title: Kanyakumari district

text: Achankadu hill is the tallest mountain peak in the district with a height of 1828 m. Hilly regions like Upper kodayar, Muthukuzhivayal and Achankadu hills receive more than 5000mm of annual rainfall which makes the region one of the wettest regions in Tamil Nadu. Kanniyakumari town which is located on the leeward side with no tall mountain ranges receives less rainfall in the district. Pechipara, Chittar dams 1&2, Perunchani dam and Surlacode receive annual rainfall between 2500 to 3000 mm. Kanniyakumari is the only district in Tamil Nadu that benefits from rains in all seasons.


title: Kanyakumari district

text: The Kanniyakumari forests has sandal trees, teak trees, rosewood trees, Wild Jack trees. pepper and cloves are grown in private estates that operate in the forests. The district's forests have some 600 varieties of large trees and another 3500 varieties of small trees.


title: Kanyakumari district

text: Animals on the hills of the district include Bengal Tiger, Leopard, Indian elephant, Sambar Deer, Porcupines, Indian Pangolins and Indian Boar, while pied kingfisher and painted stork are commonly found in the water bodies and wetlands. Reptiles include Bengal monitors, pythons, and other snakes.


title: Kanyakumari district

text: The Mahendragiri hills (about above sea level) are occupied by elephants, tigers, leopards and deer .


title: Kanyakumari district

text: The Keeriparai and Maramalai hills are habitats for wild elephants and Indian bison. The Kodayar hills are the breeding centers for the Indian rock pythons and Indian bison. The Theroor wetlands are home for varieties of storks and migratory birds during specific seasons. Trout and other varieties of freshwater fish are found in the Pechiparai reservoir.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Boston College Eagles football team represents Boston College in the sport of American football. The Eagles compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The Eagles home games are played at Alumni Stadium on the university's campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Formed in 1892, Boston College has won four Eastern championships in 1940, 1942, 1983, and 1984 (when most Division I FBS schools in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions remained independent) as well as one co–Big East championship in 2004. BC claims one national championship in 1940, though the NCAA doesn't recognize it. The program has amassed over 650 wins, and has a 14–13 record in postseason bowl games, most notably the 1941 Sugar Bowl and 1985 Cotton Bowl. Boston College has produced a Heisman Trophy winner (Doug Flutie in 1984), 13 consensus All-Americans, and over 200 NFL players. Boston College has had 8 members inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, and two inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Art Donovan and Ernie Stautner.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College is one of only two Catholic universities that field a team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the other being Notre Dame. In addition to success on the gridiron, Boston College football teams are consistently ranked among the nation's best for academic achievement and graduation. In 2005, 2006, and 2007, the football team's Academic Progress Rate was the highest of any school that finished the season ranked in the AP or ESPN/"USA Today" Coaches' polls.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College is the only FBS school in Massachusetts (as well as New England) to compete in one of the Power Five conferences. The Eagles are currently coached by Jeff Hafley, who formerly served as co-defensive coordinator at Ohio State.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 1892, Boston College President Edward Ignatius Devitt, S.J., grudgingly agreed to the requests of two undergraduates, Joseph F. O'Connell of the class of 1893 and Joseph Drum of the class of 1894, to start a varsity football team. Drum would become the first head coach, albeit an unpaid position and O'Connell was captain. On October 26, 1893, BC played its first official game against the St. John's Literary Institute of Cambridge followed by its first intercollegiate game against MIT. BC won the first game 4–0, but lost 6–0 to MIT. Some of the original team's alumni had particularly significant careers: Joseph F. O'Connell was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts, and running back James Carlin became president of the College of the Holy Cross.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 1920, the Boston College football team adopted the nickname 'Eagles.' The season was capped by a stirring 14-0 victory over Holy Cross before 40,000 fans at Braves Field. The win gave the team a perfect 8-0 season and the school’s first 'Eastern Championship.'


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The 1939 team finished the regular season with a 9–1 record, and the Eagles were ranked in the final AP Poll for the first time in school history, at No. 11. They were invited to the school's first bowl game, the 1940 Cotton Bowl, where they were defeated by Clemson 3–6.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The 1940 season can arguably be called the greatest year in the history of Boston College football. BC's undefeated (11–0) and untied team, captured the 1941 Sugar Bowl championship and earned the nickname "Team of Destiny". Five members of that storied team have been inducted into the National Football Foundation's College Football Hall of Fame: receiver Gene Goodreault (50); guard George Kerr (47); center Chet Gladchuk (45); fullback Mike Holovak (12); and halfback / quarterback Charlie O'Rourke (13). It included a 19–18 victory over No. 9 Georgetown before 41,700 fans at sold-out Fenway Park, that was called one of the greatest games ever by famed sportswriter Grantland Rice. Going into the game, the Hoyas had 22 consecutive victories spanning three seasons. BC trailed until the third quarter, when a 43-yard touchdown pass from Charlie O'Rourke to Monk Maznicki put the Eagles ahead. With just seconds remaining, BC had the ball on their own nine, fourth down and 18 to go. Georgetown set up to return the Eagles' punt. Instead of punting, O'Rourke scrambled in his own end zone for 45 seconds then took a safety. BC used the free kick to boot the ball far downfield and dashed the Hoyas' three-season unbeaten record. Legendary Coach Frank Leahy, who would go on to cement his legendary status during an eleven-year stint as head coach at Notre Dame, took his undefeated Eagles on to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans where they beat No. 4 Tennessee 19–13. Trailing 7–13 in the fourth quarter, Tennessee's Bob Foxx missed a short field goal attempt with three minutes remaining, and Boston College took over on its own 20–yard line. Quarterback Charlie O'Rourke led the Eagles on an eighty-yard drive, capped with his 24-yard touchdown run to seal the victory. A banner on campus commemorating the team uses the phrase "national champions", but Boston College was not awarded a national championship by any of the national polls at the time of the 1940 season. Although BC's claim to a title is not recognized by the NCAA or college football historians in general, one website, the College Football Data Warehouse, claims that selectors named Cliff Morgan and Ray Bryne rated BC No. 1 in 1940. This web site states that BC's historic 1940 run resulted in a split championship with the University of Minnesota, but it's not clear whether the selectors awarded BC a title at the time of the 1940 season, or if they did so retroactively. The NCAA lists only Minnesota (who finished No. 1 the final AP Poll) as the national champion in 1940, and does not credit Boston College with any national championships in football.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 1942, Boston College won its first 8 games of the season, climbing to No. 1 in the AP Poll. All the Eagles needed to do to secure its first ever AP national championship was to beat rival Holy Cross (4–4–1) in the final game of the regular season. The result, however, was a stunning rout loss, 12–55. The Eagles team canceled their planned post-game celebration at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston, which inadvertently saved the team from perishing along with 492 others in the Cocoanut Grove fire that occurred that night. Finishing No. 8 in the final AP rankings, the Eagles received an invitation to play in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day. All-American fullback Mike Holovak scored three rushing touchdowns, but Boston College ultimately lost to No. 10 Alabama, 21–37.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Mike Holovak was named head coach of BC in 1951. During his tenure as head coach, the Eagles compiled a 49–29–3 record. Holovak won Coach of the Year honors in 1954 from New England football writers. Those efforts were good enough to earn him a new four-year contract on November 22, 1955, but even after four more winning seasons - he was fired on December 3, 1959, after a year in which Eagle fans had subjected him to constant verbal abuse. Holovak would move on to coach the Boston Patriots in the upstart American Football League (AFL) from 1961–1968.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Ernie Hefferle, an assistant coach for the NFL's Washington Redskins, was hired as head coach of the Eagles following Holovak's firing. Hefferle's Eagles compiled a record of 7–12–1 in two seasons. However, mounting pressure to win from the alumni and administration led to Hefferle's resignation after the 1961 season. BC hired Jim Miller away from Detroit as its head coach in January 1962. Under Miller, the Eagles compiled a record of 34–24 that included four winning seasons in those six years. Miller resigned after the 1967 season.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: New Hampshire head coach Joe Yukica was hired to replace Miller at BC. Yukica's Eagles compiled a 68–37 record, which included eight winning seasons. Yukica left BC after the 1977 season to accept the head football coach position at Dartmouth. One of the highlights during Yukica 's tenure was an upset win over No. 7 Texas to open the 1976 season.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Eagles hired Ed Chlebek away from Eastern Michigan to lead its football program in January 1978. Despite a dismal 0–11 record in Chlebek's first season, BC rebounded to compile a 5–6 record in 1979 and a 7–4 record in 1980, leading to a job offer from Kent State to Chlebek, which he accepted. Chlebek's final record at BC is 12–21.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Jack Bicknell was hired as BC's head coach after previously serving as head coach at Maine. The best player for the Eagles during Bicknell's tenure was quarterback Doug Flutie (of Natick, Massachusetts), who played for Boston College from 1981 to 1984. Flutie won the Heisman Trophy in his senior year. He gained national attention on November 23, 1984, when he led the Eagles to victory in a high-scoring, back-and-forth game against defending national champion Miami Hurricanes (led by star QB Bernie Kosar) in the Orange Bowl. The game was nationally televised on CBS the day after Thanksgiving, and had a huge audience. Miami staged a dramatic drive to take the lead, 45–41, in the closing minute of the game. Boston College then took possession at their own 22-yard line with 28 seconds to go. After two passes moved the ball another 30 yards, only six seconds remained on the clock. On the last play of the game, Flutie rolled out right away from the defense and threw a Hail Mary pass that was caught in the end zone by senior wideout Gerard Phelan, giving BC a miraculous 47–45 win. A persistent urban legend holds that this play essentially clinched the Heisman Trophy, the award given to the best player in college football that year, for Flutie; in fact, the Heisman voting was already complete by the day of the game. It has been called "the greatest moment in college football." In November 2008, Doug Flutie was honored by Boston College with a statue of his famous "Hail Mary" pass.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Eagles completed the 1984 season with a 10–2 record, finishing at No. 5 in the AP Poll and No. 4 in the Coaches' Poll. They defeated the SWC champion Houston Cougars in the 1985 Cotton Bowl, 45–28. Fullback Steve Strachan (from Burlington, Massachusetts) was named the game's MVP. He had 23 carries for 91 yards and two touchdowns.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Bicknell's final record at Boston College was 59–55–1, took the Eagles to four bowl games, and won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy (awarded to 'Eastern champion' in Division I FBS) twice: 1983 and 1984. He was fired after the 1990 season.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Tom Coughlin, wide receivers coach for the NFL's New York Giants and former BC quarterbacks coach (1981–83), was hired as BC's head coach after Bicknell was fired. Coughlin's Eagles compiled a record of 21–13–1. The highlight of Coughlin's tenure was a 41–39 Eagles victory over No. 1 Notre Dame in 1993, the first time the Eagles had ever defeated the powerhouse Irish and the first and only time in program history that the Eagles had defeated a No. 1 team. Coughlin, who left BC for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars, would go on to become head coach of the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls: XLII, XLVI (both against the New England Patriots).


