title: Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)

text: The British artillery fire lifted half an hour before dawn and as they waited in the silence for the offensive to begin, some of the troops reportedly heard a nightingale singing. Starting from 3:17 a.m. on 7 June, the mines at Messines were fired within the space of 20 seconds. The joint explosion ranks among the largest non-nuclear explosions, surpassing the mines on the first day of the Somme fired 11 months before. The sound of the blast was considered the loudest man-made noise in history. Reports suggested that the sound was heard in London and Dublin; at the Lille University geology department, the shock wave was mistaken for an earthquake. Some witnesses described "pillars of fire", although many also conceded that the scene was indescribable.


title: Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)

text: That the detonations were not simultaneous enhanced their effect on the German troops. Strange acoustic effects also added to the panic – German troops on Hill 60 thought that the Kruisstraat and Spanbroekmolen mines were under Messines village, which was well behind the front line, while some British troops thought that they were German counter-mines going off under the British support trenches. The combined explosion is considered to have killed more people than any other non-nuclear man-made explosion in history; it killed approximately 10,000 German soldiers between Ypres and Ploegsteert.


title: Mines in the Battle of Messines (1917)

text: Two days after the battle, the commander General Maximilian von Laffert was sacked (and died of a heart attack eleven days later). The German official history, (volume XII, 1939), placed the mines, which were unprecedented in size and number, second in a list of five reasons for the German defeat. In an after-action report, Laffert wrote that had the extent of the mine danger been suspected, a withdrawal from the front trench system to the Line, half-way between the first and second positions, would have been ordered before the attack, since the cost inflicted on the British by having to fight for the ridge justified its retention. In 1929, Hermann von Kuhl lamented the failure to overrule the 4th Army commanders on 30 April and prevent "one of the worst tragedies of the war".


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Kidnapped is a historical fiction adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, written as a boys' novel and first published in the magazine "Young Folks" from May to July 1886. The novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis Borges, and Hilary Mantel. A sequel, "Catriona", was published in 1893.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The narrative is written in English with some dialogue in Lowland Scots, a Germanic language that evolved from an earlier incarnation of English.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: "Kidnapped" is set around real 18th-century Scottish events, notably the "Appin Murder", which occurred in the aftermath of the Jacobite rising of 1745. Many of the characters are real people, including one of the principals, Alan Breck Stewart. The political situation of the time is portrayed from multiple viewpoints, and the Scottish Highlanders are treated sympathetically.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The full title of the book is "Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; His Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson."


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The main character and narrator is 17-year-old David Balfour. His parents have recently died, and he is out to make his way in the world. He is given a letter by the minister of Essendean, Mr Campbell, to be delivered to the House of Shaws in Cramond, where David's uncle, Ebenezer Balfour, lives.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David arrives at the ominous House of Shaws and is confronted by his paranoid Uncle Ebenezer, who is armed with a blunderbuss. His uncle is also miserly, living on "parritch" and small ale, and the House of Shaws itself is partially unfinished and somewhat ruinous. David is allowed to stay and soon discovers evidence that his father may have been older than his uncle, thus making David the rightful heir to the estate. Ebenezer asks David to get a chest from the top of a tower in the house but refuses to provide a lamp or candle. David is forced to scale the stairs in the dark and realises that not only is the tower unfinished in some places, but the steps simply end abruptly and fall into an abyss. David concludes that his uncle intended for him to have an "accident", perhaps so as not to have to give over his nephew's inheritance.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David confronts his uncle, who promises to tell David the whole story of his father the next morning. A ship's cabin boy, Ransome, arrives the next morning and tells Ebenezer that Captain Hoseason of the brig "Covenant" needs to meet him to discuss business. Ebenezer takes David to a pier on the Firth of Forth, where Hoseason awaits, and David makes the mistake of leaving his uncle alone with the captain while he visits the shore with Ransome. Hoseason later offers to take them on board the brig for a drink and a brief tour, and David complies, only to see his uncle returning to shore alone in a skiff. David is then immediately struck senseless.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David awakens, bound hand and foot, in the hold of the ship, and learns that per arrangement with David's uncle the captain plans to sell him into slavery in the Carolinas. But the ship encounters contrary winds, which drive her back toward Scotland. Fog-bound near the Hebrides, they strike a small boat. All of the small boat's crew are killed except one man, Alan Breck Stewart, who is brought on board and offers Hoseason a large sum of money to drop him off on the mainland. David later overhears the crew plotting to kill Alan and take all his money. David and Alan barricade themselves in the roundhouse, where Alan kills the murderous Shuan, and David wounds Hoseason. Five of the crew members are killed outright, and the rest refuse to continue fighting.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Hoseason has no choice but to give Alan and David passage back to the mainland. David tells his tale to Alan, who in turn states that his birthplace, Appin, is under the tyrannical administration of Colin Roy of Glenure, the King's factor and a Campbell. Alan, who is a Jacobite agent and wears a French uniform, vows that should he find the "Red Fox" he will kill him.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The "Covenant" tries to negotiate a difficult channel without a proper chart or pilot and is soon driven aground on the notorious Torran Rocks. David and Alan are separated in the confusion, with David being washed ashore on the isle of Erraid, near Mull, while Alan and the surviving crew row to safety on that same island. David spends a few days alone in the wild before getting his bearings.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David learns that his new friend has survived, and David has two encounters with beggarly guides: one who attempts to stab him with a knife, and another who is blind but an excellent shot with a pistol. David soon reaches Torosay, where he is ferried across the river, receives further instructions from Alan's friend Neil Roy McRob, and later meets a catechist who takes the lad to the mainland.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: As he continues his journey, David encounters none other than the Red Fox, Colin Roy Campbell himself, who is accompanied by a lawyer, a servant, and a sheriff's officer. When David stops the Campbell man to ask him for directions, a hidden sniper kills the King's hated agent.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David is denounced as a conspirator and flees for his life, but by chance reunites with Alan. The youth believes Alan is the assassin, but Alan denies responsibility. Alan and David then begin their flight through the heather, hiding from government soldiers by day. As the trek drains David's strength, his health rapidly deteriorates; by the time they are set upon by wild Highlanders who are sentries for Cluny Macpherson, an outlawed chief in hiding, the lad is barely conscious. Alan convinces Cluny to give them shelter, and David is tended by a Highland doctor. He soon recovers, though in the meantime Alan loses all of their money at cards with Cluny, only for Cluny to give it back when David practically begs for it.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: When David and Alan resume their flight in cold and rainy weather, David becomes ill again, and Alan carries him on his back down the burn to reach the nearest house, fortuitously that of a Maclaren, Duncan Dhu, who is both an ally of the Stewarts and a skilled piper. David is bedridden and given a doctor's care, while Alan hides nearby, visiting after dark.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: In one of the most humorous passages in the book, Alan convinces an innkeeper's daughter from Limekilns (unnamed in "Kidnapped" but called "Alison Hastie" in its sequel) that David is a dying young Jacobite nobleman, despite David's objections, and she ferries them across the Firth of Forth. There, they meet a lawyer of David's uncle's, Mr Rankeillor, who agrees to help David receive his inheritance. Rankeillor explains that David's father and uncle had once quarrelled over a woman, David's mother, and the older Balfour had married her, informally giving the estate to his brother while living as an impoverished schoolteacher with his wife. This agreement had lapsed with his death.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: David and the lawyer hide in bushes outside Ebenezer's house while Alan speaks to him, claiming to be a man who found David nearly dead after the wreck of the "Covenant" and says he is representing folk holding him captive in the Hebrides. He asks David's uncle whether Alan should kill David or keep him. The uncle flatly denies Alan's statement that David had been kidnapped but eventually admits that he paid Hoseason "twenty pound" to take David to "Caroliny". David and Rankeillor then emerge from their hiding places, and speak with Ebenezer in the kitchen, eventually agreeing that David will be provided two-thirds of the estate's income for as long as his uncle lives.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The novel ends with David and Alan parting ways on Corstorphine Hill; Alan returns to France, and David goes to a bank to settle his money.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: The character James Stewart was real, and the man hanged for killing Colin Roy Campbell, though James was not the killer.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Cluny MacPherson and Rob Roy MacGregor and his son, Robìn Òig or Young Rob, mentioned or met along the way, were real people.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: "Kidnapped" is a historical romance, but by the time it was written, attitudes towards the genre had evolved from the earlier insistence on historical accuracy to one of faithfulness to the spirit of a bygone age. In the words of a critic writing in "Bentley's Miscellany", the historical novelist "must follow rather the poetry of history than its chronology: his business is not to be the slave of dates; he ought to be faithful to the character of the epoch". Indeed, in the preface to "Kidnapped" Stevenson warns the reader that historical accuracy was not primarily his aim, remarking "how little I am touched by the desire of accuracy".


