title: Grand Slam (bomb)

text: In 2013, Stephen Flower wrote that when dropped on buildings fortified with reinforced concrete the Grand Slam tended to break up on impact or go off too soon. Flower wrote that it was not surprising that the Grand Slam was limited in effect when dropped on concrete, when it was designed to fall on earth and then explode under the foundations of buildings, creating a for the structure to subside into. The Grand Slam and Tallboy bombs did cause damage that conventional bombs were incapable of and had a great disruptive effect on the means of resistance available to the Germans, limiting the development of new weapons with which to continue the war. In 2013, Stephen Flower wrote that the earthquake bombs rarely caused mass civilian casualties and were the most effective bombs used in the war, until the advent of nuclear bombs later in 1945.


title: Grand Slam (bomb)

text: Beginning in March 1946, Operation Front Line (British title) / Project Ruby (US title), was a plan to investigate the use of penetration bombs against reinforced concrete targets. The U-boat pens near Bremen were chosen, having been abandoned after the attack on 27 March 1945. Since 9 Squadron and 617 Squadron had been transferred to the Far East to join Tiger Force, Grand Slams were carried by Lancasters from 15 Squadron, into whose C Flight, the 617 Squadron crews not sent abroad were moved with their B.Mk 1 (Specials) and their SABS bomb sights. The Watten bunker, in the Pas de Calais, which has been used for Royal Navy Disney bomb tests, was bombed with Grand Slams.


title: Grand Slam (bomb)

text: In May 1946, Operation Front Line began with the participation of US B-29 bombers. Tallboy and Grand Slams were dropped on the pens and Heligoland; only two hits were achieved from thirteen bombings. The RAF and USAAF reports concluded that none of the bombs were effective against reinforced concrete and suggested more tests in 1947. The tests were resumed after 15 Squadron had finished dropping fifteen bombs on a battleship for the RN. The squadron was down to six Lancasters, four being B.Mk 1 (Special)s, not capable of carrying the bombs being tested. The other two could carry the bomb but 15 Squadron was re-equipping with Avro Lincolns and six of these were to be altered to carry SABS and radar altimeters. Three USAF B-29s participated again to drop the bombs from which was above the ceiling of the SABS.


title: Grand Slam (bomb)

text: The B-29s were also to drop the new US Amazon II and Samson bombs, both , in Operation Ruby II, later called the Harker Project. Photographs taken by 542 Squadron, a photographic reconnaissance unit, before the Grand Slam attack during the war were used to stake out the target with red flags and cameras was set up to film the drops. On 4 August the B-29s achieved six bomb hits from and five Amazon II hits out of fifteen from . From 20 September, 15 Squadron Lincolns dropped the bomb and achieved seven hits, some of which broke on the roof. Tests with a obtained three hits out of seven.


title: Grand Slam (bomb)

text: Five Grand Slam bombs are preserved and displayed in Britain at the RAF Museum, London, Brooklands Museum, RAF Lossiemouth, Dumfries and Galloway Aviation Museum and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Visitors' Centre at RAF Coningsby. Casings, without their tails, can be seen at the Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield and Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington. The T-12 Cloudmaker is an American-made variant of the Grand Slam and an example is displayed at the Air Force Armament Museum in the United States.


title: Rabbit punch

text: A rabbit punch is a blow to the back of the head or to the base of the skull. It is considered especially dangerous because it can damage the cervical vertebrae and subsequently the spinal cord, which may lead to serious and irreparable spinal cord injury. A rabbit punch can also detach the victim's brain from the brain stem, which can kill instantly.


title: Rabbit punch

text: The punch's name is derived from the use of the technique by hunters to kill rabbits with a quick, sharp strike to the back of the head.


title: Rabbit punch

text: The rabbit punch is illegal in boxing, MMA, and other combat sports that involve striking. The only exceptions are no-holds-barred events such as the International Vale Tudo Championship (prior to rule changes in mid-2012).


title: Rabbit punch

text: On October 17, 2015, Prichard Colón, a well known boxer, was struck on the back of the head multiple times by his opponent, Terrel Williams by using the rabbit punch. During the match, Colón experienced dizziness as a result of the illegal punches. After the match ended, Colón began to tremble from his legs and started to vomit. He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with brain bleeding and underwent surgery. He was in a coma for 221 days (7 months, 1 week) until he was transferred to his mother's house. As a result of the injuries he sustained, Colón fell into a persistent vegetative state where he no longer could move or talk. As of July 2021, 6 years after the fight, Colón is doing much better, making more progress and is getting treatment for his condition.


title: Rabbit punch

text: On June 29, 2014, soccer referee John Bieniewicz was punched in the neck by Baseel Abdul Amir Saad, an upset player in an amateur match he was officiating in Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Bieniewicz died two days later of his injuries, and Saad was charged with second-degree murder. Bieniewicz's autopsy showed that the force of the impact on the left side of his neck just below the base of his skull had resulted in a rare injury with twisted and torn arteries around the base of his skull, knocking him out before he hit the ground. In 2015, Saad pled guilty to manslaughter and received a sentence of 8 to 15 years in prison.


title: Isan

text: Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali "īsānna" or Sanskrit ईशान्य "īśānya" "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in the northeastern region of Thailand. Isan is Thailand's largest region, located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River (along the Laos–Thailand border) to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Sankamphaeng Range south of Nakhon Ratchasima. To the west it is separated from northern and central Thailand by the Phetchabun Mountains. Isan covers making it about half the size of Germany and roughly the size of England and Wales. The total forest area is or 15 percent of Isan's area.


title: Isan

text: Since the beginning of the 20th century, northeastern Thailand has been generally known as "Isan", while in official contexts the term "phak tawan-ok-chiang-nuea" (; 'northeastern region') may be used. The majority population of the Isan region is ethnically Lao, but distinguish themselves not only from the Lao of Laos but also from the Central Thai by calling themselves "khon Isan" or "Thai Isan" in general. However, some refer to themselves as simply "Lao", and academics have recently been referring to them as "Lao Isan" or as "Thai Lao", with the main issue with self-identification as "Lao" being stigma associated with the Lao identity within Thai society.


title: Isan

text: The "Lao Isan" people are aware of their Lao ethnic origin, but Isan has been incorporated as a territory into the modern Thai state through over one hundred years of administrative and bureaucratic reforms, educational policy, and government media. Despite this, since the election of Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister in the 2001 Thai general election, the "Lao Isan" identity has reemerged, and the "Lao Isan" are now the main ethnolinguistic group involved in the pro-Thaksin "Red Shirt movement" of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship. Several Thai prime ministers have come from the region.


title: Isan

text: Isan has a number of important Bronze Age sites, with prehistoric art in the form of cliff paintings, artifacts and early evidence of rice cultivation. Iron and bronze tools such as those found at Ban Chiang may predate similar tools from Mesopotamia.


title: Isan

text: The region later came under the influence of the Dvaravati culture, followed by the Khmer Empire. The latter built dozens of "prasats" (sanctuaries) throughout Isan. The most significant are at Phimai Historical Park and Phanom Rung Historical Park. Preah Vihear Temple was also considered to be in Isan, until the International Court of Justice in 1962 ruled that it belonged to Cambodia.


title: Isan

text: After the Khmer Empire began to decline in the 13th century, Isan was dominated by the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, which had been established by Fa Ngum. Due to a scarcity of information from the periods known as the dark ages of Cambodia, the plateau seems to have been largely depopulated. There were few if any lines of demarcation, for prior to the 19th century introduction of modern mapping, the region fell under what 20th century scholars called the "mandala system". Accordingly, in 1718 the first Lao mueang in the Chi River valley — and indeed anywhere in the interior of the Khorat Plateau — was founded at Suwannaphum District (in present-day Roi Et Province) by an official in the service of King Nokasad of the Kingdom of Champasak.


title: Isan

text: The region was increasingly settled by both Lao and Thai emigrants. Thailand held sway from the 17th century, and carried out forced population transfers from the more populous left (east) bank of the Mekong to the right bank in the 18th and 19th centuries. This became more severe following the Lao rebellion (1826–1828) for complete independence of 1826–9. In the wake of the Franco-Siamese War of 1893, the resulting treaty with France and the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 made the plateau a border region between Thailand and the Laos of French Indochina.


title: Isan

text: In the mid-20th century, the state-supported assimilation policy called Thaification promoted the ethnic integration of Isan into the modern conception of Thai nationality and de-emphasized the use of ethnic markers, for ethnic Laos and Khmers, as it was deemed uncivilized and to prevent ethnic discrimination among the Thai people.


title: Isan

text: This policy extended to the use of the name "Isan" itself: the name is derived from the Pali word , meaning 'northeast', in turn from the name of Iśāna (), a manifestation of Shiva as deity of the northeast. The name therefore reinforces the area's identity as the northeast of Thailand, rather than as a part of the Lao kingdom which was recently created by the French colonial discourse, as "race was then an important ideological tool for French colonialists in the attempt to seize the 'Laotian' and 'Cambodian' portions of Siam."


title: Isan

text: Before the central government introduced the Thai alphabet and language in regional schools, the people of Isan wrote in the Tai Noi script, a very similar script to the one that Thai adopted. Most people speak Isan, a variety of Lao, as their first language. A significant minority in the south also speak Northern Khmer.


title: Isan

text: The Kuy people, an Austroasiatic people concentrated around the core of what was once called "Chenla" and known as the "Khmer Boran" "ancient Khmer", are a link to the region's pre-Tai history.


title: Isan

text: Isan is roughly coterminous with the Khorat Plateau, which tilts gently from its northwestern corner where it is about 213 m (700 feet) above sea level to the southeast where the elevation is only about 62 metres (200 feet). Except for a few hills in the northeastern corner, the region is primarily gently undulating land, most of it varying in elevation from 90–180 m (300–600 feet), tilting from the Phetchabun Mountains in the west down toward the Mekong River. The plateau consists of two plains: the southern Khorat plain is drained by the Mun and Chi rivers, while the northern Sakon Nakhon plain is drained by the Loei and Songkhram rivers. The two plains are separated by the Phu Phan Mountains. The soil is mostly sandy, with substantial salt deposits.