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: BC hired Dan Henning, formerly offensive coordinator for the NFL's Detroit Lions, as its head coach in March 1994. Henning's tenure is remembered for a scandal that occurred during the 1996 season. On October 26, 1996, the Eagles were routed 45–17 by Syracuse. Following the game, head coach Dan Henning got word that several players may have bet against their own team in that game. No one came forward. After the Eagles lost a close game to Pittsburgh a week later, an irate Henning demanded that anyone involved in gambling come forward. He also notified school officials of his suspicions. The resulting inquiry resulted in the suspension of 13 players for the final three games of the season, and eight of them never played another down for the Eagles again. As a result of the scandal and a mediocre 16–19–1 record as coach, Henning resigned at the end of the 1996 season.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In December 1996, BC hired a 1971 Navy graduate and the former Virginia offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien. O'Brien arrived at The Heights with plans to revive the program after the team had been tarnished in the wake of the scandal. With good recruiting skills and a strong coaching staff around him, notably offensive coordinator Dana Bible and defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, O'Brien turned the program into a consistent top-25 team. The team was also helped by increased exposure on the national stage due to the move to the ACC and, later, improved facilities in the form of the Yawkey Center.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Following two mediocre seasons in 1997 (4-7) and 1998 (4-7), O'Brien's vision of a re-built football program began to take shape. In 1999, the Eagles finished the regular season 8–3 including a 31–29 win at Notre Dame Stadium on November 20. BC had earned itself its first bowl berth since being ensnarled in the 1996 gambling scandal. Despite the excitement of its first postseason game in five years, Boston College laid an egg at the Insight.com Bowl in Tucson, Arizona, getting squashed by the University of Colorado, 62–28. In 2000 BC finished the regular season at 6–5 with just enough wins to be bowl-eligible and found themselves in Honolulu for the Aloha Bowl where they downed Arizona State 31–17, giving O'Brien his first bowl victory as head coach.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The year 2001 saw Boston College end a 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents when, in the Music City Bowl, the Eagles beat No. 16 Georgia 20–16 to finish at 8–5. But the most memorable moment of the year came in another thrilling game against then-No. 1 Miami at Alumni Stadium. Trailing 12–7 BC stood at the Hurricanes 9-yard-line, poised to win with just over 20 seconds left in the contest, but an interception thrown by Eagles quarterback Brian St. Pierre cost the game. St. Pierre threw too low for receiver Ryan Read, and the pass ricocheted off a Miami defender's leg and fell into the hands of defensive end Matt Walters. After a short return, Walters handed the ball off to defensive back Ed Reed, who returned it the remaining 80 yards for a touchdown—preserving a win for the Hurricanes and keeping their hopes alive for a national championship, which eventually won. Despite the defeat, the season had several highs including running back William Green rushing for 1,559 yards and being the top RB taken in the 2002 NFL Draft; eight wins for the first time since 1993; and finishing the season ranked (No. 21) for the first time since 1994.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Over the next few years the team posted respectable win–loss records and continued to win bowl games. In 2002, BC went 9–4 and won the Motor City Bowl, in 2003 they were 8–5 with a victory in the San Francisco Bowl and finished 9–3 in 2004 with a win in the Continental Tire Bowl. The year 2004 would be the Eagles final campaign in the Big East, and it finished the season in a four-way tie atop the league after losing the home finale to Syracuse (thus costing the Eagles a coveted berth in a BCS bowl) — a year in which they closed the season ranked No. 21 in both major polls. On December 6, 2006, O'Brien decided to leave the Eagles and replace Chuck Amato as head coach at NC State.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: O'Brien was replaced by then Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski. In Jagodzinski's first year, the Eagles were picked to finish 2nd in the Atlantic in the ACC Preseason Poll. The Eagles raced out to a 7–0 start behind the arm of Matt Ryan and a stout, senior-laden defense. The Eagles climbed to No. 2 in the BCS Standings before squaring off against No. 8 Virginia Tech on a rainy night at Lane Stadium. The Eagles struggled on offense all night and trailed the Hokies 10–0 late in the 4th quarter. In a miraculous comeback, Ryan threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:11 of game to give BC the victory. Ryan's second touchdown pass, a 24-yard tear-drop pass to a wide open Andre Callender in the back of the end zone, caused ESPN's Chris Fowler to exclaim "Lane Stadium goes silent!" The come-back win vaulted Ryan into the Heisman discussion. BC clinched the ACC Atlantic Division with yet another dramatic win, this time over rival Clemson. Matt Ryan was once again the hero, finding a wide-open Rich Gunnell for a 43-yard TD pass with 1:46 to go to give the Eagles the 20–17 lead. Clemson's 54-yard FG attempt to tie the game fell short, clinching the victory for Boston College. The Eagles eventually lost the ACC Championship Game to the Hokies. BC played in the Champs Sports Bowl against the Michigan State Spartans, winning 24–21. 2007 marked the second time in Eagle history that the team won 11 games, the other being the undefeated 1940 season. Matt Ryan won the Manning Award and the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, becoming BC's first major award recipient since Mike Ruth won the Outland Trophy in 1985. Ryan finished 7th in the Heisman race, garnering 9 first place votes. Jamie Silva was a Consensus All-American, BC's first since William Green in 2001. The 2008 season saw the Eagles return to the ACC Championship Game, this time behind a defense that ranked 5th in Total Defense. The Eagles fell once again to the Hokies. In both 2007 and 2008, the Eagles had defeated the Hokies in the regular season meeting only to lose in the ACC Championship Game. Following the 2008 season, Jagodzinski was fired for interviewing with the New York Jets.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Frank Spaziani, promoted from defensive coordinator of the Eagles, was hired as BC's head coach in January 2009. Prior to the 2009 season, star LB and reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year Mark Herzlich was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer. Herzlich was forced to miss the entirety of the 2009 season. Herzlich became an inspirational figure as he battled his way back, earning the Disney's Wide World of Sports Spirit Award, an award presented annually to college football's most inspirational player or team. Boston College created a chapter of Uplifting Athletes to benefit Ewing's Sarcoma research. The chapter participates in an annual "Lift for Life" (where players compete in various physical challenges) to raise money. On October 3, 2009, Herzlich publicly announced on College Gameday that he was cancer-free. Herzlich completed the comeback when he took the field once again on September 4, 2010, against Weber State.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: It was announced on December 1, 2009, that the Boston College football team, along with 29 other athletic programs on campus, would officially switch its athletic outfitter from Reebok to Under Armour. On July 1, 2010, BC became the tenth Football Bowl Subdivision team to wear uniforms from the Baltimore-based outfitter, joining Auburn, Hawaii, Maryland, North Texas, South Carolina, South Florida, Texas Tech and Utah.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 2011, the Eagles finished 4–8 and failed to qualify for a bowl for the first time in 12 years. Following the 2011 season, junior LB Luke Kuechly won the Butkus Award, the Lombardi Award, the Lott Trophy, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy. Kuechly is the first Eagle to win these awards. Offensive Coordinator Doug Martin was brought in by head coach Frank Spaziani prior to the beginning of the 2012 season, but upon finishing 2-10 Spaziani was fired.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 2013, Coach Addazio led the Eagles to an impressive turnaround season, finishing the regular season bowl-eligible with a 7–5 record. Senior running-back Andre Williams became only the 16th player in NCAA history to run for over 2,000 yards, winning the Doak Walker Award and finishing 4th in the Heisman Trophy voting. He was named a unanimous All-American. In addition, he was a unanimous first team All-ACC selection and a finalist for the Walter Camp Award. Williams set multiple school records, breaking nearly every single-season rushing record and many career-rushing records but also included the single-game rushing record at 339 yards against NC State as well as tying the single-game scoring record at 5 rushing TD's in a game against Army. The Eagles played the Arizona Wildcats in the 2013 Independence Bowl, losing by a score of 42–19 to finish the season at 7–6 (4–4 ACC). Andre Williams finished with 2,177 yards rushed on the season, good for 5th most all-time in the NCAA.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In his second year, Addazio led the Eagles to a consecutive 7–5 regular season, their second bowl-eligible season in as many years. With many key players having graduated, including Heisman finalist Andre Williams, quarterback Chase Rettig, wide receiver Alex Amidon, and linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, Addazio helped replace some lost production with graduate transfer quarterback Tyler Murphy, who was recruited by Addazio at Florida, as well as converting backup quarterback Josh Bordner to the wide receiver position. The running back core went from a single back (Williams) to a group of five threats: sophomores Myles Willis and Tyler Rouse, true freshman Jonathan Hilliman and Sherm Allston, as well as Tyler Murphy himself, who was more dangerous with his legs than his arm during the season. Murphy finished the season leading all quarterbacks in the league with 1,184 yards rushing, breaking the school record for most rushing yards by a quarterback, previously held by Doug Flutie. The season was highlighted by a historic upset victory over 9th ranked USC, in which Murphy rushed for 191 yards in the 37–31 victory. The Eagles nearly managed another two upsets against Clemson and Florida State, but came up just short in both games. Boston College played Penn State in the 2014 Pinstripe Bowl and lost in overtime 31–30. The Eagles scored first in overtime, yet missed the PAT, while the Nittany Lions scored on their possession and made their PAT. Boston College finished the season 7–6 (4–4 ACC). The Eagles fell on hard times in Addazio's third season, finishing with an overall record of 3-9 and a winless 0-8 ACC record. The Eagles would also go 0-18 in Basketball during ACC play, the first time since 1976 that a Power Five conferences program went winless in both basketball and football. However, despite their subpar record, the Eagles boasted the No. 1 ranked Defense in the FBS under defensive coordinator Don Brown, allowing just 254.4 yards per game, and allowing 10 or fewer points in 6 of their 12 games. However, on December 21, 2015, Jim Harbaugh convinced Brown to leave his position in Chestnut Hill and coach instead for the Michigan Wolverines football.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: During the 2016 season the Eagles showed improvement from the previous year, finishing with a 7-6 overall record and a 2-6 ACC record after going winless in conference play the year before. This was Addazio's 3rd time in 4 seasons recording 7 wins with the Eagles. Boston College began their season in Dublin, Ireland, where they faced Georgia Tech football in the Emerald Isle Classic, and subsequently lost 17–14. After the season the Eagles were invited to play in the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl, where they defeated former ACC foe Maryland Terrapins football 36-30. Addazio coached his way yet another 7-6 overall record in the 2017 season, but continued increasing his conference win total by recording a 4-4 ACC record. The Eagles started the season 1-3, including losses to rivals Notre Dame football and Clemson football, causing fans to voice concern over Addazio's ability to lead the team to another bowl game. However, the Eagles finished the year with a 6-2 regular season record, highlighted by stellar play from freshman running back A. J. Dillon. Dillon had a breakout game on October 14, 2017, when the Eagles visited the Louisville Cardinals football and defeated them 45-42 on the road. Dillon posted 272 yards on 39 carries for 4 touchdowns, including a highlight reel stiff arm that led to a 75-yard touchdown. On October 27, 2017, the Eagles hosted the Florida State Seminoles football for the annual Welles Crowther Red Bandana game, winning by a score of 35-3. This marked the largest margin of victory in a Boston College win between the two schools. The next week the Eagles lost their starting quarterback, redshirt freshman Anthony Brown, to an ACL tear in a home loss to NC State Wolfpack football. However, the Eagles still won their final two regular season games, posting wins over rival programs Uconn Huskies football and Syracuse Orange football. Boston College was again invited to the Pinstripe Bowl, where they lost to Iowa 20-27. Following the season, A. J. Dillon was awarded both the ACC Rookie of the Year and the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year awards, following his 1,589 yard, 14 touchdown campaign. This was the first time in school history that either award had been won.