title: Cuban War of Independence

text: The decisive event was probably the speech of Senator Redfield Proctor, delivered on March 17, 1898, analyzing the situation and concluding that war was the only answer. The business and religious communities switched sides, leaving McKinley and Reed almost alone in their opposition to war. "Faced with a revved up, war-ready population, and all the editorial encouragement the two competitors could muster, the United States jumped at the opportunity to get involved and showcase its new steam-powered Navy".


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: On April 11, McKinley asked Congress for authority to send American troops to Cuba to end the civil war there. On April 19, Congress passed joint resolutions (by a vote of 311 to 6 in the House and 42 to 35 in the Senate) supporting Cuban independence and disclaiming any intention to annex Cuba, demanding Spanish withdrawal, and authorizing the president to use as much military force as he thought necessary to help Cuban patriots gain independence from Spain. This was adopted by resolution of Congress and included the Teller Amendment, named after Colorado Senator Henry Moore Teller, which passed unanimously, stipulating that "the island of Cuba is, and by right should be, free and independent". The amendment disclaimed any intention by US to have jurisdiction or control over Cuba for other than pacification reasons, and confirmed that the armed forces would be removed war. The amendment, pushed through at the last minute by anti-imperialists in the Senate, made no mention of the Philippines, Guam, or Puerto Rico. Congress declared war on April 25.


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: "It's been suggested that a major reason for the U.S. war against Spain was the fierce competition emerging between Joseph Pulitzer's "New York World" and William Randolph Hearst's "New York Journal"". Joseph E. Wisan wrote in an essay titled "The Cuban Crisis As Reflected In The New York Press", published in "American Imperialism" in 1898: "In the opinion of the writer, the Spanish–American War would not have occurred had not the appearance of Hearst in New York journalism precipitated a bitter battle for newspaper circulation." It has also been argued that the main reason the United States entered the war was its failed attempt to purchase Cuba from Spain.


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: Hostilities started hours after the declaration of war when a contingent of US Navy ships under Admiral William T. Sampson blockaded several Cuban ports. The Americans decided to invade Cuba and to start in Oriente, where the Cubans had almost absolute control. They cooperated by establishing a beachhead and protecting the U.S. landing in Daiquiri. The first U.S. objective was to capture the city of Santiago in order to destroy Linares' army and Cervera's fleet. To reach Santiago, the Americans had to pass through concentrated Spanish defences in the San Juan Hills and a small town in El Caney. Between June 22 and 24, 1898, the Americans landed under General William R. Shafter at Daiquirí and Siboney, east of Santiago, and established a base.


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: The port of Santiago became the main target of naval operations. The U.S. fleet attacking Santiago needed shelter from the summer hurricane season, thus nearby Guantánamo Bay, with its excellent harbor, was chosen for this purpose and attacked on June 6 (1898 invasion of Guantánamo Bay). The Battle of Santiago de Cuba on July 3, 1898, was the largest naval engagement during the Spanish–American War, resulting in the destruction of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron (Flota de Ultramar).


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: Resistance in Santiago consolidated around Fort Canosa, All the while, major battles between Spaniards and Americans took place at Las Guasimas on June 24, El Caney and San Juan Hill on July 1, 1898, outside Santiago. after which the American advance ground to a halt. Spanish troops successfully defended Fort Canosa, allowing them to stabilize their line and bar the entry to Santiago. The Americans and Cubans forcibly began a bloody, strangling siege of the city which eventually surrendered on July 16, after the defeat of the Spanish Caribbean Squadron. Thus, Oriente was under control of Americans, but U.S. General Nelson A. Miles would not allow Cuban troops to enter Santiago, claiming that he wanted to prevent clashes between Cubans and Spaniards. Thus, Cuban General Calixto García, head of the Mambi forces in the Eastern department, ordered his troops to hold their respective areas. He resigned over being excluded from entering Santiago, writing a letter of protest to General Shafter.


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: After losing the Philippines and Puerto Rico, which had also been invaded by the United States, and with no hope of holding on to Cuba, Spain opted for peace on July 17, 1898. On August 12, the United States and Spain signed a protocol of Peace, in which Spain agreed to relinquish all claims of sovereignty over Cuba. On December 10, 1898, the United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Paris, which demanded the formal recognition of Cuban independence on part of Spain.


title: Cuban War of Independence

text: Although the Cubans had participated in the liberation efforts, the United States prevented Cuba from participating in the Paris peace talks and the signing of the treaty. The treaty did not set a designated time limit for U.S. occupation, and the Isle of Pines was excluded from Cuba. The treaty officially granted Cuban independence, but U.S. General William R. Shafter refused to allow Cuban General Calixto García and his rebel forces to participate in the surrender ceremonies in Santiago de Cuba.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other companies.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The first carriers – the Bren Carrier and the Scout Carrier with specific roles – entered service before the war, but a single improved design that could replace these, the Universal, was introduced in 1940.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War. Universal Carriers were usually used for transporting personnel and equipment, mostly support weapons, or as machine gun platforms.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The origins of the Universal Carrier family can be traced back generally to the Carden Loyd tankettes family, which was developed in the 1920s, and specifically the Mk VI tankette.


title: Universal Carrier

text: In 1934, Vickers-Armstrongs produced, as a commercial venture, a light tracked vehicle that could be used either to carry a machine gun or to tow a light field gun. The VA.D50 had an armored box at the front for driver and a gunner and bench seating at the back for the gun crew. The War Office considered it as a possible replacement for their Vickers "Light Dragon" artillery tractors and took 69 as the "Light Dragon Mark III". One was built as the "Carrier, Machine-Gun Experimental (Armoured)", carrying a machine gun and its crew. The decision was made to drop the machine gun and its team and the next design had a crew of three – driver and gunner in the front, third crew-member on the left in the rear and the right rear open for storage. Fourteen of this design were built in mild steel as "Carrier, Machine-Gun No 1 Mark 1" and entered service in 1936. Six were converted into pilot models for the Machine gun Carrier No.2, Cavalry Carrier and Scout Carrier designs – the remainder were used for training.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The carrier put the driver and commander at the front sitting side by side; the driver to the right. The Ford V8 sidevalve engine with four speed gearbox was placed in the centre of the vehicle with the final drive (a commercial Ford axle) at the rear. The suspension and running gear were based on that used on the Vickers light tank series using Horstmann springs. Directional control was through a vertical steering wheel which pivoted about a horizontal axis. Small turns moved the crosstube that carried the front road wheel bogies laterally, warping the track so the vehicle drifted to that side. Further movement of the wheel braked the appropriate track to give a tighter turn.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The hull in front of the commander's position jutted forward to give room for the Bren light machine gun (or other armaments) to fire through a simple slit. To either side of the engine was an area in which passengers could ride or stores could be carried. Initially, there were several types of Carrier that varied slightly in design according to their purpose: "Medium Machine Gun Carrier" (the Vickers machine gun), "Bren Gun Carrier", "Scout Carrier" and "Cavalry Carrier". The production of a single model came to be preferred and the Universal design appeared in 1940; this was the most widely produced of the carriers. It differed from the previous models in that the rear section of the body had a rectangular shape, with more space for the crew.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Production of carriers began in 1934 and ended in 1960. Before the Universal design was introduced, the vehicles were produced by Aveling and Porter, Bedford Vehicles, Ford of Britain, Morris Motors Limited, the Sentinel Waggon Works, and the Thornycroft company. With the introduction of the Universal, production in the UK was undertaken by Aveling-Barford, Ford, Sentinel, Thornycroft, and Wolseley Motors. By 1945 production amounted to approximately 57,000 of all models, including some 2,400 early ones.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The Universal Carriers, in different variants, were also produced in allied countries. Ford Motor Company of Canada manufactured about 29,000 vehicles known as the Ford C01UC Universal Carrier. Smaller numbers of them were also produced in Australia (about 5,000), where hulls were made in several places in Victoria and by South Australian Railways workshops in Adelaide, South Australia. About 1,300 were also produced in New Zealand.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Universal Carriers were manufactured in the United States of America for allied use with GAE and GAEA V-8 Ford engines. About 20,000 were produced.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The Universal Carrier was ubiquitous in all the theatres during the Second World War with British and Commonwealth armies, from the war in the East to the occupation of Iceland. Although the theory and policy was that the carrier was a "fire power transport" and the crew would dismount to fight, practice differed. It could carry machine guns, anti-tank rifles, mortars, infantrymen, supplies, artillery and observation equipment.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The seven mechanized divisional cavalry regiments in the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France during 1939–1940 were equipped with Scout Carriers – 44 carriers and 28 light tanks in each regiment. There were 10 Bren Carriers in each infantry battalion in the same period.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The Reconnaissance Corps regiments – which replaced the cavalry regiments in supporting Infantry divisions after 1940 – were each equipped with 63 carriers, along with 28 Humber Scout Cars.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Universal Carriers were issued to the support companies in infantry rifle battalions for carrying support weapons (initially 10, 21 by 1941, and up to 33 per battalion by 1943). A British armoured division of 1940–41 had 109 carriers; each motor battalion had 44.


title: Universal Carrier

text: A British Carrier platoon originally had ten Universal Carriers with three carrier sections of three Universal Carriers each plus another Universal Carrier in the platoon HQ (along with a 15-cwt GS truck). Each Universal Carrier had a non-commissioned officer (NCO), a rifleman and a driver-mechanic. One Universal Carrier in each section was commanded by a sergeant, the other two by corporals.


title: Universal Carrier

text: All the Universal Carriers were armed with a Bren gun and one carrier in each carrier section also had a Boys anti-tank rifle. By 1941, the carrier platoon had increased in strength to contain four carrier sections; one carrier in each carrier section also carried a 2-inch mortar.


