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what is the order of james bond films

List of James Bond films - wikipedia James Bond is a fictional character created by novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. Bond is a British secret agent working for MI6 who also answers to his codename, 007. He has been portrayed on film by actors Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, in twenty - six productions. Only two films were not made by Eon Productions. Eon now holds the full adaptation rights to all of Fleming 's Bond novels. In 1961 producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman joined forces to purchase the filming rights to Fleming 's novels. They founded the production company Eon Productions and, with financial backing by United Artists, began working on Dr. No, which was directed by Terence Young and featured Connery as Bond. Following Dr. No 's release in 1962, Broccoli and Saltzman created the holding company Danjaq to ensure future productions in the James Bond film series. The series currently encompasses twenty - four films, with the most recent, Spectre, released in October 2015. With a combined gross of nearly $7 billion to date, the films produced by Eon constitute the Fourth - highest - grossing film series, behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and Wizarding World films. Accounting for the effects of inflation the Bond films have amassed over $14 billion at current prices. The films have won five Academy Awards: for Sound Effects (now Sound Editing) in Goldfinger (at the 37th Awards), to John Stears for Visual Effects in Thunderball (at the 38th Awards), to Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers for Sound Editing, and to Adele and Paul Epworth for Original Song in Skyfall (at the 85th Awards), and to Sam Smith and Jimmy Napes for Original Song in Spectre (at the 88th Awards). Additionally, several of the songs produced for the films have been nominated for Academy Awards for Original Song, including Paul McCartney 's "Live and Let Die '', Carly Simon 's "Nobody Does It Better '' and Sheena Easton 's "For Your Eyes Only ''. In 1982, Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award. When Broccoli and Saltzman bought the rights to existing and future Fleming titles, it did not include Casino Royale, which had already been sold to producer Gregory Ratoff, with the story having been adapted for television in 1954. After Ratoff 's death, the rights were passed on to Charles K. Feldman, who subsequently produced the satirical Bond spoof Casino Royale in 1967. A legal case ensured that the film rights to the novel Thunderball were held by Kevin McClory as he, Fleming and scriptwriter Jack Whittingham had written a film script upon which the novel was based. Although Eon Productions and McClory joined forces to produce Thunderball, McClory still retained the rights to the story and adapted Thunderball into 1983 's Never Say Never Again. The current distribution rights to both of those films are held by Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer, the studio which distributes Eon 's regular series. Strangways, the British Intelligence (SIS) Station Chief in Jamaica, is killed. In response, British agent James Bond -- also known as 007 -- is sent to Jamaica to investigate the circumstances. During his investigation Bond meets Quarrel, a Cayman fisherman, who had been working with Strangways around the nearby islands to collect mineral samples. One of the islands was Crab Key, home to the reclusive Dr. No. Bond visits the island, where he meets a local shell diver, Honey Ryder. The three are attacked by No 's men, who kill Quarrel using a flame - throwing armoured tractor; Bond and Honey are taken prisoner. Dr. No informs them he is a member of SPECTRE, the SPecial Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion, and he plans to disrupt the Project Mercury space launch from Cape Canaveral with his atomic - powered radio beam. Bond and Honey escape from the island, killing No and blowing up his lair in the process. SPECTRE 's expert planner Kronsteen devises a plot to steal a Lektor cryptographic device from the Soviets and sell it back to them while exacting revenge on Bond for killing their agent Dr. No; ex-SMERSH operative Rosa Klebb is in charge of the mission. She recruits Donald Grant as an assassin and Tatiana Romanova, a cipher clerk at the Soviet consulate in Istanbul, as the unwitting bait. Bond travels to Turkey and meets with Ali Kerim Bey, the MI6 officer in Turkey. Between them, they obtain the Lektor, and the three escape with the device on the Orient Express. However, they are followed by Grant, who kills Kerim Bey and a Soviet security officer. Grant pretends to be another British agent and meets Bond. Over dinner Grant drugs Romanova, then overcomes Bond. Bond tricks Grant into opening Bond 's attaché case in the manner that detonates its tear gas booby trap, allowing Bond to attack and kill him. Bond and Romanova escape with the Lektor to Venice. Rosa Klebb, disguised as a hotel maid, attempts to steal the Lektor and kill Bond, but ends up being shot by Romanova. Bond is ordered to observe bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger. He suspects Goldfinger of cheating at cards and foils his scheme by distracting his female accomplice, who is later killed by Goldfinger 's Korean manservant and henchman Oddjob after Bond seduces her. Bond is then instructed to investigate Goldfinger 's gold smuggling operation and he tails the dealer to Switzerland. Bond is captured when he reconnoitres Goldfinger 's plant and is drugged unconscious; Goldfinger then transports Bond to his Kentucky stud farm where he holds Bond captive. Bond escapes briefly to witness Goldfinger 's meeting with US mafiosi, observing secretly as Goldfinger presents to the gangsters his plans to rob Fort Knox by using materials they have smuggled to him. Bond is recaptured after hearing the details of the operation, but he subsequently seduces Pussy Galore, Goldfinger 's private pilot and convinces her to inform the American authorities. Goldfinger 's private army break into Fort Knox and access the vault, where Bond fights and kills Oddjob, while American troops battle with Goldfinger 's army outside. Bond 's plane is hijacked by Goldfinger, but Bond struggles with him, and shoots out a window, creating an explosive decompression, killing Goldfinger. Bond investigates the hijacking of an Avro Vulcan loaded with two atomic bombs, which had been taken by SPECTRE. The organisation demands a ransom for the return of the bombs. Bond follows a lead to the Bahamas, where he meets up with his CIA counterpart and friend Felix Leiter. The pair suspect a rich playboy, Emilio Largo, and search the area around his yacht and then the area where they think the yacht may have travelled. After finding the plane -- but without the nuclear devices on board -- the two agents arrange for Largo 's yacht to be tracked and ambushed once the bombs are being moved by Largo. Bond is brought out of retirement to deal with SMERSH and is promoted to the head of MI6 on the death of M. He recruits baccarat player Evelyn Tremble to beat SMERSH agent Le Chiffre. Having embezzled SMERSH 's money, Le Chiffre is desperate for money to cover up his theft. Tremble stops Le Chiffre 's cheating and beats him in a game of baccarat. Tremble is captured, tortured and killed. Bond establishes that the casino is located atop a giant underground headquarters run by the evil Dr. Noah; he and Moneypenny travel there to investigate. Dr. Noah turns out to be Sir James 's nephew Jimmy Bond, who plans to use biological warfare to make all women beautiful and kill all tall men, leaving him as the "big man '' who gets all the girls. The casino is then overrun by secret agents and a battle ensues, but the building explodes, killing all inside. 007 is sent to Japan to investigate the hijacking of an American spacecraft by an unidentified spacecraft. Upon his arrival, Bond is contacted by Aki, assistant to the Japanese secret service leader Tiger Tanaka. Bond established that the mastermind behind the hijacking is Ernst Stavro Blofeld and SPECTRE, in conjunction with Osato, a local industrialist. Bond follows the trail to Blofeld 's island headquarters. Tanaka 's ninja troops attack the island, while Bond manages to distract Blofeld and create a diversion which allows him to open the hatch, letting in the ninjas. During the battle, Osato is killed by Blofeld, who activates the base 's self - destruct system and escapes. Bond, Kissy, Tanaka, and the surviving ninjas escape through the cave tunnel before it explodes, and are rescued by submarine. While searching for Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE, Bond saves Tracy di Vicenzo on the beach from committing suicide by drowning, and later meets her again in a casino. Bond then receives information from Marc - Ange Draco, the head of the European crime syndicate Unione Corse and Tracy 's father, about Blofeld 's Swiss solicitor. Bond breaks into the solicitors office and establishes Blofeld is corresponding with the London College of Arms. Posing as an emissary of the college, Bond meets Blofeld, who has established a clinical allergy - research institute atop Piz Gloria in the Swiss Alps. Bond soon establishes that Blofeld is brainwashing his patients to distribute bacteriological warfare agents throughout various parts of the world. Bond escapes from the clinic after Blofeld identifies him as the British agent. Bond arranges a raid on the clinic using men from Draco 's organisation. The raid is a success, although Blofeld escapes. Bond marries Tracy, but she is murdered shortly afterwards by Irma Bunt, Blofeld 's partner. Bond is tasked with investigating a major diamond smuggling ring which begins in Africa and runs through Holland and the UK to the United States. Disguised as professional smuggler and murderer Peter Franks, Bond travels to Amsterdam to meet contact Tiffany Case: he is given the diamonds and travels on to the US, where he is met by Felix Leiter. Bond moves through the chain, which leads to the Whyte House, a casino - hotel owned by the reclusive billionaire Willard Whyte. Bond follows the diamonds to a pick - up by Bert Saxby, Whyte 's head of security, and then onto a research laboratory owned by Whyte, where he finds that a satellite is being built by a laser refraction specialist, Professor Dr. Metz. Suspecting Whyte, Bond tries to confront him, but instead meets Blofeld, who captures the agent and explains to him that the satellite can blow up nuclear missiles. Blofeld admits that he intends to auction it to the highest bidder. Bond escapes and frees the captive Whyte and they establish that Blofeld is using an offshore oil rig as his base. Bond attacks the rig, stopping Blofeld 's operation and dispersing his organisation. James Bond is sent to investigate the murder of three British MI6 agents, all of whom have been killed within 24 hours. He discovers the victims were all separately investigating the operations of Dr. Kananga, the dictator of a small Caribbean island, San Monique. He also establishes that Kananga also acts as Mr. Big, a ruthless and cunning gangster. Upon visiting San Monique, Bond determines that Kananga is producing two tons of heroin and is protecting the poppy fields by exploiting locals ' fear of voodoo and the occult. Through his alter ego, Mr. Big, Kananga plans to distribute the heroin free of charge at his Fillet of Soul restaurants, which will increase the number of addicts. Bond is captured by Kananga, but he escapes, killing Kananga and destroying the poppy crop. After receiving a golden bullet with James Bond 's code "007 '' etched into its surface M relieves Bond of a mission locating a British scientist, Gibson, who has invented the "Solex agitator '', a device to harness solar power, thereby solving the energy crisis. The bullet signifies Bond is a target of assassin Francisco Scaramanga and Bond sets out unofficially to find him. From a spent golden bullet, Bond tracks Scaramanga to Macau, where he sees Scaramanga 's mistress collecting golden bullets at a casino. Bond follows her to Hong Kong, where he witnesses the murder of Gibson and the theft of the Solex agitator. Bond is subsequently assigned to retrieve the agitator and assassinate Scaramanga. Bond meets with Hai Fat, a wealthy Thai entrepreneur suspected of arranging Gibson 's murder, and is captured, but subsequently escapes. He tracks Scaramanga to an island in Red Chinese waters, where the two men fight a duel: Bond kills the assassin. Bond is tasked with investigating the disappearance of British and Soviet ballistic missile submarines and the subsequent offer to sell a submarine tracking system. Bond works alongside Major Anya Amasova of the KGB. The pair track the plans across Egypt and identify the person responsible for the thefts as shipping tycoon, scientist and anarchist Karl Stromberg. Bond and Amasova follow a suspicious tanker owned by Stromberg and establish it is responsible for the missing submarines; the submarine in which they are travelling is also captured by Stromberg. Stromberg plans to destroy Moscow and New York, triggering nuclear war: he planned to then establish a new civilisation. Bond escapes, freeing the submariners captured from the other submarines and follows Stromberg to his headquarters, where he shoots the tycoon and a torpedo destroys the base. A Drax Industries Moonraker space shuttle on loan is hijacked and Bond is ordered to investigate. Bond meets the owner of the company, Hugo Drax and one of Drax 's scientists, Dr. Holly Goodhead. Bond follows the trail to Venice, where he establishes that Drax is manufacturing a nerve gas deadly to humans, but harmless to animals. Bond again meets Goodhead and finds out that she is a CIA agent. Bond travels to the Amazon looking for Drax 's research facility, where he is captured. He and Goodhead pose as pilots