The Isle of Youth () is the largest Cuban island after Cuba itself. It is the sixth-largest island in the West Indies. The island has an area of  and is  southwest of mainland Cuba. It is across the Gulf of Batabanó. The island is almost directly south of Havana and Pinar del Río. Because of its superficial extension, population and for its economic characteristics, it is considered to be a Special Municipality. It is therefore not a part of any province. The Isle of Youth is administered directly by the central government of Cuba.

The island is the  largest of the 350 in the Canarreos Archipelago (). It has an estimated population of 100,000. The capital and largest city is Nueva Gerona in the north. The second-largest and oldest city is Santa Fe in the interior. Other communities are Columbia, Mac Kinley, Santa Bárbara, Cuchilla Alta, Punta del Este, Sierra de Caballos and Sierra de Casas. The island was called the Isle of Pines () before 1978.

History

Little is known of the pre-Columbian history of the island, though a cave complex near the Punta del Este beach preserves 235 ancient drawings made by the native population. The island first became known to Europeans during Christopher Columbus's third voyage to the New World  in 1494. Columbus named the island La Evangelista and claimed it for Spain; the island would also come to be known Isla de Cotorras ("Isle of Parrots") and Isla de Tesoros ("Treasure Island") at various points in its history.

Pirate activity in and around the area left its trace in English literature. Both Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and Peter Pan by James Matthew Barrie are rooted in part on accounts of the island and its native and pirate inhabitants, as well as long dugout canoes (which were often used by pirates as well as indigenous peoples) and the great American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) on the island.

Following the victory of the United States in the Spanish-American War, Spain dropped all claims to Cuba under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The Isla de la Juventud was not mentioned in the Platt Amendment, which defined Cuba's boundaries, and this led to competing claims to the island by the United States and the now-independent Cuba. In 1907, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that the island did not belong to the United States. A treaty was signed between the U.S. and Cuba in 1925, recognizing Cuban ownership.

Geography and economy

Much of the island is covered with pine forests. These are the source of the island's large lumber industry. The northern region of the island has low ridges from which marble is quarried. The southern region is an elevated plain. Agriculture and fishing are the island's main industries, with citrus fruit and vegetables being grown. A black sand beach was formed by volcanic activity.

The island has a mild climate, but is known for frequent hurricanes. It is a popular tourist destination, with many beaches and resorts, including Bibijagua Beach. Until the Cuban government expropriated all foreign-owned property in the early 1960s, much land was owned by Americans.

Transportation
The main transportation to the island is by boat or aircraft. Hydrofoils (kometas) and motorized catamarans will make the trip in between two and three hours. A much slower and larger cargo ferry takes around six hours to make the crossing, but is cheaper. The province has only one municipality, also named Isla de la Juventud.

Prisons

From 1953 to 1955, Cuban leader Fidel Castro was imprisoned in the Presidio Modelo on the Isla de la Juventud by the regime of Fulgencio Batista after leading the failed July 1953 attack on the Moncada Barracks in the Oriente Province. Later, Castro used the same facility to imprison counterrevolutionaries and dissidents, such as Huber Matos (once a comandante of rebel troops supporting the Cuban Revolution but later came into conflict with Cuban government), who claims to have been tortured there , and Armando F. Valladares.

Presidio Modelo is now closed, and turned into a museum. It is replaced by more modern prisons. These include (MAS = maximum security prison; COR = correctional):
Prison El Guayabo (MAS)
Center for Reeducation of Minors (COR)
Correctional Los Colonos (COR)
Paquito Rosales Cueto (1 y 11) (COR)
Prison la 60 (Columbia) (COR)

Other websites

Supreme Court decision of 1907
Satellite view of the Isle of Youth (interactive)
Municipality page  (Spanish)

1925 establishments in North America
20th-century establishments in Cuba

Isla de la Juventud


A city hall or town hall is the headquarters of a city or town's administration and usually houses the city or town council, its associated departments and their employees. It is also usually the base of the city, town, borough or county mayor.

In North America, a hall is labeled a "city" or "town" hall depending on the size of the municipality it serves. City halls are usually found in larger cities and town halls in smaller urban areas.

In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and many Commonwealth countries, "town hall" is the more common term. During the 1960s many of the older town halls were replaced by "Civic centres". The civic centre was a functional building, offices of the council only, without the art gallery or hall for cultural activities which were a feature of many of the older town halls.

"County hall" is used for the headquarters of County council administrations.

Local government
Administrative buildings

Town hall


Bo Diddley (born Ellas Bates, December 30, 1928 in McComb, Mississippi, died June 2, 2008 in Archer, Florida) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. He was one of the original rock and roll musicians; he, along with others, created rock music.

In 1955, he recorded and released his first songs. He is most famous for the rhythm which he has made popular in many of his recordings. The rhythm has become known as the Bo Diddley beat. Some of the most popular songs which feature the Bo Diddley beat include "Not Fade Away" and "I Want Candy", George Michael's song "Faith" and U2's song "Desire". Bo Diddley is also famous for the unusual shapes of many of his guitars, for his exciting stage shows and for his use of female musicians.

Bo Diddley made many appearances on radio, television and in the movies. In 1956, he co-wrote the popular song "Love Is Strange" for the singing duo Mickey and Sylvia.

Some of his most popular songs are: "I'm A Man" (1955), "Pretty Thing" (1955), "Bring It To Jerome" (1955), "Diddy Wah Diddy" (1955), "Who Do You Love" (1956), "Mona (I Need You Baby)" (1957), "Before You Accuse Me" (1957), "Crackin' Up" (1959), "Say Man" (1959), "Say Man, Back Again" (1959), "Road Runner" (1960), "Pills" (1961), "You Can't Judge A Book By The Cover" (1962) and "I Can Tell" (1962).

Bo Diddley often sang simple or amusing songs about himself. Some of these songs are "Bo Diddley" (1955), "Diddley Daddy" (1955), "Hey Bo Diddley" (1957), "Bo Meets The Monster" (1958), "Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger" (1960), "Just Like Bo Diddley" (1989), "Bo Diddley Is Crazy" (1996) and "Oops! Bo Diddley" (1996).

His songs have been recorded by many other popular recording artists, including Aerosmith, The Animals, Eric Clapton, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dr. Feelgood, The Doors, Buddy Holly, Chris Isaak, New York Dolls, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Rolling Stones, Bob Seger, George Thorogood and The Destroyers, The Who and The Yardbirds.

In 2003, U.S. Representative John Conyers paid tribute to Bo Diddley in the United States House of Representatives when he described him as "one of the true pioneers of rock and roll, who has influenced generations".

In 2005, Bo Diddley celebrated his 50th anniversary in music with successful tours of Australia and Europe and with coast-to-coast shows across North America.

On June 2, 2008, Diddley died from heart failure at the age of 79.

Discography
 Bo Diddley (1958)
 Go Bo Diddley (1959)
 Have Guitar Will Travel (1960)
 Bo Diddley in the Spotlight (1960)
 Bo Diddley Is a Gunslinger (1960)
 Bo Diddley Is a Lover (1961)
 Bo Diddley's a Twister (1962)
 Bo Diddley (1962)
 Bo Diddley & Company (1962)
 Surfin' with Bo Diddley (1963)
 Bo Diddley's Beach Party (1963)
 Bo Diddley's 16 All-Time Greatest Hits (1964)
 Two Great Guitars (with Chuck Berry) (1964)
 Hey Good Lookin''' (1965)
 500% More Man (1965)
 The Originator (1966)
 Super Blues (with Muddy Waters & Little Walter) (1967)
 Super Super Blues Band (with Muddy Waters & Howlin' Wolf) (1967)
 The Black Gladiator (1970)
 Another Dimension (1971)
 Where It All Began (1972)
 Got My Own Bag of Tricks (1972)
 The London Bo Diddley Sessions (1973)
 Big Bad Bo (1974)
 20th Anniversary of Rock & Roll (1976)
 I'm a Man (1977)
 Ain't It Good To Be Free (1983)
 Bo Diddley & Co - Live (1985)
 Hey...Bo Diddley in Concert (1986)
 Breakin' Through the BS (1989)
 Living Legend (1989)
 Rare & Well Done (1991)
 Live at the Ritz (with Ronnie Wood) (1992)
 This Should Not Be (1993)
 Promises (1994)
 A Man Amongst Men (1996)
 Moochas Gracias'' (with Anna Moo) (2002)

Other websites
 Authorised Website
 The Official Bo Diddley MySpace Page
 The Bo Diddley Legacy MySpace Page
 Talent Source Management

1928 births
2008 deaths

Singers from Mississippi

Bo Diddley


is a video game character made by Nintendo. He is an Italian plumber who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom. The character was created and designed by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Mario is the main mascot of Nintendo. He has been in more than 200 games by the company, which are usually designed for people of all ages.

In most of the Mario games, he tries to stop Bowser from kidnapping Princess Peach. He is helped by his brother Luigi in most games. He has other enemies like Donkey Kong, Waluigi, and Wario, but they are friends in some several spinoffs.

Mario is one of the most famous video game characters. Over a whopping 200 million Mario games have been sold all over the world.

Concept and creation

Mario first appeared in the arcade game Donkey Kong as a carpenter named Jumpman. In Japan, he had the name "Mr. Jump." Later, he was named "Mario," after Mario Segale, who was a lot like Mario. Mario Segale owned the land where Nintendo of America's office was built.

Mario later appeared with his younger brother Luigi in an arcade game called Mario Bros. The game Super Mario Bros. was released at the same time as the Nintendo Entertainment System. Super Mario Bros. was a very well liked game, along with Super Mario Bros. 3  and Legend Of Zelda.

At that time, video games were hard to make and Nintendo could not make Mario move without making his arms "disappear". Changing his clothes fixed it. They also did not have the space to give him a mouth or ears. They also could not make hair on his head. To fix this, the makers of the game gave Mario a moustache, sideburns, and a cap so it would not look like he was bald. Mario's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, said that he gave Mario a cap,  because it is hard for him to draw hair. Mario is voiced by (his voice is made by) Charles Martinet, who also voices Luigi, Wario, Waluigi and other characters like Toadsworth.

