussion sounds like handclaps, open and closed high-hat, clave and cowbell became integral to the electro sound. A number of popular songs in the early 1980s employed the TR-808, including Marvin Gaye's “Sexual Healing,” Cybotron's “Clear,” and Afrika Bambaataa's “Planet Rock.” The Roland TR-808 has attained iconic status, eventually being used on more hits than any other drum machine. Through the use of samples, the Roland TR-808 remains popular in electro and other genres to the present day.


title: Electro (music)

text: Other electro instrumentation was generally electronic, favoring analog synthesis, programmed bass lines, sequenced or arpeggiated synthetic riffs, and atonal sound effects all created with synthesizers. Heavy use of effects such as reverbs, delays, chorus or phasers along with eerie synthetic ensemble strings or pad sounds emphasized the science fiction or futuristic themes of classic (1980s) electro, represented in the lyrics and/or music. Electro hip hop group Warp 9's 1983 single, Light Years Away, produced and written by Lotti Golden and Richard Scher, exemplifies the Sci-Fi, afrofuturist aspect of electro, reflected in both the lyrics and instrumentation. The imagery of its lyrical refrain "space is the place for the human race" pays homage to Sun Ra's 1974 film, while its synth lines and sound effects are informed by sci-fi, computer games, and cartoons,"born of a science-fiction revival.".


title: Electro (music)

text: Most electro is instrumental, but a common element is vocals processed through a vocoder. Additionally, speech synthesis may be used to create robotic or mechanical lyrical content, as in the iconic Planet Rock and the automatous chant in the chorus of Nunk by Warp 9. Although primarily instrumental, early electro utilized rap. Male rap dominated the genre, however female rappers are an integral part of the electro tradition, whether featured in a group as in Warp 9 or as solo performers like Roxanne Shante. The lyrical style that emerged along with electro became less popular by the 1990s, as rapping continued to evolve, becoming the domain of hip hop music.


title: Electro (music)

text: Following the decline of disco music in the late 1970s, various funk artists such as Zapp & Roger began experimenting with talk boxes and the use of heavier, more distinctive beats. Boogie played a role during the formative years of electro, notably "Feels Good" by Electra (Emergency – EMDS-6527), the post-disco production "You're the One for Me" by D. Train (Prelude – PRL D 621), and the Eric Matthew/Darryl Payne productions "Thanks to You" by Sinnamon (Becket – BKD 508), and "On A Journey (I Sing The Funk Electric)" by Electrik Funk (Prelude – PRL D 541). Electro eventually emerged as a fusion of different styles, including funk, boogie combined with German and Japanese technopop, in addition to influences from the futurism of Alvin Toffler, martial arts films, and video game music. The genre's immediate forebearers included Kraftwerk and Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO).


title: Electro (music)

text: In 1980, YMO was the first band to utilize the TR-808 programmable drum machine. That same year, YMO member Ryuichi Sakamoto released "Riot in Lagos", which is regarded as an early example of electro music, and is credited for having anticipated the beats and sounds of electro. The song's influence can be seen in the work of later pioneering electro artists such as Afrika Bambaataa and Mantronix.


title: Electro (music)

text: 1982 was a watershed year for electro. Bronx based producer Afrika Bambaataa released the seminal track "Planet Rock", which contained elements of Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express" (from the album of the same name) and "Numbers" (from Kraftwerk's 1981 "Computer World" album) combined with the use of distinctive TR-808 beats. "Planet Rock" is widely regarded as a turning point in the electro genre, "like a light being switched on." Another groundbreaking record released that year, Nunk by Warp 9 utilized "imagery drawn from computer games and hip hop slanguage." Although remaining unreleased, a pre-Def Jam Russell Simmons produced Bruce Haack's proto hip-hop single "Party Machine" at a studio in Philadelphia. Electro hip hop releases in 1982 include songs by: Planet Patrol, Warp 9, Man Parrish, George Clinton ("Computer Games"), Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Tyrone Brunson, The Jonzun Crew and Whodini.


title: Electro (music)

text: In 1983, Hashim created the influential electro funk tune "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)" which became Cutting Record's first release in November 1983. At the time Hashim was influenced by Man Parrish's "Hip Hop, Be Bop", Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me With Science" and Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock". "Al-Nafyish" was later included in Playgroup's compilation album "Kings of Electro" (2007), alongside other electro classics such as Sakamoto's "Riot in Lagos". Also in 1983, Herbie Hancock, in collaboration with Grand Mixer D.ST, released the hit single "Rockit".


title: Electro (music)

text: Bambaataa and groups like Planet Patrol, Jonzun Crew, Mantronix, Newcleus, Warp 9 and Juan Atkins' Detroit-based group Cybotron went on to influence the genres of Detroit techno, ghettotech, breakbeat, drum and bass and electroclash. Early producers in the electro genre (notably Arthur Baker, John Robie and Shep Pettibone) later featured prominently in the Latin Freestyle (or simply "Freestyle") movement, along with Lotti Golden and Richard Scher (the producer/writers of Warp 9) fusing electro, funk, and hip hop with elements of Latin music.


title: Electro (music)

text: By the late 1980s, the genre evolved into what is known today as new school hip hop. The release of Run DMC's It's Like That (1983) marked a stylistic shift, focusing down on the beats in a stark, metal minimalism. Rock samples replaced synthesizers that had figured so prominently in electro, and rap styles and techniques evolved in tandem, anchoring rap to the changing hip hop culture.


title: Electro (music)

text: Baker, Pettibone, Golden and Scher enjoyed robust careers well into the house era, eluding the "genre trap" to successfully produce mainstream artists.


title: Electro (music)

text: Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Detroit Techno musicians James Stinson and Gerald Donald released numerous EPs, singles and albums of conceptual electro music under several different aliases. Their main project, Drexciya is known for exploration of science fiction and aquatic themes.


title: Electro (music)

text: In the early 1980s, Detroit techno DJ Eddie Fowlkes shaped a related style called electro-soul, which was characterized by a predominant bass line and a chopped up electro breakbeat contrasted with soulful male vocals. Kurtis Mantronik's electro-soul productions for Joyce Sims presaged new jack swing's combination of hip hop and soul elements. In a 2016 profile on the genre's rise in Denver's music scene, Dylan Owens of "The Denver Post" writes, "As with all fledgling genres, little about electro-soul is defined — even what to call it. (Of the eight artists interviewed for this article, none agreed on any one name.) But what does seem sure is its rise, especially locally. If Denver can be known as the musical torchbearer of any genre, it's electro-soul's half-live, half-produced swirl of hip-hop, soul, funk and jazz."


title: Electro (music)

text: Although the early 1980s were electro's heyday in the mainstream, it enjoyed renewed popularity in the late 1990s with artists such as Anthony Rother and DJs such as Dave Clarke, and has made yet another comeback for a third wave of popularity in 2007. The continued interest in electro, though influenced to a great degree by Florida, Detroit, Miami, Los Angeles and New York styles, has primarily taken hold in Florida and Europe with electro club nights becoming commonplace again. The scene still manages to support hundreds of electro labels, from the disco electro of Clone Records, to the old school b-boy styles of Breakin’ Records and Dominance Electricity, to the electrofunk of Citinite, and to harder more modern styles of electro of labels like Bass Frequency Productions and Nu Illusion Music.


title: Electro (music)

text: New branches of electro have risen over the last couple of years. Florida has pioneered the "Electrocore" sound, started in the late 1990s by artists like Jackal and Hyde and Dynamix II and carried on to this day. Skweee is a genre which developed in Nordic countries such as Sweden and Finland, hence its first name "Scandinavian Funk". The outlets and artists of Skweee are still mostly limited to the Nordic countries.