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Heading into the 2018 season, Addazio's team received the most media coverage they had seen in years. In fact, ESPN picked them as the team most likely to hit their pre-season predicted win total (6.5), which they eventually did. The reason for this new wave of excitement on Chestnut Hill was clear: Eagles had finished the previous season winning 6 of their final 9 games, and were returning all but 1 defensive starter. The Eagles started the season 3-0, with wins over UMass Minutemen football, long time rival Holy Cross football, and ACC rival Wake Forest Demon Deacons football. This hot start, combined with the pre-season media attention, found the Eagles back in the AP's Top 25 for the first time since the 2008 season, as they were ranked No. 23. However, BC fell out of the rankings as quickly as they entered, as they were beaten 13-30 by a previously winless Purdue team on the road the following week. The Eagles showed resilience, bouncing back from a close loss to NC State Wolfpack football, by beating ACC opponents Louisville Cardinals football and Miami Hurricanes football. Following their win over the Hurricanes, the BC found themselves back in the Top 25, ranked No. 24, as they headed to Blacksburg, VA to face longtime rival Virginia Tech football. Following a 31-21 victory, their 7th of the season, Boston College was chosen to host College GameDay (football TV program) before their home contest against undefeated Clemson football, the first time College GameDay had been to Chestnut Hill since 2009. BC rose to No. 17 in the AP poll following the Clemson game. Yet, the Eagles fell to eventual National Champion Clemson 7-27, after their starting quarterback Anthony Brown was injured on the Eagle's first possession. Steve Addazio and his team were unable to break the 7 win mark, as they lost the last two games of the regular season, including a loss to Florida State football following a Hail Mary in the final 2 minutes of the game. After the season, Boston College was invited to the 2018 First Responder Bowl in Dallas, Texas, where they were set to face No. 25 Boise State football. The Eagles came out strong, scoring first to take a 7-0 lead. However, due to poor weather conditions in Dallas, the game was ultimately canceled, causing coach Addazio to stay at 7 wins. Boston College finished the season with a 7-5 record (4-4 ACC). Despite his injury, A. J. Dillon posted another 1,000+ season, the first time in program history a player had recorded back-to-back 1,000 seasons.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: BC then said goodbye to one of their most successful senior classes in program history, as 4 players were selected in the 7 round 2019 NFL Draft, including the 14th overall pick Chris Lindstrom. This marked the 3rd time in school history that 4+ players were selected in the NFL Draft, following 2014 and 1995. Additionally, 10 other BC players signed Unsigned Free Agent (UFA) contracts with NFL teams, a testament to the Player Development abilities by the BC coaching staff. Boston College fired Addazio on December 1, 2019 after a 6–6 season and a 44–44 record over 7 seasons.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: On December 14, 2019, Jeff Hafley, the co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Ohio State, was named the 36th BC head coach. Hafley finished his first season at Boston College with a 6–5 record (5–5 ACC) and qualified for a Bowl game berth; however, the team chose to opt-out of the postseason amid the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 they went 6-6 (2-6 ACC) and would have played East Carolina in the Military Bowl, it was however cancelled the day before it was set to play due to a large number of COVID-19 cases in the Eagles' program.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Perhaps the best football team in Boston College history, the undefeated 1940 Eagles (11-0) won the 1941 Sugar Bowl over previously unbeaten Tennessee (No. 4). The school claims this national championship. However, the NCAA lists only Minnesota as the national champion in 1940 (who finished No. 1 in the AP Poll), and does not credit Boston College with any national championships in football.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: For much of its history, Boston College played as an independent, as did the majority of what are now labeled as Division I FBS football-playing schools located in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. During this time, Eastern Championships were named by independent third-party selectors and awarded of various trophies. The process of picking an Eastern Champion eventually came to be symbolized by the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy awarded by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority beginning in 1936. As a result, the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy, voted on by a panel of sports writers in New York, became the "de facto" conference championship for those schools.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 1991, the majority of football independents in the East (including Boston College) aligned themselves together in the Big East Football Conference. The Big East first crowned an official champion in 1993. The Eagles left the Big East and joined the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in 2005.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Divisional play began in the Atlantic Coast Conference at the start of the 2005 football season following BC's inclusion in the conference. BC earned a share of the ACC Atlantic Division title in 2005 and in 2008. Florida State represented the division in the inaugural ACC Championship Game by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker in 2005, while BC represented the Atlantic in 2008.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College has been to 27 bowl games, holding a 14–12 record (the 2018 First Responder Bowl started but was delayed in the first quarter and ultimately canceled). Additionally, they accepted an invitation to the 2021 Military Bowl, however it was cancelled the day before it was set to be played due to COVID-19 cases in the Boston College program. The Eagles posted an 8-game bowl winning streak from 2000 to 2007 and went to 12 consecutive bowl games from 1999 to 2010. BC's 8-game bowl win streak was the nation's longest active streak before it was snapped in 2008. The 12-year streak was tied with Oklahoma for the 6th longest active streak in country. The Eagles recently broke their 5 bowl-game losing streak in 2016 with a 36–30 victory over former ACC foe Maryland.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Since 1957, Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts has been the home of the Eagles. Located on BC's lower campus, the stadium has a capacity of 44,500. Prior to 1957, the Eagles played home games at Boston's Fenway Park and Braves Field.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In 2005, the Yawkey Athletics Center was constructed at the north end-zone side of the stadium. The Yawkey Center houses the football offices and weight room. A replica of Doug Flutie's 1984 Heisman Trophy is on display in the BC football museum on the first floor of the Center.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: BC and Virginia Tech first played in 1993 and have played every year since, except for 2004. Now both in the ACC, the two schools play each other every year despite not being in the same division.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The schools played each other twice in the same season in both 2007 and 2008; in both years, the Eagles won the regular season meeting while the Hokies won the rematch in the ACC Championship Game.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Virginia Tech is famed for its seeming invincibility in Thursday night games at Lane Stadium. Since 1994, the Hokies are 11–3 at home on Thursday nights. The Eagles delivered 2 of those 3 losses and until 2009 were the only team to beat Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium on a Thursday night. The 2007 Thursday night meeting between the Eagles and Hokies was undoubtedly the most exciting game of the rivalry. Matt Ryan led the No. 2 Eagles to an improbable comeback, scoring 2 TDs in the final 2:11 of the game to give BC a 14–10 victory over the No. 8 Virginia Tech.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Eagles and Clemson Tigers first played each other in the Cotton Bowl at the end of the 1939 season, a game won by the Tigers. The schools played 11 more times until 1960. When BC joined the ACC in 2005, the games between the Eagles and the Tigers were especially memorable. Both the 2005 and 2006 games went to overtime and the 2007 game featured late-game heroics from Matt Ryan in a division-clinching victory.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Starting in 2008, the Boston College Gridiron Club created the O'Rourke-McFadden Trophy to honor the friendly rivalry between the Eagles and the Tigers. The trophy is named after BC's Charlie O'Rourke and Clemson's Banks McFadden, star players of their respective teams when the Eagles and Tigers first played in the 1940 Cotton Bowl. The MVP of the game receives a replica leather helmet. Montel Harris was named the MVP of the 2010 meeting.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: BC and UMass are in-state rivals. The first game played between the two schools took place in 1899 and was played at a neutral location. Boston College won 18–0. At the time, UMass was known as Massachusetts Agricultural College. The relative proximity between the schools encouraged them to schedule additional matches in the subsequent years.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: BC and UMass met again in Amherst, Massachusetts in 1901, 1902, and 1912, with UMass winning all three contests before the series was halted. The two universities did not meet again on the football field until 1966, when they began a seventeen-year series in which the teams would play each other in the last week of UMass' football season. UMass was in a lower division than BC during the entirety of the rivalry. As such, Boston College dominated the stretch, winning 15 of the 17 games, routinely blowing out the overmatched Minutemen.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: After 22 years, the rivalry was renewed as UMass traveled to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to play Boston College once again. UMass was yet again outmatched, losing 29–7. The universities agreed to play two more times over the next seven years, and Boston College won both games easily.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In April 2011, UMass announced plans to join the Mid-American Conference and move up to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, the highest level of college football in the country. Boston College had been a member of this division for decades, and there was much speculation that the two schools may cultivate a renewal of the rivalry. This was confirmed when it was reported in September, 2011, that they had agreed to play a three-game biannual series beginning in 2014. Two of the games will be played at BC's Alumni Stadium and the other will be held at Gillette Stadium.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College is on a 11-game winning streak vs UMass, dating back to 1979, after beating the Minutemen 45–28 in the 2021 season, and they lead the all-time series 22–5.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: In recent years, Notre Dame has become one of BC's football rivals. Today, ND is the only other Catholic university playing NCAA Division I FBS football. The match up was dubbed the "Holy War" in 1975, and has acquired a number of other nicknames over the years. The two teams battle for the Frank Leahy Memorial Bowl and the Ireland Trophy.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Eagles and the Fighting Irish have met once in the postseason; Notre Dame defeated Boston College in the 1983 Liberty Bowl by a score of 19–18. Boston College will host in 2025, 2030, and 2033, and Notre Dame will host in 2028 and 2035.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: With the exception of Holy Cross, no team has played Boston College more than the Syracuse Orange. The teams first played in 1924 and started playing an annual game in 1961. In 2004, the Eagles last year in the Big East, the Orange pulled off a surprising upset that kept the Eagles from going to their first BCS game. BC's departure from the Big East put the future of the rivalry in doubt. However, the Eagles and the Orange agreed to play an annual out-of-conference game through 2021. In 2010, the Eagles won the first meeting between the schools since 2004 by a score of 16–7. In September 2011, the ACC announced that they had accepted bids by Syracuse and Pitt to become the 13th and 14th members of the ACC. Syracuse's admission into the ACC in 2013 reignited this storied rivalry. In both school's final regular season game, Boston College had a chance to return the favor from 2004, and prevent the 5-6 Orange from becoming bowl-eligible. Despite the Eagles taking a 31-27 lead with nearly 2 minutes and no time-outs remaining, Syracuse managed to score a touchdown with 6 seconds left, sealing the win and their 6th of the season, becoming the 11th ACC bowl-eligible team of the year. The Eagles returned the favor the following year, winning a 28–7 contest in Chestnut Hill on senior day.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College and Holy Cross have a dormant rivalry dating back to 1896, and have met 83 times on the field. The game was an annual home-and-home series until 1986. The Eagles dominated the last two decades of the annual series, winning 17 out of 19 meetings from 1967–1986. The rivalry was recently renewed in 2018 as the Eagles handily won a 62–14 victory at Chestnut Hill; a 2020 matchup was scheduled to take place but was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Boston College and Villanova have a dormant rivalry. The two Catholic universities met 46 times, and played a home-and-home series from 1945 to 1980 (save 1954), until Villanova disbanded their 1-A program. They last met in 2013 with Villanova as an FCS opponent for the Eagles, with Boston College taking the 24–14 victory at Chestnut Hill.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Seven former BC players and three former coaches have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Five players from the 1940 "Team of Destiny", as well as the coach, are among the inductees. (Year Inducted)