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Stevenson presents the Jacobite version of the Appin murder in the novel, but sets the events in 1751, whereas the murder occurred in 1752.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: "Kidnapped" was first published in the magazine "Young Folks" from May to July 1886, and as a novel in the same year.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) planned to write this story as early as 1880. He immersed himself in books on Scotland in the early and middle 18th century in preparation for writing. He was born and raised in Edinburgh, then travelled in England, France and the US. After his father died, he took his wife, children and his own mother as he traveled in search of a place more salutary to his health, finally building a house in Samoa, where he later died at age 44. He wrote "Kidnapped" on his stay in England.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Stevenson remains one of the most popular and revered writers in the history of the English language, and was extremely prolific. His other works include "Treasure Island" and "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde".


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: A central theme of the novel is the concept of justice, the imperfections of the justice system and the lack of a universal definition of justice. To David justice means the restoration of his inheritance, whereas for Alan it means the death of his enemy Colin Roy of Glenure.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Literary critic Leslie Fiedler has suggested that a unifying "mythic concept" in several of Stevenson's books, including "Kidnapped", is what might be called the "Beloved Scoundrel", or the "Devil as Angel", "the beauty of evil". The Rogue in this instance is of course Alan, "a rebel, a deserter, perhaps a murderer ... without a shred of Christian morality". Good nevertheless triumphs over evil, as in David Balfour's situation.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: "Kidnapped" was well received and sold well while Stevenson was alive. After his death many viewed it with scepticism, seeing it as simply a boys' novel. By the mid-20th century it had regained critical approval and study. The novel has attracted the praise and admiration of writers as diverse as Henry James, Jorge Luis Borges, and Hilary Mantel.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: While it is basically an adventure novel, it raises various moral issues, such as the nature of justice and the fact that friends may have different political viewpoints.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Film and television versions were made in 1917, 1938, 1948, 1960, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1986, 1995 and 2005.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Marvel Illustrated published a comic book version in 2007–2008, by Roy Thomas and Mario Gully, who had previously adapted "Treasure Island".


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: A four-part adaptation written by Catherine Czerkawska and starring David Rintoul as David Balfour and Paul Young as Alan Breck Stewart was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1985. A more recent two-part adaptation written by Chris Dolan and starring Owen Whitelaw as David Balfour and Michael Nardone as Alan Breck was broadcast also on BBC Radio 4 in 2016.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: It has been speculated that the novel was inspired in part by the true story from earlier in the 18th century of James Annesley, heir to five aristocratic titles who was kidnapped at the age of 12 by his uncle Richard and shipped from Dublin to America in 1728. He managed to escape after 13 years and return to reclaim his birthright from his uncle in one of the longest courtroom dramas of its time. "Kidnapped" does not end in the way Annesley's life story did, as the ship on which the main character was kidnapped never got beyond Scotland, allowing for a rich story of Scotland, highlands and lowlands. Further, a key event in the plot happens when David is present when Colin Roy Campbell falls dead from the unseen murderer’s bullet.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: Annesley biographer Ekirch felt in his response to a remark in the review of his book that "It is inconceivable that Stevenson, a voracious reader of legal history, was unfamiliar with the saga of James Annesley, which by the time of "Kidnapped's" publication in 1886 had already influenced four other 19th-century novels, most famously Sir Walter Scott's "Guy Mannering" (1815) and Charles Reade's "The Wandering Heir" (1873)." The Scottish author Andro Linklater, who reviewed the book for "The Spectator", disagreed with this contention. The author, Robert Louis Stevenson, did not mention the earlier historic event in the novel, nor in his correspondence; instead he names "The Trial of James Stewart" for the murder of Colin Roy Campbell at Apppin as an inspiration, according to his wife.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: As part of the events to celebrate Edinburgh becoming the first UNESCO City of Literature, three versions of "Kidnapped" were made freely available by being left in public places around the city. Throughout February 2007, 25,000 copies of the novel were distributed in that way.


title: Kidnapped (novel)

text: A statue honoring Stevenson through a depiction of the two main characters from "Kidnapped". Alan Breck Stewart and David Balfour was unveiled in 2004 in Edinburgh. The location for the work by Scottish sculptor Alexander Stoddart is where, in the novel, the two friends part ways.


title: Power-on self-test

text: A power-on self-test (POST) is a process performed by firmware or software routines immediately after a computer or other digital electronic device is powered on.


title: Power-on self-test

text: This article mainly deals with POSTs on personal computers, but many other embedded systems such as those in major appliances, avionics, communications, or medical equipment also have self-test routines which are automatically invoked at power-on.


title: Power-on self-test

text: The results of the POST may be displayed on a panel that is part of the device, output to an external device, or stored for future retrieval by a diagnostic tool. Since a self-test might detect that the system's usual human-readable display is non-functional, an indicator lamp or a speaker may be provided to show error codes as a sequence of flashes or beeps. In addition to running tests, the POST process may also set the initial state of the device from firmware.


title: Power-on self-test

text: In the case of a computer, the POST routines are part of a device's pre-boot sequence; if they complete successfully, the bootstrap loader code is invoked to load an operating system.


title: Power-on self-test

text: In IBM PC compatible computers, the main duties of POST are handled by the BIOS/UEFI, which may hand some of these duties to other programs designed to initialize very specific peripheral devices, notably for video and SCSI initialization. These other duty-specific programs are generally known collectively as option ROMs or individually as the video BIOS, SCSI BIOS, etc.


title: Power-on self-test

text: The functions above are served by the POST in all BIOS versions back to the very first. In later BIOS versions, POST will also:


title: Power-on self-test

text: The BIOS begins its POST when the CPU is reset. The first memory location the CPU tries to execute is known as the reset vector. In the case of a hard reboot, the northbridge will direct this code fetch (request) to the BIOS located on the system flash memory. For a warm boot, the BIOS will be located in the proper place in RAM and the northbridge will direct the reset vector call to the RAM. (In earlier PC systems, before chipsets were standard, the BIOS ROM would be located at an address range that included the reset vector, and BIOS ran directly out of ROM. This is why the motherboard BIOS ROM is in segment F000 in the conventional memory map.)


title: Power-on self-test

text: During the POST flow of a contemporary BIOS, one of the first things a BIOS should do is determine the reason it is executing. For a cold boot, for example, it may need to execute all of its functionality. If, however, the system supports power saving or quick boot methods, the BIOS may be able to circumvent the standard POST device discovery, and simply program the devices from a preloaded system device table.


title: Power-on self-test

text: The POST flow for the PC has developed from a very simple, straightforward process to one that is complex and convoluted. During the POST, the BIOS must integrate a plethora of competing, evolving, and even mutually exclusive standards and initiatives for the matrix of hardware and OSes the PC is expected to support, although at most only simple memory tests and the setup screen are displayed.


title: Power-on self-test

text: In earlier BIOSes, up to around the turn of the millennium, the POST would perform a thorough test of all devices, including a complete memory test. This design by IBM was modeled after their larger (e.g. mainframe) systems, which would perform a complete hardware test as part of their cold-start process. As the PC platform evolved into more of a commodity consumer device, the mainframe- and minicomputer-inspired high-reliability features such as parity memory and the thorough memory test in every POST were dropped from most models. The exponential growth of PC memory sizes, driven by the equally exponential drop in memory prices, was also a factor in this, as the duration of a memory test using a given CPU is directly proportional to the memory size.


title: Power-on self-test

text: The original IBM PC could be equipped with as little as 16 KB of RAM and typically had between 64 and 640 KB; depending on the amount of equipped memory, the computer's 4.77 MHz 8088 required between 5 seconds and 1.5 minutes to complete the POST and there was no way to skip it. Beginning with the IBM XT, a memory count was displayed during POST instead of a blank screen. A modern PC with a bus rate of around 1 GHz and a 32-bit bus might be 2000x or even 5000x faster, but it might have more than 3 GB of memory—5000x more. With people being more concerned with boot times now than in the 1980s, the 30- to 60-second memory test adds undesirable delay for a benefit of confidence that is not perceived to be worth that cost by most users. Most clone PC BIOSes allowed the user to skip the POST RAM check by pressing a key, and more modern machines often performed no RAM test at all unless it was enabled via the BIOS setup. In addition, modern DRAM is significantly more reliable than DRAM was in the 1980s.


title: Power-on self-test

text: As part of the starting sequence the POST routines may display a prompt to the user for a key press to access built-in setup functions of the BIOS. This allows the user to set various options particular to the mother board before the operating system is loaded. If no key is pressed, the POST will proceed on to the boot sequence required to load the installed operating system.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Many modern BIOS and UEFI implementations show a manufacturers logo during POST and hide the classic text screens unless an error occurs. The text screen can often be enabled in the BIOS settings by disabling the "Quiet Boot" option.