title: Electro (music)

text: From the late 1990s onward, the term "electro" is also used to refer two other fusion genres of electro, either blended with techno and new wave in electroclash,


title: Electro (music)

text: The genre enjoyed a resurgence from 2016 onwards, with DJs like Helena Hauff and DJ Stingray gaining more popularity and festivals like Dekmantel featuring it prominently on their lineups. Labels like Cultivated Electronics, CPU, Mars Frequency Records, brokntoys and Mechatronica are currently pushing a new trove of artists which has introduced the genre to a new generation.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: A Memory Called Empire is a 2019 science fiction novel, the debut novel by Arkady Martine. It follows Mahit Dzmare, the ambassador from Lsel Station to the Teixcalaanli Empire, as she investigates the death of her predecessor and the instabilities that underpin that society. The book won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: When the Teixcalaanli Empire asks that Yskandr Aghavn, the ambassador from Lsel Station, be replaced, Lsel sends Mahit Dzmare—who, like Yskandr, is an admirer of Teixcalaanli culture. Mahit secretly has within her brain an "imago machine" with a recording of Yskandr's memories and consciousness so that he may guide her; however, shortly after their arrival on Teixcalaan, the machine malfunctions, and Yskandr no longer responds. With the aid of her cultural liaison Three Seagrass and Imperial advisor Nineteen Adze, Mahit discovers the connections between the original Yskandr's death and the looming Teixcalaanli succession crisis—and the threat of a civil war, in which Lsel Station could be a target for annexation.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: In "the New York Times", Amal el-Mohtar reported that the novel explores the intersection between our past and future selves. It looks at language, grammar, and custom, things that are intertwined with the politics of conquest and the broader culture.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: "The Verge" observed that the book discusses how institutional memory guides society and shapes politics, and provides insight into the ideas of conquest and colonialism by comparing the different worldviews of the expansion-minded Teixcalaanli Empire and the fiercely independent Lsel Stationers. "Tor.com" emphasised the degree to which Mahit is perceived as a "barbarian" by the Teixcalaanli.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: "A Memory Called Empire" won the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel and the 2020 Compton Crook Award, and was a finalist for the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 2019.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: "Publishers Weekly" gave the novel a starred review, calling it a "gorgeously crafted space opera", and lauding its worldbuilding and backstory. "Kirkus Reviews" stated that the novel was "a confident beginning" and compared it positively to the works of Ann Leckie and Yoon Ha Lee. "The New York Times" praised it as "a mesmerizing debut, sharp as a knife." "The Verge" described it as "an excellent, gripping novel with a brisk plot, outstanding characters, and plenty to think about long after it's over." Tor.com called it "a stunning debut", praising its worldbuilding, characterization, and subtlety.


title: A Memory Called Empire

text: The sequel "A Desolation Called Peace" was published in March 2021. Set a few months after the events of "A Memory Called Empire", the action takes place in part on the Jewel of the World, but also at Lsel station and mostly in the warships on the boundary of the Teixcalaan universe. Mahit and Three Seagrass go there to negotiate with an unknown species. Like the first book, "A Desolation Called Peace" won the Hugo Award for Best Novel


title: Dhammapada

text: The Dhammapada (Pāli; ) is a collection of sayings of the Buddha in verse form and one of the most widely read and best known Buddhist scriptures. The original version of the Dhammapada is in the Khuddaka Nikaya, a division of the Pali Canon of Theravada Buddhism.


title: Dhammapada

text: The Buddhist scholar and commentator Buddhaghosa explains that each saying recorded in the collection was made on a different occasion in response to a unique situation that had arisen in the life of the Buddha and his monastic community. His translation of the commentary, the "Dhammapada Atthakatha", presents the details of these events and is a rich source of legend for the life and times of the Buddha.


title: Dhammapada

text: The title "Dhammapada" is a compound term composed of "dhamma" and "pada", each word having a number of denotations and connotations. Generally, "dhamma" can refer to the Buddha's "doctrine" or an "eternal truth" or "righteousness" or all "phenomena"; at its root, "pada" means "foot" and thus by extension, especially in this context, means either "path" or "verse" (cf. "prosodic foot") or both. English translations of this text's title have used various combinations of these and related words.


title: Dhammapada

text: According to tradition, the Dhammapada's verses were spoken by the Buddha on various occasions. Glenn Wallis states: "By distilling the complex models, theories, rhetorical style and sheer volume of the Buddha's teachings into concise, crystalline verses, the Dhammapada makes the Buddhist way of life available to anyone...In fact, it is possible that the very source of the Dhammapada in the third century B.C.E. is traceable to the need of the early Buddhist communities in India to laicize the ascetic impetus of the Buddha's original words." The text is part of the Khuddaka Nikaya of the Sutta Pitaka, although over half of the verses exist in other parts of the Pali Canon. A 4th or 5th century CE commentary attributed to Buddhaghosa includes 305 stories which give context to the verses.


title: Dhammapada

text: Comparing the Pali Dhammapada, the Gandhari Dharmapada and the Udanavarga, Brough (2001) identifies that the texts have in common 330 to 340 verses, 16 chapter headings and an underlying structure. He suggests that the three texts have a "common ancestor" but underlines that there is no evidence that any one of these three texts might have been the "primitive Dharmapada" from which the other two evolved.


title: Dhammapada

text: The Dhammapada is one of the most popular pieces of Theravada literature. A critical edition of the Dhammapada was produced by Danish scholar Viggo Fausbøll in 1855, becoming the first Pali text to receive this kind of examination by the European academic community.


title: Dhammapada

text: The following Pali verses and corresponding English translations are from Ānandajoti (2017), which also contains explanatory footnotes.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The Confederation Bridge () is a box girder bridge carrying the Trans-Canada Highway across the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait, linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the province of New Brunswick on the mainland. Opened May 31, 1997, the bridge is Canada's longest bridge and the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Construction took place from October 1993 to May 1997 and cost C$1.3 billion. Before its official naming, Prince Edward Islanders often referred to the bridge as the "Fixed Link". It officially opened to traffic on May 31, 1997. In April 2022, the PEI legislature voted unanimously in favour of renaming the bridge to "Epekwitk Crossing", whereas Epekwitk ( ) is the traditional Mi'kmaq name for Prince Edward Island. The name change would need to be approved by the Canadian federal government in order to take effect.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The bridge is a two-lane toll bridge that carries the Trans-Canada Highway between Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island (at Route 1) and Cape Jourimain, New Brunswick (at Route 16).


title: Confederation Bridge

text: It is a multi-span balanced cantilever bridge with a post-tensioned concrete box girder structure. Most of the curved bridge is above water with a navigation span for ship traffic. The bridge rests on 62 piers, of which the 44 main piers are apart. The bridge is wide.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The speed limit on the bridge is but can vary with wind and weather conditions. When travelling at the speed limit, it takes about 12 minutes to cross the bridge.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Tolls apply only when leaving Prince Edward Island (when travelling westbound). The toll rates are $50.25 for a two-axle automobile and $8.50 for each additional axle. Motorcycles are charged $20.00.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: While pedestrians and cyclists are not permitted to cross the bridge, a shuttle service is available. Before 2006, the shuttle was free and since January 1, 2022, the service has charged $4.75 per pedestrian or $9.50 per cyclist when leaving Prince Edward Island. Baggage is charged at a rate of $4.25 per bag after the first bag.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The other major Northumberland Strait crossing, Wood Islands Ferry from Wood Islands, Prince Edward Island to Caribou, Nova Scotia, charges when leaving Prince Edward Island. Other ferry fares include $20.00 per adult pedestrian, $40.00 per motorcycle, and $20.00 per bicycle. Travellers, whether entering the island by bridge and leaving by ferry or "vice versa" pay for leaving the island only.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Various proposals for a fixed link across the Northumberland Strait can be traced as far back as the 1870s when the provinces' railway systems were developed. Subsequent proposals arose during federal elections in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The ebb and flow of public support for a fixed link was indirectly tied to the varying levels of federal investment in ferry and steamship connections to the province over the years, finally culminating in a proposal in the mid-1980s which resulted in the construction of the current bridge.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: As a part of Prince Edward Island's admission into the Dominion of Canada in 1873, the Canadian government was obligated to provide...