Mario is Nintendo's mascot (the face of the company). Mario's rival was Sega's mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared in 1991. At first, Sega and Nintendo competed with each other. But then, in Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Sega made a game for a Nintendo video game console. Mario and Sonic appeared together in a sports game, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, and again in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Playable appearances (1981-present)
Donkey Kong (series debut) (1981)
 Mario's Cement Factory (1983)
Mario Bros. (1983)
Mario's Bombs Away (1983)
Golf (1984)
 Donkey Kong Hockey (1984)
Wrecking Crew (1985)
Super Mario Bros. (1985)
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (Super Mario Bros. 2 in Japan) (1986)
 Famicom Grand Prix: F-1 Race (1987)
Super Mario Bros. 2 (Doki Doki Panic in Japan) (1988)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
Super Mario Land (1989)
Dr. Mario (1990)
Super Mario World (1990)
 Mario Teaches Typing (1991)
 Mario the Juggler (1991)
 Yoshi (1991)
Mario Paint (1992)
Super Mario Kart (1992)
Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (1992)
 Yoshi's Cookie (1992)
Mario is Missing (1992)
 Yoshi's Safari (1993)
Mario & Wario (1993) (Japan only)
 Mario's Time Machine (1993)
 Super Mario All-Stars (Super Mario Collection in Japan) (1993)
 Hotel Mario (1994)
 Donkey Kong (1994)
 Mario's Early Years! Fun with Letters (1994)
 Mario's Early Years! Fun with Numbers (1994)
 Mario's Early Years! Preschool Fun (1994)
Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World (1994)
 Mario's Early Years! CD-ROM Collection (1995)
 Mario's Picross (1995)
Mario's Tennis (1995)
Mario Clash (1995)
 Mario's Game Gallery (1995)
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996)
Super Mario 64 (1996)
 Mario Teaches Typing 2 (1996)
Mario Kart 64 (1996)
Excitebike: Bun Bun Mario Stadium (1997) (Japan only)
 Game & Watch Gallery (1997)
Wrecking Crew '98 (1998) (Japan only)
 Mario's FUNdamentals (1998)
Mario no Photopi (1998) (Japan only)
Mario Party (1998)
 Super Smash Bros. (1999)
Super Mario Bros. Deluxe (1999)
Mario Golf (1999)
Mario Party 2 (1999)
Mario Tennis (2000)
Paper Mario (2000)
 Mario Tennis (handheld) (2000)
Mario Party 3 (2000)
Super Mario Advance (2001)
Super Monkey Ball (2001)
 Mobile Golf (2001)
Mario Kart: Super Circuit (2001)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
 Super Mario Sunshine (2002)
Mario Party 4 (2002)
 Mario Party-e (2003)
 Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (2003)
 Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (2003)
Mario Party 5 (2003)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003)
 Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004)
 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004)
 Mario Pinball Land (2004)
 Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party (2004) (Japan only)
 Mario Power Tennis (2004)
Mario Party 6 (2004)
Super Mario 64 DS (2004)
 Mario Party Advance (2005)
 Yakuman DS (2005) (Japan only)
 Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (2005)
 Mario Superstar Baseball (2005)
 Mario Tennis: Power Tour (2005)
Mario Party 7 (2005)
Mario Kart DS (2005)
Dr. Mario & Puzzle League (2005)
Mario Kart Arcade GP (2005)
 Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2 (2005) (Japan only)
 Super Mario Strikers (2005)
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (2005)
New Super Mario Bros. (2006)
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (2006)
Super Paper Mario (2007)
 Mario Strikers Charged (2007)
Mario Party 8 (2007)
Itadaki Street DS (2007) (Japan only)
Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 (2007)
 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007)
Mario Party DS (2007)
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
Mario Kart Wii (2008)
Dr. Mario Online RX (2008)
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again (2008)
Mario Super Sluggers (2008)
Dr. Mario Express (2008)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (2009)
 Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher (2009) (Japan only)
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009)
New Super Mario Bros. Wii (2009)
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (2010)
Super Mario All-Stars 25th Anniversary Edition (2010)
Mario Sports Mix (2010)
Super Mario 3D Land (2011)
 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011)
Mario Kart 7 (2011)
 Fortune Street (2011)
Mario Party 9 (2012)
 Mario Tennis Open (2012)
New Super Mario Bros. 2 (2012)
 Paper Mario: Sticker Star (2012)
New Super Mario Bros. U (2012)
 Mario & Luigi: Dream Team (2013)
 New Super Luigi U (2013)
Super Mario 3D World (2013)
 Mario Kart Arcade GP DX (2013)
 Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games (2013)
 Mario Party: Island Tour (2013)
 Mario Golf: World Tour (2014)
 Mario Kart 8 (2014)
 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014)
Mario vs Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars (2015)
 Mario Party 10 (2015)
 Super Mario Maker (2015)
 Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash (2015)
Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure (2015)
 Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (2015)
Mini Mario and Friends Amiibo Challenge (2016)
 Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (2016)
 Minecraft: Wii U Edition (2016)
 Paper Mario: Color Splash (2016)
 Mario Party: Star Rush (2016)
Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS (2016)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (2017)
Super Mario Odyssey (2017)
Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017)
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions (2017)
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Version (2017)
Mario Tennis Aces (2018)
Super Mario Party (2018)
Super Smash Brothers Ultimate (2018)
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey (2019)
New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe (2019)
Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Mario Kart Tour (2019)
Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019)
Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2019)
Paper Mario: The Origami King (2020)
Super Mario Bros. 35 (2020)
Super Mario 3D All-Stars (2020)
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury (2021)
Mario Golf: Super Rush (2021)
Mario Party Superstars (2021)
Mario Strikers: Battle League (2022)
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope (2022)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (2023)

Appearances
Mario was first seen as "Jumpman" in Donkey Kong in 1981. He was first named "Mario" in the arcade game Donkey Kong Junior in 1982, the only game where he is a villain. His twin brother Luigi was first seen in 1983 in Mario Bros. He was next seen in Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which would quickly be one of the most famous games on the console.

By 2007, more than 200 million copies of Mario games had been sold all over the world. The game that was best sold was Super Mario Bros. 3. Mario was also seen in some Game & Watch games. Mario has appeared in almost every type of video game, like platform, puzzle, racing, sports, fighting, role-playing and educational games.

Mario has been seen in many games, and is seen in games that are not Mario games as well, like Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! where he is a referee. He is also a character you can play as in the Super Smash Bros. series. Mario has even appeared as a secret character which any player can play as in GameCube version of NBA Street V3 and SSX on Tour, which are both from Electronic Arts. In some games, he only makes very small appearances: in both The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, a picture of Mario can be seen, and in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes small Mario and Yoshi statues can be seen.

After the Game & Watch game Mario Bombs Away, the first Mario non-platformer game, Dr. Mario, was sold in 1990. There are two educational Mario games that have been made. They are called Mario Paint, was sold in 1992 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Mario Pinball Land for the Game Boy Advance. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was released in 1996 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the first Mario role-playing game. Since then, other Mario role-playing games have been released, such as Paper Mario for the Nintendo 64;  and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance. Both of these games were made into their own series later on.

There have been more series based on the original Mario series. The Mario Kart series' first game was Super Mario Kart for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The Mario Kart series is the most successful racing video game series of all time. The Mario Kart series is a type of Mario sports game. There have been other Mario sports games like Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, and the baseball and soccer games Mario Superstar Baseball and Super Mario Strikers. In 1999, the Mario Party series started on the Nintendo 64.

There has been a few TV shows and a movie for the Mario series. The name of the first TV show is The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and the movie is called Super Mario Bros.. The TV show starred "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario, and the movie starred Bob Hoskins as Mario. There have also been Mario toys sold in some places.

Characteristics
Mario was first a 2D character but since technology has changed, Nintendo has remade Mario in 3D. He is a plumber who lives in the land of Mushroom Kingdom. He is the older, shorter brother of Luigi, and they are both plumbers. In the television series, Mario and Luigi are from Brooklyn, although Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island says he was born in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Physical appearance
Mario's looks have changed over the years although he has several staple features. He is a short, stubby man wearing a hat with an "M" on it, brown hair, black moustache, a very large nose, white gloves, and denim overalls. In most appearances, Mario wears a red hat and shirt with blue overalls. However, in the original Super Mario Bros. video game, Mario wears a brown shirt and red overalls.

Mario's clothes depend on the game he is in. For example, in the Super Mario Strikers soccer game, Mario wears a football kit instead of overalls, and in Super Mario Sunshine, a very sunshiny tropical game, the character wears a red T-shirt and can also put on sunglasses and a Hawaiian-style shirt. In some games, Mario can turn into different forms, each with different clothes.

Personality
Mario is a kind-hearted and brave hero, with a love of pasta and pizza. People know Mario has a great, happy, personality since he has a high pitched, funny voice. Since Mario's Game Gallery, Charles Martinet has been his voice actor. In the games, Mario speaks in English with a thick Italian accent. In other things like TV shows, he has a more Brooklyn-styled accent. Mario does not say many things. He usually says: "Okey dokey!", "Woohoo!", "Let's a-go!", "It's-a me! Mario!", "Here we go", "Mama mia!" and more, though in sports games, he says things relevant to the sport, in Mario Golf he says "Fore!" for example. Mario hardly ever speaks properly in any games, leaving the talking to other characters. He does speak normally in the DiC animated cartoons and the anime series.

Occupation and hobbies
Mario is a plumber (he was a carpenter). He only acts like a plumber in the games, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga and the original Mario Bros., but pipes are always one way to get around. Mario was seen plumbing during the animated series. He knows a lot about tools and fixing pipes in the movie. In the first Donkey Kong games when Mario was called Jumpman, he was a carpenter.

In the Dr. Mario games first seen in 1990, Mario is a doctor. In 2001, Mario appeared in Dr. Mario 64, an updated version of the original puzzle game. Dr. Mario appeared as an secret character in the Nintendo GameCube game Super Smash Bros. Melee, and in another newer version, Dr. Mario Virus Buster, for WiiWare. In the Game Boy game Mario's Picross, Mario is an archaeologist.

Mario usually saves Princess Peach (AKA Princess Toadstool), Princess Daisy and Pauline. And he usually has to defeat villains, like Bowser(AKA King Koopa in Japan) Most characters in the games know who he is because he acts like a hero, as shown in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, where they are called "superstars", or celebrities.

In Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, it is said that Mario has a toy-making company that earns him money.

