title: Chief of police

text: Many state constitutions require every county to have a sheriff; some make no provision for this position to be eliminated even in the case of the formation of a consolidated city–county or "metropolitan government". In this case, a decision must be made about how to divide the powers between the county sheriff and the city's chief of police. The usual compromise allows the chief of police to exercise law enforcement jurisdiction and to give the sheriff and his deputies authority over jails and the serving of civil papers. An alternative and lesser-used solution is to make the office of sheriff a purely ceremonial one. One other solution, an example of which is seen in the case of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, is to provide for the sheriff to simultaneously serve as the chief of police, thus remaining as the chief law enforcement officer (CLEO) of the county.


title: Chief of police

text: The police chief of a small town may be the only paid employee of the police department and have a staff consisting only of volunteers when available. Conversely the police chief of a major city may have thousands or in the case of very large cities such as New York, 35,000 sworn officers. In addition, such a department may have thousands of employees other than police officers, including operators, secretaries, and unsworn peace officers. The qualifications and skills required to be a police chief vary widely. Another important consideration is how overtly a police department is influenced by politics which varies greatly from one jurisdiction to another. Increasingly, all U.S. law enforcement officers including small-town police chiefs and their charges are being required to meet at least minimum levels of professional training.


title: Chief of police

text: The rank insignia for the chief of a large or medium-sized department most often consists of three or four gold stars, similar to the insignia of a lieutenant general or general in the army. Smaller departments and state agencies most often consists of silver or gold eagles similar to colonel in the army.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: Michael Hughes (February 9, 1956 – February 22, 2020), popularly known as "Mad" Mike Hughes, was an American limousine driver, professed flat-Earther, and daredevil known for flying in self-built steam rockets. He died on February 22, 2020, while filming a stunt for an upcoming Science Channel television series. Although a public promoter of the flat Earth model, following his death his public relations representative said that Hughes had only used flat Earth as a PR stunt to acquire funding for his rockets.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: In 2002, Hughes set a Guinness World Record with a jump in a Lincoln Town Car stretch limousine. He stated during an interview with the Associated Press in 2018 that he had planned to run for Governor of California.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: According to the Associated Press, Hughes built his first crewed rocket on January 30, 2014, and flew in just over one minute over Winkelman, Arizona. According to CBC News, Hughes collapsed after the landing and it took him three days to recover. Hughes stated that the injuries suffered from the flight put him in a walker for two weeks. There was no video of Hughes entering the rocket and there were doubts that he was in it when it launched.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: In 2016, Hughes launched a failed fundraising attempt for a rocket that raised $310. After professing his belief in a flat Earth later that year, Hughes gained support within the flat-Earth community. His post-flat-Earth fundraising campaign made its $7,875 goal. He had said he intended to make multiple rocket journeys, culminating in a flight to outer space, where he believed he would be able to take a picture of the entire Earth as a flat disc. He said in November 2017 that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had given him verbal permission more than a year prior to launch his rocket, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. However, a BLM spokesman said its local field office had no record of speaking to Hughes at the time. According to the BLM, after seeing some news articles about the planned launch, a BLM representative reached out to Hughes with concerns. The rocket launch was originally scheduled for the weekend of November 25, 2017; Hughes then rescheduled for December 2, 2017, blaming ongoing difficulties in obtaining permissions. Hughes moved his launch pad so that he could take off and land on private property, but the BLM maintained he still needed to fill out permits. Hughes defiantly stated that the dispute would not stop him from flying: "I'm a daredevil. I'm not much for authority or rules."


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: The untested initial rocket was intended to reach a speed of ; further rocket trips, which were to be launched from a balloon up, were intended to reach above the atmosphere into outer space. Hughes acknowledged there were risks, telling the Associated Press: "It's scary as hell. But none of us are getting out of this world alive." A fundraising campaign to cover the costs of the delay raised around $100 of its $10,000 goal. On February 3, 2018, Hughes live-streamed another attempted launch, but the rocket steam release malfunctioned and the launch was aborted.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: A successful launch on March 24, 2018, resulted in his reaching a height of and a hard landing in the Mojave Desert. The steam-powered rocket launched at a sharp angle to avoid falling back to Earth on public land, and landed about away from the launch point. Hughes' team reported a maximum speed of . Hughes reported no serious injury from the landing.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: Hughes planned to again launch himself in a rocket on August 10, 2019, but mechanical troubles postponed the launch. The following weekend, the launch was again postponed and Hughes was treated for heat exhaustion.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: On February 22, 2020, Hughes died near Barstow, California, following the crash of a rocket he was piloting, built by Hughes and his collaborator Waldo Stakes. During launch, the rocket's parachute, which was designed for landing, appeared to deploy early and detach from the craft. A witness at the launch, freelance journalist Justin Chapman, said that the rocket appeared to rub against the launch apparatus, perhaps tearing the parachutes. The launch event was being filmed for the Science Channel television series "Homemade Astronauts", in which Hughes was to star.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: Following Hughes' death, Darren Shuster, his public relations representative, stated: "We used flat Earth as a PR stunt... Flat Earth allowed us to get so much publicity that we kept going! I know he didn’t believe in flat Earth and it was a schtick."


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: Hughes appeared in the music video for the Death Valley Girls' song "One Less Thing (Before I Die)". The 1:53 min long video was directed by Kansas Bowling and featured footage of his "Flat Earth" rocket launch in Apple Valley.


title: Mike Hughes (daredevil)

text: Hughes was the main focus of the 2019 documentary "Rocketman: Mad Mike's Mission to Prove the Flat-Earth".


title: Una Healy

text: Una Theresa Imogene Healy (born 10 October 1981) is an Irish singer. She rose to fame in 2008 as a member of five-piece girl group The Saturdays, who are signed to Fascination and Polydor Records. In 2006, she represented Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest, where she sang with Brian Kennedy on the song "Every Song Is a Cry for Love"; they placed tenth overall. Healy then auditioned for the Saturdays in 2007, after struggling to find success in her native country. Once she had successfully auditioned, she began recording music and releasing a number of hits.


title: Una Healy

text: The group later gained another record deal with Geffen Records after having huge success in the United Kingdom. Healy and the rest of the group then signed a deal with Island Def Jam Records and Mercury Records to distribute their music in the United States, which led to her first UK number one single, "What About Us". Healy previously attempted a solo career in 2006, when she released her first extended play, "Sorry". Although the EP was not successful, one of the tracks from the EP was re-recorded and used for the B-side of the band's track "Higher".


title: Una Healy

text: The Saturdays decided to take a hiatus in 2014, upon completion of their Greatest Hits Live! tour. This led to Healy taking on a number of television opportunities, including presenting "Una's Dream Ticket", taking part in the second series of "Splash!" and becoming a judge on "Let's Get Gold". She also became a judge on RTÉ's "The Voice of Ireland" where she remained on the judging panel for the fourth and fifth series; she was the winning mentor in her debut year (2015) with her act Patrick James, and placed third in the fifth season. While Healy was engaging in a television career she was also writing and recording her debut album, switching to a country music-influenced style as opposed to the pop and dance material performed by The Saturdays. Healy's album, "The Waiting Game", was released in February 2017. She released a single "Never See Me Cry" in March 2018.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy was born on 10 October 1981 in Thurles, County Tipperary. She comes from a musical background and is the niece of country singer Declan Nerney. She has an elder sister, Deirdre, whom she calls "Dee". She is a cousin of Irish athlete Paul Hession. At the age of 13, Healy gave up swimming (she was an All-Ireland champion swimmer at nine) and decided to take up guitar, teaching herself to play using her mother's guitar, and from then on began to write songs of her own. After finishing school at 18, she decided to take a year out and worked as a medical secretary. She went on to study nursing and then primary teaching at Mary Immaculate College, but finally decided to pursue her music passion at 23 years old.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy began her music career playing guitar and singing in pubs and clubs around Ireland, solo and in bands. She won Ireland's Glinsk Song Contest in both 2004 and 2006. She represented Ireland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 as a backing singer for Brian Kennedy on "Every Song Is a Cry for Love". Whilst Healy was slowly finding success in her native Ireland as an indie solo artist, she felt she did not have a firm direction in her career. In mid-2006, she recorded and released her first extended play, entitled "Sorry", from which the track "Had It with Today" was re-recorded as the B-side of the Saturdays' single "Higher", which she self-produced. The album includes the songs "So Long", "Raider of My Sleep" and "I Love You".


title: Una Healy

text: In 2007, Healy – still struggling to find major success – flew to London to gain more exposure and experience as a performer, then landed an audition for The Saturdays, which was her first audition for a major label and her first abroad. In 2008, Healy wrote, produced and performed on the soundtrack to "Christian Blake", written and directed by Eoin Macken. The music can be heard throughout the duration of the film; however, the soundtrack was never officially released. Tracks include "Don't Leave Me Alone" and "Drops of Rain". "Don't Leave Me Alone" was the leading track from the soundtrack and the music video can still be found on YouTube.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy was a member of the Saturdays, a girl group, from 2007 until 2014. The group achieved thirteen Top 10 hits and four Top 10 albums. The girl group released their debut single "If This Is Love" in July 2008, and it peaked at number eight in the UK. The group released a second single "Up" which charted at number five in the UK and later the song was given a Silver Disc in the United Kingdom. In late October 2008, the group released their first studio album "Chasing Lights". It charted at number nine in the UK, and went platinum according to the BPI. The band released a third single from the album, "Issues", which also went silver. The Saturdays released a cover of "Just Can't Get Enough" by Depeche Mode. The song debuted at number two in the UK, behind Flo Rida's "Right Round". The fifth and final single from the album was "Work", which was the first single by the group to fail to reach the top 20.