title: Power-on self-test

text: The original IBM BIOS made POST diagnostic information available by outputting a number to I/O port 0x80 (a screen display was not possible with some failure modes). Both progress indication and error codes were generated; in the case of a failure which did not generate a code, the code of the last successful operation was available to aid in diagnosing the problem. Using a logic analyzer or a dedicated POST cardan interface card that shows port 0x80 output on a small displaya technician could determine the origin of the problem. Once an operating system is running on the computer the code displayed by such a board may become meaningless, since some OSes, e.g. Linux, use port 0x80 for I/O timing operations. The actual numeric codes for the possible stages and error conditions differ from one BIOS supplier to another. Codes for different BIOS versions from a single supplier may also vary, although many codes remain unchanged in different versions.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Later BIOSes used a sequence of beeps from the motherboard-attached PC speaker (if present and working) to signal error codes. Some vendors developed proprietary variants or enhancements, such as MSI's D-Bracket. POST beep codes vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Information on numeric and beep codes is available from manufacturers of BIOSes and motherboards. There are websites which collect codes for many BIOSes.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Apple's Macintosh computers also perform a POST after a cold boot. In the event of a fatal error, the Mac will not make its startup chime.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Macs made after 1987 but prior to 1998, upon failing the POST, will immediately halt with a "death chime", which is a sound that varies by model; it can be a beep, a car crash sound, the sound of shattering glass, a short musical tone, or more. On the screen, if working, will be the Sad Mac icon, along with two hexadecimal strings, which can be used to identify the problem. Macs made prior to 1987 crashed silently with the hexadecimal string and a Sad Mac icon.


title: Power-on self-test

text: When Apple introduced the iMac in 1998, it was a radical departure from other Macs of the time. The iMac began the production of New World Macs, as they are called; New World Macs, such as the iMac, Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White), Power Mac G4 (PCI Graphics), PowerBook G3 (bronze keyboard), and PowerBook G3 (FireWire), load the Mac OS ROM from the hard drive. In the event of an error, but not a fatal hardware error, they display the same screen as seen when holding at startup but with the error message instead of the "0 >" prompt. In the event of a fatal hardware error, they give these beeps:


title: Power-on self-test

text: The beep codes were revised in October 1999. In addition, on some models, the power LED would flash in cadence.


title: Power-on self-test

text: With the introduction of Intel-based Macs with EFI-based firmware, the startup tones were changed again.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Macs with the T2 security chip don't have startup tones, therefore the beep codes are no longer heard and used.


title: Power-on self-test

text: It is currently unknown whether or not Apple silicon-based Macs have beep codes, due to them not using EFI-based firmware.


title: Power-on self-test

text: Amiga historical line of computers, from A1000 to 4000 present an interesting POST sequence that prompts the user with a sequence of flashing screens of different colors (rather than audible beeps as in other systems) to show if various hardware POST tests were correct or else if they failed:


title: Power-on self-test

text: Almost all Amiga models present the same color sequence when turned on: black screen, dark gray, light gray color screens filling all monitor screen in a rapid sequence (Amigas taken up usually 2, or at least max 3 seconds to turn on and boot).


title: Power-on self-test

text: The keyboards of historical Amiga models are not proprietary as it happened in early computer ages, but more pragmatically it was based on international standard ANSI/ISO 8859-1. The keyboard itself was an intelligent device and had its own processor and 4 kilobytes of RAM for keeping a buffer of the sequence of keys that were being pressed, thus can communicate with the user if a fault is found by flashing its main LED in sequence:


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all have reported at least one death, with the exception of Vatican City.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Italy was the first European country to experience a major outbreak in early 2020, becoming the first country worldwide to introduce a national lockdown. By 13 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe the epicentre of the pandemic and it remained so until the WHO announced it was overtaken by South America on 22 May. By 18 March 2020, lockdowns introduced in Europe affected more than 250 million people. Despite deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, Europe became the pandemic's epicentre once again in late 2021. On 11 January 2022, Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO Regional Director for Europe said, "more than 50 percent of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next six to eight weeks".


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As the outbreak became a major crisis across Europe, national and European Union responses have led to debate over restrictions of civil liberties and the extent of European Union solidarity.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 20 May 2022, Europe is the most affected continent in the world. Most affected countries in Europe include France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Russia.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In March 2022, "The Lancet" published a study comparing excess mortality rates per 100,000 population, in 191 countries, over the first two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021). The study showed that amongst the major western European countries, those with the highest rates were Italy with 227, Portugal 202, Spain 187, Belgium 147, and the Netherlands 140. The average was 140 and below that were the United Kingdom at 127, France 124, and Germany 121 - the difference between these three was not statistically significant - and that Ireland (13) and the Scandinavian countries had lower rates.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Economic activity decreased by almost 4% in the majority of sub-regions in Europe in 2020, which was similar to the global average of 3.2%. However, the variance between nations is prominent. The high infection and mortality rates of the pandemic in countries in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Neighbourhood, and Central and Eastern Europe meant they faced deeper recessions.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: From 2019 to 2020, there was also a difference in how EU countries were adapting to new COVID-19 regulations, one of them being work from home. The proportion of EU enterprises employing advanced digital technology in their operations expanded dramatically during that time. From 2020 to 2021, this percentage remained relatively stable, reaching 61% in 2021, compared to 63% in 2020 and 58% in 2019.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Since the beginning of 2020, EU enterprises that embraced advanced digital technology and invested in becoming more digital during the pandemic have increased the number of employees they employ. The number of non-digital enterprises that downsized was also greater than the share of non-digital firms that had positive job growth. Non-digital companies had a negative net employment balance.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The Czech Republic was the top-performing EU country for the usage of advanced digital technologies during the pandemic. Finland was the top performing EU country in terms of digital infrastructure and the use of formal strategic business monitoring. Austria is leading digitalization adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cyprus is leading software and data investment. Sweden is at the top for investing in digital training for their employees.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In late August, 88% of COVID-19 deaths in Europe were among people over age 65, according to a 30 August report from the WHO.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 25 February, Croatia confirmed its first case, a 26-year-old man who had been in Milan, Italy. On 26 February, two new cases were confirmed, one being the twin brother of the first. In March 2020, a cluster of cases were reported in numerous Croatian cities. On 12 March, the first recovery was reported, and on 18 March the first death from the virus was confirmed. On 19 March, the number of recorded cases surpassed 100. On 21 March, it surpassed 200. On 25 March, it surpassed 400. On 31 March, it surpassed 800. The pandemic in Croatia occurred during the Croatian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 22 March, an intense earthquake hit Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, causing problems in enforcement of social distancing measures set out by the Government. The earthquake could also be felt across much of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Slovenia, and Austria.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: According to Oxford University, as of 24 March, Croatia was the country with the world's strictest restrictions and measures for infection reduction in relation to the number of infected. The government set up a website for all information about the virus and a new phone line 113 that has volunteers answering questions.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was reported in the country on 1 March. As of 22 March there had been 1120 confirmed cases, with one lethal outcome.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 12 March, the Czech Republic declared a 30-day state of emergency and barred entry to non-residents from China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, UK, Norway, Denmark and France.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The Czech Republic banned people from going out in public without wearing a face mask or covering their nose and mouth.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 16 March, there have been 898 confirmed cases in Denmark, including 11 in the Faroe Islands (see below).


