title: Scott Gottlieb

text: In January 2020, Gottlieb wrote several articles warning about the spread of COVID-19 in the United States. On January 23, Gottlieb wrote an Op-Ed titled "What must be done to head off the coronavirus threat" in "The Washington Post." On January 27, Gottlieb wrote an Op-Ed titled "We need to prepare for US outbreak of Wuhan coronavirus." and on January 28, Gottlieb and Luciana Borio wrote an opinion which appeared in the editorial opinion of "The Wall Street Journal" entitled "Act Now to Prevent an American Epidemic."


title: Scott Gottlieb

text: Gottlieb examined the systemic shortcomings of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic in his new book," Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic," which was released on September 21, 2021. "Uncontrolled Spread" debuted at No.5 on "The New York Times" Best Seller list for Hardcover Nonfiction and at No.6 for Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction. The book also debuted at No.9 on "The Wall Street Journal" Best Seller list for Hardcover Nonfiction and No.8 on the "Publishers Weekly" hardcover Nonfiction Best Seller list.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The Tata Steel Chess Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in January in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. It was called the Hoogovens Tournament from its creation in 1938 until the sponsor Koninklijke Hoogovens merged with British Steel to form the Corus Group in 1999, after which the tournament was called the Corus Chess Tournament. Corus Group became Tata Steel Europe in 2007. Despite the name changes, the series is numbered sequentially from its Hoogovens beginnings; for example, the 2011 event was referred to as the 73rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: Top grandmasters compete in the tournament, but regular club players are welcome to play as well. The Masters group pits fourteen of the world's best against each other in a round-robin tournament, and has sometimes been described as the "Wimbledon of Chess". Since 1938, there has been a long list of famous winners, including Max Euwe, Bent Larsen, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Lajos Portisch, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Viktor Korchnoi, Jan Timman, Anatoly Karpov, Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Levon Aronian, Sergey Karjakin, and Magnus Carlsen. Of the nine World Chess Champions since the first tournament in 1938, only three --Alexander Alekhine, Vasily Smyslov and Bobby Fischer —have not won it. In 2001, nine of the top ten players in the world participated.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: Magnus Carlsen holds the record for most wins at the tournament, with eight titles to his name. Viswanathan Anand is the only other player to have won the event five or more times, and also holds the record of most consecutive games played at the tournament without a loss (7 – from 1998 to 2004).


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The early tournaments were very small, starting with groups of four in 1938, and entry restricted to Dutch players. The first five tournaments continued this way, with the contest held annually early in January. In 1943 and 1944 the tournament field was doubled in size to eight players. No tournament was held in 1945 due to World War II. The first international tournament was held in 1946. The main tournament field was expanded to ten, with invitations to Alberic O'Kelly de Galway (Belgium) and Gösta Stoltz (Sweden) along with a Dutch contingent of eight.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The tournament field remained at ten until 1953 when it was increased to twelve, and an international women's tournament was also held. In 1954 the tournament field was returned to ten players, but the strength of the competitions increased. The field was greatly enlarged to 18 in 1963, and although it reduced to 16 in 1964, the event had become the strongest international chess tournament in the world .


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: As the tournament grew in stature, the ancillary women's tournament became a regular feature, as did a 'Masters' event and 'Masters Reserves' events. There also began a tradition to operate a year on year invitation policy that resembled the system used in football 'league tables'; the winner of a lesser category event would receive an invitation to the next higher event the following year.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The 1946 tournament was one of the first European international chess tournaments after World War II. Food shortages were still a problem in Europe, so the post-tournament banquet featured pea soup, inexpensive fare of the common people. In subsequent years pea soup has been served as the first course of the concluding banquet, a tradition continued when the tournament was moved from Beverwijk to Wijk aan Zee .


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: From 2000, the popular name for the tournament was more or less equally shared between "Wijk aan Zee" and "Corus".


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The first tie-break was held in 2018, with Magnus Carlsen defeating Anish Giri 1½–½. The two players sharing first place after the regular games play two Blitz games and then possibly also an Armageddon game to decide a sole winner.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: The 2008 Corus Chess Tournament took place in the De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk aan Zee. The format of each of the three Grandmaster groups remained a 14 player single round robin. The participants in group A included eight of the world's top ten players (country, October 2007 rating and rank in brackets): Viswanathan Anand (India, 2801, 1), Vasyl Ivanchuk (Ukraine, 2787, 2), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, 2785, 3), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria, 2769, 4), Peter Leko (Hungary, 2755, 5=), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, 2752, 7), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan, 2742, 8) and Levon Aronian (Armenia, 2741, 9). The remaining players were Boris Gelfand (Israel, 2736, 11), Michael Adams (England, 2729, 13), Magnus Carlsen (Norway, 2714, 16=), Judit Polgár (Hungary, 2708, 20), Pavel Eljanov (Ukraine, 2691, 26) and Loek van Wely (Netherlands, 2679, 31). The average rating of 2742 made it a Category 20 tournament. The only top ten players not participating were Alexander Morozevich (Russia, 2755, 5=) and Alexei Shirov (Spain, 2739, 10).


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: Grandmaster group B was won by Sergei Movsesian of Slovakia with 9½ points, and group C by Italy's Fabiano Caruana with 10, two points ahead of his nearest rival. The Honorary group, a new category consisting of four former A group champions playing a double round robin, was won by Ljubomir Ljubojević with 4 points out of 6, ahead of Jan Timman, Viktor Korchnoi and Lajos Portisch.


title: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

text: Jorden van Foreest was the winner of this tournament, with a score of 8.5/13. He defeated Anish Giri in an Armageddon playoff.


title: Happy Land fire

text: The Happy Land fire was an act of arson that killed 87 people on March 25, 1990. The 87 victims were trapped in the unlicensed Happy Land social club, located at 1959 Southern Boulevard in the West Farms section of the Bronx in New York City, United States. Most of the victims were young Hondurans celebrating Easter, many of them part of the Garifuna American community. Cuban refugee Julio González, whose former girlfriend was employed at the club, was arrested soon afterward and ultimately convicted of arson and murder.


title: Happy Land fire

text: The fire was the deadliest in New York City since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, which coincidentally occurred on the same day in 1911, and the deadliest in American territory since the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico in 1986.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Before the blaze, Happy Land was ordered to close for building code violations in November of 1988. Violations included lack of fire exits, alarms or sprinkler system. No follow-up by the fire department was documented.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Julio González served three years in prison in Cuba during the 1970s for desertion from the Cuban Army. In 1980, he faked a criminal record as a drug dealer to help him gain passage in the Mariel boatlift. The boatlift landed in Florida; he then traveled to Wisconsin and Arkansas and eventually settled in New York, sponsored by the American Council for Nationalities in Manhattan.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Six weeks before the fire, he split up with his girlfriend, Lydia Feliciano. Before that, González had lost his job at a lamp factory in Queens. At the time of the fire, he was two weeks behind on the rent of his room, and the owner of the boarding house where he was staying said of him: "From what I know, he was down to his last hope."


title: Happy Land fire

text: The evening of the fire, González had argued with his former girlfriend, Feliciano, who was a coat check worker at the club, urging her to quit. She said that she had had enough of him and did not want anything to do with him anymore. He was ejected by the bouncer around 3:00 a.m. He was heard to scream drunken threats to "shut this place down." He also reportedly shouted, "I'll be coming back." Feliciano tried to warn others, worried that González was going to do something.


title: Happy Land fire

text: González went to an Amoco gas station, then returned to the establishment with a plastic container with $1.00 worth of gasoline. He spread the fuel at the base of a staircase, the only access into the club, and then ignited the gasoline.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Eighty-seven people died in the resulting fire. Nineteen bodies were found downstairs; the others upstairs. Six bodies were found within several feet of the front door. Some of those trapped punched a hole through a wall to an adjoining union hall in an attempt to escape. Most of the deaths were from asphyxiation or trampling. The club filled with toxic smoke so quickly that some victims were found with drinks still in hand. Most of the victims were young Hondurans celebrating Carnival, largely drawn from members of the local Garifuna American community. A hundred and fifty firemen responded to the blaze, which was extinguished in five minutes.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Initial reports indicated that only three people survived the blaze, but later reports gave the number of survivors as five or six. Among them were Feliciano, the club owner’s wife, and disc jockey Ruben Valladares. Valladares was hospitalized in guarded condition with second- and third-degree burns over half his body.


title: Happy Land fire

text: After setting the fire, González returned home, removed his gasoline-soaked clothes and fell asleep. He was arrested the following afternoon after police investigators interviewed Feliciano and learned of the previous night's argument. Once advised of his rights, he admitted to starting the blaze.


title: Happy Land fire

text: González was charged with 174 counts of murder, two for each victim, and was found guilty on 87 counts of arson and 87 counts of murder on August 19, 1991. For each count, he received the maximum sentence of 25 years to life. He was eligible for parole during March 2015 as New York law states that the sentences for multiple murders occurring during one act must be served concurrently, rather than consecutively.


title: Happy Land fire

text: González was denied parole in March 2015. He would have been eligible to apply for parole again in November 2016, but he died in prison of a heart attack on September 13, 2016, at the age of 61.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Although the Bronx District Attorney said they were not criminally responsible, the New York City Corporation Counsel filed misdemeanor charges in February 1991 against DiLorenzo, the building owner, and Weiss, the landlord. These charges claimed that the owner and landlord were responsible for the building code violations caused by their tenant. They both pleaded guilty in May of 1992, agreeing to perform community service and paying $150,000 towards a community center for Hondurans in the Bronx.


title: Happy Land fire

text: A $5 billion lawsuit was also filed by the victims and their families against the owner, landlord, city, and some building material manufacturers. That suit was settled in July 1995 for $15.8 million or $163,000 per victim. The lesser amount was due mostly to unrelated financial difficulties of the landlord.