title: Una Healy

text: The group later went on a tour titled The Work Tour. In October 2009, the group released a second studio album, "Wordshaker", which charted at number nine and was given a silver certification by the BPI. The first single, "Forever Is Over", charted at number two in the UK. The Saturdays appeared in advertisements for several products including a brand of deodorant, tampons, mobile phones, an operating system, and hair removal products. But in early 2010, the girls released a second and final single from their second album, "Ego", which charted at number nine, the single gained a certification of silver by the BPI.


title: Una Healy

text: In summer 2010, the Saturdays released their first mini album (their third album overall) "Headlines!", which charted at number 3 in the UK and number 10 in Ireland. The band released their eighth single, "Missing You", which charted at number three in the UK and number six in Ireland. Rochelle Wiseman confirmed that the second single from the album would be "Higher" It was later confirmed, by the band's official website that Flo Rida had recorded vocals for "Higher". "On Your Radar" was the girls' third studio album, reaching a disappointing number 23 in the UK and spending only three weeks in the UK Top 75, but featured the top ten hits "All Fired Up" and "Notorious", as well as another single, "My Heart Takes Over". In December 2011, the group went on their first headlining arena tour, the All Fired Up Tour!. The band released their first single taken from their fourth studio album "30 Days" in May 2012, which peaked at number seven. Later in the year, they temporarily moved from London to Los Angeles in hope to break America. Helping increase their single sales in America, E! Network broadcast "Chasing The Saturdays", a reality TV show following the girls during their three-month stay in America. The show premiered in January 2013, and was cancelled after one series. The band released "What About Us" (featuring rapper Sean Paul) in March 2013, which became their first number one single and was the biggest selling single of the year (at that point). Later on in the year, "Gentleman" and "Disco Love" were released; with both of them charting in the top 15. Their album "Living for the Weekend" became the band's fourth top ten album. The final single taken from the album was a fan favourite. The radio mix of "Not Giving Up" was released in April 2014 and was their seventeenth top 40 single. The band went on hiatus in 2014, and released a greatest hits album "" the same year. The only single released from the album, "What Are You Waiting For?" charted at number thirty-seven, making it their lowest-charting single to date.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy's first solo endeavour away from the group was when "RTÉ" selected her to present her own television programme, entitled "Una's Dream Ticket". The programme was not renewed for a follow up season. Healy was also drafted in to become a judge on sport reality television competition, "Let's Get Gold" Healy was on the judging panel alongside Martine McCutcheon, Andrew Flintoff and Rio Ferdinand. During the show fifteen sporting teams go against one another as they attempt to transform their sport into the most spectacular, entertaining and inspiring routine. The winners of the show would receive a grand prize of £100,000, with Healy's aim as a judge is to find groups with the best technique and skill and creativity. The programme experienced poor ratings and therefore was not renewed for a second season. In 2014, Healy was announced as a contestant on the second series of UK version of diving competition, "Splash!". Healy's involvement gained some criticism due to Healy previously having experience in swimming and diving, due to Healy being an All Ireland champion swimmer at the age of nine. Despite this, Healy was eliminated twelfth and placed eighth overall in the competition.


title: Una Healy

text: In June 2014, Healy hosted the first ever Irish version of Pride of Britain Awards. Healy said she was "overwhelmed" by all of the stories and it was tough choosing between such worthy contenders. Healy said "I’d love to give everyone who entered an award. It’s such an honour to be host and a part of this. I’ve attended the Pride of Britain three times with the girls so I know what it’s all about. I think it’s amazing that it has come to Ireland.” Despite this, Healy began writing her solo debut album. Healy began heavy writing sessions during the Greatest Hits Live! tour with the Saturdays, for she knew the band were going on hiatus. She said that her children inspired her in many different ways creatively when she began to write the album, and that she wanted to continue to record and perform music to help support them in the life they deserved. She said she wrote "Stare at the Moon" about her eldest child, Aoife Belle, for she knew all the words to the band's songs.


title: Una Healy

text: It was reported in early 2016 that Healy had recorded a track with "Nashville" star Sam Palladio. It was also announced that she had been working with Sacha Skarbek, Amy Wadge and Ben Earle from country music duo The Shires. Healy later performed "Perfect" with Kelly Mongan on the second series of "The Voice of Ireland". In 2014, Reebok announced that they were teaming up with Healy to launch a Women's Fitness Collection. When performing on the second series of "The Voice of Ireland", Healy impressed producers and fans. This led to Healy being asked to become a judge on the fourth series of the show starting in January 2015, alongside Kian Egan, Bressie and Rachel Stevens. In April 2016, Healy revealed her album would be influenced by country and indie-inspired music, and "Staring At the Moon", the song she wrote for her daughter would be performed live on the semi-final of "The Voice of Ireland". Healy was the winning judge on the fourth series of "The Voice of Ireland" when the act she mentored, Patrick James, won the show. Healy returned to "The Voice of Ireland" to judge the fifth series of the show. Nigel Connell was the last member of Team Una to be in the competition where he placed third. In August 2016, Healy confirmed she had signed a solo deal with Decca, with the intention of releasing a solo album in 2016. However, In October 2016, Healy announced that her debut album would not be realised until 2017. In late 2016, Healy announced the record to be titled "The Waiting Game". Healy said that album's title came from waiting to record her own solo record since she was eight years old. She also revealed that she co-wrote the full album and it was nice to get back to her "roots" of songwriting. Healy released the lead single from her debut album, "Stay My Love", in January 2017. The single was a collaboration with Sam Palladio, which had been reported previously. The music video for the song was directed by Urban Strom. Healy also took part in the "Forever Country Covers Series", which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Country Music Association Awards. She performed Forever and Ever, Amen, originally a hit for CMA winner Randy Travis. "The Waiting Game" was released in February 2017. She performed at Europe's largest country music festival, , in both 2017 and 2018, opening for country legend Reba McEntire in Dublin on 12 March. In January 2018, Una participated in And They're Off! in aid of Sport Relief.


title: Una Healy

text: In March 2018, she released a brand-new single titled "Never See Me Cry". In April, Healy unveiled her first shoewear collection 'Una Healy Original', available in over 100 stores throughout the UK and Ireland with a dedicated online store. The shoe range was decided and developed by Healy herself in collaboration with a team of industry professionals. In March 2020, Una released her new single, "Strangers". In April 2019, Healy announced via her Instagram that she had joined the Bauer Media's Country Hits Radio (now called Absolute Radio Country) team, hosting the Breakfast Show on a Saturday morning. In 2020, Healy was part of an Irish collective of female singers and musicians called "Irish Women in Harmony", that recorded a version of Dreams in aid of the charity "SafeIreland", which deals with domestic abuse which had reportedly risen significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown. She has also hosted an evening talk show, The 6 O'Clock Show in Ireland. In 2021 she co-hosted an Irish music show on RTÉ One, The Heart of Saturday Night, with Loah.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy married Rugby Union fullback Ben Foden on 30 June 2012 in her native Ireland. They have two children. In July 2018, it was announced that Healy and Foden had separated.


title: Una Healy

text: In December 2018, Healy confirmed her relationship with Limerick Hurler David Breen, via an Instagram post. They have since gone their separate ways.


title: Una Healy

text: Healy won "Hottest Female 2009" in the Virgin Media Music Awards. She appeared in the January 2010 edition of FHM along with the other members of the Saturdays. She was ranked number 19 and number 41 in FHM's Sexiest Women poll in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In FHM's 2012 poll, she had dropped down to 66th place. Healy previously ran her own blog where she spoke about family life, The Saturdays and herself.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" is a song by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Mariah Carey released on October 18, 1993, via Columbia Records as the second single from her third studio album, "Music Box" (1993). The song was originally recorded by Gloria Estefan. The song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff. While writing the song, Carey did not connect to its style or sound, therefore forfeiting it over to Estefan who sang it for the soundtrack of the film of the same name (1992). However, after being convinced by Sony executive Tommy Mottola to keep it, she changed some of the lyrics to more precisely fit her personality. Lyrically, the song is regarded as one of Carey's most inspirational and personal ballads, with its protagonist declaring that even though people may feel discouraged or down at times, in reality, they are "heroes" if they look inside themselves and see their own inner strength; in time, it will help them "find the way".


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: The song received mixed reviews from contemporary music critics for its lyrical content, while Carey's vocal performance was praised. Aside from its lyrics, "Hero" derived its hook and sound from several musical instruments such as the guitar, piano, and organ. The song was a global success, reaching the top five in Canada, France, Ireland, New Zealand and Norway, the top ten in Australia, the United Kingdom, and becoming Carey's eighth chart topper on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. Additionally, it was ranked number 53 on the Decade-End Chart.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Due to fan requests and letters, as well as their connection to its personal meaning and content, the song remains one of Carey's most performed songs. Deemed by many as her signature song, the song was originally performed on "The Arsenio Hall Show", "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", and "Hey Hey It's Saturday" during its original chart run. Additionally, Carey has performed "Hero" at several special live telethons, memorials and benefit concerts; in 1996, Mariah sang the song at Capitol Hill’s Peace Officers Memorial Day service in Washington, D.C. (with the Clinton family in attendance), as well as "Pavarotti and Friends" in 1998, "Michael Jackson & Friends" in 1999, "" in 2001, Live 8 in 2005, and the inaugural ball for Barack Obama in 2009. Additionally, the song has been featured on all of Carey's tours, usually serving as the encore or closing number, and making its debut during the album's accompanying set of concerts, the Music Box Tour. The song was included on several of Carey's compilation albums, "#1's" (1998), "Greatest Hits" (2001), "The Ballads" (2008), and "#1 to Infinity" (2015).