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Following Confederation, early steamship services across Northumberland Strait connected the Island ports of Charlottetown and Georgetown with railway facilities at Pictou, Nova Scotia. Similar services operated from Summerside connected with railway facilities at Shediac, New Brunswick.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The most direct route across the Northumberland Strait, however, was at the wide Abegweit Passage. Infrequent winter service provided by underpowered steamships incapable of breaking sea ice ensured the survival of a passenger and mail service across Abegweit Passage using iceboats until a permanent ferry service was established in the 1910s.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The unsatisfactory winter steamship service and reliance upon primitive iceboats provoked complaints from the Island government until the federal government decided to implement a railcar ferry service across Abegweit Passage between new ports at Port Borden and Cape Tormentine.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: In 1912, the federal government promised to open a car ferry between the "Capes" (Cape Traverse, PEI to Cape Tormentine, NB). The privately owned New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Railway from Sackville, New Brunswick to Cape Tormentine was purchased by the federal government and an order was made with a shipyard in England for an icebreaking railcar ferry, to be called the "Prince Edward Island". Ports were developed at Carleton Point, several kilometres west of Cape Traverse, and the existing harbour at Cape Tormentine; the new port at Carleton Point would be named Borden in honour of Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The new ferry entered service in 1915 and operated on the former steamship routes until port facilities were opened in October 1917. Automobile service was added in 1938 and other vessels followed as the ferry service expanded in the post-war years.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: This ferry service was initially the responsibility of Canadian Government Railways (1917–1918) and later Canadian National Railway (1918–1983), then a CNR subsidiary CN Marine (1977–1986). In 1986, CN Marine was renamed when all federal government ferry services in Atlantic Canada were transferred to the new Crown corporation Marine Atlantic.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Discussion of a fixed link can be traced to George Howlan, who called for construction of a railway tunnel beneath Abegweit Passage at the same time as the Prince Edward Island Railway was being built across the province in the 1870s. Howlan also raised the issue as a member of the provincial Legislative Assembly, and in 1891, as a Senator and member of a delegation to meetings on the subject, conducted at the British Parliament. The idea lost favour following his death in 1901.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Talk of a fixed link was revived in the 1950s and 1960s, coinciding with federal election campaigns. The topic was raised in 1957, only two years following the opening of the Canso Causeway, and at the same time as another mega-project, the St. Lawrence Seaway was being constructed. A rockfill causeway was proposed to cross Abegweit Passage, with a bridge/tunnel to accommodate shipping. This plan was rejected for navigational reasons but was raised again in 1962, and in 1965, the federal government, ignoring concerns of the shipping industry, called for tenders for a $148 million fixed link featuring a tunnel/causeway/bridge. Approach roads and railway lines were constructed at Borden and Jourimain Island but the project was formally abandoned in 1969 upon scientific recommendation in favour of improved ferry services.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Due to the extremely complex tidal regime in the Northumberland Strait consisting of diurnal and semi-diurnal cycles, any attempt to close Abegweit Passage would be next to impossible since the tidal cycles on each side of a causeway would be placed at opposites to each other. It is estimated by tidal experts at the Canadian Hydrographic Service, that tidal currents through a gap in such a causeway would be in excess of , powerful enough to counter most commercial ships and to sweep away boulders the size of houses.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Consideration of a fixed link was renewed in the 1980s by an unsolicited proposal from a Nova Scotia businessman. The federal government favoured the construction of a fixed link chiefly because of the rising costs of providing ferry service (a constitutional requirement dating from PEI's accession to Confederation) and the increasing deficits being incurred by the railway system on PEI (run as part of Canadian National, then a Crown corporation). The federal government proposed to provide a fixed subsidy for the construction and operation of a fixed link, in return for the province agreeing to the abandonment of the ferry service and the railway system.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Following the election of the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, with its agenda for regional development through so-called "mega-projects," Public Works Canada called for formal proposals in 1987 and received three offers. These proposals included a tunnel, a bridge, and a combined tunnel-causeway-bridge.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: These developments sparked an extremely divisive debate on the Island, and Premier Joe Ghiz promised a plebiscite to gauge public support, which was held on January 18, 1988.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: During the plebiscite debate, the anti-link group "Friends of the Island" cited potential ecological damage from the construction, as well as concerns about the impact on Prince Edward Island's lifestyle in general, and noted that the "mega-project" model has had limited success in other areas of the world, and rarely enriched the local population. The "Friends of the Island" believed that a fixed link was being pressured by a federal government not willing to shoulder the cost of constitutional obligations for funding an efficient ferry service, and that a link would be built largely for the benefit of mainland tourists and businesses waiting to exploit the Island.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The pro-link group "Islanders for a Better Tomorrow" noted transportation reliability would result in improvements for exporters and the tourism industry.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The debate did not end with the 1988 plebiscite and the federal government faced numerous legal challenges and a lengthy environmental impact assessment for the project. The developer of the single bridge proposal, Strait Crossing Development Inc., was selected and an announcement that the Northumberland Strait Crossing Project would be built was finally made on December 2, 1992; the developer being required to privately finance all construction through bond markets.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: As mentioned, the in the Constitution of Canada required steamship service to connect the Island's railway system with that of mainland North America. A dedicated ferry service replaced the steamships in 1917, but no changes were made to the constitution. The fixed crossing, however, required a constitutional amendment (see Amendments to the Constitution of Canada).


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The (Prince Edward Island) dealt with this issue, as well as the issue of tolls on the crossing. It made clear that the government (or a private body) could charge a toll (an essential part of the government's financing plans) for the crossing without violating the terms of union:


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The construction, which was carried out by a construction joint venture of Ballast Nedam, GTMI (Canada), Northern Construction and Strait Crossing Inc., started in the fall of 1993, beginning with preparation of staging facilities. Bridge components were built year-round from 1994 to the summer of 1996, and placement of components began in the fall of 1994 until the fall of 1996. Approach roads, toll plazas, and final work on the structure continued until the spring of 1997, at an estimated total cost of $1 billion.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: All bridge components were constructed on land, in purpose-built staging yards located on the shoreline at Amherst Head, fronting on Borden Harbour just east of the town and ferry docks, and an inland facility located at Bayfield, New Brunswick, about west of Cape Tormentine. The Amherst Head staging facility was where all large components were built, including the pier bases, ice shields, main spans, and drop-in spans. The Bayfield facility was used to construct components for the near-shore bridges which were linked using a launching truss extending over shallow waters almost from the New Brunswick shore, and from the Prince Edward Island shore.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Extremely durable high-grade concrete and reinforcing steel were used throughout construction of the pre-cast components, with the estimated lifespan of the bridge being in excess of 100 years. The reinforced concrete structure was also designed to withstand iceberg impacts, as a deflection cone encircles each pillar at the point when it meets the water surface that would cause an iceberg to bounce off. Their sheer size and weight required strengthening of the soil base during the design and preparation work for the Amherst Head staging facility, as well as the use of a crawler transport system to move pieces from fabrication to storage, and onto a nearby pier. These crawler transports, using specially designed teflon-coated concrete rails, earned the nickname "lobsters" from workers.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: All major components were lifted from the Amherst Head staging facility, transported, and placed in Abegweit Passage using the HLV "Svanen", a Dutch-built heavy lift catamaran, which during the construction of the fixed link was reportedly the tallest man-made structure in the province. HLV "Svanen" was custom-built for use on the Great Belt Bridge in the early 1990s, Denmark's largest construction project, and was modified at a French shipyard before working on the Northumberland Strait Crossing Project. Following the placement of the final major component and completion of the bridge structure in Abegweit Passage on November 19, 1996, HLV "Svanen" returned to Denmark for use in construction of the Øresund Bridge.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Construction of the fixed link required over 5,000 workers ranging from labourers and specialty trades, to engineers, surveyors, and managers. The economic impact of construction on Prince Edward Island was substantial, with the provincial GDP rising over 5% during the construction, providing a short-term economic boom for the Island.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: Throughout construction, the federal government received suggestions for names. A committee was formed on May 1, 1996, chaired by former PEI Premier Alex Campbell, to choose the new name from the submissions. The committee chose the name "Abegweit Crossing", which would pay homage to the Abegweit Passage which the bridge crosses, the vessel M/V "Abegweit" which the bridge would replace, and to the Mi'kmaq traditional name for the island.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: However, the Canadian government overruled the committee, and on September 27, 1996, the Minister of Public Works and Government Services Diane Marleau announced that the bridge's name would be "Confederation Bridge". This name is not without controversy as many Islanders feel the word "Confederation" is overused throughout the province, finding use in the name of a Northumberland Ferries Limited vessel (M/V "Confederation"), a performing arts centre and art gallery (Confederation Centre of the Arts), a shopping centre (Confederation Court Mall), and the province-wide rails to trails system (Confederation Trail), as well as in tourism promotions (e.g., "Birthplace of Confederation").