title: Isan

text: The Mekong forms most of the border between Thailand and Laos to the north and east of Isan, while the south of the region borders on Cambodia. The Mekong's main Thai tributary is the Mun River, which rises in the Khao Yai National Park near Nakhon Ratchasima Province and runs east, joining the Mekong in Ubon Ratchathani Province. The other main river in Isan is the Chi River, which flows through central Isan before turning south to meet the Mun in Sisaket Province. The smaller Loei and Songkhram rivers are also tributaries of the Mekong, the former flowing north through Loei Province and the latter flowing east through Udon Thani, Sakon Nakhon, Nakhon Phanom, and Nong Khai Provinces.


title: Isan

text: The average temperature range is from to . The highest temperature recorded was in Udon Thani, the lowest at Sakhon Nakhon Agro Station.


title: Isan

text: Rainfall is unpredictable, but is concentrated in the rainy season from May to October. Average annual precipitation varies from in some areas to in the southwestern provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima, Buriram, Maha Sarakham, Khon Kaen, and Chaiyaphum. The rainy season begins with occasional short but heavy showers, eventually raining heavily for longer periods almost every day, usually in the late afternoon or at night, until it ends abruptly at the onset of the cool season.


title: Isan

text: The cool season runs from October to February and the hot season from February to May with the peak of high temperatures in April.


title: Isan

text: There are around twenty-six national parks. Province Khon Kaen has four national parks of which, Phu Pha Man National Park with Klang Khao cave notable is for its large daily exodus of bats at dusk, making a formation about 10 kilometers (6 mi) long. Siam tulip fields are in Sai Thong National Park and Pa Hin Ngam National Park, both in Chaiyaphum Province. Phu Phan National Park in Sakon Nakhon Province includes the eight meter (26 ft) long Tang Pee Parn natural stone bridge. Among the best known national parks of Thailand are Khao Yai National Park in Nakhon Ratchasima Province and Phu Kradueng National Park in Loei Province.


title: Isan

text: The region boasts high biodiversity and many endemic species, with several national parks. Both wildlife and plant species are exploited illegally. Valuable hardwood tree species, in particular Siamese Rosewood, are being extracted for sale in especially the Chinese furniture market. These trees are so valuable that poachers, coming across the border from Cambodia, are heavily armed, and both rangers and poachers have been killed over them. In the national parks such as Ta Phraya, rangers are since 2015 trained in military style counter-poaching measures by the elite ranger squad Hasadin


title: Isan

text: Isan is home to one-third of Thailand's population of 67 million, but contributes only ten per cent to the national GDP.


title: Isan

text: In terms of regional value-added per capita, Isan is Thailand's poorest region. Bangkok is the richest, followed by central Thailand, southern Thailand, then northern Thailand. This ordering has been unchanged for decades. Thailand's highly centralized fiscal system reinforces the status quo. An example of this Bangkok-centric policy is the allocation of budgets: Bangkok accounts for about 17 percent of the population and 25.8 percent of GDP, but benefits from about 72.2 percent of total expenditures. Isan accounts for about 34 percent of the population and 11.5 percent of GDP, but receives only 5.8 percent of expenditures.


title: Isan

text: Agriculture is the largest sector of the economy, generating around 22 percent of the gross regional product (compared to 8.5 percent for Thailand as a whole). Sticky rice, the staple food of the region, is the main agricultural crop (accounting for about 60 percent of cultivated land). It thrives in poorly drained paddy fields, and where fields can be flooded from nearby streams, rivers, and ponds. Often two harvests are possible each year. Farmers are increasingly diversifying into cash crops such as sugarcane and cassava, which are cultivated on a vast scale, and to a lesser extent, rubber. Silk production is an important cottage industry and contributes significantly to the economy.


title: Isan

text: Nong Khai Province, which stretches along the Mekong River, is noted for the production of pineapples, tobacco (which is dried, cured and shredded by the families before collection by cigarette manufacturers), and tomatoes, which are grown on an industrial scale, particularly in Si Chiang Mai District.


title: Isan

text: Despite its dominance of the economy, agriculture in the region is problematic. The climate is prone to drought, while the flat terrain of the plateau is often flooded in the rainy season. The tendency to flood renders a large proportion of the land unsuitable for cultivation. In addition, the soil is highly acidic, saline, and infertile from overuse. Since the 1970s, agriculture has been declining in importance as trade and the service sector has been increasing.


title: Isan

text: Very few farmers still use water buffalos rather than tractors. Nowadays, water buffalos are mainly kept by almost all rural families as status symbols. The main piece of agricultural equipment in use today is the "rot tai na" (, lit. "vehicle plow field") colloquially referred to as "kwai lek" (, or "iron/steel buffalo"), or more generally by its manufacturer's name of "Kobota", a mini-tractor composed of a small diesel engine mounted on two wheels with long wooden or metal handlebars for steering. It is usually attached to a trailer or a plow. Buffalo are now mainly used for grazing on the stubble in the rice paddy, which they in turn fertilize with their manure. The main animals raised for food are cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks, and fish.


title: Isan

text: Most of Thailand's rural poor live in Isan. The region's poverty is reflected in its infrastructure: eight of the ten provinces in Thailand with the fewest physicians per capita are in Isan. Sisaket Province has the fewest, with one physician per 14,661 persons in 2001, with the national average being 3,289. It also has eight of the ten provinces with the fewest hospital beds per head. Chaiyaphum Province has the fewest, with one per 1,131 in 2001 (the national average was 453). Nevertheless, as in the rest of Thailand, all districts ("amphoe") have a hospital, and all sub-districts ("tambon") have clinics providing primary health care. The introduction of the "30 baht" health card has dramatically changed the numbers of those attending hospitals for treatment, as it has meant that full health care is available to all who register for only 30 baht per visit. The few who can afford it travel to the modern private hospitals and clinics in the large cities for non-urgent specialist consultations and care.


title: Isan

text: The region lags in new technology: there was only one Internet connection per 75 households in 2002 (national average: one per 22 households) [update needed], but by 2006 every district town (amphoe) had at least one publicly accessible Internet connection, either in a local computer shop or in the district office.


title: Isan

text: Extension of landline telephones to remote areas not previously served has been largely superseded by the use of mobile phones, primarily of GSM format, which now covers the entire region with the exception of a few sparsely populated mountainous areas and large national parks. Many people, even the poorest and frequently also children, have cellular telephones, although they have no fixed-line telephone. In this sense, Isan has led advanced nations where land-line service is now being superseded by cellular technology. The region also has the lowest literacy rate when compared with other regions in Thailand.


title: Isan

text: By the beginning of 2008, most amphoe had been provided with ADSL by the TOT, leaving the majority of the rural population dependent on dial-up connections for those few who have land-line telephones. This results in slow service that does not adequately meet modern data-hungry needs. Most rural people rely on smart phones for data services. Internet shops with high speed connections have for many years provided service to those who cannot afford or do not have access to high speed Internet. They are heavily patronized by primary and secondary school children who come not only to use the Internet but also to play online games, use VOIP, or just to use the computer and printers. Resident Western expatriates and foreign tourists are also frequent customers. For those outside the district towns who require a serious use of the Internet in their homes, the mobile phone or an iPstar broadband satellite connection is the only alternative, although more expensive than a DSL connection. It is far less reliable and suffers considerable downtime due to overloading, heavy cloud cover, and rain. Despite, in theory, being "always on", it often lacks adequate stability for streaming and clarity of VOIP.


title: Isan

text: Many Isan people seek higher-paying work outside the region, particularly in Bangkok. Some of these people have settled permanently in the city, while some migrate to and fro. Others have emigrated in search of better wages. Rather than relocate as a family, they usually leave their babies and school-age children in the care of relatives, friends, or neighbours.


title: Isan

text: Average wages in Isan were the lowest in the country in 2002 at 3,928 baht per month (the national average was 6,445 baht).


title: Isan

text: A Khon Kaen University study (2014) found that marriages with foreigners by Thai northeastern women boosted the gross domestic product of the northeast by 8.67 billion baht (2014: €211 million or US$270 million). According to the study, after a northeastern woman married a foreigner, she will send 9,600 baht a month on average to her family to help with its expenses. The activity also created 747,094 jobs, the study found. The 2010 census found that 90 percent of the slightly more than 27,000 foreigners living in the northeastern region were married to women from there.


title: Isan

text: According to the governor of Nakhon Phanom Province, "The entire Northeast [Isan] gained only 2.9 percent of [the] country's tourism income of 2.7 trillion baht [in 2017]."


title: Isan

text: Isan's total population as of 2010 was 21,305,000. Forty percent of the population is concentrated in the provinces of Khorat, Ubon Ratchathani, Udon Thani, and Khon Kaen, known as "big four of Isan". These provinces surround the four major cities of the same names. As of 2010, their populations were: Khorat 142,169; Udon Thani 137,979; Khon Kaen 113,828; and Ubon Ratchathani 83,148. However, as of 2010 only 50 percent of the region's population lived in municipal areas. Kalasin was the most urbanised province (with almost 100 percent in municipal areas), and Roi Et the least (2.8 percent). Thus, the population is still largely rural, but concentrated around the urban centres.


title: Isan

text: There is a substantial Khmer minority, concentrated in the southern provinces of Buriram, Surin, and Sisaket, and some Vietnamese refugees in Mukdahan and Nakhon Phanom. The Khmer-speaking minority and the Kuy people ("Soui"), who live in the south of Isan, speak Austroasiatic languages and follow customs more similar to those of Cambodia than to those of the Thai and Lao, who are Tai peoples.


title: Isan

text: The main language is Isan, the name by which the Lao language is referred to in Thailand due to political reasons, though most people in the Isan region still refer to language as Lao among themselves and in non-official settings, but dialect from Khon Kaen is de facto standard. The number of speakers of Isan has been estimated at between 15–23 million, the majority of those living in Isan. Currently written with the Thai alphabet (instead of the historically used Tai Noi script), Isan belongs to the Chiang Saeng and Lao–Phutai language groups, which along with Thai are members of the Tai languages of the Kra–Dai language family. Central Thai (Khorat Thai) is also spoken by almost everyone and is the language used in education but natively spoken by one-fourth the population of in Nakhon Ratchasima Province only. The Khorat dialect, spoken by around 10,000 people, occupies a linguistic position somewhere between Lao and standard Thai, and is an archaic Central Thai dialect with heavy Khmer and some Lao influence


title: Isan

text: The 'tribal' Tai languages, referred to as 'tribal' due to their origins in mountainous areas of Laos or their adherence to animism, most of which such as Phuthai, Yo, Kaloeng, Phuan and Tai Dam languages are closely related to Isan and all but the latter are generally mutually intelligible. Even in areas with a heavy linguistic minority presence, native Isan speakers of Lao descent comprised anywhere from sixty to seventy-four per cent of the population, although minority language speakers are also bi- or trilingual in Isan, Thai or both.