Relationships
Since his first game, Mario has to save the "damsel in distress" of the game. Originally, he had to rescue his girlfriend Pauline in Donkey Kong. Pauline was soon replaced by a new damsel-in-distress, Princess Peach, in Super Mario Bros. (she was first named "Princess Toadstool" or simply "the Princess" in English-speaking places until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari was sold, even though the name was not widely used until Super Mario 64 was sold three years later). Pauline returned in the Game Boy remake of Donkey Kong in 1994, and later Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis in 2006, although the character is now said to be "Mario's friend".

Mario has rescued Princess Peach lots of times since Super Mario Bros.. In a role reversal, Peach rescues Mario in Super Princess Peach. Some people say the two could be a couple.

Luigi is Mario's younger brother. He is usually a companion on many of Mario's adventures and the character whom players play as in two-player sessions of many of the video games. He sometimes acts like a "scaredy cat" who sets off to help Mario but instead needs help himself, though he has also had to rescue Mario occasionally as displayed in Mario is Missing! and Luigi's Mansion. Yoshi is another one of Mario's friends.

Mario rescued Princess Daisy in Super Mario Land for the Game Boy. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, the text explaining Princess Daisy's trophy states that "after her appearance in Mario Golf, some gossips portrayed her as Luigi's answer to Mario's Peach", although Luigi and Daisy were previously paired as a romantic couple in the live-action Super Mario Bros movie.

Wario, Mario's evil counterpart was first seen in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Though there is no clear relationship between the two, Wario was once referred to as Mario's cousin in Nintendo Power. Wario is designed to act, in a way, as an anti-Mario.

Baby Mario
Baby Mario is Mario when he was a child. He first appeared in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, released in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and has appeared in several titles since. Baby Mario has often appeared in Nintendo-sports titles, such as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Superstar Baseball, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Mario Super Sluggers, and Mario Kart Wii. These games imply Mario and Baby Mario are separate characters, but those games are considered to be outside the continuity of the main Mario series. More recently, he has appeared in Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, in which Baby Mario appeared via time travel along with Baby Luigi, Baby Peach, and Baby Bowser, which could explain the separation of the two characters. Like the older Mario, Baby Mario is also voiced by Charles Martinet.

Abilities
During the development of Donkey Kong, Mario was known as "Jumpman". Jumping—both to access places and as an offensive move—is a common gameplay element in Mario games, especially the Super Mario Bros. series.

Mario's most commonly portrayed form of attack is jumping to stomp on the heads of enemies, first used in Mario Bros.. This jump-stomp move may entirely crush smaller enemies on the stage, and usually deals damage to larger ones, sometimes also causing secondary effects. This attack often enables Mario to knock the turtle-like Koopa Troopas into their shells, which can slide into and damage other enemies or Mario.

Subsequent games have elaborated on Mario's jumping-related abilities. Super Mario World added the ability to spin-jump, which allows Mario to break blocks under him. Later, the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong allows Mario to jump higher with many jumps, and perform a back-flip. In Super Mario 64, Mario has several jumping abilities, such as a sideways somersault, a "ground pound", which makes Mario hit the ground under him hard, and the "Wall Kick", which propels him upwards by kicking off walls.

Power-ups
Mario uses many items, which give him various powers. The one that shows up the most often is the "Super Mushroom", which allows Mario to grow to twice his size, becoming "Super Mario" (after the name of the series), and can take a hit before shrinking back down to "regular" Mario. If "Super Mario" collects a "Fire Flower", he will transform into "Fire Mario", who can throw fireballs at enemies. Picking up a "Star" makes it so nothing can hurt Mario for several seconds.

A common theme in the Mario series' power-ups is the fact that many items give Mario a semi-animal appearance, sometimes related to the item itself, for example Super Mario Bros. 3s Frog Suit, which turns Mario into a frog, and Super Mario Land 2s Power Carrot, which turns Mario into a rabbit. Other times the item may not be related to the power; for example, the Raccoon Leaf gives him raccoon ears, a tail, and the power of flight. Other power-ups are overall more useful; in Super Mario World, the Cape allows Mario to fly and glide, and a balloon in a later game in the series allows similar effects. New Super Mario Bros. introduced other types of Mushroom power-ups, such as the "Mega Mushroom", which causes Mario to grow to a screen-filling size and the "Mini Mushroom" that makes him shrink to a very small size.  The Drill Mushroom in Super Mario Bros. Wonder allows the player to dig and dodge enemies go through walls and dig in ceilings to almost fly.

In Super Mario 64, Mario takes extra damage without when he is not wearing his hat. Different types of caps found in the game also give him powers of flight, invincibility, and invisibility. Along with these basic features, caps gave more practical abilities as well. For example, the Metal Cap allows Mario to sink to sea floors and the Invisibility cap allows him to walk through thin surfaces such as iron grates.

Super Mario Sunshine has several few power-ups with a water theme. He is granted a F.L.U.D.D. (Flash Liquidizing Ultra Dousing Device) pack that performs his main attack and squirts paint and enemies with water, named the Squirt Nozzle. He has three other expansion packs including the Hover Nozzle, which allows him to hover for short distances, the Turbo Nozzle, which allows him to move a lot faster and break through some barriers, and the Rocket Nozzle, which charges water up, then blasts Mario high into the air.

Super Mario Galaxy introduced several new power-ups along with a few older items re-done. These include the Bee Shroom, which allows him to float short distances and stick to certain surfaces; the Boo Shroom, which makes him capable of floating as well as traveling through walls; the Life Shroom, which gives him three more life wedges; the Rainbow Star, granting him brief invincibility; the Fire Flower, which appeared for the first time in a 3D game; and the Ice Flower, which allows him to turn water into solid ice so he can go to otherwise unreachable or deadly places. A hidden power-up is the Flight Star, which allows Mario to fly for a while.

Mario uses hammers in numerous games, such as Super Mario Bros. 3, the original Donkey Kong, and Super Mario RPG. Hammers are used to attack and for other things, like flicking switches and solving puzzles. He often picks up and throws various projectiles around him, however, starting in Super Mario Bros. 2. He tosses items such as vegetables, giant blocks and Bob-ombs.

In the Mario Kart series, there are a number of items to use. For example, a mushroom makes the characters go faster, and a Koopa shell knocks into other players to slow them down.

Reception and legacy

As Nintendo's mascot, many people think that Mario is the most famous video game character of all time. The Mario series of video games has sold more than 200 million copies, making it the best selling game series of all time.  Mario was the first video game character to get a wax figure in the Hollywood Wax Museum in 2003. In 1990, a national survey showed that more kids knew Mario than Mickey Mouse.

Since he was created, Mario has become a very famous person having been in many television shows, comic books, and in a movie. He has been on lunch boxes, T-shirts, magazines, commercials, in candy form, on Shampoo bottles, cereal, badges, and as a stuffed toy. Nintendo of Japan made a 60-minute anime (Japanese cartoon) movie starring Mario and his friends in 1986, but this movie has never been shown or sold on DVD outside of Japan. The animated series The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! had a live-action series of episodes starring former WWF manager "Captain" Lou Albano as Mario and Danny Wells as Luigi. There was even a book series, the Nintendo Adventure Books. In 2005, Jonathan Mann even wrote an opera based on the character, and performed The Mario Opera at the California Institute of the Arts.

Bergsala, the distributor of Nintendo's products in the Nordic and the Baltic countries, is located at Marios Gata 21 (Mario's Street 21) in Kungsbacka, Sweden, named after Mario.

Mario's legacy is recognized by Guinness World Records, who awarded the Nintendo Mascot and his games seven records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "Best Selling Video Game Series of All Time", "First Movie Based on an Existing Video Game", and "Most Prolific Video Game Character", with Mario appearing in 116 distinct titles (not including remakes or re-releases).

In a poll conducted in 2008, Mario was voted as the most popular video game character in Japan.

In popular culture
 Former NHL hockey player, Mario Lemieux was given the nickname "Super Mario" by the media during his career. Mario Williams, the #1 draft pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, was also given the nickname "Super Mario", as was pro-cyclist, Mario Cipollini. German international footballer Mario Basler was affectionately referred to as "Super Mario" by fans and the media. Another sportsman who received this nickname was the Brazilian soccer player Mário Jardel, famous for his jumps and headers.

References

Other websites

The official home of Mario (Nintendo of America official site.)
Super Mario Bros. Hub (Nintendo UK official site)

Fictional characters introduced in 1981
Fictional Italian people
Mario
Mascots
American culture

Mario


Queens is a borough of New York City and a county of New York State. It was named for Catherine of Braganza, the Queen of England and wife of King Charles II of England.

Queens is in western Long Island.  The East River separates it from Manhattan in the east and The Bronx in the north.  Queens' only land boundary with another New York City borough is with Brooklyn in the south and west.  Jamaica Bay separates most of Queens from its Rockaway Peninsula in the south.  Nassau County lies to the east. Until 1899, Nassau County was part of Queens County.

About 2.4 million people live in Queens and it is the largest borough of New York City in size and second in population (after Brooklyn). According to the United States census, Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the USA. That means that it has the most people from different kinds of places, religions, and ethnic groups of any place in the USA. Large parts of Queens are urban and an equal part is suburban.

Transportation
Queens is home to both of New York City's airports, LaGuardia Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). Queens is connected to the Bronx by three bridges: the Bronx Whitestone Bridge, the Throgs Neck Bridge and the Triborough Bridge. It is connected to Manhattan by two bridges and one tunnel: the Triborough Bridge, the Queensboro Bridge, and the Queens Midtown Tunnel.

Many controlled-access highways cross Queens, including I-495 (the Long Island Expressway), I-278 (the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway), and I-678 (the Van Wyck Expressway, pronounced Van Wike). Important state highways in Queens include the Grand Central Parkway, which becomes the Northern State Parkway when it crosses the Queens border into Nassau County.

Many New York City Subway lines go through Queens.  The most famous is the Flushing Line, the 7 Train, which has the nickname "International Express" because it goes through many neighborhoods where many immigrants live.  Other subway lines in Queens include the A Train, C Train, E Train, F Train, G Train, J Train, M Train, N Train, R Train, V Train, W Train, and Z Train.

Queens has a very large bus system that goes to all parts of the borough. Some bus routes go to Brooklyn, Manhattan, or the Bronx.