title: Happy Land fire

text: The building that housed Happy Land club was managed partly by Jay Weiss, at the time the husband of actress Kathleen Turner. "The New Yorker" quoted Turner saying that "the fire was unfortunate but could have happened at a McDonald's". The Bronx District Attorney said that the building's owner, Alex DiLorenzo III, and leaseholders Weiss and Morris Jaffe, were not responsible criminally, since they had tried to close the club and evict the tenant. In 1987, Weiss and Jaffe's company, Little Peach Realty Inc., had leased the building space for seven years to the club owner, Elias Colon, who died in the fire. An eviction trial against Colon had been scheduled to start on March 28. Even if Colon had survived the fire, the eviction trial would have been moot, as the building that housed the Happy Land Social Club was condemned and demolished within 24 hours of the fire.


title: Happy Land fire

text: The street outside the former Happy Land social club has been renamed "The Plaza of the Eighty-Seven" in memory of the victims. Five of the victims were students at nearby Theodore Roosevelt High School, which had a memorial service for the victims in April 1990. A memorial was erected directly across the street from the former establishment with the names of all 87 victims inscribed on it.


title: Happy Land fire

text: Additionally, the band Duran Duran wrote the song "Sin of the City", which appeared on the band's 1993 self-titled album, about the fire.


title: Happy Land fire

text: The song "Happyland" on Joe Jackson's album "Night and Day II", released in 2000, was also inspired by this event. In the Jay-Z song "You, Me, Him and Her" he raps "The fire I spit burnt down Happy Land/ Social club, we unapproachable thugs."


title: Happy Land fire

text: In the aftermath of a warehouse fire in Oakland, California, in December 2016, which killed 36 people, comparisons were drawn to this fire. The Oakland fire also occurred in a space that was being used for parties in violation of law and lease agreement. Investigations of the law and lease agreements were pending at the time of that fire as well.


title: C++ classes

text: A class in C++ is a user-defined type or data structure declared with keyword codice_1 that has data and functions (also called member variables and member functions) as its members whose access is governed by the three access specifiers "private", "protected" or "public". By default access to members of a C++ class is "private". The private members are not accessible outside the class; they can be accessed only through methods of the class. The public members form an interface to the class and are accessible outside the class.


title: C++ classes

text: Instances of a class data type are known as objects and can contain member variables, constants, member functions, and overloaded operators defined by the programmer.


title: C++ classes

text: In C++, a class defined with the codice_1 keyword has private members and base classes by default. A structure is a class defined with the codice_3 keyword.<ref name="C++03 9/4">ISO/IEC (2003). "ISO/IEC 14882:2003(E): Programming Languages - C++ §9 Classes [class]" para. 4</ref> Its members and base classes are public by default. In practice, structs are typically reserved for data without functions. When deriving a struct from a class/struct, default access-specifier for a base class/struct is public. And when deriving a class, default access specifier is private.


title: C++ classes

text: non-static data members, no base classes, and no virtual functions.<ref name="C++03 8.5.1/1">ISO/IEC (2003). "ISO/IEC 14882:2003(E): Programming Languages - C++ §8.5.1 Aggregates [dcl.init.aggr]" para. 1</ref> Such a class can be initialized with a brace-enclosed comma-separated list of initializer-clauses.<ref name="C++03 8.5.1/2">ISO/IEC (2003). "ISO/IEC 14882:2003(E): Programming Languages - C++ §8.5.1 Aggregates [dcl.init.aggr]" para. 2</ref> The following code has the same semantics in both C and C++.


title: C++ classes

text: A POD-struct (Plain Old Data Structure) is an aggregate class that has no non-static data members of type non-POD-struct, non-POD-union (or array of such types) or reference, and has no user-defined assignment operator and no user-defined destructor. A POD-struct could be said to be the C++ equivalent of a C codice_3. In most cases, a POD-struct will have the same memory layout as a corresponding struct declared in C. For this reason, POD-structs are sometimes colloquially referred to as "C-style structs".


title: C++ classes

text: C++ classes have their own members. These members include variables (including other structures and classes), functions (specific identifiers or overloaded operators) known as methods, constructors and destructors. Members are declared to be either publicly or privately accessible using the codice_5 and codice_6 access specifiers respectively. Any member encountered after a specifier will have the associated access until another specifier is encountered. There is also inheritance between classes which can make use of the codice_7 specifier.


title: C++ classes

text: A class defined outside all methods is a global class because its objects can be created from anywhere in the program. If it is defined within a function body then it's a local class because objects of such a class are local to the function scope.


title: C++ classes

text: Classes are declared with the codice_1 or codice_3 keyword. Declaration of members are placed within this declaration.


title: C++ classes

text: The above definitions are functionally equivalent. Either code will define objects of type codice_10 as having two public data members, codice_11 and codice_12. The semicolons after the closing braces are mandatory.


title: C++ classes

text: After one of these declarations (but not both), codice_10 can be used as follows to create newly defined variables of the codice_10 datatype:


title: C++ classes

text: An important feature of the C++ class and structure are member functions. Each datatype can have its own built-in functions (referred to as methods) that have access to all (public and private) members of the datatype. In the body of these non-static member functions, the keyword codice_15 can be used to refer to the object for which the function is called. This is commonly implemented by passing the address of the object as an implicit first argument to the function. Take the above codice_10 type as an example again:


title: C++ classes

text: In the above example the codice_17 function is declared in the body of the class and defined by qualifying it with the name of the class followed by codice_18. Both codice_19 and codice_20 are private (default for class) and codice_17 is declared as public which is necessary if it is to be used from outside the class.


title: C++ classes

text: where codice_23 and codice_24 above are called senders, and each of them will refer to their own member variables when the codice_25 function is executed.


title: C++ classes

text: It is common practice to separate the class or structure declaration (called its interface) and the definition (called its implementation) into separate units. The interface, needed by the user, is kept in a header and the implementation is kept separately in either source or compiled form.


title: C++ classes

text: The layout of non-POD classes in memory is not specified by the C++ standard. For example, many popular C++ compilers implement single inheritance by concatenation of the parent class fields with the child class fields, but this is not required by the standard. This choice of layout makes referring to a derived class via a pointer to the parent class type a trivial operation.


title: C++ classes

text: Therefore, any code that manipulates the fields of a codice_26 object can manipulate the codice_26 fields inside the codice_28 object without having to consider anything about the definition of codice_28's fields. A properly written C++ program shouldn't make any assumptions about the layout of inherited fields, in any case. Using the static_cast or dynamic_cast type conversion operators will ensure that pointers are properly converted from one type to another.


title: C++ classes

text: Multiple inheritance is not as simple. If a class codice_34 inherits codice_26 and codice_28, then the fields of both parents need to be stored in some order, but (at most) only one of the parent classes can be located at the front of the derived class. Whenever the compiler needs to convert a pointer from the codice_34 type to either codice_26 or codice_28, the compiler will provide an automatic conversion from the address of the derived class to the address of the base class fields (typically, this is a simple offset calculation).


title: C++ classes

text: In C++, operators, such as codice_40, can be overloaded to suit the needs of programmers. These operators are called overloadable operators.


title: C++ classes

text: By convention, overloaded operators should behave nearly the same as they do in built-in datatypes (codice_41, codice_42, etc.), but this is not required. One can declare a structure called codice_43 in which the variable "really" stores an integer, but by calling codice_44 the sum, instead of the product, of the integers might be returned:


title: C++ classes

text: The code above made use of a constructor to "construct" the return value. For clearer presentation (although this could decrease efficiency of the program if the compiler cannot optimize the statement into the equivalent one above), the above code can be rewritten as:


title: C++ classes

text: Programmers can also put a prototype of the operator in the codice_3 declaration and define the function of the operator in the global scope:


title: C++ classes

text: codice_46 above represents the sender's own member variable, while codice_47 represents the member variable from the argument variable codice_48.


title: C++ classes

text: The codice_49 keyword appears twice in the above code. The first occurrence, the argument codice_50, indicated that the argument variable will not be changed by the function. The second incidence at the end of the declaration promises the compiler that the sender would not be changed by the function run.


title: C++ classes

text: In codice_50, the ampersand (&) means "pass by reference". When the function is called, a reference to the variable will be passed to the function, rather than the value of the variable.


title: C++ classes

text: Binary operators (operators with two arguments) are overloaded by declaring a function with an "identifier" "operator (something)" which calls one single argument. The variable on the left of the operator is the sender while that on the right is the argument.


title: C++ classes

text: The '=' (assignment) operator between two variables of the same structure type is overloaded by default to copy the entire content of the variables from one to another. It can be overwritten with something else, if necessary.


title: C++ classes

text: Operators must be overloaded one by one, in other words, no overloading is associated with one another. For example, codice_52 is not necessarily the opposite of codice_53.


title: C++ classes

text: While some operators, as specified above, takes two terms, sender on the left and the argument on the right, some operators have only one argument - the sender, and they are said to be "unary". Examples are the negative sign (when nothing is put on the left of it) and the "logical NOT" (exclamation mark, codice_54).


title: C++ classes

text: Sender of unary operators may be on the left or on the right of the operator. The following is a list of unary overloadable operators:


title: C++ classes

text: codice_57 above stands for the operator to be overloaded. Replace codice_58 with the datatype of the return value (codice_41, codice_60, structures etc.)


title: C++ classes

text: The codice_41 parameter essentially means nothing but a convention to show that the sender is on the left of the operator.


title: C++ classes

text: The square bracket codice_63 and the round bracket codice_64 can be overloaded in C++ structures. The square bracket must contain exactly one argument, while the round bracket can contain any specific number of arguments, or no arguments.


