title: Hiram Maxim

text: To both fund his research into flight and to bring attention to the notion of flight, Maxim designed and built an amusement ride for the Earl's Court exhibition of 1904. The ride was based on a test-rig he had devised for his research, and consisted of a large spinning frame from which cars hung captive. As the machine spun, the cars would be swung outward through the air, simulating flight. The ride was similar to the later Circle Swing ride, made popular in the US by renowned roller-coaster designer Harry Traver.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Maxim originally intended to use primitive aerofoils and wings to allow riders to control their flight, but this was outlawed as unsafe. As a result, Maxim quickly lost interest in the project, declaring the adapted ride as "Simply a glorified merry-go-round". Nevertheless, his company built several more rides of various sizes at The Crystal Palace and various seaside resorts including Southport, New Brighton, and Blackpool, all of which opened in 1904. Originally, Maxim had intended to build only two, but a lengthy breakdown on the original Earl's Court ride forced him to build more to make the venture profitable. He had plans for further variations of the ride but his disillusionment with the amusement business meant that they were never realised.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Although he expressed regrets about the whole project, the rides were held in high regard within the amusement industry and the Blackpool ride still operates to this day as part of what is now the Pleasure Beach amusement park. Along with the same park's similarly historic river caves, it is the oldest operating amusement ride in Europe. The Flying Machines has the distinction of being virtually unchanged from Maxim's original design. The Blackpool ride's name is now usually abbreviated to the "Flying Machine" or "Flying Machines", although the full name, "Sir Hiram Maxim's Captive Flying Machines", is given at the ride entrance.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: In 2001, Disney California Adventure Park opened, featuring the Golden Zephyr, a modern-day recreation of the Traver version of the ride. The ride itself is much smaller than the Blackpool version, with cars swinging out at a much smaller angle. Nevertheless, engineers from Disney visited Blackpool to inspect the Maxim ride (the only example of either version still standing) to help design their ride.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: In 1911, Maxim headed the newly formed Grahame-White, Blériot, and Maxim Company, founded with the two aviators and two hundred thousand pounds of capital.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: He had hoped to produce military aircraft capable of scouting or dropping a bomb, but his failing health and financial difficulties with his other enterprises restricted his ability to develop this enterprise before his death.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: In addition to his engineering endeavours, Maxim, a lifelong atheist "compiled and edited" a book he called "Li Hung Chang's Scrapbook".


title: Hiram Maxim

text: This book was addressed to Li Hung Chang (also spelled Li Hongzhang and Li Hung-chang) and endeavoured to address a belief that "The Chinese were generally puzzled as to how it was possible for people who are able to build locomotives and steamships to have a religion based on a belief in devils, ghosts, impossible miracles, and all the other absurdities and impossibilities peculiar to the religion taught by the missionaries."


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Maxim held European missionaries in China in low esteem, for reasons described in the scrapbook. He stated "...it was my aim, in compiling for His Excellency a scrap-book with explanatory notes, to put the Chinaman right in this respect. I wished to show that we were not all fools." His scrapbook comprised some 400 pages with 42 illustrations, presenting his views on The Nature of Christianity; Christianity in China; and his conclusions on subjects including Miracles, Spirituality, Faith; and the influence of the Bible on the civilisation of Europe and America. He concluded his scrapbook with an appeal to the Missionaries and his thoughts on the reason for the failure of what he described as "Missionary Propaganda" in China.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Maxim was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honour; a Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Engineer; Member of the London Chamber of Commerce; Fellow of the Royal Institution; Member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science; Member of the British Empire League; and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: In 1881, Maxim arrived in Britain to reorganise the London offices of the United States Electric Lighting Company. His visits back to the United States became increasingly infrequent and, on 16 September 1899, Maxim became a naturalised British subject. In the following year, Queen Victoria bestowed a knighthood on him. However Victoria died on 22 January 1901, shortly before Maxim's investiture, and so the honour was conferred by Maxim's "friend and new king, Edward VII" at Marlborough House on 9 February 1901.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Maxim died at his home in Streatham, London on 24 November 1916 at the age of 76. He is buried in south London's West Norwood Cemetery with his wife and his grandson, Lt Colonel Maxim Joubert.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: His brother, Hudson Maxim, was also a military inventor, specializing in explosives. They worked quite closely together until later in life, when there was a disagreement on a patent for smokeless powder. The patent, Hiram claimed, had been issued under the name 'H. Maxim,' and that because of this, his brother was able to stake a claim as the powder being his own. Hudson was a skilled and knowledgeable man, and sold arms in the US, while Hiram worked mainly in Europe. Hudson had success in the States, which caused jealousy from Hiram (he lamented having a "double" of himself running around in the States). The jealousy and disagreements caused a rift between the brothers that would last the rest of their lives.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Hiram Maxim married his first wife, the English-born Jane Budden, on 11 May 1867 in Boston, Massachusetts. Their children were: Hiram Percy Maxim; Florence Maxim, who married George Albert Cutter, and Adelaide Maxim, who married Eldon Joubert, Ignacy Jan Paderewski's piano tuner. In 1875, the family moved to Fanwood, New Jersey, with Hiram joining the family on weekends.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: His son Hiram Percy Maxim followed in his father's and uncle's footsteps and became a mechanical engineer and weapons designer as well, but he is perhaps best known for his early amateur radio experiments and for founding the American Radio Relay League. His invention of the "Maxim Silencer" for noise suppression came too late to save his father's hearing. Hiram Percy later wrote a biography of his father titled "A Genius in the Family", containing about 60 anecdotes of Hiram Percy's experiences with his father throughout his early life (until about age 12). Most of these short stories are entertaining; they give a reader an insider's (and a child's) view of the man's personal and family life. "So Goes My Love," a film loosely based on these memoirs and starring Don Ameche and Myrna Loy, was released in 1946.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: Hiram Maxim married his secretary and mistress, Sarah, daughter of Charles Haynes of Boston, in 1881. It is not clear if he was legally divorced from his first wife at this time. The marriage was registered again in Westminster, London in 1890.


title: Hiram Maxim

text: A woman called Helen Leighton brought a case against Maxim, claiming that he had married her in 1878 and that "he was knowingly committing bigamy" against his current wife, Jane Budden. She claimed further that Maxim had fathered a child named Romaine by her. The case was eventually dropped, being settled for under $1,000 (the original amount asked for was $25,000), and Maxim put behind him the near public humiliation the case caused. In October 1898, Helen Leighton again brought charges against Maxim for bigamy and abandonment in Poughkeepsie, New York. Later in life, he left 4,000 pounds sterling to a Romaine Dennison, perhaps the child Leighton claimed he had fathered.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: David Michael Davis (born 23 December 1948) is a British politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2003 to 2008 and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union from 2016 to 2018. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice and Howden, formerly Boothferry, since 1987. Davis was sworn of the Privy Council in the 1997 New Year Honours, having previously been Minister of State for Europe from 1994 to 1997.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: He was brought up on the Aboyne Estate, a council estate in Tooting, South West London. After attending Bec Grammar School in Tooting he gained an MBA at the age of 25 and went into a career with Tate & Lyle. Having entered Parliament in 1987 at the age of 38 he was appointed Europe Minister by Prime Minister John Major in July 1994. He held that position until the 1997 general election. He was subsequently Chairman of the Conservative Party and Shadow Secretary of State for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister under Iain Duncan Smith.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Between 2003 and 2008 he was the Shadow Home Secretary in the Shadow Cabinets of both Michael Howard and David Cameron. Davis had previously been a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2001 and 2005, coming fourth and second respectively. On 12 June 2008 Davis unexpectedly announced his intention to resign as an MP and was immediately replaced as Shadow Home Secretary; this was in order to force a by-election in his seat, for which he intended to seek reelection by mounting a specific campaign designed to provoke wider public debate about the erosion of civil liberties in the United Kingdom. Following his formal resignation as an MP he became the Conservative candidate in the resulting by-election, which he won a month later.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In July 2016, following a referendum in which a majority of over 1 million of those voting, supported leaving the European Union, Davis was appointed by the new Prime Minister, Theresa May, to the new Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) as Secretary of State, with responsibility for negotiating the UK's prospective exit from the EU. He was sidelined mid-way through the talks, with the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser Olly Robbins taking charge of negotiations. Davis resigned from his government position on 8 July 2018 over May's Brexit strategy and the Chequers plan. Following his resignation, the DExEU junior minister Steve Baker and the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also resigned.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Born to a single mother, Betty Brown, in York on 23 December 1948, Davis was initially raised by his grandparents there. His maternal grandfather, Walter Harrison, was the son of a wealthy trawlerman but was disinherited after joining the Communist Party; he led a 'hunger march' to London shortly after the more famous Jarrow March, which did not allow Communists to participate. His father, whom he met once after his mother's death, is Welsh. After his mother married Ronald Davis the family moved to London, where they lived initially in a flat in Wandsworth, which Davis has described as "a terrible little slum". Later, after his half-sister was born, the family moved to a council estate in Tooting, his stepfather being a shop steward at Battersea Power Station.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: When he left Bec Grammar School in Tooting, his A Level results were not good enough to secure a university place so Davis worked as an insurance clerk and became an infantry soldier in the Territorial Army's 21 SAS (Artists) Regiment to earn the money to retake his examinations. After doing so he won a place at the University of Warwick (BSc Joint Hons Molecular Science/Computer Science 1968–1971). While at Warwick he was one of the founding members of the student radio station, University Radio Warwick. He went straight from there to London Business School, where he earned a master's degree in business (1971–1973), and later attended Harvard Business School's Advanced Management Program (1984–85).