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: Since 2000, the Eagles have had 36 players selected in the NFL Draft. Of those picks, 9 were first round selections. BC had consecutive top 10 picks in 2008 and 2009; Matt Ryan was selected 3rd overall by the Atlanta Falcons in 2008 and B. J. Raji was selected 9th overall by the Green Bay Packers in 2009. Luke Kuechly has been the most recent Eagle stand-out in the NFL, selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 9th overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Zion Johnson was the most recent player to be selected in the 1st round, after being chosen by the Los Angeles Chargers with the 17th overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.


title: Boston College Eagles football

text: The Eagles have a reputation of producing high-quality NFL Offensive Linemen, earning the school the nickname "O-Line U". Notable alums of O-Line U include Tom Nalen '93 (5x Pro Bowl Selection, 2x Super Bowl Champion), Ron Stone '92 (3x Pro Bowl Selection, 2x Super Bowl Champion), Damien Woody '98 (1x Pro Bowl Selection, 2x Super Bowl Champion), Dan Koppen '02 (1x Pro Bowl Selection, 2x Super Bowl Champion), and Chris Snee '03 (3x Pro Bowl Selection, 2x Super Bowl Champion).


title: Gilmore Girls (season 2)

text: The second season of "Gilmore Girls", an American dramedy television series, began airing on October 9, 2001 on The WB. The season concluded on May 21, 2002, after 22 episodes. The series was moved from Thursday nights to Tuesday at 8/7c (taking over "Buffy the Vampire Slayer"s old timeslot after UPN picked it up from The WB), where it aired for the entire season.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 2)

text: The season opens with Lorelai accepting Max's proposal. However, she calls off the wedding a few days beforehand, realising she doesn't truly love him. Christopher returns with a new girlfriend, Sherry, who he seems ready to settle down with. Both Lorelai and Emily are disappointed that he wasn't ready to settle down with Lorelai, but they remain in friendly contact.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 2)

text: Rory spends the season in a relationship with Dean, while Tristin, the main rival for her affections from the first season, is sent away to military school. Luke's nephew Jess comes to stay with him after getting into trouble at home in New York and his interest in Rory is plain. Jess and Rory are involved in a car accident that destroys the car Dean refurbished for Rory and leaves Rory with a fractured wrist. Despite Rory's protests, the whole town blames Jess, who goes back to New York. The incident causes a rift between Lorelai and Luke.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 2)

text: Richard feels he is being pushed out at work so resigns. He struggles with retirement and eventually opens his own insurance consultancy business. Lane joins the cheerleaders, attempts a romance with Henry and decides she wants to become a drummer. Paris becomes editor of the school newspaper giving her another reason to order Rory about, but slowly they realise they have become friends. Sookie and Jackson become engaged while Michel has a visit from his mother.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 2)

text: In the season finale, Paris and Rory are elected as class president and vice-president, meaning they will have to spend the summer in Washington. Lorelai sleeps with Christopher but their attempt at being a family falters when he hears Sherry is pregnant and goes back to her. Jess returns to town and Rory kisses him even though she is still dating Dean. The season closes with a stricken Lorelai and Rory walking down the aisle as Sookie's bridesmaids.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and CF Montréal, eight Canadian Premier League sides, and the champions of League1 Ontario, League1 British Columbia, and the Première ligue de soccer du Québec. The tournament is organized by the Canadian Soccer Association and has been broadcast on OneSoccer since 2019.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The Canadian Championship is a club soccer competition organized by the Canadian Soccer Association. The championship determines Canada's entry in the annual CONCACAF Champions League. Until the creation of the Canadian Premier League in 2019, all fully professional Canadian soccer teams played in United States-based leagues. Prior to the creation of the official competition in 2008, there was no domestic competition to determine the best Canadian professional team (as Canada Soccer's Challenge Trophy only crowned the best amateur team). Though a notable attempt was conducted by the Canadian Soccer League through the Open Canada Cup, which ultimately managed to attract professional and amateur clubs from British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec. The tournament was dissolved in 2008 after the creation of the Canadian Championship.