on one of six space shuttles being sent by Drax to a hidden space station. There Bond finds out that Drax plans to destroy all human life by launching fifty globes containing the toxin into the Earth 's atmosphere. Bond and Goodhead disable the radar jammer hiding the station from Earth and the US sends a platoon of Marines in a military space shuttle. During the battle, Bond kills Drax and his station is destroyed. After a British spy boat sinks, a marine archaeologist, Sir Timothy Havelock, is tasked to retrieve its Automatic Targeting Attack Communicator (ATAC) communication system before the Russians do. After Havelock is murdered by Gonzales, a Cuban hit - man, Bond is ordered to find out who hired Gonzales. While investigating, Bond is captured, but Gonzales is subsequently killed by Havelock 's daughter Melina, and she and Bond escape. Bond identifies one of those present with Gonzales as Emile Leopold Locque and so follows a lead to Italy and meets his contact, Luigi Ferrara, and a well - connected Greek businessman and intelligence informant, Aris Kristatos. Kristatos tells Bond that Locque is employed by Milos Columbo, Kristatos ' former organised crime partner. After Ferrara is murdered -- and the evidence points to Columbo -- Bond is captured by men working for Columbo. Columbo then explains that Locque was actually hired by Kristatos, who is working for the KGB to retrieve the ATAC. Bond and Melina recover the ATAC but are captured by Kristatos. They escape and follow Kristatos to Greece, where he is killed and the ATAC is destroyed by Bond. Bond investigates the murder of 009, killed in East Berlin while dressed as a circus clown and carrying a fake Fabergé egg. An identical egg appears at auction and Bond establishes the buyer, exiled Afghan prince, Kamal Khan is working with Orlov, a renegade Soviet general, who is seeking to expand Soviet borders into Europe. Bond meets Octopussy, a wealthy woman who leads the Octopus cult. Bond finds out that Orlov has been supplying Khan with priceless Soviet treasures, replacing them with replicas, while Khan has been smuggling the real versions into the West, via Octopussy 's circus troupe. Bond infiltrates the circus, and finds that Orlov replaced the Soviet treasures with a nuclear warhead, primed to explode at a US Air Force base in West Germany. The explosion would trigger Europe into seeking disarmament, in the belief that the bomb was an American one that was detonated by accident, leaving the West 's borders open to Soviet invasion. Bond deactivates the warhead and then he returns to India, joining an assault on Khan 's palace. Bond investigates the hijacking of two cruise missiles with live nuclear warheads which had been taken by SPECTRE. He meets Domino Petachi, the pilot 's sister, and her lover, Maximillian Largo, a SPECTRE agent. Following them to France, Bond informs Domino of her brother 's death and subsequently finds his MI6 colleague killed by Fatima Blush, another SPECTRE agent: Bond kills her. Bond and Felix Leiter then attempt to board Largo 's motor yacht, the Flying Saucer, in search of the missing nuclear warheads. Bond becomes trapped and is taken, with Domino, to Palmyra, Largo 's base of operations in North Africa, but Bond subsequently escapes with Domino. The two agents ambush Largo while he is placing one of the bombs. Bond investigates millionaire industrialist Max Zorin, who is trying to corner the world market in microchips. He establishes that Zorin was previously trained and financed by the KGB, but has now gone rogue. Zorin unveils to a group of investors his plan to destroy Silicon Valley which will give him a monopoly in the manufacturing of microchips. Bond uncovers Zorin 's plan is to detonate explosives beneath the lakes along the Hayward and San Andreas faults, which will cause them to flood. A larger bomb is also on site in the mine to destroy a "geological lock '' that prevents the two faults from moving at the same time. Bond destroys the bomb, and subsequently kills Zorin. Bond aids the defection of KGB officer General Georgi Koskov, by wounding a female KGB sniper, Kara Milovy, a cellist. During his debriefing Koskov alleges KGB 's old policy of Smiert Spionam, meaning Death to Spies, has been revived by General Leonid Pushkin, the new head of the KGB. Koskov is subsequently abducted from the safe - house and Bond is ordered to kill Pushkin. Bond tracks down Milovy and establishes she is Koskov 's girlfriend and that the defection was staged. He subsequently finds out that Koskov is a friend of the arms dealer Brad Whitaker. After meeting Pushkin and faking his assassination by Bond, Bond investigates a scheme by Koskov and Whitaker to embezzle KGB funds and use them to purchase diamonds, which they then use to purchase drugs. After Koskov purchases the drugs, Bond destroys them. Koskov is subsequently arrested by Pushkin, while Bond kills Whitaker. Bond aids Felix Leiter in the capture of drugs lord Franz Sanchez; Sanchez escapes and maims Leiter, killing his wife. Bond swears revenge, but is ordered to return to duty by M. Bond refuses, and M revokes his licence to kill, causing Bond to become a rogue agent; although officially stripped of his status, he is unofficially given help by Q. Bond journeys to Sanchez 's home in the Republic of Isthmus and is taken onto Sanchez 's staff, where he manages to raise Sanchez 's suspicions against a number of his employees. When Bond is taken to Sanchez 's main base and drugs refinery, he is recognised by one of Sanchez 's men and captured. He escapes, destroying the refinery in the process, and pursues Sanchez, killing him. In 1986 Bond and Alec Trevelyan -- agent 006 -- infiltrate an illicit Soviet chemical weapons facility and plant explosive charges. Trevelyan is shot, but Bond escapes from the facility as it explodes. Nine years later, Bond witnesses the theft by criminal organisation Janus of a prototype Eurocopter Tiger helicopter that can withstand an electromagnetic pulse. Janus uses the helicopter to steal the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons, using the GoldenEye to destroy the complex with an electromagnetic pulse; there are two survivors of the attack, the programmers, Natalya Simonov and Boris Grishenko. Bond investigates the attack and travels to Russia where he locates Simonova and learns that Trevelyan, who had faked his own death, was the head of Janus. Simonova tracks computer traffic to Cuba and she and Bond travel there and locate Trevelyan, who reveals his plan to steal money from the Bank of England before erasing all of its financial records with the GoldenEye, concealing the theft and destroying Britain 's economy. Bond and Simonova destroy the satellite facility, killing Trevelyan and Grishenko in the process. Bond investigates the sinking of a British warship in Chinese waters, the theft of one of the ship 's cruise missiles -- and the shooting down of a Chinese fighter plane. He uncovers a link to media mogul Elliot Carver which suggests that Carver had purchased a GPS encoder on the black market. Bond encounters Chinese agent Wai Lin, who is also investigating the matter and the two agree to work together. They discover that Carver had used the GPS encoder to push the British ship off course and into Chinese waters to incite a war for ratings. With the British fleet on their way to China, Bond and Wai Lin find Carver 's stealth ship, board it and prevent the firing of a British cruise missile at Beijing. They blow a hole in the ship, exposing it to radar, leading to its sinking averting war between Britain and China. Bond recovers money for Sir Robert King, a British oil tycoon and friend of M, but the money is booby - trapped and kills King shortly afterwards. Bond traces the money to Renard, a KGB agent - turned - terrorist, who had previously kidnapped King 's daughter Elektra. MI6 believes that Renard is targeting Elektra King a second time and Bond is assigned to protect her; the pair are subsequently attacked. Bond visits Valentin Zukovsky and is informed that Elektra 's head of security, Davidov, is in league with Renard: Bond kills Davidov and follows the trail to a Russian ICBM base in Kazakhstan. Posing as a Russian nuclear scientist, Bond meets American nuclear physicist Christmas Jones. The two witness Renard stealing the GPS locator card and a half quantity of weapons - grade plutonium from a bomb and set off an explosion, from which Bond and Jones escape. Elektra kidnaps M after she thinks Bond had been killed and Bond establishes that Elektra intends to create a nuclear explosion in a submarine in Istanbul to increase the value of her own oil pipeline. Bond frees M, kills Elektra and then disarms the bomb on the submarine where he kills Renard. Bond investigates North Korean Colonel Tan - Sun Moon, who is illegally trading African conflict diamonds for weapons. Moon is apparently killed and Bond is captured and tortured for 14 months, after which he is exchanged for Zao, Moon 's assistant. Despite being suspended on his return, he decides to complete his mission and tracks down Zao to a gene therapy clinic, where patients can have their appearances altered through DNA restructuring. Zao escapes, but the trail leads to British billionaire Gustav Graves. Graves unveils a mirror satellite, "Icarus '', which is able to focus solar energy on a small area and provide year - round sunshine for crop development. Bond discovers Moon has also undergone the gene therapy and has assumed the identity of Graves. Bond then exposes Moon 's plan: to use the Icarus to cut a path through the Korean Demilitarized Zone with concentrated sunlight, allowing North Korean troops to invade South Korea and reunite the countries through force. Bond disables the Icarus controls, kills Moon and stops the invasion. A reboot of the series, with Bond winning his 00 status in the pre-credits sequence. Bond is instructed to investigate the funding of terrorism. He tracks down and kills a bomb - maker and takes his mobile phone. Searching through the phone, Bond discovers a text message which he traces to Alex Dimitrios, and then on to financer Le Chiffre. Le Chiffre 's investments involve short - selling stock in successful companies and then engineering terrorist attacks to sink their share prices. Bond foils Le Chiffre 's plan to destroy the prototype Skyfleet airliner, which forces Le Chiffre to set up a high - stakes poker tournament at the Casino Royale to recoup his fortune. Bond is instructed to beat Le Chiffre and is aided by a member of HM Treasury, Vesper Lynd. Bond beats Le Chiffre at the poker table, but Lynd is kidnapped by Le Chiffre after the game, as is Bond, who is captured whilst pursuing them; Lynd is ransomed for the money and Bond is tortured. Le Chiffre is subsequently killed by Mr. White, a liaison between Le Chiffre and a number of his clients. Bond learns that his poker winnings were never repaid to the Treasury, which Lynd was supposed to have done, and Bond establishes that she was a double agent. Bond pursues her and is attacked by members of White 's organisation: he survives, but White takes the money and Lynd sacrifices herself in exchange for Bond 's life, as he later finds out from M. Bond subsequently finds and captures White. Along with M, Bond interrogates Mr. White regarding his organisation, Quantum. M 's bodyguard, Mitchell, a double agent, attacks M, enabling White to escape. Bond traces the organisation to Haiti and a connection to environmentalist Dominic Greene. Bond uncovers a plot between Greene and an exiled Bolivian General, Medrano, to put Medrano in power in Bolivia while Quantum are given a monopoly to run the water supply to the country. Bond ascertains Quantum are damming Bolivia 's supply of fresh water to force the price up. Bond attacks the hotel where Greene and Medrano are finalising their plans and leaves Greene stranded in the desert with only a tin of engine oil to drink. Bond then finds Vesper Lynd 's former lover and member of Quantum, Yusef Kabira. After an operation in Istanbul ends in disaster, Bond is missing and presumed to be dead. In the aftermath, questions are raised over M 's ability to run the Secret Service, and she becomes the subject of a government review over her handling of the situation. The Service itself is attacked, prompting Bond 's return to London. His presence assists MI6 's investigation in uncovering a lead, and Bond is sent to Shanghai and Macau in pursuit of a mercenary named Patrice. There, he establishes a connection to Raoul Silva, a former MI6 agent who was captured and tortured by Chinese agents. Blaming M for his imprisonment, he sets in motion a plan to ruin her reputation before murdering her. Bond saves M and attempts to lure Silva into a trap, and while he is successful in repelling Silva 's assault, M is mortally wounded. Bond returns to active duty under the command of the new M, Gareth Mallory. In the aftermath of Raoul Silva 's attack on MI6, a cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond come face - to - face with the sinister organisation known as "Spectre ''. As Gareth Mallory, the newly appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond follows a trail from Mexico to Austria and Morocco as he is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy from his past; one who holds a dangerous secret that will force him to question the value of everything he has fought to protect. The Eon - produced films have a combined gross of nearly $7 billion, and constitute the fourth - highest - grossing film series, behind Star Wars, Harry Potter films and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Bond films have been nominated for a number of awards throughout their fifty - year history, with most films winning an award; these include successes at the British Academy Film Awards, Golden Globe Awards and Academy Awards. In addition, in 1982 Albert R. Broccoli received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award.