The Long Island Rail Road also has many stations in Queens. The Port Washington Line crosses northern Queens. There are busy stations at Woodside, Queens, Forest Hills, and Flushing. The central depot and main station for the railroad is in the neighborhood of Jamaica.

Sport & Recreation

The New York Mets of the National League of Major League Baseball play in Citi Field in Queens. The U.S. Open, a famous and important tennis tournament, is played in Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows Park south of the baseball stadium.

Neighborhoods

Queens has dozens of neighborhoods and named areas. These include:

 Addisleigh Park
 Arverne
 Astoria
 Auburndale
 Baisley Park
 Bay Terrace
 Bayside
 Bayswater
 Beechhurst
 Bellaire
 Belle Harbor
 Bellerose
 Blissville
 Breezy Point
 Briarwood
 Broad Channel
 Cambria Heights
 College Point
 Corona
 Ditmars / Steinway
 Douglaston
 Dutch Kills
 Edgemere
 Elmhurst
 Far Rockaway
 Floral Park
Flushing
 Forest Hills Gardens
 Forest Hills
 Fresh Meadows
 Glen Oaks
 Glendale
 Hamilton Beach
 Hillcrest
 Hollis Hills
 Hollis
 Holliswood
 Howard Beach
 Howard Park
 Hunters Point
 Jackson Heights
 Jamaica
 Jamaica Estates
 Kew Gardens Hills
 Kew Gardens
 Laurelton
 Linden Hill
 Lindenwood
 Long Island City
 Little Neck
 Malba
 Maspeth
 Middle Village
 Morris Park
 Murray Hill
 Neponsit
 New Hyde Park
 Oakland Gardens
 Ozone Park
 Pomonok
 Queens Village
 Queensboro Hill
 Queensbridge
 Ravenswood
 Rego Park
 Richmond Hill
 Ridgewood
 Rochdale
 Rockaway Beach
 Rockaway Park
 Rockaway Point
 Rosedale
 Saint Albans
 Seaside
 South Jamaica
 South Ozone Park
 Springfield Gardens
 Sunnyside
 Utopia
 Whitestone
 Willets Point
 Woodhaven
 Woodside

References

Other websites

County seats in New York (state)

Queens


The Germ theory of disease is a theory in biology. It says that small organisms (called germs), also known as microbes, cause some diseases. These diseases are called infectious diseases. The germ theory states that small organisms cause a reaction in the body of those who are infected. The body's reaction to infection is called a disease.

Many scientists and doctors in history figured out that diseases are caused by microscopic organisms. Even after the microscope was invented, people still didn't know that germs caused diseases. People long believed that "bad air" from stinky trash dumps and from rotting meat was the cause of diseases. So people thought that covering their mouth and nose with a cloth would help filter out the "bad air." Scientists and doctors would use garlic and perfumes to ward off the bad air. But people still got sick and even died, so this theory was wrong. Polluted air is not the cause of disease.

One problem with the old theories of disease was that people believed that living things were spontaneously generated. Spontaneous generation is when something like a fly grows from a small speck of smelly meat. That old theory is called abiogenesis. In the seventeenth century, Francesco Redi (February 18, 1626 – March 1, 1697) discovered that flies lay eggs that become maggots. Prior to this, people thought that maggots came from rotting meat. He discovered this by sealing some meat in a jar and watching it. No maggots were found on the sealed meat. He also put some meat in a jar and covered it with gauze. Maggots were found on the gauze but not inside the jar. But when he placed meat in an open jar, maggots were found on the meat and inside the jar. Experiments like this proved that maggots come from flies who lay eggs, not from rotting meat. Later scientists would prove that diseases did not come from the air. Diseases are spread by infection.

Sanitation
Also in the eighteenth century, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek discovered the first microscopic organisms with a microscope. He was the first microbiologist. He saw some of the microscopic organisms that cause diseases, but he didn't know what they were. In 1700, Nicolas Andry thought that some of these microscopic organisms caused smallpox and other diseases. Over 100 years later, Agostino Bassi figured out what caused disease in silkworms. Ignaz Semmelweis was a doctor who figured out that if doctors washed their hands after touching dead people, that other patients wouldn't get sick. That was in 1847. It was about this time that sanitation and hand washing became popular with some, but not all doctors. Doctors began to use chemicals to cleanse wounds and clean their tools between each patient.

One of the most famous experiments of the nineteenth century was when John Snow discovered the source of a cholera outbreak. It turns out that cholera is transmitted when human waste contaminates water that people drink. Snow found out that there was a large number of sick people in Soho in London. After talking to many people in the area and mapping where each sick person lived, he realized that the sick people were almost all getting their drinking water from the same public water pump. He solved the epidemic by having the water pump's handle removed so that the people would get water from some other place. It worked, and the epidemic was soon over.

Louis Pasteur showed that the germ theory of disease was true. In 1862, he invented a process that heats up a liquid to a high temperature to keep it from spoiling. This process is known as pasteurization, named after Pasteur. Pasteurization is used to kill microscopic organisms in liquids like milk, wine, and beer. Liquids that are pasteurized will last much longer before they spoil.

Later, he did an experiment with fermentation. In one case he made a broth that he put inside a jar with a very long winding tube, so that no particles could pass to it from outside. Air could get inside the tube, but almost no dust. The broth he made did not change, and no fermentation took place.

He then took a similar broth, but this time he allowed air and dust to go inside the jar. This time, fermentation took place. The thing that caused fermentation therefore needed to come from outside (the environment). And it wasn't just air that caused fermentation, it must be something floating in the air which was very small. We now know that small particles called yeast cause fermentation.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Robert Koch and Joseph Lister would go on and help establish the germ theory of disease as an important part of science and medicine. Koch's theories are called "postulates" and helped medical researchers know what causes diseases. Lister's ideas would help establish sanitation as a major defense against disease. Koch's postulates and Lister's sanitation discoveries are still very important today.

We now know that small things cause diseases. Each one of these things can cause infection: fungus, bacteria, virus, prion, yeast, protist.

Other websites
 Germ theory of disease -Citizendium

Microbiology
History of medicine

Germ theory of disease


Sir Frederick William Herschel FRS (15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer, the greatest observational astronomer of the day. He is best known for discovering Uranus in 1781. He also discovered infrared radiation, binary stars, and published important catalogues of stars and nebulae. Herschel built many telescopes, including the largest in the world at that time.

Herschel was also a musician in his younger days. He played the cello, oboe, harpsichord and organ. He composed numerous musical works, including 24 symphonies and many concertos, as well as some church music.

Early life
Herschel was born in the Electorate of Hanover, one of ten children. His father was of Jewish descent, and an oboist in the Hannover Military Band. In 1755 the Hannoverian Guards regiment, in whose band Wilhelm and his brother Jakob were engaged as oboists, was ordered to England. At the time the crowns of Great Britain and Hanover were united under George II. The next year the brothers resigned from the Guards band, and moved to London to avoid the Seven Years' War.p4 Wilhelm, nineteen years old at this time, learnt the English language quickly. In England he went by the English version of his name, Frederick William Herschel.

Astronomy

Herschel's music led him to an interest in mathematics and lenses. His interest in astronomy grew stronger after 1773 and he made the acquaintance of the English Astronomer Royal Nevil Maskelyne. He started building his own reflecting telescopes and would spend up to 16 hours a day grinding and polishing the metal primary mirrors.

Uranus
When he discovered Uranus, Herschel was not looking for a planet but doing a survey of stars; it was an accidental discovery.

It was the first discovery of a new planet since ancient times. The first five, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, are visible with the naked eye, and have been known since early history. Uranus was the first discovered by telescope. Actually, Uranus had been seen before by other observers with telescopes, but had been marked on charts as a fixed star. Herschel found it moved against the background of stars, and at first thought it was a comet. His measurements were used by the French mathematician Pierre Laplace, who worked out its orbit, and proved it was a planet.

Herschel called the new planet the 'Georgian star' (Georgium sidus) after King George III, which brought him favour; the name did not stick, however. In France, where reference to the British king was to be avoided if possible, the planet was known as 'Herschel' until the name 'Uranus' was universally adopted. The same year, Herschel was awarded the Copley Medal and elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1782, he was appointed "The King's Astronomer". He got a generous award from the king, which enabled him to stop work as a musician, and devote all his time to astronomy. The award was a life pension to Herschel of £200 a year, and £50 a year to Caroline. Work on the 40-foot telescope was also supported by a grant from the king.p6

Herschel's telescopes

During the course of his career, he constructed more than four hundred telescopes. He was helped in this by his brother Alexander who, like Caroline, spent all his time working as Herschel's assistant.

The largest and most famous of his telescopes was a reflecting telescope with a  main  mirror and a 40-foot (12 m) focal length. This was the world's largest telescope from 1789 until it was dismantled (taken apart) 50 years later.p6 The mirror was made of a hard metal alloy of tin and copper, called 'speculum', which he polished by hand.

On 28 August 1789, his first night of observation using this instrument, he discovered a new moon of Saturn. A second moon followed within the first month of observation. However, the 40-foot telescope was awkward to use, and most of his observations were done with a smaller    reflector.

He continued his work as a telescope maker, selling many of them to other astronomers. Together with his pension from the king, the money helped support him and his two siblings in their work.

Star catalogue
Herschel used to work with his sister Caroline Herschel. She recorded his observations as he made them. In 1783 he gave Caroline a telescope, and she began to make astronomical discoveries in her own right, particularly comets.

Caroline discovered eight comets, three nebulae and, at her brother's suggestion, updated and corrected Flamsteed's work on the position of stars. This was published as the British Catalogue of Stars. She was honoured by the Royal Astronomical Society for this work. Caroline also continued to serve as his assistant.

Binary stars
Herschel was the first to find out that some line-of-sight apparent double stars were actually true binary star systems where the two stars revolved around each other. This was the first evidence that Newton's laws of gravitation apply outside the Solar System. Herschel discovered 850 binary stars, and worked up the first catalogue of binary stars. His son John Herschel discovered many more, and extended the catalogue.

Solar System and Milky Way

Herschel studied the changes in star position relative to the Solar System. Changes do occur, and quite rapidly for some nearby stars. Also, the whole Solar System moves, and this was discovered by Herschel.