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Throughout the course of her career, Carey has re-recorded the song twice, and filmed other music videos, aside from the original. The first music video for the song was filmed by Larry Jordan in July 1993, during a private concert at Proctor's Theatre, later released on the home video "Here Is Mariah Carey". In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Carey re-recorded the song as a mash-up single titled "Never Too Far/Hero Medley", a medley with her single at the time, "Never Too Far". Additionally, prior to the release of her compilation album "The Ballads", Carey re-recorded "Hero" and filmed a new video featuring behind the scenes footage of the studio. "Hero" won two ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Music Awards, one ASCAP Pop Music Award and one BMI Pop Award for the Songwriter Award. The song has been covered many times during both studio and live recordings, such as on global singing competitions.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Mariah Carey's second studio album, "Emotions" (1991), contained influences from mostly 1950s, 1960s and 1970s balladry and gospel, as well as her continued work of R&B and soul. The album, while praised by some as more mature and raw, failed to reach the critical or commercial heights of her debut effort, and could not introduce Carey to a different market. Following these events, Columbia decided to market the singer in a similar fashion to her debut, only have her produce a more commercial and radio-friendly album. Their plans were to tone down Carey's vocals, and soften the album's production, leaving a more contemporary pop record. Agreeing to the change, Carey and producer Walter Afanasieff began writing and recording material for her third studio effort, "Music Box" (1993).


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: The B-side for the single, Everything Fades Away, was never included on the "Music Box" album, and was not performed by Carey for years until the early 2020 leg of her The Butterfly Returns residency, when she performed parts of the song with her background singers and singer JoJo as part of a series of snippet videos recorded for her fans. The song was later included in her 2020 compilation, The Rarities


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Aside from her work as a vocalist and record artist, Carey was becoming known as a songwriter, having penned and produced all of her own material throughout her career. During the production of "Music Box", she was approached by Epic Records to write and record a song alongside Afanasieff, and release it on the soundtrack to the 1992 film "Hero", featuring Dustin Hoffman and Geena Davis. While Carey was interested in the project, Mottola was very adamant over not allowing Carey to take part in anything involving film, fearing it would hurt her career. Additionally, Columbia felt uneasy about allowing their highest-selling recording artist to contribute to another label, even a branch of the same parent company, Sony. Instead, it was agreed upon that Carey would write a song for the soundtrack that would instead be recorded by another artist. Still interested in working for the film, Carey agreed to pen the feature song for the film, intended for fellow female singer, Gloria Estefan. Carey and Afanasieff sat together in a studio in New York, and over the course of two hours, composed the song's melody, lyric and concept. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Afanasieff discussed the process in which they had completed the rough version of the song:


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: I went to New York and we were in the studio and came to a break. I was sitting at the piano and told Mariah about this movie. Within two hours, we had this incredible seed for this song, 'Hero'. It was never meant for Mariah to sing. In her mind, we were writing a song for Gloria Estefan for this movie. And we went into an area that Mariah didn't really go into-in her words, it was a little bit too schmaltzy or too ballady or too old-fashioned as far as melody and lyrics.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: As they completed the song's demo, Tommy Mottola, CEO of Sony Music Entertainment and Carey's fiancé, walked into the studio. After hearing the rough version of the song, on which they were still working, he became interested in it, asking what project the song belonged to. Carey explained to him the concept and how the song would be used for the film "Hero". Mottola immediately took an intense liking to the song, responding, "Are you kidding me? You can't give this song to this movie. This is too good. Mariah, you have to take this song. You have to do it." Initially, Carey was guided by the subject of the film, but Afanasieff acknowledged that she made it a very personal song after deciding to keep it, altering some of the lyrics, key and instrumentation. After their decision to keep "Hero", Afanasieff went back to the staff at Epic and told them that they had failed to come up with a song for the soundtrack. Estefan never heard the tune was originally meant for her, and the song that ended up in the soundtrack was "Heart of a Hero", written, produced and recorded by Luther Vandross. In the following weeks, after completing the song, Afanasieff spoke with Bronson about its recording, and how Carey created several versions of the track:


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: There was a simpler performance on tape and a more difficult one, with Mariah singing out more, with more licks. But we chose a happy medium. The song really calls for not anything really fancy. But she's always fighting the forces inside of her because she's her own devil's advocate. She wants to do something that's so over the top and use her talents and the voice she has. But she also knows she has to restrain herself and do what the music really calls for.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" is a mid-tempo ballad. It was written and produced by Carey and Afanasieff, and was released as the second single from her third studio album, "Music Box". It incorporates music from several musical instruments, including the piano, guitar and organ. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a moderate tempo of 62 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E major with Carey's vocal range spanning from the low-note of G to the high-note of E. The song's chorus has a basic chord progression of G–G–G/F–Em–G/D–C-G/B–Am. Originally, Carey felt the song was "too schmaltzy" and over the top for her, and not in line with her other work. However, after being convinced by Mottola to keep the song, Carey changed the song and personalized it, during which time she grew to feel a connection to the song and its lyrics. According to author Chris Nickson, "Hero" is one of Carey's most personal and inspirational ballads. Carey has described how the song was never her favorite, however, after all the fan letters and messages she received about the song, she felt the need to perform it as often as possible. In an interview with Fred Bronson, Carey described the song's meaning to her and to fans:


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: One person could say that 'Hero' is a schmaltzy piece of garbage, but another person can write to me a letter and say, 'I've considered committing suicide every day of my life for the last ten years until I heard that song, and I realized, after all, I can be my own hero,' and that, that's an unexplainable feeling, like I've done something with my life, you know? It meant something to someone.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: The song's lyrics describe of the individual power that lies inside every person, their ability to be their own hero. According to author Carol K. Ingall, the song inspires anyone to be a hero. Ingall continued how due to a hero's power to transform and inspire those around them, so too every person has inside of them the light and force needed to help change the world. Similarly, author Darlene Wade connects the song's lyrical content to the power within the soul, however also with the inclusion of God.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: According to Maryellen Moffitt, author of "See It, Be It, Write It", "Hero" is about looking into oneself and discovering the inner courage inside each individual, and being strong and believing in oneself through times of trouble and adversity. Moffitt claims the song personally helped him get through difficult moments when "the answers seemed so far away". Following her taped performance of "One Sweet Day" at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California during The Adventures of Mimi Tour, Carey described the song's importance to her and her fans:


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: I wrote a song a while back even before "One Sweet Day" and it was not my favorite song in the world, but I wrote it. Someone asked me to write a song and they told me the story, and you know it was kind of a moving concept or whatever. And I did it, and I was like you know it’s not necessarily what I like per se, but after doing the song over and over again and having people coming up to and saying, thank you for writing ‘Hero’ because it saved my life or it saved my father’s life or my brothers or sisters life, or something of that nature, I said I always have to sing that song when I’m performing because if I don’t, you never know who I’m leaving out and you know what, in times of my life I’ve had to turn to that song lyrically and flip it onto my own life and sing it to myself. So its from the ‘Music Box’ album, and it’s called ‘Hero', this is for you.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" was the subject of two copyright plagiarism cases; one by Christopher Selletti and the other by Rhonda Dimmie, filed in 1993 and 1996. Selletti claimed he had written the song's lyrics in the form of a poem. One day, as he drove Sly Stone in a limousine to Long Island, he claimed to show him the poem. Selletti claimed Stone complimented the poem, taking it and promising to patent it and earn him royalties. After many months, the pair fell out of contact, leading Selletti to mail himself the envelope and poem, performing a "poor man's copyright". Three years later in 1996, he claimed to listen to Carey's album "Music Box" and was shocked when he noted the song's similar lyrics. He filed a lawsuit against Carey, Stone, Sony and Stone's manager Jerry Goldstein. Selletti claimed that Stone must have sold or contributed the lyrics to Carey during the recording of the album in late 1992. However, since Stone did not receive songwriting credits on "Hero", Selletti then dropped the suit against Stone, leaving him against Carey and Sony. Prior to their courtroom meeting, Carey told "New York Daily News" "I feel totally victimized. 'Hero' is my creation and it holds a very special meaning to me. I have every intention of fighting this all the way." In court, Carey provided evidence to her innocence, in the form of a dated lyrical and music notebook, with conceptual info on the song dated back to November 20, 1992, prior to Selletti's meeting with Stone. Additionally, Carey stated the fact that she had originally written it for the film "Hero" alongside Afanasieff, making their connection or the involvement of his material impossible. Judge Denny Chin found Carey innocent, and ordered Selletti to pay her a fine.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Years later, after consulting with another lawyer, Selletti made another attempt at suing Carey and Sony. His lawyer, Jeffrey Levitt, had uncovered the fact that the film was released in October 1992, a full six weeks prior to the November 22 dating in Carey's notebook. Additionally, "Heart of a Hero", which was written by Luther Vandross for the film, was submitted in January 1992, making it impossible for "Hero" to have been the original choice of song for the soundtrack. After uncovering further tapes from the studio dating to the summer of 1992, recordings provided evidence that Carey and Afansieff had indeed discussed and had parts of the song completed well before the film's October release. Following the evidence from both parties, the judge dismissed the case, ruling in Carey's favor for the second time. Following the dismissal of the case, Rhonda Dimmie, another songwriter and an independent singer, filed a lawsuit against Carey, this time claiming the song to have borrowed heavily from her song "Be Your Own Hero". During the short deposition made by Carey, Afanasieff revealed that they had written the song in two days during the summer of 1992, "within a matter of hours". Soon after, the case was dismissed, with the judge claiming there to not be sufficient evidence on Dimmie's behalf. Following the lawsuits, in 2001 Selletti made further hints to plan another lawsuit, as well as a forensic team of specialists to conduct research on the incident. Following the suits, Cindy Berger, Carey's publicist released the following statement: "This case has been thrown out of court three times. The federal judge after hearing Selletti's story and considering all the evidence ruled the case was a 'complete fabrication' and that it was filed 'to extort a settlement from deep-pocket defendants."