how is the valency of an element in a covalent compound measured

Valence (chemistry) - wikipedia In chemistry, the valence or valency of an element is a measure of its combining power with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. The concept of valence developed in the second half of the 19th century and helped successfully explain the molecular structure of inorganic and organic compounds. The quest for the underlying causes of valence led to the modern theories of chemical bonding, including the cubical atom (1902), Lewis structures (1916), valence bond theory (1927), molecular orbitals (1928), valence shell electron pair repulsion theory (1958), and all of the advanced methods of quantum chemistry. The combining power or affinity of an atom of an element was determined by the number of hydrogen atoms that it combined with. In methane, carbon has a valence of 4; in ammonia, nitrogen has a valence of 3; in water, oxygen has a valence of 2; and in hydrogen chloride, chlorine has a valence of 1. Chlorine, as it has a valence of one, can be substituted for hydrogen, so phosphorus has a valence of 5 in phosphorus pentachloride, PCl. Valence diagrams of a compound represent the connectivity of the elements, with lines drawn between two elements, sometimes called bonds, representing a saturated valency for each element. Examples are: Valence only describes connectivity; it does not describe the geometry of molecular compounds, or what are now known to be ionic compounds or giant covalent structures. A line between atoms does not represent a pair of electrons as it does in Lewis diagrams. Valence is defined by the IUPAC as: An alternative modern description is: This definition differs from the IUPAC definition as an element can be said to have more than one valence. The etymology of the words valence (plural valences) and valency (plural valencies) traces back to 1425, meaning "extract, preparation '', from Latin valentia "strength, capacity '', from the earlier valor "worth, value '', and the chemical meaning referring to the "combining power of an element '' is recorded from 1884, from German Valenz. In 1789, William Higgins published views on what he called combinations of "ultimate '' particles, which foreshadowed the concept of valency bonds. If, for example, according to Higgins, the force between the ultimate particle of oxygen and the ultimate particle of nitrogen were 6, then the strength of the force would be divided accordingly, and likewise for the other combinations of ultimate particles (see illustration). The exact inception, however, of the theory of chemical valencies can be traced to an 1852 paper by Edward Frankland, in which he combined the older theories of free radicals with thoughts on chemical affinity to show that certain elements have the tendency to combine with other elements to form compounds containing 3, i.e., in the 3 - atom groups (e.g., NO, NH, NI, etc.) or 5, i.e., in the 5 - atom groups (e.g., NO, NH O, PO, etc.), equivalents of the attached elements. It is in this manner, according to Frankland, that their affinities are best satisfied. Following these examples and postulates, Frankland declares how obvious it is that This "combining power '' was afterwards called quantivalence or valency (and valence by American chemists). In 1857 August Kekulé proposed fixed valences for many elements, such as 4 for carbon, and used them to propose structural formulas for many organic molecules, which are still accepted today. Most 19th - century chemists defined the valence of an element as the number of its bonds without distinguishing different types of valence or of bond. However, in 1893 Alfred Werner described transition metal coordination complexes such as (Co (NH)) Cl, in which he distinguished principal and subsidiary valences (German: ' Hauptvalenz ' and ' Nebenvalenz '), corresponding to the modern concepts of oxidation state and coordination number respectively. For main - group elements, in 1904 Richard Abegg considered positive and negative valences (maximal and minimal oxidation states), and proposed Abegg 's rule to the effect that their difference is often 8. The Rutherford model of the nuclear atom (1911) showed that the exterior of an atom is occupied by electrons, which suggests that electrons are responsible for the interaction of atoms and the formation of chemical bonds. In 1916, Gilbert N. Lewis explained valence and chemical bonding in terms of a tendency of (main - group) atoms to achieve a stable octet of 8 valence - shell electrons. According to Lewis, covalent bonding leads to octets by the sharing of electrons, and ionic bonding leads to octets by the transfer of electrons from one atom to the other. The term covalence is attributed to Irving Langmuir, who stated in 1919 that "the number of pairs of electrons which any given atom shares with the adjacent atoms is called the covalence of that atom ''. The prefix co - means "together '', so that a co-valent bond means that the atoms share a valence. Subsequent to that, it is now more common to speak of covalent bonds rather than valence, which has fallen out of use in higher - level work from the advances in the theory of chemical bonding, but it is still widely used in elementary studies, where it provides a heuristic introduction to the subject. In the 1930s, Linus Pauling proposed that there are also polar covalent bonds, which are intermediate between covalent and ionic, and that the degree of ionic character depends on the difference of electronegativity of the two bonded atoms. Pauling also considered hypervalent molecules, in which main - group elements have apparent valences greater than the maximal of 4 allowed by the octet rule. For example, in the sulfur hexafluoride molecule (SF), Pauling considered that the sulfur forms 6 true two - electron bonds using so - called sp d hybrid atomic orbitals, which combine one s, three p and two d orbitals. However more recently, quantum - mechanical calculations on this and similar molecules have shown that the role of d orbitals in the bonding is minimal, and that the SF molecule should be described as having 6 polar covalent (partly ionic) bonds made from only four orbitals on sulfur (one s and three p) in accordance with the octet rule, together with six orbitals on the fluorines. Similar calculations on transition - metal molecules show that the role of p orbitals is minor, so that one s and five d orbitals on the metal are sufficient to describe the bonding. For elements in the main groups of the periodic table, the valence can vary between 1 and 7. Many elements have a common valence related to their position in the periodic table, and nowadays this is rationalised by the octet rule. The Greek / Latin numeral prefixes (mono - / uni -, di - / bi -, tri - / ter -, and so on) are used to describe ions in the charge states 1, 2, 3, and so on, respectively. Polyvalence or multivalence refers to species that are not restricted to a specific number of valence bonds. Species with a single charge are univalent (monovalent). For example, the Cs cation is a univalent or monovalent cation, whereas the Ca cation is a divalent cation, and the Fe cation is a trivalent cation. Unlike Cs and Ca, Fe can also exist in other charge states, notably 2 + and 4 +, and is thus known as a multivalent (polyvalent) ion. † The same adjectives are also used in medicine to refer to vaccine valence, with the slight difference that in the latter sense, quadri - is more common than tetra -. ‡ As demonstrated by hit counts in Google web search and Google Books search corpora (accessed 2017). § A few other forms can be found in large English - language corpora (for example, * quintavalent, * quintivalent, * decivalent), but they are not the conventionally established forms in English and thus are not entered in major dictionaries. Because of the ambiguity of the term valence, nowadays other notations are used in practice. Beside the system of oxidation numbers as used in Stock nomenclature for coordination compounds, and the lambda notation, as used in the IUPAC nomenclature of inorganic chemistry, "oxidation state '' is a more clear indication of the electronic state of atoms in a molecule. The "oxidation state '' of an atom in a molecule gives the number of valence electrons it has gained or lost. In contrast to the valency number, the oxidation state can be positive (for an electropositive atom) or negative (for an electronegative atom). Elements in a high oxidation state can have a valence higher than four. For example, in perchlorates, chlorine has seven valence bonds and ruthenium, in the + 8 oxidation state in ruthenium tetroxide, has eight valence bonds. (valencies according to the number of valence bonds definition and conform oxidation states) * The univalent perchlorate ion (ClO) has valence 1. * * Iron oxide appears in a crystal structure, so no typical molecule can be identified. In ferrous oxide, Fe has oxidation number II, in ferric oxide, oxidation number III. Examples where valences and oxidation states differ due to bonds between identical atoms: Valences may also be different from absolute values of oxidation states due to different polarity of bonds. For example, in dichloromethane, CH Cl, carbon has valence 4 but oxidation state 0. Frankland took the view that the valence (he used the term "atomicity '') of an element was a single value that corresponded to the maximum value observed. The number of unused valencies on atoms of what are now called the p - block elements is generally even, and Frankland suggested that the unused valencies saturated one another. For example, nitrogen has a maximum valence of 5, in forming ammonia two valencies are left unattached; sulfur has a maximum valence of 6, in forming hydrogen sulphide four valencies are left unattached. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) has made several attempts to arrive at an unambiguous definition of valence. The current version, adopted in 1994: Hydrogen and chlorine were originally used as examples of univalent atoms, because of their nature to form only one single bond. Hydrogen has only one valence electron and can form only one bond with an atom that has an incomplete outer shell. Chlorine has seven valence electrons and can form only one bond with an atom that donates a valence electron to complete chlorine 's outer shell. However, chlorine can also have oxidation states from + 1 to + 7 and can form more than one bond by donating valence electrons. Hydrogen has only one valence electron, but it can form bonds with more than one atom. In the bifluoride ion ((HF), for example, it forms a three - center four - electron bond with two fluoride atoms: Another example is the Three - center two - electron bond in diborane (B H). Maximum valences for the elements are based on the data from list of oxidation states of the elements. 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Unknown Background color shows maximum valence of the chemical element

how many branches of standard chartered bank in pakistan

Standard Chartered Pakistan - wikipedia Standard Chartered Pakistan is a Pakistani banking and financial services company in Pakistan and is a wholly owned subsidiary of UK - based Standard Chartered. It is Pakistan 's oldest and largest foreign commercial bank. It employs over 9000 people in its 94 branches in Pakistan. The history of Standard Chartered in Pakistan dates back to 1863, when the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China first established its operations in Karachi. In 2006, Standard Chartered Bank acquired Pakistan 's Union Bank. On 30 December 2006, Standard Chartered merged Union Bank with its own subsidiary, Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan), to create Pakistan 's sixth largest bank.

and miles to go before i sleep poem name

Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening - wikipedia "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening '' is a poem written in 1922 by Robert Frost, and published in 1923 in his New Hampshire volume. Imagery, personification, and repetition are prominent in the work. In a letter to Louis Untermeyer, Frost called it "my best bid for remembrance ''. Frost wrote the poem in June 1922 at his house in Shaftsbury, Vermont. He had been up the entire night writing the long poem "New Hampshire '' and had finally finished when he realized morning had come. He went out to view the sunrise and suddenly got the idea for "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening ''. He wrote the new poem "about the snowy evening and the little horse as if I 'd had a hallucination '' in just "a few minutes without strain ''. The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (save the last) follows an AABA rhyming scheme, with the following verse 's A line rhyming with that verse 's B line, which is a chain rhyme (another example is the terza rima used in Dante 's Inferno.) Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD. The text of the poem describes the thoughts of a lone rider (the speaker), pausing at night in his travel to watch snow falling in the woods. It ends with him reminding himself that, despite the loveliness of the view, "I have promises to keep, / And miles to go before I sleep. '' In the early morning of November 23, 1963, Sid Davis of Westinghouse Broadcasting reported the arrival of President John F. Kennedy 's casket to the White House. As Frost was one of the President 's favorite poets, Davis concluded his report with a passage from this poem but was overcome with emotion as he signed off. At the funeral of former Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, on October 3, 2000, his eldest son Justin rephrased the last stanza of this poem in his eulogy: "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. He has kept his promises and earned his sleep. '' h, jcvh,

