title: Ludwigshafen

text: But then a process began that accelerated during the 1980s and 1990s and caused the financial near-collapse of Ludwigshafen. The enormous maintenance costs of the buildings and institutions introduced during the "fat time", new tax regulations that cut down the trade tax profits from the local industries, and thousands of dismissals in BASF were the main causes for the city's crisis. Loss of population due to the loss of working places and general economic trends, such as the oil crises, further worsened Ludwigshafen's financial situation at the end of the 20th century.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The negative aspects of industrial success became obvious when examinations revealed the bad state of air and the Rhine due to pollution. There had always been some stench or dirt all over the city, caused by BASF and other plants, and as long as the industry had prospered, people had accepted it. Besides that, the concrete constructions that had been so modern after the war and had a formative influence on today's cityscape were increasingly considered as obsolete.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: In recent years, many efforts have been made to enhance Ludwigshafen's image in the media. The city administration has cut down its deficit by cutting down social payments and maintenance, pollution has been (not least by BASF) restricted, the formerly rotten Hemshof quarter has been restored.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: In 2008, a fire broke out in a building where many ethnic Turks lived. 9 people died, all of them Turks and 5 of them children. It was believed to be an arsonist attack, however this was found to be not true.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: One of the most annoying faults of Ludwigshafen – at least for many of the city's inhabitants - was its comparative lack of high-quality shopping possibilities. It has attempted to repair this deficiency by creating a second large shopping mall on the southern tip of the city centre (the Walzmühle near Berliner Platz) with affiliated railway station (Ludwigshafen-Mitte). In addition, another shopping mall on the banks of the Rhine, the Rhein-Galerie, was completed in September 2010.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The city centre of Ludwigshafen is comparatively small and dominated by post-war buildings. Its northern and southern boundaries are the Hochstraßen (highways on stilts), the Rhine is in the East and the main station is located in the West of downtown Ludwigshafen, at a walking distance of about 15 minutes from the central pedestrian precinct "Bismarckstraße" that forms, together with the shopping mile "Ludwigsstraße", the main North-South Axis, connecting the so-called “North Pole” with the "Rathaus Center" and the “South Pole” with Berliner Platz, the Walzmühle shopping centre and Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station. The main east–west connections are the "Bahnhofsstraße" and "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße". The Pfalzbau, Staatsphilharmonie, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum and the half-destroyed monument Lutherkirche are main features of downtown Ludwigshafen.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The "Südliche Innenstadt" or “southern city centre” (ca. 29,000 inhabitants) includes the real city centre as described above and the "Stadtteil Süd" or “South” quarter. “South” has some of the most attractive residential areas, especially the "Parkinsel" area. Other sub-quarters of “South” are the "Musikantenviertel" or the "Malerviertel". In a few years, there will be one more highly prized residential area (“"Rheinufer Süd"”) on the Rhine near the Walzmühle on former industrial estates.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The "Nördliche Innenstadt" (ca. 22,000 inhabitants) includes the Hemshof, “North” and “West” districts. Hemshof and “North” represent the “old town” of Ludwigshafen, they are known for their very high proportion of foreign inhabitants, making them culturally diverse. ”West” (also called "Valentin-Bauer-Siedlung") is located between main station and main cemetery.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Friesenheim" (ca. 18,000 inhabitants) is located north of Hemshof and is one of the two (the other one being Mundenheim) “mother villages” of Ludwigshafen, because they were responsible for the administration of Ludwigshafen prior to its independence. Helmut Kohl was born in Friesenheim. Its western district, the "Froschlache", boasts four impressive tower blocks.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Oppau" (ca. 10,000 inhabitants) in the North is dominated by the nearby BASF and had once been a town of its own prior to its incorporation into Ludwigshafen. In its history, it has been afflicted by several catastrophes like the explosion of 1921 and the flood of 1882.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Edigheim" (ca. 9,000 inhabitants) had once been a part of Oppau in the South, today ist almost as large as Oppau.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The "Pfingstweide" (ca. 6,000 inhabitants) is Ludwigshafen's northernmost district; it is dominated by tower blocks and is located in close vicinity to Frankenthal.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The "Gartenstadt" (ca. 18,000 inhabitants), west of Mundenheim, is (as the name “garden city” suggests) a very green suburb, dominated by flat roofed houses and some tower blocks. Its sub-districts are "Niederfeld", "Hochfeld" and "Ernst-Reuter-Siedlung".


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Mundenheim" (ca. 13,000 inhabitants) is a very old suburb, it boasts its own railway station, an extensive industrial area near the harbour. A sub-district is the "Herderviertel" in Mundenheim's North.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Oggersheim" (ca. 23,000 inhabitants) is one of the most important suburbs, being much like a town for itself (which it was in the Middle Ages). It is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance from around 900 as one of the places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city wall of Worms.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Helmut Kohl owned a bungalow in southern Oggersheim. The Wallfahrtskirche, a railway station, the important Unfallklinik (“accident hospital”), and several large residential blocks are to be found in Oggersheim. For the last few years, the northern subdistricts of "Notwende" and "Melm" have seen a large amount of building activities in their new housing estates.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Rheingönheim" (ca 7,000 inhabitants), as the southernmost suburb of Ludwigshafen, is known mainly for its industry (Woellner) and its game enclosure Wildpark.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Maudach" (ca. 7,000 inhabitants), in Ludwigshafen's South-West, is a popular residential area, closely associated with the Maudacher Bruch park.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: "Ruchheim" (ca. 6,000 inhabitants), as the westernmost suburb, has long been a small agricultural village, but now it is growing rapidly due to new housing estates.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Although Ludwigshafen has no airfield, it is well connected with several airports in the region. There are small airfields near Speyer, Bad Dürkheim and Worms, a medium-sized regional airport in Mannheim, and the Frankfurt International Airport in about an hour's driving distance.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Ludwigshafen is the most important German harbour west of the Rhine. The local industry depends on shipping their raw materials and products on the river. The harbour of Ludwigshafen consists of several basins in the South of the city near Mundenheim (Luitpoldhafen, Kaiserwörthhafen, Mundenheimer Altrheinhafen), the wharfs along the river parallel to the city centre and the BASF, and, finally, of the Landeshafen basin in the North that connects the BASF.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Ludwigshafen has excellent Autobahn (motorway/highway) connections to all directions. Most important are the A 650 in west–east direction, the A 61 in north–south direction. But there are also A 6, A 65 and B 9 to be mentioned. Bundesstraße 37 and 44 pass the city center on elevated expressways. Parts of them are closed because of structural deficiencies. They continue across the Rhine to Mannheim ond Konrad Adenauer Bridge and Kurt Schumacher Bridge.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Ludwigshafen Hauptbahnhof is a huge station, its impressive pylon bridge pier serving as the city's landmark. The extraordinary architecture of the station complex is caused by the need to connect three joining tracks (to Frankenthal/Worms/Mainz, to Neustadt/Speyer and to Mannheim) and to work in the underground Straßenbahn station and the massive road bridge above the concourse. Other railway stations are at Oggersheim, Mundenheim, Rheingönheim, and, the new more central Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte, near Berliner Platz. Since 2003, the S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar suburban train system runs successfully in the region.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Ludwigshafen's public transport system is run by the VBL (Verkehrsbetriebe Ludwigshafen) and the holding companies Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) and VRN. There is an integrated Mannheim/Ludwigshafen tramway network; four tram lines (4,6,7,8) cross the Rhine bridges between the two cities and one other line (10) runs through Ludwigshafen only. In late 2008 Line 4 was extended and replaced Line 14 (also known as "Rhein-Haardt-Bahn"). Line 4 now serves as a long-distance line, which runs from Bad Dürkheim to Ludwigshafen, Mannheim and Heddesheim. The bus network consists of about ten municipal lines and further regional lines.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: A rather strange feature of Ludwigshafen's public transport system is the existence of four underground tram stations (Rathaus, Danziger Platz (closed since late 2008), Hauptbahnhof, Hemshofstraße). They go back to the 1970s, when a common underground network in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen was planned. The rash construction of these first stations in Ludwigshafen became superfluous when Mannheim cancelled the project due to its enormous costs.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The twin cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen closely cooperate in many areas; although they are separated by the Baden-Württemberg/Rhineland Palatinate boundary, this frontier is mainly an administrative one. Many Ludwigshafeners shop and go out in Mannheim's inner city, as it is within easy reach. In the reverse case, some Mannheimers work in Ludwigshafen and many University of Mannheim students choose Ludwigshafen as residence because of its cheaper rents.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The surroundings of Ludwigshafen on the left bank of the Rhine are called Pfalz and are the easternmost part of the Palatinate region. The administrative district around Ludwigshafen is called Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis. North of Ludwigshafen, there is the industrial town of Frankenthal. In the western vicinity of Ludwigshafen, there are several villages producing enormous amounts of vegetables, thus securing the Rheinpfalz the title of “Germany's vegetable garden”. The district south of Ludwigshafen is dominated by the Rhine and the Altrhein arms (lakes marking the earlier course of the river) and the ancient town of Speyer with its magnificent imperial cathedral, a noteworthy and remarkable city.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The regions with some more distance to Ludwigshafen include the beautiful German Wine Route region with Germany's biggest coherent winegrowing area and the Palatinate forest, the biggest coherent forest of Europe in the West, the French region Alsace and the German Schwarzwald (Black Forest) hills in the South, Heidelberg and the Odenwald hills in the East and the Rhein-Main region with the city of Frankfurt about in the North.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Pfalzbau is a theatre and concert hall with regional importance. The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz keeps its own symphonic orchestra, and there is a production company that stages operas 25 nights per year. In the Hemshof district, there are smaller theatres playing regional dialect plays.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Wilhelm-Hack-Museum is the municipal art museum, with collections spanning from ancient to contemporary art. It is known for the emblematic Miró mural covering an entire façade, called the "Miró Wall" (Miró-Wand in German). The mural is a work of art by the Spanish artist Joan Miró, with the collaboration of his long-time colleague, the ceramist, Joan Gardy Artigas, and is made of 7,200 ceramic tiles. It has been subject to degradation due to air pollution since it was installed in 1979.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Several small museums in Ludwigshafen focus on the city's history, first of all the Stadtmuseum in the "Rathaus Center", but also the Schillerhaus Oggersheim, K.O. Braun-Museum in Oppau or the Frankenthaler Kanal Museum in the North.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen (technical college) specialises in economics and has an affiliated Ostasieninstitut (East Asia Institute). There is also the Evangelische Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen, specialising in social sciences.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Although BASF is by far the most important industrial company in Ludwigshafen, there are many other firms. Trade and industry in Ludwigshafen have about 90,000 employees in total, with an annual total turnover of nearly 17 billion euros.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: BASF is the world's leading chemical company, employing 110,000 people in total and about 35,000 (a few years ago, the employee total was about 55,000) of them in the Ludwigshafen plant, which is also the largest chemical plant in the world. The company's main products are fertilizers, dye, coolants and many other chemical substances.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Among the other chemical companies with plants in Ludwigshafen rank BK Giulini, Abbvie, Raschig and Benckiser.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Other important branches of industry are mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, IT and brewery (Mayerbräu Oggersheim).