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The President of Ireland, Mary McAleese, during a state visit to Canada in 1998, referred to the bridge as the "Span of Green Gables".


title: Confederation Bridge

text: After completing the structure on November 19, 1996, SCI worked throughout the winter, paving the bridge deck, placing bridge concrete barrier guardrails which also act as wind barriers, placing bridge deck and navigational lighting, constructing the Borden-Carleton toll plaza, and finishing the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island approach roads. In separate construction, the federal and provincial governments built a new commercial and tourist development on the abandoned CN rail yards in Borden-Carleton, with phase I of this facility opening in spring 1997 as "Gateway Village". New Brunswick has never received similar federal support to improve the economy of Cape Tormentine, which has become a shadow of its former role in PEI transportation history, although in recent years a new eco-tourist and visitor centre was opened on Jourimain Island near the western end of the bridge.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The official opening for the bridge took place on May 31, 1997, with the first traffic crossing at approximately 5:00 p.m. ADT following a nationally televised ceremony which aired on CBC and included a sailpast of the schooner "Bluenose II" and several Canadian Coast Guard ships, a flyover by the "Snowbirds", and an emotional farewell to the beloved ferries which made their final crossings that evening. It is estimated that almost 75,000 people participated in a "Bridge Walk" and "Bridge Run" during the hours immediately prior to the opening for traffic.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: In the days following the opening of the bridge, ferry operator Marine Atlantic disposed of its four vessels. The ferry terminals and docks in both ports were removed over the summer of 1997.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The bridge is operated by Strait Crossing Bridge Limited (SCBL), a subsidiary of the Strait Crossing Development Inc. consortium which built the structure. SCBL will privately manage, maintain, and operate the bridge until 2032, when these operations will transfer to the Government of Canada.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The Government of Canada agreed to pay about $44 million a year for 33 years to Strait Crossing Development Inc., this being the subsidy which was formerly paid to Marine Atlantic to cover operating losses of the ferry system. These payments are in effect a mortgage and are being used by the developer to pay off construction costs. In 2032, the bridge's ownership will revert to the federal government.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: All tolls charged by SCBL are revenue for the consortium. Toll increases are indexed to inflation and regulated by the federal government. The consortium has rarely commented upon the profitability of the bridge, but during the structure's 10th anniversary, it was revealed that there had been a 30% cost overrun in construction ($330 million). The consortium is forced to cover this out of toll revenue since the federal government ferry subsidy is used to pay for the original tendered price ($1 billion). Operating costs for the bridge have also proven expensive, with warranty repairs for asphalt adherence and the complete replacement of all bridge deck lighting cutting into profits. Toll revenues have fallen over 30% since the bridge opened, largely because of declining tourism traffic and domestic travel and currently range from $25 to $30 million annually. After expenses in 2003, the consortium received a year-end dividend of $2.6 million.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: The number of tourists visiting Prince Edward Island increased from 740,000 in 1996 (the year before the bridge opened) to 1,200,000 in 1997, but this dropped back to about 900,000 visitors annually.


title: Confederation Bridge

text: As a way of further promoting the island's new accessibility, the province issued vehicle licence plates from 1999 to 2006 that featured a likeness of the Confederation Bridge between the serial number. These plates, along with four other designs, started being replaced by a single design in 2013.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well. The main reason is maintenanceartificial turf stands up to heavy use, such as in sports, and requires no irrigation or trimming. Domed, covered, and partially covered stadiums may require artificial turf because of the difficulty of getting grass enough sunlight to stay healthy. Artificial turf does have its downside, however: limited life, periodic cleaning requirements, petroleum use, toxic chemicals from infill, and heightened health and safety concerns.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf first gained substantial attention in 1966, when it was installed in the year-old Astrodome. The specific product used was "ChemGrass", developed by Monsanto and rebranded as AstroTurf; this term since then became a generic trademark for any artificial turf throughout the late 20th century. AstroTurf remains a registered trademark but is no longer owned by Monsanto.


title: Artificial turf

text: The first generation turf systems (i.e., short-pile fibers without infill) of the 1960s have been largely replaced by the second generation and third generation turf systems. Second-generation synthetic turf systems feature longer fibers and sand infills, and third-generation systems, which are most widely used today, offer infills that are mixtures of sand and granules of recycled rubber, or "rubber crumb".


title: Artificial turf

text: David Chaney, who moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 1960 and later served as Dean of the North Carolina State University College of Textiles, headed the team of Research Triangle Park researchers who created the first notable artificial turf. That accomplishment led "Sports Illustrated" to declare Chaney as the man "responsible for indoor major league baseball and millions of welcome mats."


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf was first installed in 1964 on a recreation area at the Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island. The material came to public prominence in 1966, when AstroTurf was installed in the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The state-of-the-art indoor stadium had attempted to use natural grass during its initial season in 1965, but this failed miserably and the field conditions were grossly inadequate during the second half of the season, with the dead grass painted green. Due to a limited supply of the new artificial grass, only the infield was installed before the Houston Astros' home opener in April 1966; the outfield was installed in early summer during an extended Astros road trip and first used after the All-Star Break in July.


title: Artificial turf

text: The use of AstroTurf and similar surfaces became widespread in the U.S. and Canada in the early 1970s, installed in both indoor and outdoor stadiums used for baseball and football. More than 11,000 artificial turf playing fields have been installed nationally. More than 1,200 were installed in the U.S. in 2013 alone, according to the industry group the Synthetic Turf Council.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf was first used in Major League Baseball in the Houston Astrodome in 1966, replacing the grass field used when the stadium opened a year earlier. Even though the grass was specifically bred for indoor use, the dome's semi-transparent Lucite ceiling panels, which had been painted white to cut down on glare that bothered the players, did not pass enough sunlight to support the grass. For most of the 1965 season, the Astros played on green-painted dirt and dead grass.


title: Artificial turf

text: The solution was to install a new type of artificial grass on the field, ChemGrass, which became known as AstroTurf. Because the supply of AstroTurf was still low, only a limited amount was available for the first home game. There was not enough for the entire outfield, but there was enough to cover the traditional grass portion of the infield. The outfield remained painted dirt until after the All-Star Break. The team was sent on an extended road trip before the break, and on July 19, 1966, the installation of the outfield portion of AstroTurf was completed.


title: Artificial turf

text: The Chicago White Sox became the first team to install artificial turf in an outdoor stadium, as they used it only in the infield and adjacent foul territory at Comiskey Park from 1969 through 1975. Artificial turf was later installed in other new multi-purpose stadiums such as Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium, Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium, and Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. Early AstroTurf baseball fields used the traditional all-dirt path, but in the early 1970s, teams began using the "base cutout" layout on the diamond, with the only dirt being on the pitcher's mound, batter's circle, and in a five-sided "sliding box" around each base. With this layout, a painted arc would indicate where the edge of the outfield grass would normally be, to assist fielders in positioning themselves properly. The last stadium in MLB to use this configuration was Rogers Centre in Toronto, when they switched to an all-dirt infield (but keeping the artificial turf) for the 2016 season.


title: Artificial turf

text: The biggest difference in play on artificial turf was that the ball bounced higher than on real grass and also traveled faster, causing infielders to play farther back than they would normally so that they would have sufficient time to react. The ball also had a truer bounce than on grass so that on long throws fielders could deliberately bounce the ball in front of the player they were throwing to, with the certainty that it would travel in a straight line and not be deflected to the right or left. However, the biggest impact on the game of "turf", as it came to be called, was on the bodies of the players. The artificial surface, which was generally placed over a concrete base, had much less give to it than a traditional dirt and grass field did, which caused more wear-and-tear on knees, ankles, feet, and the lower back, possibly even shortening the careers of those players who played a significant portion of their games on artificial surfaces. Players also complained that the turf was much hotter than grass, sometimes causing the metal spikes to burn their feet or plastic ones to melt. These factors eventually provoked a number of stadiums, such as the Kansas City Royals' Kauffman Stadium, to switch from artificial turf back to natural grass.