title: Isan

text: Isan is home to many speakers of Austroasiatic languages, with one and one-half million speakers of the Northern Khmer dialect and one-half million speakers of the Kuy language, both of which are found in the southernmost provinces of Isan. Khmer is widely spoken in areas along the Cambodian border: Buriram, Surin, and Sisaket. There are several small ethnic groups speaking various other Austroasiatic languages, but most are fairly small and restricted to a few villages, or such as Vietnamese, spoken by small groups in cities.


title: Isan

text: Education is well-provided for by the government in terms of numbers of establishments and is supplemented in the larger cities by the private sector (mostly Catholic and international schools). Following the national pattern of education in Thailand, there are primary (elementary) schools in all larger villages and ("tambon") capitals, with secondary (high) schools to grade 12 (approximately age 18) in the district ("amphoe") towns.


title: Isan

text: Many other secondary schools provide education only to grade 9, while some combined schools provide education from grade 1 through grade 9. Rural schools are generally less well equipped than the schools in the large towns and cities and the standard of instruction, particularly for the English language, is much lower. Many children of poorer families leave school after grade 6 (age 12) to work on the farms. A number move to areas of dense or tourist populations to work in the service industry.


title: Isan

text: Many primary schools operate their own websites and almost all schoolchildren in Isan, at least from junior high school age, are now (2008) largely computer literate in basic programs.


title: Isan

text: In 2001, there were 43 government vocational and polytechnic colleges throughout the region, several specialised training colleges in the private sector, and large colleges of agriculture and nursing in Udon Thani Province.


title: Isan

text: Universities are found in the major cities of Khon Kaen (one of the country's largest), Nakhon Ratchasima, Ubon Ratchathani, and the smaller provincial capital of Maha Sarakham. Some Bangkok-based universities have small campuses in Isan, and Khon Kaen University maintains a large installation on the outskirts of Nong Khai. Most provinces have a government-run Rajabhat University, formerly known as Rajabhat Institutes, which originated as teacher training colleges.


title: Isan

text: Isan's culture is predominantly Lao, and has much in common with that of the neighbouring country of Laos. This affinity is shown in the region's cuisine, dress, temple architecture, festivals, and arts.


title: Isan

text: Isan food has elements most in common with Laos and is somewhat distinct from central Thai cuisine. The most obvious difference is the consumption of sticky rice that accompanies almost every meal rather than non-sticky long-grain rice. French and Vietnamese influences found in Lao cuisine are absent in Isan. Popular Lao dishes that are also staples in Isan include "tam mak hung", or in central Thai, "som tam" (green papaya salad), "larb" (meat salad), and "kai yang" (grilled chicken). These dishes have spread to other parts of Thailand, but normally in versions which temper the extreme heat and sourness favoured in Isan for the more moderate central Thai palate. Conversely, central Thai food has become popular in Isan. The people of the Isan region in Thailand, a mixture of Lao, Vietnamese, Khmer, Mon, Cham, and other Tai groups, famously eat a wide variety of creatures, such as lizards, frogs, and fried insects such as grasshoppers, crickets, silkworms, and dung beetles. Originally forced by poverty to be creative in finding foods, Isan people now savour these creatures as delicacies or snacks. Food is commonly eaten by hand using sticky rice pressed into a ball with the fingers of the right hand. Soups are a frequent element of any meal, and contain either vegetables and herbs, noodles, chunks of fish, balls of ground pork, or a mixture of these. They are eaten using a spoon and chopsticks at the same time.


title: Isan

text: The traditional dress of Isan is the sarong. Women's sarongs most often have an embroidered border at the hem, while men's are in a chequered pattern. Men also wear a "pakama", a versatile length of cloth which can be used as a belt, a money and document belt, as headwear for protection from the sun, as a hammock, or as a bathing garment.


title: Isan

text: Isan is a centre for the production of Thai silk. The trade received a major boost in the post-war years, when Jim Thompson popularised Thai silk among Westerners. One of the best-known types of Isan silk is "mut-mee", which is tie-dyed to produce geometric patterns on the thread.


title: Isan

text: The Buddhist temple (or "wat") is the major feature of most villages. These temples are used not only for religious ceremonies, but also for festivals, particularly mor lam, and as assembly halls. They are mostly built in Lao-style, but with less ornamentation than the more elaborate central Thai temples or the Lao-style temples in central Laos. Lao-style Buddha images are also prevalent.


title: Isan

text: The people of Isan celebrate many traditional festivals, such as the "Bun Bungfai" Rocket Festival. This fertility rite, originating in pre-Buddhist times, is celebrated in a number of locations both in Isan and in Laos, At present day not only most vigorously and most famously in Yasothon Province, today Isan peoples know well for the most of number BungFai parade float are made in Roi Et province and one of traditional Bun Bungfai is in Suwannaphume which the original Bungfai decoration and most of number Rocket fire or Bungfai in the world in Phnomprai both are located in Roi et province . Other Isan festivals are the Candle Festival, which marks the start of vassa in July in Ubon and other locations; the Silk Festival in Khon Kaen, which promotes local handicrafts; the Elephant Round-up in Surin; and the "bangfai phayanak" or Naga fireballs of Nong Khai.


title: Isan

text: The main indigenous music of Isan is "mor lam". It exists in a number of regional variants, plus modern forms. Since the late 1970s it has acquired greater exposure outside the region thanks to the presence of migrant workers in Bangkok. Many "mor lam" singers also sing central Thai "luk thung" music, and have produced the hybrid "luk thung Isan" form. Another form of folk music, "kantrum", is popular with the Khmer minority in the south.


title: Isan

text: "Mor lam" needs a special mention as its festival-type production, which is very commonplace in Isan, has not been exported to other regions. Although it is a very exciting affair, not being on the tourist trail it is largely ignored by foreign visitors. When the locals speak of "mor lam" (pronounced "mor'ram" with stress on the second syllable), one will often hear them say "pai doo morram" (lit. "go see mor'ram"). They are referring to the most common form of evening entertainment in the region. Somewhere, in a village within easy reach, there will be a "mor lam" festival on a Friday or Saturday evening. Usually, the rock-festival-sized stage is constructed either in a temple compound or on a sports field. Thousands of people will sit on mats on the ground and watch the fun-filled program of variety entertainment. The traditional music and song is accompanied by extremely colorful choreography, executed by a group of up to 50 female (and some male "katoey") dancers. The fantastic costumes are changed several times throughout the program, and the transitions are bridged by often-raunchy gags, slapstick comedy, and speeches by local dignitaries. A "mor lam" festival is a family affair and the area is surrounded by food and drink stalls.


title: Isan

text: Although there is no tradition of written secular literature in the Isan language, in the latter half of the 20th century the region produced several notable writers, such as Khamsing Srinawk (who writes in Thai) and Pira Sudham (who writes in English).


title: Isan

text: Isan is known for producing a large number of muay Thai boxers. Many of the boxers from Srisaket, Buriram and Surin are of ethnic Suai(Kuy), Lao, and Khmer descent. Isan's most famous sportsman, however, is tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan, whose family is from Khon Kaen.


title: Isan

text: Marriage and courtship in Isan still mainly follows strict tradition, especially in rural areas, and most young women are married by the time they are 20 years old. Many girls, in spite of the legal requirement, marry as young as 14 to escape poverty, as usually marriage is associated with a dowry paid by the husband to the bride's family. A dowry will not normally be less than 40,000 baht, and according to the status of the bride and/or her family, can often greatly exceed 300,000 baht.


title: Isan

text: Despite the influence of tradition, in 2013, according to UNICEF, 191.5 births out of every 1,000 births in Isan were to adolescents aged 15–19. This is four times higher than the 2018 global average of 44 births per 1,000 according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In September 2019, the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security set a target to reduce the number of unintended teenage pregnancies countrywide to 25 births per 1,000 by 2026.


title: Isan

text: Isan women rarely have boyfriends until they meet the man whom they will eventually marry, and tradition requires that the betrothal is then announced. Younger fiancées will be chaperoned, usually by a female friend, brother, or sister while in the company of their future husband. The wedding ceremony usually takes place in the bride's home and is normally officiated by one or several monks or a respected village elder who has been a monk. Young couples are increasingly registering their marriages at the city hall, which they can do if they are over 17. The extended family system is still very much the traditional social structure in Isan, with newlywed couples often living with in-laws or building a home on the family compound or farmland.


title: Isan

text: It is not unusual, however, for many women to remain single until much later. Tradition demands that the youngest or only daughter continues to live at home to take care of her parents. They are then only free to marry when both parents are deceased. There is also the tradition that a woman should "marry up" in status. If the woman is tied to an occupation in a rural area as a farm or business owner, teacher, or similar profession, finding a suitable husband who is prepared to relocate is often not easy.


title: Isan

text: Water buffalo are a regular feature, even in the suburbs, being walked to and from the fields at dawn and dusk. Although rarely used nowadays for working the land, they are considered an important status symbol. The current value (2010) of one head of buffalo is about 20,000 baht (2010: US$620).


title: Isan

text: The cultural separation from central Thailand, combined with the region's poverty and the typically dark skin of its people, has encouraged a considerable amount of discrimination against the multi-ethnic people of Isan from non-ethnic Thais of Chinese descent. Even though many Isan people now work in the cities rather than in the fields, many hold lower-status jobs such as construction workers, stall vendors, and tuk-tuk taxi drivers, and discriminatory attitudes have been known to persist with many Thai-Chinese inhabitants. Nevertheless, Isan food and music have both been enthusiastically adopted and adapted to the tastes of the rest of the country.