title: Universal Carrier

text: By 1943, each Universal Carrier had a crew of four, an NCO, driver-mechanic and two riflemen. The Boys anti-tank rifle was also replaced by the PIAT anti-tank weapon. The Universal Carrier's weapons could be fired from in- or outside the carrier. A carrier platoon had a higher number of light support weapons than a rifle company.


title: Universal Carrier

text: To allow the Universal to function as an artillery tractor in emergencies, a towing attachment that could allow it to haul the Ordnance QF 6 pounder anti-tank gun was added from 1943. Normally the Loyd Carrier – which was also used as a general utility carrier – acted as the tractor for the 6-pdr.


title: Universal Carrier

text: In Motorised Infantry Battalions in BAOR (British Army of the Rhine) in the early 1950s the Universal was issued one per platoon carrying the Platoon Commander, driver, signaller and the 2-inch Mortar group Nos 1 & 2.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Universal and the earlier Bren carriers were used by Australian Army units in the Western Desert campaign.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Australian Universal Carriers were deployed to the Western Desert, Egypt during August 1942 serving as command vehicles for the 9th Divisional Cavalry Regiment.


title: Universal Carrier

text: A total of around sixty Bren No.2 Carriers and Belgian Army Vickers Utility Tractors were converted into demolition vehicles. Carrying a large explosive charge, these would be driven up to enemy positions under remote control and detonated, destroying both themselves and the target. Twenty-nine of both kinds were deployed in 1942 during the Siege of Sevastopol. They achieved some success in destroying Soviet trenches and bunkers, but a significant number were destroyed by artillery. Others were disabled by land mines before reaching their target or were lost because of mechanical breakdowns. A difficulty for the Germans using these foreign-built vehicles was the lack of spare parts.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The widespread production of the Carrier allowed for several variants to be developed, manufactured and/or used by different countries.


title: Universal Carrier

text: An attempted conversion to self-propelled artillery consisting of a single T16 carrier fitted with a six-Model 1968 recoilless gun mount was developed in the late 1960s or early 1970s.


title: Universal Carrier

text: In 1942, at the request of the Italian Army ("Regio Esercito"), Fiat produced a prototype carrier copied from a captured Universal Carrier; it was known as the Fiat 2800 or CVP-4. It is uncertain whether production vehicles were manufactured. Bren carriers captured by the Italians in the field were often fitted with Breda M37 machine guns.


title: Universal Carrier

text: The Praying Mantis came from an attempt to produce a low-silhouette vehicle that could still fire over obstacles. A one-man design based on Carden Loyd suspension was not adopted, but the inventor was encouraged to design a two-man version. This version was built in 1943, based on the Universal Carrier. The hull was replaced with an enclosed metal-box structure with enough room for a driver and a gunner lying prone. This box, pivoting from the rear, could be elevated. At the top end was a machine-gun turret (with two Bren guns). The intention was to drive the Mantis up to a wall or hedgerow, elevate the gun, and fire over the obstacle from a position of safety. It was rejected after trials in 1944. An example of the Mantis is preserved in The Tank Museum.


title: Universal Carrier

text: Many variants of the British Universal Carrier have been fielded and used by the armed forces of the following countries, amongst many others:


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The uilleann pipes ( , ) are the characteristic national bagpipe of Ireland. Earlier known in English as "union pipes", their current name is a partial translation of the Irish language terms (literally, "pipes of the elbow"), from their method of inflation. There is no historical record of the name or use of the term "uilleann pipes" before the 20th century. It was an invention of Grattan Flood and the name stuck. People mistook the term 'union' to refer to the 1800 Act of Union; this is incorrect as Breandán Breathnach points out that a poem published in 1796 uses the term 'union'.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The bag of the uilleann pipes is inflated by means of a small set of bellows strapped around the waist and the right arm (in the case of a right-handed player; in the case of a left-handed player the location and orientation of all components are reversed). The bellows not only relieve the player from the effort needed to blow into a bag to maintain pressure, they also allow relatively dry air to power the reeds, reducing the adverse effects of moisture on tuning and longevity. Some pipers can converse or sing while playing. The bag which the bellows fill is clamped under the other elbow, which squeezes the bag to control the flow of air to the reeds (which make the notes).


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The air goes from the bag to the chanter, drones, and regulators. The chanter is played with the fingers like a flute. The chanter has a range of two full octaves, including sharps and flats (because, unlike most bagpipe chanters, it can be overblown to produce the higher octave). The chanter is often played resting on the piper's thigh, closing off the bottom hole, so that air can only escape through the open tone holes. If one tone hole is closed before the next one is opened, a staccato effect can be created, because the sound stops completely when no air can escape at all. The three drones are simple open pipes; they constantly play three notes spread an octave apart. The three regulators are closed pipes. Untouched, they do not sound, but they have keys that can be opened by the piper's wrist action (or hand, if they take one hand off the chanter). Each regulator key sounds a different note when opened. The regulator keys are aligned so that several may be pressed simultaneously. These enable the piper to play simple chords, giving rhythmic and harmonic accompaniment as needed. There are also many "ornaments" based on multiple or single grace notes.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The tone of the uilleann pipes is unlike that of many other forms of bagpipes. They have a different harmonic structure, sounding sweeter and quieter than many other bagpipes, such as the Great Irish warpipes, Great Highland bagpipes or the Italian zampognas. The uilleann pipes are often played indoors, and are almost always played sitting down.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: is the genitive of the Irish word , meaning "elbow", emphasising the use of the elbow when playing the uilleann pipes. The Irish word for uilleann pipes is , which means "pipes of the elbow".


title: Uilleann pipes

text: However, the first attested written form is "Union pipes", at the end of the 18th century, perhaps to denote the union of the chanter, drones, and regulators. Another theory is that it was played throughout a prototypical full union of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland. This is definitely untrue, because this name for the instrument predates the Act of Union, which took effect in 1801. Alternatively, the uilleann pipes were certainly a favourite of the upper classes in Scotland, Ireland and the North-East of England and were fashionable for a time in formal social settings, where the term Union pipes may also originate.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The term "uilleann pipes" is first attested at the beginning of the 20th century. William Henry Grattan Flood, an Irish music scholar, proposed the theory that the name ""uilleann"" came from the Irish word for "elbow". He cited to this effect William Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice" published in 1600 (Act IV, sc. I, l. 55) where the expression "woollen pipes" appears. This theory originated in correspondence between two earlier antiquarians, and was adopted as gospel by the Gaelic League. The use of "uilleann" was perhaps also a rebellion against the term "union", with its connotations of English rule. It was however shown by Breandán Breathnach that it would be difficult to explain the Anglicization of the word "uillin" into 'woollen' before the 16th century (when the instrument did not exist as such) and then its adaptation as 'union' two centuries later.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The first bagpipes to be well attested for Ireland were similar, if not identical, to the Scottish Highland bagpipes that are now played in Scotland. These are known as the "Great Irish Warpipes". In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, this instrument was called the ("great pipe").


title: Uilleann pipes

text: While the mouth-blown warpipe was alive and well upon the battlefields of France and other parts of Europe, it had almost disappeared in Ireland. The union or "uilleann" pipe emerged during the early 18th century around the same time as the development of the bellows-driven Northumbrian smallpipes and the bellows-driven Scottish Lowland bagpipes. All three instruments were far quieter and sweeter in tone than their mouth-blown predecessors. Essentially their design required the joining of a bellows under the right arm, which pumped air via a tube to a leather bag under the left arm, which in turn supplied air at a constant pressure to the chanter and the drones (and regulators in the case of the Irish Uilleann pipes). Geoghegan's tutor of the 1740s calls this early form of the uilleann pipes the "Pastoral or New bagpipe". The Pastoral pipes were bellows blown and played in either a seated or standing position. The conical bored chanter was played "open", that is, legato, unlike the uilleann pipes, which can also be played "closed", that is, staccato. The early Pastoral pipes had two drones, and later examples had one (or rarely, two) regulator(s). The Pastoral and later flat set Union pipes developed with ideas on the instrument being traded back-and-forth between Ireland, Scotland and England, around the 18th and early 19th centuries.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The earliest surviving sets of uilleann pipes date from the second half of the 18th century, but it must be said that datings are not definitive. Only recently has scientific attention begun to be paid to the instrument, and problems relating to various stages of its development have yet to be resolved. The Uilleann pipes or union pipes might have originated from the Pastoral pipes (Border pipes, Northumbrian pipes, Scottish smallpipes) and gained popularity in Ireland within the Protestant Anglo-Irish community and its gentlemen pipers, who could afford such expensive hand-made instruments. The Irish uilleann pipes are far more elaborate in their design, and their development is likely to have occurred among the well-to-do. Certainly many of the early players in Ireland were Protestant, possibly the best known being the mid-18th-century piper Jackson from Co Limerick and the 18th-century Tandragee blind pipemaker William Kennedy. The famous Rowsome family from Co. Wexford were also Church of Ireland until the mid-late 19th century. The Uilleann pipes were often used by the Protestant clergy, who employed them as an alternative to the church organ. As late as the 19th century the instrument was still commonly associated with the Anglo-Irish, e.g. the Anglican clergyman Canon James Goodman (1828–1896) from Kerry, who had his tailor-made uilleann pipes buried with him at Creagh (Church of Ireland) cemetery near Baltimore, County Cork. His friend, and Trinity College colleague, John Hingston from Skibbereen also played the uilleann pipes. Another piping friend of Canon Goodman, Alderman Phair of Cork (founder of the pipers club in Cork in the 1890s) had Goodman's pipes recovered from Creagh cemetery. They were later donated to Cork piper Michael O'Riabhaigh, who had re-established the (by then extinct) pipers club in Cork in the 1960s.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The instrument is most usually (nowadays) tuned in the key of D, a tradition begun by the Taylor brothers (originally of Drogheda, Ireland, and later of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) in the late 19th century. Canon Goodman played a Taylor set. Up to then, most pipes were what would be termed as "flat sets" in other keys, such as C, C, B and B, tunings which were largely incompatible with playing with other instruments. The chanter length determines the overall tuning; accompanying pieces of the instrument, such as drones and regulators, are tuned to the same key as the chanter. Chanters of around in length produce a bottom note on or near D (D above middle C) where A = 440 Hz, i.e. modern "concert pitch". Such pipes are a relatively recent invention pioneered by the Taylor brothers. They typically have wider bores and larger tone holes than the earlier "flat" pitch sets, and as a consequence are a good deal louder, though by no means as loud as the Highland pipes of Scotland. They were developed by the Taylors to meet the requirements of playing in larger venues in the United States; today they are the most common type of uilleann pipes encountered, though many players still prefer the mellower sound of the earlier style narrow-bore pipes, which exist in pitches ranging from D through C, C, and B down to B. Pipemakers before the Taylors had, however, built concert pitch pipes using the narrower bores and smaller fingerholes of the flat pipes. Some of these instruments seem to have been designed with lower pitch standards in mind, such as A = 415 Hz. The Taylors also built many instruments with higher pitch standards in mind, such as the Old Philharmonic pitch of A = 453 Hz that was commonplace in late 19th-century America.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The D pipes are most commonly used in ensembles, while the flat-pitched pipes are more often used for solo playing – often a fiddler will tune down his or her instrument to play with a piper's flat set, but the inflexibility of other instruments used in Irish music (accordions, flutes, etc.) does not usually permit this. It is noteworthy that Irish music was predominantly solo music until the late 19th century, when these fixed-pitch instruments began to play more of a role. Like some older pipe organs, uilleann pipes are not normally tuned to even temperament, but rather to just intonation, so that the chanter and regulators can blend sweetly with the three drones. Equal temperament is almost universal with the fixed pitch instruments used in Irish music, which can clash with the tuning of the pipes.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: A full set of uilleann pipes includes a chanter, drones, and regulators. A half-set lacks the regulators, and a practice set lacks both regulators and drones. All three are used in professional performance.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: Because of the instrument's complexity, beginning uilleann pipers often start out with partial sets known as practice sets. A practice set consists of only the basic elements of pipe bag, bellows and chanter, with no drones or regulators. The chanter is available in keys ranging from the "concert pitch" D chanter in half-note steps downward to a B chanter, the latter being regularly referred to as a "flat set" (as are any sets below the key of D).