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "The Baltimore Sun" critic J.D. Considine praised the song, writing, "[Hero] is a lavish, soul-stirring ballad, the sort of thing other singers would pay Diane Warren to write." Additionally, he called its chorus "uplifting" and "soaring", following praise towards Carey's vocal performance. Larry Flick from "Billboard" described it as "an inspirational winner with a sure, dignified message whose wisdom is matched by the stirring clarity of the arrangement." He added, "Carey's vocals have never been more pure-toned and plaintive. An across-the-spectrum smash, it will be heard for years to come because it deserves to be." Troy J. Augusto from "Cashbox" called it a "lushly arranged song of inner strength and the finding of one's self-worth." He noted that it "plays like a companion to Bette Midler's Wind Beneath My Wings', complete with soaring chorus, delicate vocal phrasing and a message so powerful and timeless that it's bound to be turned into a charity fundraising theme song, prom dance theme song, sandwich chain ad campaign or, probably, all of the above." Rik Ambelle from "Crawley News" stated that Carey "really is at her best" on ballads like "Hero". "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that "there's a timelessness" to the song "that's almost jarring — it's such a classic chest-pounder that it's as if we've always had 'Hero', and the imaginary movie scene to go with it." Annette M. Lai from the "Gavin Report" commented that the song is "less commercial", "in that its hook is rather subtle, but still worthy of mention because of its inspiring message about believing in oneself and one's dreams." Another editor, Ron Fell called it "a wonderful song of self-assuring courage". Music writer James Masterton wrote in his weekly UK chart commentary, "The first ever Mariah Carey single that I will hold my hand up and admit to loving, Hero eases back on the vocal histrionics and ups the emotion to produce this tender ballad which crashes straight in to beat the peak of the last single and becomes her highest new entry ever." Pop Rescue noted that Carey's vocals "are flawless, and the song flows perfectly along with her." Nathan Brackett from "Rolling Stone" called the singer's vocal tone "golden" and regarded "Hero" as "a standard for weddings, funerals and singing auditions."


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: It received a mixed review from "The Washington Post" editor Mike Joyce, who while impressed, claimed it was not as good as competing ballads of the time. Paul Gettelmen of the "Orlando Sentinel" criticized the song, calling it a "rip-off" of Whitney Houston's "Greatest Love of All". Stephen Holden, another editor from "Rolling Stone" also noted an inspiration and similarity to "Greatest Love of All" and calling its lyrics "made up entirely of pop and soul clichés".


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" became Carey's eighth chart topper on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. It reached the number one position in its tenth week and spent four weeks at the top, from December 25, 1993, to January 15, 1994. It replaced "Again" by Janet Jackson, and was replaced by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting's "All for Love". In total, the song remained in the top 40 for 25 weeks, with 16 of those spent in the top ten. On the "Billboard" year-end Charts for 1994, "Hero" finished at number five, number 53 on the decade-end chart and number three on the year-end Airplay Chart. "Hero" has been certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over two million units throughout the country. Prior to the song's recital at Carey's concert at Madison Square Garden on December 10, 1993, during her Music Box Tour, she announced that the proceeds from the stateside sales of the single were to be donated to the families of the victims of the 1993 Long Island Rail Road shooting. The song was dedicated to the three men who subdued the shooter on stage that night, three days after the tragedy. Carey was a frequent rider on the LIRR rush hour service out of Penn Station when she lived on Long Island. In Canada, the song debuted at number 64 on the Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart during the week of November 6, 1993. During the week of December 4, 1993, "Hero" reached its peak position of number three, staying there for three consecutive weeks, and a total of 21 weeks within the top 100. "Hero" finished at numbers 48 and 22 on the Canadian year-end charts for 1993 and 1994.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: The song entered the Australian Singles Chart at number 47 on the issue dated November 14, 1993, and eventually spent three weeks at its peak position of number seven. "Hero" was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), denoting shipments of over 70,000 units throughout the country. In France, "Hero" entered the single chart at number 24 during the week dated March 19, 1994. After staying six consecutive weeks at its peak position of number five, and a total of 21 weeks in the chart, the song was certified silver by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP), denoting shipments of over 200,000 units. In the Netherlands, the song peaked at number 13 on the Single Top 100 chart, spending eight weeks fluctuating within the chart. "Hero" peaked at number five on the Irish Singles Chart, spending a combined 14 weeks within the chart. In New Zealand, the song peaked at number two on the singles chart, spending five nonconsecutive weeks at the position, and a total of 20 weeks on the chart. "Hero" was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ), denoting shipments of 15,000 units. During the week of January 21, 1994, the song peaked at number two on the Norwegian Singles Chart, spending a total of eight weeks in the chart and being certified gold by the VG-lista. On November 11, 1993, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number eight. The following week, it reached its peak position of number seven, spending a total of 15 weeks in the chart during its original chart run. On November 8, 2008, following the release of the "Hero" by the X Factor finalists, it re-entered the chart at number 100. Two weeks later, "Hero" managed to reach number 67 on the chart, before plummeting outside the top 100 the following week. As of 2010, MTV estimates sales of "Hero" in the United Kingdom to be at 270,000 units.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" was awarded and nominated for awards throughout the music industry. At the 12th ASCAP Awards, Carey took home the award for "Rhythm & Soul Songwriter". The following year, at the 13th annual ceremony, "Hero" won Carey awards for "Rhythm & Soul Songwriter" and "Pop Songwriter". The song was awarded a BMI Pop Award at the ceremony in 1995. Additionally, it was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 37th annual Grammy Awards, losing to Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do".


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Prior to the song's release towards the end of 1993, Carey performed an intimate concert at Proctor's Theatre, New York on July 15, 1993. Following its taping, the concert was released as the home video titled, "Here Is Mariah Carey" (1993). Carey's performance of the song that night was edited and commissioned as the official music video, directed by Larry Jordan. The video was included on Carey's DVD "#1's" (1998). The video features her in a long dark dress, sporting long curly hair. On few international versions of the album, a Spanish version of the song was included, such as on the Mexican and Argentinian versions. It was titled "Héroe", and featured translation by Jorge Luis Piloto, a Spanish musician who had come to briefly work with Carey.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: In 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Carey re-recorded the song as a medley with "Never Too Far", her single at the time. Titled "Never Too Far/Hero Medley", it was released as a charity single throughout October of that year. In an interview with MTV, Carey described the idea behind the medley:


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "I started [performing] at different charity events where I did a combination of 'Never Too Far' and 'Hero'. We made it into a medley and kinda put them both in the same key and just made it work, and people responded really well to it. It's been interesting for me, since the events of September 11, the way people have been playing 'Hero' and talking to me about 'Never Too Far', 'cause that song is also about loss. I figured that it would be a nice thing to do, to put them both out for Christmas. ... I feel like it's our responsibility to do what we can right now in terms of music, just being artists and being human beings."


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: In 2008, prior to the release of Carey's compilation album "The Ballads", Carey recorded a version of "Hero" with new vocals, releasing it on the stateside version of the album. Additionally, a music video was filmed and released for the 2008 version, featuring behind the scenes footage of the song's recording, as well as Carey's writing music in the studio.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Due to fan requests and its personal lyrical content, Carey has performed "Hero" on several occasions throughout her career. She first performed the song in July 1993 at the Proctor's Theater, later to be released as "Here Is Mariah Carey". Later, she performed the song live on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in November 1993, appearing on stage after a short interview wearing a mid-length black gown and sporting long brown locks. She was joined by three back-up vocalists, Trey Lorenz, Cindi Mizelle and Melodie Daniels. Carey continued stateside promotion of the song with a performance on "The Jay Leno Show" the following week. Throughout Europe and Australasia, Carey made appearances on "Sacrée Soirée" in France, "Platendaagse" in the Netherlands, "Sale El Dia" in Spain, "Sontagsoppet" in Sweden, and "Hey Hey It's Saturday" in Australia. On May 15, 1996, at the Annual National Peace Officers Memorial Service, held in the grounds of the US Capitol Building, Carey performed Hero in tribute to police officers killed in the line of duty. In attendance was the US president at the time, Bill Clinton. Following the release of her sixth studio album "Butterfly", Carey performed it alongside "Butterfly" on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on September 22, 1997. In between both performances, Winfrey interviewed Carey over her failed marriage to Mottola, as well as the several negative rumors that followed their divorce. Two years later, she performed "Hero" together with Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy during the summer of 1999. Carey appeared on stage alongside him, wearing a long pink evening gown and sporting a long straightened hairstyle. The performance was filmed and released on VHS as "Pavarotti and Friends".