title: Isan

text: The process of Thaification, resulting from central Thais' perceived threat of Lao cultural dominance in the Isan region, has diluted somewhat the distinctive character of Isan culture, particularly in the cities and in provinces, such as Khorat, which are closest to the central Thai heartlands and which have been under Thai rule the longest.


title: Isan

text: As in the rest of Thailand, the population is mostly Theravada Buddhist, although this is combined with elements of animism. Larger cities have Christian churches. Many major district towns have a small Christian church or chapel, usually Roman Catholic, and there are others in rural areas.


title: Isan

text: Anouvong, the last of the kings of Vientiane rebelled against Siamese suzerainty, and lost in a war that raged on for two years. Khorat was then repopulated by forced migration of Mekong Valley Lao, with a heavy influx of voluntary Chinese migrants. The plateau was claimed by Siam when France and Siam divided Lao territories following the Franco-Siamese War of 1893. Roi Et was established early in the 20th century to further Siamese control, and to further assimilation of the population into the kingdom.


title: Isan

text: Traditionally, messages between the government in Bangkok and Isan provincial outposts had been carried by "pony express" or by fast boat. During the reign of King Chulalongkorn (r. 1868–1910), the Ministry of Interior maintained a schedule which specified that messages between Bangkok and Nong Khai took 12 days, between Bangkok and Ubon Ratchathani, 12 days, and between Bangkok and Luang Prabang, 17 days outbound and 13 days inbound.


title: Isan

text: Until 1900, when the first rail line from Bangkok to Khorat was opened, the shipment of goods took at least eight or nine days to go between the two. Now goods could be transported in a day. The speed with which goods could reach Khorat from Bangkok permitted the introduction into Isan of items previously too expensive or too perishable to transport. By 1928 a section of the northeastern rail line was extended to Ubon and by 1933 another section had reached Khon Kaen. It would not extend to Nong Khai until 1955. Trading patterns between the central region and Isan were forever altered.


title: Isan

text: The State Railway of Thailand has two main lines in Isan, both connecting the region to Bangkok. One runs east from Khorat, through Surin to Ubon; the other runs north through Khon Kaen and Udon to Nong Khai. In early-2009, a rail link from Nong Khai came into operation. It crosses the Friendship road bridge into Laos territory to a terminus a few kilometres north of the land border crossing. It remains unclear whether this line will be extended the remaining 20 kilometres to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.


title: Isan

text: According to one report in 1895, it took about three weeks to travel overland by ox cart from Nong Khai to Khorat and another eight or nine days to travel from Khorat to Bangkok. Automobile transport made its first appearance in Isan sometime in the 1920s but did not expand rapidly until after the Second World War.


title: Isan

text: There are of highway, centered on the "Thanon Mitraphap" ("Friendship Highway") from Khorat to Nong Khai built by the United States in the 1960s at a cost of US$20 million to supply its northeastern military bases. A road bridge (the "Saphan Mitraphap" or Friendship Bridge) jointly built by the Australian, Lao, and Thai governments forms the border crossing over the Mekong River on the outskirts of Nong Khai to Vientiane, the capital of Laos, about away.


title: Isan

text: Most roads in Isan are paved. All major roads interconnecting the provincial capitals are in excellent condition for driving, and most are centrally divided four or six-lane highways. Many roads connecting province capitals to larger district towns are also currently (2008) being widened to four-lane highways with median strips. The paving on some very minor roads in the poorer districts may be navigable with difficulty due to large, deep potholes. Unpaved, graded roads link some of the smaller, more remote villages, but they are comfortably navigable at normal driving speeds for wheeled vehicles. Most of the stretches of paved roads through villages are lighted at night, many with powerful sodium lighting, some of which are on independently solar-powered masts. Reflective "cats-eyes" marking the central line of two-lane roads are a common feature. Crash barriers are installed along the sides of dangerous bends and precipitous verges. Signposting is excellent and follows international style. Since 2002 (with the exception of some poorer sub-districts), all signs are bilingual in Thai and Roman script.


title: Isan

text: The main highways have frequent, Western-style rest and refueling stations which accept payment by major credit/debit cards. In 2006, all fuel stations sell 91 and 95 octane gasoline/petrol and diesel fuel. LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) and NGV (natural gas for vehicles) were till recently very rare outside the cities of Nakhon Ratchasima, Khon Kaen, and Udon Thani. As of 2012, many new LPG and NGV stations have opened. Since 2009, bio-diesel fuel has become increasingly available.


title: Isan

text: In 1960 air service by Thai Airways to several northeastern towns was inaugurated. By 1963 there were regular flights between Bangkok and Nakhon Phanom, Ubon, Khon Kaen, and Udon.


title: Isan

text: There are airports at Khorat (at the present time no scheduled services due to its proximity to Bangkok making air service difficult to justify financially), Khon Kaen (domestic), Ubon Ratchathani (domestic), Udon Thani (international), Nakhon Phanom (domestic, scheduled services), Sakon Nakhon (domestic, scheduled services), Roi Et (domestic, scheduled services), Buriram (domestic, scheduled services) and Loei (domestic, scheduled services).


title: Isan

text: Domestic air travel between the capital and the region is well developed, and has become a viable alternative to rail, long-distance bus, and self-driving. Fares are cheap by foreign standards, and Udon and Khon Kaen which both opened brand new airport terminals in 2005 and 2006 respectively, are served by many daily flights and also have routes connecting other major destinations in Thailand with some companies operating wide-bodied aircraft. Most domestic flights to and from Bangkok operate to and from Don Muang, the original Bangkok international airport, while Thai Airways flights serve Bangkok International Airport at Suvarnabhumi.


title: Isan

text: Buses provide mass transport throughout the region. All provincial cities are connected to Bangkok by daily and nightly, direct, air-conditioned bus routes. All district amphoe towns operate at least one similar nightly route to and from Bangkok. All towns and villages are interconnected with frequent services of "songthaew" (, lit. "two rows") a covered truck-style bus or covered pick-up trucks with bench seats in the cargo bed.


title: Isan

text: Taxi transport is not well developed, even in the very large cities, where "samlor" (, lit. "three wheels"), three-wheeled motorcycle taxis similar to the Bangkok tuk-tuk, provide the mainstay of urban transport. The large cities do have some pick-up trucks operating on regular inner-city and suburban routes. Airports are served by collective vans, which tend to be expensive for the local population, and "samlors" for private hire.


title: Isan

text: In this region, rapids and variable flow make navigation difficult on the Mekong River, so large boat traffic is limited in connection with downriver areas. Bridges are rare because of the high cost of spanning the wide river; numerous passenger and vehicle ferries link its two sides. The Second Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge, spanning the Mekong between the cities of Mukdahan (Thailand) and Savannakhet (Laos), was completed and officially opened for traffic on 20 December 2006. Some new bridges, not included on the 2005 maps, have been built over smaller rivers and dams. Passenger and vehicle ferries also operate across some large reservoirs.


title: Isan

text: Improved infrastructure and ease of travel restrictions between Thailand and Laos has allowed the continued movement of thousands of people every day, with people on either side crossing the river to visit relatives, shop, participate in religious festivals, conduct business or day-trip, with the Nong Khai-Vientiane Mukdahan-Savannakhét and Nakhon Phanom-Thakhèk border crossings particularly important due to the construction of bridges. Other major border crossings include Bueng Kan-Pakxan and the only non-Mekong checkpoint Chong Mek-Vangtao, although ferries cross the river in other areas. The familiarity of the language makes travel and business easy for Isan speakers, who are able to use their language freely in Laos and be understood.


title: Isan

text: Isan is divided into 20 provinces, grouped into three statistical subregions. Nakhon Ratchasima Province is considered by some to be in central Thailand.


title: Isan

text: Isan returns 136 of the national parliament's 400 constituency MPs. In the 2005 election, the Thai Rak Thai party took 126 of these seats, with six for Chart Thai and two each for the Democrat party and Mahachon Party.


The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2023) will be the 24th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (27th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football championship organised by UEFA for the men's under-21 national teams of Europe. A total of 16 teams will play in the final tournament, and only players born on or after 1 January 2000 are eligible to participate.


title: 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship

text: The tournament will be co-hosted by Romania and Georgia. Romania will host the opening match, while Georgia will host the final. Romania already hosted the 1998 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.


text: Same as previous Under-21 Championships that were held one year prior to the Olympics, this tournament will serve as European qualifying for the Olympic football tournament. Besides France which qualify automatically as Olympic hosts, eligible teams will compete for qualifying for the men's football tournament of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, where they will be represented by their under-23 national teams with maximum of three overage players allowed.


text: Both Romania and Georgia bid for the tournament separately. The two countries were appointed as co-hosts at the UEFA Executive Committee meeting on 3 December 2020.


text: The final draw was held on 18 October 2022, 18:00 CET in Bucharest. The sixteen teams were drawn into four groups of four teams. The teams were seeded according to their coefficient ranking following the end of the qualifying stage, calculated based on the following:


text: The hosts Romania and Georgia were assigned to positions A1 and B1, respectively, while the remaining fourteen teams were drawn to the other available positions in their group.


text: However, four stadiums were removed from the list of venues since Georgia was also appointed as host.


text: In Georgia, the tournament will also be played at four stadiums. Initially these venues were proposed:


text: Based on recommendation of the UEFA organizing group experts, in January 2022 Fazisi Stadium was replaced by Ramaz Shengelia Stadium located in Kutaisi.


text: In the group stage, teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss), and if tied on points, the following tiebreaking criteria are applied, in the order given, to determine the rankings (Regulations Articles 18.01 and 18.02):


text: In the knockout stage, extra time and a penalty shoot-out are used to decide the winners if necessary.


text: The following four teams from UEFA qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympic men's football tournament including France which qualified as the hosts.


title: Kazoo

text: The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of "mirliton" (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifies its player's voice by way of a vibrating membrane of goldbeater's skin or material with similar characteristics.


title: Kazoo

text: Similar hide-covered vibrating and voice-changing instruments have been used in Africa for hundreds of years.


title: Kazoo

text: A kazoo player hums, rather than blows, into the bigger and flattened side of the instrument. The oscillating air pressure of the hum makes the kazoo's membrane vibrate. The resulting sound varies in pitch and loudness with the player's humming. Players can produce different sounds by singing specific syllables such as "doo", "too", "who", "rrrrr" or "brrr" into the kazoo.