title: Uilleann pipes

text: To play the uilleann pipes effectively, students must learn to pump the bellows steadily while controlling the pressure on the bag and playing the chanter simultaneously. So beginners often play on practice sets until they become comfortable with those basic mechanics. Despite their name, however, practice sets are used not only by beginning players but also by some advanced players when they wish to play just the chanter with other musicians, either live or in recording sessions. In these instances, the practice sets can be tuned to equal temperament if needed.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: A half set is the next stage up from a practice set. As with other forms of bagpipes, uilleann pipes use "drones", which are most commonly three pipes accompanying the melody of the chanter with a constant background tonic note. The pipes are generally equipped with three drones: the tenor drone, as the highest sounding pipe, which is pitched the same as the lowest note of the chanter; the baritone drone pitched one octave below that; and the bass drone, as the lowest sounding pipe, two octaves below the bottom note of the chanter. The Pastoral pipes had four drones: these three plus one more that would play a harmony note at the fourth or fifth interval. These drones are connected to the pipe bag by a "stock". This is an intricately made wooden cylinder tied into the bag (as any other stock) by a thick yarn or hemp thread. The drones connect to the stock, as do the regulators (see full set below). The stock and drones are laid across the right thigh. This is distinct from other forms of bagpipes, in which the drones are usually carried over the shoulder or over the right arm.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The drones can be switched off. This is made possible by a key connected to the stock. The original design of the stock was a hollow cylinder, with two metal tubes running through it to both hold the regulators and independently supply air to them. Thus the regulators could be played with the drones silenced. In the late 19th century it became more common to build the stock from a solid piece of wood, with five holes bored through it end-to-end. This was less susceptible to damage than the earlier design. The piper is also able to switch on and off various drones individually (applying slightly more pressure to the bag and tapping the end of a drone), which is generally used to aid in tuning (a technique used in almost all bagpipes that have drones) or all of them at the same time using this key. This makes the instrument more versatile and usable not only as a half set, but also to allow playing the chanter by itself. The drones use a single-bladed reed (the actual part creating sound), unlike the double reed used in the chanter and the regulators. These drone reeds were generally made from elderberry twigs in the past, while cane began to be used in the late 19th century.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: A full set, as the name implies, is a complete set of uilleann pipes. This would be a half set with the addition of three regulators. These are three closed pipes, similar to the chanter, held in the stock. Like the drones, they are usually given the terms tenor, baritone, and bass, from smallest to largest. A regulator uses keys (five on the tenor and four on both baritone and bass) to accompany the melody of the chanter; these keys are arranged in rows to give limited two-note "chords" or, alternatively, single notes for emphasis on phrases or specific notes. The notes of the regulators, from highest to lowest (given a nominal pitch of D) are as follows: tenor: C, B, A, G, F; baritone: A, G, F, D; bass: C, B, A, G. The tenor and baritone regulators fit into the front face of the stock, on top of the drones; the bass regulator is attached to the side of the stock (furthest from the piper), and is of complex construction.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: Another method of using the regulators is to play what are referred to as "hand chords": when the melody (usually in a slower piece of music such as an air) is being played on the chanter exclusively with the left hand, the right hand will be free to create more complex chords, using all three regulators at once if so desired. Many airs end a section on a G or A in the first octave, at which point a piper will often play one of these hand chords for dramatic effect.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The chanter is the part of the uilleann pipes that is used to play the melody. It has eight finger holes (example given of a D pitched chanter): bottom D, E, E, F, G, A, B, C, C, high D (also called "back D"). To achieve the bottom D (D) the chanter is lifted off the knee, exposing the exit of the chanter's bore, where the note is produced. The chanter is set on the right knee thus closing off the bottom hole. Many players use a strip of leather placed over the knee, called a "popping strap", which provides for an airtight seal. More rarely, a simple gravity- or spring-operated flap valve attached to the bottom of the chanter achieves the same end. Generally, for all other notes (except for special effects, or to vary the volume and tone) the chanter stays on the knee.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: One characteristic of the chanter is that it can produce staccato notes, because the piper seals it off at the bottom; with all of the finger holes closed, the chanter is silenced. This is also necessary for obtaining the second octave; the chanter must be closed and the bag pressure increased, and then fingered notes will sound in the second octave. A great range of different timbres can be achieved by varying the fingering of notes and also raising the chanter off the knee, which gives the uilleann pipes a degree of dynamic range not found in other forms of bagpipes. Pipers who use staccato fingering often are termed "closed-style" pipers. Those who use legato fingering more predominately are referred to as "open-style" pipers. Open piping has historical associations with musicians (often Irish travelling people) who played on the street or outdoors, since the open fingering is somewhat louder, especially with the chanter played off the knee (which can, however, lead to faulty pitch with the second octave notes).


title: Uilleann pipes

text: A type of simultaneous vibrato and tremolo can be achieved by tapping a finger below the open note hole on the chanter. The bottom note also has two different "modes", namely the "soft D" and the "hard D". The hard bottom D sounds louder and more strident than the soft D and is accomplished by applying slightly more pressure to the bag and flicking a higher note finger as it is sounded. Pipemakers tune the chanter so the hard D is the in-tune note, the soft D usually being slightly flat.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: Many chanters are fitted with keys to allow accurate playing of all the semitones of the scale. Four keys will give all the semitones: F, G, B, C. Older chanters usually had another key for producing D (D in the third octave), and often another small key for E, and another for D (as opposed to the E fingerhole, which could be slightly off-pitch). Most uilleann chanters are very responsive to "half-holing" or "sliding", which is the practice of obtaining a note by leaving a fingerhole only half-covered. This is why many chanters sold in Ireland are sold without keys. With this technique and some practice, many pipers can accurately play the semitones which would otherwise require a chromatic key to be installed. The exception to this is the C (C in the second octave), which cannot be cross-fingered or half-holed, and requires the key. This is the most commonly fitted key.


title: Uilleann pipes

text: The chanter uses a double reed, similar to that of the oboe or bassoon. Unlike most reed instruments, the uilleann pipe reed must be crafted so that it can play two full octaves accurately, without the fine tuning allowed by the use of a player's lips; only bag pressure and fingering patterns can be used to maintain the correct pitch of each note. It is for this reason that making uilleann-pipe chanter reeds is a demanding task. Uilleann pipe reeds are also often called "the piper's despair" for the immense difficulty of maintaining, tuning and especially making the double reed of the regulators and, most importantly, the chanter.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial. It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern, and employs approximately 220 people. Morgan produce 850 cars per year, all assembled by hand. The waiting list for a car is approximately six months, but has sometimes been as long as ten years.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan cars are unusual in that wood has been used in their construction for a century, and is still used in the 21st century for framing the body shell. A visitor centre and museum have exhibits about the company's history from Edwardian times until the present day, developments in automobile technology, and a display of automobiles. There are also guided tours of the factory.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: H.F.S. Morgan quit the Great Western Railway in 1904 and co-founded a motor sales and servicing garage in Malvern Link. In 1909 he designed and built a car for his own use. Previously he developed the first independent front suspension in