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Ludwigshafen is one of the German cities that has never had a professional football club. This is all the more surprising, because Ludwigshafen is a typical "workers' city" and has quite a large stadium, the Südweststadion, built from debris from World War II with a capacity of around 40,000. Several international matches and some Bundesliga matches when 1. FC Kaiserslautern or Waldhof Mannheim used it as alternative stadium during the past decades have been held there.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Formerly the most successful Ludwigshafen football club was FSV Oggersheim, whose team experienced short-term success when gaining promotion to the Regionalliga (3rd Division) at the end of the 2006–07 season. However, the club found itself outclassed, and as the financial situation grew worse after two poor seasons, the club withdrew to 11th tier local level play in 2010–11.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: , Arminia Ludwigshafen is the highest-classed football club from the city, competing in the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar (V).


title: Ludwigshafen

text: There are several municipal parks in Ludwigshafen: First of all the Ebertpark in the North quarter and Friesenheim. It was created for the South German Horticulture Exhibition in 1925 with the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, a multi-purpose hall.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The official Stadtpark, or municipal park, is somewhat remote from the city centre (yet easy to reach by the #10 tram), because it is situated on the Parkinsel, or park island, on a bank of the Rhine.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Friedenspark is closer to the city centre, being located just north of the main station and west of the city hall. It is the youngest of Ludwigshafen's parks, having been created on a former industrial area.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: Further, there are numerous smaller parks that are just a bit larger than a towel in the suburbs, for example the Stadtpark Oggersheim, Riedsaumpark, Alwin-Mittasch-Platz and Friesenpark in Friesenheim, Stadtpark Oppau, Bürgerpark Pfingstweide or Zedtwitzpark Mundenheim.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Maudacher Bruch in the West between Maudach, Gartenstadt and Oggersheim, is a very extensive, horse-shoe shaped area, including the Michaelsberg (126m), a mountain built of debris and wreckage after World War II. Due to excessive extraction of ground water from chemical companies the ground water level drops and the diversity of nature is no longer preserved.


title: Ludwigshafen

text: The Kief´scher Weiher in the South is connected with the Rhine and serves as yacht harbour, being surrounded by weekend camping areas.


title: Cha Ye-ryun

text: Cha Ye-ryun (born Park Hyun-ho on July 16, 1985) is a South Korean actress. A graduate of Sangmyung High School, she began acting in 2005 at the age of 20, when she had a supporting role in the horror film "Voice". In 2007, she made her official television debut as one of the main cast members in the melodrama "Bad Love". Cha played her first leading role in the 2014 romantic-comedy film The Actress Is Too Much.


title: Cha Ye-ryun

text: Cha and actor Joo Sang-wook began dating in March 2016, after meeting on the set of 2015 TV series "Glamorous Temptation". The couple later married on May 25, 2017, at the Grand Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul. Their first child was born on July 31, 2018.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The Syrian Air Force, officially the Syrian Arab Air Force (), is the air force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is variously abbreviated in English to SAF, SAAF, or SyAAF. It was established in 1948. Land-based air defense systems are grouped under the Syrian Air Defense Force, which split from both the Air Force and the Army.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The end of World War II led to a withdrawal of the United Kingdom and France from the Middle East, and this included a withdrawal from Syria. In 1948, the Syrian Air Force was officially established after the first class of pilots graduated from a French-run flight school at Estabel airfield in Lebanon, using aircraft left behind by the French. Further training of early Syrian military fliers was continued with help of a sizeable group of Croat and German instructors, contracted by the Lebanese and Syrian governments from refugee camps in Italy. Among the foreign instructors were Mato Dukovac (a leading Croatian Air Force fighter ace of World War II) and Fritz Strehle (former Me.262 pilot with Jagdgeschwader 7 of the Luftwaffe), who trained Syrian pilots at Estabel in 1948 and at Nayrab airfield (south of Aleppo) in 1949.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Organized into three squadrons, one of which was equipped with North American T-6 Harvards, the air force participated in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, conducting bombing raids against Israeli forces and settlements. One T-6 was lost to ground fire while attacking Ayelet Hashahar on 16 July, and another possibly shot down by Morris Mann (flying an Avia S-199) on 10 June. The Syrian Air Force claimed its sole kill of the war on 10 July when a rear gunner of a Harvard shot down an Avia S-199 flown by Lionel Bloch.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: During and immediately after this war, successive governments sought to bolster the air force through the acquisition of Fiat G.55s, Fiat G.59B-2s, and Fiat G.46-1s from Italy. In January 1950, a set of contracts was signed with London, providing for training of Syrian officers and pilots, along with the acquisition of de Havilland Chipmunk basic trainers, Supermarine Spitfire Mk 22s, and Gloster Meteor F.Mk 8 and T.Mk 7 jets from Great Britain. While the Chipmunks and Spitfires arrived without problems and entered service with the Flight School at Nayrab, the delivery of Meteors was held up by a temporary British arms embargo.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Original batch of Meteors manufactured for Syria was sold to France instead. It was only following additional negotiations that SyAF received its first jet aircraft, in form of two Meteor F.Mk 8s. All 12 were in Syria by 9 March 1953. Another batch of seven refurbished ex-RAF F.Mk 8s and two FR.Mk 9 reconnaissance fighters followed in 1956. In summer 1954, six ex-RF Meteor NF.Mk 13 were delivered without their radar equipment: in Syria, they were used for training purposes until 1958. Because the government of Great Britain imposed additional arms embargoes, most of pilots for Meteors had to be trained in Egypt.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In 1955, Syria placed its first order for 24 MiG-15bis fighters and 4 MiG-15UTI two-seat conversion trainers from Czechoslovakia ('Operation 104'). Another batch of 24 MiG-15s was ordered in early 1956. All these aircraft were delivered to Egypt, by October 1956, but their pilots and ground crews were still undergoing training when Israel, followed by France and Great Britain, invaded Egypt in the course of the Suez Crisis of 1956. Three MiG-15UTIs were evacuated to Syria via Saudi Arabia and Jordan; 20 MiG-15bis and 1 MiG-15UTI were destroyed in British attacks on Abu Suweir Air Base. The second batch of 20 MiG-15bis' was not yet assembled: the aircraft in question were all damaged by British air strikes, but subsequently repaired and donated to Egypt. On 6 November 1956, Meteors from No. 9 Squadron Syrian Air Force had shot down a Royal Air Force Canberra PR.7 that was involved in reconnaissance of Syria and Iraq. The aircraft crashed on the border to Lebanon: one crewmember was killed, while two were captured alive.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Sixty MiG-17s - including 20 radar-equipped MiG-17PFs - were ordered at the end of 1956 and Syrian pilots were dispatched to the USSR and Poland for training. The first aircraft arrived in January 1957 and by the end of the year, two MiG-17 squadrons were defending the capital from their base at Damasucus' Mezzeh Military Airport. By the end of the year, additional orders were placed in the USSR for 12 Ilyushin Il-28 bombers.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In February 1958 Syria and Egypt joined to create the United Arab Republic. The Syrian Air Force was integrated into the United Arab Republic Air Force (UARAF) and ceased to exist. Nearly all of its aircraft and personnel, all of training aids and most of the equipment were re-deployed to Egypt, and replaced by two squadrons of MiG-17Fs of the UARAF. For example, recently delivered MiG-17PFs and their pilots formed the No. 31 'Crow-Bat' Squadron of the UARAF. During the times of the United Arab Republic, this unit was always commanded by a Syrian officer.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The union ended following 1961 Syrian coup d'état. The new military flying service - officially designated the Syrian Arab Air Force (SyAAF) - was re-established later the same year, using aircraft left behind by the Egyptians, including about 40 MiG-17Fs and 4 Il-28s.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The new government Syrian Arab Republic attempted to buy additional aircraft in Germany and Italy, in 1961 and 1962. When all related efforts failed, Syria was left without a choice but to turn to Czechoslovakia for arms. By the time, Czechoslovakia was out of the business of producing fighters and interceptors, and thus the Syrians had to buy from Soviet Union instead. On 19 June 1962, Damascus and Moscow signed a major contract for arms, including an order for 34 MiG-21F-13 interceptors and 4 MiG-21U conversion trainers.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Delivered starting in spring 1963, MiG-21s entered service with two squadrons of the 3rd Air Brigade, based at Dmeyr Air Base, 40 km (25 miles) northeast of Damascus. MiG-17s were meanwhile operated by two squadrons of the 7th Air Brigade, based at Almezzeh Air Base, in Damascus.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: With the ascent to power of the Baath Party, during the 1963 Syrian coup d'état, Hafez Al-Assad (former Meteor- and MiG-17PF-pilot), was appointed the Commander of SyAAF. Preoccupied with his involvement in domestic politics, Assad left the effective command of the SyAAF to his Deputy, Brigadier-General Mohammad Assad Moukiiad (former Meteor-pilot trained in Great Britain).