title: Canadian Championship

text: An unofficial Canadian Champion determined in the same manner as 2008–2010, a home-and-away series with the games taken from USL First Division (USL-1) regular season league games, was awarded by the Canadian national teams' supporters group, The Voyageurs. This unofficial Canadian Championship became less legitimate when Toronto was awarded a Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise to start play in 2007 in the USSF Division 1 MLS league above the USSF Division 2 USL-1 league. Toronto's USL-1 team self relegated, while the other two Canadian professional soccer teams did not play meaningful games against the new MLS team in 2007.


title: Canadian Championship

text: For the 2008–09 season, CONCACAF changed their eight team FIFA Club World Cup qualification tournament from a two-legged aggregate goals knockout elimination format, named the CONCACAF Champions Cup, to a format mirroring the UEFA Champions League with a play-in round, a group stage, and lastly a two-leg aggregate score knockout format for the final rounds. The format change for the 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League provided the opportunity to expand the number of qualifying teams from different countries, and Canada was awarded a single entry in the play-in round preceding the group stage. The year 2008 was the first time a Canadian entry had been awarded by CONCACAF since 1992, and the first time a Canadian team participated since 1976. To award the new Canadian entry, the CSA created a new competition consisting of a home-and-away round-robin series between the three fully professional Canadian teams: Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps. The 2008 Canadian Championship was contested between May and July 2008 and won by the Montreal Impact. As the Canadian champions, Montreal qualified for the 2008–09 CONCACAF Champions League.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The 2009 Canadian Championship's format and participants were the same, contested by the three clubs in May and June 2009. It was closely contended by Toronto and Vancouver and won by the former via goal differential in the tournament's final game against the defending champions, Montreal, giving the Toronto franchise its first ever trophy and a spot in the qualifying round of the 2009–10 CONCACAF Champions League. Toronto repeated as champions in the 2010 competition, qualifying for the 2010–11 CONCACAF Champions League. Toronto won it for the fourth consecutive season in the 2012 competition.


title: Canadian Championship

text: In 2011, with the start of a fourth fully professional Canadian soccer team, FC Edmonton, the competition was changed from the home-and-away round robin series to a double-leg aggregate score knockout cup format with the two MLS teams seeded first and second, and NASL teams seeded third and fourth based on league standings of the previous year and the USSF tiering of Division 1 and Division 2. This format mitigated competitive concerns regarding already eliminated teams and the number of additional (extra to their regular league) games each team would be required to play during a season.


title: Canadian Championship

text: On June 6, 2016, Canadian Soccer Association general secretary Peter Montopoli told TSN that plans were well under way to expand the tournament to include an access point for any team in Canada. He said that he expected the expansion to take place for 2017. His statement seemed to confirm other reports saying similar. On March 9, 2017, Canada Soccer Association announced that from the 2018 edition the winners of the League1 Ontario and Première ligue de soccer du Québec would compete.


title: Canadian Championship

text: In January 2019, a new five-round format was announced to include the seven teams of the newly formed Canadian Premier League, bringing the total number of teams competing to 13. In 2020, with the dissolution of Ottawa Fury FC, a modified four-round tournament was announced featuring 12 teams, the first contraction in the competition's history. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition was instead held between two teams qualified through league play, with the top Canadian MLS team meeting the CPL winners.


title: Canadian Championship

text: Beginning in 2023, the league winner of League1 British Columbia will join the tournament as a competitor. They will be joined by new Canadian Premier League club, Vancouver FC.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The winners of the Canadian Championship are awarded the Voyageurs Cup. From 1993 to 2007, there was no domestic competition open to top-tier Canadian professional clubs. From 2002 to 2006, the USL First Division was the highest level in which Canadian men's soccer teams competed. The Voyageurs, a supporters' group, developed a method of tracking league results between Canadian clubs to determine a professional Canadian champion.


title: Canadian Championship

text: With the introduction of the Canadian Championship as a separate competition. the Voyageurs donated the cup to the Canadian Soccer Association to award to the winners. The trophy is still awarded by a Voyageurs member to the current winning club.


title: Canadian Championship

text: Prior to 2011, the tournament consisted of the three professional teams in Canada in a home-and-away series with the top team winning entry into the qualifying stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. These teams competed in the two top US-based professional soccer leagues, which in 2010 was Major League Soccer and the temporary USSF Division 2 Professional League. In 2011, the North American Soccer League received sanctioning as the USSF's new second-division league.


title: Canadian Championship

text: When FC Edmonton joined the NASL in 2011, the tournament was expanded to include the four highest-level professional clubs in the country. The tournament now consists of two two-legged semifinals and a two-legged final. In the first semifinal of 2011, Toronto, as reigning champions, was assigned the first-place seed and played Edmonton, which was assigned the fourth seed as newcomers to the tournament. The two remaining teams, Montreal and Vancouver, faced off in the other semifinal. This was to be followed by a one-game final to be hosted by the highest remaining seed; but the Canadian Soccer Association decided to go with a two-legged final instead. The format was repeated in subsequent years with the previous year's league placement being used to seed the teams.


title: Canadian Championship

text: Starting with the 2014 competition, due to the introduction of the Ottawa Fury FC to the NASL, the two Canadian NASL teams play in a play-off quarter final to see which team makes it to the semifinals, in which the MLS teams will be introduced.


title: Canadian Championship

text: Due to scheduling conflicts with the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, the 2015 edition was held during April, May, and August but did not provide a competitor for the 2015–16 CONCACAF Champions League; instead the best-placed Canadian Major League Soccer team in the 2014 regular season was the country's representative. The Whitecaps qualified for the championship on October 19, 2014. The winner of the 2015 Canadian Championship qualified for the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League instead and starting in 2016, the competition will be held in June and July.


title: Canadian Championship

text: Since 2017, competition regulations state that each team must field a minimum of three Canadian starters for each match.


title: Canadian Championship

text: In 2018, following the suspension of operations at FC Edmonton, the format of the Championship was amended once more to allow for the admission of two clubs from the Division 3 provincial leagues: League1 Ontario and Première ligue de soccer du Québec. The two provincial champions meet in a first qualifying round, with the winner progressing to meet the sole Canadian USL team (not including Toronto FC II, which is a department of the MLS side Toronto FC), Ottawa Fury FC in a second qualifying round. The winner of this match joins the three Canadian MLS teams in the semifinals. A.S. Blainville and Oakville Blue Devils qualified to represent the Quebec and Ontario leagues respectively in 2018.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The 2019 Canadian Championship was the first to feature teams from the newly created Canadian Premier League. With 13 teams competing, the competition was expanded to include three qualifying rounds along with the semifinals and finals. The first qualifying round begins with six teams, with three new teams entering each round until the semifinals where the previous year's champion enters. All rounds are two-legged match ups.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The George Gross Memorial Trophy was created by the Canadian Soccer Association in 2008 to recognize each tournament's most valuable player. The Trophy was named after the late George Gross, a former soccer administrator and a respected journalist.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The Best Young Canadian Player award was created by the Canadian Soccer Association in 2019 to recognize each tournament's best Canadian under-21 player.


title: Canadian Championship

text: The Top Scorer of the Canadian Championship is the player who scores the most goals during the competition. In case two or more players are tied, the first tiebreaker is most assists and the second tiebreaker is fewest minutes played.


title: 2006 Ballon d'Or

text: The 2006 Ballon d'Or, given to the best football player in Europe as judged by a panel of sports journalists from UEFA member countries, was awarded to the Italian defender Fabio Cannavaro on 27 November 2006. On 16 October 2006, was announced the shortlist of 50 male players compiled by a group of experts from "France Football". There were 52 voters, from Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and Wales. Each picked a first (5pts), second (4pts), third (3pts), fourth (2pts) and fifth choice (1pt).


title: 2006 Ballon d'Or

text: The following 24 men were originally in contention for the 2006 Ballon d’Or, but did not receive any votes:


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's Reforms () were a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic policy changes, designed to convert the new Republic of Turkey into a secular, modern nation-state, implemented under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in accordance with the Kemalist ideology. His political party, the Republican People's Party (CHP) ran Turkey as a one-party-state, implemented these reforms starting in 1923. After Atatürk's death, his successor İsmet İnönü, continued one-party rule and Kemalist style reforms until the CHP lost to the Democrat Party in Turkey's second, truly multi-party election in 1950.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Central to the reforms was the belief that Turkish society had to modernize or more bluntly "westernize". This meant implementing widespread reform impacting not only politics, but the economic, social, eduacational and legal spheres of Turkish society. The reforms involved a number of fundamental institutional changes that brought an end to many traditions, and followed a carefully planned program to unravel the complex system that had developed over previous centuries.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The reforms began with the modernization of the constitution, including enacting the new Constitution of 1924 to replace the Constitution of 1921, and the adaptation of European laws and jurisprudence to the needs of the new republic. That was followed by a thorough secularization and modernization of the administration, with particular focus on the education system.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The elements of the political system visioned by Atatürk's Reforms developed in stages, but by 1935, when the last part of the Atatürk's Reforms removed the reference to Islam in the Constitution; Turkey became a secular () and democratic (), republic () that derives its sovereignty () from the people. Turkish sovereignty rests with the Turkish Nation, which delegates its will to an elected unicameral parliament (position in 1935), the Turkish Grand National Assembly. The also invokes the principles of nationalism, defined as the "material and spiritual well-being of the Republic" (position in 1935). The basic nature of the Republic is laïcité (), social equality (), equality before law (), and the indivisibility of the Republic and of the Turkish Nation ()." Thus, it sets out to found a unitary nation-state (position in 1935) with separation of powers based on the principles of secular democracy.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Historically, Atatürk's reforms follow the Tanzimât ("reorganization") period of the Ottoman Empire, that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876, Abdul Hamid II's authoritarian regime from 1878–1908 that introduced large reforms in education and the bureaucracy, as well as the Ottoman Empire's experience in prolonged political pluralism and rule of law by the Young Turks during the Second Constitutional Era from 1908 to 1913, and various efforts to secularize modernize the empire in the Committee of Union and Progress's one party state from 1913–1918.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The goal of Atatürk's reforms was to maintain the independence of Turkey from the direct rule of external forces (Western countries). The process was not utopian (in the sense that it is not one leader's idea of how a perfect society should be, but it is a unifying force of a nation), in that Atatürk united the Turkish Muslim majority from 1919 to 1922 in the Turkish War of Independence, and expelled foreign forces occupying what the Turkish National Movement considered to be the Turkish homeland. That fighting spirit became the unifying force which established the identity of a new state, and in 1923, the Treaty of Lausanne was signed, ending the Ottoman Empire and internationally recognizing the newly founded Republic of Turkey. From 1923 to 1938, a series of radical political and social reforms were instituted. They transformed Turkey and ushered in a new era of modernization, including civil and political equality for sectarian minorities and women.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Ottoman Empire was an Islamic state in which the head of the state, the Sultan, also held the position of Caliph. The social system was organized around the millet structure. The millet structure allowed a great degree of religious, cultural and ethnic continuity across the society but at the same time permitted the religious ideology to be incorporated into the administrative, economic and political system. One can define this way of life as Islamism (Political Islam): "the belief that Islam should guide social and political as well as personal life".


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: There were two sections of the elite group at the helm of the discussions for the future. These were the "Islamist reformists" and the "Westernists". Many basic goals were common to both groups. Some secular intellectuals, and even certain reform-minded Muslim thinkers, accepted the view that social progress in Europe had followed the Protestant reformation, as expressed in François Guizot's "Histoire de la civilisation en Europe" (1828). The reform-minded Muslim thinkers concluded from the Lutheran experience that the reform of Islam was imperative. Abdullah Cevdet, İsmail Fenni Ertuğrul and Kılıçzâde İsmail Hakkı (İsmail Hakkı Kılıçoğlu), who were westernist thinkers, took their inspiration rather from the subsequent marginalization of religion in European societies. To them, a reformed religion had only a temporary role to play as an instrument for the modernization of society, after which it would be cast aside (from public life and limited to personal life).


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Young Turks and other Ottoman intellectuals asked the question of the position of the empire regarding the West (primarily taken to mean Christian Europe). The West represented intellectual and scientific ascendancy, and provided the blueprint for the ideal society of the future.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Until the proclamation of the republic, the Ottoman Empire was still in existence, with its heritage of religious and dynastic authority. The Ottoman monarchy was abolished by the Ankara Government, but its traditions and cultural symbols remained active among the people (though less so among the elite).


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: On 1 November 1922, the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished by the Turkish Grand National Assembly and Sultan Mehmed VI departed the country. This allowed the Turkish nationalist government in Ankara to become the sole governing entity in the nation. The most fundamental reforms allowed the Turkish nation to exercise popular sovereignty through representative democracy. The Republic of Turkey ("Türkiye Cumhuriyeti") was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, by the Turkish Grand National Assembly.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Turkish Constitution of 1921 was the fundamental law of Turkey for a brief period. It was ratified by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in the middle of the Turkish War of Independence. It was a simple document consisting of only 23 short articles. The major driving force behind the preparation of the 1921 Constitution was that its sovereignty derived from the nation and not from the Sultan, the absolute monarch of the Ottoman Empire. The 1921 Constitution also served as the legal basis for the Turkish War of Independence during 1919–1923, since it refuted the principles of the Treaty of Sèvres of 1918 signed by the Ottoman Empire, by which a great majority of the Empire's territory would have to be ceded to the Entente powers that had won the First World War. In October 1923 the constitution was amended to declare Turkey to be a republic.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In April 1924, the constitution was replaced by an entirely new document, the Turkish Constitution of 1924.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The establishment of popular sovereignty involved confronting centuries-old traditions. The reform process was characterized by a struggle between progressives and conservatives. The changes were both conceptually radical and culturally significant. In the Ottoman Empire, the people of each millet had traditionally enjoyed a degree of autonomy, with their own leadership, collecting their own taxes and living according to their own system of religious/cultural law. The Ottoman Muslims had a strict hierarchy of ulama, with the Sheikh ul-Islam holding the highest rank. A Sheikh ul-Islam was chosen by a royal warrant among the qadis of important cities. The Sheikh ul-Islam issued fatwas, which were written interpretations of the Quran that had authority over the community. The Sheikh ul-Islam represented the law of shariah. This office was in the Evkaf Ministry. Sultan Mehmed VI's cousin Abdulmecid II continued on as Ottoman Caliph.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Besides the political structure; as a part of civic independence, religious education system was replaced by a national education system on 3 March 1924, and The Islamic courts and Islamic canon law gave way to a secular law structure based on the Swiss Civil Code, which is detailed under their headings.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In the secular state or country purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion and claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and claims to avoid preferential treatment for a citizen from a particular religion/nonreligion over other religions/nonreligion. Reformers followed the European model (French model) of secularization. In the European model of secularizing; states typically involves granting individual religious freedoms, disestablishing state religions, stopping public funds to be used for a religion, freeing the legal system from religious control, freeing up the education system, tolerating citizens who change religion or abstain from religion, and allowing political leadership to come to power regardless of religious beliefs. In establishing a secular state, the Ottoman Caliphate, held by the Ottomans since 1517, was abolished and to mediate the power of religion in the public sphere (including recognized minority religions in the Treaty of Lausanne) left to the Directorate for Religious Affairs. Under the reforms official recognition of the Ottoman millets withdrawn. Shar’iyya wa Awqaf Ministry followed the Office of Caliphate. This office was replaced by the Presidency of Religious Affairs.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The abolishing of the position of Caliphate and Sheikh ul-Islam was followed by a common, secular authority. Many of the religious communities failed to adjust to the new regime. This was exacerbated by the emigration or impoverishment, due to deteriorating economic conditions. Families that hitherto had financially supported religious community institutions such as hospitals and schools stop doing so.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's reforms define laïcité (as of 1935) as permeating both the government and the religious sphere. Minority religions, like the Armenian or Greek Orthodoxy are guaranteed protection by the constitution as "individual" faiths (personal sphere), but this guarantee does not give any rights to any "religious communities" (social sphere). (This differentiation applies to Islam and Muslims as well. Atatürk's reforms, as of 1935, assume the social sphere is secular.) The Treaty of Lausanne, the internationally binding agreement of the establishment of the Republic, does not specify any nationality or ethnicity. Treaty of Lausanne simply identifies non-Muslims in general and provides the legal framework which gives certain explicit religious rights to Jews, Greeks, and Armenians without naming them.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) was an official state institution established in 1924 under article 136, which received the powers of the Shaykh al-Islam. As specified by law, the duties of the Diyanet are “to execute the works concerning the beliefs, worship, and ethics of Islam, enlighten the public about their religion, and administer the sacred worshiping places”. The Diyanet exercised state oversight over religious affairs and ensuring that religion (people, groups that use religion) did not challenge the Republic's "secular identity".