title: Kazoo

text: It is popularly believed that Alabama Vest, an African-American in Macon, Georgia, invented the kazoo around 1840, although there is no documentation to support that claim. The story originated with the Kaminsky International Kazoo Quartet, a group of satirical kazoo players, which may cast doubt on the veracity of the story, as does the name "Alabama Vest" itself.


title: Kazoo

text: In 1879, Simon Seller received a patent for a "Toy Trumpet" that worked on the same principle as a kazoo: "By blowing through the tube A, and at the same time humming a sort of a head sound, a musical vibration is given to the paper covering c over the aperture b, and a sound produced pleasing to the ear." Seller's "toy trumpet" was basically a hollow sheet-metal tube, with a rectangular aperture cut out along the length of the tube, with paper covering the aperture, and a funnel at the end, like the bell of a trumpet. The first documented appearance of a kazoo was that created by an American inventor, Warren Herbert Frost, who named his new musical instrument "kazoo" in his patent #270,543 issued on January 9, 1883. The patent states, "This instrument or toy, to which I propose to give the name 'kazoo' "..." Frost's kazoo did not have the streamlined, submarine shape of modern kazoos, but it was similar in that the aperture was circular and elevated above the length of the tube. The modern kazoo—also the first one made of metal—was patented by George D. Smith of Buffalo, New York, May 27, 1902.


title: Kazoo

text: In 1916, the Original American Kazoo Company in Eden, New York started manufacturing kazoos for the masses in a two-room shop and factory, utilizing a couple of dozen jack presses for cutting, bending and crimping metal sheets. These machines were used for many decades. By 1994, the company produced 1.5 million kazoos per year and was the only manufacturer of metal kazoos in North America. The factory, in nearly its original configuration, is now called The Kazoo Factory and Museum. It is still operating, and it is open to the public for tours.


title: Kazoo

text: The kazoo is played professionally in jug bands and comedy music, and by amateurs everywhere. It is among the acoustic instruments developed in the United States, and one of the easiest melodic instruments to play, requiring only the ability to vocalize in tune. In North East England and South Wales, kazoos play an important role in juvenile jazz bands. During Carnival, players use kazoos in the Carnival of Cádiz in Spain and in the corsos on the murgas in Uruguay.


title: Kazoo

text: In the Original Dixieland Jass Band 1921 recording of "Crazy Blues", what the casual listener might mistake for a trombone solo is actually a kazoo solo by drummer Tony Sbarbaro.


title: Kazoo

text: Red McKenzie played kazoo in a Mound City Blue Blowers 1929 film short. The Mound City Blue Blowers had a number of hit kazoo records in the early 1920s featuring Dick Slevin on metal kazoo and Red McKenzie on comb and tissue paper (although McKenzie also played metal kazoo). The vocaphone, a kind of kazoo with a trombone-like tone, was occasionally featured in Paul Whiteman's Orchestra. Trombonist-vocalist Jack Fulton played it on Whiteman's recording of "Vilia" (1931) and Frankie Trumbauer's "Medley of Isham Jones Dance Hits" (1932). The Mills Brothers vocal group originally started in vaudeville as a kazoo quartet, playing four-part harmony on kazoo with one brother accompanying them on guitar.


title: Kazoo

text: The kazoo is rare in European classical music. It does appear in David Bedford's "With 100 Kazoos", where, rather than having professionals play the instrument, kazoos are handed out to the audience, who accompany a professional instrumental ensemble. Leonard Bernstein included a segment for kazoo ensemble in the First Introit (Rondo) of his "Mass." The kazoo was used in the 1990 Koch International and 2007 Naxos Records recordings of American classical composer Charles Ives' "Yale-Princeton Football Game", where the kazoo chorus represents the football crowd's cheering. The brief passages have the kazoo chorus sliding up and down the scale as the "cheering" rises and falls.


title: Kazoo

text: In Frank Loesser's score for the 1961 Broadway musical comedy "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying", several kazoos produce the effect of electric razors used in the executive washroom during a dance reprise of the ballad "I Believe in You".


title: Kazoo

text: In 1961 Del Shannon's "So Long Baby" issued on Big Top Records featured a kazoo on the instrumental break. In addition to the single release it featured on the UK London American release of his album "Hats Off To Del Shannon". Joanie Sommers' 1962 hit single "Johnny Get Angry" featured a kazoo ensemble in its instrumental bridge, as did Dion's hit of the same year, "Little Diane", and Ringo Starr's 1973 cover of "You're Sixteen".


title: Kazoo

text: Jesse Fuller's 1962 recording of his song "San Francisco Bay Blues" features a kazoo solo, as does Eric Clapton's 1992 recording of the song on MTV's "Unplugged" television show and album. On the song "Alligator" on the Grateful Dead album "Anthem of the Sun", three members of the band play kazoo together. Many Paolo Conte performances include kazoo passages.


title: Kazoo

text: Short kazoo performances appear on many modern recordings, usually for comic effect. For example, in his first album, "Freak Out!", Frank Zappa used the kazoo to add comic feel to some songs — including one of his best known, "Hungry Freaks, Daddy". In the song "Crosstown Traffic" from the album "Electric Ladyland", Jimi Hendrix used a comb-and-paper instrument to accompany the guitar and accentuate a blown-out speaker sound. The song "Lovely Rita", from the Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", uses combs-and-paper instruments. Kazoo playing parodied the sound of a military brass band in the Pink Floyd song "Corporal Clegg".


title: Kazoo

text: In the McGuinness Flint recording "When I'm Dead and Gone", Benny Gallagher and Graham Lyle play kazoos in harmony during the instrumental break. The New Seekers' live track "(Ever Since You Told Me That You Loved Me) I'm A Nut" features a kazoo solo by singer Eve Graham. British singer-songwriter Ray Dorset, the leader of pop-blues band Mungo Jerry, played the kazoo on many of his band's recordings, as did former member Paul King.


title: Kazoo

text: One of the best known kazooists of recent times is Barbara Stewart (1941–2011). Stewart, a classically trained singer, wrote a book on the kazoo, formed the "quartet" Kazoophony, performed kazoo at Carnegie Hall and on the "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" television show. The steampunk band Steam Powered Giraffe has audience members play kazoos at some of their concerts. They also sell Kazookaphones, a standard kazoo with optional bugle horn and phonograph.


title: Kazoo

text: The kazoo is used regularly on the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel game show "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue", often paired with the swanee whistle in a musical round called "Swanee-Kazoo".


title: Kazoo

text: The soundtrack of the film "Chicken Run", released in 2000 and composed by John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams, makes use of kazoos in several pieces.


title: Kazoo

text: The theme songs of the children's cartoons "Little Princess" and "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" feature this instrument heavily.


title: Kazoo

text: The video game "Yoshi's New Island", released in 2014, has synthesized kazoos in several tracks of its soundtrack.


title: Kazoo

text: The American glam metal band Steel Panther released in December 2014 the Christmas track "The Stocking Song", which includes a kazoo hook from "Deck the Halls".


title: Kazoo

text: The Australian psychedelic rock band Tame Impala released a single in 2009 "Sundown Syndrome", which includes kazoo rhythmic part.


title: Kazoo

text: The Swedish rock band Ghost have performed live acoustic renditions of their song "Ghuleh/Zombie Queen", which features the kazoo in place of the recorded version's keyboards.


title: Kazoo

text: The Ukrainian polka band Los Colorados released a cover of Rammstein song "Du Hast", which features a kazoo.


title: Kazoo

text: In November 2010, Sandra Boynton produced and released a full-length 300-kazoo plus orchestra performance of Maurice Ravel's "Bolero", titled "Boléro Completely Unraveled, performed by the Highly Irritating Orchestra". Boynton played solo kazoo on this recording noting "I am at the perfect level of musical incompetence for this."


title: Kazoo

text: On March 14, 2011, the audience at BBC Radio 3's Red Nose Show at the Royal Albert Hall, along with a star-studded kazoo band, set a new Guinness World Record for Largest Kazoo Ensemble. The 3,910 kazooists played Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries" and the Dambusters March. This surpassed the previous record of 3,861 players, set in Sydney, Australia, in 2009. The current record of 5,190 was set later the same night in a second attempt.


title: Kazoo

text: On August 9, 2010, the San Francisco Giants hosted a Jerry Garcia tribute night, in which an ensemble of an estimated 9,000 kazooists played "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: Mildred Pierce is an American drama television miniseries that aired on HBO from March 27 to April 10, 2011, consisting of five episodes. Adapted from James M. Cain's 1941 novel of the same name, it was directed by Todd Haynes, and starred Kate Winslet in the title role, alongside Guy Pearce, Evan Rachel Wood, and Melissa Leo. Carter Burwell wrote the original score for the miniseries.


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: It is the second adaptation of the novel, after the 1945 film noir produced by Warner Bros. and starring Joan Crawford.


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: "Mildred Pierce" depicts an overprotective, self-sacrificing mother during the Great Depression who finds herself separated from her husband, opening a restaurant of her own and falling in love with a man, all the while trying to earn her spoiled, narcissistic elder daughter's love and respect.


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: Parts of the miniseries were filmed in three New York locations: Peekskill, Point Lookout and Merrick.