title: Syrian Air Force

text: During the Six-Day War, the SyAAF flew few air strikes on targets in northern Israel on the first day of the conflict but was subsequently evacuated to air bases in remote parts of Syria. In this fashion it evaded most of Israeli air strikes that caused massive damage to Egyptian and Jordanian air bases. This, in turn, helped the IDF in defeating the Syrian Army on the ground and led to the occupation of the Golan Heights. After this conflict, Syria continued acquiring small numbers of MiG-17s from East Germany and MiG-21s from the Soviet Union.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In May 1973, a new arms deal was signed with the Soviet Union, resulting in deliveries of over 100 additional MiG-21M/MFs by the end of the year. The Yom Kippur War provided initial success for both Syria and Egypt, but the SyAAF suffered extensive losses in air combats, prompting the Soviets to launch an air-bridge to Aleppo and Damascus, starting on 9 October 1973. Replacement aircraft initially included only MiG-17s and MiG-21s: in April 1974, Syria received the first two batches of MiG-23 fighter-bombers. Acquisition of additional aircraft from the USSR was stopped in 1975 due to differences of political nature between Damascus and Moscow.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In the late 1970s, an insurgency characterised by dozens of assassinations of government officials and military officers erupted in Syria. By 1978, the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria joined the armed uprising. Concerned by destabilisation of the government of President Hafez al-Assad, Moscow decided to restart providing arms and military aid. In April of the same year, a new arms deal was signed, including deliveries of advanced MiG-23MF and MiG-25 interceptors, and additional MiG-23BN and Su-22 fighter-bombers, and deployment of up to 4000 of Soviet advisors. However, the insurgency continued to spread and included attacks on Soviet advisors.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In 1981, the commander of the SyAAF, Major-General Mamdouh Hamdi Abaza, was assassinated by Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. In early 1982, hundreds of SyAAF officers became involved in a coup attempt against President Hafez al-Assad, originally planned to take place in coordination with an armed uprising in the city of Hama. The government crushed the uprising in Hama in blood, and subsequently purged the SyAAF.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The Syrian Arab Air Force thus entered the 1982 Lebanon War in significantly weakened condition and suffered a massive loss in a series of air combats fought between 6 and 11 June 1982. Israel claimed the destruction of 85 Syrian MiGs (including MiG-21s as well as MiG-23s). No evidence was ever provided for Soviet and Russian claims according to which the SyAAF should have shot down up to 60 Israeli aircraft in return. Nevertheless, unofficial Russian, and few unofficial Syrian sources continue to claim a modicum of success against Israeli aircraft in this conflict. At low altitude the Syrian Air Force effectively used Aerospatiale Gazelle helicopters in anti-armour role against advancing Israeli ground forces. In one such engagement, an Israeli tank column was stopped for some hours by SAF Gazelle missile strikes while approaching Ein Zehalta.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Immediately after the 1982 Lebanon War, the USSR continued to refuse deliveries of more advanced aircraft. It was only in August 1982, that Moscow changed its opinion and granted permission for delivery of MiG-23ML interceptors, followed by advanced Su-22M-4 fighter-bombers. In an attempt to help Syria establish a strategic balance with Israel, in 1986 the Syrians were granted permission to place orders for 24 MiG-29s and 24 Su-24s. Deliveries of these commenced in 1987, but were still incomplete by the time the Soviet Union officially ceased providing military aid to Syria, in 1989.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Short on spares and lacking funding for fuel and maintenance, the SyAAF was largely grounded for most of the 1990s and 2000s. Reports regarding purchases of Su-27s in 2000–2001, MiG-29SMTs, MiG-31s, and Yak-130s from the period 2006–2008, have all proven to be unfounded. The only reinforcement the air force acquired during this period came in form of 28 MiG-23MLDs and 5 MiG-23UBs acquired from Belarus in 2008. In 2008, Syria has agreed to purchase 36 aircraft, but delivery of these has been postponed by Russia due to the conflict in Syria. In May 2014 Russia announced that it would supply Syria with Yakovlev Yak-130s. Syria was expected to receive nine aircraft by the end of 2014, 12 in 2015 and 15 in 2016, for a total of 36 airplanes. However, as of 2022, no deliveries had taken place.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In July 2012 at the Farnborough Air Show it was announced that Russia would not deliver any new aircraft including the MiG-29M/M2s and Yak-130s while there was still a crisis in Syria, but it would still respect any previous refurbishment and maintenance contracts such as the MiG-25s.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: During the initial phase of the Syrian civil war, up to mid-2012, the Syrian Air Force was involved in secondary roles, with no firing from aircraft and helicopters.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The situation changed on 22 March 2012, with an escalation in the use of airpower by Government forces, starting with armed Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopter gunships firing rockets and machine guns.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The air war escalated further in mid June 2012, with the use of Mi-24/25 attack helicopters capable of dropping standard aviation bombs weighing up to 250 kg, while the transport helicopters started dropping barrel bombs, aerial IEDs.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: On 24 July 2012, attack sorties by fixed-wing aircraft were reported by the rebels and recorded on video: initially L-39 COIN armed trainers began using rockets, bombs and guns but they were quickly joined by MiG-21s and MiG-23s. A few weeks later Su-22 ground attack aircraft were used and in November 2012, Su-24 medium bombers were filmed bombing rebels.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In December 2012, conventionally armed Scud missiles and other similar ballistic missiles were fired against rebel positions.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Following a report on the appearance of newly delivered S-8 air-to-ground rocket pods previously not operated by the Syrian Air Force, being employed on different aircraft, on 22 October 2013, a S-8 armed MiG-29 was spotted and recorded on video while flying over Damascus, suggesting that the type was pushed into action for ground attack, possibly after the pilots attended specific training on the type. Subsequently, MiG-29's were recorded performing rocket and gun attack runs on rebel positions.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The first reported activity of Syrian MiG-25 aircraft in the civil war was recorded on 8 February 2014, when two Turkish Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept a Syrian MiG-25 which was approaching the Turkish border. On 27 March 2014, a MiG-25 was clearly filmed while flying at medium altitude over Hama Eastern countryside, possibly delivering the bomb seen hitting the ground in the same video. Until February 2014, Syrian MiG-25s were not seen, perhaps due to the type of war, different from the role of the MiG-25 and possibly due to initial technical difficulties in keeping the MiG-25 fleet operational. The use of the MiG-25 in the Syrian Civil War marks the starting point since when all the known types of Syrian combat aircraft and ballistic missiles came into use.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: With the start of aerial operations by the Syrian Air Force, in August 2012, online publications probably overestimating rebels' claims on the number of destroyed aircraft, assumed that the Syrian Air Force was suffering significant technical difficulties, resulting in less than half of the best SAAF ground attack aircraft such as the Mi-25 Hind-D being serviceable. The publications reported that an increased number of conflict fronts and severe maintenance burdens dramatically worsened the situation, which was reportedly difficult before the war. These problems were thought to account for the use of L-39ZA (attack variant) jets, before further escalations. Operational limitations were overcome during 2013 as Syrian pilots and technicians with the assistance of foreign advisers and technicians began to improve their operational skills. In December 2013 Jane's reported that the Syrian Air Force had dramatically improved its operational capabilities during 2013, and was now frequently conducting up to 100 sorties per day with half of these constituting combat sorties.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Insurgents counter the Syrian Air Force with truck mounted, medium and heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, small arms fire and starting in late 2012, MANPADS up to modern Russian and Chinese designs.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: As the Syrian Air Force became more involved, the insurgents obtained more anti-aircraft equipment, captured air defense sites and warehouses while receiving shipments of Chinese and Russian material from external sponsors. An improvement in accuracy was achieved and several Syrian Air Force jets and helicopters were shot down from August 2012. Since insurgents besieged many airports, many of the aircraft were shot down taking off or landing. The raiding and shelling of airbases led to aircraft and helicopters being damaged or destroyed on the ground.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: In spite of occasional losses the Syrian Air Force remained largely unchallenged, efficient and feared by the rebels. Compared to Western air forces fighting against similarly armed enemies in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, the main disadvantage of the Syrian Air Force is the lack of precision guided weapons which allow the aircraft to stay out of range of small arms fire, AAA and MANPADS, while bombing accurately. The same weakness prevents them from hitting targets of opportunity in the same mission. In 2014, Jane's Defence and Combat Aircraft Monthly report some MiG-29s and possibly some Su-24s capable of launching precision guided ammunitions.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Syrian pilots spend most of their flying time at low to medium altitude where battlefield threats are more potent.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Based on the aircraft type, Syrian pilots use different attack techniques for unguided munitions. L-39s attack in a dive, fast jets usually attacked in a low to medium altitude bombing run at high speed, firing thermal decoy flares against IR homing missiles and zooming after the attack. Later, fast jets added rocket and gun diving attacks. Helicopters were seen flying at unusually high altitudes which minimized their accuracy and increased collateral damage, but reduced losses since they did not have the high speed and acceleration of jet fighters; the altitude putting them out of range of most of the ground threats. Mi-24/25 gunships were observed delivering decoy flares as well.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The Syrian Air Force frequently attacks insurgent forces with helicopter gunships in populated areas with unguided weaponry and the bombings often cause collateral damage to the civilian population and infrastructure.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: From the end of 2012 until December 2014, Syrian Air Force L-39 were seldom seen, one of the two airbases for L-39 was captured and the other was besieged. In December 2014, videos surfaced showing the aircraft coming back to operational status after a factory overhaul inside Syria.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: At the beginning of August 2015, a summary of the recent Syrian Air Force activity reported that during July 2015, the Syrian Air Force performed 6,673 air attacks, the highest number since the beginning of the war. It was reported that between October 2014 and July 2015, at least 26,517 attacks were made. This showed that aircraft losses had been overestimated, while the airframe overhauling and rotation increased the overall combat readiness of the Syrian Air Force since Syria could not count on replacements, apart from some refurbished ex-Iraqi Su-22s, delivered from Iran in the Spring of 2015, which had been flown there during the Gulf War in 1991. In early 2015, it was rumored that Russian pilots were flying operations for the Syrian Air Force.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: On 18 June 2017, US military officials confirmed that a U.S. F/A-18E Super Hornet shot down a Syrian Sukhoi Su-22 after the warplane dropped bombs near SDF fighters south of Tabqa.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Syrian insurgents overran several air bases in north-western, northern and southern Syria, including Marj al-Sultan and Taftanaz Air Base (mid-January 2013), Dhab'a Air Base (better known as al-Qussayr, in April 2013), and Kshesh Air Base (October 2013).