what type of myth is pyramus and thisbe

Pyramus and Thisbe - wikipedia Pyramus and Thisbē are a pair of ill - fated lovers whose story forms part of Ovid 's Metamorphoses. The story has since been retold by many authors. In Ovid 's Metamorphoses, Pyramus and Thisbe are two lovers in the city of Babylon who occupy connected houses / walls, forbidden by their parents to be wed, because of their parents ' rivalry. Through a crack in one of the walls, they whisper their love for each other. They arrange to meet near Ninus ' tomb under a mulberry tree and state their feelings for each other. Thisbe arrives first, but upon seeing a lioness with a mouth bloody from a recent kill, she flees, leaving behind her veil. When Pyramus arrives he is horrified at the sight of Thisbe 's veil, assuming that a wild beast has killed her. Pyramus kills himself, falling on his sword in proper Babylonian fashion, and in turn splashing blood on the white mulberry leaves. Pyramus ' blood stains the white mulberry fruits, turning them dark. Thisbe returns, eager to tell Pyramus what had happened to her, but she finds Pyramus ' dead body under the shade of the mulberry tree. Thisbe, after a brief period of mourning, stabs herself with the same sword. In the end, the gods listen to Thisbe 's lament, and forever change the colour of the mulberry fruits into the stained colour to honour the forbidden love. Ovid 's is the oldest surviving version of the story, published in 8 AD, but he adapted an existing etiological myth. While in Ovid 's telling Pyramus and Thisbe lived in Babylon and Ctesias had placed the tomb of his imagined king Ninus near that city, the myth probably originated in Cilicia (part of Ninus ' Babylonian empire) as Pyramos is the historical Greek name of the local Ceyhan River. The metamorphosis in the primary story involves Pyramus changing into this river and Thisbe into a nearby spring. A 2nd - century mosaic unearthed near Nea Paphos on Cyprus depicts this older version of the myth. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe appears in Giovanni Boccaccio 's On Famous Women as biography number twelve (sometimes thirteen) and in his Decameron, in the fifth story on the seventh day, where a desperate housewife falls in love with her neighbor, and communicates with him through a crack in the wall, attracting his attention by dropping pieces of stone and straw through the crack. In the 1380s, Geoffrey Chaucer, in his The Legend of Good Women, and John Gower, in his Confessio Amantis, were the first to tell the story in English. Gower altered the story somewhat into a cautionary tale. John Metham 's Amoryus and Cleopes (1449) is another early English adaptation. The tragedy of Romeo and Juliet ultimately sprang from Ovid 's story. Here the star - crossed lovers can not be together because Juliet has been engaged by her parents to another man and the two families hold an ancient grudge. As in Pyramus and Thisbe, the mistaken belief in one lover 's death leads to consecutive suicides. The earliest version of Romeo and Juliet was published in 1476 by Masuccio Salernitano, while it mostly obtained its present form when written down in 1524 by Luigi da Porto. Salernitano and Da Porto both are thought to have been inspired by Ovid and Boccaccio 's writing. Shakespeare 's most famous 1590s adaptation is a dramatization of Arthur Brooke 's 1562 poem The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet, itself a translation of a French translation of Da Porto 's novella. In Shakespeare 's A Midsummer Night 's Dream (Act V, sc 1), written in the 1590s, a group of "mechanicals '' enact the story of "Pyramus and Thisbe ''. Their production is crude and, for the most part, badly done until the final monologues of Nick Bottom, as Pyramus and Francis Flute, as Thisbe. The theme of forbidden love is also present in A Midsummer Night 's Dream (albeit a less tragic and dark representation) in that a girl, Hermia, is not able to marry the man she loves, Lysander, because her father Egeus despises him and wishes for her to marry Demetrius, and meanwhile Hermia and Lysander are confident that Helena is in love with Demetrius. Spanish poet Luis de Góngora wrote a Fábula de Píramo y Tisbe in 1618, while French poet Théophile de Viau wrote Les amours tragiques de Pyrame et Thisbée, a tragedy in five acts, in 1621. In 1718 Giuseppe Antonio Brescianello wrote his only opera "La Tisbe '' for Württemberg court. François Francoeur and François Rebel composed Pirame et Thisbée, a lyric tragedy in 5 acts and a prologue, with libretto by Jean - Louis - Ignace de La Serre; it was played at the Académie royale de musique, on October 17, 1726. The story was adapted by John Frederick Lampe as a "Mock Opera '' in 1745, containing a singing "Wall '' which was described as "the most musical partition that was ever heard. '' In 1768 in Vienna, Johann Adolph Hasse composed a serious opera on the tale, titled Piramo e Tisbe. Edmond Rostand adapted the tale from Romeo and Juliet, making the fathers of the lovers conspire to bring their children together by pretending to forbid their love, in Les Romanesques, whose musical adaptation, Fantasticks, became the world 's longest - running musical.

pictures of the book tales of a fourth grade nothing

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - wikipedia Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is a children 's novel written by American author Judy Blume and published in 1972. It is the first in the ' ' Fudge ' ' Series and was followed by Superfudge, Fudge - a-Mania, and most recently by Double Fudge. Although Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great features many of the same characters as the series, it does not fit exactly in the continuity of it because it only focuses on Peter 's classmate (who later becomes his stepcousin), Sheila Tubman. Originally, the book featured illustrations by Roy Doty, but all post-2002 reprints of it have omitted the pictures. The story focuses on a nine - year - old boy named Peter Warren Hatcher and his relationship with his two - and - a-half - year - old brother, Farley Drexel "Fudge '' Hatcher. Farley hates the sound of his legal name, and prefers Fudge for any and all occasions. The book focuses on 9 - year - old 4th grader Peter Hatcher 's infatuation with the horrendous behavior demonstrated by his annoying 21⁄2 - year - old brother (who later turns three), Fudge, which frequently goes unpunished. Peter becomes frustrated with Fudge because he often disturbs Dribble, Peter 's pet turtle, which Peter won at his best friend Jimmy Fargo 's birthday party. Furthermore, Fudge throws nonstop temper tantrums, goes through a finicky phase of abstaining from eating altogether, and emulates Peter 's behavior, throwing tantrums if it is prohibited. Nevertheless, their parents dote on Fudge, to Peter 's anger. For months, Fudge 's antics continue; breaking his front teeth after catapulting himself from the jungle gym at the local playground when he decides to fly (Chapter 4: My Brother The Bird), vandalizing Peter 's group homework assignment (Chapter 7), and taking off on his family at a movie theater (Chapter 9: Just Another Rainy Day). However, one day, to Peter 's absolute misery, he returns home to discover Dribble is missing from his bowl, Fudge claiming to have swallowed him (Chapter 10: Dribble). These proclamations prove to be correct, and Fudge is rushed to the hospital, where Dribble is safely extracted, to Mrs. Hatcher 's relief. However, Dribble has died in Fudge 's stomach, and no one, especially Fudge, seems to care. Peter is incredibly devastated over the loss of his beloved pet, however, his parents sympathetically compensate by adopting a dog, which Peter appropriately names "Turtle '' in memory of Dribble. Peter Warren Hatcher -- The protagonist of the story, and a smart, assertive, but seemingly naive 9 - year - old boy. Most of the book focuses upon his relationship with Fudge and his family, and the fact that Fudge is the perceived source of all of his troubles. His parents usually seem to let Fudge get away with anything and everything, something that he would later realize was not always true. But it is true that Peter 's needs and wants are often ignored and overshadowed in favor of Fudge 's. Peter believes that his parents show Fudge preferential treatment, especially his mother; he also is frequently frustrated when Fudge gets into his things and tries to become involved in his activities. However, Peter does love him very much and shows concern when he is hospitalized (after swallowing Peter 's pet turtle, Dribble) and the doctors speculate that they may need to operate on him. Peter is upset at first when he learns that Dribble is dead, and then again is jealous when he sees Fudge get showered with attention and gifts when he comes home, but then his father comes home with a dog for Peter for being "a good sport '' and to compensate for the loss. Farley Drexel ' Fudge ' Hatcher -- Peter 's younger brother, whom he often resents. At the beginning of the book, Fudge (a nickname for his much - despised legal name, Farley Drexel) is two years old, and turns three in Chapter 5. He is a very loud, demanding, and mischievous toddler who is prone to violent temper tantrums. He has a very active imagination, and others -- including Sheila Tubman and the wife of one of his father 's clients -- adore him. In the final chapter, he (somehow) eats Peter 's pet turtle, Dribble, whole, killing him. He is hospitalized, and the doctors are able to help him defecate out Dribble 's remains. He is often perceived as a pest by Peter, but Fudge looks up to Peter and eventually Peter realizes the bond they have. Anne Hatcher -- The mother of Peter and Fudge, and wife of Warren. A caring mother, she shows love and devotion to her family and is very protective of Fudge. Her sometimes over-protective ways with him sometime cause problems for Peter; for example, when Fudge jumps off the jungle gym at the playground (believing he is a bird that will land safely), she screeches at Peter, holding him solely responsible and not even listening to his side of the story. However, she is quick to apologize for her snappy judgments, and later admits she got overly emotional with the aftermath of Fudge 's flying experience and took it out on Peter. Another time when Fudge ruined Peter 's school project, she spanked him, which surprised even Peter (up to this he believed everyone thought Fudge can do no wrong), but Anne remarks Fudge is at a point where he knew better than that. Warren Hatcher -- The father of Peter and Fudge, and husband of Anne. He works at an unnamed advertising agency, whose major clients in Tales are with Juicy - O (a fruit beverage that the Hatchers find rather noxious - tasting) and Toddle Bike (a manufacturer of plastic toy tricycles a la the Big Wheel and Green Machine); Fudge is hired for a commercial for the latter product. Although most of Warren 's clients are happy with his work and company, he also had his share of failures, such as losing the Juicy - O account. A loving father who wants what is best for his family, he is more conservative in rearing his sons than Anne, particularly with Fudge. For example, at one point in the book, when Fudge was going through a stage where he refused to eat at the table, Anne was worried sick over this. Warren finally settled the issue by saying "eat it or wear it '', and when Fudge refused, he dumped a bowl of corn flakes over his head. He begins eating, once again, after the cereal incident. Dribble -- Peter 's pet turtle. He won him at his best friend 's birthday party. Dribble is always annoyed by Fudge, which has led him to be swallowed whole by Fudge, killing him. Sheila Tubman -- Classmate of Peter and Jimmy, who lives with her family in the same apartment building as the Hatchers. Peter is annoyed at the very thought of her, considering her to be a bossy know - it - all who still has cooties. At times, she does assert herself by trying to control a school project she, Peter, and Jimmy were assigned to work on together (although their efforts are rewarded with an "A ''). She is sometimes allowed to help babysit Fudge. She has an older sister named Libby. It is hinted at, however briefly, that she may have a slight crush on Peter, although because of their bickering it is not evident. Jimmy Fargo - Peter 's best friend, who had a birthday party in the first chapter, and Peter won his pet turtle Dribble. They have a special rock collection in the park, and they hate Sheila Tubman, their annoying classmate, who 's obsessed with cooties. They ca n't stand working on a school project with her.

when was the first hockey world cup held

Hockey World Cup - wikipedia The Men 's Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer Olympics. There is also a Women 's Hockey World Cup, which has been held since 1974 and was organised by the International Federation of Women 's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) until 1981, when the governing bodies merged into the current International Hockey Federation in 1982. Five countries have dominated the event 's history. Pakistan is the most successful team, having won the tournament four times. The Netherlands and Australia have won three titles, and Germany has each won two titles. India won the tournament once. The 2014 tournament was held in The Hague, Netherlands from 2 to 14 June. Australia defeated Netherlands 6 -- 1 in the final, to win their third World Cup title. The 2018 tournament will be held in Bhubaneswar, India from 28 November to 16 December. The World Cup will expand to 16 teams in 2018, and FIH will evaluate the possibility of increasing it to 24 in 2022. The Hockey World Cup was first conceived by Pakistan 's Air Marshal Nur Khan. He proposed his idea to the FIH through Patrick Rowley, the first editor of World Hockey magazine. Their idea was approved on 26 October 1969, and adopted by the FIH Council at a meeting in Brussels on 12 April 1970. The FIH decided that the inaugural World Cup would be held in October 1971, in Pakistan. However, political issues would prevent that first competition from being played in Pakistan. The FIH had inadvertently scheduled the first World Cup to be played in Pakistan during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Furthermore, Pakistan and India had been at war with each other only six years earlier. When Pakistan invited India to compete in the tournament, a crisis arose. Pakistanis, led by cricketer Abdul Hafeez Kardar, protested against India 's participation in the Hockey World Cup. Given the intense political climate between Pakistan and India, the FIH decided to move the tournament elsewhere. In March 1971, coincidentally in the same month Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan, the FIH decided to move the first Hockey World Cup to the Real Club de Polo grounds in Barcelona, Spain, which was considered a neutral and peaceful European site. The FIH has set no requirements or limitations on the size of the competition. The 1971 Cup included only ten nations, the smallest World Cup to date. The 1978 Cup featured fourteen nations. The 2002 Cup featured sixteen nations, the largest World Cup to date. The remaining 9 World Cups have featured 12 nations. The first three tournaments were held every two years. The 1978 cup was the only tournament held three years from the previous one. It was halfway between the Summer Olympics hockey competition and has continued that way. In other words, the tournament has been held every four years ever since. The Hockey World Cup trophy was designed by the Bashir Moojid and created by the Pakistani Army. On 27 March 1971, in Brussels, the trophy was formally handed to FIH President Rene Frank by Mr H.E Masood, the Pakistani Ambassador to Belgium. The trophy consists of a silver cup with an intricate floral design, surmounted by a globe of the world in silver and gold, placed on a high blade base inlaid with ivory. At its peak is a model hockey stick and ball. Without its base, the trophy stands 120.85 mm (4.758 in) high. Including the base, the trophy stands 650 mm (26 in). It weighs 11,560 g (408 oz), including 895 g (31.6 oz) of gold, 6,815 g (240.4 oz) of silver, 350 g (12 oz) of ivory and 3,500 g (120 oz) of teak. The Hockey World Cup consists of a qualification stage and a final tournament stage. The format for each stage is the same. The qualification stage has been a part of the Hockey World Cup since 1977. All participating teams play in the qualification round. The teams divide into two or more pools and compete for a berth in the final tournament. The top two teams are automatically qualified and the rest of the berths are decided in playoffs. The final tournament features the continental champions and other qualified teams. Sometimes it also features the winners of the Summer Olympics ' hockey competition or the continental runners - up. The teams divide into pools once more and play a round robin tournament. The composition of the pools is determined using the current world rankings. The top two teams in each pool play in the semifinals for a place in the final. The bottom two teams in the semifinals have a third place playoff. The rest of the teams have playoffs to determine their final positions. If they are third or fourth in their pool, they play for fifth place; if they are fifth or sixth in their pool, they play for ninth place. Twenty - four teams have qualified for a Hockey World Cup. Of these, eleven teams have made it to the semifinals. Seven teams have made it through to the finals. To date, Pakistan has been the most successful team in the World Cup, with four titles from six appearances in the final. The Netherlands have also been successful, with three titles from six appearances in the final. Australia have been the most successful team in the World Cup in recent years. They won the tournament in 2010 and 2014, and now have three titles from five appearances in the final. Australia took the mantle from Germany who won in 2002 and 2006. India won their lone title in 1975. Below is a list of teams that have finished in the top four positions in the tournament: Nine nations have hosted the Hockey World Cup. Only the Netherlands (1973 and 1998) and Germany (2006) have won the tournament as hosts. Spain, England, and Pakistan emerged as host runners - up in the 1971, 1986 and 1990 tournaments. Australia placed third when it hosted the 1994 tournament in Sydney. To date, the finals of the Hockey World Cup have been contested by Asian, European and Oceania continental teams. Asian and European teams are tied with five titles each. Australia is the only team from Oceania to win the tournament. Neither the Americas nor Africa have ever won the title. Germany, India, the Netherlands and Spain are the only teams to have competed at each World Cup; 24 teams have competed in at least one World Cup. Total number of teams which have participated in the World Cups through 2018 is 25, using FIH 's view on successor teams