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis worked for Tate & Lyle for 17 years, rising to become a senior executive, including restructuring its troubled Canadian subsidiary, Redpath Sugar. He wrote about his business experiences in the 1988 book "How to Turn Round a Company".


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: While a student Davis was active in the Federation of Conservative Students, becoming national chairman in 1973.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis was first elected to Parliament in the 1987 general election as the MP for Boothferry, which in 1997 became the constituency of Haltemprice and Howden. He was a government whip when parliament voted on the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, angering many of the Maastricht Rebels on his own right wing of the party. Davis's progression through the Conservative ranks eventually led to his becoming a Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (1994–1997).


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: He rejected a shadow ministerial position under William Hague, opting instead to chair the Public Accounts Committee.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In 1999, Davis presented the Parliamentary Control of the Executive Bill to the House of Commons, in which he proposed to transfer ministerial exercise of the Royal Prerogative to the Commons in the following areas: the signing of treaties; the diplomatic recognition of foreign governments; European Union legislation; the appointment of ministers, peers and ambassadors; the establishment of Royal Commissions; the proclamation of Orders in Council unless subject to resolutions of the Commons; the exercise of the powers of the executive not made by statute; the declarations of states of emergency; the dissolution of Parliament.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis used his first interview as Shadow Home Secretary in November 2003 to state his personal support for a reintroduction of the death penalty for people convicted of multiple murder "where there is clear evidence and no doubt" surrounding the offender's guilt, citing the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Moors Murderer Ian Brady as examples of offenders who would fall into that category. This interview came almost 40 years after the abolition of the death penalty for murder.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: As Shadow Home Secretary, Davis turned the Conservatives away from the Labour Party's plan to reintroduce identity cards, citing spiralling costs and libertarian issues.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: He turned initial Conservative support into one of concern and abstention, making the final change to one of opposition much easier. Davis believed that once the true cost and unreliability of the ID card scheme was explained to the general public they would turn against it. He was also credited by some commentators with "claiming the scalps" of two Labour ministers, David Blunkett and Beverley Hughes, after both were forced to resign.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: At the time of the 2005 Conservative leadership contest, David Davis was Shadow Secretary of State for the Home Department. His campaign manager in the contest was Conservative MP and Davis' deputy as Shadow Home Secretary, Andrew Mitchell (who in 2010 became Secretary of State for International Development in Prime Minister David Cameron's cabinet).


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis was initially the front runner in the contest, but after a poorly received speech at that year's Conservative Party Conference his campaign was seen to lose momentum.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: However, referring to a Conference speech by the party's former leader, campaign manager Andrew Mitchell said: "William Hague made a great speech which many people will judge to be better than all the other leadership candidates put together. What that tells you is that being absolutely brilliant at being able to make a speech at conference is not the be-all-and-end-all of leadership. There are other things as well." He was photographed at the conference alongside two women wearing T-shirts emblazoned with "It's DD for me" which was viewed by some women as being patronising to them.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In the first ballot of Conservative MPs on 18 October 2005, Davis came top with 62 votes. As this was less than the number of his declared supporters, it became clear that the Davis bid was losing momentum. The elimination of former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke left the bookmakers' favourite, David Cameron, without a rival in the centre of the party. In the second ballot, held two days later on 20 October 2005, Cameron polled 90 votes, Davis 57 votes and Liam Fox was eliminated with 51 votes, so Davis went through to the next stage with David Cameron.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Despite a strong performance in a BBC "Question Time" head-to-head debate in the final stage of the leadership contest, Davis could not match his rival's general popularity. Conservative Party members voted to elect Cameron the new Conservative leader, Davis losing with 64,398 votes against Cameron's 134,446 votes. Cameron chose to re-appoint his rival as Shadow Home Secretary following his victory.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis is alleged to have played a role in the leaking of sensitive government documents when he was Shadow Home Secretary in 2007. According to a police statement, under interview after arrest, civil servant Chris Galley said Davis was his first contact and that he (Davis) introduced him to Damien Green, the Shadow Immigration spokesman. Chris Galley initially approached Davis stating he had access to government immigration details which he was willing to leak to help the Conservative Party. Under questioning by police Galley said that Green told him "do not mention Davis". In April 2009, following a disciplinary hearing, Galley was dismissed from his job as a junior Home Office official for leaking information to Green.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: On 12 June 2008, Davis resigned from the Shadow Cabinet and announced his resignation as an MP, in order to force a by-election, and cause a wider debate on the single issue of what he believed to be the erosion of civil liberties. On 18 June 2008, he resigned from the House of Commons. He stood as the Conservative Party candidate for his current seat in the subsequent by-election. The announcement came a day after the narrow passing of a parliamentary vote on the Counter-Terrorism Bill, which would extend the limit on the period of detention of terror suspects without charge in England and Wales, from 28 to 42 days.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: He won re-election with 72% of the vote, breaking several voting records in the UK, but neither the Labour Party nor the Liberal Democrats put up a candidate. As is common at by-elections, voter turnout declined significantly from the previous general election to 34%.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: At the time of Davis's resignation, the Labour MP Andy Burnham made a speech which was widely interpreted as falsely implying an inappropriate relationship between Davis and the then Director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti. Burnham was forced to issue a public apology under threat of legal action.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: As a backbench MP, Davis continued campaigning for civil liberties. He participated in the Convention on Modern Liberty, where he gave the keynote speech on the convention's final day. He also spoke at the 2009 Guardian Hay Festival, where he criticised Labour's "illusory pursuit of an unobtainable security", and was well received by an overwhelmingly non-Conservative audience. On 15 June 2009, Davis gave the 2009 Magna Carta Lecture at Royal Holloway, University of London, in association with the Magna Carta Trust.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis has also supported civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch and in January 2010 he spoke with Tony Benn at the official launch. In 2012 he helped lead the opposition to Coalition plans to allow police and security services to extend their monitoring of the public's email and social media communications. He expressed concern with the findings of a VICE News investigation into the deployment of IMSI-catchers in London.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In 2014, along with Labour MP Tom Watson he challenged the government's introduction of the Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Act 2014 in the courts. Although Davis is a staunch Eurosceptic and has criticised the record of the European Court of Human Rights, he has also argued against withdrawal from the court's jurisdiction, on the basis it might encourage countries with far worse civil liberties to do likewise.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis has taken more conservative stances on some other civil liberties issues, having repeatedly voted to restrict abortion, fertility treatment and embryo research. He also repeatedly voted against the furthering of LGBT rights, including supporting the controversial Section 28, which banned teachers from "promoting homosexuality" or "teaching ... the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship", and opposing the legalisation of same-sex marriage saying it was "not an issue of rights but a clash of beliefs".


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: During a House of Commons debate on 7 July 2009, Davis accused the UK government of outsourcing torture, by allowing Rangzieb Ahmed to leave the country (even though the government had evidence against Ahmed, upon which Ahmed was later convicted for terrorism) to Pakistan, where it is said the Inter-Services Intelligence was given the go-ahead by the British intelligence agencies to torture Ahmed. Davis further accused the government of trying to gag Ahmed, stopping him coming forward with his accusations after he had been imprisoned back in the UK.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: He said, there was "an alleged request to drop his allegations of torture: if he did that, they could get his sentence cut and possibly give him some money. If this request to drop the torture case is true, it is frankly monstrous. It would at the very least be a criminal misuse of the powers and funds under the Government's Contest strategy, and at worst a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice."


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis was amongst the signatories of a letter to "The Guardian" condemning the Coalition's efforts to hide the UK's involvement in rendition and torture behind secret trials.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In May 2010, after the 2010 general election which resulted in a hung parliament, it was reported that David Cameron wanted to invite Davis and other right-wingers such as Michael Howard and Iain Duncan Smith into his Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition cabinet. However, Davis declined and remained a critic of the government on its stance on tuition fees. In January 2011, along with Jack Straw, he secured a vote in the Commons to challenge a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that prisoners should be allowed to vote and MPs subsequently chose to ignore the ruling. He offered critical commentary on the coalition in a BBC interview in March 2012.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In 2012, together with Liam Fox, Davis founded Conservative pressure group Conservative Voice to amplify the voice of grassroots members, which Davis thought was getting lost in the party.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In a November 2012 speech, he urged David Cameron to hold a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU by 2014. He suggested to hold two votes, the first where voters would be asked whether they wanted to renegotiate current EU arrangements, and a second where they would be asked to either accept a renegotiated deal or leave the EU altogether.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Following Theresa May's appointment as Prime Minister, Davis was appointed Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Secretary) on 13 July 2016. He published in ConservativeHome his initial thoughts on the way Brexit might proceed. In his role as Brexit Secretary, Davis announced that Parliament will take action on translating EU laws into British laws as part of the process of Withdrawal from the European Union. Davis stated that the Brexit timetable discussion would be the "row of the summer" during a TV interview with Robert Peston on "Peston on Sunday". The timetable was set on the first day of negotiations and it was dictated by the EU.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: On 7 September 2017, the European commission published the minutes of a meeting in July at which Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, briefed the commission on the outcome of his first round of talks with Davis. Barnier expressed concern about Davis's commitment to the talks (he had been going to Brussels for the start and end of each round of talks, but had not been staying there for the duration).