title: Artificial turf

text: In 2000, St. Petersburg's Tropicana Field became the first MLB field to use a third-generation artificial surface, FieldTurf. All other remaining artificial turf stadiums were either converted to third-generation surfaces or were replaced entirely by new natural grass stadiums. In a span of 13 years, between 1992 and 2005, the National League went from having half of its teams using artificial turf to all of them playing on natural grass. With the replacement of Minneapolis's Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome by Target Field in 2010, only two MLB stadiums used artificial turf from 2010 through 2018: Tropicana Field and Toronto's Rogers Centre. This number grew to three when the Arizona Diamondbacks switched Chase Field to artificial turf for the 2019 season; the stadium had grass from its opening in 1998 until 2018, but the difficulty of maintaining the grass in the stadium, which has a retractable roof and is located in a desert city, was cited as the reason for the switch. In 2020, Miami's Marlins Park also switched to artificial turf for similar reasons, while the Texas Rangers' new Globe Life Field was opened with an artificial surface, as it too is a retractable roof ballpark in a hot weather city; this puts the number of teams using synthetic turf in MLB at five as of 2021.


title: Artificial turf

text: The first professional American football team to play on artificial turf was the Houston Oilers, then part of the American Football League, who moved into the Astrodome in 1968, which had installed AstroTurf two years prior. In 1969, the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field in Philadelphia, at the time also home field of the Philadelphia Eagles, switched from grass to AstroTurf, making it the first National Football League stadium to use artificial turf.


title: Artificial turf

text: In 2002, CenturyLink Field, originally planned to have a natural grass field, was instead surfaced with FieldTurf upon positive reaction from the Seattle Seahawks when they played on the surface at their temporary home of Husky Stadium during the 2000 and 2001 seasons. This would be the first of a leaguewide trend taking place over the next several seasons that would not only result in teams already using artificial surfaces for their fields switching to the new FieldTurf or other similar surfaces but would also see several teams playing on grass adopt a new surface. (The Indianapolis Colts' RCA Dome and the St. Louis Rams' Edward Jones Dome were the last two stadiums in the NFL to replace their first-generation AstroTurf surfaces for next-generation ones after the 2004 season). For example, after a three-year experiment with a natural surface, Giants Stadium went to FieldTurf for 2003, while M&T Bank Stadium added its own artificial surface the same year (it has since been removed and replaced with a natural surface, which the stadium had before installing the turf). Later examples include Paul Brown Stadium, which went from grass to turf in 2004; Gillette Stadium, which made the switch in 2006; and NRG Stadium, which did so in 2015. As of 2021, 14 NFL fields out of 30 are artificial.


title: Artificial turf

text: NFL players overwhelmingly prefer natural grass over synthetic surfaces, according to a league survey conducted in 2010. When asked, "Which surface do you think is more likely to shorten your career?", 90% responded artificial turf.


title: Artificial turf

text: Following receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s injury during Super Bowl LVI, other NFL players started calling for turf to be banned since the site of the game, SoFi Stadium, was a turf field.


title: Artificial turf

text: The first professional Canadian football stadium to use artificial turf was Empire Stadium in Vancouver, British Columbia, then home of the Canadian Football League's BC Lions, which installed 3M TartanTurf in 1970. Today, eight of the nine stadiums in the CFL currently use artificial turf, largely because of the harsh weather conditions in the latter-half of the season. The only one that does not is BMO Field in Toronto, which initially had an artificial pitch and has been shared by the CFL's Toronto Argonauts since 2016 (however, part of the endzones at that stadium are covered with artificial turf). The first stadium to use the next-generation surface was Ottawa's Frank Clair Stadium (now TD Place Stadium), which the Ottawa Renegades used when they began play in 2002. The Saskatchewan Roughriders' Taylor Field was the only major professional sports venue in North America to use a second-generation artificial playing surface, Omniturf, which was used from 1988 to 2000, followed by AstroTurf from 2000 to 2007 and FieldTurf from 2007 to its 2016 closure.


title: Artificial turf

text: Some cricket pitches are made of synthetic grass or of a hybrid of mostly natural and some artificial grass, with these "hybrid pitches" having been implemented across several parts of the United Kingdom and Australia. The first synthetic turf cricket field in the USA was opened in Fremont, California in 2016.


title: Artificial turf

text: The introduction of synthetic surfaces has significantly changed the sport of field hockey. Since being introduced in the 1970s, competitions in western countries are now mostly played on artificial surfaces. This has increased the speed of the game considerably and changed the shape of hockey sticks to allow for different techniques, such as reverse stick trapping and hitting.


title: Artificial turf

text: Field hockey artificial turf differs from artificial turf for other sports, in that it does not try to reproduce a grass "feel", being made of shorter fibers. This shorter fiber structure allows the improvement in speed brought by earlier artificial turfs to be retained. This development in the game, however, is problematic for many local communities who often cannot afford to build two artificial fields: one for field hockey and one for other sports. The International Hockey Federation and manufacturers are driving research in order to produce new fields that will be suitable for a variety of sports.


title: Artificial turf

text: The use of artificial turf in conjunction with changes in the game's rules (e.g., the removal of offside, introduction of rolling substitutes and the self-pass, and to the interpretation of obstruction) have contributed significantly to change the nature of the game, greatly increasing the speed and intensity of play as well as placing far greater demands on the conditioning of the players.


title: Artificial turf

text: Some association football clubs in Europe installed synthetic surfaces in the 1980s, which were called "plastic pitches" (often derisively) in countries such as England. There, four professional club venues had adopted them; QPR's Loftus Road (1981-1988), Luton Town's Kenilworth Road (1985-1991), Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park (1986-1991) and Preston North End's Deepdale (1986-1994). QPR had been the first team to install an artificial pitch at their stadium in 1981, but were the first to remove it when they did so in 1988. Artificial pitches were banned from top-flight (then First Division) football in 1991, forcing Oldham Athletic to remove their artificial pitch after their promotion to the First Division in 1991, while then top-flight Luton Town also removed their artificial pitch at the same time. The last Football League team to have an artificial pitch in England was Preston North End, who removed their pitch in 1994 after eight years in use.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf gained a bad reputation on both sides of the Atlantic with fans and especially with players. The first-generation artificial turf surfaces were carpet-like in their look and feel, and thusly, a far harder surface than grass and soon became known as an unforgiving playing surface that was prone to cause more injuries, and in particular, more serious joint injuries, than would comparatively be suffered on a grass surface. This turf was also regarded as aesthetically unappealing to many fans.


title: Artificial turf

text: In 1981, London football club Queens Park Rangers dug up its grass pitch and installed an artificial one. Others followed, and by the mid-1980s there were four artificial surfaces in operation in the English league. They soon became a national joke: the ball pinged round like it was made of rubber, the players kept losing their footing, and anyone who fell over risked carpet burns. Unsurprisingly, fans complained that the football was awful to watch and, one by one, the clubs returned to natural grass.


title: Artificial turf

text: In the 1990s, many North American soccer clubs also removed their artificial surfaces and re-installed grass, while others moved to new stadiums with state-of-the-art grass surfaces that were designed to withstand cold temperatures where the climate demanded it. The use of artificial turf was later banned by FIFA, UEFA and by many domestic football associations, though, in recent years, both governing bodies have expressed resurrected interest in the use of artificial surfaces in competition, provided that they are FIFA Recommended. UEFA has now been heavily involved in programs to test artificial turf, with tests made in several grounds meeting with FIFA approval. A team of UEFA, FIFA and German company Polytan conducted tests in the Stadion Salzburg Wals-Siezenheim in Salzburg, Austria which had matches played on it in UEFA Euro 2008. It is the second FIFA 2 Star approved artificial turf in a European domestic top flight, after Dutch club Heracles Almelo received the FIFA certificate in August 2005. The tests were approved.


title: Artificial turf

text: FIFA originally launched its FIFA Quality Concept in February 2001. UEFA announced that starting from the 2005–06 season, approved artificial surfaces were to be permitted in their competitions.


title: Artificial turf

text: A full international fixture for the 2008 European Championships was played on 17 October 2007 between England and Russia on an artificial surface, which was installed to counteract adverse weather conditions, at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. It was one of the first full international games to be played on such a surface approved by both FIFA and UEFA. However, UEFA ordered that the 2008 European Champions League final hosted in the same stadium in May 2008 must take place on grass, so a temporary natural grass field was installed just for the final.