who sings the song i'm a fool to do your dirty work

David Palmer (vocalist) - wikipedia David Palmer is an American vocalist and songwriter, best known as a former member of Steely Dan and as the lyricist of the Carole King number two hit, "Jazzman ''. Palmer grew up in the New Jersey communities of Warren Township and Watchung and attended Watchung Hills Regional High School. His first band was the Myddle Class, formed in 1964 under the initial name The King Bees while members were still in high school. As the Myddle Class, the band performed at such clubs as the Night Owl in Greenwich Village, and released several 45s on the Tomorrow Records imprint before disbanding in 1969. Palmer next formed the Quinaimes Band with several Myddle Class members, which recorded an album for Elektra Records before disbanding shortly thereafter. At the insistence of ABC Records executives, Palmer joined Steely Dan in an early incarnation in 1972. He sang lead on two tracks on their debut album, Ca n't Buy A Thrill -- "Dirty Work '' and "Brooklyn (Owes the Charmer Under Me) '' -- as well as doubling parts of Donald Fagen 's vocals on "Reelin ' in the Years '', "Only a Fool Would Say That '', and "Change of the Guard '' to reach the high notes. He also sang lead on most of Steely Dan 's songs when performed live in their early concerts as a result of Fagen 's lack of live vocal power at this point. Fagen eventually took over as lead vocalist and Palmer left the band, although he did contribute backing vocals on the band 's subsequent release, Countdown to Ecstasy. After his exit from Steely Dan, Palmer worked with a number of songwriters, including Carole King in the composition of "Jazzman ''. He later formed the band Wha - Koo with Danny Douma. Wha - Koo released three albums, The Big Wha - Koo in 1977, Berkshire in 1978 and Fragile Line in 1979. He also contributed the song "Silhouette '' to the 1985 film Teen Wolf. Since 2002, David Palmer has been a digital photographer specializing in landscapes and fine art images.