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: "Mildred Pierce" received generally favorable reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 81% based on reviews from 58 critics. At Metacritic, the miniseries has a weighted average score of 69, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". In a WBEZ podcast on the best theatrical films of 2011, critic Jonathan Rosenbaum used the series as an example of television work that was on par with the year's best movies, calling it Haynes' best work to date. Salon.com called it a "quiet, heartbreaking masterpiece", while "The New York Times" reviewer, Alessandra Stanley, commented that while the miniseries was "loyally, unwaveringly true to James M. Cain's 1941 novel", it did not "make the most of the mythic clash of mother, lover and ungrateful child", and was "not nearly as satisfying as the 1945 film noir".


title: Mildred Pierce (miniseries)

text: Novelist Stephen King, reviewing "Mildred Pierce" for "The Daily Beast" and "Newsweek", praised the acting of Winslet, Pearce and Wood, and admired the show's attention to detail and structure, but complained that the five-hour adaptation was "too damn long". He finishes with, "Winslet’s Mildred is a genuine star turn. How Joan Crawford would have loathed her."


title: DJ Mag

text: DJ Magazine (also known as DJ Mag) is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Latin America, China, South Korea, Indonesia, and the Netherlands.


title: DJ Mag

text: An earlier version of the magazine appeared towards the end of the 1980s when it was then known as "Disc Jockey Magazine." The name was then changed to "Jocks Magazine," however, the publication underwent re-branding shortly afterwards. After this process the first issue of DJ Magazine launched in the middle of 1991; it was initially produced as weekly publication with Chris Mellor as its first editor. The magazine at this point was already the UK's top-selling disc jockey magazine and was widely regarded as one of the magazines of choice in the burgeoning house and rave music scenes.


title: DJ Mag

text: The first edition featured artists such as Frankie Knuckles and the Ragga Twins. In 1992, the magazine decided to switch to bi-weekly publishing due to increasing workload which would remain in place till 2008. During its first two years the editorial staff of the magazine voted for their DJ of the Year: initially this was a short list, however this was later expanded to become a Top 100 list that first appeared in the magazine's 100th edition on 21 October 1993.


title: DJ Mag

text: In 1994, the band Underworld featured on the cover due in part to their breakthrough album. Other artists featured that year included established names such as Armand van Helden, Erick Morillo, but also breakthrough DJs such as DJ Rap. By the summer of 1995, the magazine began to regularly feature Ibiza due its increasing popularity as a clubbing destination; the magazine also set-up stall at the Winter Music Conference held in Miami, United States. In 1997, the magazine featured new British house duo Basement Jaxx on its front page. Artists appearing on the cover of the magazine towards the end of the 1990s included Jeff Mills, Deep Dish, Orbital, Laurent Garnier, and Danny Tenaglia.


title: DJ Mag

text: In 1999, the magazine would feature DJs on its front page exploring the rise of Trance Music. The publication wrote extensively about the use of drugs and their prevalence within the dance music scene.


title: DJ Mag

text: Beginning in late 2000, the magazine launched its first pilot website. By November 2000, Highbury House Communications had bought Nexus, the magazine's publisher, and the magazine moved its editorial offices to Kentish Town, North London. In 2001 dance music journalist Lesley Wright, who was then editor of Scottish dance publication M8 magazine was hired to replace Chris Mellor as editor-in-chief after 10 years running the editorial staff.


title: DJ Mag

text: In 2002, Fatboy Slim was featured in the July issue after his free event held in Brighton, England attracted approximately 250,000 clubbers. In 2003 the parent company of the publication merged with the magazine publisher WVIP. From 2005 the magazine started to expand its publication overseas to include places like Central and South America, Germany, France and Spain. In 2006 the magazine was sold to Future plc, one of the largest UK media companies. Since 2008 the title has been owned and operated by independent publishing company Thrust Publishing Ltd.


title: DJ Mag

text: In 2011, the magazine was launched in the USA. After 10 years at the helm of the magazine, editor Lesley Wright left and was replaced by Carl Loben. In 2012 the publication switched production to a monthly format. Currently the owners of the publication are looking to expand into new markets through licensing deals in the Middle East, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan and China.


title: DJ Mag

text: The current format for the magazine includes sections on dance music industry news, regular features, reviews covering clubs, EDM/dance music, technical equipment; it also includes current Top 100 lists as well as coverage of up and coming EDM events. DJ Mag runs a number of awards including its Top 100 DJ Poll, Top 100 Club Poll, Top 100 Festivals Poll, Best of British Awards and its Tech Awards.


title: DJ Mag

text: The magazine's biggest property is a public poll of the world's 100 most popular DJs. The poll attracted over one million votes in 2015, making it the world's biggest music poll. Danny Rampling was the first to be named as the number one DJ in the world by the magazine's journalists in 1991. In 1992 Smokin Jo was named the number one DJ by the magazine editors and is the only female DJ to have ever earned the top ranking. In 1993 to celebrate the 100th edition of DJ Magazine, the magazine introduced a Top 100 list that was still compiled by its staff until 1996. For the previous five years, the system for nominee selection and voting to determine the winners was similar to that of current Grammy Awards and the Brit Awards in that dance music industry specialists (in this case music journalists) decided on who was nominated and who won the award. However, in 1997 the decision was taken by the publication to let the readers of the magazine decide who they thought was the world's top DJ, and in 1997 British DJ Carl Cox was the first winner of the Top 100 DJs Award by public vote. As of 2017, Fergie holds the record for the highest new entry in the poll's history, achieved when he placed 8th in 2000. Dutch DJ Armin van Buuren currently holds the record of most overall wins with five and a record four consecutively..


title: DJ Mag

text: The awards party for the poll was traditionally hosted at the Ministry of Sound nightclub in London. For the 2011 poll, the event was hosted outside of the UK for the first time in its history, being staged at the 2011's edition of the Amsterdam dance event. The 2012 and 2013 award shows were both held on 19 October at the same event. Up until 2002, the top three had consisted of at least one British DJ, since the next year (2003) at least two Dutch DJ's have featured in the top three. In 2015 the Top 100 DJs Awards Party took place as the headline moment of the Amsterdam Music Festival. Over 40,000 guests witnessed the crowning of 2015's winners Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike. Following the Amsterdam event, the winning DJs were flown to London, where they performed to a sold out Brixton Academy for the Top 100 DJs London show.


title: DJ Mag

text: Top 100 DJs is considered to be hugely important to DJs as an influencer of booking fees and their current level of popularity. DJs regularly campaign for votes, a process which is allowed by the magazine. Dutch DJ Hardwell once did a skydive as part of his campaign video; David Guetta regularly creates animated videos as part of his voting campaign; Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike released an exclusive mix to their fans as part of their 2015 campaign.


title: DJ Mag

text: Top 100 DJs has been criticised as being heavily influenced by the marketing power of DJs, rather than their skill or ability. An article that appeared on the US section of the "Huffington Post" in July 2013, entitled "DJMag Top 100 (Marketable) DJs", explores this claim. Its author, Kevin Yu, stated that "Over the past few years, DJ Mag has been criticized that the list is not a true representation of their skills, but instead the amount of money they can put towards marketing". Yu asked, "Has the DJMag list transformed into a popularity contest or is it still a resemblance of the DJs talent?".


title: DJ Mag

text: The list has also been criticised for not including a more balanced reflection of artists from other electronic dance music styles and showing rankings based on less commercial mainstream DJs. A feature in "The Guardian" in 2010 by the journalist Ben Child entitled "What does DJ Mag's top 100 poll tell us about UK dance music? Not much" explores this further, noting that: What's surprising, at least to those of us who don't enjoy the more mainstream genres, is the paucity of artists from outside the house and trance scenes in the top 100. This has pretty much always been the case, with the odd Drum 'N' Bass or Breakbeat acts occasionally making it into the lower reaches in years gone by, but this year's situation is particularly extreme. There is just one artist Andy C whose music is not based on the standard four-to-the-floor beat pattern adopted by mainstream dance music in the top 100 – and he has been around for more than a decade and a half.


title: DJ Mag

text: In 2021, fans expressed their displeasure with the ranking by promoting a fake DJ in the DJ Mag Top 100 list. The ranking perceived biases have also left fans in other cities asking why their clubs were no amongst the top ranked clubs.


title: DJ Mag

text: "DJ Magazine's Top 100 DJs" is an annual poll run by DJ Magazine to decide the worlds number one DJ. The poll started in 1991 and for first two years the magazine's journalists selected their top 100 DJs of the year. 1993 saw the poll expand to a top 100 poll where the journalists would decide their top 100 DJs in the world. In 1997 the magazine opened the top 100 list to a public vote which has remained the used format to this day.


title: DJ Mag

text: DJ Magazine also runs an annual poll called "Top 100 Clubs" used to decide the worlds number one club, which began in 2006. The 2021 poll was postponed from its usual dates in March to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 vote was also delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however only to May in this instance. DJ Mag announced that the poll would return to normal rules as in 2021 club scenes outside of the previous 12 months could be considered aimed many closures due to the pandemic.


title: DJ Mag

text: Since 2015, the voters of the DJ Magazine's top 100 clubs have also voted on the world's number one festival. No poll was held in 2018. In 2019, the DJs themselves voted on their favourite festival in a top 50 format similar to the DJ and club poll run by the magazine. In 2020, the format was changed to a 20% DJ vote and 80% public vote, and was increased to a top 100 format, however results were never published. 2021 had no poll with the poll returning in 2022 but in October as surpose to February which it had been in previous years. The 2022 results were chosen entirely by DJ Mag readers. It was also confirmed ahead of the 2022 poll that 2020 and 2021 did not occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite the 2020 results being collected before the pandemic started.


title: DJ Mag

text: The Best of British Awards was launched by DJ Mag in 2007 to celebrate dance music talent and platforms within Great Britain.


title: DJ Mag

text: The DJ Awards organises the annual electronic music DJ awards event. It is the only international ceremony for DJs and also the oldest, held once a year at Pacha club in Ibiza, Spain. It is one of the most important accolades.


title: DJ Mag

text: The IDMAs is a major event which is part of the Winter Music Conference, a weeklong electronic music conference, held every March since 1985 in Miami Beach, Florida, United States. DJ Magazine has won the award for Best Music Publication 14 times, winning every year this category has been awarded.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The Chaldean Catholic Church (, "ʿīdtha kaldetha qāthuliqetha"; "al-Kanīsa al-kaldāniyya"; ) is an Eastern Catholic particular church ("sui juris") in full communion with the Holy See and the rest of the Catholic Church, and is headed by the Chaldean Patriarchate. Employing in its liturgy the East Syriac Rite in the Syriac language, it is part of Syriac Christianity. Headquartered in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Sorrows, Baghdad, Iraq, since 1950. It is headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch Louis Raphaël I Sako. In 2010, it had a membership of 490,371, of whom 310,235 (63.27%) lived in the Middle East (mainly in Iraq).