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The reform movement turned its back on the perceived corruption and decadence of cosmopolitan Istanbul and its Ottoman heritage, as well as electing to choose a capital more geographically centered in Turkey. During the disastrous 1912–13 First Balkan War, Bulgarian troops had advanced to Çatalca, mere miles from Istanbul, creating a fear that the Ottoman capital would have to be moved to Anatolia; the reform movement wanted to avoid a similar incident with Turkey.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Anadolu Agency was founded in 1920 during the Turkish War of Independence by Journalist Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu and writer Halide Edip. The agency was officially launched on 6 April 1920, 17 days before the Turkish Grand National Assembly convened for the first time. It announced the first legislation passed by the Assembly, which established the Republic of Turkey.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: However, Anadolu Agency acquired an autonomous status after Atatürk reformed the organizational structure (added some of his closest friends) to turn the Anadolu Agency into a western news agency. This new administrative structure declared the "Anadolu Agency Corporation" on 1 March 1925. Anadolu Agency Corporation acquired an autonomous status with an unexampled organizational chart not existed even in the western countries in those days.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Ottomans had censuses (1831 census, 1881–82 census, 1905–06 census, and 1914 census) performed, and financial information collected under Ottoman Bank for the purpose of payments on Ottoman public debt. One of the Atatürk's major achievement is the establishment of a principal government institution in charge of statistics (economic and financial statistical data) and census data.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Modern statistical services began with the establishment of The Central Statistical Department in 1926. It was established as a partially centralized system. Turkish Statistical Institute is the Turkish government agency commissioned with producing official statistics on Turkey, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It was founded in 1926 and has its headquarters in Ankara. In 1930, the title of the Department was changed to The General Directorate of Statistics (GDS), and The National Statistical System was changed to a centralized system. In earlier years, statistical sources were relatively simple and data collection was confined to activities related to some of the relevant functions of the government with population censuses every five years, and with agriculture and industry censuses every ten years. Gradually the activities of the GDS widened in accordance with the increasing demand for new statistical data and statistics. In addition to those censuses and surveys, many continuous publications on economic, social and cultural subjects were published by this institute to provide necessary information.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Some social institutions had religious overtones, and held considerable influence over public life. Social change also included centuries old religious social structures that has been deeply rooted within the society, some were established within the state organisation of the Ottoman Empire. The Kemalist reforms brought effective social change on women's suffrage.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In the Ottoman public sphere religious groups exerted their power. Public sphere is an area in social life where individuals come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action. It is "a discursive space in which individuals and groups congregate to discuss matters of mutual interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment." Atatürk's Reforms target the structure of the public space.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The construction of a secular nation-state was a huge enterprise in a conservative Muslim society, though Atatürk Reforms benefit from the elaborate blueprints for a future society prepared by the Ottoman proponents of scientism during the Second Constitutional Era.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Ottoman Empire had a social system based on religious affiliation. The religious insignia extended to every social function. It was common to wear clothing that identified the person with their own particular religious grouping and accompanied headgear which distinguished rank and profession throughout the Ottoman Empire. The turbans, fezes, bonnets and head-dresses surmounting Ottoman styles showed the sex, rank, and profession (both civil and military) of the wearer. These styles were accompanied with a strict regulation beginning with the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent. Sultan Mahmud II followed on the example of Peter the Great in Russia in modernizing the Empire and used the dress code of 1826 which developed the symbols (classifications) of feudalism among the public. These reforms were achieved through introduction of the progressive customs by decrees, while banning the traditional customs. The view of their social change proposed; if the permanence of secularism was to be assured by removal of persistence of traditional cultural values (the religious insignia), a considerable degree of cultural receptivity by the public to the further social change could be achieved. The dress code gave a chance for the removal of persistence of traditional values in the society.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's Reforms defined a non-civilized (non-scientific, non-positivist) person as one who functioned within the boundaries of superstition. The ulema was not a scientific group, and it was acting according to superstitions developed throughout centuries. Their name was ""Gerici"", literally means "backward", but it was used to mean "bigot". On 25 February 1925, parliament passed a law stating that religion was not to be used as a tool in politics. The question became how this law could be brought to life in a country whose scholars are dominated by the ulema. Kemalist ideology waged a war against superstition by banning the practices of the ulema and promoting the civilized way ("westernization"), with establishing lawyers, teachers, doctors. The ban on the ulema's social existence came in the form of dress code. The strategic goal was to change the large influence of the ulema over politics by removing them from the social arena. However, there was the danger of being perceived as anti-religious. Kemalists defended themselves by stating "Islam viewed all forms of superstition (non-scientific) nonreligious". The ulema's power was established during the Ottoman Empire with the conception that secular institutions were all subordinate to religion; the ulema were emblems of religious piety, and therefore rendering them powerful over state affairs. Kemalists claimed:


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: An example was the practice of medicine. Kemalists wanted to get rid of superstition extending to herbal medicine, potion, and religious therapy for mental illness, all of which were practiced by the ulema. They excoriated those who used herbal medicine, potions, and balms, and instituted penalties against the religious men who claimed they have a say in health and medicine. On 1 September 1925, the first Turkish Medical Congress was assembled, which was only four days after Mustafa Kemal was seen on 27 August at Inebolu wearing a modern hat and one day after the on 30 August.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Official measures were gradually introduced to eliminate the wearing of religious clothing and other overt signs of religious affiliation. Beginning in 1923, a series of laws progressively limited the wearing of selected items of traditional clothing. Mustafa Kemal first made the hat compulsory to the civil servants. The guidelines for the proper dressing of students and state employees (public space controlled by state) was passed during his lifetime. After most of the relatively better educated civil servants adopted the hat with their own he gradually moved further. On the 25 November 1925 the parliament passed the which introduced the use of Western style hats instead of the fez. Legislation did not explicitly prohibit veils or headscarves and focused instead on banning fezzes and turbans for men. The law had also influence of school text books. Following the issuing of the Hat Law, images in school text books that had shown men with fezzes, were exchanged with images which showed men with hats. Another control on the dress was passed in 1934 with the . It banned religion-based clothing, such as the veil and turban, outside of places of worship, and gave the Government the power to assign only one person per religion or sect to wear religious clothes outside of places of worship.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: All printed Qurans in Turkey were in Classical Arabic (the sacred language of Islam) at the time. Previous Qurans in Turkish that were not made public existed. The major point of Atatürk's Reform come with this quote: "...teaching religion in Turkish to Turkish people who had been practicing Islam without understanding it for centuries" Turkish translations published in Istanbul created controversy In 1924. Several renderings of the Quran in the Turkish language were read in front of the public. These Turkish Qurans were fiercely opposed by religious conservatives. This incident impelled many leading Muslim modernists to call upon the Turkish Parliament to sponsor a Quran translation of suitable quality. The Parliament approved the project and the Directorate of Religious Affairs enlisted Mehmet Akif Ersoy to compose a Quran translation and an Islamic scholar to author a Turkish language Quranic commentary (tafsir) titled "." Ersoy declined the offer and destroyed his work, to avoid the possible public circulation of a transliteration which may remotely be faulty. Only in 1935 did the version read in public find its way to print.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The program also involved implementing a Turkish adhan, as opposed to the conventional Arabic call to prayer. The Arabic adhan was replaced with the following: Following the conclusion of said debates, the Diyanet released an official mandate on 18 July 1932 announcing the decision to all the mosques across Turkey, and the practice was continued for a period of 18 years. Following the victory of the Democrat Party in the country's first multi-party elections in 1950, a new government was sworn in, led by Adnan Menderes, which restored Arabic as the liturgical language.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The reformers dismissed the imam assigned to the Turkish Grand National Assembly, saying that prayer should be performed in a mosque, not in the parliament. They also removed the "references to religion" from the decorum. The only Friday sermon (khutba) ever delivered by a Turkish head of state was given by Atatürk; this took place at a mosque in Balıkesir during the election campaign. The reformers said that "to repeat the sermons [by a politician in the parliament] of a thousand years ago was to preserve backwardness and promote nescience."


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The abolishment of Caliphate removed the highest religious-political position. This act left the Muslim brotherhoods (Muslim associations working as a society of Muslim believers for any purpose) who were institutionalized (religious-political representation) under the convents and the dervish lodges without higher organizing structure.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The reformers assumed that the original sources, now available in Turkish, would render the orthodox religious establishment (the ‘ulamā’) and the Ṣūfī ṭarīqas obsolete, and thus help to privatize religion as well as produce a reformed Islam (Turkish Reformation = Turkified). In 1925 institutions of religious covenants and dervish lodges were declared illegal.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The reformers imagined that the elimination of the orthodox and Ṣūfī religious establishments, along with traditional religious education, and their replacement with a system in which the original sources were available to all in the vernacular language, would pave the way for a new vision of Islam open to progress and modernity and usher in a society guided by modernity.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Along with the multi-party period, with Democrats both taking part and winning for the first time in the 1950 Turkish general election, religious establishments started becoming more active in the country.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Turkey adapted the workweek and weekend as the complementary parts of the week devoted to labor and rest, respectively. In the Ottoman Empire, the workweek was from Sunday to Thursday and the weekend was Friday and Saturday.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: A law enacted in 1935 changed the weekend began from Friday afternoon (not Thursday afternoon) and a weekend ended on Sunday.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In the following years of Atatürk's Reforms women's rights campaigners in Turkey differed from their sisters (and sympathetic brothers) in other countries. Rather than fighting directly for their basic rights and equality, they saw their best chance in the promotion and maintenance of Atatürk's Reforms, with its espousal of secular values and equality for all, including women.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Ottoman society was a traditional one and the women had no political rights, even after the Second Constitutional Era in 1908. During the early years of the Turkish Republic educated women struggled for political rights. One notable female political activist was Nezihe Muhittin who founded the first women's party in June 1923, which however was not legalized because the Republic was not officially declared.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: With intense struggle, Turkish women achieved voting rights in local elections by the act of 1580 on 3 April 1930. Four years later, through legislation enacted on 5 December 1934, they gained full universal suffrage, earlier than most other countries. The reforms in the Turkish civil code, including those affecting women's suffrage, were "breakthroughs not only within the Islamic world but also in the western world".