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: the engineering shop of Malvern College. He began production a year later and the company prospered. Production of three wheelers approached 1000 by WW1 and quickly resumed with both racing and touring models. Morgan's first four wheeler came in 1935 with three wheelers phased out in 1952. Morgan continued to run it until he died at age 77 in 1959.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Peter Morgan, son of HFS, ran the company until a few years before his death in 2003. He was replaced as chairman by Alan Garnett, a non-family director, from 2003 to 2006. After Garnett's resignation, a four-man management team was established.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Charles Morgan (son of Peter), Matthew Parkin, Tim Whitworth and Steve Morris made up the new management team, and in 2010, after Parkin's resignation, Charles Morgan was named managing director. In 2010, the MMC became dormant and all assets were sold to a new company called Morgan Technologies for an unpaid 15 million and which took over all the former assets of the Morgan Motor Company, Aero Racing, the Morgan M3W Company and all other companies bearing the Morgan name. This cured the negative equity that had occurred over the Charles Morgan tenure. UK Company House


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In January, 2013, Morgan was removed as managing director, replaced by Morris, but continued as strategy director until October 2013 when he was removed both as an employee and member of the board of directors.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: At the end of 2013, the shareholders appointed Andrew Duncan, a local solicitor and very close friend of the late Peter Morgan, as chairman. In 2016, he resigned as chairman and company director and was replaced as chairman by a new director, Dominic Riley.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In January of 2016, the Company was once again UK government funded by a £6 million grant by the British Government after a series of visits from UK politicians and Royals. In August of 2018, the name of Morgan Technologies, was allowed to change its name back to The Morgan Motor Company while the original company, founded by HFS Morgan in 1957, had its name changed to a numbered company and accordingly registered at UK Companies House.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: For most of its history, the company was owned by the Morgan family. A press release dated 5 March 2019 announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Morgan Motor Company Ltd by the Italian investment group Investindustrial. Though it was announced that as a part of Investindustrial's investment, management and staff were rewarded with shares in the company, this appears nowhere in the information registered at Companies House. And though it was also announced that the Morgan family retained a minority shareholding and would continue to be involved in the company this does not appear on any statement filed with Companies House. The price of sale was approximately the amount of the 2016 government grant which was used, at the time, to purchase back the land and buildings on Pickersleigh Road, that had been sold in 2005/6 to fund the company.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The early cars were two-seat or four-seat three-wheelers, and are therefore considered to be cyclecars. Three-wheeled vehicles avoided the British tax on cars by being classified as motorcycles. Competition from small cars like the Austin 7 and the original Morris Minor, with comparable economy and price and better comfort, made cyclecars less attractive.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: H.F.S. Morgan's first car design was a single-seat three-wheeled runabout, which was fabricated for his personal use in 1908, with help from William Stephenson-Peach, the father of friends, and the engineering master at Malvern College. Powered by a Peugeot twin cylinder engine (from an abandoned motorcycle project), the car had a backbone chassis, an idea retained for all following Morgan three-wheelers, and used as little material and labour as Morgan could manage. A single-seat three-wheeler with coil-spring independent front suspension, unusual at the time, the driveshaft ran through the backbone tube to a two-speed transmission (with no reverse), and chain drive to each of the rear wheels. The steering was by tiller, and it had band brakes. It also had no body.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: With financial help from his father and his wife, the car went into production at premises in Pickersleigh Road, Malvern Link. Three single-seater cars were exhibited at the 1910 Motor Show at Olympia in London. In spite of great interest being shown, only a few orders were taken, and Morgan decided a two-seater was needed to meet market demand. This was built in 1911, adding a bonnet, windscreen, wheel steering, and crank starting; it was displayed at the 1911 Motor Cycle Show. An agency was taken up by the Harrod's department store in London, with a selling price of £65. The Morgan became the only car ever to appear in a shop window at Harrods.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Interest in his runabout led him to patent his design and begin production. While he initially showed single-seat and two-seat versions of his runabout at the 1911 Olympia Motor Exhibition, he was convinced at the exhibition that there would be greater demand for a two-seat model. The Morgan Motor Company was registered as a private limited company only in 1912 with H.F.S. Morgan as managing director and his father, who had invested in his son's business, as its first chairman.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 1912, Morgan set out to win the trophy offered by "The Light Car & Cyclecar" for greatest distance covered in an hour, at Brooklands. The single-seater covered , only to be narrowly beaten by a GWK; Morgan returned later the same year, reaching nearly .


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan established its reputation via competition such as winning the 1913 Cyclecar Grand Prix at Amiens in France, driven by W. G. McMinnies, with an average speed of for the distance. This became the basis for the 'Grand Prix' model of 1913 to 1926, from which evolved the 'Aero', and 'Sports' models. Morgan himself won the "very tough" ACU Six Days' Trial in 1913, in the sidecar class. The same year, the company entered the MCC reliability trial, which it continued to do until 1975.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: These models used air-cooled or liquid-cooled variations of motorcycle engines. The engine was placed ahead of the axis of the front wheels in a chassis made of steel tubes brazed into cast lugs.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: After the First World War, the company introduced an easily changed rear wheel, which customers had been seeking for several years. The 1921 Popular, powered by an JAP and bodied in poplar, sold for £150. It was a sales success, the price dropping to £128, and the name changing to Standard, by 1923, when a Blackburne engine was also available. The Grand Prix was priced £155, and the Family (with two notional child seats behind the front bench, setting a standard 2+2s would follow for generations) was £148 with air-cooled engine, or £158 with water-cooled engine. The Anzani-powered Aero was also available, for £148. MAG engines were also optional.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan's racing efforts suffered a blow in 1924, when E. B. Ware's JAP-engined car rolled at the JCC at Brooklands; Ware was seriously hurt, leading to a ban on three-wheelers competing as cars.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Electric headlamps were made available in 1924, at an £8 cost. The Popular, powered by a engine, sold for £110, the Aero for £148, and the one-seater £160.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Racing Morgans included Harold Beart's Blackburne-engined special, with 3.33:1 top gear and a streamlined body, which covered in a one-hour trial at Brooklands, with a peak speed of over .


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 1925, the Standard's price had dropped to £95, and the Aero £130, compared to £149 for an Austin Chummy. Electric lighting by dynamo became standard that year.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Front-wheel brakes and electric start (a £10 option) became available in 1927, while the Standard's price fell to £89, complete with a double-thickness windscreen and "electric hooter". By year's end, the Standard was even cheaper, £85, while the new Super Sports debuted, with an overhead valve JAP 10/40 water-cooled vee-twin, priced £155. The 10/40 engine was also available in the Aero, at £132, while a more sedate air-cooled JAP-powered Aero went for £119. The Family was priced at £102 (air-cooled) or £112 (water-cooled). These new, lower prices persisted through 1928. They would be lower still in 1929: the Standard and Family at £87 10s, the Aero £110, and the Super Sports £145. In 1933, the Family was priced at only £80.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan's racing programme in 1927 earned the marque eleven gold medals and three silvers from fourteen entrants at MCC's London-Edinburgh Trials alone. The team was joined by Clive Lones and C. T. Jay, who won the 1929 Cyclecar "Grand Prix" at Brooklands, driving a Morgan-JAP, with an average speed of . And in 1930, Gwenda Stewart turned in a speed of in a race-tuned Super Sports.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan three-wheelers benefitted from an annual tax of just £4, half the tax on the Austin 7, provided they remained under 8 cwt.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: By 1930, however, inexpensive four-wheeled cars were proliferating, led by the £100 Ford Popular. Morgan, and partner George Goodall, countered by putting the and Ford engine in their own cars.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan's last vee-twins were powered by Matchless engines displacing ; they were delivered to Australia after the Second World War.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan F-4 was introduced in 1933 at the Olympia Motor Cycle Show. The F-4 had a new pressed-steel chassis the four-cylinder Ford Sidevalve engine used in the Model Y, and a four-seat body. The F-4 was supplemented by the two-seat F-2 in 1935 and the more sporting F Super, with cycle-type wings and louvred bonnet tops, in 1937. Production of the Ford-engined three-wheelers continued until 1952.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan's first four-wheeler, designated by the factory as the 4/4 because it had a four-cylinder engine and four wheels, was released to the public in 1936. Powered by a Coventry Climax engine, and carrying a pair of rear-mounted spare wheels, the new two-seater 4/4 sold for 185 guineas (£194 5s). It proved popular, and a four-place model was added in 1937, joined by a £236 drophead in 1938.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Coventry Climax eventually ceased making engines available, so Morgan switched to a tuned Standard Motor Company Ten, producing .


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 1938, a 4/4 was entered at Le Mans. This led to production of factory replicas, with fold-down windscreen, cycle fenders (mudguards), smaller-displacement engine, and single spare wheels, with a price of £250.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan +4 was introduced in 1950 as a larger-engined ("plus") car than the 4/4. The +4 initially used the Standard Vanguard engine and at introduction sold for £625 (two-seater) or £723 (coupé).


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The +4 used Triumph TR2 (in 1953), TR3 (1956), or TR4A engines (until 1969). Plus 4 production was suspended in 1969 but brought back in 1985 with a Fiat engine (1985–1988) and then a 4-cylinder Rover engine (1988–2000). Production was again suspended and the Plus 4 returned once more in 2004 with a Ford 4-cylinder.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: From October 1965 to April 1967 Morgan produced the two-seat +4 Competition, of which only 42 were built, about 11 of which survive.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: A limited edition Plus 4 was re-introduced in 2014 as the Plus 4 Super Sports. Only 60 cars were made available, all right-hand-drive.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: A version of the +4, the +4+, was made from 1964 to 1967 with a fibreglass coupé body. The light weight and reduced drag improved the performance of the +4+ over the standard +4 in every aspect. However, traditional Morgan enthusiasts did not embrace this departure from Morgan custom, and mainstream enthusiasts did not embrace the seemingly archaic +4 chassis. Fifty were planned, but only 26 were built.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Production of the 4/4 was halted during World War II but resumed afterwards. Production halted again in 1950 when the Standard engine ceased to be available but resumed in 1955 when a suitable replacement, the side-valve 1,172 cc Ford 100E engine was found and has continued ever since.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Faced with the decreasing availability of large four-cylinder engines for use in their +4 models, Morgan began to install the recently available Rover V8 engine in their cars in 1968, giving these cars the model designation "+8".