From studying the proper motion of stars, he was the first to realize that the solar system is moving through space. He worked out the approximate direction of that movement. He also studied the structure of the Milky Way and concluded that it was in the shape of a disk. This was also a really significant discovery.

Discovery of infrared radiation
On 11 February 1800, Herschel was testing filters for the sun so he could observe sun spots. When using a red filter he found there was a lot of heat produced.

Herschel discovered infrared radiation by passing sunlight through a prism and holding a thermometer just beyond the red end of the visible spectrum. This thermometer was meant to be a control to measure the ambient air temperature in the room. He was shocked when it showed a higher temperature than the visible spectrum. Further experimentation led to Herschel's conclusion that there must be an invisible form of light beyond the visible spectrum.

Family and death
William Herschel and his wife Mary had one child, John. In 1816, William was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order by the Prince Regent.

Herschel died at Observatory House, Windsor Road, Slough, Buckinghamshire, and is buried at nearby St Laurence's Church, Upton. He died in his 84th year, which is the same number of years Uranus takes to orbit the Sun. His son John Herschel also became a famous astronomer. His sister Caroline returned to Hanover, Germany after the death of her brother. She died on 9 January 1848 at the age of 97.

His house at 19 New King Street in Bath, Somerset where he made many telescopes and first observed Uranus, is now home to the Herschel Museum of Astronomy.

References

1738 births
1822 deaths
18th-century British composers
English astronomers
Fellows of the Royal Society
German organists
18th-century German composers

William Herschel


Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343–25 October 1400) was an English writer, poet, and philosopher. He is most famous for writing Canterbury Tales which had 24 stories but was not completed. He was one of the first writers to write in English. He wrote in Middle English.

Early life
Chaucer was probably born in London. His father, John, and grandfather were prosperous wine merchants in London. The name Chaucer is French and means shoemaker. However, not many details are known of his early life and education.

By 1357, Chaucer was a page to Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster, wife of Lionel, 1st Duke of Clarence. In 1360, he was captured by the French near Reims during a battle in the Hundred Years' War. He was then ransomed and released. King Edward III gave £16 towards his release. Chaucer married Phillipa (de) Roet. She was a lady-in-waiting to the queen and had close family connections to John of Gaunt. He had about three or four children.

The king's squire
Chaucer may have studied law in the Inner Temple.  He joined the Royal court and travelled around Europe on business for the king. He became one of the king's esquires. One of his first known poems was written in 1369. It was called The Book of The Duchess, and was written after the death of John of Gaunt's wife, Blanche. In 1374, he became Comptroller (in charge of the money) of the Customs for the Port of London. He did this job for 12 years. It was a well paid job and Chaucer was quite rich.

When Richard II became king, Chaucer continued to work in Customs. He was also sent to Europe on several more diplomatic jobs for the king.

Country life
Chaucer moved to Kent in 1385 where he had a new position as Justice of the Peace. He was also elected as one of two knights of the shire to be a member of parliament. At the end of the year he lost his customs jobs. His wife, Phillipa, died in 1387. But on 12 July 1389, he was made the Clerk of the Kings Works, looking after repairs to the royal palaces. He was given other small positions, including looking after the river banks of the Thames, and as a deputy forester in the Royal Forest. Over the next few years, Chaucer became poorer and often was given small payments and pensions from the king.

Death
He died at St.Mary's Chapel in Sevenoaks on 25 October 1400. Chaucer is buried in Westminster Abbey, in what is now called the Poets' Corner.

His writings
Chaucer did most of his writing between 1369 and 1393. He is famous for his collection of stories in verse called the Canterbury Tales. He also wrote The Book of the Duchess, The House of Fame and Troilus and Criseyde. For these works he is called "the father of English poetry". He also wrote A Treatise on the Astrolabe, an instruction manual.

References

1340s births
1400 deaths
People buried in Westminster Abbey
English writers
English poets
Medieval poets
British poets laureate

Geoffrey Chaucer


The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) to create SAG-AFTRA.

Background
According to SAG's Mission Statement, the Guild sought to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members.

The Guild was founded in 1933 in an effort to eliminate the exploitation of Hollywood actors, who were being forced into oppressive multi-year contracts with the major movie studios. Opposition to these contracts included that they did not include restrictions on work hours or minimum rest periods, and often had clauses that automatically renewed at the studios' discretion. These contracts were notorious for allowing the studios to dictate the public and private lives of the performers who signed them, and most did not have provisions to allow the performer to end the deal.

The Screen Actors Guild was associated with the Associated Actors and Artistes of America (AAAA), which is the primary association of performer's unions in the United States. AAAA is affiliated with the AFL–CIO. SAG claimed exclusive jurisdiction over motion picture performances, and shared jurisdiction of radio, television, Internet, and other new media with its sister union AFTRA, with which it shared 44,000 dual members. Internationally, the SAG was affiliated with the International Federation of Actors.

In addition to its main offices in Los Angeles, SAG also maintained branches in several major US cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Nashville, New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.

Beginning in 1995, SAG began to award the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are considered an indicator of success at the Academy Awards. It continues through SAG-AFTRA.

History

Early years
In 1925, the Masquers Club was formed by actors discontented with the grueling work hours at the Hollywood studios. This was one of the major concerns which led to the creation of the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. Another was that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which at that time arbitrated between the producers and actors on contract disputes, had a membership policy which was by invitation only.

A meeting in March 1933 of six actors (Berton Churchill, Charles Miller, Grant Mitchell, Ralph Morgan, Alden Gay, and Kenneth Thomson) led to the guild's foundation. Three months later, three of the six and eighteen others became the guild's first officers and board of directors: Ralph Morgan (its first president), Alden Gay, Kenneth Thomson, Alan Mowbray (who personally funded the organization when it was first founded), Leon Ames, Tyler Brooke, Clay Clement, James Gleason, Lucile Webster Gleason, Boris Karloff, Claude King, Noel Madison, Reginald Mason, Bradley Page, Willard Robertson, Ivan Simpson, C. Aubrey Smith, Charles Starrett, Richard Tucker, Arthur Vinton, Morgan Wallace, and Lyle Talbot.

Many high-profile actors refused to join SAG initially. This changed when the producers made an agreement amongst themselves not to bid competitively for talent. A pivotal meeting, at the home of Frank Morgan (Ralph's brother, who played the title role in The Wizard of Oz), was what gave SAG its critical mass. Prompted by Eddie Cantor's insistence, at that meeting, that any response to that producer's agreement help all actors, not just the already established ones, it took only three weeks for SAG membership to go from around 80 members to more than 4,000. Cantor's participation was critical, particularly because of his friendship with the recently elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After several years and the passage of the National Labor Relations Act, the producers agreed to negotiate with SAG in 1937.

Actors known for their early support of SAG (besides the founders) include Edward Arnold, Humphrey Bogart, James Cagney, Dudley Digges, Porter Hall, Paul Harvey, Jean Hersholt, Russell Hicks, Murray Kinnell, Gene Lockhart, Bela Lugosi, David Manners, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, Chester Morris, Jean Muir, George Murphy, Erin O'Brien-Moore, Irving Pichel, Dick Powell, Edward G. Robinson, Edwin Stanley, Gloria Stuart, Lyle Talbot, Franchot Tone, Warren William, and Robert Young.

Blacklist years
In October 1947, the members of a list of suspected communists working in the Hollywood film industry were summoned to appear before the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), which was investigating Communist influence in the Hollywood labor unions. Ten of those summoned, dubbed the "Hollywood Ten", refused to cooperate, and were charged with contempt of Congress and sentenced to prison. Several liberal members of SAG, led by Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Danny Kaye, and Gene Kelly, formed the Committee for the First Amendment (CFA) and flew to Washington, DC, in late October 1947 to show support for the Hollywood Ten.

The president of SAG – future United States President Ronald Reagan – also known to the FBI as Confidential Informant "T-10", testified before the committee but never publicly named names. Instead, according to an FBI memorandum in 1947: "T-10 advised Special Agent [name deleted] that he has been made a member of a committee headed by Mayer, the purpose of which is allegedly is to 'purge' the motion-picture industry of Communist party members, which committee was an outgrowth of the Thomas committee hearings in Washington and subsequent meetings ... He felt that lacking a definite stand on the part of the government, it would be very difficult for any committee of motion-picture people to conduct any type of cleansing of their own household". Subsequently, a climate of fear, enhanced by the threat of detention under the provisions of the McCarran Internal Security Act, permeated the film industry. On November 17, 1947, the Screen Actors Guild voted to force its officers to take a "non-communist" pledge. On November 25 (the day after the full House approved the ten citations for contempt) in what has become known as the Waldorf Statement, Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), issued a press release: "We will not knowingly employ a Communist or a member of any party or group which advocates the overthrow of the government of the United States by force or by any illegal or unconstitutional methods."

None of those blacklisted were proven to advocate overthrowing the government – most simply had Marxist or socialist views. The Waldorf Statement marked the beginning of the Hollywood blacklist that saw hundreds of people prevented from working in the film industry. During the height of what is now referred to as McCarthyism, the Screen Writers Guild gave the studios the right to omit from the screen the name of any individual who had failed to clear his name before Congress. At a 1997 ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Blacklist, the Guild's president made this statement:

1970s to 2012
The Screen Actors Guild Ethnic Minorities Committee was co-founded in 1972 by actors Henry Darrow, Edith Diaz, Ricardo Montalbán and Carmen Zapata.

The Screen Actors Guild Women's Committee was founded in 1972.

In 1980, SAG and AFTRA held a strike over issues regarding profit sharing from home media and pay TV.

Marquez v. Screen Actors Guild

In 1998, Naomi Marquez filed suit against SAG and Lakeside Productions claiming they had breached their duty of fair representation. The claim was denied by the Supreme Court.

Merger with AFTRA

The membership of the Screen Actors Guild voted to merge with the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists on March 30, 2012.

Composition

According to SAG's Department of Labor records since 2006, when membership classifications were first reported, 30%, or almost a third, of the guild's total membership had consistently been considered "withdrawn," "suspended," or otherwise not categorized as "active" members. These members were ineligible to vote in the guild. "Honorable withdrawals" constituted the largest portion of these, at 20% of the total membership, or 36,284 members before the merger in 2012. "Suspended" members were the second largest, at 10%, or 18,402 members. This classification scheme is continued by SAG-AFTRA.