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Numerous preventive measures gradually were implemented. Starting on 13 March, schools, universities and similar places were closed, while most people in non-essential functions have been sent home to work. On 14 March, the borders were closed for all entries, except Danish citizens, people with a residence permit, people with an important reason for visiting, and transport of goods.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 27 February, Estonia confirmed its first case, an Iranian citizen, travelling from Iran via Turkey.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 11 March, there were 17 confirmed cases in Estonia. 12 of them had returned with the infection from Northern Italy, one from France, one from Iran and one from undisclosed risk area. First two cases of virus transmitting locally were in Saaremaa after international volleyball competition involving a team from Milan.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: From 12 March, the virus was spreading locally. The number of infected grew fast reaching 109 on 14 March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was reported in the country on 28 January. As of 21 July there were over 7,000 confirmed cases. As of 9 December (2020) the confirmed cases in Finland are 28,732 over the entire period. A total of 433 deaths associated with the disease have been reported until now.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 24 January, the first case in Europe was confirmed in Bordeaux. Two more cases were confirmed in Paris by the end of the day, all of them originated from China. A cluster of infections was discovered in Haute-Savoie which originated from a British national who had visited Singapore.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: From 31 January to 9 February, nearly 550 people were repatriated from Wuhan on a series of evacuation flights arriving at Creil Air Base in Oise and Istres-Le Tubé Air Base in Istres.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 14 February, an 80-year-old Chinese tourist died in Bichat–Claude Bernard Hospital, Paris, marking the first death from COVID-19 in Europe and France.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: According to regional council president Jean Rottner, the starting point for the first intense wave in Alsace was the Fasting Meeting of the Protestant Free Church of La Porte Ouverte in Mulhouse, with more than 2500 visitors, in mid-February.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 12 March, French president Emmanuel Macron announced on public television that all schools and all universities would close from Monday 16 March until further notice. The next day, the Prime Minister Édouard Philippe banned gatherings of more than 100 people, not including public transportation. The following day, the prime minister ordered the closure of all nonessential public places, including restaurants, cafés, cinemas, and discothèques, effective at midnight.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 14 March, there had been 4,499 confirmed cases (a near-four-fold increase over the number 5 days previously), and 91 deaths in France.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 20 March, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 12,612, while the number of deaths reached 450.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 30 March, more than six hundred doctors and other medical workers are suing the former Minister of Health and the Prime Minister for "culpable negligence" in failing to prepare for the epidemic.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Until 1 April, the daily update of the number of deaths in France included only deaths in hospitals, with deaths in retirement homes or at home not included in the update. Deaths in retirement homes were included in the reported figures from 2 April, causing totals to increase substantially.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 4 May, retroactive testing of samples in one French hospital showed a patient "who had COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases." According to the researchers who reported the discovery, this indicates that the virus was present in the population well before the first confirmed cases, a finding also echoed by US researchers. In July 2020, Prime Minister of France Jean Castex, announced that health care pay workers will see $9 billion in pay raises, as a result of their efforts during the corornavirus pandemic.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In Germany, the first case of COVID-19 was recorded in the state of Bavaria on 27 January 2020. Daily case numbers began to decrease after 8 April, but rose sharply again in October.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: First case was identified on 4 March 2020, only 187 cases to the end of July then increases with 100 added in August and the same in September. A contact App "BEAT Covid Gibraltar" was released on 18 June.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 26 February, the first case in Greece was confirmed, a 38-year-old woman from Thessaloniki who had recently visited Northern Italy. The next day, the first patient's 9-year-old child and another 40-year-old woman, who had travelled to Italy, also tested positive. Subsequent cases is Greece were mainly related to people who had travelled to Italy and a group of pilgrims who had travelled to Israel and Egypt, as well as their contacts. Health and state authorities issued precautionary guidelines and recommendations, while measures up to that point were taken locally and included the closure of schools and the suspension of cultural events in the affected areas (particularly Ilia, Achaea and Zakynthos). The first confirmed death from COVID-19 in Greece was a 66-year-old man, who died on 12 March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: By 27 July there were 4,227 confirmed cases in Greece, some of which detected among tourists arriving to the country from mid-June onwards, 202 deaths and 3,562 recoveries. The Greek National Public Health Organization (NPHO), in collaboration with local authorities and doctors, is tracking and testing everyone who came in close contact with the patients. By 10 March, with 89 confirmed cases and no deaths in the country, the government decided to suspend the operation of educational institutions of all levels nationwide and then, on 13 March, to close down all cafes, bars, museums, shopping centres, sports facilities and restaurants in the country. On 16 March, all retail shops were also closed and all services in all areas of religious worship of any religion or dogma were suspended. On 18 and 19 March, the government announced a series of measures of more than 10 billion euros to support the economy, businesses and employees.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 22 March the Greek authorities announced significant restrictions on all nonessential transport and movement across the country, starting from 6 a.m. on 23 March. Starting from 4 May, Greece has begun easing its lockdown restrictions after a 42-day lockdown, with the gradual lifting of movement restrictions and restart of business activity.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 9 March, the first case in the Crown dependency was confirmed. On 27 May it was announced that there were no known active cases in the Bailiwick. There were no active cases for 129 days before an arrival from the UK tested positive on 6 September.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 4 March Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that two Iranian students had been infected with the virus. The students are asymptomatic and have been transported to Saint Ladislaus Hospital in Budapest.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was confirmed in Iceland on 28 February, an Icelandic male in his forties who had been on a ski trip to Andalo in Northern Italy and returned home on 22 February.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Iceland's Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management declared a state of emergency on 6 March after two cases of community transmission in Iceland were confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 43. On 13 March, it was announced at an official press conference that a four-week ban on public gatherings of more than 100 persons would be put into effect as of Monday 16 March. Universities and secondary schools will be closed for four weeks. International airports and harbours will remain exempt from these measures.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The National Public Health Emergency Team of Ireland announced the first case in the Republic of Ireland on 29 February, involving a male student from the east of the country, who had arrived there from Northern Italy. On 3 March, a second case was confirmed of a female in the east of the country who had been to Northern Italy. Response to the outbreak has included cancellation of St Patrick's Day parades and all festivals. On 11 March, an elderly patient in Naas General Hospital in County Kildare became Ireland's first fatality from the virus. On 12 March, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the closure of all schools, colleges and childcare facilities. On 20 March, an emergency legislation was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins giving the state permission to detain people, restrict travel and keep people in their homes to help combat the spread of the pandemic.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 12 March, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the closure of all schools, colleges and childcare facilities in Ireland until the end of August. On 27 March, Varadkar announced a national stay-at-home order for at least two weeks; the public were ordered to stay at home in all circumstances. All non-essential shops and services, including all pubs, bars, hotels and nightclubs closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned. The Garda Síochána (Irish police) were given power to enforce the measures, which were repeatedly extended until 18 May.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: A roadmap to easing restrictions in Ireland that included five stages was adopted by the government on 1 May 2020 and subsequently published online. The fourth and final phase of easing COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland was initially scheduled to take place on 20 July, but was repeatedly postponed until 31 August at the earliest.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: All non-essential businesses and services closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned again on 21 October following the Government's announcement to move the entire country to lockdown restrictions for six weeks until 1 December. On 27 November, the Government agreed to ease restrictions from 1 December.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: A third wave of COVID-19 arrived in Ireland on 21 December. The Government acted swiftly and on 22 December, lockdown restrictions with a number of adjustments were announced, which came into effect from Christmas Eve until 12 January 2021 at the earliest.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: All non-essential businesses and services closed and all public and private gatherings of any number of people was banned again on 31 December (New Year's Eve) following the Government's announcement to move the entire country to full lockdown restrictions from 30 December until 31 January 2021 at the earliest, in an attempt to get a third surge in cases of COVID-19 under control. On 26 January, the Government extended the lockdown restrictions until 5 March. On 23 February, the Government extended the Level 5 lockdown restrictions for another six weeks until 5 April (Easter Monday) at the earliest, while its new revised Living with COVID-19 plan was published.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 30 March, the Government announced a phased easing of restrictions from Monday 12 April. On 29 April, the Government announced a reopening plan for the country throughout May and June from 10 May, with a further reopening planned announced on 31 August that would see all remaining COVID-19 restrictions in Ireland eased by 22 October.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: After a fourth wave of COVID-19 arrived in Ireland in October, the Government published on 19 October a revised plan for the easing of restrictions, with nightclubs allowed to reopen, however the continued use of masks, vaccine certificates and social distancing measures would remain in place until at least February 2022. On 3 December, the Government reintroduced a series of measures that would commence from 7 December amid concerns of the Omicron variant, with nightclubs to close, indoor cultural and sporting events to operate at 50% capacity and a maximum of four households allowed to meet indoors.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The Omicron variant caused a fifth wave of COVID-19 to arrive in late December and early January 2022, with record levels of cases reported over the Christmas and New Year period. As cases began to fall sharply, Taoiseach Micheál Martin announced on 21 January the easing of almost all COVID-19 restrictions, with the requirements of vaccine certificates and social distancing to end, restrictions on household visits and capacity limits for indoor and outdoor events to end, nightclubs to reopen and pubs and restaurants to resume normal trading times, while rules on isolation and the wearing of masks would remain. Remaining COVID-19 restrictions were agreed to be removed from 28 February, with mask wearing in schools, indoor retail settings and on public transport to be voluntary, restrictions in schools to end and testing to be scaled back.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 21 February 2022, the Department of Health have confirmed 1,276,778 confirmed cases and 6,443 deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 31 January, the first two cases were confirmed in Rome. Two Chinese tourists, who arrived in Milan on 23 January via Milan Malpensa Airport and travelled to Rome on a tourist bus, tested positive for and were hospitalised in Lazzaro Spallanzani National Institute for Infectious Diseases.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 6 February, one of the Italians repatriated from Wuhan, China, tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in Italy to three. On 22 February, the repatriated Italian recovered and was discharged from the hospital. On 22 and 26 February, the two Chinese tourists hospitalized in Rome tested negative.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 21 February, a cluster of cases was detected starting with 16 confirmed cases in Lombardy, with additional 60 cases on 22 February, and Italy's first deaths reported on the same day. As of late February, Italy was hit harder than anywhere else in the EU by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: By 17 March 2020, there were 2,503 deaths and 31,506 confirmed cases. By 15 May 2020, there had been 223,885 cases and 31,610 deaths, according to Protezione Civile bulletins.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 13 July, the Head of the ICU at a Bergamo hospital said that former patients treated for COVID-19 had developed serious long-term health issues.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Cases reached 100,000 in March, 200,000 in April, 300,000 in September, 600,000 in October and 1,600,000 in November.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 8 March, Italian prime minister Giuseppe Conte signed a decree enacting a quarantine for the entire region of Lombardy – home to more than 10 million people and the financial capital, Milan – and multiple other provinces, totalling around 16 million residents. The lockdown decree included the power to impose fines on anyone caught entering or leaving Lombardy, the worst-affected region, until 3 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 9 March, the lockdown orders were extended to the whole of Italy, effectively quarantining more than 60 million people.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 20 November 2020, according to high-frequency data, the lockdowns in France and Italy weighed down on public mobility more than in any other European country. France's official statistic agency INSEE found that the data collected by Google on the amount of time people spend at home is particularly closely correlated with the percentage of slow down experienced by an economy during the lockdown.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was recognised on 10 March which resulted within days in flights and ferries being cancelled except for essential travel and freight, thus isolating the island by the end of March. By 30 June there were no active cases although there have since been small numbers of cases brought into the island when lockdown was relaxed and travel permitted. On 14 October a contact App was launched. Community contracted cases caused numbers to rise from 600 to 1,000 in November resulting in another lockdown.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first two cases in Kosovo were reported on 13 March. In the ten-day period 13–23 March, the number of positive cases with coronavirus rose to 35. In midnight of 23 March 26 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of cases to 61. On 25 March, the government collapsed with a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Albin Kurti.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was reported in the country on 28 February. By 17 March there were 21 cases, mostly in Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipėda. The first infected Lithuanian recovered on 14 March. Cases reached 2,000 in July, 10,000 in October and 50,000 in November.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The first case was reported in the country on 29 February. Positive cases exceeded 6,600 on 30 June and 8,500 on 30 September.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 7 March, Malta reported its first 3 cases of coronavirus: an Italian family consisting of a 12-year-old girl and her parents, who arrived in Malta on 3 March from Rome after a holiday in Trentino. Until around September, there were barely any cases; with that maximum cases per day at around 30. But then a big wave hit Malta and cases were being of over 100 everyday, and the most cases found in a single day was 510. Then in May 2021, the cases started calming down with Malta as of 20 June 2021 having just under 50 active cases, with over 30 thousand total.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 27 February, the Netherlands confirmed its first case, a man who had been in the Lombardy region of Italy.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 9 March, RIVM announced 56 more confirmed cases in addition to the total of the 77 infected patients declared in the previous day, bringing the total to 321 infected and 3 dead.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 15 March, the Dutch government announced in a press conference that all schools, day care facilities, colleges, universities, and universities of applied sciences would close until 6 April, though children of parents in vital industries could still go to school or the day care if they could not be taken care of otherwise.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 16 March, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 had risen to 1,413 and the total number of confirmed deaths had risen to 24. This was an increase of 278 infections and 4 deaths in comparison to 15 March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On the same date, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, had announced that the country would not go into complete lockdown. Instead the situation would be controlled as much as possible by delaying the spread of the virus, relying on measures taken earlier by the government, such as social distancing and prohibiting gatherings of 100 people and over. It is expected the coronavirus will keep spreading and a large part of the population will become infected. Instead of opting to lock down the Netherlands for the time required, which would have many (negative) consequences while the benefits remain uncertain and would have to stay in place, it would be attempted to build herd immunity in a controlled manner. Depending on how the virus behaves, the government would decide if additional measures are required.