title: Artificial turf

text: UEFA stressed that artificial turf should only be considered an option where climatic conditions necessitate. One Desso "hybrid grass" product incorporates both natural grass and artificial elements.


title: Artificial turf

text: In June 2009, following a match played at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa in Costa Rica, American national team manager Bob Bradley called on FIFA to "have some courage" and ban artificial surfaces.


title: Artificial turf

text: FIFA designated a star system for artificial turf fields that have undergone a series of tests that examine quality and performance based on a two star system. Recommended two-star fields may be used for FIFA Final Round Competitions as well as for UEFA Europa League and Champions League matches. There are currently 130 FIFA Recommended 2-Star installations in the world.


title: Artificial turf

text: In 2009, FIFA launched the Preferred Producer Initiative to improve the quality of artificial football turf at each stage of the life cycle (manufacturing, installation and maintenance). Currently, there are five manufacturers that were selected by FIFA: Act Global, Limonta, Desso, GreenFields, and Edel Grass. These firms have made quality guarantees directly to FIFA and have agreed to increased research and development.


title: Artificial turf

text: In 2010, Estadio Omnilife with an artificial turf opened in Guadalajara to be the new home of Chivas, one of the most popular teams in Mexico. The owner of Chivas, Jorge Vergara, defended the reasoning behind using artificial turf because the stadium was designed to be "environment friendly and as such, having grass would result [in] using too much water." However, players harshly criticized the field, saying it caused many injuries as a result of the harder surface. When Johan Cruyff became the adviser of the team, he recommended the switch to natural grass, which the team did in 2012.


title: Artificial turf

text: In November 2011, it was reported that a number of English football clubs were interested in using artificial pitches again on economic grounds. As of January 2020, artificial pitches are not permitted in the Premier League or Football League but are permitted in the National League and lower divisions. Bromley are an example of an English football club who currently use a third-generation artificial pitch. In 2018, Sutton United were close to achieving promotion to the Football League and the debate in England about artificial pitches resurfaced again. It was reported that, if Sutton won promotion, they would subsequently be demoted two leagues if they refused to replace their pitch with natural grass. After Harrogate Town's promotion to the Football League in 2020, the club was obliged to install a natural grass pitch at Wetherby Road; and after winning promotion in 2021 Sutton Utd were also obliged to tear up their artificial pitch and replace it with grass, at a cost of more than £500,000. Artificial pitches are permitted in all rounds of the FA Cup competition.


title: Artificial turf

text: The first stadium to use artificial turf in Brazil was Atlético Paranaense's Arena da Baixada in 2016. In 2020, the administration of Allianz Parque, home of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, started the implementation of the second artificial pitch in the country.


title: Artificial turf

text: The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup took place entirely on artificial surfaces, as the event was played in Canada, where almost all of the country's stadiums use artificial turf due to climate issues. This plan garnered criticism from players and fans, some believing the artificial surfaces make players more susceptible to injuries. Over fifty of the female athletes protested against the use of artificial turf on the basis of gender discrimination.


title: Artificial turf

text: However Australia winger Caitlin Foord said that after playing 90 minutes there was no difference to her post-match recovery – a view shared by the rest of the squad. The squad spent much time preparing on the surface and had no problems with its use in Winnipeg. "We've been training on [artificial] turf pretty much all year so I think we're kind of used to it in that way ... I think grass or turf you can still pull up sore after a game so it's definitely about getting the recovery in and getting it right", Foord said.


title: Artificial turf

text: The 2012 Women's World Player of the Year, Abby Wambach, noted "The men would strike, playing on artificial turf."


title: Artificial turf

text: The controversial issue of gender equality and an equal playing field for all has sparked debate in many countries around the world. A lawsuit was filed on 1 October 2014 in an Ontario tribunal court by a group of women's international soccer players against FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association and specifically points out that in 1994 FIFA spent $2 million to plant natural grass over artificial turf in New Jersey and Detroit.


title: Artificial turf

text: Various celebrities showed their support for the women soccer players in defense of their lawsuit, including actor Tom Hanks, NBA player Kobe Bryant and U.S. men's soccer team keeper Tim Howard. Even with the possibility of boycotts, FIFA's head of women's competitions, Tatjana Haenni, made it clear that "we play on artificial turf and there's no Plan B."


title: Artificial turf

text: Rugby union also uses artificial surfaces at a professional level. Infill fields are used by English Premiership Rugby teams Gloucester, Newcastle Falcons, Saracens F.C. and Worcester Warriors, as well as United Rugby Championship teams Cardiff and Glasgow Warriors. Some fields, including Twickenham Stadium, have incorporated a hybrid field, with grass and synthetic fibers used on the surface. This allows for the field to be much more hard wearing, making it less susceptible to weather conditions and frequent use.


title: Artificial turf

text: Carpet has been used as a surface for indoor tennis courts for decades, though the first carpets used were more similar to home carpets than a synthetic grass. After the introduction of AstroTurf, it came to be used for tennis courts, both indoor and outdoor, though only a small minority of courts use the surface. Both infill and non-infill versions are used, and are typically considered medium-fast to fast surfaces under the International Tennis Federation's classification scheme. A distinct form found in tennis is an "artificial clay" surface, which seeks to simulate a clay court by using a very short pile carpet with an infill of the same loose aggregate used for clay courts that rises above the carpet fibers.


title: Artificial turf

text: Tennis courts such as Wimbledon are considering using an artificial hybrid grass to replace their natural lawn courts. Such systems incorporate synthetic fibers into natural grass to create a more durable surface on which to play. Such hybrid surfaces are currently used for some association football stadiums, including Wembley Stadium.


title: Artificial turf

text: Synthetic turf can also be used in the golf industry, such as on driving ranges, putting greens and even in some circumstances tee boxes. For low budget courses, particularly those catering to casual golfers, synthetic putting greens offer the advantage of being a relatively cheap alternative to installing and maintaining grass greens, but are much more similar to real grass in appearance and feel compared to sand greens which are the traditional alternative surface. Because of the vast areas of golf courses and the damage from clubs during shots, it is not feasible to surface fairways with artificial turf.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial grass is used to line the perimeter of some sections of some motor circuits, and offers less grip than some other surfaces. It can pose an obstacle to drivers if it gets caught on their car.


title: Artificial turf

text: Since the early 1990s, the use of synthetic grass in the more arid western states of the United States has moved beyond athletic fields to residential and commercial landscaping. New water saving programs, as of 2019, which grant rebates for turf removal, do not accept artificial turf as replacement and require a minimum of plants.


title: Artificial turf

text: The use of artificial grass for convenience sometimes faces opposition: Legislation frequently seeks to preserve natural gardens and fully water permeable surfaces, therefore restricting the use of hardscape and plantless areas, including artificial turf. In several locations in different countries, homeowners have been fined or forced to remove artificial turf or had to defend themselves in courts. Many of these restrictions can be found in local bylaws and ordinances, and are not always applied in a consistent manner.


title: Artificial turf

text: Artificial turf has been used at airports. Here it provides several advantages over natural turf – it does not support wildlife, it has high visual contrast with runways in all seasons, it reduces foreign object damage (FOD) since the surface has no rocks or clumps, and it drains well.


title: Artificial turf

text: Some artificial turf systems allow for the integration of fiber-optic fibers into the turf. This would allow for runway lighting to be embedded in artificial landing surfaces for aircraft (or lighting or advertisements to be directly embedded in a playing surface).


title: Artificial turf

text: Both the rubber granules (often made from recycled waste tires) and the synthetic fibers of artificial turf are subject to wear and can be washed into the environment. Second only to "tire and road wear particles" (TRWP) that make up a large portion of the fine road debris, the rubber granulate from artificial turf infill constitutes a significant source of rubber pollution. Fragments from the artificial reeds make their way into the environment as microplastics pollution in both marine as well as soil environments. Artificial turf has been shown to contribute to global warming by absorbing significantly more radiation than living turf and, to a lesser extent, by displacing living plants that could sequester carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.


title: Artificial turf

text: While athletic fields made with artificial turf have also been shown to require less maintenance and water than natural grass fields, they can damage habitats and food supplies for worms, bees and other burrowing insects.