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In November 2017, Davis acknowledged that the negotiations with the EU were difficult, but appealed to European countries not to "put politics above prosperity", implying that by doing so, countries like Germany would harm their own economies. He blamed Germany and France for blocking trade negotiations. Davis also argued that the UK and the EU should agree a free trade deal more comprehensive in scope than "any the EU has agreed before".


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Some politicians were angry because reports about the potential effect of Brexit on 58 economic sectors were severely edited before Davis gave them to the Exiting the European Union Select Committee. They maintained Davis – and by implication Theresa May's government – chose to disregard a binding and unanimous vote from MPs requiring the information to be provided in full. Davis later appeared to contradict his earlier assurances that impact analyses had been carried out when he said the government had not produced any economic forecasts of what would happen after the UK leaves the EU.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: David was sidelined in December 2017, mid-way through the negotiations, with the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser Olly Robbins taking charge of negotiations.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: In January 2018, former Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said Davis did not understand the implications of Brexit for Ireland's border with Northern Ireland.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: On 8 July 2018, Davis resigned as Brexit Secretary as he did not "believe" in the Prime Minister's Chequers plan for Brexit. Following Davis' resignation, Steve Baker and Boris Johnson also resigned.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: On 20 November 2018, Davis was criticised by the Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran, of the pro-EU group Best for Britain, for suggesting that the UK could negotiate a free trade agreement during a post-Brexit "transition period" without first having successfully negotiated a withdrawal agreement with the European Union.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Following Theresa May's resignation in May 2019, Davis supported Dominic Raab as the next leader of the Conservative Party.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis was re-elected in Haltemprice and Howden at the 2019 general election, increasing his majority by 5,000 votes. He has opposed the proposed extradition of Julian Assange to the United States.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: Davis has also been prominent in opposing the plans of the Johnson administration to privatise NHS data, advocating more transparency in the management of patient data.


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: During Prime Minister's Questions on 19 January 2022, Davis asked Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign, after expressing dissatisfaction with his response to Partygate. He quoted what Leo Amery (alluding to Oliver Cromwell) had said to Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1940: "You have sat there too long for all the good you have done. In the name of God, go."


title: David Davis (British politician)

text: On 2 October 2022, Davis wrote a piece in "The Daily Telegraph" which advocated for the National Health Service to be replaced with an insurance based system.


title: Pitched battle

text: A pitched battle or set-piece battle is a battle in which opposing forces each anticipate the setting of the battle, and each chooses to commit to it. Either side may have the option to disengage before the battle starts or shortly thereafter. A pitched battle is not a chance encounter such as a meeting engagement, or where one side is forced to fight at a time not of its choosing such as happens in a siege or an ambush. Pitched battles are usually carefully planned, to maximize one's strengths against an opponent's weaknesses, and use a full range of deceptions, feints, and other manoeuvres. They are also planned to take advantage of terrain favourable to one's force. Forces strong in cavalry for example will not select swamp, forest, or mountain terrain for the planned struggle. For example, Carthaginian general Hannibal selected relatively flat ground near the village of Cannae for his great confrontation with the Romans, not the rocky terrain of the high Apennines. Likewise, Zulu commander Shaka avoided forested areas or swamps, in favour of rolling grassland (flat or on mountain slopes), where the encircling horns of the Zulu Impi could manoeuvre to effect. Pitched battles continued to evolve throughout history as armies implemented new technology and tactics.


title: Pitched battle

text: During the Prehistorical period, pitched battles were established as the primary method for organised conflict and placed an emphasis on the implementation of rudimentary hand and missile weapons in loose formations. This developed into the Classical period as weapons and armour became more sophisticated and increased the efficacy of heavy infantry. Pitched battles decreased in size and frequency during the Middle Ages and saw the implementation of heavy cavalry and new counter cavalry formations. The early Modern period saw the introduction of rudimentary firearms and artillery developing new tactics to respond to the rapidly changing state of gunpowder warfare. The late Modern period saw improvements to firearms technology which saw the standardisation of rifle infantry, cavalry and artillery during battles. Pitched battles declined towards the late 19th century and had ceased by the First World War because of technological developments establishing trench warfare. Whilst there are a few examples of pitched battles that occurred on a large scale during the Second World War, during the Post-war period, pitched battles effectively ceased to exist because of the prevalence of irregular warfare.


title: Pitched battle

text: Pitched battles were first recorded during the prehistorical period as massed organised conflict became the primary method for the expansion of territory for early states. During the Neolithic period, from 10,000 BCE to 3000 BCE, violence was experienced endemically rather than in concentrated large-scale events. Later during the prehistorical period, after 3000 BCE, battles became increasingly organised and were typified by the implementation of bronze weaponry and rudimentary missile weapons.


title: Pitched battle

text: One of the earliest battles in Europe occurred in the Tollense Valley where a pitched battle was fought during the 13th century BCE, consisting of at least several hundred combatants. Evidence of bronze weaponry and flint and bronze arrow heads indicates that archers were used alongside infantry during the battle. A possible reason for the battle was the attempted crossing of a river by a large group of armed men who were confronted at a ford. Archers may have been positioned at either side of the river in the attempt to cause casualties before a series of close quarter engagements. The battle at Tollense Valley demonstrates that early pitched battles in the European prehistorical period were characterised by large semi-organised groups of combatants and the implementation of simple hand and missile weapons such as bows.


title: Pitched battle

text: Elsewhere, pitched battles had grown in frequency and size because of developments in technology and logistics during the later prehistorical period. Technological improvements included the addition of Iron weaponry, shields, and cavalry which were deployed in organised formations. An example of a pitched battle that demonstrated these developments was the battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE between New Kingdom Egypt under Ramses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II. Evidence from reliefs at the temple of Ramesses II depict the implementation of chariots and larger infantry formations that used spears and swords for close-quarter fighting. The battle itself occurred in three stages. Initially, Hittite chariots were deployed and charged an Egyptian division that was en route to the main Egyptian camp on the North-West side of the fortress of Kadesh. In the second phase of the battle, Ramesses II launched a chariot counterattack on the Hittite chariots which were plundering the Egyptian camp and pushed them back towards the Orontes River and main force of the Hittite army. The third stage was a dedicated series of charges launched by both sides as the Hittite reserve was positioned and refused to retreat over the river. The pitched battle resulted in an Egyptian tactical victory but a strategic stalemate for both sides.


title: Pitched battle

text: Pitched battles continued to evolve into the Classical period as weapons technology and battlefield tactics became more complex. The widespread introduction of iron weapons increased emphasis on close quarter infantry combat as improvements in armour and larger infantry block formations made missiles less effective. The Classical Greeks implemented a new and highly effective formation of spear infantry called a phalanx. By 550 BCE the Greeks had perfected the formation, which consisted of individual soldiers called hoplites forming rows of spears and shields. These units would engage in pitched battles against enemies in tight formations that would press against the enemy. Only if one side faltered was the formation able to break and the pursuing side engage in individual arms. The success of the phalanx was demonstrated against the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE and then at Plataea in 479 BCE. The Macedonians under Phillip II and Alexander the Great would develop this formation further to be deeper and wield longer spears called a sarrisa. The Macedonian phalanx was extremely successful against the Persian Empire and dominated Mediterranean warfare during the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE. The effective nature of these heavy infantry formations would be further developed by the Romans who established a large professional army consisting of heavily armoured infantry units and units of auxiliaries.


title: Pitched battle

text: An example of a pitched battle that occurred during the Classical period was the battle of Cannae fought between the Roman Republic under Lucius Aemllius Paullus Gaius Tarrentius Varo and the Carthaginians under Hannibal. The pitched battle occurred on 2 August in 216 BCE near the village of Cannae in Italy. The Romans had some 80,000 infantry and 6000 cavalry, whilst Hannibal controlled around 40,000 infantry and auxiliaries and 10,000 cavalry. The battle site was mutually decided as the flat river plain running along the river Aufidus and near the ancient village of Cannae. The Carthaginians favoured the level ground to ensure the effective deployment of cavalry and the Romans the narrow field between the river Aufidus and the village of Cannae to make full effect of their powerful infantry. Both sides carefully deployed their troops ensuring to make full advantage of their respective strategies.


title: Pitched battle

text: The Romans had deployed their heavy infantry in a deep formation with the intention of breaking through the Carthaginian centre whilst their 6000 cavalry had been deployed on each flank positioned to defend against the superior Carthaginian cavalry. Hannibal had deployed his troops with a weak centre and reinforced flanks with the intention of letting the centre break. Behind his main line he positioned 8000 auxiliary infantry with the purpose of surprising the Roman infantry as they pursued the faltering Carthaginian centre. Hannibal was aware of the superior power of the Roman infantry and elected to out manoeuvre and trap the Romans in an encirclement. Hannibal's deployment tactic worked and although precise numbers of casualties are disputed, eight Roman legions or roughly 45,500-70,000 Roman infantry were slain. The battle resulted in a decisive victory for Hannibal and illustrates the importance of heavy infantry and advanced deployment strategies for pitched battles during the period.