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Carey sang "Hero" in Seoul, South Korea in June 1999 during the "Michael Jackson & Friends" benefit concert, which raised money for several charitable organizations. On September 21, 2001, following the September 11 attacks, Carey sang "Hero" as part of the "" telethon. Her appearance on the telethon was her first public appearance since her publicized breakdown and hospitalization, prior to the release of "Glitter". In 2003, Carey performed a medley of songs from her album, "Charmbracelet" (2002), during Michael Jordan's final NBA All-Star Game in 2003 Following the medley, she included "Hero" onto the short set-list, followed by Jordan's final game. On July 2, 2005, a benefit concert was held in Hyde Park, London titled Live 8. The televised event was watched by over 9.6 million British citizens, and held a live audience of over 200,000. Carey performed a three-song set-list, opening with "Make It Happen" and "Hero", which featured a live choir of African children, and followed by "We Belong Together", accompanied by actors Chris Barrie, Judy Flynn, Mike Burns and Julia St. John. During a promotional tour for her eleventh studio effort "E=MC2" in 2008, the song was re-recorded by the 2008 UK X Factor finalists and released as a single. Prior to its release, Carey appeared on the program, where she performed her single at the time "I Stay in Love", followed by a duet of "Hero" in between her and the finalists. In 2009, during the inaugural ball for Barack Obama, Carey opened the televised event with a live rendition of "Hero", wearing a long black evening gown while sporting a long wavy hairstyle. On June 5, 2010, Carey performed the song alongside "We Belong Together" at the Walmart shareholders meeting. Following the performance, Carey gained heavy media coverage for her apparent weight gain, leading many to suspect her pregnancy with husband Nick Cannon.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Aside from the several live televised performances, Carey included "Hero" on the set-lists on all of her tours, usually serving as one of the closing numbers. In an interview, Carey said that although it is not one of her favorite songs, she tries to perform it on each of her shows due to its powerful message, fearing that if she doesn't, she might miss out on the opportunity to help someone. She first performed the song in concert during her stateside Music Box Tour. During the song's recital, Carey donned a black gown and matching sandals, while sporting her signature golden locks of the time. During her performances at the Tokyo Dome on her Daydream World Tour (1996), Carey performed the song as one of the closing numbers. Prior to the song, Carey introduced Afanasieff, who played the organ throughout the tour. Carey appeared on stage with a straightened hairstyle, and a long black evening gown. On her Butterfly World Tour in 1998, Carey performed "Hero" as the eighth song on the set-list. Unlike her previous tour, Afanasieff was not present, due to the pair's continued personal dispute. During the song, Carey was backed up by three vocalists, and wore a long sequined black gown. In 2000, during her Rainbow World Tour, Carey used "Hero" as the tour's closing number, leaving the stage to meet and greet fans during the song's performance. Similarly, "Hero" served as the closing number on her Charmbracelet World Tour (2002–03), where she wore a long beige gown and feathered frock tail. In 2006, during The Adventures of Mimi Tour, Carey performed "Hero" as the penultimate song on the set-list. She wore a blue floor-length mid-bearing gown, and received vocal back up from four background singers. Following the release of her twelfth studio effort, Carey embarked on the Angels Advocate Tour. After performing the regular set-list, Carey exited the arena, only to make one re-entry for "Hero" as the encore performance. She also performed the song regularly as a part of her 2014 "The Elusive Chanteuse Show" world tour, and her first annual Christmas show at New York City's Beacon Theater, entitled All I Want For Christmas Is You, A Night of Joy & Festivity. In addition, she included the song in her 2015 Las Vegas residency, "Mariah Carey Number 1's", a chronicle of her 18 US number 1 hits. The song was performed 8th in her setlist. She sang on a circular platform on the stage, donning a short white dress.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" was recorded at The Plant Studios, Sausalito, California and The Record Plant, Los Angeles. Vocals were recorded and mixed at Right Track Studios, New York. Recording engineer, Dana Jon Chappelle.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" was covered by Japanese entertainer Miho Nakayama as her 30th single, released by King Records on December 14, 1994. Co-written in Japanese by Nakayama and arranged by Robbie Buchanan, this version was used as the theme song of the Fuji TV drama series "For You", which also starred Nakayama. The B-side is an a cappella version with different lyrics.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: Nakayama's version of "Hero" peaked at No. 8 on Oricon's weekly singles chart. It sold over 474,000 copies and was certified Platinum by the RIAJ.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: The twelve contestants from the fifth series of the British TV talent show "The X Factor" released a cover of the song on October 27, 2008, for the Help for Heroes and The Royal British Legion charities. The finalists performed the single for the first time on October 25, 2008, during Week 3 of the live broadcasts. The single was released on download on October 26, 2008, followed by the physical release the day after.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: On October 30, it was announced that the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, would waive all tax on copies sold on the single. He said, "I support the efforts being made by the "X Factor" contestants and in recognition of that I'm proposing effectively to waive the VAT on the sale of these singles. We will do that by making a donation equivalent to the value of the VAT." Following the single's release, the music video was sent to music channels on November 8 before the fifth live show, when the contestants (excluding Diana Vickers, absent because of illness) sang it again. All the contestants appeared in the video, which also showed still images of soldiers in Iraq. The contestants performed the song again with Mariah Carey on November 8, 2008, during Week 5 of the live broadcasts, a week in which Carey's music and career served as the theme.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: On November 2, 2008, the single debuted atop of the UK Singles Chart, staying there for three consecutive weeks and becoming the fastest-selling single of 2008. The song sold 100,000 copies in the first day of its release and 313,244 copies by the end of the week. It raised over £1 million for Help for Heroes.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: It was suggested that the song would become one of the biggest-selling releases of the decade, with HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo saying: "This is proving to be one of the biggest single releases for years if not the decade. Only Leona Lewis's debut hit "A Moment Like This", which sold over 500,000 copies in its first week, can compare. It's selling more than most Christmas No 1s would, and HMV has placed an urgent order for more copies." On December 28, 2008, the UK Singles Chart listed it as the second biggest selling single for the year end countdown and the nineteenth best-selling single of the decade. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) certified the song double-platinum, denoting shipments of over 1.2 million copies within the country.


title: Hero (Mariah Carey song)

text: "Hero" has been covered several times through live performances, as well as recorded studio versions. Additionally, since its debut, it has achieved strong media attention. In 2009, prior to the election results, Barack Obama's wife Michelle played him the song to give him strength and inner support. A source close to Carey claimed that hearing the song's use meant a lot to her, saying, "She was blown away when she heard. She is so honoured to have played her part in such an occasion." At the 1994 Essence Awards, Aretha Franklin performed a live rendition of the song as a tribute to The Reverend Jesse Jackson. In 2001, Neal Schon performed an instrumental version on the album Voice. Filipino singers Regine Velasquez and Sarah Geronimo both performed the song live on television, with the former playing a medley of the song alongside Carey's "Anytime You Need a Friend". International male operatic pop group Il Divo included the Spanish version of the song on their second studio album, "Ancora" (2005). Australian singer and actress Natalie Bassingthwaighte performed a live version of the song at the Rugby League World Cup Heroes 08 Campaign. Michael Ball, British singer, actor and radio personality, covered "Hero" for his album titled "One Voice" (2006). "American Idol" season 5 contestant Heather Cox performed the song during the top 20 performances week, only to be voted off that night for not being able to successfully carry the song. Similarly, season 7 contestant Brooke White performed the song during the Mariah Carey themed week, while season 8 contestant Danny Gokey performed the song in the top 36 performances. season 10 contestant Karen Rodriguez performed the song in both English and Spanish versions in the top 24 performances, making it into the top 13 the following night. Japanese-American singer Yuna Ito included her rendition of "Hero" on her compilation album "Love -Singles Best 2005–2010". Barbadian R&B singer Rihanna sang "Hero" during a live talent show at her high school in Barbados when she was 15. Soon after, she was signed by Jay-Z to Def Jam. The YouTube event "Dear Class of 2020" had the cast of "Schitt's Creek" performing the song before Carey appeared for the last lines. "The X Factor" winner Melanie Amaro performed the song during the first season of the show, as a song chosen for her by the public. In 2013, Dami Im recorded a version for her album Dami Im. The album was #1 in Australia.


title: Patellar reflex

text: The patellar reflex, also called the knee reflex or knee-jerk, is a stretch reflex which tests the L2, L3, and L4 segments of the spinal cord.


title: Patellar reflex

text: Striking of the patellar tendon with a reflex hammer just below the patella stretches the muscle spindle in the quadriceps muscle. This produces a signal which travels back to the spinal cord and synapses (without interneurons) at the level of L3 or L4 in the spinal cord, completely independent of higher centres. From there, an alpha motor neuron conducts an efferent impulse back to the quadriceps femoris muscle, triggering contraction. This contraction, coordinated with the relaxation of the antagonistic flexor hamstring muscle causes the leg to kick. There is a latency of around 18 ms between stretch of the patellar tendon and the beginning of contraction of the quadriceps femoris muscle. This is a reflex of proprioception which helps maintain posture and balance, allowing to keep one's balance with little effort or conscious thought.


title: Patellar reflex

text: The patellar reflex is a clinical and classic example of the monosynaptic reflex arc. There is no interneuron in the pathway leading to contraction of the quadriceps muscle. Instead, the sensory neuron synapses directly on a motor neuron in the spinal cord. However, there "is" an inhibitory interneuron used to relax the antagonistic hamstring muscle (reciprocal innervation).


title: Patellar reflex

text: This test of a basic automatic reflex may be influenced by the patient consciously inhibiting or exaggerating the response; the doctor may use the Jendrassik maneuver in order to ensure a more valid reflex test.


title: Patellar reflex

text: After the tap of a hammer, the leg is normally extended once and comes to rest. The absence or decrease of this reflex is problematic, and known as Westphal's sign. This reflex may be diminished or absent in lower motor neuron lesions and during sleep. On the other hand, multiple oscillation of the leg (pendular reflex) following the tap may be a sign of cerebellar diseases. Exaggerated (brisk) deep tendon reflexes such as this can be found in upper motor neuron lesions, hyperthyroidism, anxiety or nervousness. The test itself assesses the nervous tissue between and including the L2 and L4 segments of the spinal cord.


title: Patellar reflex

text: Wilhelm Heinrich Erb (1840–1921) and Carl Friedrich Westphal (1833–1890) simultaneously reported the patellar tendon or knee reflex in 1875. The term "knee-jerk" was recorded by Sir Michael Foster in his Textbook of physiology in 1877: "Striking the tendon below the patella gives rise to a sudden extension of the leg, known as the knee-jerk."


title: Patellar reflex

text: The term began to be used figuratively from the early 20th century onwards. O. O. McIntyre, in his New York Day-By-Day column in The Coshocton Tribune, October 1921, wrote: "Itinerant preacher stemming Broadway on a soap box. And gets only an occasional knee-jerk."