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports that, according to the Iraqi Christian Foundation, an agency of the Chaldean Catholic Church, approximately 80% of Iraqi Christians are of that church. In its own 2018 Report on Religious Freedom, the United States Department of State put the Chaldean Catholics at approximately 67% of the Christians in Iraq. The 2019 Country Guidance on Iraq of the European Union Agency for Asylum gives the same information as the United States Department of State.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The Chaldean Catholic Church arose following a schism within the Church of the East. In 1552, the established "Eliya line" of patriarchs was opposed by a rival patriarch, Sulaqa, who initiated what is called the "Shimun line". He, and his early successors, entered into communion with the Catholic Church, but in the course of over a century loosened their link with Rome and under Shimun XIII Dinkha, openly renounced it in 1672, by adopting a profession of faith that contradicted that of Rome, while they maintained their independence from the "Eliya line". Leadership of those who wished to be in communion with Rome then passed to the Archbishop of Amid Joseph I, recognized as Catholic patriarch, first by the Turkish civil authorities (1677), and then by Rome itself (1681). A century and a half later, in 1830, Rome conferred headship of the Catholics on Yohannan Hormizd. A member of the "Eliya line" family: he opposed Eliya XII (1778–1804), the last of that line to be elected in the normal way as patriarch, was himself irregularly elected in 1780, as Sulaqa had been in 1552, and won over to communion with Rome most of the followers of the "Eliya line". The "Shimun line" that in 1553 entered communion with Rome and broke it off in 1672, is now that of the church that in 1976 officially adopted the name "Assyrian Church of the East", while a member of the "Eliya line" family is part of the series of patriarchs of the Chaldean Catholic Church.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: For many centuries, from at least the time of Jerome (c. 347 – 420), the term "Chaldean" was a misnomer that indicated the Biblical Aramaic language and was still the normal name in the nineteenth century. Only in 1445 did it begin to be used to mean Aramaic speakers in communion with the Catholic Church, on the basis of a decree of the Council of Florence, which accepted the profession of faith that Timothy, metropolitan of the Aramaic speakers in Cyprus, made in Aramaic, and which decreed that "nobody shall in future dare to call [...] Chaldeans, Nestorians". Previously, when there were as yet no Catholic Aramaic speakers of Mesopotamian origin, the term "Chaldean" was applied with explicit reference to their "Nestorian" religion. Thus Jacques de Vitry wrote of them in 1220/1 that "they denied that Mary was the Mother of God and claimed that Christ existed in two persons. They consecrated leavened bread and used the 'Chaldean' (Syriac) language". The decree of the Council of Florence was directed against use of "Chaldean" to signify "non-Catholic."


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Outside of Catholic Church usage, the term "Chaldean" continued to apply to all associated with the Church of the East tradition, whether they were in communion with Rome or not. It indicated not race or nationality, but only language or religion. Throughout the 19th century, it continued to be used of East Syriac Christians, whether "Nestorian" or Catholic, and this usage continued into the 20th century. In 1852 George Percy Badger distinguished those whom he called Chaldeans from those whom he called Nestorians, but by religion alone, never by language, race or nationality.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid of the Chaldean Catholic Church (1989–2003), who accepted the term Assyrian as descriptive of his nationality and ethnicity, commented: "When a portion of the Church of the East became Catholic in the 17th Century, the name given to the church was 'Chaldean' based on the Magi kings who were believed by some to have come from what once had been the land of the Chaldean, to Bethlehem. The name 'Chaldean' does not represent an ethnicity, just a church [...] We have to separate what is ethnicity and what is religion [...] I myself, my sect is Chaldean, but ethnically, I am Assyrian." Earlier, he said: "Before I became a priest I was an Assyrian, before I became a bishop I was an Assyrian, I am an Assyrian today, tomorrow, forever, and I am proud of it."


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The Chaldean Catholic Church traces its beginnings to the Church of the East, which was founded in the Parthian Empire. The Acts of the Apostles mentions Parthians as among those to whom the apostles preached on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:9). Thomas the Apostle, Thaddeus of Edessa, and Bartholomew the Apostle are reputed to be its founders. One of the modern Churches that boast descent from it says it is "the Church in Babylon" spoken of in 1 Peter 5:13 and that he visited it.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Under the rule of the Sasanian Empire, which overthrew the Parthians in 224, the Church of the East continued to develop its distinctive identity by use of the Syriac language and Syriac script. One "Persian" bishop was at the First Council of Nicaea (325). There is no mention of Persian participation in the First Council of Constantinople (381), in which also the Western part of the Roman Empire was not involved.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The Council of Seleucia-Ctesiphon of 410, held in the Sasanian capital, recognized the city's bishop Isaac as Catholicos, with authority throughout the Church of the East. The persistent military conflicts between the Sasanians and the by then Christianized Roman Empire made the Persians suspect the Church of the East of sympathizing with the enemy. This in turn induced the Church of the East to distance itself increasingly from that in the Roman Empire. Although in a time of peace their 420 council explicitly accepted the decrees of some "western" councils, including that of Nicaea, in 424 they determined that thenceforth they would refer disciplinary or theological problems to no external power, especially not to any "western" bishop or council.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The theological controversy that followed the Council of Ephesus in 431 was a turning point in the history of the Church of the East. The Council condemned as heretical the Christology of Nestorius, whose reluctance to accord the Virgin Mary the title "Theotokos" "God-bearer, Mother of God" was taken as evidence that he believed two separate persons (as opposed to two united natures) to be present within Christ. The Sasanian Emperor provided refuge for those who in the Nestorian schism rejected the decrees of the Council of Ephesus enforced in the Byzantine Empire. In 484 he executed the pro-Roman Catholicos Babowai. Under the influence of Barsauma, Bishop of Nisibis, the Church of the East officially accepted as normative the teaching not of Nestorius himself, but of his teacher Theodore of Mopsuestia, whose writings the 553 Second Council of Constantinople condemned as Nestorian but some modern scholars view them as orthodox. The position thus assigned to Theodore in the Church of the East was reinforced in several subsequent synods in spite of the opposing teaching of Henana of Adiabeme.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: After its split with the West and its adoption of a theology that some called Nestorianism, the Church of the East expanded rapidly in the medieval period due to missionary work. Between 500 and 1400, its geographical horizon extended well beyond its heartland in present-day northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern Turkey, setting up communities throughout Central Asia and as far as China (as witnessed by the Xi'an Stele), a Tang dynasty tablet in Chinese script dating to 781 that documented 150 years of Christian history in China. Their most lasting addition was of the Saint Thomas Christians of the Malabar Coast in India, where they had around 10 million followers.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: However, a decline had already set in at the time of Yahballaha III (1281–1317), when the Church of the East reached its greatest geographical extent, it had in south and central Iraq and in south, central and east Persia only four dioceses, where at the end of the ninth century it had at least 54, and Yahballaha himself died at the hands of a Muslim mob.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Around 1400, the Turco-Mongol nomadic conqueror Timur arose out of the Eurasian Steppe to lead military campaigns all across Western, Southern and Central Asia, ultimately seizing much of the Muslim world after defeating the Mamluks of Egypt and Syria, the emerging Ottoman Empire, and the declining Delhi Sultanate. Timur's conquests devastated most Assyrian bishoprics and destroyed the 4000-year-old cultural and religious capital of Assur. After the destruction brought on by Timur, the massive and organized Church of the East structure was largely reduced to its region of origin, with the exception of the Saint Thomas Christians in India.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The Church of the East has seen many disputes about the position of Catholicos. A synod in 539 decided that neither of the two claimants, Elisha and Narsai, who had been elected by rival groups of bishops in 524, was legitimate. Similar conflicts occurred between Barsauma and Acacius of Seleucia-Ctesiphon and between Hnanisho I and Yohannan the Leper. The 1552 conflict was not merely between two individuals but extended to two rival lines of patriarchs, like the 1964 schism between what are now called the Assyrian and the Ancient Church of the East.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Dissent over the practice of hereditary succession to the Patriarchate (usually from uncle to nephew) led to the action in 1552 by a group of bishops from the northern regions of Amid and Salmas who elected as a rival Patriarch the abbot of Rabban Hormizd Monastery (which was the Patriarch's residence) Yohannan Sulaqa. "To strengthen the position of their candidate the bishops sent him to Rome to negotiate a new union". By tradition, a patriarch could be ordained only by someone of archiepiscopal (metropolitan) rank, a rank to which only members of that one family were promoted. So Sulaqa travelled to Rome, where, presented as the new patriarch elect, he entered communion with the Catholic Church and was ordained by the Pope and recognized as patriarch. The title or description under which he was recognized as patriarch is given variously as "Patriarch of Mosul in Eastern Syria"; "Patriarch of the Church of the Chaldeans of Mosul"; "Patriarch of the Chaldeans"; "Patriarch of Mosul"; or "Patriarch of the Eastern Assyrians", this last being the version given by Pietro Strozzi on the second-last unnumbered page before page 1 of his "De Dogmatibus Chaldaeorum", of which an English translation is given in Adrian Fortescue's "Lesser Eastern Churches". The "Eastern Assyrians", who, if not Catholic, were presumed to be Nestorians, were distinguished from the "Western Assyrians" (those west of the Tigris River), who were looked on as Jacobites. It was as Patriarch of the "Eastern Assyrians" that Sulaqa's successor, Abdisho IV Maron, was accredited for participation in the Council of Trent.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The names already in use (except that of "Nestorian") were thus applied to the existing church (not a new one) for which the request to consecrate its patriarch was made by emissaries who gave the impression that the patriarchal see was vacant.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa returned home in the same year and, unable to take possession of the traditional patriarchal seat near Alqosh, resided in Amid. Before being put to death at the instigation of the partisans of the Patriarch from whom he had broken away, he ordained two metropolitans and three other bishops, thus initiating a new ecclesiastical hierarchy under what is known as the "Shimun line" of patriarchs, who soon moved from Amid eastward, settling, after many intervening places, in the isolated village of Qudshanis under Persian rule.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Sulaqa's earliest successors entered into communion with the Catholic Church, but in the course of over a century, their link with Rome grew weak. The last to request and obtain formal papal recognition died in 1600. They adopted hereditary succession to the patriarchate, opposition to which had caused the 1552 schism. In 1672, Shimun XIII Dinkha formally broke communion with Rome, adopting a profession of faith that contradicted that of Rome, while he maintained his independence from the Alqosh-based "Eliya line" of patriarchs. The "Shimun line" eventually became the patriarchal line of what since 1976 is officially called the Assyrian Church of the East.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Leadership of those who wished to be in communion with Rome then passed to Archbishop Joseph of Amid. In 1677 his leadership was recognized first by the Turkish civil authorities, and then in 1681 by Rome. (Until then, the authority of the Alqosh patriarch over Amid, which had been Sulaqa's residence but which his successors abandoned on having to move eastward into Safavid Iran, had been accepted by the Turkish authorities.)