title: Pitched battle

text: Pitched battles during the Middle Ages decreased in overall size and frequency because states were unable to field armies as large as those during the Classical period. The potential decisiveness and possibility of the death of the leader also decreased the number of pitched battles fought. Battlefield strategy also began to favour control through sieges and garrisons in fortifications such as castles. However, the few examples of pitched battles during the period demonstrate developments in arms and armour and their effect upon tactics and deployment. Technological improvements in metalworking permitted the increased introduction of plate armour which provided superior protection in combat. Wealthy soldiers, often called knights, would combine heavy plate armour and a mount. These would be deployed in devastatingly effective charges or dismounted to fight on foot dominating battlefields throughout the Middle Ages. Consequently, infantry tactics during pitched battles would evolve towards the late Middle Ages to emphasise the use of polearms such as pikes and halberds. Furthermore, pitched battles during this period saw the widespread introduction of the crossbow, as evidenced at the battle of Hastings, provided a powerful alternative to bows and were effective against most forms of armour.


title: Pitched battle

text: An important pitched battle that demonstrated the evolution of tactics and technology during the Middle Ages was the battle of Hastings fought on the 14 October 1066. This battle was fought between the Norman-French Army under William the Conqueror and the English army under Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson. This pitched battle was fought as William engaged Godwinson who deployed his army of infantry in a small dense formation at the top of a steep slope. The English formation held heavy infantry, referred to as housecarls, at the centre and light infantry on the flanks. Across the front of Godwinson's battle line was a shield wall made from soldiers interlocking their shields holding spears and missile troops behind. The Normans under William deployed in three groups which consisted of their origins, Bretons on the left flank, Normans in the centre and Franco-Flemings on the right flank. William deployed his missile troops which included crossbowmen, at the front of his lines with his heavy infantry and cavalry behind. William's heavily armoured Norman knights were essential in the battle as they were deployed in cavalry feints which thinned and at occasions broke Godwinson's shield wall as they pursued fleeing Norman cavalry. The repeated implementation of this battle tactic eventually led to Norman victory in the battle as they were able to draw the English into a pursuit which was then counter charged and broken. The effective deployment of heavy cavalry by the Normans during this battle demonstrates the importance of technological improvements through arms and armour and evolving tactics to pitched battles during the Middle Ages.


title: Pitched battle

text: Pitched battles developed significantly during the early Modern era as tactics and deployment strategies evolving rapidly with the introduction of early firearms and artillery. There was a general increase in the size of pitched battles during this period as states grew and could wield larger standing armies using improved logistics. Firearms were introduced in Europe during the 16th century and revolutionised pitched battles because of their devastating effect when fired in sequence. Despite this, early firearms were inaccurate and slow to fire meaning that they were most effectively deployed in smaller, mobile blocks of infantry who would fire a mass of projectiles at an enemy. Because these weapons were unreliable, these troops were supported by other groups of infantry, especially when confronted with enemy cavalry. In 16th century Italy, pike and shot infantry would have interweaving ranks of musket and pike armed soldiers to provide mobile cavalry protection. Furthermore, during this period artillery would evolve from basic stone throwers to barrelled cannons capable of mobility and more effective siege warfare.


title: Pitched battle

text: The battle of Nagashino was a pitched battle fought between the combined forces of Oda and Tokugawa clans against Takeda clan on 28 June 1575 during the Sengoku period in Japan. The battle occurred as Oda Nobunaga led 38,000 men to relieve Tokugawa forces besieged by Takeda Katsuyori at Nagashino Castle. This battle represents an example of a siege that develops into a pitched battle upon the arrival of new forces. Key to Oda success during the battle was the deployment of 10,000 Ashigaru arquebusiers. Firearms has been introduced to Japan by European traders as early as 1543 and had been adopted quickly. Nagashino was one of the earliest examples of their effective tactical deployment. Before the battle, Nobunaga had positioned his arquebusiers in formations to be protected from enemy cavalry by supporting Ashigaru spearmen. The Takeda strategy was to utilise their superior cavalry force and make the Oda infantry flee with concentrated charges. This was unsuccessful as Oda spearmen worked in tandem with the arquebusiers who fired organised volleys in ranks of three to repel Takeda cavalry charges and achieve victory in the battle.


title: Pitched battle

text: Firearms and artillery dominated pitched battles during the late modern period as technological improvements such as rifling improved the reliability and accuracy of the weapons. The efficacy of firearms increased dramatically during the 18th century with the introduction of rifling for enhanced range and accuracy, cartridge ammunition and magazines. As a result, most armies during this period would strictly deploy firearm infantry. Notable exceptions to this would be in colonial Africa where native armies would still employ close quarter fighting to some success, such as at the battle of Isandlwana in 1879 between the Zulu Empire and the British. The mobility and accuracy of artillery was also improved with rifling and sophisticated reload mechanisms and would be utilised to great effect alongside infantry throughout the 19th century. Furthermore, cavalry would continue to be an effective force for pitched battles during this period as they were implemented to harass infantry formations and artillery positions. These tactics would remain in warfare until developments in technology would make pitched battles less effective towards the end of the 19th century.


title: Pitched battle

text: The Battle of Isandlwana was fought between the Zulu Empire and the British Empire on 22 January 1879. This pitched battle saw the implementation of superior tactics to overwhelm a technologically superior force. The Zulu army usually deployed in its well known "buffalo horns" formation. The attack layout was composed of three elements:


title: Pitched battle

text: The Zulu forces were generally grouped into 3 levels: regiments; corps of several regiments; and "armies" or bigger formations. With enough manpower, these could be marshaled and maneuvered in the Western equivalent of divisional strength. Coordination of tactical movements was supplied by the indunas who used hand signals and messengers. Generally before deploying for combat, the regiments were made to squat in a semicircle. This semi-circular squat served to align all echelons towards the coming pitched battle, while the commanders made final assignments and adjustments. While formidable in action, the Zulu arrangements for a pitched struggle could be predictable, as they usually used the same 3-part layout in their operations.


title: Pitched battle

text: At Isandlwana, Zulu forces first lured the British into splitting their strength by diversionary actions around Magogo Hills and Mangeni Falls, and then moved to take advantage of this British error in a careful approach march, using dispersed units that hid the full strength of the army. As one historian notes:


title: Pitched battle

text: The total Zulu host was then concentrated in a deep ravine near the enemy position, pre-positioned for their classic "buffalo horns" pitched attack, but in accordance with tradition, waiting until the omens were good for an assault. Discovered by a British cavalry patrol, the entire I"mpi" sprang up as one man, and launched their attack from some 4 miles away. The advance was met by withering British rifle, rocket and artillery fire that made part of the advance falter. The British however had divided their forces- fooled in part by preliminary Zulu feints- and other errors, such as failure to base the camp on a strong central wagon or laager fortification for example also contributed to fatal weaknesses in the British defences. When pressure by the maneuvering Zulu formations caused the crumbling of the redcoat line, the Zulu prongs surged through and around the gaps, annihilating the camp's defenders. The liquidation of almost 1,000 European troops with modern arms by the African spearmen sparked disbelief and uproar in Britain. Aside from the losses of British regulars, and the supporting native levies, the Zulu "impi" killed more British officers at Isandlwana than Napoleon killed at Waterloo.


title: Pitched battle

text: Towards the late 19th century and into the World Wars of the 20th century, pitched battles decreased in frequency because of the increasing size of armies and developments in weapons technology. Larger armies meant that combat could not be resolved in single events and the introduction of the machine gun, advanced artillery, and barbed wire by the First World War meant that deploying infantry in large moveable blocks was ineffective as they could be easily made immobile and destroyed. Barbed wire alone brought an end to the deployment of cavalry as they would be rendered immobile and made easy targets. Developments in tactics would emphasise fortified positions in trenches and would result in battles that would take months and be determined by attrition and supply rather than tactics and mobility. The introduction of mechanised armour and aircraft in the late First World War meant that trench warfare would be less effective as trenches could be outmanoeuvred and surrounded. This was demonstrated clearly during the early stages of The Second World War during the German Blitzkrieg in France. Tactics in the Second World War developed to focus on mobile groups of infantry who would work in tandem with armour, aircraft and artillery to out manoeuvre and surround enemy positions. This would generally result in many smaller skirmishes along a wide battle front rather than localised pitched battles. However, during the war, there would be several important battles that would employ pitched battle tactics at a larger scale.


title: Pitched battle

text: During the Normandy landings under Operation Overlord, the Allies engaged in a pitched battle on a massive scale to defeat German resistance. When the Allies landed at Normandy, the pitched battle strategy used by the commander of the British land forces, general Bernard Montgomery, was to confront German armoured units with constant harassment from British armies on the eastern flank of the beachhead. The role of the British forces would be to act as a great shield for the Allied landing, constantly sucking the German armour on to that shield on the left (east), and constantly grinding it down with punishing blows from artillery, tanks and Allied aircraft. As the shield held the Germans, the Americans were to push in the west on the right of the Allied line, breaking through the German defences. The British role in the strategy would thus not be a glamorous one, but a brutal battle in a punishing cauldron of attrition, in and around the key city of Caen.


title: Pitched battle

text: Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower affirmed Montgomery's overall strategy in a message of 10 July, urging stronger efforts:


title: Pitched battle

text: Montgomery's overall pitched conception of the battle eventually bore fruit, but it took two months of bitter fighting in and around the city of Caen to come to fruition.


title: Pitched battle

text: During the Post war period, pitched battles became outdated because of increasing emphasis on camouflage, guerrilla warfare and strategic bombing, all of which prevented the largescale deployment of organised units of troops. Battles became increasingly reliant upon many smaller skirmishes along a frontline or sporadic combat in an area of hostility and no longer resembled pitched battles in any form.


title: David Rizzio

text: David Rizzio ( ; ; – 9 March 1566) or Riccio ( , ) was an Italian courtier, born in Pancalieri close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito, who rose to become the private secretary of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary's husband, Lord Darnley, is said to have been jealous of their friendship because of rumours that Rizzio had impregnated Mary, and he joined in a conspiracy of Protestant nobles to murder him, led by Patrick Ruthven, 3rd Lord Ruthven. Mary was having dinner with Rizzio and a few ladies-in-waiting when Darnley joined them, accused his wife of adultery and then had a group murder Rizzio, who was hiding behind Mary. Mary was held at gunpoint and Rizzio was stabbed numerous times. His body took 57 dagger wounds. The murder was the catalyst of the downfall of Darnley, and had serious consequences for Mary's subsequent reign.