Rules and procedure

Becoming a member
An actor was eligible to join the Screen Actors Guild by meeting the criteria in any of the following three categories: principal actor in a SAG production, background actor (originally the "three voucher rule"), and one-year member of an affiliated union (with a principal role). The basic categories were:
 Principal actor: Any actor who works as a principal actor for a minimum of one day on a project (film, commercial, TV show, etc.) under a producer's agreement with SAG, and the actor has been paid at the appropriate SAG daily, three-day, or weekly rate was then considered "SAG-eligible". A SAG-eligible actor could work in other SAG or non-SAG productions up to 30 days, during which that actor was classified as a "Taft–Hartley". After the 30-day Taft–Hartley period has expired, the actor could not work on any further SAG productions until first joining SAG, by: paying the initiation fee with the first half-year minimum membership dues, and agreeing to abide by the Guild's rules and bylaws.
 Background actor: For years, SAG had the "three voucher rule". After collecting three valid union vouchers for three separate days of work, a background actor could become SAG-eligible; however, employment must have been confirmed with payroll data, not vouchers. SAG productions required a minimum number of SAG members be employed as background actors before a producer was permitted to hire a non-union background actor. For television productions in the West Coast Zones, the minimum number of SAG background actors was 21 (25 in the New York Zone), for commercials the minimum was 40, and for feature films, the minimum was 57 in the West Coast zones (85 in the New York zone). In rare circumstances, due to the uniqueness of a role, or constraints on the numbers of available SAG actors or last-minute cancellations, those minimums were unable to be met. When this happened, producers were permitted to fill one or more of those union spots with non-union actors. The non-union actor chosen to fill the union spot was then issued a union background voucher for the day, and that non-union actor was entitled to all the same benefits and pay that the union actor would have received under that voucher. This was called a Taft–Hartley voucher. The SAG-Eligible background actor could continue working in non-union productions, but after obtaining 3 Taft–Hartley vouchers were given a 30-day window where they were allowed to work as many SAG jobs as they wish. After the 30-day window had expired the actor became a "Must Join" with SAG, meaning they could no longer work any SAG projects without formally joining the union. They could continue to work non-union jobs, however, until they officially became a SAG member.
 Member of an affiliated union: Members in good standing, for at least one year, of any of the other unions affiliated with the AAAA, and who had worked as a principal at least once in an area of the affiliated union's jurisdiction, and who had been paid for their work in that principal role, were eligible to join SAG.

Initiation fee and membership dues
Members joining the Los Angeles, New York, or Miami SAG locals were assessed an initial fee to join the Guild of $3,000. At the time of initiation, the first minimum semi-annual membership dues payment of $58 must have also been paid, bringing the total amount due upon initiation into the Guild to $3,058. All other SAG locals still assessed initiation fees at the previous rate. Members from other locales who worked in Los Angeles, New York, or Miami after joining were charged the difference between the fee they paid their local and the higher rate in those markets.

Membership dues were calculated and due semi-annually, and were based upon the member's earnings from SAG productions. The minimum annual dues amount was $116, with an additional 1.85% of the performer's income up to $200,000. Income from $200,000 to $500,000 was assessed at 0.5%, and income from $500,000 to $1 million was assessed at 0.25%. For the calculation of dues, there was a total earnings cap at $1 million. Therefore, the maximum dues payable in any one calendar year by any single member was limited to $6,566.

SAG members who became delinquent in their dues without formally requesting a leave of absence from the Guild were assessed late penalties, and risked being ejected from the Guild and could be forced to pay the initiation fee again to regain their membership.

Global Rule One
The SAG Constitution and Bylaws stated that, "No member shall work as a performer or make an agreement to work as a performer for any producer who has not executed a basic minimum agreement with the Guild which is in full force and effect." Every SAG performer agreed to abide by this, and all the other SAG rules, as a condition of membership into the Guild. This means that no SAG members could perform in non-union projects that were within SAG's jurisdiction, once they became members of the Guild. Since 2002, the Guild had pursued a policy of worldwide enforcement of Rule One, and renamed it Global Rule One.

Unique stage names

Like other guilds and associations that represent actors, SAG rules stipulated that no two members may have identical working names. Some actors use their middle initial in their stage name, or have stage names that differ from their legal name to comply with this rule. Notable examples include Michael Keaton, Michael J. Fox and Emma Stone, whose birth names "Michael Douglas", "Michael Fox" and "Emily Stone," respectively, were already in use.

Member benefits and privileges
SAG contracts with producers contained a variety of protections for Guild performers. Among these provisions were: minimum rates of pay, adequate working conditions, special protection and education requirements for minors, arbitration of disputes and grievances, and affirmative action in auditions and hiring.

Standardized pay and work conditions
All members of the Guild agreed to work only for producers who had signed contracts with SAG. These contracts spelled out in detail the responsibilities that producers must assume when hiring SAG performers. Specifically, the SAG basic contract specified: the number of hours performers may work, the frequency of meal breaks required, the minimum wages or "scale" at which performers must be compensated for their work, overtime pay, travel accommodations, wardrobe allowances, stunt pay, private dressing rooms, and adequate rest periods between performances. When applicable, and with due regard to the safety of the individuals, cast and crew, women and minorities were to be considered for doubling roles and for descript and non-descript stunts on a functional, non-discriminatory basis.

The Producers and the Pension and Health Plans
Performers who meet the eligibility criteria of working a certain number of days or attaining a certain threshold in income derived from SAG productions could join the Producers Pension and Health Plans offered by the Guild. The eligibility requirements varied by age of the performer and the desired plan chosen (there were two health plans). There were also Dental, Vision, and Life & Disability coverage included as part of the two plans.

Residuals
The Guild secured residuals payments in perpetuity to its members for broadcast and re-broadcast of films, TV shows, and TV commercials through clauses in the basic SAG agreements with producers.

Major strikes and boycotts

Early strikes
In July 1948, a strike was averted at the last minute as the SAG and major producers agreed upon a new collective bargaining contract. The major points agreed upon included: full union shop for actors to continue, negotiations for films sent direct to TV, producers could not sue an actor for breach of contract if they strike (but the guild could only strike when the contract expires).

In March 1960, SAG went on strike against the seven major studios. This was the first industry-wide strike in the 50-year history of movie making. Earlier walkouts involved production for television. The Writers Guild of America had been on strike since January 31, 1960 with similar demands to the actors. The independents were not affected since they signed new contracts. The dispute rested on actors wanting to be paid 6% or 7% of the gross earnings of pictures made since 1948 and sold to television. Actors also wanted a pension and welfare fund.

In December 1978, members of SAG went on strike for the fourth time in its 45-year history. It joined the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists in picket lines in Los Angeles and New York. The unions said that management's demand would cut actors' salaries. The argument was over filming commercials. Management agreed to up salaries from $218 to $250 per scene, but if the scene were not used at all, the actor would not be paid.

Strike and Emmy Awards boycott of 1980

In July, SAG members walked out on strike, along with AFTRA, the union for television and radio artists, and the American Federation of Musicians. The union joined the television artists in calling for a successful boycott against that year's prime-time Emmy awards. Powers Boothe was the only one of the 52 nominated actors to attend: "This is either the most courageous moment of my career or the dumbest" he quipped during his acceptance speech. The guild ratified a new pact, for a 32.25% increase in minimum salaries and a 4.5% share of movies made for pay TV, and the strike ended on October 25.

The commercials strike of 2000
The commercials strike of 2000 was extremely controversial. Some factions within SAG call it a success, asserting that it not only saved Pay-Per-Play (residuals) but it also increased cable residuals by 140% up from $1,014 to $2,460. Others suggested almost identical terms were available in negotiation without a strike. In the wake of the strike, SAG, and its sister union AFTRA, gathered evidence on over 1,500 non-members who had worked during the strike. SAG trial boards found Elizabeth Hurley and Tiger Woods guilty of performing in non-union commercials and each was fined $100,000.

Beyond the major studios
SAG Principal members could not work on non-union productions. Union background actors were not fully covered nationwide and could work non-union outside the background zones. These background zones included the state of Hawaii, 4 zones in California, Las Vegas NV, and a 300-mile radius around New York City. Many film schools had SAG Student Film Agreements with the Guild to allow SAG actors to work in their projects. SAGIndie was formed in 1997 to promote using SAG actors; SAG also had Low Budget Contracts that were meant to encourage the use of SAG members on films produced outside of the major studios and to prevent film productions from leaving the country, known as "Runaway production". In the fight against "Runaway production", the SAG National Board voted unanimously to support the Film and Television Action Committee (FTAC) and its 301(a) Petition which asked the US Trade Representative to investigate Canadian film subsidies for their violation of trade agreements Canada signed with the United States.

Financial core
Financial core, or Fi-Core, was a payment to a union to allow someone to work in a union environment without being a member of the union. The concept was defined in 1963 by Supreme Court case Labor Board v. General Motors and clarified for the communications industry in 1988 via Communications Workers of America v. Beck.

Approximately 96% of normal union dues must have been paid to be a Financial Core member of the SAG, and Financial Core members may not "represent themselves as Screen Actors Guild members." Additionally, the Screen Actors Guild said "Fi-Core/FPNM are viewed as scabs ... by SAG members, directors, and writers—most of whom also belong to entertainment unions". This statement had been met with skepticism by some.

Former SAG President Charlton Heston was apparently a supporter of Fi-Core.

National Women's Committee
Entertainment remains among the most gender unequal industries in the United States. The National Women's Committee operated within the National Statement of Purpose to promote equal employment opportunities for its female SAG members. It also encouraged positive images of women in film and television, in order to end sexual stereotypes and educate the industry about the representation of women, both in numbers and quality of representation.

SAG Women's Committee had been dedicated to working towards strategic objectives adopted from the Fourth World Conference on Women Beijing Platform of 1995. These objectives included supporting research into all aspects of women and the media so as to define areas needing attention and action. The SAG Hollywood Division Women's Committee also encouraged the media to refrain from presenting women as inferior beings and exploiting them as sexual objects and commodities.