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: All the (non-hereditary) successors in Amid of Joseph I, who in 1696 resigned for health reasons and lived on in Rome until 1707, took the name Joseph: Joseph II (1696–1713), Joseph III (1713–1757), Joseph IV (1757–1781). For that reason, they are known as the "Josephite line". Joseph IV presented his resignation in 1780 and it was accepted in 1781, after which he handed over the administration of the patriarchate to his nephew, not yet a bishop, and retired to Rome, where he lived until 1791.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Appointment of the nephew as patriarch would look like acceptance of the principle of hereditary succession. Besides, the Alqosh "Eliya line" was drawing closer to Rome, and the pro-Catholic faction within its followers was becoming predominant. For various reasons, including the ecclesiastical as well as political turbulence in Europe after the French Revolution, Rome was long unable to choose between two rival claimants to headship of the Chaldean Catholics.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The 1672 adoption by the "Shimun line" of patriarchs of Nestorian doctrine had been followed in some areas by widespread adoption of the opposing Christology upheld in Rome. This occurred not only in the Amid-Mardin area for which by Turkish decree Joseph I was patriarch, but also in the city of Mosul, where by 1700 nearly all the East Syrians were Catholics. The Rabban Hormizd Monastery, which was the seat of the "Eliya line" of patriarchs is 2 km from the village of Alqosh and about 45 km north of the city of Mosul.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In view of this situation, Patriarch Eliya XI wrote to the Pope in 1735, 1749 and 1756, asking for union. Then, in 1771, both he and his designated successor Ishoyabb made a profession of faith that Rome accepted, thus establishing communion in principle. When Eliya XI died in 1778, the metropolitans recognized as his successor Ishoyabb, who accordingly took the Eliya name (Eliya XII). To win support, Eliya made profession of the Catholic faith, but almost immediately renounced it and declared his support of the traditionalist (Nestorian) view.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Yohannan Hormizd, a member of the "Eliya line" family, opposed Eliya XII (1778–1804), the last of that line to be elected in the normal way as patriarch. In 1780 Yohannan was irregularly elected patriarch, as Sulaqa had been in 1552. He won over to communion with Rome most followers of the "Eliyya line". The Holy See did not recognize him as patriarch, but in 1791 appointed him archbishop of Amid and administrator of the Catholic patriarchate. The violent protests of Joseph IV's nephew, who was then in Rome, and suspicions raised by others about the sincerity of Yohannan's conversion prevented this being put into effect. In 1793 it was agreed that Yohannan should withdraw from Amid to Mosul, the metropolitan see that he already held, but that the post of patriarch would not be conferred on his rival, Joseph IV's nephew. In 1802 the latter was appointed metropolitan of Amid and administrator of the patriarchate, but not patriarch. Nonetheless, he became commonly known as Joseph V. He died in 1828. Yohannan's rival for the Alqosh title of patriarch had died in 1804, with his followers so reduced in number that they did not elect any successor for him, thus bringing the Alqosh or Eliya line to an end.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Finally then, in 1830, a century and a half after the Holy See had conferred headship of the Chaldean Catholics on Joseph I of Amid, it granted recognition as Patriarch to Yohannan, whose (non-hereditary) patriarchal succession has since then lasted unbroken in the Chaldean Catholic Church.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In 1838, the Kurds of Soran attacked the Rabban Hormizd Monastery and Alqosh, apparently thinking the villagers were Yazidis responsible for the murder of a Kurdish chieftain, and killed over 300 Chaldean Catholics, including Gabriel Dambo, the refounder of the monastery, and other monks.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In 1846, the Ottoman Empire, which had previously classified as Nestorians those who called themselves Chaldeans, granted them recognition as a distinct "millet".


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The most famous patriarch of the Chaldean Church in the 19th century was Joseph VI Audo who is remembered also for his clashes with Pope Pius IX mainly about his attempts to extend the Chaldean jurisdiction over the Malabar Catholics. This was a period of expansion for the Chaldean Catholic Church.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The activity of the Turkish army and their Kurdish and Arab allies, partly in response to armed support for Russia in the territory of the Qochanis patriarchate, brought ruin also to the Chaldean dioceses of Amid, Siirt and Gazarta and the metropolitans Addai Scher of Siirt and Philippe-Jacques Abraham of Gazarta were killed in 1915).


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In the 21st century, Father Ragheed Aziz Ganni, the pastor of the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul, who graduated from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, "Angelicum" in Rome in 2003 with a licentiate in ecumenical theology, was killed on 3 June 2007 in Mosul alongside the subdeacons Basman Yousef Daud, Wahid Hanna Isho, and Gassan Isam Bidawed, after he celebrated mass. Ganni has since been declared a Servant of God.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho and three companions were abducted on 29 February 2008, in Mosul, and murdered a few days later.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: There are many Chaldeans in diaspora in the Western world, primarily in the American states of Michigan, Illinois and California.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In 2006, the Eparchy of Oceania, with the title of 'St Thomas the Apostle of Sydney of the Chaldeans' was set up with jurisdiction including the Chaldean Catholic communities of Australia and New Zealand. Its first Bishop, named by Pope Benedict XVI on 21 October 2006, was Archbishop Djibrail (Jibrail) Kassab, until this date, Archbishop of Bassorah in Iraq.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: There has been a large immigration to the United States particularly to West Bloomfield and Oakland County in Southeast Michigan. Although the largest population resides in Southeast Michigan, there are populations in parts of California and Arizona as well, which all fall under the Eparchy of Saint Thomas the Apostle of Detroit. In addition, Canada in recent years has shown growing communities in provinces such as Ontario.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: In 2008, Bawai Soro of the Assyrian Church of the East and 1,000 Assyrian families were received into full communion with the Chaldean Catholic Church.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: On Friday, June 10, 2011, Pope Benedict XVI erected a new Chaldean Catholic eparchy in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and named Archbishop Yohannan Zora, who has worked alongside four priests with Catholics in Toronto (the largest community of Chaldeans) for nearly 20 years and who was previously an ad hominem Archbishop (he will retain this rank as head of the eparchy) and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese (Archeparchy) of Ahvaz (since 1974). The new eparchy, or diocese, will be known as the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of Mar Addai. There are 38,000 Chaldean Catholics in Canada. Archbishop Zora was born in Batnaya, Iraq, on March 15, 1939. He was ordained in 1962 and worked in Iraqi parishes before being transferred to Iran in 1969.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Despite the internal discords of the reigns of Yohannan Hormizd (1830–1838), Nicholas I Zaya (1839–1847) and Joseph VI Audo (1847–1878), the 19th century was a period of considerable growth for the Chaldean church, in which its territorial jurisdiction was extended, its hierarchy strengthened and its membership nearly doubled. In 1850, the Anglican missionary George Percy Badger recorded the population of the Chaldean Catholic Church as 2,743 Chaldean families, or just under 20,000 persons. Badger's figures cannot be squared with the figure of just over 4,000 Chaldean families recorded by Fulgence de Sainte Marie in 1796 nor with slightly later figures provided by Paulin Martin in 1867. Badger is known to have classified as Nestorian a considerable number of villages in the Aqra district which were Chaldean at this period, and he also failed to include several important Chaldean villages in other dioceses. His estimate is almost certainly far too low.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Paulin Martin's statistical survey in 1867, after the creation of the dioceses of Aqra, Zakho, Basra and Sehna by Joseph Audo, recorded a total church membership of 70,268, more than three times higher than Badger's estimate. Most of the population figures in these statistics have been rounded up to the nearest thousand, and they may also have been exaggerated slightly, but the membership of the Chaldean Catholic Church at this period was certainly closer to 70,000 than to Badger's 20,000.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: A statistical survey of the Chaldean Catholic Church made in 1896 by J. B. Chabot included, for the first time, details of several patriarchal vicariates established in the second half of the 19th century for the small Chaldean communities in Adana, Aleppo, Beirut, Cairo, Damascus, Edessa, Kermanshah and Teheran; for the mission stations established in the 1890s in several towns and villages in the Qudshanis patriarchate; and for the newly created Chaldean diocese of Urmi. According to Chabot, there were mission stations in the town of Serai d’Mahmideh in Taimar and in the Hakkari villages of Mar Behısho, Sat, Zarne and 'Salamakka' (Ragula d'Salabakkan).


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: The last survey of the Chaldean Catholic Church before the First World War was made in 1913 by the Chaldean priest Joseph Tfinkdji, after a period of steady growth since 1896. It then consisted of the patriarchal archdiocese of Mosul and Baghdad, four other archdioceses (Amid, Kirkuk, Seert and Urmi), and eight dioceses (Aqra, Amadiya, Gazarta, Mardin, Salmas, Sehna, Zakho and the newly created diocese of Van). Five more patriarchal vicariates had been established since 1896 (Ahwaz, Constantinople, Basra, Ashshar and Deir al-Zor), giving a total of twelve vicariates.


title: Chaldean Catholic Church

text: Tfinkdji's grand total of 101,610 Catholics in 199 villages is slightly exaggerated, as his figures included 2,310 nominal Catholics in twenty-one 'newly converted' or 'semi-Nestorian' villages in the dioceses of Amid, Seert and Aqra, but it is clear that the Chaldean Catholic Church had grown significantly since 1896. With around 100,000 believers in 1913, the membership of the Chaldean church was only slightly smaller than that of the Qudshanis patriarchate (probably 120,000 East Syriac Christians at most, including the population of the nominally Russian Orthodox villages in the Urmi district). Its congregations were concentrated in far fewer villages than those of the Qudshanis patriarchate, and with 296 priests, a ratio of roughly three priests for every thousand believers, it was rather more effectively served by its clergy. Only about a dozen Chaldean villages, mainly in the Seert and Aqra districts, did not have their own priests in 1913.