title: Artificial turf

text: The rubber crumb that makes up the infill of most artificial turf is derived from old tires. These crumbs are known to contain heavy metals, some cancer causing compounds, and many chemicals whose effects are unknown.


title: Artificial turf

text: What is not clear is how much gets ingested, by what route – abrasions, swallowing crumbs, or inhalation – and the health effect of this exposure. An epidemiological study was started in 2016 and is ongoing. While this data is being gathered, different groups have tried to estimate exposure and its effects. Although most of the debate has centered on whether these exposures cause cancer, there is growing evidence that exposure to these endocrine disrupting chemicals can affect early puberty, obesity, and children's attention spans.


title: Artificial turf

text: Different experts have come to different conclusions. Some say we should take no chances and crumb infill should not be used: "Caution would argue against use of these materials where human exposure is likely, and this is especially true for playgrounds and athletic playing fields where young people may be affected.” Others believe that since the overall cancer risk for adolescents is low, but the health problems from inactivity are high, that the health benefits of the additional sports that can be played on artificial fields outweighs the possible cancer risk. "Regular physical activity during adolescence and early adulthood helps prevent cancer later in life. Restricting the use or availability of all-weather year-round synthetic fields and thereby potentially reducing exercise could, in the long run, actually increase cancer incidence, as well as cardiovascular disease and other chronic illnesses."


title: Artificial turf

text: However, the latter argument ignores the scientific studies of the impact of these chemicals on obesity and children's healthy emotional and cognitive development.


title: Artificial turf

text: For example, a study for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection analyzed lead and other metals in dust kicked into the air by physical activity on 5 artificial turf fields. The results suggest that even low levels of activity on the field can cause particulate matter containing these chemicals to get into the air where it can be inhaled and be harmful. The authors state that since no level of lead exposure is considered safe for children, “only a comprehensive mandated testing of fields can provide assurance that no health hazard on these fields exists from lead or other metals used in their construction and maintenance.”


title: Artificial turf

text: A 2018 report by Yale scientists analyzed the chemicals found in 6 samples of tire crumbs from different companies that install school athletic fields, and 9 different samples taken from 9 unopened bags of rubber mulch. The researchers detected 92 chemicals in the samples. Only about half have ever been studied for their health effects, so the risks of the other chemicals are unknown. Some of the chemicals that have been tested for health effects were not examined thoroughly. Of this chemicals that had been tested previously, 20% are considered to likely cause cancer, and 40% are irritants that can cause breathing problems such as asthma or can irritate skin and eyes. The researchers concluded that “people routinely ingest, inhale, handle, and have abrasions which contact ground tire material…Caution would argue against use of these materials where human exposure is likely, and this is especially true for playgrounds and athletic playing fields where young people may be affected.”


title: Artificial turf

text: A number of health and safety concerns have been raised about artificial turf. Friction between skin and older generations of artificial turf can cause abrasions and/or burns to a much greater extent than natural grass. Artificial turf tends to retain heat from the sun and can be much hotter than natural grass with prolonged exposure to the sun.


title: Artificial turf

text: There is some evidence that periodic disinfection of artificial turf is required as pathogens are not broken down by natural processes in the same manner as natural grass. Despite this, a 2006 study suggests certain microbial life is less active in artificial turf.


title: Artificial turf

text: There is evidence showing higher rates of player injury on artificial turf. By November 1971, the injury toll on first-generation artificial turf had reached a threshold that resulted in congressional hearings by the House subcommittee on commerce and finance. In a study performed by the National Football League Injury and Safety Panel, published in the October 2012 issue of the "American Journal of Sports Medicine", Elliott B. Hershman et al. reviewed injury data from NFL games played between 2000 and 2009. "...the injury rate of knee sprains as a whole was 22% higher on FieldTurf than on natural grass. While MCL sprains did not occur at a rate significantly higher than on grass, rates of ACL sprains were 67% higher on FieldTurf." Metatarsophalangeal joint sprain, known as "turf toe" when the big toe is involved, is named from the injury being associated with playing sports on rigid surfaces such as artificial turf and is a fairly common injury among professional American football players. Artificial turf is a harder surface than grass and does not have much "give" when forces are placed on it.


title: Artificial turf

text: Some artificial turf uses infill such as silicon sand and/or granulated rubber, referred to as "crumb rubber". Some granulated rubber is made from recycled car tires and may carry heavy metals which can leach into the water table. As early as 2007, a moratorium on the use of ground-up rubber tires in fields and playgrounds was recommended based on health concerns.


title: Artificial turf

text: As of 2013, the EPA called for further studies to monitor the impact of particulate matter from fields and playgrounds that use artificial turf.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards (IG), is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infantry regiments in the British Army. The regiment has participated in campaigns in the First World War, the Second World War, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan as well as numerous other operations throughout its history. The Irish Guards claim six Victoria Cross recipients, four from the First World War and two from the Second World War.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards were formed on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria to commemorate the Irishmen who fought in the Second Boer War for the British Empire.


title: Irish Guards

text: Following the outbreak of the First World War, 1st Battalion Irish Guards was deployed to France almost immediately, and they remained on the Western Front for the duration of the war. During the early part of the war, the Battalion took part in the Battle of Mons and formed the Allied rearguard during the Great Retreat. The Battalion then took part in one of the bloodiest battles of 1914, the First Battle of Ypres, which began on 19 October, inflicting major casualties among the old Regular Army.


title: Irish Guards

text: The 1st Battalion was involved in fighting for the duration of 'First Ypres', at Langemarck, Gheluvelt and Nonne Bosschen. The 1st Battalion suffered huge casualties between 1–8 November holding the line against near defeat by German forces, while defending Klein Zillebeke.


title: Irish Guards

text: In May 1915, the 1st Battalion took part in the Battle of Festubert, though did not see much action. Two further battalions were formed for the regiment in July. In September that year, all three battalions took part in the Battle of Loos, which lasted from 25 September until early October.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards went into action again on 1 July 1916 when the Battle of the Somme began. The 1st Battalion took part in an action at Flers–Courcelette where they suffered severe casualties in the attack in the face of withering fire from the German machine-guns. The Battalion also took part in the action at Morval before they were relieved by the 2nd Battalion.


title: Irish Guards

text: In 1917 the Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Pilckem which began on 31 July during the Third Battle of Ypres. The Irish Guards also took part in the Battle of Cambrai that year. In 1918 the regiment fought in a number of engagements during the Second Battle of the Somme, including at Arras and Albert. The regiment then went on to take part in a number of battles during the British offensives against the Hindenburg Line. On 11 November 1918 the Armistice with Germany was signed. The 1st Battalion was at Maubeuge when the Armistice was signed.


title: Irish Guards

text: The regiment's continued existence was threatened briefly when Winston Churchill, who served as Secretary of State for War between 1919 and 1921, sought the elimination of the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards as an economy measure. This proposal, however, did not find favour in government or army circles and was dropped. Between the wars, the regiment was deployed at various times to Turkey, Gibraltar, Egypt and Palestine.


title: Irish Guards

text: During the Second World War, the regiment fought in Norway, France, North Africa, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. The regiment first saw combat during the Norwegian Campaign. Following a challenging sea voyage to Norway, the 1st Battalion arrived in May 1940 and fought for two days at the town of Pothus before they were forced to retreat. The Irish Guards conducted a fighting withdrawal and served as the Allied rearguard.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Battalion was evacuated along with the rest of the expeditionary force in June. While the 1st Battalion was fighting in Norway, the 2nd Battalion was deployed to the Hook of Holland to cover the evacuation of the Dutch Royal Family and Government in May 1940. The 2nd Battalion was then deployed to France and ordered to defend the port of Boulogne. The guardsmen held out against overwhelming odds for three days, buying valuable time for the Dunkirk Evacuation, before they were evacuated themselves. In November 1942, during the Second World War, Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg joined the British Army as a volunteer in the Irish Guards.