Woman's Committee timeline
 1972: The Screen Actors Guild Women's Committee is founded. Brigham Young University conducts a study that reveals 81.7% of television roles are male, versus 18.3% female.
 1974–1976: In conjunction with the Directors Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild compiles statistical surveys that explicitly document the disenfranchisement of their women members, often linking the data to a specific studio, network and in several cases individual television shows. These efforts are spearheaded by the two organizations' individual Women's Committees.
 1975: Kathleen Nolan becomes the Screen Actors Guild's first female president.
 1979: A study reveals that between 1949 and 1979, 7,332 feature films were made and released by major distributors. Fourteen, a mere 0.19%, were directed by women.
 October 10, 1979: Women and Minorities Rally. President Kathleen Nolan leads protest rally, with signs reading "Women and Minorities: Not Seen on the American Scene"..."Window Dressing on the Set"...and "TV: it's Time for a Facelift".
 1981–1985: Leslie Hoffman, first stuntwoman elected to the Hollywood Screen Actors Board. She works towards hiring more women, minorities, seniors, and disabled performers as stuntpeople. She is blacklisted by the Screen Actors Guild Board and Stuntmen Groups.
 1984: SAG creates additional low-budget motion picture agreement, giving advantages to productions that hire more women, minorities, seniors, and disabled performers. SAG's New York branch forms Women's Voice-Over Committee to study why women get only 10–20% of voiceover work.
 1986: Women's voice-over study by McCollum/Spielman and Company indicates "it makes absolutely no difference whether a male or female voice is used as a TV commercial voice-over", destroying long-held advertising industry assertion that male voices "sell better" and carry "more authority".
 1989: A SAG report reveals that 71% of all roles in feature films and 64% of all roles in TV went to men. The report said the combined income of men more than doubled that of women ($644 million to $296 million).
 1990: At the SAG National Women's Conference, Meryl Streep keynotes first national event, emphasizing the decline in women's work opportunities, pay parity, and role models within the film industry. She lashes out at the film industry for downplaying the importance of women both on screen and off.
 1996: Composition of female leading roles rises to 40%, but supporting roles for women decline to 33%.
 1997: SAG contracts for actresses exceed $472 million, while male SAG contracts receive more than $928 million.
 2004: Only 37% of all SAG television and film roles go to women.
 2008: Kathryn Bigelow becomes the first woman to win the Oscar for Best Director of a Motion Picture, after being only the fourth woman in history to secure a nomination. Statistics show that only 9% of directors are female.
 2009: Dr. Martha Lauzen of the Alliance for Women Film Journalists, conducts a study revealing that, of 2009's top 250 films at box offices, women comprised only 16% of the directors, producers, writers, and other top jobs. This represents a 3% decline from the 2001 study showing 19% female composition. Female directors fall from a low 9% in 2008, to a meager 7%. Warner Brothers Pictures and Paramount Pictures did not release a single film directed by a woman.
 2010: A study carried out by the Annenberg School for Communication and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media finds that male characters outnumber female characters by 2.42 to one in top-grossing American films.
 2010: Ex-Board Member Leslie Hoffman successfully fights to get Disability Health Plans for two stuntmen and a reimbursement for a disabled stuntwoman.

Historical leadership: 1933-2012

See also
 American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
 SAG Foundation
 Screen Actors Guild Awards
 The Screen Guild Theater

Notes

Further reading
Baar, K. Kevyne. " 'What Has My Union Done For Me?' The Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Actors' Equity Association Respond to McCarthy-Era Blacklisting." Film History (2008): 437–455. online

External links

SAG history

1933 establishments in California
2012 disestablishments in California
Trade unions established in 1933
Trade unions disestablished in 2012
Trade unions in California
AFL–CIO

Screen Actors Guild


Johann Sebastian Bach (31 March 1685 in Eisenach – 28 July 1750 in Leipzig; pronounced BAHK) was a German composer and organist. He lived in the last part of the Baroque period. He is most famous for his work Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Mass in B minor, and the Brandenburg Concertos. He spent several years working at courts of noblemen. Here he wrote most of his chamber music and orchestral music. Most of his life, however, he worked in a church where he was expected to write church music. Bach wrote almost every kind of music except opera. During the last part of his life most composers were writing in a new style called the Classical style, but Bach always wrote in the Baroque style. That made some people at the time think he was old-fashioned, but today we know that his work is the very best of Baroque music.  Along with Mozart and Beethoven, Bach is regarded as one of the greatest composers who has ever lived.

Early life
Bach came from a highly musical family. His father, Johann Ambrosius Bach, was a trumpeter at the court of Saxe-Eisenach. Many of his relatives were professional musicians of some sort: violinists and town musicians, organists, Cantors (Directors of Music in a church), court musicians and Kapellmeisters (Directors of Music at a royal court). Most of them played several instruments. Of his twenty children, several became quite famous composers, especially Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788), Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach and Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784).

When he was fifteen, he went to the small town of Lüneburg. At first he sang treble in the choir and was said to have a very fine treble voice, but his voice very soon got lower, so he made himself useful playing instruments. He learned by listening to famous organists like Reincken (1623–1722) and Dietrich Buxtehude (1637–1707). Bach got his first job in 1703 in Arnstadt. It was a well-paid job for a young boy who was 18 years old. There was a new organ in the church, and Bach already knew a lot about organ building as well as being a brilliant organist. They asked him to examine the new organ, and then they offered him a job. Bach spent four years as organist there. He composed some organ works. Unfortunately, the congregation were not musical enough to like it. They did not understand the ornamental notes he added to the hymn tunes. Bach got rather fed up with the priests who were always complaining about it, so he resigned and took another job in Mühlhausen, not far away. After a year there, he gave up that job and went to a big town called Weimar.

Weimar years (1708–1717)

Johann Sebastian was made organist to the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. At the Duke's court there was a chapel with an organ. Bach composed many of his great organ works at this time. He became very famous as an organist and was invited to play in other big churches and to give advice on organ building. He was extremely good at improvisation. On one occasion he was in Dresden at the same time as a French organist named Louis Marchant. There was going to be a competition between the two men to see who was better at improvisation. Bach was practicing the day before and Marchant heard him. He realized that Bach would win, so he left.

In 1714 the Duke made Bach Konzertmeister (Concertmaster, a job that paid more money). He had to write cantatas for church services. In 1717 he was offered a job in the town of Cöthen, where he would earn an even better salary. The Duke was angry and did not want him to go but Bach insisted, so the Duke put Bach in prison for a month. In the end he had to let the musician go.

Cöthen (1717–1723)
At Cöthen, Bach worked for Prince Leopold. The Prince was very musical and a wonderful man to work for. Bach was Kapellmeister (Director of Music) and was treated well. The organ was not very good, and it was not used much, so Bach did not write any organ music during this period. The Duke had an orchestra, and Bach was in charge. Nearly all Bach's orchestral works were written in Cöthen: the Brandenburg Concertos, the violin concertos, the orchestral suites, the solo music for violin and for cello, and a lot of keyboard music for harpsichord or clavichord.

During 1719, the great composer George Frideric Handel, who had moved to England, came to Germany to visit his mother. Bach wanted to meet Handel, who was only 30 km away, but these two famous musicians never met. Handel wanted to spend his limited time in Germany with his mother who was old and frail, knowing that it would be the last time he would see her.

Bach's first wife, Maria Barbara Bach, died in 1720. The couple had seven children. Soon afterwards, he married Anna Magdalena with whom he had another thirteen children. However, several of his children died young.

Leipzig (1723–1750)
In 1723 Bach moved to Leipzig to take the job of Cantor at the St Thomas Church, a very large church in the town. As Cantor he was in charge of all the music, both at St Thomas and at another church nearby. He also had to compose music for the town. It was an excellent job, and more secure than being at a court. The schools were good for his sons. Bach stayed in Leipzig until his death. He loved his job most of the time and worked very hard. He composed many cantatas for the church services. These services were very long, lasting about three hours. Many of the cantatas he wrote last about 30 minutes. He had assistants to play the organ. Bach himself directed the choir and the orchestra. There were probably 16 singers in the choir and 18 players in the orchestra. He wrote the St Matthew Passion and the St John Passion. Both these works, which are very long, tell the story of Jesus dying on the cross. They are among the most famous pieces of music ever written. He also wrote cantatas for special occasions such as weddings or funerals.

Life was not always easy, and sometimes there were arguments with the people who ruled the church. The sub-deacon wanted to choose some of the hymns, but this was the Cantor's job. Bach was a sensible man, and he managed to get his way without making enemies. On another occasion he argued with the headmaster of the school (Bach had to do some teaching at the church school) about who was allowed to choose the choir section leaders. This actually went to court, and Bach won the case.

Bach often made journeys to other towns. In 1747 he visited the court of Prussian King Frederick the Great near Berlin. The king, a music lover, gave Bach a theme to improvise from on the harpsichord. Bach sat down and improvised a fugue using this theme. Later Bach wrote a very long composition for flute, violin and harpsichord with cello accompaniment, in many movements, all based on this theme. At the end, the theme is heard in 5 of the 6 voices. Bach called it The Musical Offering and he sent it to the king.

Bach wrote many fugues, eventually he decided to write a collection called The Art of Fugue. His plan was to publish it, but he died before he could finish it (his son later published it in his honor, as Bach's last published piece). In the last year or two of his life, he became blind in spite of two eye operations.
In the 19th century more people became interested in Bach, and many of his works were published after he had been dead more than a hundred years.

Discography
Studio albums
 Magnificat BWV 243 / Cantata "Ich habe genug" BWV 82 (1995)
 Brandenburg Concertos nos. 1 - 6 (1997)
 Die Kunst der Fuge BWV 1080 (2001)
 Oboe Concertos (2005)
 Goldberg-Variationen: Fassung für zwei Klaviere von Joseph Rheinberger und Max Reger (2009)

References

Other websites

 The JS Bach Home Page-Part of joint Bach website project
 J.S. Bach Archive and Bibliography-Part of joint Bach website project
 The DigitalBach Project at the Oregon Bach Festival

1685 births
1750 deaths
Johann Sebastian
Baroque composers
18th-century German composers
German Lutherans
German organists
People from Saxony-Anhalt
German harpsichordists

Johann Sebastian Bach


A parody is a special piece of art.

Parodies make fun of another piece of art by mocking it.

The parody is an imitation of the original, but exaggerating it, showing clichés which have been used, to make the original look ridiculous or to make a comment about an issue affecting society.