title: C++ classes

text: In addition to the operators specified above, the arrow operator (codice_68), the starred arrow (codice_69), the codice_70 keyword and the codice_71 keyword can also be overloaded. These memory-or-pointer-related operators must process memory-allocating functions after overloading. Like the assignment (codice_72) operator, they are also overloaded by default if no specific declaration is made.


title: C++ classes

text: Sometimes programmers may want their variables to take a default or specific value upon declaration. This can be done by declaring constructors.


title: C++ classes

text: Member variables can be initialized in an initializer list, with utilization of a colon, as in the example below. This differs from the above in that it initializes (using the constructor), rather than using the assignment operator. This is more efficient for class types, since it just needs to be constructed directly; whereas with assignment, they must be first initialized using the default constructor, and then assigned a different value. Also some types (like references and types) cannot be assigned to and therefore must be initialized in the initializer list.


title: C++ classes

text: When no arguments are given to the constructor in the example above, it is equivalent to calling the following constructor with no arguments (a default constructor):


title: C++ classes

text: The declaration of a constructor looks like a function with the same name as the datatype. In fact, a call to a constructor can take the form of a function call. In that case an initialized codice_10 type variable can be thought of as the return value:


title: C++ classes

text: Specific program actions, which may or may not relate to the variable, can be added as part of the constructor.


title: C++ classes

text: With the above constructor, a "Hello!" will be printed when the default codice_10 constructor is invoked.


title: C++ classes

text: However, if a "user defined constructor" was defined for the class, both of the above declarations will call this user defined constructor, whose defined code will be executed, but no default values will be assigned to the variable b.


title: C++ classes

text: A destructor is the inverse of a constructor. It is called when an instance of a class is destroyed, e.g. when an object of a class created in a block (set of curly braces "{}") is deleted after the closing brace, then the destructor is called automatically. It will be called upon emptying of the memory location storing the variables. Destructors can be used to release resources, such as heap-allocated memory and opened files when an instance of that class is destroyed.


title: C++ classes

text: The syntax for declaring a destructor is similar to that of a constructor. There is no return value and the name of the method is the same as the name of the class with a tilde (~) in front.


title: C++ classes

text: In C++, class declarations can be generated from class templates. Such class templates represent a family of classes. An actual class declaration is obtained by "instantiating" the template with one or more template arguments. A template instantiated with a particular set of arguments is called a template specialization.


title: C++ classes

text: The syntax of C++ tries to make every aspect of a structure look like that of the basic datatypes. Therefore, overloaded operators allow structures to be manipulated just like integers and floating-point numbers, arrays of structures can be declared with the square-bracket syntax (codice_75), and pointers to structures can be dereferenced in the same way as pointers to built-in datatypes.


title: C++ classes

text: The memory consumption of a structure is at least the sum of the memory sizes of constituent variables. Take the codice_76 structure below as an example.


title: C++ classes

text: The structure consists of two integers. In many current C++ compilers, integers are 32-bit integers by default, so each of the member variables consume four bytes of memory. The entire structure, therefore, consumes at least (or exactly) eight bytes of memory, as follows.


title: C++ classes

text: However, the compiler may add padding between the variables or at the end of the structure to ensure proper data alignment for a given computer architecture, often padding variables to be 32-bit aligned. For example, the structure


title: C++ classes

text: As structures may make use of pointers and arrays to declare and initialize its member variables, memory consumption of structures is not necessarily constant. Another example of non-constant memory size is template structures.


title: C++ classes

text: Bit fields are used to define the class members that can occupy less storage than an integral type. This field is applicable only for integral types (int, char, short, long, etc.) and excludes float or double.


title: C++ classes

text: Bit fields are not allowed in a union. It is applicable only for the classes defined using the keyword struct or class.


title: C++ classes

text: Many programmers prefer to use the ampersand (&) to declare the arguments of a function involving structures. This is because by using the dereferencing ampersand only one word (typically 4 bytes on a 32 bit machine, 8 bytes on a 64 bit machine) is required to be passed into the function, namely the memory location to the variable. Otherwise, if pass-by-value is used, the argument needs to be copied every time the function is called, which is costly with large structures.


title: C++ classes

text: Since pass-by-reference exposes the original structure to be modified by the function, the codice_49 keyword should be used to guarantee that the function does not modify the parameter (see const-correctness), when this is not intended.


title: C++ classes

text: To facilitate structures' ability to reference themselves, C++ implements the codice_15 keyword for all member functions. The codice_15 keyword acts as a pointer to the current object. Its type is that of a pointer to the current object.


title: C++ classes

text: The codice_15 keyword is especially important for member functions with the structure itself as the return value:


title: C++ classes

text: As stated above, codice_15 is a pointer, so the use of the asterisk (*) is necessary to convert it into a reference to be returned.


title: Devon Allman

text: Devon Allman (born August 10, 1972) is an American guitarist, vocalist, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is the son of musician Gregg Allman and has appeared occasionally as a guest musician for Gregg Allman and The Allman Brothers Band. Allman was the founder and bandleader of Honeytribe, also known as Devon Allman's Honeytribe, with whom he released two albums and toured across North America and Europe. Prior to Honeytribe, Allman contributed to several other musical recordings, notably Vargas Blues Band and the "A Song for My Father" compilation album. He was one of the original members of Royal Southern Brotherhood and contributed to their first two studio albums and toured with them. In 2013, Allman launched his solo career as the Devon Allman Band, and has since released three albums. His latest tour, branded as the Devon Allman Project, features special guest Duane Betts.


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman is the son of Gregg Allman (of The Allman Brothers Band) and Shelley Kay Jefts. His parents divorced when he was an infant, and he grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, as well as Tennessee and St. Louis, Missouri, raised by his mother.


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman began playing music as a teen, but was not influenced by his father. He did not meet his father until he was in his teens, but they then bonded instantly. For several years in the 1990s he performed around the growing St. Louis blues and rock music scene, while also managing a suburban Guitar Center store where he met his future Royal Southern Brotherhood bandmate, Mike Zito.


title: Devon Allman

text: In his twenties, Allman tried various musical styles and sounds to distance himself from his father's sound and avoid obvious comparisons, though his father did not meddle in Allman's career. In his thirties, Allman embraced the blues and rock genres.


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman grew up on classic, blues-inspired rock music, and has specifically mentioned Santana, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, and The Allman Brothers Band as influences, as well as heavy metal acts such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeth and Testament.


title: Devon Allman

text: When asked if there was one record that he could cite as the definitive recording that has influenced and inspired him, Allman responded with Layla, by Derek and The Dominos. He explained, "Although it's not straight blues, it's obviously dripping with soulful blues guitar. Layla has always appealed to me because you can really really ‘feel’ what Clapton was going through. That man was straight up in love. It brought out a burning passion in his throat and fingers that is undeniable, and it obviously soaked into the other players on the record. My uncle Duane just sounds like a bird on it as well! It has so much raw energy and passion that it sounds ultra fresh every time I put it on. Front to back, one of the few records that can bring me to tears if I let it."


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman formed Honeytribe in 1999. In 2001, the band broke up so Allman could spend time with his newly born son. They re-formed in 2005 with their original lineup, and have since toured in the United States, Europe, and Canada, and have recorded two albums. They recorded "Torch" in 2006 and played up to 300 shows a year in 42 states and ten countries. Allman eventually grew restless with the original Honeytribe sound and pared the band down to a power trio in 2008 with bassist George Potsos and new drummer Gabriel Strange. This incarnation of Devon Allman's Honeytribe released "Space Age Blues" in the fall of 2010.


title: Devon Allman

text: In October 2011, Allman began working on a project titled the Royal Southern Brotherhood. The blues-rock supergroup includes Cyril Neville, Mike Zito, Grammy-award winning drummer Yonrico Scott and bassist Charlie Wooton. Allman was skeptical of joining the group at first, telling his manager "Dude are you crazy? Thats like putting five quarterbacks in a room and saying 'go play football'. What the Hell are you talking about?" However he soon changed his mind and the group recorded their first album in December 2011, over five days at Dockside Studio, a estate on the banks of Vermilion Bayou, in Maurice, Louisiana. The group made its stage debut in September 2011 at the Rock ’n’ Bowl in New Orleans. As of September, 2012 they have toured extensively in the U.S. and fourteen foreign countries.


title: Devon Allman

text: In November 2018, the sons of Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts announced the formation of the Allman Betts Band. They kicked off 2019 with an album, "Down to the River", and a worldwide tour that featured new music, songs from their solo projects, and classic Allman Brothers and Gregg Allman tunes in honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Allman Brothers Band. The album, which was released in the June 2019, was produced by Matt Ross-Spang (Jason Isbell, Margo Price, John Prine and Elvis Presley, no relation to the musician of the same name). On August 28, 2020, they released their second album, "Bless Your Heart".


title: Devon Allman

text: In September 2012, Allman finished recording sessions for his first solo album, titled "Turquoise", which features Myles Weeks on bass and Yonrico Scott on drums. The sessions were recorded at Ardent Studios, in Memphis, Tennessee, engineered by Pete Matthews and produced by Jim Gaines, and includes guest musicians Luther Dickinson, Samantha Fish, Rick Steff and Ron Holloway. A solo tour began in November 2012, and the touring band include Pedro Arevalo on bass, Bobby Schneck Jr. on second guitar, and Anthony Nanney on drums. The album was released on 12 February 2013.


title: Devon Allman

text: In 2005, Allman appeared on "Love, Union, Peace" with bluesman Javier Vargas' Vargas Blues Band (along with Jack Bruce, Reese Wynans, and others), and in 2008 on the "Flamenco Blues Experience" recording by the same outfit. In 2007, Allman guested on Paris Luna's "City Lights" album. He has also made appearances at various festivals and on MTV Europe.