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio (whose name appears in Italian records as Davide Riccio di Pancalieri in Piemonte) went first from Turin to the Court of the Duke of Savoy, then at Nice. However, finding no opportunities for advancement there, he found means in 1561 to get himself admitted into the train of the Count of Moretta, who was about to lead an embassy to Scotland. The Court in Scotland had no employment for Rizzio, and dismissed him. He ingratiated himself with the Queen's musicians, whom she had brought with her from France. James Melville, a friend of Rizzio, said that "Her Majesty had three valets in her chamber, who sung three parts, and wanted a bass to sing the fourth part".


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio was considered a good musician and excellent singer, which brought him to the attention of the cosmopolitan young queen. Towards the end of 1564, having grown wealthy under her patronage, he became the queen's secretary for relations with France, after the previous occupant of the post had retired. Rizzio was ambitious, controlling access to the queen and seeing himself as almost a Secretary of State. Other courtiers felt that as a Catholic and a foreigner he was too close to the queen. Rumours became rife that Mary was having an adulterous affair with Rizzio.


title: David Rizzio

text: His salary for the post of valet was 150 Francs or £75 Scots. In 1565 he got £80 in four installments paid by George Wishart of Drymme. Mary gave him gifts of rich fabric from her wardrobe, including black velvet figured with gold, and five pieces of gold cloth figured with scales.


title: David Rizzio

text: Jealousy precipitated his murder in the Queen's presence, in her supper chamber in the Palace of Holyroodhouse on Saturday 9 March 1566 at 8 o'clock. The royal guards were overpowered and the palace was turned over to the control of the rebels. Mary and Rizzio were in a supper room, which still exists as part of the bedchamber, and was then "a cabinet about XII foot square, in the same a little low reposinge bedde, and a table" according to an account of the murder written by Francis, Earl of Bedford, and Thomas Randolph. The room had been decorated by Mary's servant Servais de Condé.


title: David Rizzio

text: On the night of the murder Mary, Rizzio, and the Lady Argyll were seated at the supper table. The Queen was six months pregnant (with James VI) at the time, and some accused Rizzio of having impregnated her. The rebels burst into the cabinet or supper room, led by Lord Ruthven, and demanded that Rizzio be handed over. The Queen refused. Rizzio then hid behind Mary but was nevertheless seized. According to Mary, one of the intruders, Patrick Bellenden brother of the Lord Justice Clerk, pointed his gun at her pregnant belly, while Andrew Kerr of Faldonsyde threatened to stab her. Lord Ruthven denied this.


title: David Rizzio

text: After this violent struggle, Rizzio was dragged through the bed-chamber into the adjacent Audience Chamber and stabbed an alleged 57 times. His body was thrown down the main staircase nearby (now disused) and stripped of his jewels and fine clothes. The location of Rizzio's murder is marked with a small plaque in the Audience Chamber, underneath which is a red mark on the floorboards, which reportedly was left when Rizzio was stabbed to death.


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio was first buried in the cemetery of Holyrood Abbey. Buchanan states that shortly afterwards his body was removed by the Queen's orders and deposited in the tomb of the kings of Scotland in Holyrood Abbey. This strengthened the previous rumours of her familiarity with him. Rumours were thrown around about the motive for the murder – some claimed Darnley was jealous, or that powerful lords sought to manipulate Darnley and remove an irritating presence at court.


title: David Rizzio

text: Immediately after the murder Mary was able to speak to Lord Darnley, and may have convinced him they were both in danger and captives in the palace. The guard around her was relaxed and at midnight the next day they escaped and she rode behind Arthur Erskine of Blackgrange, master of her stable, to Seton Palace and then to safety at Dunbar Castle. An English servant of Lord Darnley Anthony Standen later claimed to have accompanied the queen with John Stewart of Traquair and his brother William Stewart. Mary returned to Edinburgh with her supporters, and took up lodgings on the Royal Mile rather than return to the palace. On 21 March she had Darnley declared innocent of the murder.


title: David Rizzio

text: Robert Melville arrived in Edinburgh from London and reported back to Elizabeth and Cecil on the aftermath of the murder. He noted that Morton, Lord Ruthven, Lord Lindsay, William Maitland of Lethington, the Clerk Register James Balfour, the Lord Justice Clerk John Bellenden (whose brother was alleged to have pointed a gun at the queen), and some gentlemen of Lothian, who were all suspected of having knowledge of the plan had fled.


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio's brother, Joseph, arrived in Scotland with Michel de Castelnau and was appointed secretary in David's place by 25 April 1566. Joseph and an Italian colleague, Joseph Lutyni, had some trouble over coins taken from the queen's purse, and in April 1567 he was accused and acquitted with Bothwell of Darnley's murder.


title: David Rizzio

text: David Rizzio's career was remembered and referred to by Henry IV of France. Mocking the pretension of James VI of Scotland to be the "Scottish Solomon", he remarked that "he hoped he was not David the fiddler's son", alluding to the possibility that Rizzio, not Darnley, fathered King James.


title: David Rizzio

text: It has been alleged that Rizzio is buried at Canongate Kirkyard, Edinburgh; this would have required reinterment of a Catholic with no living friends in a Protestant graveyard 120 years after his death. It is considered more likely that he lies in an unmarked grave in the graveyard attaching Holyrood Abbey. The Protestant historian George Buchanan wrote in 1581 that David was first buried outside the door of the Abbey, and then Mary arranged for him to be buried in the tomb of her father James V and Madeleine of France within. Buchanan described this circumstance as reflecting badly on the Queen. Fearing that Mary's son, James VI, would suppress the book, Buchanan's friend James Melville tried to get Buchanan to rewrite the passage while the book was at the printers. Buchanan asked his cousin, Thomas Buchanan, a schoolmaster in Stirling, if he thought the story was true, and the cousin agreed. The story was published.


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio was played by John Carradine in the 1936 RKO picture "Mary of Scotland"; by Ian Holm in the 1971 movie "Mary, Queen of Scots"; by Tadeusz Pasternak in the BBC mini-series "Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot"; by Andrew Shaver in The CW network television show "Reign"; and by Ismael Cruz Córdova in the 2018 film "Mary Queen of Scots".


title: David Rizzio

text: The murder of Rizzio and the subsequent downfall of Darnley form the main subject of the 1830 play "Maria Stuart" by Juliusz Słowacki.


title: David Rizzio

text: Rizzio's life and death are a key plot element in Caleb Carr's Sherlock Holmes story "The Italian Secretary", Holmes vocally dismissing the idea that Rizzio was ever anything more than entertainment.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: The oil drop experiment was performed by Robert A. Millikan and Harvey Fletcher in 1909 to measure the elementary electric charge (the charge of the electron). The experiment took place in the Ryerson Physical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. Millikan received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1923.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: The experiment entailed observing tiny electrically charged droplets of oil located between two parallel metal surfaces, forming the plates of a capacitor. The plates were oriented horizontally, with one plate above the other. A mist of atomized oil drops was introduced through a small hole in the top plate and was ionized by an x-ray, making them negatively charged. First, with zero applied electric field, the velocity of a falling droplet was measured. At terminal velocity, the drag force equals the gravitational force. As both forces depend on the radius in different ways, the radius of the droplet, and therefore the mass and gravitational force, could be determined (using the known density of the oil). Next, a voltage inducing an electric field was applied between the plates and adjusted until the drops were suspended in mechanical equilibrium, indicating that the electrical force and the gravitational force were in balance. Using the known electric field, Millikan and Fletcher could determine the charge on the oil droplet. By repeating the experiment for many droplets, they confirmed that the charges were all small integer multiples of a certain base value, which was found to be , about 0.6% difference from the currently accepted value of They proposed that this was the magnitude of the negative charge of a single electron.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Starting in 1908, while a professor at the University of Chicago, Millikan, with the significant input of Fletcher, the "able assistance of Mr. J. Yinbong