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The engine displacement jumped from the 2.3 L of the Triumph TR4 engine to 3.5 L, then 3.9 L (1990), 4.0 (1998–2004) with an optional 4.6L (1996–2000) all based on the same Land Rover block. However, this V-8 was no heavier than the Triumph engine. These features made the +8 accelerate much more quickly than the early +4 and also improved its road-holding capability.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Horsepower (143–204 bhp), weight and performance varied with emission and structural laws through its history. Thus powered, the car could accelerate from 0–60 mph in 5.6 seconds. In its final form, the GEMS Land Rover V8 produced .


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 2004, Morgan came out with a traditional styled model to replace the departing Plus 8. The Mk I Roadsters with the Ford UK Mondeo V6 produced 223 bhp (166 kW, 226 PS) at 6150 rev/min. It had a Getrag gearbox with direct drive in 5th with a 3.08 axle ratio. Later Marks had a Ford gearbox with direct drive in 4th with a 3.73 axle ratio. The overall gearing is virtually the same. The later Roadsters were powered by a Ford UK Mondeo V6 producing . In 2007, the Mondeo engine was replaced by a US-specification version of the same engine in the Roadster II. In 2011–12, the engine was replaced by the 3.7 Duratec Cyclone engine and output increased to . The company calls this latest model the Roadster 3.7.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 2000, the Morgan Aero 8 was introduced and, as always, the wooden body substructure was ash. (Contrary to popular myth, however, the chassis is metal; aluminium for the Aero 8.) The Aero 8, with a BMW V8 engine in a car weighing less than a BMW Z4 and considerably less than a BMW M3, (though more than traditional Morgans) is even faster than the Plus 8, delivering what "Autoweek" magazine termed supercar performance. The newest Aero 8 (series V), presented in March 2015, puts out at 6100 rpm with the company suggesting a top speed of over . Due to the Aero 8's light weight it can do 0–62 mph (100 km/h) in 4.5 seconds.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: During its customer production lifetime (2002–2009), the Aero was configured in five official versions, (I, II, III, IV, the Aero America and V) with mild variations in styling, engines, transmissions, braking and suspension. The company cancelled the model in 2009 but relaunched it in 2015 for 2016 deliveries. The year of highest production for any Aero variation was 2002.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Aero was followed by the Aeromax, a limited edition of 100 units produced between 2008 and early 2010. The Aeromax was a coupé variation of the Aero 8. Customers have included Richard Hammond, Rowan Atkinson and Paul O'Grady.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Aero SuperSports is a targa-roofed version of the AeroMax, sharing its bonded aluminium chassis and lower bodywork with the coupe. It was launched at the 2009 Pebble Beach car show in California. Its cancellation was announced in March 2015.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Aero Coupé is a hard top version of the Aero SuperSports, sharing its bonded aluminium chassis, bodywork, suspension and engine. It was launched at the end of 2011. It is not available in the United States. Its cancellation was announced in March 2015.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The new Morgan Plus 8 is a classic body version of the Aero SuperSports and Aero Coupé, sharing their bonded aluminium chassis, bodywork, suspension and engine. It was launched at the end of 2011. It is not available in the United States. In 2019, Morgan announced its cancellation.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Plus E is an electric version of a classical Morgan, a joint project of Morgan with Zytek and Radshape (Radshape Sheet Metal Ltd.), funded by the UK government. It was displayed at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. It has never been produced and the project was abandoned.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Based on the same chassis as the Aero Supersports, the Eva GT would have been a 2+2 grand tourer, and as such it would be longer in the body. The Eva GT would use BMW N54 twin-turbo straight-6 producing 302 bhp, Euro-6 emissions compliant. Shown at Pebble Beach in clay in 2010 and expected to go on sale in 2012, deposits have been taken since 2010. At the end of 2011, Morgan announced that it would use new magnesium technology for the body and therefore it would not be represented until 2014 with deliveries after that. In 2013 dealers confirmed that the EvaGT had been cancelled.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Motor Company announced that they would launch the "3 Wheeler" in 2011 at the Geneva Motor Show. The 3 Wheeler was initially said to have a Harley-Davidson "Screaming Eagle" V-twin engine and a Mazda 5-speed manual transmission, and was estimated to deliver at the rear wheel. However, the prototype that was shown at Geneva had an S&S engine. Production three-wheelers turned out to have S&S engines. The kerb weight was originally estimated to be less than , but the final weight was tested at . The acceleration from zero to was estimated by Morgan as 4.5 seconds, with an (estimated) top speed of . The three-wheeler is to be homologated as a motorcycle in the United States. The company states that 850 deposits have been taken since the announcement in 2011. Customer deliveries began in Europe in February 2012. US deliveries were not expected before June 2012, when the first imported three-wheeler was displayed in New York City and at the Greenwich Concours d'Elegance. The Morgan 3 Wheeler was featured in a Series 18 episode of UK motoring show "Top Gear" where presenter Richard Hammond selected the Morgan 3 Wheeler in a comparison of track-day cars. The 3 Wheeler won the "Not-A-Car of the Year 2011" in "Top Gear" magazine.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In September 2014, Morgan introduced the Morgan SP1 as well as its newly formed Special Projects division. The one-off coupe uses the same Ford 3.7L V6 as in the Morgan Roadster. The exterior is inspired by Morgan's LIFEcar concept and its egg-crate wooden frame is made of ash and African Bubinga red hardwood.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Plus Six was announced in March 2019 at the Geneva Motor Show. Instead of the traditional Morgan ladder frame and sliding-pillar suspension, it has a new bonded aluminium chassis and all-independent suspension design, with double wishbones at the front and a multi-link system for the rear. The Plus Six is powered by a BMW B58 turbocharged in-line six-cylinder petrol engine, producing 335 bhp, coupled to an eight-speed ZF automatic transmission.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: The Morgan Plus Four was revealed online in March 2020. Like the Plus Six, it uses a "CX-Generation" bonded aluminium chassis and all-independent suspension design. The Plus Four is powered by a BMW B48 turbocharged in-line four-cylinder petrol engine producing 255 bhp, with either a six-speed manual transmission or an eight-speed automatic transmission.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: For part of the 1950s and 1960s, the United States provided the company with its largest market worldwide, taking up to 85% of all production. This ended with the first wave of US safety and emission regulations in 1971. For many years (1974 to 1992), all Morgans imported into the United States were converted to run on propane as fuel to pass the US emissions regulations. However, this conversion, along with bringing the cars into compliance with US vehicle safety legislation, was carried out by the dealership, and not by the factory, making the cars grey market vehicles.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: However, when the Rover Group re-certified their V8 engine for use in the Range Rover 4x4 sold in the US, Morgan was able to use the same engine for a fully US-compliant stock Morgan from 1992 to 1996, and again from 1998 to 2004. In 2005, the engine was replaced with the US-version of another traditionally shaped model (with a V6), called the Roadster.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 2002, Morgan centralised its international compliancy development and regulatory interaction in-house. In 2005, its right to import its classic models ceased when supplies of its necessary airbag were exhausted and no replacement was developed. In 2006, a request for an airbag exemption to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration was refused, and the import of classic Morgans ceased.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In 2005, the new Morgan Aero 8 model (versions 2 and 3) received a three-year exemption from rear impact non-compliance, along with a separate exemption for compliance with "advanced airbag requirements". The rear-impact exemption lapsed in May 2008 without further application. Morgan has indicated to its US dealers that it plans to re-apply for US certification for some model at as yet an undetermined date in the future.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In April 2012, the new Morgan 3-Wheeler was showcased at the New York International Auto Show, at the Jacob Javits Center, by Bobby Singh and Gideon Lang-Laddie of Manhattan Motorsports. This was the first time in 10 years that Morgan had had a presence at the largest of the American car shows and was the first US specification Morgan 3-Wheeler in the United States. The Morgan 3 Wheeler was voted one of the "Hottest Cars Of The Show" by G4TV.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In May 2012, Manhattan Motorsports took delivery of Charles Morgan's Superdry edition Morgan 3-Wheeler and prepared it for its first major American trial. This vehicle was driven across the States, from New York to Los Angeles by Charles Morgan and his wife, covering 3000 miles, in the Gumball 3000. At the end of the seven-day drive, the Morgan 3 Wheeler was awarded the "Spirit of Gumball" prize.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: In spite of their traditional design, Morgans have always had sporting or "sports car" performance, due to their extremely low weight.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: H.F.S. Morgan's 1909 runabout used sliding pillar suspension, an independent front suspension system with each front wheel mounted on a stub axle able to slide up and down a fixed pillar that also acts as the kingpin and supported by a spring and external shock absorber (damper). One advantage is reduced unsprung weight, theoretically allowing the tyre and wheel to better respond to road surface irregularities. The Morgan system is described as an 'inverted' sliding pillar, as the pillar is fixed and the hub carrier slides over it. Earlier systems had the wheel carried on the pillar, sliding through a bush on the axle.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan used developments of this suspension system throughout its existence, and it is still used on Morgan's "classic" line, although not on the Aero 8 or its derivatives. It has been cancelled, along with all the Morgan Classic line, in 2019. However, some "classics", shipped in parts to avoid the need for normal compliancy, will be shipped to the USA, and assembled there for an indefinite period.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Morgan cars can be found in many areas of motorsport, from club and historic racing to more prominent examples, including the Le Mans 24hr race. A notable Morgan racecar was the Aero 8 GT car that campaigned in 2008 Britcar races and the 2008 Britcar 24hrs at Silverstone, prepared and run by Mark Bailey Racing.


title: Morgan Motor Company

text: Pescarolo Sport rebranded its Le Mans Prototype as a Morgan for the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, partly to mark the 50th anniversary of a class victory for a Morgan Plus Four Super Sports at Le Mans.