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: Albert Ernest Clifford Young OAM (8 February 19222 November 2003) was an Australian potato farmer and athlete from Beech Forest, Victoria. He was best known for his unexpected win of the inaugural Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1983 at 61 years of age.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: Born the eldest son and the third of seven children of Mary and Albert Ernest Young on 8 February 1922, Albert Ernest Clifford Young grew up on a farm in Beech Forest in southwestern Victoria. The family farm was approximately with approximately 2,000 sheep. As a child, Young was forced to round up the stock on foot, as the family were very poor during the depression and could not afford horses.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: In 1979, at the age of 56, he competed in the Adidas Sun Super 16 km kilometre race which crossed the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne. He ran the race at a very respectable 64 minutes and was interviewed by the media.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: Cliff then ran the Melbourne Marathon with a time of 3:21:41 in 1979. He would go on to compete in 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984 and 1987 with a personal best of 3:02:53 in 1980, aged 58.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: In late 1982, after training for months around the Otway Ranges, Young attempted to break New Zealander Siegfried "Ziggy" Bauer's then world record for of 11 days and 23 hours. The attempt took place in Colac's Memorial Square. Young had to abandon the world record attempt just after halfway at . Reflecting on the failed attempt, Young wrote that he and his support team were inexperienced and ill-prepared.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: In 1983, now aged 61 years old, Young won the inaugural Westfield Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon, a distance of . The race was run between what were then Australia's two largest Westfield shopping centres: Westfield Parramatta in Sydney and Westfield Doncaster in Melbourne. Young arrived to compete in overalls and work boots, without his dentures (later saying that they rattled when he ran). He ran at a slow and loping pace and trailed the pack by a large margin at the end of the first day. While the other competitors stopped to sleep for six hours, Young kept running. He ran continuously for five days, taking the lead during the first night and eventually winning by 10 hours. Before running the race, he had told the press that he had previously run for two to three days straight rounding up sheep in gumboots. He said afterwards that during the race he imagined he was running after sheep trying to outrun a storm. The Westfield run took him five days, fifteen hours and four minutes, almost two days faster than the previous record for any run between Sydney and Melbourne, at an average speed of . All six competitors who finished the race broke the old record. Upon being awarded the prize of , Young said that he did not know there was a prize and that he felt bad accepting it, as each of the other five runners who finished had worked as hard as he did—so he split the money equally between them, keeping none. Despite attempting the event again in later years, Young was unable to repeat this performance or claim victory again.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: Young became very popular after this "tortoise and hare" feat, so much so that in Colac, Victoria, the Cliff Young Australian Six-Day Race was established that same year. In 1984, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia "for long distance running".


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: In 1997, at age 75, he made an attempt to beat Ron Grant's around-Australia record. He completed 6,520 kilometres of the 16,000-kilometre run, but had to pull out because his only crew member became ill.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: Young was a vegetarian from 1973 until his death. He lived at the family home with his mother and brother Sid. Cliff had never married, but after the 1983 race, at 62 years of age, he married 23-year-old Mary Howell. The race sponsor, Westfield, hosted the wedding for the entertainment of shoppers. Young and Howell divorced five years later. Renowned for his ungainly running style, Young ran more than 20,000 kilometres during his competitive career. After five years of illness and several strokes, he died of cancer at the age of 81 on 2 November 2003 at his home in Queensland.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: A memorial in the shape of a gumboot in Beech Forest is dedicated to Young and the Cliff Young Drive and Cliff Young Park there are named after him.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: The "Young Shuffle" has been adopted by some ultramarathon runners because it expends less energy. At least three winners of the Sydney-to-Melbourne race were known to use the "Young Shuffle" to win the race. In 2010, comedian Hannah Gadsby named her Sydney Comedy Festival show "The Cliff Young Shuffle" in tribute.


title: Cliff Young (athlete)

text: In May 2013, ABC1 broadcast "Cliffy", a telemovie about Young's victorious 1983 run. The telemovie starred Kevin Harrington as Young, with his race support team played by Roy Billing as his coach Wally, Anne Tenney as his sister Eunice, and Joshua Hine as Paul. Krew Boylan featured as Mary Howell. Young's mother was played by Joan Sydney.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is a 1957 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp and Kirk Douglas as Doc Holliday, and loosely based on the actual event in 1881. The film was directed by John Sturges from a screenplay written by novelist Leon Uris.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: In Fort Griffin, Texas, Ed Bailey comes looking to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of gunslinger John H. "Doc" Holliday. Seeing him in a bar, Holliday's girl, Kate Fisher, returns to Holliday's room, where the two argue while Holliday throws knives at the door - near her once she brings up Holliday's once-prominent family. Well-known marshal Wyatt Earp arrives in Fort Griffin thinking he will take outlaws Ike Clanton and Johnny Ringo into custody, but instead finds out that the local sheriff, Cotton Wilson, released them despite the outstanding warrants for their arrest. Holliday refuses to help the lawman, holding a grudge against Wyatt's brother, Morgan. Holliday kills Bailey with a knife-throw when Bailey attempts to shoot him in the back. Holliday is arrested for murder, though Wyatt and Kate allow him to escape from a lynch mob.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: In Dodge City, Kansas, Wyatt finds out that Holliday and Kate are in town. Holliday tells him he has no money, so Wyatt allows him to stay if he promises to not fight while he is in town. Meanwhile, gambler Laura Denbow is arrested for playing cards since women are not allowed to gamble. She is released and allowed to play in the side rooms of the saloon. Wyatt is forced to deputize Holliday because a bank robber kills a cashier and Wyatt's other deputies are out in a posse catching another outlaw. The bank robbers attempt to ambush Wyatt outside of town, but are instead killed by Wyatt and Holliday.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: Back in Dodge City, Holliday learns Kate has left him for Johnny Ringo, who taunts Holliday to a shootout and throws liquor on him. Holliday steadfastly refuses to fight him. Shanghai Pierce and his henchmen ride into town, wound deputy Charlie Bassett and attack a dancehall, but Wyatt and Holliday hold the men and defuse the situation. As Ringo attempts to intervene, Holliday shoots him in the arm. Holliday returns to his room and Kate is waiting for him, but he refuses to take her back. Kate swears she will see him dead. By now, Wyatt and Laura have fallen in love, but when he receives a letter from his brother Virgil, asking him to help clean up Tombstone, Arizona, she refuses to go with him unless he changes into the man she wants him to be. Holliday catches up to Wyatt on the trail and both head to Tombstone.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: In Tombstone, Wyatt finds out that Ike Clanton is trying to herd thousands of head of rustled Mexican cattle but cannot as long as the Earps control Tombstone's railway station. Morgan Earp criticizes his brother's association with Holliday, but Wyatt insists the gunslinger is welcome in Tombstone as long as he stays out of trouble. Cotton offers Wyatt a $20,000 bribe if he allows the stolen cattle to be shipped, but Wyatt refuses. He rides out to the Clanton ranch, returning young Billy Clanton to his mother after finding Billy drunk. Wyatt informs Ike that he has been made a U.S. Marshal and has legal authority in every county in the United States. Finding no recourse, the Clantons decide to ambush Wyatt as he makes his nightly rounds but kill his younger brother James Earp by mistake.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: The next morning, Ike and five of his henchmen go to Tombstone to face off against the Earps at the O.K. Corral. Holliday, who is sick from tuberculosis, joins them. Though Virgil and Morgan are wounded in the gunfight, all six in Clanton's gang are killed, including Billy, who is given a chance to surrender, but refuses. After the fight is over, Wyatt joins Holliday for a final drink before heading off to California to meet Laura, as promised.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: by George Scullin. The film’s plot contains numerous historical inaccuracies and takes liberties with actual events at the real gunfight at the O.K. Corral.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: A decade later, director John Sturges made a more historically accurate version named "Hour of the Gun", starring James Garner as Wyatt Earp, Jason Robards as Doc Holliday and Robert Ryan as Ike Clanton. This film begins with a more accurate version of the O.K. Corral gun battle, then covers its aftermath.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: Reviews in 1957 were generally positive. Bosley Crowther of "The New York Times" praised the film as "firmly directed" and "ruggedly acted," though he lamented "odd, embarrassing moments when Cupid lets fly with his arrows," and thought that the inclusion of a ballad was too derivative of "High Noon". "Variety" called Lancaster and Douglas "excellently cast" and added, "in its development and exciting climax John Sturges has captured the stirring spirit of the period in his sock direction." "Harrison's Reports" agreed that the two leads were "excellent in their respective roles" and found the action "tense and suspenseful throughout, culminating in a highly exciting and thrilling gun battle." Richard L. Coe of "The Washington Post" deemed the film "just what its title suggests — blood-thirsty, empty-headed and good fun of its sort." "The Monthly Film Bulletin" called it "carefully and lavishly mounted, but it is ultimately overlong and overwrought. Leon Uris's script dulls the final scene of action by the introduction of too many minor climaxes, which never blend."


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: The film was a big hit and earned $4.7 million on its first run and $6 million on re-release. Its Dimitri Tiomkin score, featuring the song "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral", with lyrics by Ned Washington, sung by Frankie Laine, pushes the movie's momentum relentlessly throughout.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: Members of the Western Writers of America chose the song "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" as one of the Top 100 Western songs of all time.


title: Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (film)

text: The film was nominated for two Academy Awards to Best Film Editing (Warren Low) and Best Sound Recording (George Dutton). Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas were nominated for Golden Laurel in the category of top male action star.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The Lion and Sun (, ; : ) is one of the main emblems of Iran (Persia), and was an element in Iran's national flag until the 1979 Iranian Revolution and is still commonly used by opposition groups of the Islamic Republic government. The motif, which illustrates ancient and modern Iranian traditions, became a popular symbol in Iran in the 12th century. The lion and sun symbol is based largely on astronomical and astrological configurations: the ancient sign of the sun in the house of Leo, which itself is traced back to Babylonian astrology and Near Eastern traditions.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The motif has many historical meanings. First, as a scientific and secular motif, it was only an astrological and zodiacal symbol. Under the Safavid and the first Qajar kings, it became more associated with Shia Islam. During the Safavid era, the lion and sun stood for the two pillars of society, the state and the Islamic religion. It became a national emblem during the Qajar era. In the 19th century, European visitors at the Qajar court attributed the lion and sun to remote antiquity; since then, it has acquired a nationalistic interpretation. During the reign of Fat′h-Ali Shah Qajar and his successors, the form of the motif was substantially changed. A crown was also placed on the top of the symbol to represent the monarchy. Beginning in the reign of Fat′h-Ali, the Islamic aspect of the monarchy was de-emphasized. This shift affected the symbolism of the emblem. The meaning of the symbol changed several times between the Qajar era and the 1979 revolution. The lion could be a symbol for Rostam, the legendary hero of Iranian mythology. The Sun has alternately been interpreted as symbol of motherland or Jamshid, the mythical Shah of Iran.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The many historical meanings of the emblem have provided rich ground for competing symbols of Iranian identity. In the 20th century, some politicians and scholars suggested that the emblem should be replaced by other symbols such as the Derafsh Kaviani. However, the emblem remained the official symbol of Iran until the 1979 revolution, when the "Lion and Sun" symbol was removed from public spaces and government organizations, and replaced by the present-day emblem of Iran.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The lion and sun motif is based largely on astronomical and astrological configurations, and the ancient zodiacal sign of the sun in the house of Leo. This symbol, which combines "ancient Iranian, Arab, Turkic and Mongol traditions", first became a popular symbol in the 12th century. According to Afsaneh Najmabadi, the lion and sun motif has had "a unique success" among icons for signifying the modern Iranian identity, in that the symbol is influenced by all significant historical cultures of Iran and brings together Zoroastrian, Shia, Jewish, Turkic and Iranian symbolism.