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Further measures were introduced on 23 March. All events would be banned until 1 September. Gatherings of more than three people, except for families, were to be prohibited. City mayors received greater authorization to enforce the rules. Fines would be issued to those not complying with the new rules.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Cases reached 10,000 in March 2020, 50,000 in June 2020, 100,000 in September 2020, 500,000 in November 2020 and 1,000,000 in February 2021.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 26 February, North Macedonia confirmed its first case, a woman that had returned from Italy. On 10 March every school, kindergarten and university was closed. As of 5 April 2021, the country has reported 134,867 cases, 3,940 deaths and a total of 109,297 recovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: To stop the spreading of the virus, the country had a strict 61-hour curfew every weekend. For holidays, like Easter, the country had an 85-hour curfew. Furthermore, the state of emergency which had expired was extended for 14 more days until 30 May, and then again for 14 more days until 13 June.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 26 February, Norway confirmed its first case, in a person who had returned from China the previous week.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 7 March, there were 147 confirmed cases in Norway. Most of the cases could either be linked to outbreaks abroad or close encounters with these. Altogether 89 have been infected on travel in Italy.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 12 March 2020, all kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities were closed until at least 26 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 2 March, the first two cases were confirmed in Portugal, both in the city of Porto. One was a doctor who had returned from holiday in northern Italy, and the other a worker from Spain.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 18 March, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, declared the entirety of the Portuguese territory in a state of emergency for the following fifteen days, with the possibility of renewal, the first since the Carnation Revolution in 1974.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 24 March, the Portuguese government admitted that they could not contain the COVID-19 pandemic anymore, as it is wide spreading and will enter the 'Mitigation Phase' on 26 March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Russia implemented early preventive measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country by imposing quarantines, carrying raids on potential virus carriers and using modern facial recognition technologies to impose quarantine measures.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 2 March, Western Russia confirmed its first case in Moscow Oblast. Previously on 31 January Russia confirmed first two cases in its Asian part, one in Tyumen Oblast and another in Zabaykalsky Krai. Both were Chinese nationals, who have since recovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 7 March, four new cases were confirmed, three was in Lipetsk and one in Saint Petersburg. All people visited Italy in the previous two weeks.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 8 March, three news cases were confirmed, in Moscow, Belgorod and Kaliningrad Oblasts. All people returned from Italy.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 10 March, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin signed a decree for banning mass events in Moscow with more than 5000 participants from 10 March to 10 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: By 15 April, cases were confirmed in all of Western Russia's federal subjects with the confirmation of the first case in Nenets Autonomous Okrug.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 27 February, San Marino confirmed its first case, an 88-year-old man with pre-existing medical conditions, who came from Italy. He was hospitalised at a hospital in Rimini, Italy. As of 25 March 2020: With 700 confirmed cases out of a population of 33,344 (as of 2018), it is the country with the highest percentage of confirmed cases per capita at % – 1 confirmed case per inhabitants. Also, with 42 confirmed deaths, the country has the highest rate of confirmed deaths per capita at % of the total population – 1 death per inhabitants.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 29 February, a massive infection occurred in the town of Valjevo after a private party involving a guest from Austria who had previously stayed in Italy. On 6 March, the first case was confirmed in Serbia by Minister of Health Zlatibor Lončar, of a man who had traveled to Budapest. President Aleksandar Vucic and the Government of the Republic of Serbia introduced a state of emergency on 15 March. Two days later, curfew and quarantine were introduced as safeguards against massive infection.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 6 March, Slovakia confirmed its first case, a 52-year-old man from a small village near Bratislava. He had not travelled anywhere in recent weeks but his son, who didn't show any symptoms, had visited Venice. On 7 March, the virus was also confirmed in his wife and son.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In October 2020, Slovakia started implementation of a short-period mass-testing programme to test two-thirds of its citizens for COVID-19.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 4 March Slovenia confirmed its first case. A patient of about 60 years of age had returned from Morocco few days earlier (via Italy) and was admitted to a hospital in Ljubljana.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 6 March, a total of eight cases were reported, three of them medical professionals, who contracted the virus on holiday in Italy. By 9 March 16 people were confirmed to be infected.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 31 January, Spain confirmed its first case, in the Canary Island of La Gomera. A tourist from Germany tested positive and was admitted to University Hospital of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria. On 19 February, 2,500 football fans from Valencia attended a Champions League game in Bergamo, the hot spot of the outbreak in Italy.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 24 February, a medical doctor from Lombardy, Italy who was vacationing in Tenerife, tested positive at the University Hospital of the Nuestra Señora de Candelaria in Spain. Afterwards, multiple cases were detected in Tenerife involving people who had come in contact with the doctor. Other cases involving individuals who visited Italy were also discovered on Spanish mainland.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On Saturday 14 March, the Spanish government imposed a nationwide quarantine, banned all trips that are not necessary and announced that companies may be intervened to guarantee supplies. However, with universities and schools closed earlier that week, bars and parks were full, and due to slow enactment "part of the population of Madrid and other cities had dispersed across the country". As of 17 March 2020, there had been 11,826 confirmed cases with 1,028 recoveries and 533 deaths in Spain.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 28 March, the Spanish government tightened up its national lockdown, ordering all non-essential workers to stay at home for the next two weeks. Nearly 900,000 workers lost their jobs in Spain since it went into lockdown in mid-March 2020. Public transport has also been greatly affected by the lockdowns and the severe restrictions established by the government. The relationship between the users who have continued using the urban bus and the characteristics of the stop's surroundings have been analysed.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 10 January 2022, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez initiated a debate in the European Union to treat COVID-19 as an “endemic illness” rather than a pandemic. He suggested a move towards a flu-like monitoring system amid falling death rates and hospitalisations on the European continent.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 31 January, Sweden confirmed its first case. A woman in her 20s, who had visited Wuhan, tested positive and was admitted at Ryhov County Hospital in Jönköping.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 26 February, following the outbreak in Italy and in Iran, infection clusters originating from these two countries appeared in Sweden. A number of individuals in Västra Götaland, Jönköping, Stockholm and Uppsala tested positive and were admitted to the infectious disease units in the respective counties.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The country's first fatality came on 11 March, that of a man in Stockholm over 60 who had other illnesses prior to infection.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 12 March, national testing strategy shifted to only the elderly, the severely ill, and healthcare personnel. The official recommendation for symptoms that were not serious, as of 13 March, was to stay at home and not visit healthcare. This has led to statistics becoming less useful.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 14 March 924 people were reported as having become infected. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Sweden made the recommendation to refrain from unnecessary travel to all countries.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 22 January 2021 the Ministry of Justice of Sweden implemented travel bans from Denmark and the United Kingdom due to the mutation of SARS-CoV-2.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 25 February, following the outbreak in Italy, Switzerland confirmed its first case, a 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, who had previously visited Milan. Afterwards, multiple cases related to the Italy clusters were discovered in multiple cantons including Basel-City, Zürich and Graubünden. Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italian clusters were also confirmed.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 28 February, the Federal Council announced an immediate ban on all events with more than 1,000 participants.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 16 March 2020, the Federal Council announced further measures, and a revised ordinance. Measures include the closure of bars, shops and other gathering places until 19 April, but leaves open certain essentials, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, (a reduced) public transport and the postal service. Those measures were prolonged until 26 April 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 23 December, following an unexpectedly quick authorization by Swissmedic of the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the vaccination campaign was launched in several cantons. A 90-year-old woman from the Lucerne region became the first vaccinated patient in continental Europe outside Russia. All cantons are expected to start vaccinating by 11 January 2021.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 31 January, England confirmed the first two cases, both members of a family of Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York who were taken to specialist facilities in Newcastle upon Tyne. Afterwards, several confirmed cases were detected across the UK.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The UK government implemented preventive measures to curb the spread of infections which included contact tracing, isolation and testing, some of which were related to the Italy clusters. The NHS set up drive-through screening centres at several hospitals to test members of the public showing symptoms.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 2 March, Ministers approved the Department of Health and Social Care COVID-19 action plan, which sets out actions to date, future measures, cooperation between devolved political and health authorities, and the level of preparedness of the country's four National Health Services. It outlined the government's objectives to deploy phased actions to contain, delay, and mitigate any outbreak, using research to inform policy development.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 23 March, it was announced that the UK would be entering a nationwide lockdown. The public were advised to stay at home except for essential shopping and one hour of exercise a day. These measures came into effect on 26 March and lasted until 1 June when measures were eased allowing early years pupils and exams students to return to school in a limited capacity. These measures are further eased on 15 June when retail and attractions were able to open for the first time since March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 25 March, the UK Parliament legislated to provide the government and authorities with emergency powers to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, such as the power to restrict public gatherings, order businesses to close, and the ability to detain those suspected of having the virus. The Coronavirus Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 25 March and came into force on the same day.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 5 April, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson was admitted to hospital after testing positive to COVID-19 10 days earlier. He was admitted into intensive care the following night, when his symptoms further worsened. He left hospital on 12 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The NHS was given access to emergency supplies of PPE and patients that did not need to remain in hospital were moved to residential care homes if needed. However, there was no need for a negative COVID-19 test before patients were transferred to these settings, this was only required from 15 April. On 15 May, the government approved the first social care specific legislation that helped to ensure that staff had access to adequate PPE and protect both those working and living in care homes.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 6 May, the total of confirmed cases was 201,101; the total of recorded deaths in all settings was 30,076, the highest in Europe and second highest in all the countries after the United States. It is estimated that care home residents accounted for 30–40% of these deaths, with social care workers being twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as the general population. However, the death toll did not continue to increase throughout the summer, and Brazil and Mexico now have more deaths as of 1 August 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: During August and September, the number of infections per day began to increase significantly although the death rate remained fairly low. Boris Johnson announced changes to restrictions on 22 September which included forcing pubs, bars and restaurants to close by 10 pm in England and the so-called rule of six saying no more than six people should meet. In October, Scotland's first minister declared new restrictions it meant that some areas of the country those like Edinburgh had to close bars, pubs and go back to doing self-service. Northern Ireland's executive that also have control over health policy tightened restrictions to make them close to a lockdown as did Wales announced by Welsh first minister. It also emerged that Boris Johnson had been advised by SAGE committee of scientists to have a short lockdown back on 21 September. Johnson subsequently introduced a three-tier system of restrictions Liverpool was put under the top tier meaning tougher restrictions but falling short of a full lockdown. The UK has since recorded over 40,000 deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 5 November, the UK had to enter a second national lockdown due to the rising number of cases and hospitalisations. Following the end of this lockdown on 2 December case numbers began to rise again and over 70,000 deaths have been recorded in relation to COVID-19 as of 11 December 2020. On 4 January 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed the nation announcing a third lockdown. The UK went into Lockdown that day due to rapidly increasing numbers of cases and deaths caused by a new more infectious variant of COVID-19 spreading around the UK.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The UK has begun to vaccinate its population against COVID-19. The first vaccine, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for COVID-19, was approved for use in the UK on 2 December 2020, the first of the 800,000 immediately available doses was administered on 8 December. The second vaccine approved for use in the UK was the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which was approved for use on 30 December 2020, with the first dose of this vaccine given on 4 January 2021. A third vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, was approved for use in the UK on 8 January 2021, and the first dose was administered in Wales on 6 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The European Union closed borders to non-nationals on 17 March. The next day, Greece imposed restrictions on refugees’ movement within camps. Thousands of asylum seekers are living in crowded camps, and there are fears that pandemic could not be controlled under such conditions. The Greek prime minister K. Mitsotakis said that Europe should do more to help because Greece "cannot resolve this crisis instantly and alone". Unnamed Greek officials have stated concerns that Turkey may send infected refugees and migrants towards the islands. Early in April Malta and Italy closed their ports to vessels carrying asylum seekers from North Africa.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In early 2021, EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen was criticised for the EU's slow rollout, and she noted that the EU was “late to authorise” and said that ordering vaccines on behalf of member states was “the right thing to do”.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Some countries withheld recommending the AstraZeneca vaccine due to concerns of blood clots. By 20 June 2021, nearly half the population of the European Union had received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccination.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In November 2021, a study by the ECDC estimated that 470,000 lives over the age of 60 had been saved since the start of vaccination roll-out in the European region.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: On 23 February 2022, the Ministry of Health lifted all remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including gathering limits, restricted opening hours for bars, and border restrictions. Adopting a herd immunity approach, the ministry stated that “widespread societal resistance to COVID-19 is the main route out of the epidemic,” and “to achieve this, as many people as possible need to be infected with the virus as the vaccines are not enough, even though they provide good protection against serious illness”.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Although by 7 March some European politicians such as France's Marine Le Pen had called for Europe's internal borders to be temporarily closed, the European Union by 13 March continued to reject the idea of suspending the Schengen free travel area and introducing border controls with Italy. The deputy leader of the Swiss Ticino League, Lorenzo Quadri, by 29 February had criticised the decision, saying, "It is alarming that the dogma of wide-open borders is considered a priority." United States President Donald Trump said by 12 March the European Union had "failed to take the same precautions and restrict travel from China and other hot spots" as the US had implemented. Trump also said that "As a result a large number of new clusters in the United States were seeded by travellers from Europe." Research on coronavirus genomes indicates the majority of COVID-19 cases in New York came from European travelers, rather than directly from China or any other Asian country.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: By 9 March, Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš stated that "European countries cannot ban the entry of Italian citizens within the Schengen area. The only possible way is to have the Italian prime minister call on his fellow citizens to refrain from traveling to other countries of the European Union."