title: Atkins diet

text: The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to weight loss and that the diet offered "a high calorie way to stay thin forever".


title: Atkins diet

text: The diet became popular in the early 2000s, with Atkins' book becoming one of the top 50 best-selling books in history, and as many as 1 in 11 North American adults claiming to be following it. Atkins died in 2003 and in 2005 Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. filed for bankruptcy following substantial financial losses.


title: Atkins diet

text: There is no good evidence of the diet's effectiveness in achieving durable weight loss; it is unbalanced as it promotes unlimited consumption of protein and saturated fat, and it may increase the risk of heart disease.


title: Atkins diet

text: There is weak evidence that the Atkins diet is more effective than behavioral counseling for weight loss at 6-12 months. The Atkins diet led to 0.1% to 2.9% more weight loss at one year compared to control groups which received behavioural counselling for weight loss. As with other commercial weight loss programs, the effect size is smaller over longer periods. Low-carb dieters' initial advantage in weight loss is likely a result of increased water loss, and that after the initial period, low-carbohydrate diets produce similar fat loss to other diets with similar caloric intake.


title: Atkins diet

text: The diet may increase the risk of heart disease. A medical report issued by the New York medical examiner's office a year after the author's death showed that he had a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension. The Atkins diet has been criticized by the American Medical Association, American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association as nutritionally unbalanced.


title: Atkins diet

text: Ketogenic diets are used to treat epilepsy in children. There is some evidence that adults too may experience seizure reduction derived from therapeutic ketogenic diets, and that a less strict regimen, such as a modified Atkins diet, is similarly effective.


title: Atkins diet

text: The Atkins diet has been described as a low-carbohydrate, high-fat, high-protein fad diet. It promotes the consumption of meat, cheese, eggs and other high-fat foods such as butter, mayonnaise and sour cream in unlimited amounts whilst bread, cereal, pasta and other carbohydrates are forbidden. Atkins' book "New Diet Revolution" has sold 12 million copies. It has been described as "the bestselling fad-diet book ever written."


title: Atkins diet

text: Preferred foods in all categories are whole, unprocessed foods with a low glycemic index, although restrictions for low glycemic carbohydrates (black rice, vegetables, etc.) are the same as those for high glycemic carbohydrates (sugar, white bread). Due to concerns from medical experts about the high-fat content of the diet, the Atkins Nutritionals company that market foods for the diet, recommends that no more than 20% of calories eaten while on the diet come from saturated fat.


title: Atkins diet

text: The diet was inspired by a low-carbohydrate approach published by Alfred W. Pennington, based on research Pennington did during World War II at DuPont. The Atkins diet is promoted with claims that carbohydrate restriction is the "key" to weight loss.


title: Atkins diet

text: In his early books such as "Dr Atkins' New Diet Revolution", Atkins made the controversial argument that the low-carbohydrate diet produces a metabolic advantage because "burning fat takes more calories so you expend more calories"; the Atkins diet was claimed to be "a high calorie way to stay thin forever". He cited one study in which he estimated this advantage to be 950 calories (4.0 MJ) per day. A review study published in "Lancet" concluded that there was no such metabolic advantage and dieters were simply eating fewer calories. Astrup stated, "The monotony and simplicity of the diet could inhibit appetite and food intake." David L. Katz has characterized Atkins' claim as nonsense. The idea of "metabolic advantage" of low-carbohydrate dieting has been falsified by experiment in a study of people following restricted-carbohydrate dieting.


title: Atkins diet

text: Atkins Nutritionals was founded in 1989 by Atkins to promote the sale of Atkins-branded products. Following his death, waning popularity of the diet and a reduction in demand for Atkins products, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 31, 2005 citing losses of $340 million. It was subsequently purchased by North Castle Partners in 2007 and switched its emphasis to low-carb snacks. In 2010, the company was acquired by Roark Capital Group. In 2017, Roark Capital Group announced that it would merge Atkins Nutritionals with Conyers Park Acquisition Corp to form a public company called Simply Good Foods.


title: Atkins diet

text: Atkins's ideas were first published in his 1972 book "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution: The High Calorie Way to Stay Thin Forever".


title: Atkins diet

text: The diet gained widespread popularity in 2003 and 2004. At the height of its popularity one in eleven North American adults claimed to be on a low-carb diet such as Atkins. This large following was blamed for large declines in the sales of carbohydrate-heavy foods like pasta and rice: sales were down 8.2 and 4.6 percent, respectively, in 2003. The diet's success was even blamed for a decline in Krispy Kreme sales. Trying to capitalize on the "low-carb craze", many companies released special product lines that were low in carbohydrates.


title: Atkins diet

text: Around that time, the percentage of American adults on the diet declined to two percent and sales of Atkins brand products fell steeply in the second half of 2004.


title: Atkins diet

text: A 2021 review article observed that, 50 years after it was first mooted, the Atkins diet was "coming back on the quackery scene again".


title: Atkins diet

text: An analysis conducted by "Forbes" magazine found that the sample menu from the Atkins diet was one of the top five most expensive to eat, of the ten plans Forbes analyzed. This was due to the inclusion of recipes with some high-cost ingredients such as lobster tails which were put in the book to demonstrate the variety of foods which could be consumed on the diet. The analysis showed the median average cost of the ten diets was approximately 50% higher, and Atkins 80% higher, than the American national average. The Atkins diet was less expensive than the Jenny Craig diet and more expensive than Weight Watchers.


title: Atkins diet

text: In 2004, Jody Gorran sued the estate of Robert Atkins and his company seeking $28,000 in damages. Gorran stated that he had followed the Atkins diet for two years and it raised his LDL-cholesterol so much that a major artery became clogged and he required an angioplasty and stent insertion to open it. On the Atkins diet he was eating large amounts of cheese which is high in saturated fat. Gorran commented that "the issue with the Atkins Diet was not so much that my cholesterol went up but it's the fact that the Atkins empire constantly stated that in the absence of refined carbohydrates, eating a great deal of saturated fat would not be a problem and that was a lie." The lawsuit was dismissed in 2007 as the Atkins diet consists of only "advice and ideas" that are protected by the First Amendment.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The second season of the American drama television series "24", also known as Day 2, was first broadcast from October 29, 2002, to May 20, 2003, on Fox. The season begins and ends at 8:00 a.m. The season premiere originally aired without commercial interruption, and has an extended running time of approximately 51 minutes, as opposed to the standard 43 minutes.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The second season is set 18 months after season one. The season's main plot follows the work of now-U.S. President David Palmer and agent Jack Bauer to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. Introduced into the situation is Kate Warner, a woman who ends up getting vital information related to CTU's mission.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The season starts and ends at: 8:00 a.m. (L.A. time); the first scene of the season occurs in Seoul, South Korea (midnight, Seoul time).


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The first fifteen hours deal with finding and disposing of the nuclear bomb. After the bomb is detonated away from the city, the story focuses on the United States' response to the thwarted attack, and in particular the nation's retaliation against the people responsible for planning it. A recorded conversation between a terrorist involved with the bomb and high-ranking officials of three Middle Eastern countries (which are never specified) is used to implicate those countries in the plot. However, due to Jack Bauer's doubts, Palmer is reluctant to order military action against them until he has absolute proof that the recording is genuine. A majority of his Cabinet then vote to relieve Palmer of his position as President under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, believing his hesitation to be a sign of indecision and weakness, and is therefore indicative of his inability to lead the country effectively. The vice president, James Prescott, is elevated to the presidency and orders military strikes against the three countries to continue.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: Jack, Michelle and Tony race to find the evidence that the recording is a forgery, resulting in the discovery that a group of European and American businessmen fabricated it in order to wage war with the Middle East, and planned to benefit from the resulting skyrocketing oil prices. Once the evidence is produced, the strikes are called off and Palmer is reinstated as President, thanks largely to his ex-wife Sherry Palmer (who risks her life for the evidence, and who also had an indirect hand in the day's events). The eight cabinet members and Vice President tender their resignations (Palmer does not accept them), and Palmer then tells his staff that he believes that the strictest evidence of hostile intent is required before waging war. The President does however, relieve his Chief of Staff Mike Novick, who did not support him until the eleventh hour, despite being his most trusted confidant.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: Like in Season One, Season Two ends with a surprise twist. The nuclear bomb situation is resolved without massive loss of life (besides George Mason, who had radiation poisoning and convinced Jack to let him fly the plane) but President Palmer collapses after giving a speech, having been attacked with a biological weapon by Mandy in an assassination attempt. Viewers were forced to wait until the third season to see whether Palmer survived the attack. The sudden shift from a nuclear to biological threat also foreshadows the third season, which initially centers on the threat of an engineered virus being set loose on the public.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: "" dealt with the time between Seasons Two and Three. President Palmer is incapacitated from the biological weapon inflicted by Mandy, and many of the duties are being handled by his Vice President.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: Season 2 marked the first of three uses of the show's Air Force One set. Xander Berkeley's character spent much of the season dying of radiation poisoning and various actors commented that they thought the story played out very well. Kiefer Sutherland became a producer for the second season. In an interview, he joked that "Fox originally did not want to give me a raise so they gave me a title." In the same interview, Sutherland mentions that he tried suggesting a storyline detail which got rejected by the writers. One idea that did get accepted by the writers was Carlos Bernard's idea to mention London's "Finsbury Park Mosque" during an interrogation scene. Shortly after the season aired, authorities raided this mosque, having discovered that radical groups were indeed meeting there.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The original trailer titled "Get Ready" aired in early September 2002, slightly more than a month before the season premiere. It is only 15 seconds long and features a number of shots from season 2 in quick succession. It ends with Jack telling his daughter that she has to leave Los Angeles.