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Due to the high security level on everything military related, the past and present of the Syrian Arab Air Force is still largely unknown. This makes it hard to judge the real strength of the air force today. Additionally, considerable losses to the opposition forces in the country's ongoing civil war are not accounted for here. The following information is compiled from multiple, pre 2012 Syrian civil war sources.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in 2011 the aircraft inventory from Syrian Arab Air Force estimations was:


title: Syrian Air Force

text: Previous aircraft operated by the Air Force were the Gloster Meteor, Supermarine Spitfire, Sukhoi Su-7, MiG-17, MiG-19, Douglas C-47, Junkers Ju 52, T-6 Texan, Fiat G.46, L-29 Delfin, MBB 223 Flamingo, Mil Mi-6, and Mil Mi-4


title: Syrian Air Force

text: During the ongoing Syrian Civil War, the Syrian Air force suffered numerous losses of fixed, and rotary aircraft in the opening years. However, with Russian and Iranian support, combat readiness of some of the remaining Syrian Arab Air Force assets has increased during the later years of the conflict.


title: Syrian Air Force

text: The roundel used by the Syrian Arab Air Force has the same generic design as that used by the Egyptian Air Force. It consists of three concentric circles, with a red outer part, white middle and black inner part. The unique part of the Syrian roundel is the presence of two green stars in the white circle, which is reflective of the two stars on the national flag. The fin flash is also an image of the flag.


title: Druig

text: Druig is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in "The Eternals" #11 (May 1977) and was created by Jack Kirby. He is depicted as a member of the Eternals, a race of superhumans in the Marvel Universe.


title: Druig

text: In modern times, Druig served as an agent of the KGB in Russia and found that he enjoyed torturing people. When Ziran the Tester came through Polaria, Druig planned to slay him using "the Weapon" which he had learned of by torturing his cousin Ikaris, but Ikaris disintegrated Druig before he could fire the Weapon. His body was recovered by the Celestials and put into everlasting containment at the Desecration Annex.


title: Druig

text: Much later, Druig is now deputy Prime Minister of Vorozheika (a fictional country to the northeast of Chechnya, formerly part of the USSR) and is currently using the name Ivan Druig. Druig hires Sersi to organize a party at the Vorozheikan embassy, asking her to invite wealthy guests and prominent scientists. He then arranges for armed men to storm the party, kidnapping the scientists and manufacturing a hostage situation - however, his troops betrayed him and he swiftly lost control of the situation.


title: Druig

text: At this point, like Mark Curry, Druig's powers inexplicably "kick in". Unlike Mark Curry, he immediately gains control over his powers. He has displayed a limited form of telepathy, allowing him to view a person's most traumatic memory and immobilize them by forcing them to face that memory again. However, he does not appear to be able to read other memories from a target's mind. Druig also seems able to conceal his presence, by influencing the minds of others so that they do not see him - so far, the limits of this ability are unclear.


title: Druig

text: Returning to Vorozheika, Druig then seizes control of an army unit and then quickly rounds up all heads of the government. He then has all the people involved in the betrayal at the embassy dragged before him and the government heads, and gives the heads a choice. They either kill a betrayer, or kill themselves. After one government head tries killing Druig, and is then forced to kill himself, the other heads all turn on the betrayers.


title: Druig

text: He then leaves to find the other Eternals, and help them prevent the Dreaming Celestial from destroying the Earth. In the end of the series, he remains absolute ruler of Vorozheika. While he in fact despises the people of Vorozheika, seeing them all as beneath him, he gladly uses his position to send out people in his intelligence services to find other "unawakened" Eternals before Thena and Ikaris, so as to mold their mind in their weakened state into following him, and using their combined forces to become the leader of the Eternals.


title: Druig

text: Druig possesses the conventional abilities of an Eternal. He can manipulate all forms of matter and energy, including the atoms of his own body, teleport, control the minds of others, project energy from his body (usually from the hands or eyes), and manipulate gravity in order to fly.


title: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

text: She was born in Rome on 5 November 1968, to a Spanish father , a history lecturer exiled from Francoism, and an Italian mother, Fiorella de Angelis, a lecturer. She was named after Aitana Alberti, Rafael Alberti's daughter. The latter dedicated Aitana Sánchez-Gijón some verses upon her birth. She and her parents moved to Madrid when she was 1 year old.


title: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

text: She made her television debut as an actress at age 16 in the high school series "Segunda enseñanza", playing Sisi, a lesbian teenager.


title: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

text: Best known for her career in Spanish cinema, Sánchez-Gijón first became known internationally for her portrayal of Victoria Aragon, a pregnant and abandoned Mexican-American winegrower's daughter who is helped by travelling salesman Paul Sutton (Keanu Reeves) in "A Walk in the Clouds" (1995)


title: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

text: She has since built a reputation as an international star in films such as Manuel Gomez Pereira's "Boca a Boca" (1996), Bigas Luna's "The Chambermaid on the Titanic" (1997), Jaime Chávarri's "Sus Ojos Se Cerraron" (1998), Gabriele Salvatores' adaptation of the Niccolò Ammaniti novel "I'm Not Scared" (2003) and Brad Anderson's "The Machinist" (2004).


title: Aitana Sánchez-Gijón

text: She served as the president of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences of Spain between 1998 and 2000.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The sixth generation of the Ford F-Series, also known as the "dentside Ford" to enthusiasts, is a line of pickup trucks and medium-duty commercial trucks that were produced by Ford Motor Company from the 1973 to 1979 model years. Produced by Ford in North America, Argentina, and Australia, this is the third and final generation of trucks derived from the 1965 Ford F-Series.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The sixth generation marked several functional design changes and an expansion of the model line. For 1973, the regular cab F-350 became available with a wide "Styleside" bed for the first time. For 1974, a "SuperCab" extended cab pickup truck was introduced, between the two-door standard cab and the four-door crew cab. For 1975, the F-150 was introduced; a higher-payload version of the F-100 (intended to circumvent emissions standards), the F-150 would become the most popular version of the model line (ultimately replacing the F-100). A second generation of the Ford Bronco SUV was released for 1978 (after several years of delays) on a shortened F-100 chassis.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: In 1977, the model line became the best-selling truck in the United States, a position it has held ever since.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: This generation was launched in December 1972 for the 1973 model year. While retaining the same chassis of the previous generation, several revisions were made. To fight corrosion, Ford increased its use of galvanized sheet metal, zinc coated steel, and zinc-rich primer. To increase safety, the fuel tank was moved out of the cab (to below the pickup bed), creating a storage area behind the bench seat.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1973, a new model was offered: The heavy duty F-350 V8. This was a new heavy-duty pickup made with contractors and camping enthusiasts in mind. It rode on a longer wheelbase than an F-100 or F-250 ( vs. ) but had the same overall length. Ordering the Camper Special package for the F-350 SRW made it a "Super Camper Special", which was designed for the much heavier slide-in campers coming on the market at that time.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1974 (introduced September 21, 1973), the F-Series became available in an extended cab for the first time. Dubbed the "SuperCab", it offered the six-passenger seating of the crew cab in a shorter length, and competed with Dodge's Club Cab.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1975, the F-150 was introduced; this truck was designed with a heavier GVWR (over ) and maximum payload.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: In 1975 (1976 model year), this familiar "split-grille" design was given a slight facelift to feature black accents around the headlights and a refined overall appearance.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For the 1976 model year, a limited edition Bicentennial Option Group was offered on Custom styleside pickups, in either Wimbledon White or Bahama Blue, with a golden eagle stripe on the side, and red, white, and blue cloth inserts on the seats.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: 1977 models received a redesign of exterior trim, with the cowl insignias made smaller and moved near the windshield. The bed received a rectangular fuel door to conceal the gas cap. The fuel tank located behind the seat was discontinued due to safety concerns. It also would be the last year of the medium-duty F-500.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Starting in the 1977 model year Ford dropped the "Super" from "Super Camper Special" in favor of calling the F-350 models with camper packages "Camper Special", a name that was previously only assigned to F-250's with camper packages.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1978, the split grille gave way to a larger single-piece item which no longer incorporated the headlamps, the turn signals, or the ' callout. The headlamps were located in housings outboard of the grille, with the turn signal lamps below them. A new chrome-plated ' callout was placed on the hood immediately above the grille. Round headlamps were used on the 1978 Custom trim level; the higher Ranger, Ranger XLT, and Ranger Lariat trim levels had new rectangular headlamps with optional chrome bezels and a chrome grille insert. Dual Fuel tanks in the bed became standard. New for 1978 was the option of part- or full-time four-wheel-drive on SuperCab models. Full-time four-wheel drive models had a chain-driven NP203 transfer case, while part-time four-wheel drive trucks were equipped with a gear-driven NP205.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1979, all models used the rectangular headlamps, with bezels available in either black or chrome to match the aluminum grille frame.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The GVWR ratings for these trucks was tied to a combination of wheel, spring, axle and brake combinations. The series code on the ID tag denotes which model and from that it can be determined what weight rating each vehicle has. 4x4 trucks can also be identified by the Vehicle Identification Number and on the ID plate as a serial number. For example, F10 is an F-100 2-wheel drive, but F11 is an F-100 4x4, and so on. Serial numbers beginning with an "X" are SuperCab models.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The sixth generation F-Series underwent a slight revision of its trim lines. The base and Sport Custom trims were dropped (with Custom becoming the standard trim). The Ranger and Ranger XLT returned, with the Ranger Lariat trim introduced in 1978 with cloth interior trim, specific two-tone body and tailgate trim.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The model line was offered with several appearance packages . For 1974, the Explorer package was offered on the F-100, F-250, and F-350 (and the Ranchero and Bronco), consisting of color-keyed exterior and interior trim, badging, and wheelcovers. The 1977-1979 "Free Wheeling" package (offered on the Custom and non-Lariat Rangers, along with the Bronco and Econoline), consisted of multi-colored tape stripes, silver or black interior, white-letter tires, and optional alloy wheels, bed-mounted roll bar, and bumper-mounted push bar.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Ford Australia assembled right-hand drive sixth generation F-Series that were fitted with a lineup of locally sourced engines. The base trim level was called Custom, with a higher spec XLT level only available on the F-100.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Initially they were available with US sourced 240 and 300 CID Straight-6 engines. From August 1974 the 240 CID engine was replaced with locally sourced 250 CID Straight-6 and the 300 CID was replaced by the locally sourced 302 Cleveland V-8 engines. The 302 Cleveland was a destroked 351 Cleveland built using tooling exported to Australia after the closure of the Cleveland production line. The F-100 with a 302 Cleveland model was the first Australian Sixth Gen to receive an automatic transmission as an option, the six cylinder powered models and the larger F-250 and F-350 were limited to a four-speed manual. The Canadian built 4x4 F-250 was added to the lineup in 1975 with the 300CID Straight-6 engine to supplement the locally assembled rear-wheel drive F-100, F-250 and F-350.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The 250CID Straight-6 was upgraded with a new crossflow head and rebadged as the 4.1 litre, increasing power and lowering emissions to meet new legislation being introduced in Australia. At some point during 1976, the GVM of the F-100 was quietly increased from to ahead of the release of the 1977 specs. In 1977, a locally assembled 4x4's F-100 with Australian built engines was added to the lineup to replace the fully imported 4x4 F-250.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: In 1978, the 351 Cleveland V-8 replaced the 302 Cleveland V8 in the F-250 and F-350. The 302 Cleveland continued alongside the 351 Cleveland in the F-100. The 4.1 litre inline 6 cylinder continued to be sold across the range.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: In 1979, the 302 Cleveland was discontinued, leaving the standard engine as the 4.1 litre Straight-6, with the 351 Cleveland (badged as the 5.8), as the only upgrade, except the F-100 4x4's which was only available with the 5.8 litre V8. The F-250 and F-350 had an automatic gearbox as an option for the first time in Australia, though still only on the V8 engine.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Ford Motor Argentina also produced the sixth-generation F-series, continuing production through 1982. The F-100 was offered as a pickup truck, with the F-350 chassis cab (the F-3500 was a diesel-engine version of the F-350).