13 reasons why season 1 episode 2 cast

13 Reasons Why - Wikipedia 13 Reasons Why (stylized onscreen as TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY) is an American mystery teen drama web television series based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and adapted by Brian Yorkey for Netflix. The series revolves around a high school student, Clay Jensen, and his friend Hannah Baker, a girl who committed suicide after suffering a series of demoralizing circumstances brought on by select individuals at her school. A box of cassette tapes recorded by Hannah before her suicide details thirteen reasons why she ended her life. Yorkey and Diana Son serve as showrunners on the series. The first season consists of thirteen episodes. The series is produced by July Moon Productions, Kicked to the Curb Productions, Anonymous Content and Paramount Television. Originally conceived as a film set to be released by Universal Pictures with Selena Gomez in the role of Hannah Baker, the adaptation was picked up as a television series by Netflix in late 2015. Gomez serves as an executive producer. The first season, and the special 13 Reasons Why: Beyond the Reasons, were released worldwide on Netflix on March 31, 2017. The series has received largely positive reviews from critics and audiences, who have praised its subject matter and casting, particularly the two leads, Dylan Minnette and Katherine Langford. It has attracted controversy from some, including mental health professionals, over the series ' graphic depiction of issues such as suicide and rape, along with other mature content. In May 2017, it was announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, scheduled to premiere in 2018. Teenager Clay Jensen returns home from school one day to find a mysterious box lying on his porch. Inside, he discovers seven double - sided cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker, his classmate and unrequited love, who tragically committed suicide two weeks earlier. On the tapes, Hannah unfolds an emotional audio diary, detailing the thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Her instructions are clear: each person who receives the package is one of the reasons why she killed herself. After each person finishes listening to the tapes, they must pass the package on to the next person. If anyone breaks the chain, a separate set of tapes will be released to the public. Each tape is addressed to a select person in her school, and details their involvement in her eventual suicide. Clay Jensen finds a box filled with audio cassette tapes anonymously left on his front doorstep. He plays the first in his father 's boombox and realizes they have been recorded by his recently deceased classmate Hannah Baker, before he accidentally drops and breaks the boombox when surprised by his mother. Clay steals his friend Tony 's Walkman to continue listening. Clay listens to the first tape, in which Hannah begins to relate the experiences that led to her suicide. She starts by sharing the story of her first kiss, with Justin Foley, who goes on to inadvertently spread a salacious rumor that begins the sequence of events leading to her suicide. Clay is revealed, through numerous short flashbacks, to have been in love with Hannah and to have worked with her at the local movie theater. Hannah reminisces about her friendship with two other new students: Jessica, who moves frequently because her father is in the Air Force, and Alex, who they met at a coffee shop. Jessica and Alex eventually begin a relationship and stop spending time with Hannah. When Alex breaks up with Jessica, she very publicly blames Hannah. In the present, Hannah 's mother, Olivia, finds a note in her daughter 's textbook that leads her to believe Hannah was being bullied. Clay asks Jessica about the tapes, which results in Bryce Walker 's circle of peers meeting to discuss how Clay is listening to Hannah 's recordings. As Clay attempts to pursue a romantic relationship with Hannah, her relationships are threatened by a "best / worst list '' made by Alex Standall, who has put a "target '' on Hannah. In the present, Hannah 's mother, Olivia Baker, seeks out the school principal about her suspicion of bullying and makes a disturbing discovery. In the midst of his investigation, Clay turns to Alex for answers, who not only feels regret for his actions on the tapes, but also warns Clay against trusting Tony, whom Clay later sees in a violent exchange with his brothers. As Justin tries to recuperate from his recent slump, Bryce strong - arms Clay and Alex into a drinking contest in an alleyway. Hannah hears someone outside her window, and confesses to her friend, Courtney, that she has a stalker. Courtney offers to help her catch the offender in the act. While waiting for the stalker to arrive, they play an alcohol - fueled game of truth or dare that leads to the two of them kissing on Hannah 's bed. The stalker, school photographer Tyler Down, takes a photo of the girls and sends it around the school. This effectively ends Courtney and Hannah 's friendship as Courtney distances herself from Hannah to avoid being revealed as one of the people in the photograph. In the present, Clay goes to Hannah 's house and talks to her mother, though is unable to admit how close he and Hannah were. He also confronts Tony about the incident with his brothers. Tony responds that "people have to make their own justice '' and proves he has an extra set of tapes. Inspired by this, Clay takes a naked picture of Tyler and sends it around the school in revenge. Courtney, afraid of her classmates finding out about her sexuality, spreads a rumor that the girls in the leaked photos are Hannah and Laura, an openly lesbian classmate. Courtney also adds to the rumor about Hannah and Justin, worsening Hannah 's poor reputation. In the present, Clay takes Courtney to visit Hannah 's grave. She leaves, not ready to face her involvement in the loss of her classmate or be more open about her sexuality. Tony arrives with Clay 's bike and gives him a tape with the song he and Hannah danced to at the Winter Formal. Later, Justin, Zach and Alex force Clay into the car with them by stealing his bike and scare him into silence about the tapes by driving over the speed limit. They are pulled over by the police but face no consequences as the officer is revealed to be Alex 's father. Clay denies knowing Hannah to his mother, who has been asked to represent the school in the lawsuit the Bakers are bringing. Hannah 's date on Valentine 's Day with Marcus does not go as planned due to the rumors that she is promiscuous. In the present, Alex gets into a fight with Montgomery and they both must appear before the student council. Clay helps Sheri on an assignment, and they nearly hook up, but Sheri reveals she is only there because she is on the tapes and wants Clay to like her despite her role in Hannah 's death. After Hannah refuses to go out with Zach, he gets revenge by sabotaging her emotionally during a class project. Zach removes compliments from Hannah 's box, affecting her self - confidence. In the present, Clay hears Zach 's tape and keys his car in an act of revenge, but things turn out to be different than they appeared. Clay is now having both auditory and visual hallucinations of Hannah during the day, including seeing her dead body on the floor of the basketball court during a game and hearing her tape playing over the school 's intercom system. He returns the tapes to Tony, unable to continue listening. Hannah is touched by poetry recited by fellow student Ryan Shaver, and joins the Evergreen Poetry Club, a place where people write and perform their own poetry, and listen and critique others. Hannah presents some extremely revealing and confessional poetry at the poetry club after Ryan encourages her. Ryan betrays her by publishing the poem without her knowledge or consent in his school magazine. Almost everyone in school finds the poem hilarious, but Clay is both touched and disturbed by it, not realizing Hannah is the author. In the present day, Tony confides to Clay about the night of Hannah 's death, and Clay takes back the tapes. Clay later gives the poem to Hannah 's mother. While hiding in Jessica 's room during a party, Hannah witnesses Bryce Walker raping an unconscious and intoxicated Jessica. In the present, Marcus warns Clay the worst is yet to come and again attempts to scare him into silence about the tapes, this time by planting drugs in his backpack to get him suspended from school. Clay finally admits to his mother that he and Hannah were close. After getting suspicious legal advice from his mother, he goes to Justin 's apartment to retrieve his bike and talk about getting justice for Jessica. Justin finally admits that what happened in the tapes is real, and claims it is better if Jessica does not know the truth. After the party, Hannah gets a ride home from her classmate, cheerleader Sheri Holland. They have what appears to be a minor accident, knocking over a stop sign. While Hannah wants to call the police to report it, Sheri refuses to do so, because she is afraid she will get in trouble. While Hannah is on her way to find a phone to call the authorities, the downed stop sign causes a serious accident at that intersection, resulting in the death of Clay 's friend Jeff Atkins, which was incorrectly considered a drunk driving accident. When Hannah tries to tell Clay about the stop sign, he pushes her away, thinking she is being unnecessarily dramatic. In the present, Jessica 's behavior becomes more erratic. Clay finds out that Sheri is trying to make up for her mistake in her own way, and he tells Jeff 's parents that Jeff was sober when he died. With Tony 's support, Clay finally listens to his tape and is overcome with guilt to the point of contemplating his own suicide because he feels he did not do enough to prevent Hannah 's death. Tony manages to calm him down. Justin finds out Jessica is at Bryce 's home. He confronts her there and admits that Bryce raped her on the night of the party, causing her to break up with him. Olivia Baker finds a list with the names of all the people on the tapes, although she does not know what the list means. After accidentally losing her parents ' store 's earnings, a depressed Hannah stumbles upon a party being thrown by Bryce. The night ends in tragedy when she ends up alone with him, and he rapes her in his hot tub. This leads Hannah to create a list of people (the one that her mother found in the previous episode) who she feels were responsible for leading her to her current circumstances, which becomes the inspiration for the creation of the tapes. In the present, everyone on Hannah 's list is subpoenaed to testify in the lawsuit between the Bakers and the school. The subjects of the tapes disagree over what to do. Tyler eventually suggests they pin everything on Bryce, but Alex refuses and says they should tell the truth. Sheri turns herself in. Clay goes to Bryce 's house, on the pretext of buying marijuana, to confront him about the events of the night he raped Hannah. Clay provokes Bryce to attack him and is badly beaten. However, Clay has been secretly recording their conversation and gets Bryce to admit that he raped Hannah. An unknown teenager with a gunshot wound to the head is treated by paramedics. Hannah begins to record the tapes and then visits Mr. Porter to tell him about her rape. Hannah secretly records the conversation, hoping he will help her. When he does not, she heads home and commits suicide by cutting her wrists and arms in a bathtub filled with water. In the present, Clay gives Tony the tape of his conversation with Bryce to copy. He confronts Mr. Porter about meeting with Hannah on her last day. He also hands over the tapes, including the additional tape containing Bryce 's confession. Clay tells Porter that he is the subject of the final tape. The depositions begin, Marcus and Courtney deny their involvement in Hannah 's death as much as possible. Zach and Jessica admit their mistakes. Before his deposition, Tyler hides ammunition and guns in his room, and then reveals the existence of the tapes during his interview. Alex is revealed to have been the teenager with the gunshot wound; he is in critical condition at the hospital. Justin leaves town out of guilt, but not before telling Bryce about the tapes. Jessica finally tells her father about her rape. At school, Clay reaches out to Skye Miller, his former friend, to avoid repeating the same mistakes he made with Hannah. Universal Studios purchased film rights to the novel on February 8, 2011, with Selena Gomez cast to play Hannah Baker. On October 29, 2015, it was announced that Netflix would be making a television adaptation of the book with Gomez instead serving as an executive producer. Tom McCarthy was hired to direct the first two episodes. The series is produced by Anonymous Content and Paramount Television with Gomez, McCarthy, Joy Gorman, Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Mandy Teefey, and Kristel Laiblin serving as executive producers. Filming for the show took place in the Northern Californian towns of Vallejo, Benicia, San Rafael, Crockett and Sebastopol during the summer of 2016. The first season and the special were released on Netflix on March 31, 2017. Therapy dogs were present on set for the actors because of the intense and emotional content of the series. On May 7, 2017, it was announced that Netflix had renewed the series for a second season. A short promo was released on various 13 Reasons Why social media accounts. Filming for the second season began on June 12, 2017, but was briefly halted in October in response to the then - ongoing California wildfires happening around the areas where the series was being filmed. The marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the second-most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered, garnering 48 % of the viewers that the second season of Daredevil received, which was the most viewed season according to Jumpshot. The series also showed an 18 % increase in week - over-week viewership from week one to week two. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click - stream data from an online panel of more than 100 million consumers '', looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company 's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season. The show has received positive reviews from critics, with much of the praise for the show has been directed at the cast 's performances, direction, story, visuals, improvements upon its source material, and mature approach to dark and adult subject matter. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 82 % approval rating with an average rating of 7.2 / 10 based on 49 reviews. The website 's critical consensus reads, "13 Reasons Why complements its bestselling source material with a gripping look at adolescent grief whose narrative maturity belies its YA milieu. '' Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 76 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating generally favorable reviews. Jesse Schedeen of IGN praised 13 Reasons Why, giving it a 9.2 out of 10, "Amazing '', stating that the show is "a very powerful and hard - hitting series '' and "ranks among the best high school dramas of the 21st century ''. Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe gave a glowing review for the show, saying, "The drama is sensitive, consistently engaging, and, most importantly, unblinking. '' Maureen Ryan of Variety asserts that the show "is undoubtedly sincere, but it 's also, in many important ways, creatively successful '' and called it "simply essential viewing ''. Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the entire season a score of B+, calling the show "a frank, authentically affecting portrait of what it feels like to be young, lost and too fragile for the world ''. Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter also praised the show, calling it "an honorably mature piece of young - adult adaptation '', calling its performances, direction, relevance and maturity as some of the show 's strongest points. The cast 's performances, particularly Katherine Langford as Hannah and Dylan Minnette as Clay, were frequently mentioned and widely lauded in several reviews. Schedeen of IGN praised the cast, particularly Minnette and Langford 's performances, stating: "Langford shines in the lead role... (and) embodies that optimism and that profound sadness (of Hannah 's) as well. Minnette 's Clay is, by design, a much more stoic and reserved character... and does a fine job in what 's often a difficult role. '' Gilbert of The Boston Globe praised the chemistry of Langford and Minnette, saying that "watching these two young actors together is pure pleasure '', while Schedeen of IGN also agreed, saying that they are "often at their best together, channeling just the right sort of warm but awkward chemistry you 'd expect from two teens who ca n't quite admit to their feelings for one another ''. Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter also praises both actors: "Langford 's heartbreaking openness makes you root for a fate you know is n't possible. The actress ' performance is full of dynamic range, setting it against Minnette 's often more complicated task in differentiating between moods that mostly go from uncomfortable to gloomy to red - eyed, hygiene - starved despair. '' Ryan of Variety also gave praise to not only the two leads, but also the supporting cast of actors, particularly Kate Walsh 's performance as Hannah 's mother, whom Ryan describes as "career - best work ''. Positive mentions from various critics, such as Ryan, Feinberg and Schedeen, were also given to the supporting cast of actors (most particularly Alisha Boe, Miles Heizer and Christian Navarro 's respective performances of Jessica, Alex and Tony). Liz Shannon Miller of Indiewire, who enjoyed the show and gave it a glowing score of B+, gave praise to the racial, gender and complex diversity of its supporting cast of teens. Another aspect frequently mentioned within several reviews was the show 's mature and emotional approach to dark and adult subject matter depicted in the show. This was positively reviewed by critics, such as Miller of Indiewire, who gave it a positive review of the season, particularly her mentions that "the adult edges to this story ring with honesty and truth '', but also states that this makes the show difficult to watch at times. Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter also states that the show is very difficult to watch at times, while Schedeen of IGN states that the show is "an often depressing and even uncomfortable show to watch... a pretty emotionally draining experience, particularly towards the end as the pieces really start to fall into place ''. Numerous critics also praised several aspects of the show. Feinberg praised the show 's directors, saying: "A Sundance - friendly gallery of directors including Tom McCarthy, Gregg Araki and Carl Franklin keeps the performances grounded and the extremes from feeling exploitative '', while Gilbert of The Boston Globe praised the storytelling: "The storytelling techniques are powerful... (as it) builds on the world established in the previous hour, as we continually encounter new facets of Hannah 's life and new characters. The background on the show keeps getting deeper, richer. '' Conversely, the series has also received criticism over its portrayal of teen angst. Mike Hale of The New York Times wrote a critical review, writing, "the show does n't make (Hannah 's) downward progress convincing. It too often feels artificial, like a very long public service announcement. '' He also criticized the plot device that has Clay listening to the tapes one by one instead of all in one sitting like the other teens did, which Hale felt was unbelievable: "It makes no sense as anything but a plot device, and you 'll find yourself, like Clay 's antagonists, yelling at him to listen to the rest of tapes already. '' Writing for The Guardian, Rebecca Nicholson praised some aspects of the show, including the performances from Minnette and Walsh, but was troubled by much of the plot, writing, "a storyline that suggests the love of a sweet boy might have sorted all this out added to an uneasy feeling that stayed with me ''. Nicholson was skeptical that the show would appeal to older viewers, unlike other series set in high school such as Freaks and Geeks and My So - Called Life: "It lacks the crossover wit of its forebears... It 's too tied up in conveying the message that terrible behaviour can have horrible consequences to deal in any subtleties or shades of feeling. It 's largely one - note -- and that note is horrifying. ' It has to get better, ' implores one student towards the end, but given its fairly open ending, an apparent season two setup, it does not seem as if there 's much chance of that happening. '' Washington Post television critic Hank Stuever wrote a negative review, finding 13 Reasons Why "contrived '' and implausible: "There are 13 episodes lasting 13 super-sullen hours -- a passive - aggressive, implausibly meandering, poorly written and awkwardly acted effort that is mainly about miscommunication, delivering no more wisdom or insight about depression, bullying and suicide than one of those old ABC Afterschool Specials people now mock for being so corny. '' He also wrote that he found Hannah 's suicide tapes "a protracted example of the teenager who fantasizes how everyone will react when she 's gone. The story... strikes me as remarkably, even dangerously, naive in its understanding of suicide, up to and including a gruesome, penultimate scene of Hannah opening her wrists in a bathtub. '' David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the series a tepid review, saying that it was plagued by character inconsistencies, particularly Hannah. He praised Langford 's "stunning performance '' but noted, "There are times when we simply do n't believe the characters, when what they do or say is n't consistent with who we 've been led to believe they are... At times, (Hannah) is self - possessed and indifferent at best to the behavior of the popular kids. At other times, though, relatively minor misperceived slights seem to send her into an emotional tailspin. No doubt, teenagers embody a constant whirl of conflicting emotions, but the script pushes the bounds of credibility here and there. '' He noted that overall, the series worked: "The structure is gimmicky and the characters inconsistent, but there are still at least 13 Reasons Why the series is worthy. '' The series has generated controversy over its portrayal of suicide and self - harm, causing Netflix to add strong advisory warnings prior to the first, twelfth, and thirteenth episodes. School psychologists and educators raised alarm about the series. The superintendent of Palm Beach County, Florida schools reportedly told parents that their schools had seen an increase in suicidal and self - harm behavior from students, and that some of those students "have articulated associations of their at - risk behavior to the 13 Reasons Why Netflix series ''. The Australian youth mental health service for 12 -- 25 year - olds, Headspace, issued a warning in late April 2017 over the graphic content featured in the series due to the increased number of calls to the service following the show 's release in the country. In response to the graphic nature of the show and New Zealand 's high youth suicide rate, which was the highest among the 34 OECD countries during 2009 to 2012, the Office of Film & Literature Classification in the country created a new rating, "RP18 '', allowing individuals aged 18 and over to watch the series alone and those below having to watch it with supervision from a parent or guardian. -- Executive producer Selena Gomez, in defense of the controversy surrounding the series In April 2017, the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) in the United States released a statement regarding the series, saying: "Research shows that exposure to another person 's suicide, or to graphic or sensationalized accounts of death, can be one of the many risk factors that youth struggling with mental health conditions cite as a reason they contemplate or attempt suicide. '' NASP sent a letter to school mental health professionals across the country about the series, reportedly a first for NASP in response to a television show. The following month, the United States Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology (SCCAP) released a statement also noting how strongly the show may serve as a trigger for self - injury among vulnerable youth and lamented the depiction of mental health professionals as ineffective for youth who have experienced trauma and may have been considering suicide. The statement implored Netflix to add a tag following each episode with mental health resources and a reminder that depression and suicide can be effectively treated by a qualified mental health professional such as a clinical child psychologist using evidence - based practice. Similarly, clinical psychologists such as Daniel J. Reidenberg and Erika Martinez, as well as mental health advocate MollyKate Cline of Teen Vogue magazine, have expressed concerns regarding the risk of suicide contagion. However, Eric Beeson, a counselor at The Family Institute at Northwestern University noted that "it 's unlikely that one show alone could trigger someone to attempt suicide. '' Mental health professionals have also criticized the series ' depiction of suicide itself, much of which violates widely promulgated recommendations for reporting on actual suicides or not depicting them in fiction in order to not encourage copycat suicides. The season finale, which depicts Hannah 's suicide in graphic detail, has been particularly criticized in this regard. Nic Sheff, a writer for the show, has defended it as intended to dispel the myth that suicides "quietly drift off '', and recalled how he himself was deterred from a suicide attempt by recalling a survivor 's account of how painful and horrifying it was. The NASP statement also criticized the show 's suggestion that bullying alone led Hannah to take her life, noting that while it may be a contributing factor, suicidal ideations far more often result from the bullied person having a treatable mental illness without adequate coping mechanisms. Alex Moen, a school counselor in Minneapolis, took issue with the show 's entire plotline as "... essentially a fantasy of what someone who is considering suicide might have -- that once you commit suicide, you can still communicate with your loved ones, and people will suddenly realize everything that you were going through and the depth of your pain... That the cute, sensitive boy will fall in love with you and seek justice for you, and you 'll be able to orchestrate it, and in so doing kind of still be able to live. '' Other counselors criticized the depiction of Hannah 's attempt to reach out to Mr. Porter as dangerously misleading, since not only does he miss obvious signs of her suicidal ideations, but says he can not report her sexual assault to the police without her identifying the assailant. School counselors are often portrayed as ineffective or clueless in popular culture, Moen says, but Porter 's behavior in the series goes beyond that to being unethical and possibly illegal. "It 's ridiculous! Counselors are not police. We do n't have to launch an investigation. We bring whatever information we do have to the police '', she told Slate. In May 2017, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) along with the Centre for Suicide Prevention (CSP) released a statement of similar concerns to the ones raised by NASP. CMHA indicated concern that the series may glamorize suicide, and that some content may lead to distress in viewers, and, particularly, in younger viewers. Furthermore, the portrayal of Hannah 's suicide does not follow the media guidelines as set out by the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP) and the American Association of Suicidology. While CMHA and CASP praised the show for raising awareness about "... this preventable health concern, '' adding that, "Raising awareness needs to be done in a safe and responsible manner. A large and growing body of Canadian and international research has found clear links between increases in suicide rates and harmful media portrayals of suicide. '' Ways in which the portrayals of suicide may cause harm, according to CMHA and CASP, include the following: "They may simplify suicide, such as, by suggesting that bullying alone is the cause; they may make suicide seem romantic, such as, by putting it in the context of a Hollywood plot line; they may portray suicide as a logical or viable option; they may display graphic representations of suicide which may be harmful to viewers, especially young ones; and / or they may advance the false notion that suicides are a way to teach others a lesson. '' One study found the release of 13 Reasons Why corresponded with between 900,000 and 1,500,000 more suicide related searches in the United States, including a 26 % increase in searches for "how to commit suicide, '' an 18 % increase for "commit suicide, '' and a 9 % increase for "how to kill yourself. '' A review, however, found that it is unclear if searching for information about suicide on the Internet relates to the risk of suicide.