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In 1935, in the general elections Eighteen female MPs joined the parliament, at a time when women in a significant number of other European countries had no voting rights.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Beginning with the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, a modified Swiss Penal Code, women gained extensive civil rights. This continued with women gaining the right to vote and stand for elections at the municipal and federal levels in 1930 and 1934, respectively. Various other legal initiatives were also put into effect in the years following to encourage equality.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Turkish Civil Code also allowed equal rights to divorce to both men and women, and gave equal child custody rights to both parents.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Polygamy was permitted in the Ottoman Empire under special circumstances, with certain terms and conditions. The reasons behind the sanctions of polygamy were historical and circumstantial. Atatürk's reforms made polygamy illegal, and became the only nation located in the Middle East that had abolished polygamy, which was officially criminalized with the adoption of the Turkish Civil Code in 1926, a milestone in Atatürk's reforms. Penalties for illegal polygamy set up to 2 years imprisonment.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Under the Islamic law, a woman's inheritance was half the share of a man whereas under the new laws man and women inherited equally.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Besides the advancements, men were still officially heads of the household in the law. Women needed the head of the household's permission to travel abroad.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's Reforms aimed to break the traditional role of the women in the society. Women were encouraged to attend universities and obtain professional degrees. Women soon became teachers at coed schools, engineers, and studied medicine and law. Between 1920 and 1938, ten percent of all university graduates were women.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's regime promoted female role models who were, in his words, "the mothers of the nation." This woman of the republic was cultured, educated, and modern; to promote this image, the Miss Turkey pageants were first organized in 1929.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Under the Ottoman Empire many people, especially Muslims, did not use surnames. Family name, or last name is the portion (in some cultures) of a personal name that indicates a person's family. Depending on the culture, all members of a family unit may have identical surnames or there may be variations based on the cultural rules.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Surname Law was adopted on 21 June 1934. The law requires all citizens of Turkey to adopt the use of hereditary, fixed, surnames. Much of the population, particularly in the cities as well as Turkey's Christian and Jewish citizens, already had surnames, and all families had names by which they were known locally.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The clocks, calendars and measures used in the Ottoman Empire were different from those used in the European states. This made social, commercial and official relations difficult and caused some confusion. In the last period of the Ottoman Empire, some studies were made to eliminate this difference.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: First, a law enacted on 26 December 1925 and banned the use of Hijri and Rumi calendars. Turkey began to use Miladi calendar officially on 1 January 1926. One calendar prevented the confusion of use of multiple calendars in state affairs.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The clock system used by the contemporary world was accepted instead of the clock called alaturka, which was adjusted according to the sunset. With the time scale taken from the West, one day was divided into 24 hours and daily life was organized.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: With a change made in 1928, international figures were adopted. A law adopted in 1931 changed the old weight and length measurements. Previously used measurement units such as arshin, endaze, okka have been removed. Instead, meters were accepted as length measurements and kilograms as weight measures. With these changes in length and weight measurements, unity was achieved in the country. The International System of Units (known as metric) is the modern form of the metric system, and is the most widely used system of measurement. Turkey moved to the metric system.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Among the five main fine arts — painting, sculpture, architecture, music, and poetry, with performing arts including theatre and dance, sculpture and painting — were little practiced in the Ottoman Empire, owing to the Islamic tradition of avoiding idolatry.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in seeking to revise a number of aspects of Turkish culture used the ancient heritage and village life of the country forcing removal of all Arabic and Persian cultural influences. Metropolitan Museum of Art summarized this period as "While there was a general agreement on the rejection of the last flowering of Ottoman art, no single, all-encompassing style emerged to replace it. The early years of the Republic saw the rise of dozens of new schools of art and the energetic organization of many young artists."


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The State Art and Sculpture Museum was dedicated to fine arts and mainly sculpture. It was designed in 1927 by architect Arif Hikmet Koyunoğlu and built between 1927 and 1930 as the "Türkocağı Building", upon the direction of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It is located close to the Ethnography Museum and houses a rich collection of Turkish art from the late 19th century to the present day. There are also galleries for guest exhibitions.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The Ottoman Empire was a religious empire in which each religious community enjoyed a large degree of autonomy with the Millet (Ottoman Empire) structure. Each millet had an internal system of governance based upon its religious law, such as Sharia, Catholic Canon law, or Jewish Halakha. The Ottoman Empire tried to modernize the code with the reforms of 1839 Gülhane Hatt-i Sharif which tried to end the confusion in the judicial sphere by extending the legal equality to all citizens.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The leading legal reforms instituted included a secular constitution (laïcité) with the complete separation of government and religious affairs, the replacement of Islamic courts and Islamic canon law with a secular civil code based on the Swiss Civil Code, and a penal code based on that of Italy (1924–37).


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: On 8 April 1924, sharia courts were abolished with the law "Mehakim-i Şer'iyenin İlgasına ve Mehakim Teşkilatına Ait Ahkamı Muaddil Kanun".


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The non-Muslim millet affected with the Age of Enlightenment in Europe modernized the Christian Law. In the Ottoman Empire, Islamic Law and Christian Law became drastically different. In 1920, and today, the Islamic Law does not contain provisions regulating the sundry relationships of "political institutions" and "commercial transactions". The Ottoman Empire dissolved not only because of its outdated systems, but also its traditions were not applicable to the demands of its time. For example, the rules relating to "criminal cases" which were shaped under Islamic Law were limited in serving their purpose adequately. Beginning with the 19th century, the Ottoman Islamic codes and legal provisions generally were impracticable in dealing with the wider concept of social systems. In 1841 a criminal code was drawn up in the Ottoman Empire. When the Empire dissolved, there was still no legislation with regard to family and marital relationships. Polygamy has not been practiced by law-abiding citizens of Turkey after Atatürk's reforms, in contrast to the former rules of the Mecelle. There were thousands of articles in the Mecelle which were not used due to their inapplicability.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The adaptation of laws relating to family and marital relationships is an important step which is attributed to Mustafa Kemal. The reforms also instituted legal equality and full political rights for both sexes 5 December 1934, well before several other European nations. A penal code adopted based on that of Italy (original one codified in 1865) passed between 1924 and 1937.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Educational systems (schooling) involve institutionalized teaching and learning in relation to a curriculum, which was established according to a predetermined purpose of education. The Ottoman schools were a complex "educational system" based on (differentiated) mainly on religion, established with different curricula for each path. The Ottoman educational system had three main educational groups of institutions. The most common institutions were medreses based on Arabic, teaching the Quran and using the method of memorization. The second type of institution was idadî and sultanî, which were the reformist schools of the Tanzimat era. The last group included colleges and minority schools in foreign languages that used the latest teaching models in educating their pupils.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The unification of education, along with the closure of the old-style universities, and a large-scale program of science transfer from Europe; education became an integrative system, aimed to alleviate poverty and used female education to establish gender equality. Turkish education became a state-supervised system, which was designed to create a skill base for the social and economic progress of the country. Unification came with the Law on Unification of National Education, which introduced three regulations. They placed the religious schools owned by private foundations under the scope of the Ministry of Education. By the same regulations, the Ministry of Education was ordered to open a religious faculty at the Darülfünun (later to become the Istanbul University) and schools to educate imams.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk's reforms on education made education much more accessible: between 1923 and 1938, the number of students attending primary schools increased by 224% from 342,000 to 765,000, the number of students attending middle schools increased by 12.5 times, from around 6,000 to 74,000 and the number of students attending high schools increased by almost 17 times, from 1,200 to 21,000.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Military training was added to the curriculum of secondary education with the support of Mustafa Kemal who stated "just as the army is a school, so is the school an army". He was also in favor of deploying army sergeants as teachers.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: In 1915, during the Ottoman period, a separate section for girl students named the "İnas Darülfünunu" was opened as a branch of the "İstanbul Darülfünunu", the predecessor of the modern Istanbul University.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: Atatürk was a strong supporter of coeducation and the education of girls. Coeducation was established as the norm throughout the educational system by 1927. Centuries of sex segregation under Ottoman rule had denied girls equal education, Atatürk thus opposed segregated education as a matter of principle. The matter of coeducation was first raised as a result of a controversy in Tekirdağ in 1924, where, due to the lack of a high school for girls, girls requested enrollment in the high school for boys. Upon this, works on coeducation began and the Minister of Education declared that both sexes would follow the same curriculum. In August 1924, it was decided that coeducation would be introduced to primary education, giving boys the right to enroll in girls' high schools and vice versa. Atatürk declared in his Kastamonu speech in 1925 that coeducation should be the norm. Whilst the educational committee had agreed in 1926 to abolish single-sex education in middle schools that were not boarding schools, segregation persisted in middle and high schools, and statistics in the 1927–28 educational year revealed that only 29% of those enrolled in primary schools were girls. This figure was 18.9% for middle schools and 28% for high schools. Acting on these figures, 70 single-sex middle schools were converted to coeducational schools in 1927–28 and new coeducational middle schools were established. This was despite the opposition of Köprülüzade Fuat Bey, the Undersecretary for Education. Whilst the policy was transition to coeducational high schools based on the success in middle schools from 1928 to 1929 onwards this policy could only be implemented effectively from 1934 to 1935 onwards.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: One of the cornerstone of educational institutions, the University of Istanbul, accepted German and Austrian scientists whom the National Socialist regime in Germany had considered 'racially' or politically undesirable. This political decision (accepting the German and Austrian scientists) established the nucleus of science and modern [higher education] institutions in Turkey. The reform aimed to break away the traditional dependency [since the Ottoman Empire] on the transfer of science and technology by foreign experts.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: First, all medreses and schools administered by private foundations or the Diyanet were connected to the Ministry of National Education. Second, the money allocated to schools and medreses from the budget of the Diyanet was transferred to the education budget. Third, the Ministry of Education had to open a religious faculty for training higher religious experts within the system of higher education, and separate schools for training imams and hatips.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The literacy movement aimed adult education for the goal of forming a skill base in the country. Turkish women were taught not only child care, dress-making and household management, but also skills needed to join the economy outside the home.


title: Atatürk's reforms

text: The adoption of the Latin script and the purging of foreign loan words was part of Atatürk's program of modernization. The two important features were sought, which were the democratization and activate secularism.