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Sharing its grille design with 1968-1972 American medium-duty trucks, Ford Motor Argentina offered the F-600/F-6000 (Ford 292 V8, Perkins 6-cylinder diesel) and the F-7000 (Perkins and Deutz 6-cylinder diesels) through 1983.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The F-100 was available with three engine choices, the 221CID "Econ" straight-six, the 292CID Y-Block V8 and a 203CID Perkins 4 cylinder and 6 cylinder diesel engines. The only transmission on offer was a 3-speed manual.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For 1978, after several years of delays, Ford released a second generation of the Ford Bronco. To compete directly against the Chevrolet K5 Blazer and the Dodge RamCharger, the Bronco grew in size, adopting a shortened F-100 4x4 chassis. While continuing the two-door wagon bodystyle of the previous generation (the most popular version), the 1978 Bronco adopted a half-cab/hardtop design (also used by the Blazer); the configuration was used through the 1996 model year.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Along with greater sales potential (the first-generation Bronco competed nearly exclusively against the International Harvester Scout), the redesign of the Bronco allowed for product commonality with the Ford F-100 (and the F-150 that eventually replaced it); for the next two decades, the two model lines would share nearly all exterior body panels from the front doors forward, many interior and trim panels, and would also have powertrain commonality. The 1978-1979 Bronco was fitted exclusively with four-wheel drive; the 351M V8 was standard, with the 400 V8 offered as an option.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: Redesigned for the 1967 model year, Ford medium-duty trucks saw little change throughout the 1970s. For 1973, the grille was revised slightly; along with changing two sets of slots in the grille to four, the headlight surrounds were increased in size. Sharing its cab with the fifth-generation pickup trucks, the medium-duty F-series was offered in a standard cab and a four-door crew cab. After 1977, Ford ended production of the lowest-GVWR F-500 series. Produced without bodywork aft of the firewall, the Ford B-series was a cowled chassis designed to be mated with bus bodies (primarily school buses).


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The medium-duty F-series was offered with both gas and diesel engines. For 1977, the a 370 cubic-inch version of the 460 V8 replaced the previous FE-series gasoline V8 engines. Shared with the heavy-duty L-Series trucks, the Caterpillar 3208 V8 became an option in F700 and F800 models; diesel-powered trucks were distinguished by an extra "0" (i.e., F-7000/F-8000).


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: "Highboy" is an enthusiast nickname adopted by a version of the sixth-generation F-series, pertaining to 1967-1977 F-250 4x4s. The largest 4x4s sold by Ford (the F-350 was not offered as a 4x4 until 1980), these trucks used the narrower frame rail spacing of the F-350 and a divorced transfer case (Dana 24, NP205, or NP203; the latter offered full-time four-wheel drive). The model was not a distinct option, but the design configuration that Ford offered for its 4-wheel drive F-250s, deriving its name in reference to its higher ride height (nearly 3 inches taller than a F-100/F-150 4x4 and nearly 6 inches taller than a two-wheel drive F-250). While the highboy design was largely phased out of mass production vehicles by the mid-1970s (with Ford being the last manufacturer to do so), the Ford 1970s "highboy" 4x4 is historically significant, as its design formed the basis of the first commercially promoted monster truck, Bigfoot (a 1974 F-250).


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The highboy design configuration saw its origins as American manufacturers introduced factory-produced 4x4 pickup trucks in the late 1950s. To minimize drivetrain complexity, the transfer case was not mounted directly to the transmission, but mounted separately ("divorced") and connected by a short driveshaft. The design required a longer front driveshaft, consequently raising the ride height for both axles. The "highboy" 4x4 were fitted with 3-inch width 5-leaf (or 6-leaf) front springs; the rear suspension was -inch width 9-leaf springs (in contrast to the 3-inch width springs on other F-series trucks); to raise the rear ride height, the rear axle used a 4-inch lift. To aid in suspension travel, the front springs are designed with a larger arch than other F-Series front leaf springs.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: For the sixth generation, the F-250 4x4 initially offered with three engines, including the 240 inline-6 (1973-1974) and 300 cubic-inch inline-6 (1973-1977), and a 360 cubic-inch V8 (1973-1976); for 1977, the 360 was replaced by the 351M and 400 V8s. The configuration was not offered with the 390 V8 (or the 460 that replaced it). Two transmissions were offered, including a 4-speed manual and 3-speed automatic (the latter, only offered with V8 engines). Power-assisted brakes were introduced as an option for the sixth generation; front disc brakes were added in 1976 (replacing four-wheel drum brakes).


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: The F-250 4x4 was marketed in both single-cab and crew cab configurations (the latter, one of the rarest versions of the sixth-generation F-series). Offered in the Custom, Ranger, and Ranger XLT trims only with a long bed, the configuration was not offered with the SuperCab body, auxiliary fuel tanks, and the Camper Special option package. The location of the transfer case precluded the fitment of a second fuel tank and the higher ride height would have decreased rear-seat access for the two-door SuperCab. The Camper Special was not marketed on "highboy" trucks, as that option package was developed specifically for slide-in campers; raising the center of gravity further on a Highboy truck could have posed a greater rollover hazard.


title: Ford F-Series (sixth generation)

text: During the mid-1970s, Ford began to revise the design of its F-250 4x4s. As a running change during the 1977 model year, Ford introduced a "married" transfer case (attached to the transmission); a design used by the Jeep Gladiator and GM Action-Line pickups, Ford was the last major pickup manufacturer to phase in the design. While slightly more complex (in drivetrain layout), the "married" configuration allowed for a ride height nearly matching two-wheel drive trucks and simpler suspension design; the "lowboy" 4x4 configuration is used for currently produced pickup trucks today. The "divorced" transfer case remained in production, ending production during the 1977 model year.


title: Native American dogs

text: Native American dogs, or Pre-Columbian dogs, were dogs living with people indigenous to the Americas. Arriving about 10,000 years ago, they are now almost completely extinct except for a small handful of breeds such as Alaskan Malamutes, and Greenland Dogs.


title: Native American dogs

text: The earliest evidence for dogs in the Americas can be found in Danger Cave, Utah, a site which has been dated to between 9,000 and 10,000 years BC. These New World dogs have been shown to descend from Old World Eurasian grey wolves.


title: Native American dogs

text: In 2018, a study compared sequences of North American dog fossils with Siberian dog fossils and modern dogs. The nearest relative to the North American fossils was a 9,000 BC fossil discovered on Zhokhov Island, Arctic north-eastern Siberia, which was connected to the mainland at that time. The study inferred from mDNA that all of the North American dogs shared a common ancestor dated 14,600 BC, and this ancestor had diverged along with the ancestor of the Zhokhov dog from their common ancestor 15,600 BC. The timing of the Koster dogs shows that dogs entered North America from Siberia 4,500 years after humans did, were isolated for the next 9,000 years, and after contact with Europeans these no longer exist because they were replaced by Eurasian dogs.


title: Native American dogs

text: The pre-contact dogs exhibit a unique genetic signature that is now gone, with DNA from the cell nucleus indicating that their nearest genetic relatives today are the Arctic breed dogs - Alaskan Malamutes, Greenland Dogs, Alaskan huskies and Siberian Huskies.


title: Native American dogs

text: It is theorized that there were four separate introductions of the dog over the past nine thousand years, in which five different lineages were founded in the Americas.


title: Native American dogs

text: The dogs of the Native Americans were described as looking and sounding like wolves. The Hare Indian dog is suspected by one author of being a domesticated coyote, based on its historical description. At Arroyo Hondo Pueblo in northern New Mexico during the 14th century C.E., several coyotes seem to have been treated identically to domestic dogs.


title: Native American dogs

text: One of the most ancient dog breeds of the Americas, the Xoloitzcuintli (or 'xolo' for short), accompanied the earliest migrants from Asia and had developed into the breed seen today in Mexico by at least 3,500 years ago.