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Lee", and after improving his setup, published his seminal study in 1913. This remains controversial since papers found after Fletcher's death describe events in which Millikan coerced Fletcher into relinquishing authorship as a condition for receiving his PhD. In return, Millikan used his influence in support of Fletcher's career at Bell Labs.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Millikan and Fletcher's experiment involved measuring the force on oil droplets in a glass chamber sandwiched between two electrodes, one above and one below. With the electrical field calculated, they could measure the droplet's charge, the charge on a single electron being (). At the time of Millikan and Fletcher's oil drop experiments, the existence of subatomic particles was not universally accepted. Experimenting with cathode rays in 1897, J. J. Thomson had discovered negatively charged "corpuscles", as he called them, with a mass about 1/1837 times smaller than that of a hydrogen atom. Similar results had been found by George FitzGerald and Walter Kaufmann. Most of what was then known about electricity and magnetism, however, could be explained on the basis that charge is a continuous variable; in much the same way that many of the properties of light can be explained by treating it as a continuous wave rather than as a stream of photons.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: The elementary charge "e" is one of the fundamental physical constants and thus the accuracy of the value is of great importance. In 1923, Millikan won the Nobel Prize in physics, in part because of this experiment.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Aside from the measurement, the beauty of the oil drop experiment is that it is a simple, elegant hands-on demonstration that charge is quantized. Thomas Edison, who had previously thought of charge as a continuous variable, became convinced after working with Millikan and Fletcher's apparatus. This experiment has since been repeated by generations of physics students, although it is rather expensive and difficult to conduct properly.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: In the last two decades, several computer-automated experiments have been conducted to search for isolated fractionally charged particles. As of 2015, no evidence for fractional charge particles has been found after measuring over 100 million drops.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Millikan's and Fletcher's apparatus incorporated a parallel pair of horizontal metal plates. By applying a potential difference across the plates, a uniform electric field was created in the space between them. A ring of insulating material was used to hold the plates apart. Four holes were cut into the ring, three for illumination by a bright light, and another to allow viewing through a microscope.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: A fine mist of oil droplets was sprayed into a chamber above the plates. The oil was of a type usually used in vacuum apparatus and was chosen because it had an extremely low vapour pressure. Ordinary oils would evaporate under the heat of the light source causing the mass of the oil drop to change over the course of the experiment. Some oil drops became electrically charged through friction with the nozzle as they were sprayed. Alternatively, charging could be brought about by including an ionising radiation source (such as an X-ray tube). The droplets entered the space between the plates and, because they were charged, could be made to rise and fall by changing the voltage across the plates.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Initially the oil drops are allowed to fall between the plates with the electric field turned off. They very quickly reach a terminal velocity because of friction with the air in the chamber. The field is then turned on and, if it is large enough, some of the drops (the charged ones) will start to rise. (This is because the upwards electric force "F" is greater for them than the downwards gravitational force "F", in the same way bits of paper can be picked by a charged rubber rod). A likely looking drop is selected and kept in the middle of the field of view by alternately switching off the voltage until all the other drops have fallen. The experiment is then continued with this one drop.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: The drop is allowed to fall and its terminal velocity v in the absence of an electric field is calculated. The drag force acting on the drop can then be worked out using Stokes' law:


title: Oil drop experiment

text: where "v" is the terminal velocity (i.e. velocity in the absence of an electric field) of the falling drop, "η" is the viscosity of the air, and "r" is the radius of the drop.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: The weight w is the volume "D" multiplied by the density "ρ" and the acceleration due to gravity g. However, what is needed is the apparent weight. The apparent weight in air is the true weight minus the upthrust (which equals the weight of air displaced by the oil drop). For a perfectly spherical droplet the apparent weight can be written as:


title: Oil drop experiment

text: At terminal velocity the oil drop is not accelerating. Therefore, the total force acting on it must be zero and the two forces "F" and formula_3 must cancel one another out (that is, "F" = formula_3). This implies


title: Oil drop experiment

text: where "q" is the charge on the oil drop and "E" is the electric field between the plates. For parallel plates


title: Oil drop experiment

text: One conceivable way to work out "q" would be to adjust "V" until the oil drop remained steady. Then we could equate "F" with formula_3. Also, determining "F" proves difficult because the mass of the oil drop is difficult to determine without reverting to the use of Stokes' Law. A more practical approach is to turn "V" up slightly so that the oil drop rises with a new terminal velocity "v". Then


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Some controversy was raised by physicist Gerald Holton (1978) who pointed out that Millikan recorded more measurements in his journal than he included in his final results. Holton suggested these data points were omitted from the large set of oil drops measured in his experiments without apparent reason. This claim was disputed by Allan Franklin, a high energy physics experimentalist and philosopher of science at the University of Colorado. Franklin contended that Millikan's exclusions of data did not substantively affect his final value of "e", but did reduce the statistical error around this estimate "e". This enabled Millikan to claim that he had calculated "e" to better than one half of one percent; in fact, if Millikan had included all of the data he had thrown out, the standard error of the mean would have been within 2%. While this would still have resulted in Millikan having measured "e" better than anyone else at the time, the slightly larger uncertainty might have allowed more disagreement with his results within the physics community. While Franklin left his support for Millikan's measurement with the conclusion that concedes that Millikan may have performed "cosmetic surgery" on the data, David Goodstein investigated the original detailed notebooks kept by Millikan, concluding that Millikan plainly states here and in the reports that he included only drops that had undergone a "complete series of observations" and excluded no drops from this group of complete measurements. Reasons for a failure to generate a complete observation include annotations regarding the apparatus setup, oil drop production, and atmospheric effects which invalidated, in Millikan's opinion (borne out by the reduced error in this set), a given particular measurement.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: In a commencement address given at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1974 (and reprinted in "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" in 1985 as well as in "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" in 1999), physicist Richard Feynman noted:


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Before that, the most recent (2014) accepted value was , where the (98) indicates the uncertainty of the last two decimal places. In his Nobel lecture, Millikan gave his measurement as , which equals . The difference is less than one percent, but is six times greater than Millikan's standard error, so the disagreement is significant.


title: Oil drop experiment

text: Using X-ray experiments, Erik Bäcklin in 1928 found a higher value of the elementary charge, or , which is within uncertainty of the exact value. Raymond Thayer Birge, conducting a review of physical constants in 1929, stated "The investigation by Bäcklin constitutes a pioneer piece of work, and it is quite likely, as such, to contain various unsuspected sources of systematic error. If [... it is ...] weighted according to the apparent probable error [...], the weighted average will still be suspiciously high. [...] the writer has finally decided to reject the Bäcklin value, and to use the weighted mean of the remaining two values." Birge averaged Millikan's result and a different, less accurate X-ray experiment that agreed with Millikan's result. Successive X-ray experiments continued to give high results, and proposals for the discrepancy were ruled out experimentally. Sten von Friesen measured the value with a new electron diffraction method, and the oil drop experiment was redone. Both gave high numbers. By 1937 it was "quite obvious" that Millikan's value could not be maintained any longer, and the established value became or .