For example, in a serious Western movie, the good guys always seem to shoot better and faster than the bad guys. In a Western parody, this might be exaggerated by showing a good guy firing a single shot, and a dozen of the bad guys falling from their horses as a result.

Mel Brooks is a director who has made many movies which are parodies:

 Blazing Saddles is a parody of Western movies in general,
 Spaceballs is a parody of the Star Wars movies, and science fiction in general,
 Men in Tights is a parody of Robin Hood movies,

The website Uncyclopedia is also a parody of Wikipedia.

Parodies can be anything from songs to poems to books to movies.

A movie that makes a parody of another movie or several movies at once is a parody movie.

Newspaper columnists are well known for their strip cartoons which can very often parody public opinion on major issues affecting society, such as the recent credit crunch.

Related pages
 Irony
 Satire
 Parody mass

Parody


John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980) was an English singer and songwriter. He became famous as a singer and guitarist of the English rock band The Beatles. After the Beatles stopped making records in 1970, he lived in the United States with his wife Yoko Ono. He continued his music career up until his murder.

Biography
John Winston Lennon was born on 9 October 1940 at Liverpool Women's Hospital in Liverpool. He was the son of Alfred Lennon and Julia Lennon.
He started the Beatles in his hometown of Liverpool, with Paul McCartney and George Harrison. After Ringo Starr joined the band, they started to be very successful. People were excited by their music, and their live performances always pleased audiences. Manager Brian Epstein and record producer George Martin helped the Beatles become the most popular act in entertainment.

Lennon played the guitar, and later learned to play the piano. Most of the songs the Beatles recorded were written by Lennon and McCartney. Their songs were always credited as by "Lennon/McCartney" on Beatles records, but in fact they usually wrote their songs on their own. The two men often helped to make each other's songs better, so they liked to share writing credit. Famous songs written by Lennon for the Beatles are "A Hard Day's Night", "Help!", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "A Day In The Life" and many others.

The Beatles grew apart as the members got older. Lennon divorced his first wife, Cynthia Powell, and married Yoko Ono, while McCartney married Linda Eastman. Each wife had different ideas, and encouraged their husbands to depend less on each other. Later, some fans blamed Yoko and Linda for breaking the Beatles up.

Lennon loved his wife so much that he added her surname Ono to his own name, since she became Yoko Ono Lennon when she married him. He had never liked his middle name Winston (given him by his mother after Winston Churchill) and wanted to change it, but was told he could not under British law. He could add a new name though, so he did that. He never used the name Winston again, unless he had to for legal reasons (such as when he travelled to America). Otherwise he gave his "full name" as John Ono Lennon.

Lennon recorded several albums and singles after the Beatles disbanded. The best-known one was Imagine. He made many records with Yoko Ono. On some records they called themselves the Plastic Ono Band. Lennon and Ono worked with different musician friends, including Ringo Starr, Jim Keltner, Klaus Voormann, Harry Nilsson, Eric Clapton and Elton John. Lennon's solo music was different from his Beatles songs. He spoke more directly about his own feelings, and sometimes used harsh language or loud sounds. This upset a few fans, who wished for more Beatles music from him.

Lennon and Ono moved to the United States in 1971, and settled in New York City. Ono had a daughter, Kyoko Chan Cox, from an earlier husband, Anthony Cox, a filmmaker, who took her and disappeared. It was easier to look for Kyoko, and get the law's help to look, if they stayed in America. Ono and Lennon were also hurt emotionally by the way Ono was treated by many people in England. Some insulted Ono, and asked Lennon why he was with her. On the other hand, most of the people they met in America accepted them together.

Lennon and Ono were also campaigners for peace in the world. They used Lennon's famous name to talk to the media (television, radio and newspapers) about their beliefs. Lennon and Ono were sometimes in trouble with people like politicians, who did not like the things they said. President Richard Nixon's administration even tried to deport Lennon, because of his political views.

The two things Lennon and Ono wanted most were to live permanently in the United States, and to have a child together. Their lives were stressful in the early 1970s for several reasons. There were the problems with immigrating to the United States, and with the search for Kyoko. The public were also sometimes negative toward Ono, her music, and her ideas. The couple had several miscarriages, caused partly by the stress.

Lennon also had business problems, because leaving the Beatles was not as simple as quitting an ordinary job. The Beatles had signed many contracts. They promised to do things in a certain way, meet deadlines, and work together, to be paid as musicians and songwriters. Many business deals had to be finished or changed, and new deals had to be made, to continue their music careers apart. This took time, and meant making many hard decisions. The four former Beatles could not always agree on what to do with the things they owned together. It took years to work out what to still own in common, what to divide up, and what to let go. The choices they had to make sometimes hurt their friendship.

Lennon and Ono separated for over a year, from late 1973 until early 1975, because of the stress in their lives, and their relationship. Each of them dated another person (Lennon pairing off with May Pang, his and Ono's personal assistant, and Ono with guitarist David Spinozza), and they were nearly divorced. They spoke nearly every day by telephone, however, and tried to work things out. They decided that they wanted to be together more than anyone else could want them apart, and they reunited.

When Richard Nixon faced the Watergate crisis in 1974, it became more important than pushing Lennon out of the country. The deportation case against him was dropped. Lennon won the right to stay in America in 1975. Lennon and Ono also finally had a son, Sean Lennon, that October. Father and son shared the same birthday.

Lennon and Ono stopped making music for five years, to be able to spend more time together, and give Sean as much attention as he needed. They lived on Lennon's income from the music he already made. Ono became Lennon's business manager, and invested his money in real estate and organic farming. Her office was downstairs in the Dakota, the apartment building where they lived, so they were never far apart. Lennon became a full-time father to Sean, and he was proud to call himself a "househusband". They also visited Ono's family in Japan several times, and made other trips.

In 1980 Lennon and Ono began to write new music, as Sean got old enough to begin school. They recorded a new album titled Double Fantasy that year. A single from the album, "(Just Like) Starting Over", was a hit, and people welcomed Lennon back. Even people who had not liked Ono earlier now respected her, and more of them began to like her music. Lennon and Ono planned to start fresh, do a world tour, and record more albums.

Death

On 8 December 1980, Lennon was shot to death as he was going into his home, by a man named Mark David Chapman who was mentally ill. Even though he was ill, Chapman was still prosecuted for murdering Lennon. Chapman pled guilty to the murder the next year, and is still in prison today. He admitted later he was jealous of Lennon's fame and success, while his own life disappointed him. Chapman thought that killing Lennon would give his own life more meaning. He is always refused for parole, and is infamous (hated by many people).

Fans all over the world mourned Lennon's death. It made them feel that a special part of their lives was gone. Many met in New York's Central Park, near where Lennon and Ono lived, to say their goodbyes. Some played recordings of Lennon's music. Politicians and celebrities everywhere were sorry Lennon had died, even if they disliked him, because his music meant so much to so many people. Radio stations in the Soviet Union, where rock music was rarely allowed to be played, gave an hour over to Beatles recordings.

There was no funeral for Lennon, but Yoko Ono asked people everywhere to observe ten minutes of silence and prayer for him on Sunday, December 14, 1980, at 2:00 PM. At two o'clock, the music playing in Central Park stopped, and people all over the world fell silent for ten minutes. Other tributes came later, including songs by George Harrison ("All Those Years Ago"), Paul McCartney ("Here Today"), Elton John ("Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)") and Queen ("Life Is Real (Song for Lennon)").

Legacy
Lennon's music (with and after his Beatles years) is still played everywhere, and people are still touched by it. A series of radio programs were devoted to playing demoes of his songs. Young musicians play Lennon's records, and learn his music. Yoko Ono released an album of acoustic versions of many Lennon songs, to help musicians understand them better.

There is now a garden in Central Park in Lennon's memory called "Strawberry Fields" after one of Lennon's most popular songs, which in turn was named after a Salvation Army orphanage near his childhood home. On October 9, 1990, on what would have been Lennon's fiftieth birthday, "Imagine" was simulcast on radio and television stations all over the world, uniting people everywhere to remember Lennon and his music.

Awards

With The Beatles
BRIT Awards:
 1977: Outstanding contribution to the recording industry during the past 25 years.
 1977: Best British pop group of the past 25 years.
 1977: Best British pop album of the past 25 years (for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band).
 1983: Outstanding contribution to music.

Solo career
 1982 Grammy Award - 1981 Album of the Year (for Double Fantasy)
 1982 BRIT Awards - Outstanding contribution to music.
 In 2002, a 100 Greatest Britons BBC poll voted Lennon into eighth place.
 In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number 38 on its list of "The Immortals: The Fifty Greatest Artists of All Time".
 In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Lennon number five on its list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

Discography
 Unfinished Music No.1: Two Virgins (with Yoko Ono) (1968)
 Unfinished Music No.2: Life with the Lions (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
 Wedding Album (with Yoko Ono) (1969)
 Live Peace In Toronto (with Plastic Ono Band) (1969)
 John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band (1970)
 Imagine (1971)
 Some Time in New York City (with Yoko Ono) (1972)
 Mind Games (1973)
 Walls and Bridges (1974)
 Rock 'n' Roll (1975)
 Double Fantasy (with Yoko Ono) (1980)
 Milk and Honey (with Yoko Ono) (1984)
 Live In New York City  (Recorded live in 1972) (1986)

Singles

Monuments and sculptures

 1981 Los Angeles, USA, City Hall–East, by Brett-Livingstone Strong.
 2001 John Lennon Park, Havana, Cuba, by José Villa Soberón
 2002 John Lennon Airport, Liverpool, England
 2005 A Coruña, Spain, by Jose Luis Ribas
 2006 Almería, Spain, by Carmen Mudarra
 2007 Imagine Peace Tower, Reykjavík, Iceland by Ono.
 2007 Lima, Peru
 Liverpool, Cavern Pub
 "Imagine Monument", Strawberry Fields, Central Park, New York City
 Plaça De John Lennon, on Travessera de Grácia in Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain

References

1940 births
1980 deaths
English guitarists
English pianists
English murder victims
English rock singers
English singer-songwriters

Murdered musicians
Murders by firearm in the United States
Musicians from Liverpool
Nonviolence advocates
The Beatles members
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People murdered in New York (state)
Former Roman Catholics

John Lennon