title: Native American dogs

text: In South America, the introduction of the dog took place somewhere between 7,500 and 4,500 BC. Findings for dogs in South America get only denser by 3,500 YBC but seem to be restricted to agricultural areas in the Andes. The oldest finding of a dog for Brazil is dated as 1701 and 1526 cal BC, and for the Pampas of Argentina the oldest is dated as 930 BC. In Peru, depictions of Peruvian hairless dogs appear around A.D. 750 on Moche ceramic vessels and continue in later Andean ceramic traditions.


title: Native American dogs

text: In the Andes region of South America, some cultures like the Chiribaya and Inca used herding dogs, such as the Chiribaya Dog.


title: Native American dogs

text: Mexica nobility of Mexico occasionally kept "tlalchichi", the direct ancestor of the modern Chihuahua breed, as pets. Some well-preserved and intact dog mummies and other burials with grave goods, such as blankets and food, have been interpreted as pertaining dogs that were considered to have had familial status. At the Inca site of Machu Picchu, dogs with no evidence that would indicate sacrifice have been found in mortuary contexts with and near individuals of apparent high status.


title: Native American dogs

text: Some tribes utilized dogs for pulling travois. They pulled game, tipi, and other items for their masters.


title: Native American dogs

text: In South America, several different cultures sacrificed dogs in religious ceremonies. At the site of Pachacamac in Peru, a popular place of pilgrimage and religious ritual best-known for the presence of an oracle, archaeologists uncovered the burials of over a hundred dogs with physical signs of sacrifice. Dogs were sometimes considered to be psychopomps, guides to the afterlife, and were often buried with elite. The Peruvian hairless dog was believed to have supernatural abilities, such as the ability to see spirits, and were seen as a particularly good psychopomps. In Inca times, the dog was also heavily associated with the Moon and was sacrificed during lunar eclipses in order to bring the Moon back.


title: Native American dogs

text: Osages had a clan that shaved their children's heads in three tails, each to symbolize a canid: dog, coyote, and a wolf.


title: Native American dogs

text: Today, most Native American dog breeds have gone extinct, mostly replaced by dogs of European descent. The few breeds that have been identified as Native American, such as the Inuit Sled Dog, the Eskimo Dog, the Greenland Dog and the Carolina Dog have remained mostly genetically unchanged since contact in the 15th century.


title: Native American dogs

text: Modern free-ranging dogs differ in origin from North to South America. In North America, the Carolina dog has mtDNA links to East Asian dogs, with a shared haplotype with the Shiba Inu in Japan. This suggests that it migrated to North America through Beringia, therefore making it a Native American dog. In South America, on the other hand, free-ranging dogs are almost entirely of European descent.


title: Native American dogs

text: In 2018, a study compared sequences of fossil North American dogs with fossil Siberian dogs and modern dogs. The study indicates that dogs entered North America from Siberia 4,500 years after humans did, were isolated for 9,000 years, and after contact with Europeans these no longer exist because they were replaced with Eurasian dogs. The pre-contact dogs exhibit a unique genetic signature that is also now gone, with their nearest living relative being the modern Arctic breed dogs originally introduced by the Inuit.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in the 2021 census, It is the main settlement within the larger borough of Stafford which had a population of 136,837 (2021).


title: Stafford

text: Stafford means "ford" by a staithe (landing place). The original settlement was on a dry sand and gravel peninsula that offered a strategic crossing point in the marshy valley of the River Sow, a tributary of the River Trent. There is still a large area of marshland north-west of the town, which is subject to flooding and did so in 1947, 2000, 2007 and 2019.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford is thought to have been founded about AD 700 by a Mercian prince called Bertelin, who, legend has it, founded a hermitage on a peninsula named Betheney. Until recently it was thought that the remains of a wooden preaching cross from the time had been found under the remains of St Bertelin's Chapel, next to the later collegiate Church of St Mary in the town centre. Recent reappraisal of the evidence shows this to be a misinterpretation – it was a tree-trunk coffin placed centrally in the first, timber chapel around the time that Æthelflæd founded the burh in 913. It may have been placed there as a commemoration or veneration of St Bertelin.


title: Stafford

text: Already a centre for delivering grain tribute in the Early Middle Ages, Stafford was commandeered in July 913 by Æthelflæd, Lady of Mercia, to construct a burh there. This fortification provided an industrial area for centralised production of Roman-style pottery (Stafford Ware), which was supplied to a chain of West Midlands burhs.


title: Stafford

text: Æthelflæd and her younger brother, King Edward the Elder of Wessex, were trying to complete their father King Alfred the Great's programme of moulding England into a single kingdom. Æthelflæd, a formidable military leader and tactician, sought to protect and extend the northern and western frontiers of her overlordship of Mercia against the Danish Vikings by fortifying burhs, including Tamworth and Stafford in 913, and Runcorn on the River Mersey in 915, while King Edward the Elder concentrated on the east, wresting East Anglia and Essex from the Danes. Anglo-Saxon women could play powerful roles in society; Æthelflæd's death in 918 effectively ended Mercia's relative independence. Edward the Elder of Wessex took over her fortress at Tamworth and accepted submission from all who were living in Mercia, Danish or English. In late 918 Aelfwynn, Æthelflæd's daughter, was deprived of her authority over Mercia and taken to Wessex. The project of unifying England took another step forward.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford was one of Æthelflæd's military campaign bases. Extensive archaeological investigations and recent re-examination and interpretation show her new burh producing, alongside Stafford Ware, food for her army (butchery, grain processing, baking), coinage and weaponry, but apparently no other crafts and making few imports.


title: Stafford

text: In 1069, a rebellion by Eadric the Wild against the Norman conquest culminated in the Battle of Stafford. Two years later another rebellion, led by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, ended in Edwin's assassination and distribution of his lands among the followers of William the Conqueror. Robert de Tonei was granted the manor of Bradley and one third of the king's rents in Stafford. The Norman Conquest there was especially brutal, and resulted not only in the imposition of a castle, but in destruction and suppression for about a century of every other activity except intermittent minting of coins.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Castle, built by the Normans on a nearby hilltop to the west about 1090, was first made of wood and later rebuilt in stone. It has been rebuilt twice since; the ruins of the 19th-century Gothic revival castle on the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework.


title: Stafford

text: Redevelopment began in the late 12th century. While the church, the main north–south street (Greengate) and routes through the late Saxon industrial quarter to the east remained, the town plan changed in other ways. A motte was built on the western side of the peninsula, overlooking a ford and facing the site of the main castle of Stafford on the hill at Castle Church, west of the town. Tenements were laid out over the peninsula and trade and crafts flourished until the early 14th century, when a period of upset may have been associated with the Black Death. This was followed in the mid-16th century by another revival.


title: Stafford

text: In 1206 King John granted a Royal Charter creating the borough of Stafford. It became a medieval market town mainly dealing in cloth and wool. Though a shire town, Stafford required waves of external investment from Æthelflæd's time to that of Queen Elizabeth I.


title: Stafford

text: King Richard II was paraded through the town's streets as a prisoner in 1399, by troops loyal to Henry Bolingbroke (the future Henry IV).


title: Stafford

text: When James I visited Stafford, he was said to be so impressed by the Shire Hall and other buildings that he called it "Little London".


title: Stafford

text: Charles I visited Stafford shortly after the outbreak of the English Civil War, staying for three days at the Ancient High House. The town was later captured by the Parliamentarians after a small-scale battle at nearby Hopton. Stafford still later fell to the Parliamentarians, as did Stafford Castle after a six-week siege. However, its famous son Izaak Walton, author of The Compleat Angler, was a staunch Royalist.


title: Stafford

text: In 1658 Stafford elected John Bradshaw, who had been judge at the trial of King Charles I, to represent the town in Parliament. During the reign of Charles II, William Howard, 1st Viscount Stafford became implicated in the Popish Plot, in which Titus Oates whipped up anti-Catholic feeling with claims of a plot to have the king killed. Lord Stafford was among those accused; he was unfortunate to be the first to be tried and was beheaded in 1680. The charge was false and on 4 June 1685, the bill of attainder against him was reversed.


title: Stafford

text: The town was represented in Parliament from 1780 by the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. During that period, the town's mechanised shoe industry was founded, the best-known factory owner being William Horton. The industry gradually died, the last factory being redeveloped in 2008.


title: Stafford

text: In 1837 the Grand Junction Railway built a line from Birmingham to Warrington to pass through the town and link at Warrington, via another line, with the Liverpool–Manchester railway. Birmingham provided the first connection to London. Other lines followed. Stafford became a major junction, which helped to attract other industries. The Friars' Walk drill hall was completed in 1913, just in time for the First World War.


title: Stafford

text: In 2013 Stafford celebrated its 1,100th anniversary year with a number of history-based exhibitions, while local historian Nick Thomas and writer Roger Butters were set to produce the two-volume "A Compleat ["sic"] History of Stafford".


title: Stafford

text: Staffordshire County Council and Stafford Borough Council are both based in the town. The office of Mayor of Stafford Borough has existed since the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. The Mayor in 2019–2020 is Gareth Jones. The borough council was based at the Borough Hall before moving to the new civic offices in Riverside in 1978.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford has its own parliamentary constituency, represented since 2019 by Theo Clarke, a Conservative.


title: Stafford

text: The Elizabethan Ancient High House in the town centre is the largest timber-framed town house in England. It is now a museum with temporary exhibitions.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Castle was built by the Normans on the nearby hilltop to the west in about 1090, replacing the post-Conquest fort in the town. It was first made of wood, and later rebuilt of stone. It has been rebuilt twice since, and the ruins of the 19th-century Gothic revival castle crowning the earthworks incorporate much of the original stonework. The castle has a visitor centre with audio-visual displays and hands-on items. There is also a recreated medieval herb garden. Shakespeare productions take place in the castle grounds each summer. The castle forms a landmark for drivers, as it is visible from the M6 motorway.