title: Lion and Sun

text: According to Krappe, the astrological combination of the sun above a lion has become the coat of arms of Iran. In Islamic astrology the zodiacal Lion was the 'house' of the sun. This notion has "unquestionably" an ancient Mesopotamian origin. Since ancient times there was a close connection between the sun gods and the lion in the lore of the zodiac. It is known that, the sun, at its maximum strength between July 20 and August 20 was in the 'house' of the Lion.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Krappe reviews the ancient Near Eastern tradition and how sun gods and divinities were closely connected to each other, and concludes that "the Persian solar lion, to this day the coat-of-arms of Iran, is evidently derived from the same ancient <nowiki>[Near Eastern]</nowiki> sun god". As an example, he notes that in Syria the lion was the symbol of the sun. In Canaan, a lion slayer hero was the son of Baa'l (i.e. Lord) Shamash, the great Semitic god of the sun. This lion slayer was originally a lion. Another example is the great Semitic solar divinity Shamash, who could be portrayed as a lion. The same symbolism is observed in Ancient Egypt where in the temple of Dendera, Ahi the Great is called "the Lion of the Sun, and the lion who rises in the northern sky, the brilliant god who bears the sun".


title: Lion and Sun

text: According to Kindermann the Iranian Imperial coat of arms had its predecessor in numismatics, which itself is based largely on astronomical and astrological configurations. The constellation of Leo contains 27 stars and eight shapeless ones. Leo is "a fiction of grammarians ignorant of the skies, which owes its existence to false interpretations and arbitrary changes of the older star-names." It is impossible to determine exactly what was the origin of such interpretation from stars. The Babylonians observed a heavenly hierarchy of kings in the zodiacal sign of Leo. They put the lion, as the king of their animal kingdom, into the place in the zodiac in which the summer solstice occurs. In the Babylonian zodiac, it became the symbol of the victory of the sun. Just as Jesus is called the Lion of Judah, and in Islamic traditions Ali Ibn Abu Talib is called the "Lion of God" ("Asadullah") by Shiite Muslims, Hamzah, the uncle of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was also called Lion of God.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The male sun had always been associated with Iranian royalty: Iranian tradition recalls that Kayanids had a golden sun as their emblem. From the Greek historians of classical antiquity it is known that a crystal image of the sun adorned the royal tent of Darius III, that the Arsacid banner was adorned with the sun, and that the Sassanid standards had a red ball symbolizing the sun. The Byzantine chronicler Malalas records that the salutation of a letter from the "Persian king, the Sun of the East," was addressed to the "Roman Caesar, the Moon of the West". The Turanian king Afrasiab is recalled as saying: "I have heard from wise men that when the Moon of the Turan rises up it will be harmed by the Sun of the Iranians." The sun was always imagined as male, and in some banners a figure of a male replaces the symbol of the sun. In others, a male figure accompanies the sun.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Similarly, the lion too has always had a close association with Iranian kingship. The garments and throne decorations of the Achaemenid kings were embroidered with lion motifs. The crown of the half-Persian Seleucid king Antiochus I was adorned with a lion. In the investiture inscription of Ardashir I at Naqsh-e Rustam, the breast armour of the king is decorated with lions. Further, in some Iranian dialects the word for king ("shah") is pronounced as "sher", homonymous with the word for lion. Islamic, Turkish, and Mongol influences also stressed the symbolic association of the lion and royalty. The earliest evidence for the use of a lion on a standard comes from the Shahnameh, which noted that the feudal house of Godarz (presumably a family of Parthian or Sassanid times) adopted a golden lion for its devices.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Islamic, Turkic, and Mongol traditions stressed the symbolic association of the lion and royalty in the lion and sun motif. These cultures reaffirmed the charismatic power of the sun and the Mongols re-introduced the veneration of the sun, especially the sunrise. The lion is probably represented more frequently and diversely than any other animal. In most forms, the lion has no apotropaic meaning and was merely decorative. However, it sometimes has an astrological or symbolic meaning. One of the popular forms of the lion is explicitly heraldic form, including in the Persian coat of arms (the lion and sun); the animal in the coat of arms of the Mamluk Baybars and perhaps also in that of the Rum Saldjukids of the name of Kilidi Arslan; and in numismatic representations.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Ahmad Kasravi, Mojtaba Minovi and Saeed Nafisi's vast amount of literary and archaeological evidence show that the ancient zodiacal sign of the sun in the house of Leo become a popular emblematic figure in the 12th century. ("cf." Zodiacal origin, above) Fuat Köprülü suggests that the lion and sun on the Turkic and Mongolic flags and coins of these times are merely astrological signs and do not exemplify royalty.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The lion and sun symbol first appears in the 13th century, most notably on the coinage of Kaykhusraw II, who was Sultan of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm from 1237 to 1246. These were "probably to exemplify the ruler's power." The notion that "the sun [of the symbol] symbolized the Georgian wife of the king, is a myth, for on one issue 'the sun rests on the back of two lions rampant with their tails interlaced' [...] and on some issues the sun appears as a male bust." Other chief occurrences of 12th- to 14th-century usage include: an early 13th-century luster tile now in the Louvre; a c. 1330 Mamluk steel mirror from Syria or Egypt; on a ruined 12th- to 14th-century Arkhunid bridge near Baghdad; on some Ilkhanid coins; and on a 12th- or 13th-century bronze ewer now in the Golestan palace museum. In the latter, a rayed nimbus enclosing three female faces rests on a lion whose tail ends in a winged monster.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The use of the lion and sun symbol in a flag is first attested in a miniature painting illustrating a copy of Shahnameh Shams al-Din Kashani, an epic on Mongol conquest, dated 1423. The painting depicts several (Mongul?) horsemen approaching the walled city of Nishapur. One of the horsemen carries a banner that bears a lion passant with a rising sun on its back. The pole is tipped with a crescent moon. By the time of the Safavids (1501–1722), and the subsequent unification of Iran as a single state, the lion and sun had become a familiar sign, appearing on copper coins, on banners, and on works of art. The Lion and Sun motif was also used on banners of the Mughals of India, notably those of Shah Jahan.


title: Lion and Sun

text: In Safavid times, the lion and sun stood for two pillars of the society, state and religion. It is clear that, although various "alams" and banners were employed by the Safavids during their rule, especially the earlier Safavid kings, by the time of Shah Abbas, the lion and sun symbol had become one of the most popular emblems of Persia.


title: Lion and Sun

text: According to Najmabadi, the Safavid interpretation of this symbol was based on a combination of mytho-histories and tales such as the "Shahnameh", stories of Prophets, and other Islamic sources. For the Safavids, the Shah had two roles: king and holy man. This double meaning was associated with the genealogy of Iranian kings. Two males were key people in this paternity: Jamshid (mythical founder of an ancient Persian kingdom), and Ali (Shi'te first Imam). Jamshid was affiliated with the sun and Ali was affiliated with the lion (Zul-faqar).


title: Lion and Sun

text: Shahbazi suggest that the association may originally have been based on a learned interpretation of the "Shahnameh's" references to 'the Sun of Iran' and 'the Moon of the Turanians. ("cf:" the "Roman"—i.e., Byzantine—king as the "Moon of the West" in the Iranian background section). Since Ottoman sultans, the new sovereigns of 'Rûm', had adopted the moon crescent as their dynastic and ultimately national emblem, the Safavids of Persia, needed to have a their own dynastic and national emblem. Therefore, Safavids chose the lion and sun motif. Besides, the Jamshid, the sun had two other important meanings for the Safavids. The sense of time was organized around the solar system which was distinct from the Arab-Islamic lunar system. Astrological meaning and the sense of cosmos was mediated through that. Through the zodiac the sun was linked to Leo which was the most auspicious house of the sun. Therefore, for the Safavids, the sign of lion and sun condensed the double meaning of the Shah—king and holy man (Jamshid and Ali)—through the auspicious zodiac sign of the sun in the house of Leo and brought the cosmic-earthy pair (king and Imam) together.


title: Lion and Sun

text: In seeking the Safavi interpretation of the lion and sun motif, Shahbazi suggests that the Safavids had reinterpreted the lion as symbolizing Imam ʿAlī and the sun as typifying the "glory of religion", a substitute for the ancient farr-e dīn. They reintroduced the ancient concept of God-given Glory (farr), reinterpreted as "light" in Islamic Iran, and the Prophet and Ali "had been credited with the possession of a divine light of lights (nūr al-anwār) of leadership, which was represented as a blazing halo." They attributed such qualities to Ali and sought the king's genealogy through the Shia Fourth Imam's mother to the royal Sassanian house.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The royal seal of Nader Shah in 1746 was the lion and sun motif. In this seal, the sun bears the word Al-Molkollah (Arabic: The earth of God). Two swords of Karim Khan Zand have gold-inlaid inscriptions which refer to the: "... celestial lion ... pointing to the astrological relationship to the Zodiac sign of Leo ..." Another record of this motif is the Lion and Sun symbol on a tombstone of a Zand soldier.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The earliest known Qajar lion and sun symbol is on the coinage of Aqa Mohammad Shah Qajar, minted in 1796 on the occasion of Shah's coronation. The coin bears the name of the new king underneath the sun and Ali (the first Shi'ite Imam) underneath the lion's belly. Both names are invoked and this coin suggest that this motif still stands for the king (sun) and religion (lion), "Iranization and Imamification of sovereignty". In the Qajar period the emblem can be found on Jewish marriage certificates (ketubas) and Shi'ite mourning of muharram banners.