when was the first rocket sent to mars

List of missions to Mars - wikipedia Mars and its moons have been a target for many spacecraft, with flyby, orbiter, lander and rover missions visiting the planet. In addition, two spacecraft, Rosetta and Dawn, have made flybys to get gravity assists for other missions; the former en route to comet 67P / Churyumov -- Gerasimenko, and the latter en route to asteroid 4 Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres. Three missions were dedicated to Phobos, but they did not achieve their targets. A number of Mars orbiters include some study of Martian system especially imaging Phobos and Deimos, but there has been no dedicated mission to Deimos There are a number of derelict orbiters around Mars whose location is not known precisely; there is a proposal to search for small moons, dust rings, and old orbiters with the Optical Navigation Camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. There should be 8 derelict Mars orbiters barring unforeseen events if they have not decayed as of 2016. One example is Mariner 9, which entered Mars orbit in 1971 and is expected to remain in orbit until approximately 2022, when the spacecraft is projected to enter the Martian atmosphere and either burn up or crash into the planet 's surface. The Viking 1 orbiter is predicted not to decay until at least 2019. One orbiter that is confirmed to have undergone Mars atmospheric entry is Mars Climate Orbiter. (see also List of Mars orbiters) Missions dedicated to explore the two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. Many missions to Mars have also included dedicated observations of the Moons, while this section is about missions focused solely on them. There have been three unsuccessful dedicated missions and many proposals. Because of the proximity of the Mars moons to Mars, any mission to them may also be considered a mission to Mars from some perspectives. There have been at least three proposals in the United States Discovery Program, including PADME, PANDORA, and MERLIN. The ESA has also considered a sample return mission, one of the latest known as Martian Moon Sample Return or MMSR, and it may use heritage from an asteroid sample return mission. In Japan, the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) is developing a sample return mission to Phobos, due to launch in 2024. This mission is called Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) and is proposed as a flagship Strategic Large Mission. MMX will build on the expertise the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA) would gain through the Hayabusa 2 and SLIM missions. As of January 2018, MMX is set for launch in September 2024. Three missions to land on Phobos have been launched; the Phobos program in the late 1980s saw the launch of Fobos 1 and Fobos 2, while the Fobos - Grunt sample return mission was launched in 2011. None of these missions were successful: Fobos 1 failed en route to Mars, Fobos 2 failed shortly before landing, and Fobos - Grunt never left low Earth orbit. Missions sent to the Martian system have returned data on Phobos and Deimos and missions specifically dedicated to the moons are a subset of missions Mars that often include dedicated goals to acquire data about these moons. An example of this is the imaging campaigns by Mars Express of the Mars moons. Osiris - Rex 2 was a proposal to make OR a double mission, with the other one collecting samples from the two Mars moons. In 2012, it was stated that this mission would be the both quickest and least expensive way to get samples from the Moons. The ' Red Rocks Project ', a part of Lockheed Martin 's "Stepping stones to Mars '' program, proposed to explore Mars robotically from Deimos.