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman's primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul, which he calls "Number One". It is an exact, custom-shop replication of a '59. It was signed by Les Paul when they played together at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City in 2007.


title: Devon Allman

text: Allman appeared in the rock comedy series called "Who the Hell is Dan Bruder" which launched online June 2010. It is the story of a slightly delusional, middle-aged wannabe rocker who can not let go of the dream of stardom.


title: Devon Allman

text: In 2011, Allman began marketing his "Devon Allman's Chipotle Blues" branded hot sauce via Born to Hula.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North (; , known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the Manawatu River, from the river's mouth, and from the end of the Manawatu Gorge, about north of the capital, Wellington. Palmerston North is the country's eighth-largest urban area, with an urban population of


title: Palmerston North

text: The official limits of the city take in rural areas to the south, north-east, north-west and west of the main urban area, extending to the Tararua Ranges; including the town of Ashhurst at the mouth of the Manawatu Gorge, the villages of Bunnythorpe and Longburn in the north and west respectively. The city covers a land area of .


title: Palmerston North

text: The city's location was once little more than a clearing in a forest and occupied by small communities of Māori, who called it "Papa-i-Oea", believed to mean "How beautiful it is". In the mid-19th century, it was settled by Europeans—originally by Scandinavians and, later, British settlers. On foundation, the British settlement was bestowed the name Palmerston, in honour of Viscount Palmerston, a former British Prime Minister. The suffix "North" was added in 1871 to distinguish the settlement from Palmerston in the South Island. Today, the name is often informally shortened to "Palmy".


title: Palmerston North

text: Early Palmerston North relied on public works and sawmilling. The west coast railway was built in 1886, linking the town to Wellington, and Palmerston North benefited from a booming pastoral farming industry. Linton Military Camp, Palmerston North Hospital, and the establishment of Massey University (in 1927) have reduced the dependence on farming due to more skilled workers, since the early 20th century. Popular attractions include Te Manawa (a museum and art gallery that includes the New Zealand Rugby Museum), and several performing arts venues.


title: Palmerston North

text: Ngāti Rangitāne were the local Māori iwi ("tangata whenua") living in the area known as "Te Ahu-ā-Tūranga", when a trader, Jack Duff, became the earliest known European to explore the area . He came on a whaling ship and explored possibly as far inland as the site of Woodville. He reported his discovery on arrival back to Porirua. Colonel Wakefield heard of the potential that the Manawatu had for development and visited in 1840. In 1846 Charles Hartley, another trader, heard from "tangata whenua" of a clearing in the Papaioea forest and he proceeded through the dense bush and forest and discovered it for Europeans.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1858, the Government began negotiations with local iwi to purchase land in Manawatu. There was a dispute at the time between rival iwi Ngāti Rangitāne and Ngāti Raukawa as to who has the right to sell. The dispute is resolved in favour of Rangitāne. On a visit in 1859, John Tiffin Stewart, an employee of the Wellington Provincial Council, was shown the Papaioea clearing by Rangitāne chief, Te Hirawanu, and noted its suitability for a "good site for a township". In 1864, Te Ahu-a-Turanga Block was sold by Rangitāne to the Government for £12,000, in an effort to open the Manawatu to settlement.


title: Palmerston North

text: Stewart returned in 1866 on behalf of the Wellington Provincial Council (under whose jurisdiction the new purchase fell) and made the original survey and subdivision in the Papaioea forest clearing. The settlement, named Palmerston to commemorate the recently deceased Prime Minister of Great Britain, was laid out according to Stewart's plan consisting of a series of wide and straight streets in a rectangular pattern. The focal point was an open space of subsequently known as The Square. On 3 October 1866, Palmerston was formally endorsed after Isaac Earl Featherston (Wellington Provincial Superintendent) signed a proclamation defining the boundaries of the settlement. The first sections were sold after.


title: Palmerston North

text: Among the first settlers included Scandinavians, who arrived in 1871. They established settlements at Awapuni and Whakarongo/Stoney Creek.


title: Palmerston North

text: Later the same year, the suffix "North" was added to distinguish the settlement of the same name in Otago. In 1872 a petition was launched to change the name of the settlement. A public meeting in 1873 ends with no clear decision on the name.


title: Palmerston North

text: The railway line was laid through the Square in 1875. The foundation stone for the original All Saints Church was laid by Louisa Snelson on 29 September 1875. By 1875 there were newspapers, a doctor and a post office.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1876, Palmerston North became a Local Board District, within the Wellington Provincial Council. This existed until the abolition of the provinces later the same year. Also in the same year, the council set aside land north of the Manawatu River for the purposes of a reserve. In 1890, this land was again set aside and would become in 1897, the "Victoria Esplanade".


title: Palmerston North

text: By 1877, when the Borough Council came into existence, Palmerston North was an isolated village in the midst of the native forest that covered inland Manawatu. By 1878, the population was 880 and sawmilling was the main industry of the district.


title: Palmerston North

text: The arrival of the railway in 1886 saw an increase in the speed of growth and the town was at the centre of a lucrative agricultural district. The opening of the nearby Longburn Freezing Works provided employment, while the Borough Council instigated more infrastructural schemes such as the sewerage system. The Railway through the Manawatu Gorge to Napier was completed in 1891.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1893, Rangitāne sold the Hokowhitu block, increasing the area of land available for settlement. In the same year, the Public Hospital opened in a wooden building on Terrace Street (now Ruahine Street). The hospital required significant fundraising. At the end of the decade, the Boer War broke out in South Africa and men from Palmerston North were among the volunteers.


title: Palmerston North

text: By 1900 the population had reached 6,000. In the 1910s Palmerston North's growth was steady. The population in 1911 about 10,991 (excluding Māori). The city was affected by World War I, with Awapuni Racecourse being used as an army training camp in 1914. During the course of the war, the Borough Council renamed all German-sounding and foreign street names. When the war finished in 1918, celebrations were delayed due to the Influenza epidemic.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1930, the population reached the 20,000 threshold and Palmerston North was officially proclaimed a city, the 7th in New Zealand. Development was slow due to the great depression and World War II. An airport was established at Milson in 1936, which is now Palmerston North Airport. From 1938, the First Labour government (1935–1949) initiated state housing programmes in West End (Savage Crescent precinct) and Roslyn.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1941, the Manawatu River flooded again, having last flooded in 1902. Large parts of Hokowhitu and Awapuni were underwater, with residents evacuating to higher ground (peaked at 5.8m).


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1940 the Māori Battalion was formed in Palmerston North and trained at the Showgrounds (now Arena Manawatu). In 1942, Linton Army Camp was established. After the war, the city's growth was rapid. In 1949, the city's boundaries had extended to include Milson and Kelvin Grove. In 1953, the boundaries would further extend to include Awapuni, which in the same year, was again flooded by the Manawatu River, along with Hokowhitu. It was the largest flood since 1902.


title: Palmerston North

text: Although work had started in 1926, it was not until 1959 the Milson Deviation of the North Island Main Trunk was opened. This meant future trains would pass to the north of the city, instead of through the Square. Later in 1963, the railway station at Tremaine Avenue opens. The last trains passed through the Square in 1964.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1961, the Highbury was added to the council area. In 1963, Massey University College of Manawatu was formed by the amalgamation of the Massey Agricultural College with the Palmerston North University College. In 1964, it becomes Massey University, an autonomous tertiary learning institution with the power to grant its own degrees.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1967, city boundaries were again extended to include land in Aokautere, Kelvin Grove, Milson, Amberley (Westbrook) and Awapuni as part of future growth for the next 25 years.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1969 volunteers established the Esplanade Scenic Railway at Victoria Esplanade. The railway features a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) miniature railway track offering 20 minute rides through native bush.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1970, the New Zealand Rugby Museum was established and a tribute to the founding father of rugby in New Zealand, Charles Munro, was opened at Massey University.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1971, a competition to design a civic building for the vacant railway land at the Square, is won by Wellington architects, Maurice and John Patience. The resulting building was finished in 1979. In 1976, the Manawatu and Oroua rivers flood, 24-hour rainfall records in Feilding and Palmerston North are exceeded and some residents from both locations are evacuated.


title: Palmerston North

text: In 1977, Palmerston North City Council celebrated its Centenary of Municipal government. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh are among visitors to Palmerston North.


title: Palmerston North

text: On 1 November 1989, New Zealand local government authorities were reorganised. Palmerston North City boundaries were extended to include Ashhurst, Linton and Turitea through amalgamation of parts of the former Kairanga County, Oroua County and Ashhurst Town Council.


title: Palmerston North

text: On 1 July 2012, Bunnythorpe, Longburn, part of the area around Kairanga and an area around Ashhurst were transferred from the Manawatū District to Palmerston North City.


title: Palmerston North

text: Although the land Palmerston North is situated on is bounded by the lofty Ruahine and Tararua ranges in the east and south respectively, the city has a predominantly flat appearance. The occasional rise in elevation occurs further away from the river and is especially pronounced in the north and northeast, and also on the south side of the river. The typical urban area elevation ranges between 20–40 metres (65–130 ft) above sea level.


title: Palmerston North

text: The lowest point is above sea level. This is at the river bank near Te Puna Road. Incidentally, both these locations are in the south-west of the city, by Linton.


title: Palmerston North

text: The length of the Manawatu river within the city boundary is and its tributary at Ashhurst, the Pohangina, is .