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: After Slovakia, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Poland announced complete closure of their national borders, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said by 12 March that "Certain controls may be justified, but general travel bans are not seen as being the most effective by the World Health Organization. Moreover, they have a strong social and economic impact, they disrupt people’s lives and business across the borders." European Union leaders condemned the US decision to restrict travel from Europe to the United States. European Council President Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement: "The European Union disapproves of the fact that the US decision to impose a travel ban was taken unilaterally and without consultation." Ursula von der Leyen admitted by 17 March that "all of us who are not experts initially underestimated the coronavirus."


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: As of 22 February 2021, the UK has banned direct flights from 33 countries, including Portugal, South Africa, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. All travelers entering the UK via indirect flights have been ordered to quarantine in a designated hotel for 10 days. Since passengers coming from high-risk countries with South African virus’ mutant (like the UAE and South Africa) are mixing with other travellers before reaching their accommodation, this travel ban is being criticised extensively.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The Italian government has criticised EU's lack of solidarity with Italy. "Politico" reported on 7 March that "EU countries have so far refused Italy's plea for help fighting coronavirus, as national capitals worry that they may need to stockpile face masks and other medical gear to help their own citizens, officials and diplomats said." Maurizio Massari, Italy's ambassador to the EU, said that "Only China responded bilaterally. Certainly, this is not a good sign of European solidarity." Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said that "European solidarity does not exist. That was a fairy tale."