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Steven Delano Smith (born March 31, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player who is a basketball analyst for Turner Sports. After a collegiate career with Michigan State, he played with several teams in his 14-season National Basketball Association career, including the Miami Heat, the Portland Trail Blazers and the San Antonio Spurs, but is perhaps best known for his five-year stint with the Atlanta Hawks which included an All-Star Game appearance in 1998. He won a championship with the Spurs in 2003.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith was widely regarded as an excellent three-point shooter, and is one of three players to make seven 3-pointers in a quarter.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: He joined the USA men's national basketball team in the 1994 FIBA World Championship winning the gold medal. He won another gold medal at the 1999 Tournament of the Americas and an Olympic gold medal with the USA men's national basketball team at the 2000 Summer Olympics with eleven other NBA All-Stars.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith finished his four-year career as the all-time leading scorer in Michigan State history, with 2,263 points. He ranks fourth on the school's all-time assists list (with 453) and fifth in rebounds (with 704). For his college career Smith averaged 18.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists per contest in 122 games. He was named to the NABC All-American First Team as a senior. Smith led the Spartans to a Big Ten Championship and Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1990 and hit a game-winning, last-second three-pointer to beat Wisconsin–Green Bay in the first round of the 1991 NCAA Tournament. He was inducted into Michigan State's Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith was selected fifth overall in the 1991 NBA draft by the Miami Heat, a young expansion team which featured other young players such as Glen Rice, Rony Seikaly and Brian Shaw. Smith played in 61 games in his rookie season, starting in 59 with averages of 12 points a game and 4.6 assists. The young team made the playoffs to face the top seeded defending champion Chicago Bulls, who swept the Heat in 3 games in the first round. Smith averaged 16 points a game for the series. Injuries limited Smith to 48 games in the 1992–93 season, but he increased his scoring average to 16 points a game. Miami did not make the playoffs that year.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The 1993–94 season would prove to be Smith's best in Miami, as he averaged 17.3 points a game with 5.1 assists as the Heat won 42 games and entered the first round of the playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. The series went to 5 games, as Miami won its first playoff games in franchise history. Smith led the team in scoring during the series with 19.2 points and shot 40 percent from beyond the three-point line. Smith would play just two games to start the 1994–95 season before being traded along with Grant Long to Atlanta for Kevin Willis, a deal that was universally regarded as a one-sided heist by Atlanta, and that eventually led the Heat to hire Pat Riley as their coach and VP of Basketball Operations.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith started in 59 of 78 games for Atlanta and averaged 16 points during the regular season and 19 points in the playoffs, as the Hawks lost in a first round sweep to the Indiana Pacers. He would go on to average a then career-high 18.1 points a game in 80 starts in the 1995–96 season, forming a formidable backcourt one-two punch with Mookie Blaylock. The team under head coach Lenny Wilkens would win 46 games and defeat the Indiana Pacers in the first round in 5 games. The next round, while facing the Orlando Magic, Smith led all scorers in a Game 4 win with 35 points, before Atlanta lost the series 4 games to 1. Smith averaged 21.7 points in 10 playoff games that postseason.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The following season would feature another career high scoring average (20.1) for Smith, as he continued to serve as the Hawks' main option on offense. On March 14, 1997, Smith made a career high 9 three-pointers en route to a 36 point total, during a loss to the Seattle SuperSonics. On April 9, Smith recorded a career high 5 steals in a win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Atlanta also featured players such as solid power-forward Christian Laettner and defensive star Dikembe Mutombo, and would go on to win 56 games before meeting and defeating the Detroit Pistons in a 5-game first round series. Smith played well against Detroit and held his own against Michael Jordan and the defending champion Chicago Bulls, who defeated the Hawks in 5 games in the semifinals. The following season would be similar to Smith as he once again averaged 20.1 points a game, but this time managed to be named an NBA All-Star as he scored 14 points in 16 minutes of action in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. The Hawks would disappoint in the playoffs yet again however, this time losing to the Charlotte Hornets 3 games to 1 in the conference semifinals despite a 24.8 ppg scoring average by Smith for the series.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The 1998–99 season would be limited to 50 games as a result of a league wide lockout, and in 36 games Smith averaged 18.7 points a game and led the Hawks to another 5 game first round victory over Detroit. The Hawks had no answer, however, for the New York Knicks, and again the Hawks were eliminated in the semifinals. Smith averaged 17.3 points a game in the 1999 playoffs. In the offseason, the Hawks traded Smith in a 4 player trade to the Portland Trail Blazers alongside Ed Gray in exchange for Jim Jackson and Isaiah Rider.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Portland was a loaded team that had reached the Western Conference Finals in the 1999 playoffs and featured star forward Rasheed Wallace as well as the newly acquired Scottie Pippen. Smith would no longer be required to carry the offensive load, and averaged 14.9 points a game in 81 starts as the Trail Blazers secured the second best record in the Western Conference. Smith would increase his scoring average to 17.1 in the playoffs, as Portland would defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round before beating the Utah Jazz in the semifinals. Up next would be the league best Los Angeles Lakers, who took a 3–1 series lead over Portland before the Trail Blazers won game 5 on the road and game 6 at home as Smith scored 26 points to set up a game 7 matchup. Despite leading by double digits heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers came back to win the game and advance to the NBA Finals where they would win the NBA Title.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: That summer, Smith represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympics for the United States men's national basketball team, which won the gold medal. He averaged just over 6 points a game in the Olympics including a 12-point performance against China in the group stage of the tournament.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The Trail Blazers entered the 2000–01 season with high expectations, but struggled to repeat the success of the previous season, as injuries took their toll and new additions and trades hurt team chemistry. Smith only started in 36 of 81 games, but still managed to 13.6 points a game. Portland would suffer another loss to the Lakers in the playoffs, this time in a three-game sweep in the first round. Following the season he would be traded to the San Antonio Spurs for Derek Anderson and Steve Kerr.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The Spurs featured superstars Tim Duncan and David Robinson, and were attempting to win another championship as they had in 1999. Smith would be utilized as the team's starting shooting guard, averaging 11.6 points a game in 76 starts while leading in the league in three-point shooting at 47 percent for the season. Smith would average double figure scoring in the Spurs' first round win over the Seattle SuperSonics, including 17 points in a game 1 victory, but struggled against the defending champion L.A. Lakers, who defeated the Spurs in 5 games.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: The following 2002–03 season would mark Smith's final year in San Antonio, while second-year point guard Tony Parker blossomed into the team's second leading scorer. The same was the case for guard Stephen Jackson who consequently came to serve as the team's main starting shooting guard, with Smith starting in just 18 games for the season as a result of injuries limiting him to just 58 total games. As a result, Smith averaged 6.8 points a game, and would be used sparingly in the Spurs' playoff run, in which the team eliminated the Phoenix Suns, the three-time champion Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks before defeating the New Jersey Nets in six games to win the NBA title, Smith's first and only championship. Just before the 2003–2004 season started, the free agent Smith signed with the New Orleans Hornets.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith played in 71 games for the Hornets, who were led by Baron Davis and Jamaal Magloire. He averaged 5 points a game and shot 40 percent from beyond the three-point arc. The Hornets made the playoffs but lost in a grueling back and forth series against Miami. Despite losing the final 7th game in Miami, Smith scored 25 points, including 5 three-pointers, against his former team. Once again a free agent before the following season, Smith signed with the Charlotte Bobcats.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith played in 37 games for the young Bobcats team, and averaged 7.9 points a game, including hitting the franchise's first three-point field goal. At midseason he was traded to Miami for Malik Allen. He would be used sparingly by the Heat, including in their playoff run which concluded with a loss in the conference finals to the defending champion Detroit Pistons. Following the season Smith announced his retirement.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith worked as an announcer on Atlanta Hawks games with Bob Rathbun and on the Big Ten Network as a college basketball analyst. For the 2008 season, Smith took a position at NBA TV, and was replaced for Hawks broadcasts by Dominique Wilkins. During the 2011 NBA All-Star Weekend, he was a member of the Atlanta team that won the Shooting Stars Competition.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith is well known for his charitable pursuits, including a US$2.5 million gift in 1997 to his alma mater, Michigan State University, where he was a star guard under coach Jud Heathcote. Smith's donation helped to fund the Clara Bell Smith Student Athlete Academic Center, which is named for his mother. This was the largest single donation by a professional athlete to his former school in history.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Smith first met his wife, Millie, at a charity tennis tournament in Detroit. They had a long-distance relationship for more than a year before getting married in 1996. The couple have two sons, Brayden and Davis, and Smith often coaches them in soccer and basketball. He is the older cousin of NBA point guard Kay Felder.


title: Steve Smith (basketball)

text: Steve, who now resides in Atlanta, enjoys spending time with his kids and also enjoys the challenges of raising children.


title: Isha prayer

text: The Isha prayer ( "", "night prayer") is one of the five mandatory salah (Islamic prayer). As an Islamic day starts at sunset, the Isha prayer is technically the second prayer of the day. If counted from midnight, it is the fifth prayer of the day.


title: Isha prayer

text: It is a four rak'ah prayer in Sunni Islam. The two Sunnah rak'ah following the Isha' are highly recommended and so is the three rakat Witr. There are a few optional prayers that can be recited after the Isha' prayer, including the Nafilat ul-Layl prayers (together termed tahajjud), as well as the tarawih in Ramadan.


title: Isha prayer

text: The five daily prayers collectively are one pillar of the Five Pillars of Islam, in Sunni Islam, and one of the ten Practices of the Religion ("Furū al-Dīn") according to Shia Islam.


title: Isha prayer

text: Uthman reported that he heard Muhammad saying: "The one who offered Isha salat in a congregation, it was as if he remained in salat up to midnight, and he who offered the Fajr salat in a congregation, it was as if he remained in salat the whole night." (Muslim)


title: Isha prayer

text: Abu Hurairah reported: The Messenger of Allah said, "The most difficult Salah for the "Munafiqeen" (the hypocrites) is Isha and Fajr. Had they known the rewards for them, they would have attended them even if they had to crawl on their knees." (Bukhari)


title: Isha prayer

text: However, it is very important to recite the prayer as soon as the time begins. Often Maghrib and Isha are offered together with a small gap of time in between.


title: Environment Protection Act, 1986

text: Environment Protection Act, 1986 is an Act of the Parliament of India. It was enacted in May 1986 and came into force on 19 November 1986. It has 26 sections and 4 chapters. The Act is widely considered to have been a response to the Bhopal gas leak. The Act was passed by the Government of India under the Article 253 of the Constitution of India, which empowers to union government to enact laws to give effect to international agreements signed by the country. The purpose of the Act is to implement the decisions of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment. They relate to the protection and improvement of the human environment and the prevention of hazards to human beings, other living creatures, plants and property. The Act is an “umbrella” legislation that has provided a framework for the environmental regulation regime in India, which covers all major industrial and infrastructure activities and prohibits and regulates specific activities in coastal areas and eco-sensitive areas. The Act also provides for coordination of the activities of various central and state authorities established under other environment-related laws, such as the Water Act and the Air Act.


title: Environment Protection Act, 1986

text: This act was enacted by the Parliament of India in 1986. As the introduction says, "An Act to provide for the protection and improvement of environment and for matters connected therewith: Where as the decisions were taken at the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in June, 1972, in which India participated, to take appropriate steps for the protection and improvement of human environment. Where as it is considered necessary further to implement the decisions aforesaid in so far as they relate to the protection and improvement of environment and the prevention of hazards to human beings, other living creatures, plants and property".


title: Environment Protection Act, 1986

text: "Chapter one consists of Preliminary information such as Short Title, Extend, Date of Commencement and Definitions. The definitions are given in the second section of the Act". Chapter two describes general powers of Central Government. Chapter 3 gives the Central Government the power to take action to protect the environment. Chapter 4 allows government to appoint officers to achieve these objectives. It also gives the government the power to give direction to closure, prohibition or regulation of industry, pollution. The act has provisions for penalties for contravention of the provisions of the act and rules, orders and directions. It also gives detail if the offence is done by a company or government department. It says for such offence the in-charge and head of department respectively would be liable for punishment.