title: Lion and Sun

text: During the reign of the second Qajar shah, Fat′h Ali Shah Qajar, we observe the beginning of a shift in political culture from the Safavi concept of rule. The Islamic component of the ruler was de-emphasized, if not completely abounded. This shift coincides with the first archaeological surveys of Europeans in Iran and the re-introduction of the past pre-Islamic history of Iran to Iranians. Fat'h Ali Shah tried to affiliate his sovereignty with the glorious years of pre-Islamic Iran. Literary evidence and documents from his time suggest that the sun in the lion and sun motif was the symbol of the king and a metaphor of Jamshid. Referring to Rostam, the mythical hero of Iran in Shahnameh, and the fact that lion was the symbol of Rostam, the lion received a nationalistic interpretation. The lion was the symbol of heroes of Iran who are ready to protect the country against enemies. Fat'h Ali Shah addresses the meanings of the signs in two of his poems:


title: Lion and Sun

text: In the 19th century, European visitors at the Qajar court attributed the lion and sun to remote antiquity, which prompted Mohammad Shah Qajar to give it a "nationalistic interpretation." In a decree published in 1846, it is stated that "For each sovereign state an emblem is established, and for the august state of Persia, too, the Order of Lion and Sun has been in use, an ensign which is nearly three thousand years old—indeed dating from before the age of Zoroaster. And the reason for its currency may have been as follows. In the religion of Zoroaster, the sun is considered the revealer of all things and nourisher of the universe [...], hence, they venerated it". This is followed by an astrological rationale for having selecting the "selected the sun in the house of Leo as the emblem of the august state of Persia." The decree then claims that use of Order of the Lion and Sun had existed in pre-Islamic Zoroastrian Iran until the worship of the sun was abolished by Muslims. Piemontese suggests that in this decree, "native political considerations and anachronistic historical facts are mixed with curious astrological arguments" At the time, the lion and sun symbol stood the state, the monarchy, and the nation of Iran, associated all with a pre-Islamic history.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The Imperial Order of the Lion and the Sun was instituted by Fat’h Ali Shah of the Qajar dynasty in 1808 to honour foreign officials (later extended to Persians) who had rendered distinguished services to Persia.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Another change under the second and third Qajar king was the Africanization of the motif. At this time, the lion was an African lion which had a longer mane and bigger body compared to the Persian lion. Yahya Zoka suggests that this modification was influenced by contact with Europeans.


title: Lion and Sun

text: According to Shahbazi. the Zu'l-faqar and the lion decorated the Iranian flags at the time. It seems that towards the end of Fath' Ali Shah's reign the two logos were combined and the lion representing Ali was given Ali's saber, Zu'l-faqar.


title: Lion and Sun

text: According to Najmabadi, occasionally we come across the lion and sun with a sword in the lion's paw and with a crown during this period. The Mohammad Shah's decree in 1836 states that the lion must erectly stand, bear a saber ("to make it explicitly stands for the military prowess of the state"). The crown was also added as a symbol of royalty rather than for any particular Qajar monarch. The decree states that the emblem is at once the national, royal, and the state emblem of Iran. In this period the lion was depicted as more masculine and the sun was female. Before this time the sun could be male or female and the lion was represented as a swordless, friendly and subdued seated animal.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The crown over the lion and sun configuration consolidated the association of the symbol with the monarchy. The sun lost its importance as the icon of kingship and the Kiani Crown became the primary symbol of the Qajar monarchy. Under Nasir al-Din Shah, logos varied from seated, swordless lions to standing and sword-bearing lions. In February 1873, the decree for Order of Aftab (Nishan-i Afab) was issued by Nasi-al Din Shah.


title: Lion and Sun

text: In the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of 1906, the lion and sun motif in the flag of Iran was described as a passant lion that holds a saber in its paw and with the sun in its background. A decree dated September 4, 1910 specified the exact details of the logo, including the lion's tail ("like an italic S"), the position and the size of the lion, his paw, the sword, and the sun.


title: Lion and Sun

text: Najmabadi observes a parallel symbolism on wall hangings produced between the lion/sun and Reza Khan/motherland, after Reza Khan's successful coup. The coy sun is protected by the lion and Rezakhan is the hero who should protect the motherland. Under Reza Shah the sun's female facial features were removed and the sun was portrayed more realistically and merely with rays. In the military contexts the Pahlavi crown was added to the motif.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The Pahlavis adopted the lion and sun emblem from Qajars, but they replaced the Qajar Crown with the Pahlavi Crown. Pahlavis reintroduced the Persian symbolism to the motif. As is discussed in Persian traditions, the lion had been the symbol of kingship and symbol of Rustam's heroism in Shahnameh.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The many historical meanings of the emblem, while provide a solid ground for its power as the national emblem of Iran, have also provided the rich ground for competing symbols of Iranian identity. One important campaign to abolish the emblem was initiated by Mojtaba Minuvi in 1929. In a report prepared at the request of the Iranian embassy in London, he insisted that the lion and sun is Turkic in origin. He recommended that the government replaces it with Derafsh-e-Kaviani: "One cannot attributed a national historical story to the lion-and-sun emblem, for it has no connection to ancient pre-Islamic history, there is no evidence that Iranians designed or created it... We might as well get rid of this remnant of the Turkish people and adopt the flag that symbolizes our mythical grandeur, that is Derafsh-e-Kaviani". His suggestion was ignored. The symbol was challenged during World War I, while Hasan Taqizadeh was publishing the Derafsh-e-Kaviani newspaper in Berlin. In his newspaper, he argued that the lion and sun is neither Iranian in origin nor very ancient as people assume. He insisted that the lion and sun should be replaced by the more Iranian symbol of Derafsh-e-Kaviani.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The Lion and Sun remained the official emblem of Iran until after the 1979 revolution, when the Lion and Sun symbol was—by decree—removed from public spaces and government organizations and replaced by the present-day Coat of arms of Iran. For the Islamic revolution, the lion and sun symbol allegedly resembled the "oppressive Westernizing monarchy" that had to be replaced, despite the fact the symbol had old Shi'a meanings and the lion was associated with Ali. In the present day, the lion and the sun emblem is still used by a segment of the Iranian community in exile as the symbol of opposition to the Islamic Republic. Several exiled opposition groups, including the monarchists, and People's Mojahedin continue to use the lion and sun emblem. In Los Angeles and cities with large Iranian communities the lion and sun emblem is largely used on mugs, Iranian flags, and souvenirs to an extent that far surpasses its display during the years of monarchy in the homeland.


title: Lion and Sun

text: The Lion and Sun is an officially recognized but currently unused emblem of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The Red Lion and Sun Society of Iran (جمعیت شیر و خورشید سرخ ایران) was admitted to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in 1929.


title: Lion and Sun

text: On September 4, 1980, the newly proclaimed Islamic Republic of Iran replaced the Red Lion and Sun with the Red Crescent, consistent with most other Muslim nations. Though the Red Lion and Sun has now fallen into disuse, Iran has in the past reserved the right to take it up again at any time; the Geneva Conventions continue to recognize it as an official emblem, and that status was confirmed by Protocol III in 2005 even as it added the Red Crystal.


title: Habit

text: A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously.


title: Habit

text: The "American Journal of Psychology" (1903) defined a "habit, from the standpoint of psychology, [as] a more or less fixed way of thinking, willing, or feeling acquired through previous repetition of a mental experience." Habitual behavior often goes unnoticed in persons exhibiting it, because a person does not need to engage in self-analysis when undertaking routine tasks. Habits are sometimes compulsory. A 2002 daily experience study by habit researcher Wendy Wood and her colleagues found that approximately 43% of daily behaviors are performed out of habit. New behaviours can become automatic through the process of habit formation. Old habits are hard to break and new habits are hard to form because the behavioural patterns which humans repeat become imprinted in neural pathways, but it is possible to form new habits through repetition.


title: Habit

text: When behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context. Features of an automatic behavior are all or some of: efficiency; lack of awareness; unintentionality; and uncontrollability.


title: Habit

text: The word habit is pulled from the Latin words "habere", which means "have, consist of," and "habitus", which means "condition, or state of being." It also is derived from the French word "habit" (pronounced \ah-bee\), which means clothes. In the 13th century, the word habit first just referred to clothing. The meaning then progressed to the more common use of the word, which is "acquired mode of behavior."


title: Habit

text: In 1890, William James, a pioneering philosopher and psychologist, addressed the subject of habit in his book, The Principles of Psychology. James viewed habit as natural tendency in order to navigate life. To him, "living creatures...are bundles of habits" and those habits that have "an innate tendency are called instincts." James also explains how habits can govern our lives. He states, "Any sequence of mental action which has been frequently repeated tends to perpetuate itself; so that we find ourselves automatically prompted to think, feel, or do what we have been before accustomed to think, feel, or do, under like circumstances, without any consciously formed purpose, or anticipated of result."


title: Habit

text: Habit formation is the process by which a behavior, through regular repetition, becomes automatic or habitual. This is modeled as an increase in automaticity with the number of repetitions up to an asymptote. This process of habit formation can be slow. Lally "et al." (2010) found the average time for participants to reach the asymptote of automaticity was 66 days with a range of 18–254 days.