title: Stafford

text: The oldest building now in Stafford is St Chad's Church, dating back to the 12th century. The main part of the church is richly decorated. Carvings in its archways and on its pillars may have been made by a group of stonemasons from the Middle East who came to England during the Crusades. Much of the stonework was covered up in the 17th and 18th centuries and the church took on a neo-classical style. In the early 19th-century restoration, work was carried out on the church and the Norman decoration rediscovered. The church hosts "Timewalk", a computer-generated display that relates the journey of history and mystery within the walls of the church.


title: Stafford

text: St Mary's, the collegiate church formerly linked to St Bertelin's chapel, was rebuilt in the early 13th century on a cruciform plan, with an aisled nave and chancel typical of the period. It has an impressive octagonal tower, once topped by a tall steeple, which can be picked out in Gough's plan shown above. The church was effectively two churches in one, divided by a screen, with the parish using the nave and the collegiate canons the chancel. St Mary's was restored in 1842 by Giles Gilbert Scott.


title: Stafford

text: The Shire Hall was built in 1798 as a court house and office of the Mayor and Clerk of Stafford. The Shire Hall used to be the town's court house, and is a Grade II listed building. In recent times, the building was used as an art gallery and library, before a new facility was built within the new council buildings.


title: Stafford

text: Green Hall on Lichfield Road is a Grade II listed manor house (now apartments), originally built about 1810 as Forebridge Hall, known after 1880 as Green Hall. It was previously used as a girls' school and as council offices.


title: Stafford

text: The Shugborough Hall country estate is out of town. It once belonged to the Earls of Lichfield and is now owned by the National Trust, but maintained by its leaseholder, Staffordshire County Council. The 19th-century Sandon Hall is north-east of Stafford. It is set in of parkland, as the seat of the Earl of Harrowby. Weston Hall stands east of Stafford, in the Trent valley with a large park and was once part of the Chartley estate. It is thought that the main part of the hall was built about 1550 as a small dower house, but the architectural evidence suggests it is Jacobean. Weston Hall was extended in 1660 into a three-gabled structure with high-pitched roofs.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Gatehouse Theatre is the town's main entertainment and cultural venue. Its Met Studio is a dedicated to stand-up comedy and alternative live music. There is an art gallery in the Shire Hall. Staffordshire County Showground, just outside the town, holds many national and local events. The annual Shakespeare Festival at Stafford Castle has attracted many notable people, including Frank Sidebottom and Ann Widdecombe.


title: Stafford

text: Victoria Park, opened in 1908, is a 13-acre (53 ha) Edwardian riverside park with a play park, bowling green, bird cages and greenhouses. It has a children's play area, a sand-and-water-jet area replacing an open-air paddling pool, and a bmx/skateboard area. Stafford also has a 9-hole golf course near the town centre.


title: Stafford

text: Recent developments on Riverside allowed for an expansion of the town, notably with a new Odeon cinema to replace the ageing one at the end of the high street. Stafford Film Theatre is based at the Gatehouse Theatre and shows independent and alternative films. There is a tenpin bowling alley at Greyfriars Place. The new Stafford Leisure Centre opened in 2008 on Lammascote Road.


title: Stafford

text: Night life consists of smaller bar and club venues such as Casa, the Grapes, the Picture House, neighbouring night clubs Couture and Poptastic Hogarths, and rock gigs at the live music venue Redrum. Most of these are in walking distance of each other. There is a big student patronage, with coaches bringing them from Stoke-on-Trent, Cannock, and Wolverhampton.


title: Stafford

text: A new shopping centre was completed in 2017, housing major stores and a number of restaurants.but unfortunately due to closures the centre is now empty.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford is covered by the "Express and Star" and "Staffordshire Newsletter", neither of which have offices in the town.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford is covered by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central, both broadcasting from Birmingham to the wider West Midlands region. Stafford is mainly served by the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, just north of Birmingham, but some residents get a better picture from The Wrekin transmitting station, near Telford.


title: Stafford

text: In terms of BBC Local Radio, Stafford is covered by BBC Radio Stoke, with a transmitter based on top of the County Education building. In commercial radio, Stafford is covered by Signal 1 (which is owned by Bauer and re-broadcasts 'The Hits' programming from Manchester or Birmingham for most of the day), broadcasting on 96.10 FM from a transmitter at Pye Green BT Tower, near Hednesford. Both these stations are based in Stoke-on-Trent and cover Staffordshire and Cheshire.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford can get marginal signals from the West Midlands regionals, like Heart and Smooth Radio, and is at the very north of Free Radio's Black Country and Shropshire coverage area.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford also has a community radio station serving the town and surrounding areas, Stafford FM. Stafford FM broadcasts on 107.3 FM and online from studios in the town centre.


title: Stafford

text: Like most of the British Isles, Stafford has a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The nearest Met Office weather station is at Penkridge, about 5 miles to the south.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford has a history of shoemaking as far back as 1476, when it was a cottage industry, but a manufacturing process was introduced in the 1700s. William Horton founded a business in 1767 that became the largest shoe company in Stafford, selling worldwide. He had several government contracts through the town's Member of Parliament (MP), the playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The shoe industry gradually died out in the late 20th century, with Lotus Shoes the last manufacturer. Its factory in Sandon Road was demolished in 2001 and replaced by housing.


title: Stafford

text: A locomotive firm, WG Bagnall, was set up in 1875 to manufacture steam engines for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway and the Great Western Railway. Between 1875 and 1962, the Castle Engine Works in Castle Town produced 1,660 locomotives, including steam, diesel and electric. It was taken over in 1962 by English Electric, which also bought the Stafford-based engine manufacturer WH Dorman & Company. This had merged with Bagnall's by then.


title: Stafford

text: Since 1903, a major industrial activity has been heavy electrical engineering, particularly power station transformers. The works have been successively owned by Siemens, English Electric, GEC and GEC Alsthom. Alstom T&D was sold in 2004 to Areva. At the end of 2009, Areva T&D was split between former owners Alstom and Schneider Electric. At the end of 2015, the works were acquired by General Electric consolidating Stafford as the Centre of Excellence for HVDC, AC Substations and Converter Transformers. Each transformer weighs several hundred tons and a road train is used for transport. In the 1968 Hixon rail crash, one such road train was struck by an express train on a level crossing.


title: Stafford

text: Perkins Engines has a factory for diesel engines in Littleworth. Adhesives manufacturer Bostik has a large factory in the town. Stafford is also a dormitory town for commuting to Stoke-on-Trent and Birmingham.


title: Stafford

text: Private service industries based in Stafford include TopCashback. The public sector provides much local employment, with Staffordshire County Council, Stafford Borough Council and Staffordshire Police all headquartered in the town. Stafford Prison, County Hospital and Beacon Barracks are other sources of public-sector employment.


title: Stafford

text: The town was home to the computer science and IT campus of Staffordshire University, along with Beaconside campus, which housed the Faculty of Computing Engineering and Technology and part of the Business School. These have all been transferred to Stoke-on-Trent. The only block of Stafford University left in use is the School of Health in Blackheath Lane, which teaches medical nursing. The main Stoke campus lies about to the north.


title: Stafford

text: The Guildhall Shopping Centre in the centre of town offers over 40 retail outlets, several empty at present. The three superstores around the main town centre were joined by two others in 2018.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford railway station was once a major railway hub, but the suspension of passenger services on the Stafford to Uttoxeter line in 1939 and Beeching's closure of the Stafford to Shrewsbury Line in 1964 eliminated the station's east-west traffic. The years up to 2008 saw cross-country trains (operated by Virgin CrossCountry) stopping at Stafford less frequently. Since Arriva CrossCountry took over the franchise and adopted a new timetable in 2008, this has reversed and services between Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street almost always stop at Stafford, giving a service typically every 30 mins on weekdays. Beyond Birmingham, the services continue alternately to Bristol Temple Meads and Bournemouth.


title: Stafford

text: Avanti West Coast services to London Euston and Liverpool Lime Street operate hourly in each direction seven days a week. In December 2008, London Midland introduced a service stopping at Stafford on the Crewe to London Euston route and a Birmingham New Street–Liverpool Lime Street service that departs from Stafford normally every 30 mins on weekdays. These are now operated by West Midlands Trains. At least one train a day in each direction between Birmingham New Street and Crewe is operated by Transport for Wales, usually the first and last of the day.


title: Stafford

text: Junctions 13 (Stafford South & Central) and 14 (Stafford North) of the M6 motorway provide access to the town, so that Birmingham and Manchester are easily reached. The A34 runs through the town centre and links with Stone and Stoke-on-Trent to the north and to the West Midlands conurbation to the south including Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The A518 road connects Stafford with Telford to the south-west and Uttoxeter to the north-east. This is the main route to the theme park at Alton Towers. The A449 runs south from the town centre to the nearby town of Penkridge and to Wolverhampton. Finally, the A513 runs east from Stafford to the local towns of Rugeley and Lichfield.


title: Stafford

text: Most bus services in Stafford are run by D&G Bus as services to Lichfield, Cannock and Rugeley, while Arriva Midlands runs one to Telford. National Express West Midlands had a service between Wolverhampton and Stafford until April 2020, when it was cut short and later withdrawn. An infrequent link between Wolverhampton and Stafford is provided by Select Bus. Services to Stone and Stoke-on-Trent are handled by First Potteries (service 101).


title: Stafford

text: Stafford has five taxi firms and several independent operators from ranks at the station, Bridge St, Broad St and Salter St.


title: Stafford

text: The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal runs close to the Baswich and Wildwood areas and was once linked to the River Sow by the River Sow Navigation.


title: Stafford

text: Staffordshire County Council headquarters are in central Stafford. Most staff in the town work in the Staffordshire Place development, which opened in 2011. The shift of administrative staff to Staffordshire Place meant conversion of most offices into private homes, but the County Council still meets at County Buildings in Martin St.


title: Stafford

text: For much of the 20th century the local municipal council was based at the Borough Hall in Eastgate Street. Following local government reorganisation in 1974, a modern Civic Centre was built for the enlarged Stafford Borough Council in Riverside and completed in 1978.


title: Stafford

text: The town's main library, once in the Shire Hall, it has moved to the ground floor of 1 Staffordshire Place, with smaller libraries in Rising Brook, Baswich and Holmcroft. The William Salt Library in the town centre has a large collection of printed books, pamphlets, manuscripts, drawings, watercolours and transcripts built up by William Salt.