title: 24 (season 2)

text: The second season received critical acclaim, scoring a Metacritic rating of 83/100 based on 23 reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 94% with an average score of 7.2 out of 10 based on 18 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, ""24"s sophomore outing is not as elegantly structured as its predecessor, but the series firmly puts to rest any fears that its propulsive thrills were a one-time novelty."


title: 24 (season 2)

text: For this season, Kiefer Sutherland won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series and the Satellite Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama (for the second time in a row). Sean Callery, the show's composer won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series. The alleged absurdity of Kim Bauer's run-in with the cougar has created an enduring reference in the television review community.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: The lev (, plural: / , ; ISO 4217 code: BGN; numeric code: 975) is the currency of Bulgaria. In old Bulgarian the word "lev" meant "lion", the word 'lion' in the modern language is "lаv" (; in Bulgarian: ). The lev is divided in 100 "stotinki" (, singular: , ). Stotinka in Bulgarian means "a hundredth" and in fact is a translation of the French term "centime". Grammatically the word "stotinka" comes from the word "sto" (сто) - a hundred.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Since 1997, the lev has been in a currency board arrangement with initially the Deutsche Mark at a fixed rate of BGL 1000 to DEM 1. After the introduction of the euro and the redenomination of the lev in 1999, this has resulted in a fixed rate to the euro of BGN 1.95583 : EUR 1. Since 2020, the lev has been a part of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II). The lev is scheduled to be supplanted by the euro on 1 January 2024.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In Bulgaria, the lion features on numerous historical monuments. The oldest images, found on slates in the city of Stara Zagora, date back to 9-10 century AD. A lion is depicted on The Madara Horseman- an impressive medieval rock relief carved into a towering rock plateau in North Eastern Bulgaria, which is on UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In the Middle Ages Bulgarian kings, such as Ivan Shishman, one of the last rulers of the Second Bulgarian kingdom, celebrated the lion as a symbol of power.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In the time of Bulgarian national awakening in the years of Ottoman bondage, the lion was considered and widely used as a major national symbol. Paisii of Hilendar, a discerning monastic and a key Revival figure, mentioned in his ground-breaking tome Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya that Bulgarians had a lion on their kings’ royal seal: a symbol of the bravery, courage and invincibility of Bulgarian warriors, who fought “like lions”.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Lion images on revolutionary flags , used in the 1876 freedom-seeking April uprising, provide a proof that the lion continued to be considered as a national symbol. In the immediate period leading up to the revolt, revolutionary flags were made, featuring a golden lion rampant and the motto ”Freedom or Death”. These flags, most often hand-made by local teachers or icon painters, have been preserved in Bulgarian museums to the present day. Most flags were made of green silk and had a painted or embroidered lion on them, in a heraldic posture and trampling over the Crescent- the symbol of the Ottoman Empire. The same image can be seen on items of one-time rebel outfits such as hats and buttons. In Bulgarian folklore and Revival Literature, these lion depictions were called lion signs attributed to the Bulgarian revolutionaries´ image. “Young Bulgarian heroes...lion signs on their foreheads, fire blazing in their eyes”, says a most popular Bulgarian Revival period song.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: The lev was introduced as Bulgaria's currency in 1881 with a value equal to the French franc. The gold standard was suspended between 1899 and 1906 and suspended again in 1912. Until 1916, Bulgaria's silver and gold coins were issued to the same specifications as those of the Latin Monetary Union. Banknotes issued until 1928 were backed by gold ("leva zlato" or "zlatni", "лева злато" or "златни") or silver ("leva srebro" or "srebarni", "лева сребро" or "сребърни").


title: Bulgarian lev

text: During World War II, in 1940, the lev was pegged to the German Reichsmark at a rate of 32.75 leva = 1 Reichsmark. With the Soviet occupation in September 1944, the lev was pegged to the Soviet ruble at 15 leva = 1 ruble. A series of pegs to the U.S. dollar followed: 120 leva = 1 dollar in October 1945, 286.50 leva in December 1945 and 143.25 leva in March 1947. No coins were issued after 1943; only banknotes were issued until the currency reform of 1952.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Between 1881 and 1884, bronze 2, 5 and 20 stotinki, and silver 50 stotinki, 1, 2 and 5 leva were introduced, followed, in 1888, by cupro-nickel , 5, 10 and 20 stotinki. Gold 10 and 20 leva were issued in 1894. Bronze 1 stotinka were introduced in 1901.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Production of silver coins ceased in 1916, with zinc replacing cupro-nickel in the 5, 10 and 20 stotinki in 1917. In 1923, aluminum 1 and 2 leva coins were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel pieces in 1925. In 1930, cupro-nickel 5 and 10 leva and silver 20, 50 and 100 leva were introduced, with silver coins issued until 1937, in which year aluminium-bronze 50 stotinki were issued.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1940, cupro-nickel 20 and 50 leva were issued, followed, in 1941, by iron 1, 2, 5 and 10 leva. In 1943, nickel-clad-steel 5, 10 and 50 leva were struck. These were the last coins issued for this version of the lev.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1885, the Bulgarian National Bank introduced notes for 20 and 50 gold leva, followed in 1887 by 100 gold leva and, in 1890, by 5 and 10 gold leva notes. In 1899, 5, 10 and 50 silver leva notes were issued, followed by 100 and 500 silver leva in 1906 and 1907, respectively. 500 gold leva notes were also introduced in 1907.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1916, 1 and 2 silver leva and 1000 gold leva notes were introduced, followed by 2500 and 10,000 gold leva notes in 1919. In 1924, 5000 leva notes were issued, the first to lack a metal designation. In 1928, a new series of notes (dated 1922 and 1925) was introduced which gave the denominations solely in leva. Denominations introduced were 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1000 and 5000 leva. These were followed in 1929 by 200 and 250 leva.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1930, coins up to 100 leva replaced notes, although 20-lev notes were issued between 1943 and 1950. Between 1943 and 1945, State Treasury Bills for 1000 and 5000 leva were issued.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1952, following wartime inflation, a new lev replaced the original lev at a rate of 1 "new" lev = 100 "old" leva. However the rate for banking accounts was different, ranging from 100:3 to 200:1. Prices for goods were replaced at a rate of 25:1. The new lev was pegged to the U.S. dollar at a rate of 6.8 leva = 1 dollar, falling to 9.52 leva on July 29, 1957.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1952, coins (dated 1951) were introduced in denominations of 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 stotinki, with the lower three denominations in brass and the higher three in cupro-nickel. Shortly after, cupro-nickel 20 stotinki coins dated 1952 were also issued, followed by 50 stotinki in 1959 and 1 lev in 1960 which replaced the 1 lev note (both also in cupro-nickel). All stotinki coins feature a head of wheat around denomination on the reverse and state emblem on the obverse, while the lev coin depicts an olive branch wreath around the denomination.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1952, state notes (dated 1951) were issued in 1, 3 and 5 leva, together with notes of the National Bank for 10, 25, 50, 100 and 200 leva. 500-lev notes were printed but not issued. 1 lev notes were withdrawn after the introduction of a coin in 1960. 1, 3, and 5 leva depict the state emblem, while all denominations 10 leva and up depict Georgi Dimitrov, who had a postmortem cult of personality built up around him by that time period. The reverse side of 1 lev, 3 and 5 leva notes depict hands holding up the hammer and sickle, while higher denominations each depict workers at various trades.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1962, another redenomination took place at the rate of 10 to 1, setting the exchange rate at 1.17 leva = 1 U. S. dollar, with the tourist rate falling to 2 leva on February 1, 1964. The ISO 4217 code was . After this, the lev remained fairly stable for almost three decades. However, like other Communist countries' currencies, it was not freely convertible for Western funds. Consequently, black market rates were five to ten times higher than the official rate. During the period, until 1989 the lev was backed by gold, and the banknotes have the text stating: "The bank note is backed by gold and all assets of the bank" ().


title: Bulgarian lev

text: After the fall of communism, Bulgaria experienced several episodes of drastic inflation and currency devaluation. In order to change this, in 1997, the lev was pegged to the Deutsche Mark, with 1,000 lev equal to 1 DM (one lev equal to 0.1 pfennig).


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Since 1997, Bulgaria has been in a system of currency board, and all Bulgarian currency in circulation has been completely backed by the foreign exchange reserves of the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB).


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1962, aluminum-bronze 1, 2, and 5 stotinki, and nickel-brass 10, 20 and 50 stotinki and 1 lev were introduced. The coin series strongly resembles coinage from the Soviet Union during the same period, particularly in design and size.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: The state emblem is depicted on the obverse of all coins, which went through several changes. The first change in 1962 with the introduction of the new coinage, and the second change in 1974, with the ribbons being the most noticeable change.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: A number of commemorative 2 leva coins also circulated during this period, often released into circulation as they had relatively high production numbers and little collector's value. Higher denomination lev coins have also been introduced into circulation at an irregular basis with varying sizes and metallic compositions, including silver. Mostly due to an overstock of numismatic coins not getting sold to collectors. Similar occurrences to this can be seen with high denomination coins from East Germany and Poland during the same period.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1992, after the communist era, older coins were withdrawn and a new coinage was introduced in denominations of 10, 20 and 50 stotinki, 1, 2, 5 and 10 leva. All were struck in nickel-brass except for the cupro-nickel 10 leva. In 1997, nickel-brass 10, 20 and 50 leva were introduced.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1962, the National Bank issued notes for 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20 leva. A second series, in the same denominations, was issued in 1974. 50 leva notes were introduced in 1990. Again, denominations 10 leva and up featured Georgi Dimitrov, 1, 2, and 5 featured the state emblem. After the fall of the communist regime, new notes were introduced for 20, 50, 100 and 200 leva. These were followed by 500 leva notes in 1993, 1000 and 2000 leva in 1994, 5000 and 10,000 leva in 1996 (re-released with new design and look in 1997), and 50,000 leva in 1997. Furthermore, two new banknotes of 20,000 and 100,000 leva were scheduled to be introduced in 1997 and 1998, but their production was canceled following the introduction of currency board in 1997.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: On 5 July 1999 the lev was redenominated at 1000:1 with 1 new lev equal to 1 Deutsche Mark. The ISO 4217 currency code for the new Bulgarian lev is BGN. The lev is pegged at €1 = 1.95583 leva (previously DEM 1 = BGN 1, continuing the fixed exchange rate from the third lev).