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North's climate is temperate with warm summer afternoon temperatures of 20 – in summer and in winter. On average temperatures rise above on 20 days of the year. Annual rainfall is approximately with rain occurring approximately 5% of the time. There are on average 200 rain-free days each year.


title: Palmerston North

text: In the ranges that flank the city there is often sustained wind, especially in spring. Much of this land is within the city boundaries and these ranges have the reputation of providing the most consistent wind in the country.


title: Palmerston North

text: Close to the city is the largest electricity-generating series of wind farms in the southern hemisphere, with 286 turbines in the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges providing power for approximately 50,000 homes.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North City covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km. This comprises people in the Palmerston North urban area, people in the Ashhurst urban area, and people in the surrounding settlements and rural area.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North City had a population of 84,639 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 4,560 people (5.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 6,912 people (8.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 30,531 households. There were 41,286 males and 43,353 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female. The median age was 34.0 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 16,707 people (19.7%) aged under 15 years, 21,021 (24.8%) aged 15 to 29, 34,854 (41.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 12,060 (14.2%) aged 65 or older.


title: Palmerston North

text: Ethnicities were 75.9% European/Pākehā, 18.7% Māori, 5.3% Pacific peoples, 12.0% Asian, and 3.0% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.


title: Palmerston North

text: Although some people objected to giving their religion, 49.6% had no religion, 35.9% were Christian, 1.8% were Hindu, 1.6% were Muslim, 1.1% were Buddhist and 3.2% had other religions.


title: Palmerston North

text: Of those at least 15 years old, 15,432 (22.7%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 11,508 (16.9%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $30,000, compared with $31,800 nationally. 9,792 people (14.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 32,877 (48.4%) people were employed full-time, 9,882 (14.5%) were part-time, and 3,204 (4.7%) were unemployed.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Palmerston North urban area had a usual resident population of 76,236 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 3,939 people (5.4%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 5,550 people (7.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 37,080 males and 39,156 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female. Of the total population, 14,871 people (19.5%) were aged up to 15 years, 19,545 (25.6%) were 15 to 29, 30,873 (40.5%) were 30 to 64, and 10,947 (14.4%) were 65 or older.


title: Palmerston North

text: In terms of ethnicity, 74.4% of the population identified as European (Pākehā), 19.1% as Māori, 5.6% as Pacific peoples, 12.9% as Asian, and 3.1% as other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is governed by a city council consisting of the mayor and 15 councillors, elected on a citywide basis. Before the 2016 election councillors were elected representing one of five city wards, but Palmerston North's electoral wards were abolished by the Local Government Commission in 2013. The 2013 election also saw the single transferable vote (STV) system introduced, replacing first past the post (FPP).


title: Palmerston North

text: In 2017 the Council voted to create a Māori ward, but the decision was overturned by a city-wide referendum in May 2018.


title: Palmerston North

text: As of March 2020, there are 12 independent councillors, two affiliated with the Green Party and two with Labour. A by-election was held in February 2021, electing Orphée Mickalad to fill the vacancy left by deputy mayor Tangi Utikere resigning after being elected as an MP in the 2020 general election.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Council's functions are broken down into six units: Strategy & Planning, Customer, Finance, Community, Infrastructure, and Marketing & Communications.


title: Palmerston North

text: For electoral and regional representation purposes, Palmerston North City makes up the Palmerston North constituency and is represented by 4 councillors:


title: Palmerston North

text: The Palmerston North electorate covers the Palmerston North urban area north of the Manawatū River. The Rangitīkei electorate covers the remainder of the territorial authority, including the Palmerston North urban area south of the Manawatū River. Since the 2020 general election, the electorates have been held by Tangi Utikere of the Labour Party and Ian McKelvie of the National Party respectively. The Te Tai Hauaūru Māori electorate, held by Adrian Rurawhe of the Labour Party, covers Palmerston North.


title: Palmerston North

text: In addition to the electorate MPs, there is one list MP based in Palmerston North: Teanau Tuiono of the Green Party.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Palmerston North Courthouse in Main Street (east) is a combined District and High Court and serves the city and surrounding area.


title: Palmerston North

text: Although Palmerston North has 1.9% of the population of New Zealand, 2.5% of the nation's employees work in the city. The important sectors are tertiary education, research and central government (Defence force).


title: Palmerston North

text: At the 2013 census, the largest employment industries for Palmerston North residents were health care and social assistance (4,686 people, 13.0%), education and training (4,473 people, 12.4%), retail trade (4,062 people, 11.2%), public administration and safety (3,636 people, 10.1%), and manufacturing (2,703 people, 7.5%).


title: Palmerston North

text: The tertiary education sector provides NZ$500 million a year to the local economy and the education sector accounted for 11.3% of the Palmerston North workforce in February 2006.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has economic strengths in research, especially in the bio-industry, defence, distribution and smart business sectors. The city is home to more than 70 major educational and research institutions, including New Zealand's fastest expanding university, Massey University; the Massey University Sport and Recreation Institute at the Massey University campus, Turitea; Universal College of Learning (UCOL) and Linton Army Camp.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has a long history of innovation in the business sector. A number of firms founded in or near the city have become nationally or internationally renowned. One of the largest and well known of these is GSK (GlaxoSmithKline). Glaxo had its beginnings in Bunnythorpe, now a part of Palmerston North.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has a number of facilities and attractions. It is also the gateway to attractions in other parts of the region, such as Tongariro National Park, Ruahine and Tararua Ranges. When Palmerston North Airport serviced international flights, the city was also an international gateway to Hawke's Bay, Whanganui and Taranaki.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Plaza Shopping Centre is the largest shopping mall in the Manawatū-Whanganui region and a key shopping centre in the lower North Island, boasting over 100 stores. The mall was originally developed by the Premier Drapery Company (PDC) department store and opened in 1986 as the PDC Plaza. After PDC went into receivership in 1988, the mall was sold and assumed its current name in 1990. The shopping centre underwent refurbishment and expansion between 2008 and 2010.


title: Palmerston North

text: Originally part of the Papaioea clearing, The Square is a seven-hectare park of lawn, trees, lakes, fountains, and gardens in the centre of the city. It is the city's original park and also the centrepoint from whence the city's main streets are arranged.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Square contains the city's war memorial and a memorial dedicated to Te Peeti Te Aweawe, the Rangitāne chief instrumental in the sale of Palmerston North district to the government in 1865.


title: Palmerston North

text: Near the centre of the park is the Hopwood Clock Tower with its illuminated cross and coloured lights. Also here is the city's iSite, the Civic Building (seat of the City Council), the City Library, Square Edge and the commercial heart of Palmerston North's CBD. Retail stores (including the Plaza) and eateries line the road surrounding the park.


title: Palmerston North

text: In around 1878, a Māori contingent, including Te Aweawe, gathered together to choose a Māori name for The Square. They chose "Te Marae o Hine", meaning "The Courtyard of the Daughter of Peace". This name reflected their hope all people of all races would live together in enduring peace.


title: Palmerston North

text: Most notable is Victoria Esplanade, a park located along the northern bank of the Manawatu River west of Fitzherbert Avenue. It was opened in 1897 to commemorate the 60th Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign, and includes a native bush reserve along the river bank, formal botanical gardens, playgrounds and the Café Esplanade, all connected with walking and bicycle tracks. Located within the Esplanade are several attractions. The Peter Black Conservatory is a large tropical greenhouse built in 1941 and refurbished in 2014. The Wildbase Recovery visitor centre and aviary for recovering wildlife opened in 2019 and is run in partnership with Massey University's Veterinary Hospital. The volunteer-operated Esplanade Scenic Railway features a miniature railway track offering 20 minute rides through native bush. New Zealand's largest rose garden, the Dugald McKenzie Rose Garden, is the site of the New Zealand international rose trials and contributed to the city's one-time nickname, "Rose City". It was recognised in 2003 by the World Federation of Rose Societies as one of the finest rose gardens in the world.


title: Palmerston North

text: Adjacent to the Esplanade are the multi-sport playing fields of Ongley and Manawaroa Parks, the twin turf hockey fields and Fitzherbert Park, the premier cricket ground.


title: Palmerston North

text: Elsewhere in the city are parks for sports like rugby, such as Coronation Park, Bill Brown Park and Colquhoun Park (also used for softball/baseball); and football: Skoglund Park (home of the Central Football Federation) and Celaeno Park. Memorial Park has a football pitch, and also has family-friendly facilities. The Hokowhitu Lagoon is also located nearby the Esplanade and is a popular site for recreational kayaking and canoeing.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Lido Aquatic Centre is Palmerston North's largest aquatic centre. Freyberg Community Pool is an all-year indoor swimming pool complex located next to Freyberg High School in Roslyn.


title: Palmerston North

text: The city council since 2012 has been beautifying the banks of the Manawatu River, opening up previously neglected areas into more accessible recreational parks and reserves. Part of this development is He Ara Kotahi, a pedestrian and cycle track that connects the city to Massey University, adjacent research institutes and Linton Military Camp, all located on the south side of the Manawatu River. The opening in 2019 included the opening of Palmerston North's second bridge, a pedestrian bridge connecting the Holiday Park on Dittmer Drive to the track across the river. As well as a recreational asset, He Ara Kotahi was designed to be a pedestrian and cycle commuter route between the city bridge and Massey University, to improve safety and relieve vehicle traffic volumes on the Fitzherbert Bridge. The remainder of the track to Linton crosses tributary streams with boardwalks and four smaller bridges.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has a main public library with five branches and one mobile library. The central Palmerston North Library is located in the Square and houses the main collections. The other four are located in Ashhurst, Awapuni, Linton, Roslyn and Te Pātikitiki (Highbury).


title: Palmerston North

text: Near the Square is the Youth Space, opened in September 2011 as a dedicated place for Palmerston North's many young people to congregate in a safe environment. Youth space is free to all, and provides table-tennis, gaming consoles, musical instruments, library books, iPads, a kitchen, and other services.


title: Palmerston North

text: Te Manawa is the cultural museum of art, science and history. Attached to Te Manawa is the New Zealand Rugby Museum. There are many small independent galleries.