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: Eventually, in July 2020 the European Council agreed to a massive recovery fund of 750 billion € branded Next Generation EU (NGEU) to support member states hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. The NGEU fund goes over the years 2021 – 2023 and will be tied to the 2021–2027 budget of the EU (MFF). The comprehensive packages of NGEU and MFF will reach the size of 1824.3 Billion €.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In response to the pandemic, the European Investment Bank Group is establishing a €25 billion Pan-European Guarantee fund. It is projected that the guarantee fund would raise up to €200 billion.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: According to "The Guardian", Spain's initially slow response to COVID-19 caused the epidemic to become severe even though it did not share a land border with Italy or other severely affected countries. An analysis in "Vox" hypothesised that the minority government did not want to risk its hold on power by banning large gatherings early; Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez initially defended his decision to allow large gatherings to continue.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The planned NATO "Defender 2020" military exercise in Germany, Poland, and the Baltic states, the largest NATO war manoeuvres since the end of the Cold War, was to be held on a reduced scale because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament's general secretary Kate Hudson criticised the Defender 2020 exercise: "In the current public-health crisis, it jeopardises the lives not only of the troops from the US and the many European countries participating but the inhabitants of the countries in which they are operating."


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: There was concern that measures taken by some national governments on occasion of the COVID-19 pandemic would have the aim or effect of restricting democracy and civil liberties and rights. In Hungary, prime minister Viktor Orban acquired near absolute powers through such legislation on 3 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: The European Union's Chief Scientific Advisors issued a statement on 24 June 2020, providing guidance for how scientific advice should be given and interpreted during the pandemic. One key point made by the Advisors was that scientists must be clearer about the degree of uncertainty that characterises the evolving evidence on which their advice is based, for instance around the use of face-masks. They also emphasised that scientific advice must be separated from decision-making, and this separation must be made clear by politicians.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in Europe

text: In April 2021, the leaders of the Society for Aerosol Research warned the debate on COVID-19 measures does not reflect current scientific knowledge. They said protection against infection must take place above all where people spend time indoors, because "the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 viruses takes place almost without exception indoors."


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Buddha in a Traffic Jam is a 2016 Indian political thriller film written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri. The film released nationwide on 13 May 2016.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Although widely panned by critics for its propaganda, the film narrates a tale of inter-meddling of academia with corruption and maoism.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Vikram Pandit (Arunoday Singh) is a happy-go-lucky management student from a business school in India. He becomes an overnight sensation after a successful social media campaign against the radical fundamentalism of moral policing in India. Little did Vikram know that he was about to become a part of a plot that would risk his life and the nation. He gets entangled between two facets of India—Socialism and Capitalism, both of which are deeply rooted in isolated corners of the country.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Somewhere deep within the jungles, flagrant conspirators were gearing up to maim the Country. They had established links with the patrician society. Vikram's internet campaign pulls him into a very deep web of conspiracy.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Nisha Susan of Pink Chaddi Campaign fame recalled someone from Indian School of Business, claiming to work at a film incubator having emailed her a few years back, about a prospective film centred on her campaign. The plot went (roughly): A young idealistic student is in a bar, where a bunch of right-wing goons assault girls. The student vanquishes the goons and follows up with a Facebook campaign against misogyny, which commands considerable fame. He is subsequently approached by the Naxals who convert and ask him to mould the urban youth in Maoist ideology; by the virtue of his gained fame and charisma. The part about Naxals was a creative addition, and Susan had replied that while he was free to make a movie about the themes, she found it surprising that a campaign which was run by numerous women, in reality, was to be run by a single man in the film. He replied that a woman-run campaign was apparently "not" realistic.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: In an interview with "Hindustan Times", Vivek said that while he was delivering a lecture at Indian School of Business about Naxal influence in academia, the students suggested to sketch out a 10-minute short film. That idea gradually morphed into the thoughts of producing a full-fledged feature film. Agnihotri has asserted of the film to be modeled on his own life though one of his co-producers has denied it.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Vivek and the students went on a drive to collect funds before meeting Suresh Chukkapalli who agreed to produce it. Vivek felt that convincing producers to support a non-star content-driven film was difficult.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: The title was chosen as a metaphor alluding to the commotion that engulfs the students of various universities. Around eighty per cent of the film was shot at Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad and the total budget was about five crore INR.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Pallavi Joshi made her singing debut in the film with the song "Chand Roz", a ghazal written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: The Central Board of Film Certification passed the film without any cuts. Agnihotri claimed that certain objectionable content including the likes of extreme language and extreme sex scenes were allowed to stay as the board members were sympathetic to the message of the film.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Reportedly, whilst many distributors initially promised to distribute the film, many later backed out on grounds of the controversial topic. Barjatya productions came to the aid but later withdraw their offer. He then chose to tour across different colleges and universities across the nation and screen the film; due to an alleged lack of marketing capital. The film premiered at IIT Bombay on 6 April 2016. These screening of the films with the help of political unions, who have had a reputation for instigating violence, have been criticized. and the screenings have been protested against.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: A screening of the film, which was supposed to be accompanied by Vivek and Anupam, was scheduled to be held at the Triguna Sen Auditorium, Jadavpur University by a group “Think India”, backed by a right wing student union-- Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). The screening was cancelled after the alumni association withdrew their permission, citing the model code of conduct, which was in force due to the concurrent state elections. Agnihotri was greeted with black flags and he alleged that he had been "gherao"ed and manhandled whilst his car was damaged. The screening was thereafter rescheduled to be held in an open-air format but did not take any permission from the concerned authorities. It was accordingly asked to be stopped by the registrar but Vivek chose to proceed. Anticipating trouble in case of enabling a forced closure, the authorities did not intervene further. This led to a subsequent fracas wherein the students claim that several outsiders from a right wing student union-- Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) turned the event into a political rally, sloganeering along right-wing agendas and assaulting those who dissented against the "divisive content" of the film. Four of the outsiders (three of whom belonged to ABVP and the other was a professor of Bangabasi College) were alleged to have sexually molested women students and were kept within the university estate office by the students. They were rescued after the vice-chancellor, registrar and other senior officials intervened, pending which an FIR was lodged by the university authority against them. Vivek and other ABVP leaders summarily rejected the allegations of molestation; which were subsequently further criticized. Vivek also blamed the students as "naxalite"s enrolled in an institute where everything happened except education.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: The next day, JU students held a march across the city chanting slogans of ‘Azadi' from RSS and BJP, the parent organizations of ABVP and against "saffronisation" of the nation. ABVP filed a counter FIR and asserted that they will send a detailed report to the home ministry about the "pro-naxalite anti-national" activities that took place in the campus which were supposedly advocated by pro-left students. They also sought for physical assault on the university students.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: The film was finally released on 13 May 2016 by Rajshri Productions in a limited number of theatres. The "Indian Express" failed to note any 'buzz' in the market.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Sarit Ray of Hindustan Times rated the film 1/5 and commented it to be a thoroughly unconvincing propaganda film that resembled an amateur and laughable attempt at filmmaking. Suprateek Chatterjee of HuffPost deemed it to be a "frequently ridiculous propaganda piece" for the right wing. Raja Sen of Rediff.Com noted it to be a hollow and senseless product of incompetent film-making; that failed the standards of even being an effective propaganda film. Mohar Basu of Times of India rated it 2 out of 5 stars, criticizing the flimsy plot and Vivek's limited knowledge of the relevant issues. Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in criticized the film as a zeitgeist film of the Modi era, that severely lacked artistic merit and had a ridiculous plot. Kunal Guha of Mumbai Mirror rated it 1.5 out of 5, noting that the film's plot deteriorated with ensuing time and at the end, induced nothing more than a little headache whilst sinking Vivek's last-ditch effort to redeem himself. Surabhi Redkar of Koimoi.com rated it 1.5 out of 5 and remarked it to be a propaganda film with a flimsy plot, that stood far from objectivity and which sought to sell a particular mindset. Rachit Gupta of Filmfare criticized the film as suffering from lackluster plot, half-heartedly written scripts, mediocre screenplay, inconsistent performances and poor direction that did go absolutely nowhere. Aniruddha Guha at MensXP.com rated the film 1.5 out of 5 and noted it to be a mixture of haphazard storytelling and poor screenplay that stuck to a uni-dimensional narrative, throughout: "Leftists are the bad guys." Rajyasree Sen of Newslaundry.com noted that the sole reasons for showing the film in universities could be as a reminder for the students to not fund or be involved in cinema so shoddy, in whose description the words 'convoluted' and 'childish' proved to be an understatement.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Rohit Bhatnagar of Deccan Chronicle praised the film as an extraordinary effort of shedding light on the buried political issues of the nation and praised multiple aspects of the filmmaking.