title: Environment Protection Act, 1986

text: The areas on which restriction has been imposed by this act include Doon Valley in Uttarakhand, Aravali Regions in Alwar, Rajasthan, Coastal zones and ecologically sensitive zones, etc.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" is the eleventh season premiere of the American animated television series "South Park", and the 154th overall episode of the series. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 7, 2007, and was rated TV-MA-L. In the episode, Randy says the word "niggers" on the real-life game show "Wheel of Fortune", leading to widespread public outrage. Stan attempts to understand the epithet's impact on his black friend Tolkien. Meanwhile, a man with dwarfism has a hard time trying to teach Cartman to be sensitive.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Parker and Stone had long wanted to create an episode exploring the racial slur, but struggled with a plot line beyond its opening scene. They subsequently found it easier to work on following comedian Michael Richards' controversy, in which he screamed the slur at black audience members who had heckled him during his comedy act.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Despite the uncensored frequent usage of the racial slur, the episode attracted very little media attention. Parents Television Council founder L. Brent Bozell criticized the lack of protest against the episode. The group Abolish the "N" Word, which is linked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), praised the episode, calling it a good example of the word's impact on individuals. The episode was critically acclaimed by contemporary television critics, who praised the episode's humor and storyline. According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 2.8 million viewers the week it was broadcast. "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" was released on DVD along with the rest of the eleventh season on August 12, 2008.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Randy Marsh is on "Wheel of Fortune" and has made it to the Bonus round. The episode is airing live, with his family watching him from the audience and the South Park residents watching from home. Randy has to solve a puzzle in the category "People Who Annoy You", and is given the letters R, T, S, L, and E. He then adds the letters B, N, G, and O, after which the puzzle spells "N_GGERS". Randy is given 10 seconds to solve the puzzle but hesitates due to its likely pejorative context. However, when host Pat Sajak tells Randy that he has only five seconds remaining, Randy yells the assumed answer: "Niggers," which shocks fans along with his family and friends watching at home, and enrages the African-American audience members; the correct answer is then revealed to be "naggers" (the A is rolled up rather than being lit up like the other letters). On the car ride back home, Randy awkwardly tries to explain himself, Sharon is extremely disgusted with Randy for saying the N-word on national television, and Stan is beyond humiliated.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Stan goes to school the next day, knowing his father had just said the N-word over live television. Cartman confronts him, saying that Token will be mad at him for his father's actions. He goes to Token to try and explain, saying his father isn't racist but is just "stupid". Cartman, seeing an opportunity to cause conflict, tries to get the two into a "Race War". Token, instead of fighting, walks away. Cartman sees this as a forfeit, and also runs away screaming "Whites Win!"


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Seeking forgiveness, Randy visits Jesse Jackson to apologize. Jackson bends over his desk and tells Randy to apologize by kissing his buttocks. Randy does so and a picture is taken, which is then put into the news. Stan seeks out Token, expecting everything to be better now since his dad apologized, yet Token is still mad, saying, "Jesse Jackson is not the emperor of black people!" To which Stan replies, "He told my dad he was."


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: The school, in light of the recent events, hires an author who has dwarfism called Dr. David Nelson who goes from school to school to talk to students about sensitivity, telling them that words are harmless. As soon as Dr. Nelson walks onto the stage, Cartman laughs hysterically. At first, Dr. Nelson believes that he would tire himself out, but realizes that he has no chance to talk, even after Mr. Mackey walks on stage ordering Cartman to be quiet. Randy then goes to a Laugh Factory comedy club, but he is singled out by a black comedian named Coyote Brown, resembling Chris Rock, who calls Randy a "Nigger-Guy." Thereafter, everyone in town uses the name against Randy, making him feel like an outcast. Back at school, Dr. Nelson talks to Principal Victoria and Mr. Mackey about Cartman and asks them to have him meet with him. When Cartman comes in though, all he can do is laugh and make fun of him. Dr. Nelson keeps on saying that Eric's words don't hurt him, but as Cartman keeps on laughing, Dr. Nelson loses his temper and yells at him saying, "Shut your fucking mouth!" This shocks both Mackey and Victoria, in contrast to their prior indifference over Cartman's treatment of Dr. Nelson.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Stan once again confronts Token, but this time to say he understands how Token feels about the N-word after how he saw Cartman laugh at Dr. Nelson. Still mad, Token says that he does not really think Stan understands. After this, Dr. Nelson calls all of the students to the Gymnasium to teach Cartman a lesson by making fun of his weight problem with the words "Hello, Fatso!" when he walks in so he understands how it feels. They do this, and Cartman responds angrily, but when Dr. Nelson comes out to scold him again, he breaks up in laughter again. Meanwhile, in further attempts to clear his name, Randy opens up the Randy Marsh African American Scholarship Foundation. When walking away from the grand opening, he is chased by a trio of socially progressive rednecks carrying shotguns, who are angry at him for slandering an entire race of people. However, other "Nigger-Guys," led by Michael Richards from "Seinfeld" and including Mark Fuhrman, rescue him and scare the rednecks off. Michael Richards introduces Randy to other Nigger-Guys and accepts him into their ranks.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Stan gets fed up with Token, and demands to know why he's still angry. The two are interrupted by Butters, who tells them that Cartman is gonna fight Dr. Nelson in the town's park, and the three run off to go see. Before the fight, Kyle warns Cartman that Dr. Nelson is a karate black belt. After Dr. Nelson announces to beat Cartman to prove his point, which is words shouldn't hurt him, the two begin to wrestle wherein Cartman easily gets the upper hand. Later in Washington D.C., the "Nigger-Guys" are pleading their case to the Senate to ban the word "Nigger-Guy." The Motion is passed by the Senate and as a result, anyone saying the words "nigger" and "guy" within seven words of each other would be prosecuted and fined while a crowd of black people look on. Back in the park, Dr. Nelson gives up after being pinned by Cartman, who forces him to submit by saying "Uncle" and "Carol Anne, don't go into the light". As Cartman gloats about his victory, Dr. Nelson rises and kicks Cartman to the ground. However, Cartman remains unfazed and continues to laugh. An angered Dr. Nelson storms off, saying he 'proved' his point, which all the students have forgotten. It is then that Stan understands that he doesn't get it. He tells Token that he will never understand how it feels to have the N-word against him because he isn't black, which was what Token was looking to hear all along and they reconcile.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" was the season premiere of "South Park" eleventh season, and the first episode of the show's spring 2007 run, which consists of seven episodes. Parker and Stone had wanted to create an episode centered on the racial slur "nigger" for a considerable time. The first scene, in which Randy uses the word on "Wheel of Fortune", was the first idea for the episode and remained the only idea for a while; Parker called the scene "one of my favorite things we’ve ever done."


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Shortly beforehand, comedian Michael Richards encountered massive controversy due to a performance at the Laugh Factory in November 2006, in which he screamed the word "nigger" repeatedly at a group of African-Americans who heckled him. Parker and Stone decided it would be best, considering the media coverage of the incident, to work on the episode then. In the episode's DVD commentary, they noted that it was clear from the video of Richards that he had significant problems, but that they really felt contempt for him when he apologized to civil rights leader Jesse Jackson. Staff writer Vernon Chatman, who is half-black, was particularly outraged by this, noting that Jackson "is not the ambassador of black people”, which inspired the line in the episode where Tolkien says that Jackson "is not the emperor of black people". Stan responds by saying "he told my dad he was". Stone particularly enjoyed the ending of the episode, remarking, "If there was a word as hateful as the n-word [in how it] applies to black people, if there was a word like that against white people, [they] would make it illegal."


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: They created the idea of using the epithet to apply to whites only, which was when the rest of the episode began to germinate. While they felt the Randy A story was excellent, they wanted to have a B story involving the boys. They came up with the idea of Stan and Tolkien arguing about his father's use of the word, which remained the only subplot idea. They continued to struggle with the subplot until roughly three days prior to air, when they created the idea of Cartman encountering a little person. They based the little person on an obscure old commercial featuring little people walking around in suits.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: This episode received coverage by the CNN programs "Showbiz Tonight" and "Paula Zahn Now" in the days following the broadcast of this episode. Kovon and Jill Flowers, who co-founded the organization Abolish the "N" Word, which is linked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, praised this episode, saying it was a good example of how it felt to be called "nigger".


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: The Parents Television Council named this episode, along with the episode of "The Sarah Silverman Program" that aired right after this episode, the "Worst Cable Content of the Week" in its campaign for cable choice. The episode received about 2.8 million viewers.


title: With Apologies to Jesse Jackson

text: Travis Fickett of IGN gave the episode a 10/10, commenting, "There's really no other way to explain how this show remains not only brilliantly funny, but more relevant and insightful than anything else on television." In 2009, Sean O'Neal of "The A.V. Club" praised the episode, remarking, "I’ve always said that I believe South Park is some of the best satire on TV when it’s firing on all cylinders, and to that end I’ve seen it do ironic racism in a way that’s borderline revolutionary [in this episode]."


title: Witchcraft and divination in the Hebrew Bible

text: Various forms of witchcraft and divination are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Old Testament), generally (but not always) in a disapproving tone.


text: Laws prohibiting various forms of witchcraft and divination can be found in the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy. These include the following (as translated in the King James Version):


text: The forms of divination mentioned in Deuteronomy 18 are portrayed as being of foreign origin. This is the only part of the Hebrew Bible to make such a claim. According to Ann Jeffers, the presence of laws forbidding necromancy proves that it was practiced throughout Israel's history.


text: The exact difference between the three forbidden forms of necromancy mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:11 is a matter of uncertainty; "yidde'oni" ("wizard") is always used together with "ob" ("consulter with familiar spirits"), and its semantic similarity to "doresh el ha-metim" ("necromancer", or "one who directs inquiries to the dead") raises the question of why all three are mentioned in the same verse. The Jewish tractate "Sanhedrin" makes the distinction that a "doresh el ha-metim" was a person who would sleep in a cemetery after having starved himself, in order to become possessed.


text: A prophetic passage in the Book of Micah states that witchcraft and soothsaying will be eliminated in the Messianic Age (Micah 5:12).