title: Palmerston North

text: Many of New Zealand's best-known artists came from or live in Palmerston North. The list includes Rita Angus, John Bevan Ford, Shane Cotton, Paul Dibble, Pat Hanly, Brent Harris, Bob Jahnke, John Panting, Carl Sydow and Tim Wilson. Palmerston North's first artist in residence was Hinerangitoariari in 1992.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North houses multiple theatres which regularly host musical performances, theatrical plays and formal events. These theatres include


title: Palmerston North

text: Top comics including John Clarke, Jon Bridges, Jeremy Corbett, Tom Scott all come from Palmerston North as do stage, television and film performers Paul Barrett, Shane Cortese, Kate Louise Elliott, Simon Ferry, Greg Johnson, Jeff Kingsford-Brown and Alison Quigan.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has a thriving musical scene with many national and international acts touring through the town, and many local acts performing regularly.


title: Palmerston North

text: Local groups include the Manawatu Sinfonia and Manawatu Youth Orchestra (MYO) who perform throughout the year. The Manawatu Youth Orchestra celebrated its 50th year in September 2011.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is also home to the Palmerston North Brass Band. Founded in 1868 by army troops stationed in the region, Palmerston North Brass Band technically pre-dates the city of Palmerston North. In 2018 the band celebrated its 150th anniversary.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is a cathedral city, and the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Palmerston North. The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Palmerston North is its cathedral. The Diocese of Palmerston North is currently without a Bishop following the resignation of Charles Drennan.


title: Palmerston North

text: In the Anglican Communion, Palmerston North is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Wellington, under Bishop Justin Duckworth. Palmerston North is also in the Anglican Hui Amorangi of Te Pīhopatanga o Te Upoko o Te Ika, under current Pīhopa Rev. Muru Walters.


title: Palmerston North

text: There are also many other churches with denominations such as Adventist (Mosaic Community Church and Palmerston North Seventh Day Adventist Church), Apostolic, Assembly of God (AOG), Baptist, Brethren, Christian Scientist, Church of Christ, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, Lutheran, Methodist, Pentecostal, Presbyterian and Religious Society of Friends.


title: Palmerston North

text: Participation in sport is an important and popular pastime in Palmerston North. Representation at a national level is predominantly provincial based, meaning most sports teams representing Palmerston North also draw their players from other towns from around Manawatu.


title: Palmerston North

text: The premier multi-sports venue in Palmerston North is Arena Manawatu, which is known as the Central Energy Trust Arena after its headline sponsors. The main stadium (Arena One) is the home of the Manawatu Turbos rugby union team and the Robertson Holden International Speedway. There are indoor venues at Arena Manawatu where netball, basketball, volleyball and Badminton are played.


title: Palmerston North

text: Other important venues include Memorial Park, Fitzherbert Park, Celaeno Park, Manawaroa/Ongley Park, Skoglund Park, Vautier Park and Massey University sports fields.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North Hospital is the city's main public hospital, and is the seat of the MidCentral District Health Board. The hospital is the major trauma centre for Palmerston North, Otaki, and the Manawatu, Horowhenua and Tararua districts.


title: Palmerston North

text: There were two private hospitals, Aorangi and Southern Cross. In 2012 these two private surgical hospitals merged and are now known as Crest Hospital.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Palmerston North Municipal Electricity Department (MED) was formed in 1924 to supply the city with electricity. The Manawatu-Oroua Electric Power Board (EPB) supplied the surrounding rural areas. Electricity was initially generated at the Keith Street power station until the transmission lines from Mangahao Power Station to Bunnythorpe substation were completed in March 1925. The Keith Street power station continued to regularly generate electricity until the Inter-Island HVDC link was commissioned in 1965, when it was relegated to standby duty before finally being decommissioned in 1992.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Palmerston North MED and Mawawatu Oroua EPB were dissolved in the late 1990s with the government electricity sector reforms. The retail business was sold to Genesis Energy while the lines business became part of Powerco. Today, Powerco continues to operate the local distribution network, with electricity fed from two Transpower substations, at Bunnythorpe and at Linton. There is now a competitive electricity retail market, although Genesis continues to be the dominant retailer in the city.


title: Palmerston North

text: Three wind farms are located on the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges bordering Palmerston North: Te Apiti windfarm, Tararua windfarm and Te Rere Hau Wind Farm. The three farms together have a maximum output of 300 MW.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North was one of the original nine towns and cities in New Zealand to be supplied with natural gas when the Kapuni gas field entered production in 1970 and a 260 km high pressure pipeline from Kapuni south to Wellington (including a 27 km lateral pipeline from Himatangi to supply Palmerston North) was completed. The high pressure transmission pipelines supplying the city are now owned and operated by First Gas, with Powerco owning and operating the medium and low pressure distribution pipelines within the city.


title: Palmerston North

text: At the 2013 census, 40.5% of Palmerston North homes were heated wholly or partially by natural gas, the highest in New Zealand.


title: Palmerston North

text: Fibre to the premises is being deployed in Palmerston North as part of the Government's Ultra-Fast Broadband programme. , the fibre roll-out in the city is 94 percent complete, with a 42.2 percent uptake rate.


title: Palmerston North

text: The majority of Palmerston North's water supply is drawn from the Turitea Stream, in the Tararua Range south of the city. The supply is supplemented by four artesian wells, at Papaioea Park, Takaro Park, Keith Street and Roberts Line. The waterworks first opened in 1889 and was extended in 1906, but the first sewers, septic tanks and filter beds not until 1907. The first sewage works was at Maxwells Line. Sewage is now treated at the nearby Tōtara Road, before discharge to the river. An upgrade is being planned to reduce pollution.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is a significant road and rail junction. As such, it is an important distribution hub for the Central and lower North Island, with many freight distribution centres based here.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North's arterial roads are arranged in a grid pattern. There are four main dual-carriageway roads radiating from The Square, splitting the city into four quadrants: Rangitikei Street to the north, Fitzherbert Avenue to the south, and Main Street to the east and west.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is perceived as being better for cycling than most New Zealand cities, with 2001 figures putting it a close second only to Blenheim in terms of bicycle modal share. However, by 2006, cycling to work had almost halved in a decade to 5.4% and the 2013 census found that, in the central city, only 6 cycled, but 690 travelled by motor vehicle.


title: Palmerston North

text: The Manawatu River Pathway is great for family or beginners riders, as it is all flat to mildly contoured, with some limestone sections, as well as wide cement paths. The track has many access points to this trail, which runs for over 9 km between Maxwells Line in the West to Riverside Drive in the East. A new 3 km section has been added between Ashhurst and Raukawa Road, with plans to link this to the existing path over the next two years, making over 22 km of scenic tracks to explore alongside the river.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has a fairly comprehensive 65 km on-road bicycle lane network, particularly in high traffic areas, to make it safer for people to get around the city by bike. All local buses have racks for two cycles.


title: Palmerston North

text: The cycle lane network has been criticised for a number of reasons. Motor traffic is often too fast, and there is no physical barrier between bicyclists and motorists. Most bicycle lanes in the city are marked out with parking spaces for motorist parking, making those lanes 'pointless' and raising the risk of motorists opening car doors into the path of passing bicyclists.


title: Palmerston North

text: Rebecca Oaten, the so-called 'Helmet Lady' who campaigned nationwide in the late 1980s for a New Zealand bicycle helmet law, is from Palmerston North.


title: Palmerston North

text: After much discussion about introducing a tramway system to Palmerston North including an ambitious tram subway under the central railway station a £60,000 loan was taken out in 1912 for a tramway scheme. Support, however was waivering and there were disagreements within the council over the mode of the trams, one of the proposals was from battery trams similar to the ones that ran in Gisborne. Eventually, the decision to install tramways in Palmerston North was rescinded by a referendum and in 1920 the die was cast for a motorbus system to begin in Palmerston North. The first buses arrived in Palmerston North by late 1921.


title: Palmerston North

text: Urban services are coordinated by Horizons Regional Council, through Masterton-based bus company, Tranzit. Seven urban buses leave the terminal in Main Street East (in front of Palmerston North Courthouse) at least every half-hour. The buses are assigned to loop routes servicing different parts of the city. Go cards were replaced by on 20 July 2020.


title: Palmerston North

text: Daily services run to the nearby towns of Linton, Ashhurst, Feilding (via Airport), Foxton, Levin and Marton.


title: Palmerston North

text: Inter-regional routes are operated by Intercity and Tranzit. Intercity's routes run south (to Wellington), north (towards Auckland, via Whanganui, Rotorua and Taupo, or Napier) and east (to Masterton) from the bus terminal in The Square, Palmerston North.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North Airport is located in the suburb of Milson, approximately north of the central business district. It is a regional gateway to the central North Island region. The airport has regular services to domestic destinations including Auckland, Christchurch, Hamilton, Napier, Nelson and Wellington. Flights are currently served by Air New Zealand and Originair. For 12 years Freedom Air served Palmerston North from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, The Gold Coast and Nadi with a Boeing 737-300 and an Airbus A320-200. But when Freedom Air closed for good in 2008, international services from Palmerston North ended for good as well.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is on the North Island Main Trunk Railway. There is only one passenger train run by KiwiRail: the weekday-only Capital Connection commuter train once a day to and from Wellington.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North was formerly a stop for the Northern Explorer to and from Auckland and Wellington. The Northern Explorer scheduled passenger service was discontinued in December 2021.


title: Palmerston North

text: Until 1964, the railway ran through the city centre, with Palmerston North railway station in The Square. The station was moved and the track diverted to the north by the "Milson Deviation" in 1959–1963; work on the deviation had started in 1926.