title: Stafford

text: The town's main County Hospital provides a range of non-specialist medical and surgical services. Its Accident and Emergency unit is the only such facility in the town. The hospital made the national news in March 2009 with the release of a Healthcare Commission report detailing major shortcomings.


title: Stafford

text: St George's Hospital, part of the South Staffordshire and Shropshire Health Care Trust, is a combination of two historical hospitals — the Kingsmead (previously an elderly care facility) and St George's psychiatric hospital. It provides mental health services, including a psychiatric intensive care unit, secure units, an eating disorder unit, an EMI unit for the elderly and mentally frail, drug and alcohol addiction services and open wards. There is an outpatient facility, where the town's AA also meets. Rowley Hall Hospital in Rowley Park is a private one run by Ramsay Healthcare, but offers some NHS treatment.


title: Stafford

text: The town receives primary health care from the South Staffordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).


title: Stafford

text: Policing is provided by Staffordshire Police, headquartered in Weston Road. Its former headquarters in Cannock Road is giving way to a housing estate. There is a town-centre police station in Eastgate St.


title: Stafford

text: Statutory emergency fire and rescue service is provided by the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, which has stations in Beaconside and Rising Brook.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Crown Court and Stafford County Court share a building in the town centre. There was a magistrates' court in nearby South Walls, but it closed in 2016. The Shire Hall, Stafford, completed in 1798, used to be a court house, but is now an art gallery.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Prison is a Category C men's prison, operated by HM Prison Service. It holds a number of vulnerable prisoners, mainly sex offenders. It was built on its current site in 1794 and has been in almost continuous use, except between 1916 and 1940.


title: Stafford

text: MoD Stafford is located on Beaconside. Originally RAF Stafford, the base was a non-flying Royal Air Force station. It was redesignated MoD Stafford in March 2006, an event marked by a fly-past and a flag-lowering ceremony. For many years the site employed civilians and military personnel, but it was handed over by the Royal Air Force under the current policy of defence strategy and streamlining. A small Tactical Supply Wing (TSW) still operates from the base, which now houses a Gurkha signals regiment and an RAF Regiment contingent alongside Tactical Supply Wing.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford College is a large college of further education. It also provides some higher education courses on behalf of Staffordshire University, focusing on computing and engineering.


title: Stafford

text: South Staffordshire College has a base in the village of Rodbaston on the edge of Stafford. It is largely an agricultural college.


title: Stafford

text: Staffordshire University had a large campus in the east of the town which focused heavily on computing, engineering and media technologies (film, music and computer games). It also ran teacher-training courses. The university had two halls of residence opposite the campus, the smaller Yarlet with 51 rooms and the larger Stafford Court with 554 Rooms. Stafford Court was divided into 13 "houses" named after local villages. This part of the campus closed in 2016, with the majority of facilities relocating to its new campus in Stoke-on-Trent.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford is home to three association football clubs; Stafford Rangers F.C., Brocton F.C. and Stafford Town F.C., none of which play at a fully professional level.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Post Office Rifle and Pistol Club is a Home Office approved rifle club founded in 1956. It has a 25-yard indoor range attached to the Stafford Post Office Social Club. In addition to short-range indoor shooting facilities, the club has a number of outdoor ranges, including Kingsbury, Sennybridge and Thorpe, for larger-calibre long-range shooting.


title: Stafford

text: Stafford Cricket and Hockey Club, an ECB Clubmark Accredited Club founded in 1864, is almost certainly the town's oldest sports club. It appears to have played originally at the Lammascotes, before being offered a field at the Hough (Lichfield Road/GEC site) in 1899, which belonged to the grammar school. In 1984 the club made a move to Riverway in 1984, as the Hough came under the ownership of GEC. It currently owns at Riverway and hosts numerous sports: two cricket pitches in summer and football, mini-football, rugby and hockey facilities in winter. In 1999 it won a £200,000 lottery grant towards a new pavilion completed in 2000, with six changing rooms and a function room. The cricket section welcomes players of all abilities. Four senior sides play on Saturdays. The first and second elevens play in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire League. The third and fourth elevens play in the Stone and District Cricket League. There is also a senior team that plays in the Lichfield Sunday League. The five junior sides are for under 9s, under 11s, under 13s, under 15s and under 17s.


title: Stafford

text: In December 2018, a parkrun (free weekly timed 5k run/walk) was launched in Stafford on the Isabel Trail, a public foot/cycle path that follows part of the former course of the Stafford–Uttoxeter railway. The run/walk takes place on Saturday mornings at 09:00am, starting at the southern end of the Isabel Trail by Sainsbury's supermarket.


title: Stafford

text: The Stafford knot, sometimes Staffordshire knot, is a distinctive three-looped tie that is the traditional symbol of the county and county town, used on buildings, logos and coats of arms. It also gives its name to a pub.


title: Stafford

text: Notable people from Stafford include the 17th-century author of "The Compleat Angler", Izaak Walton, whose cottage at nearby Shallowford is now an angling museum, and the 18th-century playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, who was once the local MP. The 1853 Lord Mayor of London Thomas Sidney was also born in the town.


title: Stafford

text: In the early 1900s, the village of Great Haywood near Stafford became home to the famous "The Lord of the Rings" author J. R. R. Tolkien and his wife, Edith, in her cottage in the village during the winter of 1916. Surrounding areas were said to have inspired some of his early works.


title: Stafford

text: The Scottish poet, playwright and freelancer Carol Ann Duffy, though born in Glasgow, grew up in Stafford and attended Stafford Girls' High School. She was awarded an OBE in 1995, and a CBE in 2002. Many of her poems describe experiences and places in Stafford. She was the Poet laureate from 2009 to 2019, and now lives in Manchester.


title: Stafford

text: Baron Stafford is a title created several times in the Peerage of England. A full schedule of over 30 of the eponymous title holders is listed at Baron Stafford. Here just three are included.


title: Blue chip (stock market)

text: A blue chip is stock in a "stock corporation" (contrasted with non-stock one) with a national reputation for quality, reliability, and the ability to operate profitably in good and bad times.


title: Blue chip (stock market)

text: As befits the sometimes high-risk nature of stock picking, the term "blue chip" derives from the card game poker. The simplest sets of poker chips include white, red, and blue chips, with American tradition dictating that the blues are highest in value.


title: Blue chip (stock market)

text: In the United States, blue chips were traditionally used for higher values such that "blue chip" used in noun and adjectival senses are attested since 1873 and 1894, respectively. This established connotation was first extended to the sense of a blue-chip stock in the 1920s. According to Dow Jones company folklore, this sense extension was coined by Oliver Gingold (an early employee of the company that would become Dow Jones) sometime in the 1920s, when Gingold was standing by the stock ticker at the brokerage firm that later became Merrill Lynch. Noticing several trades at $200 or $250 a share or more, he said to Lucien Hooper of stock brokerage W.E. Hutton & Co. that he intended to return to the office to "write about these blue-chip stocks". It has been in use ever since, originally in reference to high-priced stocks, more commonly used today to refer to high-quality stocks.


title: Blue chip (stock market)

text: The most popular index that follows United States blue chips is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, a price-weighted average of 30 blue-chip stocks that are generally the leaders in their industry. All companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average are blue-chips, but the Dow Jones Industrial Average is an index that does not include all companies that are blue chips. Nevertheless, it has been a widely followed indicator of the stock market since October 1, 1928.


The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term "Northwest Coast" or "North West Coast" is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term "Pacific Northwest" is largely used in the American context.


title: Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast

text: At one point, the region had the highest population density of a region inhabited by Indigenous peoples in Canada.


text: The Pacific Northwest Coast at one time had the most densely populated areas of indigenous people ever recorded in Canada. The land and waters provided rich natural resources through cedar and salmon, and highly structured cultures developed from relatively dense populations. Within the Pacific Northwest, many different nations developed, each with their own distinct history, culture, and society. Some cultures in this region were very similar and share certain elements, such as the importance of salmon to their cultures, while others differed. Prior to contact, and for a brief time after colonization, some of these groups regularly conducted war against each other through raids and attacks. Through warfare they gathered captives for slavery.


text: The Tlingit ( , ; the latter is considered inaccurate) are one of the furthest north indigenous nations in the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their autonym is Lingít , meaning "Human being". The Russian name for them, "Koloshi", was derived from an Aleut term for the labret; and the related German name, "Koulischen", may be encountered in older historical literature.


text: The Tlingit are a matrilineal society. They developed a complex hunter-gatherer culture in the temperate rainforest of the Alaska Panhandle and adjoining inland areas of present-day British Columbia.


text: The Haida people ( ) are well known as skilled artisans of wood, metal and design. They have also shown much perseverance and resolve in the area of forest conservation. The vast forests of cedar and spruce where the Haida make their home are on pre-glacial land, which is believed to be almost 14,000 years old.


text: Haida communities located in Prince of Wales Island, Alaska and Haida Gwaii, British Columbia (previously referred to as the Queen Charlotte Islands) also share a common border with other Indigenous peoples, such as the Tlingit and the Tsimshian. The Haida were also famous for their long-distance raiding and slaving, going often to California for trading.


text: The Tsimshian ( ), translated as "People Inside the Skeena River," are indigenous people who live around Terrace and Prince Rupert on the North Coast of British Columbia, and the southernmost corner of Alaska on Annette Island. There are about 10,000 Tsimshian, of which about 1,300 live in Alaska.


text: Succession in Tsimshian society is matrilineal, and one's place in society was determined by one's clan or phratry (defined as four equal parts). Four main Tsimshian clans form the basic phratry. The Laxsgiik (Eagle Clan) and Ganhada (Raven Clan) form one half. Gispwudwada (Killer Whale Clan) and Laxgibuu (Wolf Clan) form the other half. Prior to European contact, marriage in Tsimshian society could not take place within a half-group, for example between a Wolf and a Killer Whale. It was considered to be incest even if there was no blood relationship. Marriages were only arranged between people from clans in different halves: for example, between a Killer Whale and a Raven or Eagle.