title: Buddha in a Traffic Jam

text: Agnihotri later wrote a book titled "" about his experiences whilst making the film. The book led to his framing of the term Urban Naxals.


title: Jesseca Dupart

text: Jesseca Faye Harris-Dupart (born February 12, 1982) is an American entrepreneur and the founder and chief executive officer of Kaleidoscope Hair Products. She was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and founded Kaleidoscope Hair Studio in 2013 in New Orleans as a single mother. Her salon burned down in December 2013 and she reopened it in July 2014 and introduced the Kaleidoscope Hair Products. In 2018, Kaleidoscope sales went from $100,000 a month at the start of the year to $1 million by the end of March.


title: Jesseca Dupart

text: In 2019 she was awarded the Key to the City of New Orleans by the mayor of New Orleans, LaToya Cantrell, to recognize the philanthropy and business she has contributed to in the area.


title: Jesseca Dupart

text: She is African-American and has three children. In March 2020, musician Da Brat announced that she was in a relationship with Dupart. On February 22, 2022, the pair married in Georgia.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: "Joy to the World" is a song written by Hoyt Axton and made famous by the band Three Dog Night. The song is also popularly known by its opening lyric, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog". Three Dog Night originally released the song on their fourth studio album, "Naturally", in November 1970, and subsequently released an edited version of the song as a single in February 1971.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: The song, which has been described by members of Three Dog Night as a "kid's song" and a "silly song", topped the singles charts in North America, was certified gold by the RIAA, and has since been covered by multiple artists.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: The song is featured prominently in the film "The Big Chill". It is sung by a child character at the beginning and the Three Dog Night recording is played over the end credits. The song's refrain is used by Mariah Carey in her 1994 cover of the Christmas hymn "Joy to the World".


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: It is also played at the end of every Denver Broncos home victory. Notable playings of this song after Broncos victories included then-Chicago Bears head coach Abe Gibron's singing along with the song in 1973; and at the end of Super Bowl XXXII, played at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego. It was also played at the end of Super Bowl XXXIII at Pro Player (now Hard Rock) Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida and Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: The song is also referenced directly in the "Rolling Stone"'s publication of "Fear and Loathing" in 1971, where Raoul Duke (Hunter S. Thompson's fictional counterpart) walks into his hotel room to realize that his attorney is submerged in green bath tub water alone while blasting "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" at full volume.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: Some of the words are nonsensical. Axton wanted to persuade his record producers to record a new melody he had written, and the producers asked him to sing any words to the tune. A member of Three Dog Night said that the original lyrics to the song were "Jeremiah was a prophet" but no one liked it.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: When Hoyt Axton performed the song to the group, two of the three main vocalists – Danny Hutton and Cory Wells – rejected the song, but Chuck Negron felt that the band needed a "silly song" to help bring the band back together as a working unit. Negron also felt that the song "wasn't even close to our best record, but it might have been one of our most honest."


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: The song was recorded by Three Dog Night at American Recording Company, produced by Richard Podolor, and engineered by Bill Cooper. Unlike most Three Dog Night songs recorded at that point, instead of having just the three main vocalists singing harmony, the song was recorded with all seven members of the band singing. Drummer Floyd Sneed sings the deep lyric "I wanna tell you" towards the end of the song.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: When the song hit number one on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1971, Axton and his mother, Mae Axton, became the first mother and son to each have written a number one pop single in the rock era. Mae Axton co-wrote "Heartbreak Hotel", which was the first number one hit for Elvis Presley.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: In a 1994 case, David P. Jackson filed suit claiming co-authorship of the song and alleging that Axton fraudulently claimed sole authorship. In the suit, Jackson claimed that Axton regularly credited him with co-authorship. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of Axton.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: The single had been out less than two months, when on April 9, 1971, "Joy to the World" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, for shipments of over one million units across the United States. The record was also given a Gold Leaf award by "RPM" magazine for sales of over a million units. The record won the award for the Best Selling Hit Single Record by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in March 1972.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: It was also ranked by "Billboard" magazine as the #1 pop single of 1971. The song was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo Or Group during the 14th Grammy Awards.


title: Joy to the World (Three Dog Night song)

text: Little Richard recorded a cover of the song for his 1971 album, "The King of Rock and Roll", with a lengthy spoken intro and outro in the style of Black sermonic tradition preaching.


title: Chuck E. Cheese (character)

text: Charles Entertainment Cheese is the mascot of the Chuck E. Cheese chain of family restaurants. From 1977 to 1992 he was an anthropomorphic rat, changing to a mouse in 1993. In 2012, he was rebranded into a smaller, “hipper” version in an attempt to increase sales.


title: Chuck E. Cheese (character)

text: The character was originally created as the mascot for a restaurant proposed by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari) in 1977. Bushnell attended the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) conference in Orlando and saw walk-around character costumes for sale. Among them, Bushnell spotted a costume that appeared to be a coyote, so he bought it for his planned Coyote Pizza restaurant. When the costume arrived at Atari, it was discovered that the costume was actually a rat with a long pink tail; this costume was also much larger and furrier than the final product seen in all of the original locations. Bushnell decided to change the restaurant's name to Rick Rat's Pizza. However, Bushnell's group of planners believed that a rat for the name of a restaurant would not be appropriate. Bushnell's group of planners finally decided on the name Chuck E. Cheese for the mascot and changed the restaurant's name to Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre. The first Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre opened in San Jose, California, in the same year Chuck E. Cheese was proposed — 1977.


title: Chuck E. Cheese (character)

text: The rat mascot was originally given a New Jersey accent, telling jokes- sometimes holding a cigar. His voice was delivered by John Widelock for the first seven years, then by Scott Wilson. In 1993, Duncan Brannan was hired as the new voice of the mascot, with the task of transforming him from a rat to a mouse. By 1995, the mouse was given a more child-friendly makeover, with a wider cheek structure, a less pointy, shorter snout, longer eyes, smaller ears, and a slimmer physique. This version started appearing in the restaurants in 2001.


title: Chuck E. Cheese (character)

text: In July 2012, the mascot was changed into a much smaller version of the character, who played electric guitar. Brannan was replaced with Jaret Reddick, the frontman and guitarist for the pop punk band Bowling for Soup.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, or snow surface. It combines aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snowboarding, and wakeboarding. Kiteboarding is among the less expensive and the more convenient sailing sports.


title: Kiteboarding

text: After some concepts emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s and some designs were successfully tested, the sport received a wider audience in the late 1990s and became mainstream at the turn of the century.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Worldwide, there are 1.5 million kitesurfers, while the industry sells around 100,000 to 150,000 kites per year.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Most power kites are leading edge inflatable kites or foil kites attached by about of flying lines to a control bar and a harness. The kitesurfer rides on either a bidirectional board (a "twin-tip", similar to a wakeboard), a directional surfboard, or a foilboard. They often wear a wetsuit in mild to cold waters. In the early days of the sport there were significant injuries and some fatalities, but the safety record has improved with better equipment and instruction.


title: Kiteboarding

text: In October 1977 Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise (Netherlands) received the first patent for KiteSurfing. The patent covers, specifically, a water sport using a floating board of a surf board type where a pilot standing up on it is pulled by a wind catching device of a parachute type tied to his harness on a trapeze type belt. This patent did not result in any commercial interest.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Through the 1980s, there were occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, ice skates, snow skis, water skis and roller skates.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dieter Strasilla from Germany developed parachute-skiing and later perfected a kite-skiing system using self-made paragliders and a ball-socket swivel allowing the pilot to sail upwind and uphill but also to take off into the air at will. Strasilla and his Swiss friend Andrea Kuhn also used this invention in combination with surfboards and snowboards, grasskies, and self-made buggies. One of his patents describes in 1979 the first use of an inflatable kite design for kitesurfing.


title: Kiteboarding

text: Two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from the Atlantic coast of France, developed kites for kitesurfing in the late 1970s and early 1980s and patented an inflatable kite design in November 1984, a design that has been used by companies to develop their own products.