title: Irish Guards

text: In March 1943 the 1st Battalion landed, with the rest of the 24th Guards Brigade, in Tunisia, to fight in the final stages of the campaign in North Africa. The Battalion saw extensive action while fighting through Tunisia and was subsequently deployed to the Italian Front in December of that year. The Battalion took part in the Anzio landings on 22 January 1944. They also participated in the fierce fighting around the Allied beachhead and suffered severe casualties fighting off a German counterattack at Campoleone after which the depleted battalion was returned to the UK in April.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards returned to France in June 1944 when the 2nd and 3rd Battalions took part in the Normandy Campaign. Both battalions served as part of the Guards Armoured Division and took part in the attempt to capture Caen as part of Operation Goodwood. They also saw action in the Mont Pincon area. On 29 August, the 3rd Battalion crossed the Seine and began the advance into Belgium with the rest of the Guards Armoured Division towards Brussels.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards were part of the ground force of Operation Market Garden, 'Market' being the airborne assault and 'Garden' the ground attack. The Irish Guards led the vanguard of XXX Corps in their advance towards Arnhem, which was the objective of the British 1st Airborne Division, furthest from XXX Corps' start line. The Corps crossed the Belgian-Dutch border, advancing from Neerpelt on 17 September but the Irish Guards encountered heavy resistance which slowed the advance. Following the conclusion of Market Garden, the Irish Guards remained in the Netherlands until taking part in the Allied advance into Germany and seeing heavy action during the Rhineland Campaign with Guardsman Edward Charlton winning the final Victoria Cross to be awarded in the European theatre.


title: Irish Guards

text: After the war, the regiment was reduced to a single battalion. In 1947, the 1st Battalion deployed to Palestine to perform internal security duties there. It was then posted to the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt, remaining there until the British withdrawal in 1956. The regiment continued to serve in troubled regions such as Cyprus and Aden throughout the 1950s and 1960s. During this time they were also part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in Germany on a number of occasions. They also served as the garrison of Hong Kong from 1970 to 1972.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards were one of the few regiments in the British Army initially exempt from service in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. However, a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) bomb blasted a bus carrying members of the regiment band to Chelsea Barracks in October 1981. 39 people (23 soldiers and 16 others) were wounded and two civilians were killed. 1992 saw the regiment finally carry out its first tour-of-duty in Northern Ireland, based in County Fermanagh.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards were involved in the Balkans Conflicts when they were deployed to Macedonia and Kosovo in 1999 and were the first British unit to enter the Kosovan capital city of Pristina on 12 June. The regiment played a significant role in the initial stages of the Iraq War as part of the 7th Armoured Brigade and they led the British advance into Basra in March 2003. The Irish Guards deployed to Iraq on Operation Telic 10 in 2007. In 2010, the regiment deployed on their first tour of duty to Afghanistan. Number 2 Company deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 as a Brigade Operations Company.


title: Irish Guards

text: In 2014 the entire regiment deployed to Cyprus to patrol the buffer zone as part of Operation Tosca 20. Following the Manchester Arena bombing, the Irish Guards were deployed in London to guard key locations, including the Ministry of Defence building in Whitehall, as part of Operation Temperer. Later that year Number 1 Company deployed to the Falkland Islands as the Roulement Infantry Company while Number 2 Company deployed to Thailand on an overseas training exercise where they worked alongside the Thai Army.


title: Irish Guards

text: December 2019 saw the Irish Guards deploy on two operations concurrently. Number 1 Company deployed to South Sudan on Operation Trenton and the rest of the Battalion deployed to Iraq on Operation Shader, training Iraqi Security Forces in the mission to defeat Daesh. However, the deployment rapidly changed in January 2020 with the escalation of the 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis following the American strike on Major General Qasem Soleimani. The Irish Guards' mission changed from training to force protection in order to protect British assets in Iraq from possible retaliation by Iran. Eventual de-escalation saw the Irish Guards resume their original mission.


title: Irish Guards

text: In the light infantry role the 1st Battalion comprised five companies; Nos 1, 2, 3 and 4 Companies, and the Headquarters Company. Following the Integrated Review and after the Queen’s Birthday Parade 2022, 1st Battalion took on the security force assistance role for 4 years. With a much-reduced establishment, this role required a substantial readjustment to the battalion. Concurrently, the Irish Guards raised two public duties incremental companies (PDICs). These are Numbers 9 and 12 Companies, Public Duties Incremental Companies, taking on Irish Guardsmen fresh out of the Infantry Training Centre before the young soldiers progress to the 1st Battalion. Number 12 Company carries on the traditions of the former 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards. Finally there is Number 15 (Loos) Company in the Army Reserve, based at Flodden Road, London.


title: Irish Guards

text: The regiment recruits in Northern Ireland and among residents of Irish extraction in mainland Britain. Although restrictions in Ireland's Defence Act make it illegal to induce, procure or persuade enlistment of any citizen of Ireland into the military of another state, people from the Republic do frequently enlist in the Regiment.


title: Irish Guards

text: Like the other Foot Guards regiments, the "Home Service Dress" of the Irish Guards is a scarlet tunic and bearskin. Buttons are worn in fours, reflecting the regiment's position as the fourth most senior Guards regiment, and the collar is adorned with embroided shamrock. They also sport a St. Patrick's blue plume on the right side of the bearskin. A plume of St Patrick's blue was selected because blue is the colour of the mantle and sash of the Order of St Patrick, a chivalric order, founded by George III of the United Kingdom for the Kingdom of Ireland in February 1783 from which the regiment also draws its cap star and motto. The Irish Guards pipers wear saffron kilts, green hose with saffron flashes and heavy black shoes known as brogues with no spats, a rifle green doublet with buttons in fours and a hat known as a caubeen.The regimental capstar is worn over the piper's right eye and is topped by a blue hackle. A green cloak with four silver buttons is worn over the shoulders and is secured by two green straps that cross over the chest.


title: Irish Guards

text: In "Walking-out Dress", the Irish Guards can be identified by the green band on their forage caps. Officers also traditionally carry a blackthorn cane.


title: Irish Guards

text: Like the other Guards regiments, they wear a khaki beret with the blue/red/blue Household Division backing patch on it. On the beret, ranks from Guardsman to Lance Sergeant wear a brass or staybrite cap badge, Sergeants and Colour Sergeants wear a bi-metal cap badge, Warrant Officers wear a silver plate gilt and enamel cap badge and commissioned officers of the regiment wear an embroidered cap badge.


title: Irish Guards

text: William, Prince of Wales, who is Colonel of the Irish Guards, wore the uniform of the Irish Guards at his wedding to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge.


title: Irish Guards

text: The regiment takes its motto, "Quis Separabit?", or "Who shall separate us?" from the Order of St Patrick.


title: Irish Guards

text: The Irish Guards are known throughout the British Army as "the Micks" or "Fighting Micks." An earlier nickname, "Bob's Own", after Field Marshal Lord Roberts has fallen into disuse. The term "Mick" is an offensive term for a person of Irish descent; however it is proudly used internally within the regiment and has no negative connotation when referring to the Irish Guards.


title: Irish Guards

text: Recruits to the Guards Division go through a thirty-week training programme at the Infantry Training Centre (ITC). The training is two weeks more than the training for the Regular infantry regiments of the British Army; the extra training, carried out throughout the course, is devoted to drill and ceremonies.


title: Irish Guards

text: Since 1902, an Irish Wolfhound has been presented as a mascot to the regiment by the Irish Wolfhound Club, who originally hoped the publicity would increase the breed's popularity with the public. The first mascot was called Brian Boru.


title: Irish Guards

text: In 1961, the wolfhound was admitted to the select club of "official" Army mascots, entitling him to the services of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, as well as quartering and food at public expense. Originally, the mascot was in the care of a drummer boy, but is now looked after by one of the regiment's drummers and his family. The Irish Guards are the only Guards regiment permitted to have their mascot lead them on parade. During Trooping the Colour, the mascot marches only from Wellington Barracks as far as Horse Guards Parade. He then falls out of the formation and does not participate in the Trooping itself. Domhnall, the regiment's seventeenth mascot, retired back to Ireland, in 2019.


title: Irish Guards

text: St Patrick's Day is the traditional regimental celebration. It is customary for the regiment to begin the day's celebrations with the Guardsmen being woken by their officers and served gunfire. Fresh shamrock is then presented to members of the regiment, whether they are in the UK or abroad on operations.