title: Palmerston North

text: Near the current railway station, the North Island Main Trunk railway is joined by the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line, which runs through the Manawatu Gorge to Woodville and Hawke's Bay. A connection to the Wairarapa Line is at Woodville.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North is considered "the student city" of New Zealand North Island. It is an important base for tertiary institutions. The home campuses of Massey University, Universal College of Learning (UCOL) and Institute of the Pacific United (IPU) are here. A large proportion of Palmerston North's population consists of students attending these institutions or the various Papaioea Campuses of Te Wananga o Aotearoa during the student year.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North has five state secondary schools: Palmerston North Boys' High School and Queen Elizabeth College in the north, Freyberg High School in the north-east, Palmerston North Girls High School in the south, and Awatapu College in the south-west. The city also has one state-integrated Catholic secondary school, St Peter's College.


title: Palmerston North

text: Palmerston North also has one special character secondary school: Cornerstone Christian School, Palmerston North


title: Palmerston North

text: The major daily newspaper in Palmerston North is the "Manawatu Standard", while the weekly community newspaper is the "Guardian".


title: Palmerston North

text: Most radio stations are based outside the city, however some on the nationwide networks have studios in Palmerston North. Local radio stations include More FM (formerly "2XS") featuring the popular "Mike West in the Morning" breakfast show from 6am-10am. Sister station The Breeze also has a local breakfast show from 6am-10am hosted by Burnzee. Radio Control is the local alternative student radio station, featuring local personality Abi Symes on "The Continental Breakfast" from 7 am to 9 am. Access Manawatu 999AM is a local community station and Kia Ora FM is the local Iwi station.


title: Palmerston North

text: The city's main television and FM radio transmitter is located atop Wharite Peak, northeast of the city centre. The first transmitter at the site was commissioned in 1963 to relay Wellington's WNTV1 channel (now part of TVNZ 1). The current main transmitter was built in 1966.


title: Jen Lewin

text: Jen Lewin is an interactive artist and engineer with a studio based in New York City who specializes in large scale installations in public spaces, usually combining elements such as light, sound and complex engineering. Her interactive light installation "The Pool" debuted in 2008 and has been exhibited across the globe, in cities such as Singapore, Sydney, Denver, Montréal and Prague, and in events such as South By Southwest and Burning Man.


title: Jen Lewin

text: Lewin has written publications about CAD-related topics. Her work has appeared on "National Geographic".


title: Jen Lewin

text: Lewin grew up in Maui and obtained her BA in Architecture and Computer Aided Design from the University of Colorado Boulder, later obtaining her M.P.S. degree in Interactive Design from Tisch School of the Arts.


title: Jen Lewin

text: Lewin married Kimbal Musk in 2001, brother of Elon Musk. They had two children together. They divorced in 2010. Lewin married William (Bill) Magnuson in 2012, and currently lives with Bill and their two children in New York City. In 2015 Lewin purchased a 4-story condo in Manhattan for 7 million dollars.


title: Jen Lewin

text: Her most known work, "The Pool", featured on "Wired", consists of over 200 LED-lit platforms that change color according to pressure and speed changes elicited by viewers' interactions with the system. Termed an "interactive light sculpture", where human interaction is necessary for its display, this installation has toured several countries. Specializing in works that involve technology and human interaction, she often includes musical elements into her creations. For instance, other projects or hers include laser harps, where people elicit music via interrupting the laser arrangements.


title: Jen Lewin

text: According to the "Boulder Weekly", Google commissioned Lewin to "create an Android app for tracking feedback between her innovations and the groups of people interacting with them". Lewin, along with her "Pool" installation, was featured by the BBC News in May 2013.


title: Jen Lewin

text: Jen Lewin was co-founder of The Kitchen restaurants in Boulder, along with Hugo Matheson and then husband, Kimbal Musk. She designed its three original locations. Lewin is also the original designer behind the Learning Gardens created for Kimbal Musk and his foundation The Kitchen Community, now called Big Green.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The persecution of Zoroastrians has been recorded throughout the history of Zoroastrianism, an Iranian religion. The notably large-scale persecution of Zoroastrians began after the rise of Islam in the 7th century CE; both during and after the conquest of Persia by Arab Muslims, discrimination and harassment against Zoroastrians took place in the form of forced conversions and sparse violence. Muslims who arrived in the region after its annexation by the Rashidun Caliphate are recorded to have destroyed Zoroastrian temples, and Zoroastrians living in areas that had fallen under Muslim control were required to pay a tax known as "jizya".


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Mosques were built in the place of some destroyed Zoroastrian temples, and many Persian libraries were burned. Gradually, an increasing number of laws were passed by the Rashidun Caliphate which regulated Zoroastrian behaviour and limited their ability to participate in society. Over time, the persecution of Zoroastrians by Muslims became increasingly common and widespread, and the religion consequently began to decline. As the process of Islamization was initiated under Muslim rule, many Zoroastrians fled east from Persia to India, where they were given refuge.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: A large number of Zoroastrians converted to Islam to avoid discrimination and the effects of second-class citizenship in the caliphates. Following the conversion of a Zoroastrian subject, their children would be sent to an Islamic school to learn Arabic and study the Quran as well as other religious teachings; this process contributed to the decline of Zoroastrianism. However, under the Samanid Empire, which was composed of Iranians who had converted from Zoroastrianism to Sunni Islam, the Persian language re-emerged significantly and flourished; this period marked the beginning of the Iranian Intermezzo.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Until the Arab invasion and subsequent Muslim conquest, in the mid-7th century Persia (modern-day Iran) was a politically independent state, spanning from Mesopotamia to the Indus River and dominated by a Zoroastrian majority. Zoroastrianism was the official state religion of four pre-Islamic Persian empires, the last being the Sassanian empire that passed a decree solidifying this in 224 CE. The Arab invasion abruptly brought to an end the religious domination of Zoroastrianism in Persia and instituted Islam as the official religion of the state.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Yemen's Zoroastrians who had the jizya imposed on them after being conquered by Muhammad are mentioned by the Islamic historian al-Baladhuri.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: After the Muslim conquest of Persia, Zoroastrians were given dhimmi status and subjected to persecutions; discrimination and harassment began in the form of sparse violence. Those paying Jizya were subjected to insults and humiliation by the tax collectors. Zoroastrians who were captured as slaves in wars were given their freedom if they converted to Islam.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Many fire temples, with their four axial arch openings, were usually turned into mosques simply by setting a "mihrab" (prayer niche) on the place of the arch nearest to "qibla" (the direction of Mecca). Zoroastrian temples converted into mosques in such a manner could be found in Bukhara, as well as in and near Istakhr and other Persian cities. Urban areas where Arab governors made their quarters were most vulnerable to such religious persecution, great fire temples were turned into mosques, and the citizens were forced to conform or flee. Many libraries were burnt and much cultural heritage was lost.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Gradually there were increased number of laws regulating Zoroastrian behavior, limiting their ability to participate in society, and made life difficult for the Zoroastrians in the hope that they would convert to Islam. Over time, persecution of Zoroastrians became more common and widespread, and the number of believers decreased significantly. Many converted, some superficially, to escape the systematic abuse and discrimination by the law of the land. Others accepted Islam because their employment in industrial and artisan work would, according to Zoroastrian dogma, make them impure as their work involved defiling fire. According to Thomas Walker Arnold, Muslim missionaries did not encounter difficulty in explaining Islamic tenets to Zoroastrians, as there were many similarities between the faiths. According to Arnold, for the Persian, he would meet Ahura Mazda and Ahriman under the names of Allah and Iblis.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Once a Zoroastrian family converted to Islam, the children had to go to Muslim religion school and learn Arabic and the teachings of the Quran and these children lost their Zoroastrian identity. These factors continued to contribute to increasing rates of conversion from Zoroastrianism to Islam. A Persian scholar commented, "Why so many had to die or suffer? Because one side was determined to impose his religion upon the other who could not understand."