title: Bulgarian lev

text: Since Bulgaria gained EU membership in 2007 various dates have been suggested as the expected end of the lev: towards the end of that year 1 January 2012 was a possible date; however, the global financial crisis of 2008 and the Eurozone crisis cooled the initial enthusiasm for the euro. Nevertheless, in 2009 "The Economist" noted suggestions to accelerate Bulgaria's path to the euro, or even let it be adopted immediately, despite the EU institutions' unwillingness to deviate from a policy of euro adoption only after five Euro convergence criteria have been met. In 2011 the Bulgarian finance minister Simeon Djankov acknowledged his earlier eagerness for Bulgaria to join the euro, but considered 2015 as a more likely date. If Bulgaria follows the standard path to euro adoption, it would use the euro two years after joining the European exchange rate mechanism (ERM II) (a formality given the lev's peg to the euro). In late 2010, given Bulgaria's improving economy, analysts thought that Bulgaria would join the ERM II the following year. However, the continued postponement of joining the mechanism has prevented Bulgaria meeting all five convergence criteria: its rebounding economy later met the four other criteria.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: On 10 July 2020, along with Croatia, Bulgaria joined the ERM II, which allows it to adopt the euro no earlier than two years after joining assuming the other convergence criteria are met.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1999, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 stotinki were introduced. A 1 lev coin replaced the 1 lev banknote 2002, and a 2 lev coin the 2 lev banknote in 2015.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 2004, 2005, and 2007 commemorative circulation issues were struck of the 50 stotinkas coin. In 2018 a commemorative circulation issue of the 2 leva coin was issued. These coins are not found in general circulation.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: In 1999, banknotes were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 leva. 100 leva notes were added in 2003. The 1 and 2 lev notes were later replaced by coins of similar value and withdrawn from circulation.


title: Bulgarian lev

text: The fourth lev was pegged to the German mark at par from the start. With the replacement of the Deutsche Mark by the euro, the lev's peg effectively switched to the euro at the rate of 1.95583 leva = 1 euro (precisely equivalent to the German mark's fixed exchange rate to euro). This rate is unlikely to change before the lev's eventual retirement.


title: Verzuz

text: Verzuz is an American webcast series created by record producers Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, that airs on Verzuz TV.


title: Verzuz

text: Verzuz was introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic as a virtual DJ battle, with Timbaland and Swizz Beatz facing off in its first iteration through an Instagram Live broadcast in March 2020.


title: Verzuz

text: The series invites two musicians, predominantly R&B and hip hop, such as Mario and Omarion to highlight their discographies in two 10-song rounds during a three-hour session.


title: Verzuz

text: Episodes include battles between producers Teddy Riley and Babyface, singers Erykah Badu and Jill Scott, Brandy and Monica, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, and rappers Ludacris and Nelly, as well as Young Jeezy and Gucci Mane.


title: Verzuz

text: Verzuz began as an impromptu broadcast before taking on the form of a brand, adopting a logo and official social media accounts with subsequent matches. The Verzuz brand gained its official trademark in April 2020, as registered by Timbaland. In August 2020, after a bidding war, the series began a partnership with streaming service Apple Music and social media platform Twitter, integrating Apple's audiovisual capabilities with Twitter's social-engagement aspect, a first for the former.


title: Verzuz

text: The idea of creating a live battle was conceived by Timbaland and Swizz Beatz in 2017, which led to a 'producer clash' battle during a Hot 97 Summer Jam concert in 2018. The live show consists of two challengers in the entertainment industry who compete with their best hit record. There are no actual winners chosen. In an ABC News interview, Swizz Beatz stated "The people won, the culture won, music won" in reference to the music sales and online streams gradually increasing due to both newfound interest and curiosity. Though no winners are selected, "Billboard" magazine has released scorecards and breakdowns of the battles and selected winners based on these observations.


title: Verzuz

text: The first three Verzuz matches surpassed a million views, The "Ashanti vs Keyshia Cole" Verzuz was the most watched webcast with over 6 million total Instagram viewers, breaking the "Jeezy vs Gucci Mane" record which held over 5 million in total viewers and "Brandy vs Monica" record, which was the first live stream webcast to pass the million mark with over 1.2 million concurrent in-stream live views, but totaled with over 4.2 million visitor viewers.


title: Verzuz

text: In its initial inception, the Verzuz battles were performed remotely over Instagram live due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The majority of U.S. states were under strict quarantine to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. Challengers often used their own cell phone/tablet device or web camera to live-stream on Instagram live through their verified artist page. Initially, challengers added or requested each other's Instagram accounts to communicate virtually on Instagram Live. The first time this format changed was in the challenge between "Bounty Killer vs Beenie Man," in which both challengers appeared together under the "VerzuzTV" Instagram channel instead of their own channels.


title: Verzuz

text: The Verzuz battle may consist of up to 20 rounds of what would be an artist's hit songs or hit features/collaborations to go head to head against each other. During the battle, the artist will play each song one after another, through audio sound systems via computer or recording studio equipment. This format has changed also with the battle of Bounty Killer & Beenie Man who fully performed live with microphones along with DJ's/Sound Equipment, which in turn also provided good acoustics and feedback without interruptions. There was a first attempt by record producer Teddy Riley to perform live against Babyface, but because of technical difficulties, it was unsuccessful.


title: Verzuz

text: For the majority of the music tracks selected by the artist, they often share personal stories about the creation of the song and the experience surrounding it before playing or performing the track. Oftentimes, the artist on both sides would gloat or boast themselves to show their competitive spirit along with having the authority of 'bragging rights'.


title: Verzuz

text: For many of the live broadcasts, the celebratory competitive streaming went on for an estimated two hours long, with the exception of continuing on their own live feed after the event was over to allow fans and followers to engage with them.


title: Verzuz

text: In the past, some technicalities forced a video stream to get booted off due to weak Wi-Fi connection, or a licensed copyrighted song that could only be played to a minimum of 90 seconds before being cut off stream. On occasion, most broadcasts had an allotted time of 1 hour per stream, due to Instagram's rules of live streaming, which cause the artist to restart another live session and continue where they left off. However, during the battle of Jill Scott & Erykah Badu, the live feed stayed continuous for more than 2 hours except for when Badu's livestream stopped because of Wi-Fi issues.


title: Verzuz

text: Viewers who are observing the challenges can watch the feed from their electronic device, phone, tablet or computer with their Instagram accounts. It is simultaneously enjoyed as a watch party or listening party with other individuals, whether at home together or as a virtual population over the live stream. Viewers interact by commenting their opinions, judgement, reactions, emotions, and may use special character emojis as a form of expression. Some individuals may try to keep score but ultimately get lost in the rounds.


title: Verzuz

text: The streaming service was mired in technical impediments since its inception. Because of the overwhelming response of complaints from viewers, Swizz and Timbaland implemented a new rule on May 25, 2020, that the future participants are required to use equipment kit provided by the brand Roland, who created a new set up to supply the best audio as possible to prevent issues from continuing. The organizers stated, "You cannot do "VERZUZ" unless you use the technology that we're sending you, because we're sending it to you for a reason."


title: Verzuz

text: As nationwide quarantine started to loosen restrictions of social gatherings and began to start public re-opening phases, the lineups in the 2nd part of the series broadcast the event live in-person to stream over Instagram as well as Apple Music, which began streaming the presentation live in HD on June 19, 2020. The live broadcast feed presented by Apple Music, is recorded using Television Studio equipment, teleprompters and a simple character generator editing used to display viewer comments from Twitter, also a ticker format of the stylized names of the challengers integrating with the Verzuz 'V' logo, along with providing the sponsors. As with the Instagram live presentation, it continued in the same format as the first series with improvements of the audio quality as a result of using the Roland equipment.


title: Verzuz

text: The new updated series stayed consistent of having challengers meet face to face sharing one room often with DJs or piano accompaniment while continuing to social distance. The participants gathered with an entourage as the event was held from a selected venue. Locations of the venue included, Tyler Perry Studios, which was used for the "Brandy vs Monica" broadcast and the Fillmore theater in Philadelphia, used for the "Gladys Knight vs Patti LaBelle" broadcast. The "Bounty Killer vs Beanie Man" Verzuz in the first series, was held at a club venue in Jamaica, and was the first in-person webcast stream. The only time the new broadcast reverted to its original "duo split-screen style" streaming was in the Verzuz challenge between "Ashanti vs Keyshia Cole", due to high rate of California's COVID-19 social distance protocols. It streamed on Instagram live with the Verzuz and Keyshia Cole's live channels, and on Apple Music live broadcast split-screen side by side; and the Triller/Fite TV broadcast Verzuz featuring "Eve vs Trina". where Eve was remote live via satellite from the United Kingdom, while Trina was live on location with full audience in Miami, Florida.


title: Verzuz

text: The Verzuz broadcast of "Brandy vs Monica" broke records in numbers over Instagram with over 1.2 million live viewers on that platform being the first webcast to reach that peak, although during the "Teddy Riley vs Babyface" broadcast in the first series, it was reported 3.7 million people attempted access to view the live broadcast but was unsuccessful of joining the feed due to Instagram live viewership algorithm never reaching 1 million, forcing viewers losing the place of joining the stream upon exiting and possibly being locked out of viewing the stream. The result of this later began to open the population for more viewership on Instagram.