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: However, Sir Thomas Walker Arnold doubts the entire narrative of the forced conversions of the Zoroastrians, citing many examples of tolerance that were shown by the Muslim overlords concluding that "in the face of such facts, it is surely impossible to attribute the decay of Zoroastrianism entirely to violent conversions made by the Muslim conquerors". Arnold suggests that some of the conversions of the former-Zoroastrians were actually sincere citing the similarities between the two religions as a motivation for the conversions. Stepaniants also (like Arnold) declares that some historians have said that some of the conversions to Islam were sincere citing the fact that Islam offered a broader door of brotherhood, unlike the restrictive criteria of Zoroastrianism. Nevertheless, Sir Thomas Arnold does acknowledge that the persecution of Zoroastrians did take place later on. Stepaniants states that many persecutions took place during the reign of the Abbasids, and around that time was when the Parsi exodus took place. But regardless, both Arnold and Stepaniants say that the Islam is not to blamed entirely for the decline of Zoroastrianism. Furthermore, the population of the city of Nishapur, even after the event of conquest (despite conversions to Islam taking place almost immediately) there still remained sizeable Zoroastrian populations, along with the Jews and Nestorian Christians as well. Fred Donner says that the northern were hardly penetrated by the "believers" for a century or the Iranian nobility who reside in that area made terms with the believers winning virtually complete autonomy over the region in return of a tribute-tax or jizyah. Donner also acknowledges that Zoroastrians continued to exist in large numbers even after the rise of Islam in these regions.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: In the 7th century CE Persia succumbed to the invading Arabs. With the death of Yazdegerd III, who was treacherously slain in 651 after being defeated in battle, the Sassanid line came to an end and the Zoroastrian faith, and Islam took its place as the national religion of Persia.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: In the following centuries, Zoroastrians faced much religious discrimination and persecution, harassments, as well as being identified as najis (polluted) and impure to Muslims, making them unfit to live alongside Muslims, and therefore forcing them to evacuate from cities and face major sanctions in all spheres of life. Zoroastrians have been subject to public humiliation through dress regulations, to being labeled as najis and to exclusion in the fields of society, education and work.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Under the first four Caliphs, Persia remained predominantly Zoroastrian. Zoroastrians were awarded the status of "People of the Book" or "dhimmi" status by the Caliph Umar, although some practices contrary to Islam were prohibited.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: When the Persian capital of Ctesiphon in province of Khvârvarân (today known as Iraq) fell to the Muslims during the Islamic conquest of Persia in 637 under the military command of Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas during the caliphate of Umar, the palaces and their archives were burned. According to a 17th-century account cited by Georgie Zeidan, the Arab Commander Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas wrote to Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab asking what should be done with the books at Ctesiphon. Umar wrote back: "If the books contradict the Qur'an, they are blasphemous. On the other hand, if they are in agreement, they are not needed, as for us Qur'an is sufficient." Thus, the huge library was destroyed and the books, the product of the generations of Persian scientists and scholars were thrown into fire or the Euphrates. However, it is doubted whether libraries were actually burned or desecrated. Nearly 40,000 captured Persian noblemen were taken as slaves and sold in Arabia. The Arabs called the Persians 'Ajam' meaning foreign. The first voice of protest came from Abu Lu'lu'a Firuz, an enslaved Persian artisan, who assassinated Umar. When the city of Estakhr in the south, a Zoroastrian religious center, put up stiff resistance against the Arab invaders, 40,000 residents were slaughtered or hanged.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Umayyads who ruled from Syria followed the Rashidun Caliphs. The persecution increased in the 8th century, during the reign of the late Umayyad Caliphs, whose dynastic predecessors had conquered most of the last Zoroastrian state by 652. Jizya tax was imposed upon Zoroastrians, and the official language of Persia became Arabic instead of the local Persian. In 741, the Umayyads officially decreed that non-Muslims be excluded from governmental positions.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Iranian Muslims at this time started a new tradition, which made Islam appear as a partly Iranian religion. They pointed out that an Iranian, Salaman-I-Farsi, had a great influence on the prophet Muhammad. They also pointed out the legend that Husayn, the son of the fourth Caliph, had married a Sassanian princess named Shahrbanu (the Lady of the Land), whose son later became the fourth Muslim Imam (and started the Shia branch of Islam). The Iranian Muslims thus believed that Shia Islam was derived from Sassanian Royalty. These two beliefs made it easier for Zoroastrians to convert. An instance of religious oppression is recorded when an Arab governor appointed a commissioner to supervise the destruction of shrines throughout Iran, regardless of treaty obligations. One of the Umayyad Caliphs was quoted saying, "milk the Persians and once their milk dries, suck their blood".


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Yazid-ibn-Mohalleb, a general under the Umayyads, was appointed the head of a great army to lead the Mazandaran expedition. On the way to Mazandaran, the general ordered captives to be hanged at the two sides of the road so that the victorious Arab army pass through. The attack on Tabarestan (present-day Mazandaran) failed, but he established his control in Gorgan. By the orders of Yazid-ibn-Mohalleb so many Persians were beheaded in Gorgan that their blood mixed with water would energize the millstone to produce as much as one day meal for him, as he had vowed. The extent of his brutality represented itself by running watermills by people's blood for three days and he fed his army with the bread made from that very bloody flour. But, Tabarestan remained invincible until the majority of Zoroastrians migrated towards India and the rest converted to Islam gradually.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Although the Umayyad's were harsh when it came to defeating their Zoroastrian adversaries, claiming responsibility for many of the atrocities towards the Zoroastrian population during warfare, but they did however offer protection and relative religious tolerance to the Zoroastrians who accepted their authority. Umar II was reported to have said in one of his letters commanding not to "destroy a synagogue or a church or temple of fire worshippers (meaning the Zoroastrians) as long as they have reconciled with and agreed upon with the Muslims". Fred Donner says that Zoroastrians in the northern parts of Iran were hardly penetrated by the "believers" winning virtually complete autonomy in-return for tribute-tax or jizyah. Donner goes on to say that "... Zoroastrians continued to exist in large numbers in northern and western Iran and elsewhere for centuries after the rise of Islam, and indeed, much of the canon of Zoroastrian religious texts was elaborated and written down during the Islamic period...".


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Umayyads were followed by the Abbasid dynasty which came to power with the help of Iranian Muslims. The persecution of Zoroastrians increased significantly under the Abbasids, temples and sacred-fire shrines were destroyed. Also during Abbasid rule, the status of Zoroastrians in Persian lands was reduced from "zimmi" (or dhimmi, people who were protected by the state and generally considered 'People of the Book') to 'kafirs' (non-believers). As a result, Zoroastrians were not granted the same rights and status as Jews and Christians. Iranian Muslims were welcomed to the court, but not Zoroastrians. Zoroastrians were denied access to bathhouses on the grounds that their bodies were polluted.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Hardly any Zoroastrian family was able to avoid conversion to Islam when employed by the Abbasids. Because of their harshness towards unbelievers, and due to their lavish patronage of Persian Muslims, the Abbasids proved to be deadly foes of Zoroastrianism.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: According to Dawlatshah, Abdollah-ibn-Tahir, an Arabicized Persian, and governor of Khorasan for the Abbasid caliphs, banned publication in Persian and by his order all the Zoroastrians were forced to bring their religious books to be thrown in the fire. As a result, many literary works written in Pahlavi script disappeared. During the Abbasid reign the Zoroastrians, for the first time became a minority in Iran.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Nevertheless, there were many cases of toleration during the Abbasid era, particularly under the reign of Al-Mu'tasim who flogged an imam and muezzin for destroying a fire-temple and replacing it with a mosque. Al-Mu'tasim allowed rebuilding and the establishment of Zoroastrian fire temples in many places within the borders of the Abbasid Caliphate. It was reported that there were still a significant strength of strongholds of the Zoroastrian communities in places such as Kerman, Qom, Sistan, Fars and more that were surviving under the Abbasid regime. This is not only attested by European explorers of later times, but also the Muslim historians who were present.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Abbasids were followed by the Saffarids. Zoroastrians lived under the leadership of their High Priest, since they had no king. In Iraq, the political center of the Sassanian state, Zoroastrian institutions were viewed as appendages of the royal government and family, and suffered much destruction and confiscation. Closely associated with the power structures of the Persian Empire, Zoroastrian clergy quickly declined after it was deprived of the state support.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Samanids were of Zoroastrian theocratic nobility who voluntarily converted to Sunni Islam. During their reign, approximately 300 years after the Arab conquest, fire temples were still found in almost every province of Persia including Khorasan, Kirman, Sijistan and other areas under Samanid control. According to Al-Shahrastani, there were fire-temples even in Baghdad at the time. The historian Al-Masudi, a Baghdad-born Arab, who wrote a comprehensive treatise on history and geography in about 956, records that after the conquest:


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: He also added Sindh and Sin of the Indian subcontinent (Al-Hind) to the list. This general statement of al Masudi is fully supported by the medieval geographers who make mention of fire temples in most of the Iranian towns.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: The Zoroastrians moved to India in successive migrations in the Islamic period. The initial migration following the conquest has been characterized as a religious persecution by invading Muslims. According to the account, the Zoroastrians suffered at their hands and in order to protect themselves and safeguard their religion, fled first to northern Iran, then to the island of Hormuz and finally to India. This generally accepted narrative of migration emphasises Muslim persecution while identifying Parsis as religious refugees. Recently, scholars have questioned this explanation of Iranian origins. There is a scarcity of sources about the migration. Historians are forced to rely exclusively on "Qissa-i Sanjan" written in 1599 by a Parsi Priest and "Qissah-ye Zartushtian-e Hindustan" written more than 200 years later. This is complicated by the fact that there were already Zoroastrians in India in the Sasanian period. According to the legend, at the beginning of the 10th century a small group of Zoroastrians living around the town of Nyshapour and Fort of Sanjan in the province of (greater) Khorasan, decided that Iran was no longer safe for Zoroastrians and their religion. The refugees accepted the conditions and founded the settlement of Sanjan (Gujarat), which is said to have been named after the city of their origin (Sanjan, near Merv, in present-day Turkmenistan).


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Iranian Zoroastrians are known to have been trading with India for centuries before the dates calculated for arrival of Parsis per Qissa-i Sanjan. Ruksana Nanji and Homi Dhalla while discussing archaeological evidence for 'The Landing of Zoroastrians at Sanjan', conclude that the most likely date for the migration at the start of the middle phase of their chronology, namely the early-to-mid-eighth century. Nevertheless, they express their general skepticism about the Qissa-i Sanjan account. Scholar Andre Wink has theorized that Zoroastrian immigrants to India, both before and after the Muslim conquest of Iran, were primarily merchants, since evidence suggests it was only some time after their arrival that religious experts and priests were sent for to join them. He argues that the competition over trade routes with Muslims may also have contributed to their immigration.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: Although historically unsubstantiated, the story of how Zoroastrians gained permission to step on the shores of Gujarat continues to be critical to the self-identity of the group. Per the commonly told narrative, the Rajah of Sanjan, summoned them and demanded to know how they would not be a burden on or a threat to the indigenous communities. Replying to their request of practising their religion and till the land, he showed them a jug full of milk, saying Sanjan like it was full. In one version, a dastur added a coin to the milk, saying like the coin, no one would be able to see that they were there but they would enrich the milk nonetheless. In another version, he added sugar instead and claimed that like it, they would sweeten lands of Sanjan. In both of them their settlement is approved by the Rajah who addresses certain conditions for it: they would explain their religion, promise not to proselytise, adopt Gujarati speech and dress, surrender their weapons and only conduct their rituals after nightfall.


title: Persecution of Zoroastrians

text: One of the dates that can be fixed with certainty is the arrival of Parsees in Navsari when a mobed named Kamdin Zarthost arrived there in 1142 AD to perform religious ceremonies for Zoroastrians settled there. Traditionally, the Parsee settlers had named it Navsari after Sari in Iran. However this was considered wrong by the Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency who noted that the town was already shown in Ptolemy's map.