who did the labor in the new england colonies

History of Connecticut - wikipedia The U.S. state of Connecticut began as three distinct settlements of Puritans from Massachusetts and England; they combined under a single royal charter in 1663. Known as the "land of steady habits '' for its political, social and religious conservatism, the colony prospered from the trade and farming of its ethnic English, Protestant population. The Congregational and Unitarian churches became prominent here. Connecticut played an active role in the American Revolution, and became a bastion of the conservative, business - oriented, Constitutionalism Federalist Party. The word "Connecticut '' is a French corruption of the Native American word quinetucket, which means "beside the long, tidal river ''. Reverend Thomas Hooker and the Rev. Samuel Stone led a group of about 100 who, in 1636, founded the settlement of Hartford, named for Stone 's place of birth: Hertford, in England. Called today "the Father of Connecticut, '' Thomas Hooker was a towering figure in the early development of colonial New England. He was one of the great preachers of his time, an erudite writer on Christian subjects, the first minister of Cambridge, Massachusetts, one of the first settlers and founders of both the city of Hartford and the state of Connecticut, and cited by many as the inspiration for the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, '' cited by some as the world 's first written democratic constitution that established a representative government. The state took a leading role in the industrial revolution of the United States, with its many factories establishing a worldwide reputation for advanced machinery. The educational and intellectual establishment was strongly led by Yale College, by scholars such as Noah Webster and by writers such as Mark Twain, who lived in Connecticut after establishing his association with the Mississippi River. Many Yankees left the farms to migrate west to New York and the Midwest in the early nineteenth century. Meanwhile, the heavy demand for labor in the nineteenth century attracted Irish, English and Italian immigrants, among many others, to the medium and small industrial cities. In the early 20th century, immigrants came from eastern and southern Europe. While the state produced few nationally prominent political leaders, Connecticut has usually been a swing state closely balanced between the parties. In the 21st century, the state is known for production of jet engines, nuclear submarines, and advanced pharmaceuticals. Various Algonquian tribes long inhabited the area prior to European settlement. The Dutch were the first Europeans in Connecticut. In 1614 Adriaen Block explored the coast of Long Island Sound, and sailed up the Connecticut River at least as far as the confluence of the Park River, site of modern Hartford. By 1623, the new Dutch West India Company regularly traded for furs there and ten years later they fortified it for protection from the Pequot Indians, as well as from the expanding English colonies. The site was named "House of Hope '' (also identified as "Fort Hoop '', "Good Hope '' and "Hope ''), but encroaching English colonists made them agree to withdraw in the 1650 Treaty of Hartford. By 1654 they were gone, before the English took over New Netherland in 1664. The first English colonists came from the Bay Colony and Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. Original Connecticut Colony settlements were at Windsor in 1633; at Wethersfield in 1634; and in 1636, at Hartford and Springfield, (the latter was administered by Connecticut until defecting in 1640.) The Hartford settlement was led by Reverend Thomas Hooker. In 1631, the Earl of Warwick granted a patent to a company of investors headed by William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, and Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke. They funded the establishment of the Saybrook Colony (named for the two lords) at the mouth of the Connecticut River, where Fort Saybrook, was erected in 1636. Another Puritan group left Massachusetts and started the New Haven Colony farther west on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in 1637. The Massachusetts colonies did not seek to govern their progeny in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Communication and travel were too difficult, and it was also convenient to have a place for nonconformists to go. The English settlement and trading post at Windsor especially threatened the Dutch trade, since it was upriver and more accessible to Native people from the interior. That fall and winter the Dutch sent a party upriver as far as modern Springfield, Massachusetts spreading gifts to convince the indigenous inhabitants in the area to bring their trade to the Dutch post at Hartford. Unfortunately, they also spread smallpox and, by the end of the 1633 -- 34 winter, the Native population of the entire valley was reduced from over 8,000 to less than 2,000. Europeans took advantage of this decimation by further settling the fertile valley. The Pequot War was the first serious armed conflict between the indigenous peoples and the European settlers in New England. The ravages of disease, coupled with trade pressures, invited the Pequots to tighten their hold on the river tribes. Additional incidents began to involve the colonists in the area in 1635, and next spring their raid on Wethersfield prompted the three towns to meet. Following the raid on Wethersfield, the war climaxed when 300 Pequot men, women, and children were burned out of their village, in Mystic. On May 1, 1637, leaders of Connecticut Colony 's river towns each sent delegates to the first General Court held at the meeting house in Hartford. This was the start of self - government in Connecticut. They pooled their militia under the command of John Mason of Windsor, and declared war on the Pequots. When the war was over, the Pequots had been destroyed as a tribe. In the Treaty of Hartford in 1638, the various New England colonies and their Native allies divided the lands of the Pequots amongst themselves. In 1637 a group of London merchants and their families, disgusted with the high Church Anglicanism around them, moved to Boston with the intention of creating a new settlement. The leaders were John Davenport, a Puritan minister, and Theophilus Eaton, a wealthy merchant who brought £ 3000 to the venture. They understood theology, business and trade, but had no farming experience. The good port locations in Massachusetts had been taken, but with the removal of the Pequot Indians, there were good harbors available on Long Island Sound. Eaton found a good location in spring 1638 which he named New Haven. The site seemed ideal for trade, with a good port lying between Boston and the Dutch city of New Amsterdam (New York City), and good access to the furs of the Connecticut River valley settlements of Hartford and Springfield. The settlers had no official charter or permissions, and did not purchase any land rights from the local Indians. Legally, they were squatters. Minister Davenport was in Oxford - educated intellectual, and he set up a grammar school and wanted to establish a college, but failed to do so. The leaders attempted numerous merchandising enterprises, but they all failed. Much of their money went into a great ship sent to London in 1646, with £ 5000 in cargo of grain and beaver pelts. It never arrived. The history of the New Haven colony was a series of disappointments and failures. The most serious problem was that it never had a legal title to exist, that is a charter. The larger, stronger colony of Connecticut to the north did obtain Royal charter in 1662, and it was aggressive in using its military superiority to force a takeover. New Haven had other weaknesses as well. The leaders were businessmen and traders, but they were never able to build up a large or profitable trade, because their agricultural base was poor, and the location was isolated. Farming on the poor soil of the colony was a formula for poverty and discouragement. New Haven 's political system was confined to church members only, and the refusal to widen it alienated many people. More and more it was realized that the New Haven colony was a hopeless endeavor. Oliver Cromwell recommended that they all migrate to Ireland, or to Spanish territories that he planned to conquer. After Cromwell died three regicides who (with Cromwell) had voted to execute King Charles I escaped from England and hid in New Haven. The colony had a very negative standing in London, and plans were afoot to merge it with New York. But the Puritans of New Haven were too conservative, and too wedded to their new land to leave or join the Anglicans in New York. One by one in 1662 - 64 the towns joined Connecticut until only three were left and they too submitted to the Connecticut Colony in 1664. They gave up their theocracy but became well integrated, with numerous important leaders and (after Yale opened in 1701), influential academics. The three River Towns, Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford, had created a general government when faced with the demands of a war. On January 14, 1639, freemen from these three settlements ratified the "Fundamental Orders of Connecticut '' in what John Fiske called "the first written constitution known to history that created a government. It marked the beginnings of American democracy, of which Thomas Hooker deserves more than any other man to be called the father. The government of the United States today is in lineal descent more nearly related to that of Connecticut than to that of any of the other thirteen colonies. '' Rapid growth and expansion grew under this new regime. On April 22, 1662, the Connecticut Colony succeeded in gaining a Royal Charter that embodied and confirmed the self - government that they had created with the Fundamental Orders. The only significant change was that it called for a single Connecticut government with a southern limit at the Long Island Sound, including today Suffolk County on Long Island, and a western limit of the Pacific Ocean, which meant that this charter was still in conflict with the New Netherland colony. Indian pressures were relieved for some time by success in the ferocious Pequot War. King Philip 's War (1675 -- 1676) spilled over from Massachusetts; Connecticut provided men and supplies. Victory removed any remaining warlike Native American influences in Connecticut. The colonists had seen some Indians as a potential deadly threat, and mobilized during both the Pequot war and King Philip 's War to eliminate them. More than three - fourths of all adult men provided some form of military service. In 1686, Sir Edmund Andros was commissioned as the Royal Governor of the Dominion of New England. Andros maintained that his commission superseded Connecticut 's 1662 charter. At first, Connecticut ignored this situation. But in late October 1687, Andros arrived with troops and naval support. Governor Robert Treat had no choice but to convene the assembly. Andros met with the governor and General Court on the evening of October 31, 1687. Governor Andros praised their industry and government, but after he read them his commission, he demanded their charter. As they placed it on the table, people blew out all the candles. When the light was restored, the charter was missing. According to legend, it was hidden in the Charter Oak. Sir Edmund named four members to his Council for the Government of New England and proceeded to his capital at Boston. Since Andros viewed New York and Massachusetts as the important parts of his Dominion, he mostly ignored Connecticut. Aside from some taxes demanded and sent to Boston, Connecticut also mostly ignored the new government. When word arrived that the Glorious Revolution had placed William and Mary on the throne, the citizens of Boston arrested Andros and sent him back to England in chains. The Connecticut court met and voted on May 9, 1689 to restore the old charter. They also reelected Robert Treat as governor each year until 1698. According to the 1650 Treaty of Hartford with the Dutch, the western boundary of Connecticut ran north from the west side of Greenwich Bay "provided the said line come not within 10 miles (16 km) of Hudson River. '' On the other hand, Connecticut 's original charter in 1662 granted it all the land to the "South Sea '' (i.e. the Pacific Ocean). Needless to say, this brought it into territorial conflict with those states which then lay between Connecticut and the Pacific. A patent issued on March 12, 1664, granted the Duke of York (later James II & VII) "all the land from the west side of Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay. '' In October 1664, Connecticut and New York agreed to grant Long Island to New York, and establish the boundary between Connecticut and New York as a line from the Mamaroneck River "north - northwest to the line of the Massachusetts '', crossing the Hudson River near Peekskill and the boundary of Massachusetts near the northwest corner of the current Ulster County, New York. This agreement was never really accepted, however, and boundary disputes continued. The Governor of New York issued arrest warrants for residents of Greenwich, Rye, and Stamford, and founded a settlement north of Tarrytown in what Connecticut considered part of its territory in May 1682. Finally, on November 28, 1683, the states negotiated a new agreement establishing the border as 20 miles (32 km) east of the Hudson River, north to Massachusetts. In recognition of the wishes of the residents, the 61,660 acres (249.5 km) east of the Byram River making up the Connecticut Panhandle were granted to Connecticut. In exchange, Rye was granted to New York, along with a 1.81 - mile - wide (2.91 km) strip of land running north from Ridgefield to Massachusetts alongside Dutchess, Putnam, and Westchester Counties, New York, known as the "Oblong ''. In the 1750s, the western frontier remained on the other side of New York. In 1754 the Susquehannah Company of Windham, Connecticut obtained from a group of Native Americans a deed to a tract of land along the Susquehanna River which covered about one - third of present - day Pennsylvania. This venture met with the disapproval of not only Pennsylvania, but also of many in Connecticut including the Deputy Governor, who opposed Governor Jonathan Trumbull 's support for the company, fearing that pressing these claims would endanger the charter of the colony. In 1769, Wilkes - Barre was founded by John Durkee and a group of 240 Connecticut settlers. The British government finally ruled "that no Connecticut settlements could be made until the royal pleasure was known ''. In 1773 the issue was settled in favor of Connecticut and Westmoreland, Connecticut was established as a town and later a county. Pennsylvania did not accede to the ruling, however, and open warfare broke out between them and Connecticut, ending with an attack in July 1778, which killed approximately 150 of the settlers and forced thousands to flee. While they periodically attempted to regain their land, they were continuously repulsed, until, in December 1783, a commission ruled in favor of Pennsylvania. After complex litigation, in 1786, Connecticut dropped its claims by a deed of cession to Congress, in exchange for freedom for war debt and confirmation of the rights to land further west in present - day Ohio, which became known as the Western Reserve. Pennsylvania granted the individual settlers from Connecticut the titles to their land claims. Although the region had been called Westmoreland County, Connecticut, it has no relationship with the current Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The Western Reserve, which Connecticut received in recompense for giving up all claims to any Pennsylvania land in 1786, constituted a strip of land in what is currently northeast Ohio, 120 miles (190 km) wide from east to west bordering Lake Erie and Pennsylvania. Connecticut owned this territory until selling it to the Connecticut Land Company in 1795 for $1,200,000, which resold parcels of land to settlers. In 1796, the first settlers, led by Moses Cleaveland, began a community which was to become Cleveland, Ohio; in a short time, the area became known as "New Connecticut ''. An area 25 miles (40 km) wide at the western end of the Western Reserve, set aside by Connecticut in 1792 to compensate those from Danbury, New Haven, Fairfield, Norwalk, and New London who had suffered heavy losses when they were burnt out by fires set by British raids during the War of Independence, became known as the Firelands. By this time, however, most of those granted the relief by the state were either dead or too old to actually move there. The Firelands now constitutes Erie and Huron Counties, as well as part of Ashland County, Ohio. Connecticut was the land of steady habits, with a conservative elite that dominated colonial affairs. The forces of liberalism and democracy emerged slowly, encouraged by the entrepreneurship of the business community, and the new religious freedom stimulated by the First Great Awakening. Yale College was founded in 1701 to educate ministers and civil leaders. After moving about it settled in New Haven. Just as Yale College dominated Connecticut 's intellectual life, the Congregational church dominated religion in the colony. It was officially established until 1818, and the residents of each town were all required to attend Sunday services and to pay taxes to support it (or else prove they supported a Baptist or some other Protestant church). Centralizing forces made the Congregational church even more powerful and more conservative. The Saybrook Platform was a new constitution for the Congregational church in 1708. Religious and civic leaders in Connecticut around 1700 were distressed by the colony - wide decline in personal religious piety and in church discipline. The colonial legislature sponsored a meeting in Saybrook comprising eight Yale trustees and other colonial worthies. It drafted articles which rejected extreme localism or Congregationalism that had been inherited from England, and replaced it with a system similar to what the Presbyterians had. The Congregational church was now to be led by local ministerial associations and consociations comprising ministers and lay leaders from a specific geographical area. Instead of the congregation from each local church selecting its minister, the associations now had the responsibility to examine candidates for the ministry, and to oversee a behavior of the ministers. The consociations (where laymen were powerless) could impose discipline on specific churches and judge disputes that arose. The result was a centralization of power that bothered many local church activists. However, the official associations responded by disfellowshipping churches that refuse to comply. The system survived to the mid-nineteenth century, well after Congregationalism was officially this disestablished in the state of Connecticut. The Platform marked a conservative counter-revolution against a non-conformist tide which had begun with the Halfway Covenant and would later culminate in the Great Awakening in the 1740s. The Great Awakening bitterly divided Congregationalists between the "New Lights '' or "Arminians '' who welcomed the revivals, and the "Old Lights '' or "Calvinists '' who used governmental authority to suppress revivals. Theologically, the Arminians believed that every person could be saved by experiencing a religious conversion and one of the revivals; the Calvinists held that everyone 's fate was a matter of predestination, and revivals were a false religion. The legislature, controlled by the Old Lights, in 1742 passed an "Act for regulating abuses and correcting disorder in ecclesiastical affairs '' that sharply restricted ministers from leading revivals. Another law was passed to prevent the opening of a New Light seminary. Numerous New Light evangelicals were imprisoned or fined. The New Lights responded by their own political organization, fighting it out town by town. Although the religious issues decline somewhat after 1748, the New Light versus Old Light factionalism spilled into other issues, such as disputes over currency, and Imperial issues. However, the divisions involved did not play a role in the coming of the American Revolution, which both sides supported. The career of a soldier was not held in high prestige in Connecticut. However, London demanded some assistance in its numerous wars against France, so the colony sent soldiers into Canada, 1709 - 1711, during Queen Anne 's War. Silesky argues that Connecticut followed the same procedure for the rest of the century. Elites in control of the government used cash bounties to encourage poor men to volunteer to serve temporarily. Governor Jonathan Trumbull was elected every year from 1769 to 1784. Connecticut 's political system was practically unaffected by the Revolution. The conservative elite strongly supported the American revolution, and the forces of Loyalism were weak. Connecticut designated four delegates to the Second Continental Congress who would sign the Declaration of Independence: Samuel Huntington, Roger Sherman, William Williams, and Oliver Wolcott. In 1775, in the wake of the clashes between British regulars and Massachusetts militia at Lexington and Concord, Connecticut 's legislature authorized the outfitting of six new regiments, with some 1,200 Connecticut troops on hand at the Battle of Bunker Hill in June 1775. Getting word in 1777 of Continental Army supplies in Danbury, the British landed an expeditionary force of some 2,000 troops in Westport, who marched to Danbury and destroyed much of the depot along with homes in Danbury. On the return march, Continental Army troops and militia led by General David Wooster and General Benedict Arnold engaged the British at Ridgefield in 1777, which would deter future strategic landing attempts by the British for the remainder of the war. For the winter of 1778 - 79, General George Washington decided to split the Continental Army into three divisions encircling New York City, where British General Sir Henry Clinton had taken up winter quarters. Major General Israel Putnam chose Redding as the winter encampment quarters for some 3,000 regulars and militia under his command. The Redding encampment allowed Putnam 's soldiers to guard the replenished supply depot in Danbury and support any operations along Long Island Sound and the Hudson River Valley. Some of the men were veterans of the winter encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania the previous winter. Soldiers at the Redding camp endured supply shortages, cold temperatures and significant snow, with some historians dubbing the encampment "Connecticut 's Valley Forge. '' The state was also the launching site for a number of raids against Long Island orchestrated by Samuel Holden Parsons and Benjamin Tallmadge, and provided men and material for the war effort, especially to Washington 's army outside New York City. General William Tryon raided the Connecticut coast in July 1779, focusing on New Haven, Norwalk, and Fairfield. The French General the Comte de Rochambeau celebrated the first Catholic Mass in Connecticut at Lebanon in summer 1781 while marching through the state from Rhode Island to rendezvous with General George Washington in Dobbs Ferry, New York. New London and Groton Heights were raided in September 1781 by Connecticut native and turncoat Benedict Arnold. New England was the stronghold of the Federalist party. One historian explains how well organized it was in Connecticut: Given the power of the Federalists, the Republicans had to work harder to win. In 1806, the state leadership sent town leaders instructions for the forthcoming elections. Every town manager was told by state leaders "to appoint a district manager in each district or section of his town, obtaining from each an assurance that he will faithfully do his duty. '' Then, the town manager was instructed to compile lists and total up the number of taxpayers, the number of eligible voters, how many were "decided republicans, '' "decided federalists, '' or "doubtful, '' and finally to count the number of supporters who were not currently eligible to vote but who might qualify (by age or taxes) at the next election. These highly detailed returns were to be sent to the county manager. They, in turn, were to compile county - wide statistics and send it on to the state manager. Using the newly compiled lists of potential voters, the managers were told to get all the eligibles to the town meetings, and help the young men qualify to vote. At the annual official town meeting, the managers were told to, "notice what republicans are present, and see that each stays and votes till the whole business is ended. And each District - Manager shall report to the Town - Manager the names of all republicans absent, and the cause of absence, if known to him. '' Of utmost importance, the managers had to nominate candidates for local elections, and to print and distribute the party ticket. The state manager was responsible for supplying party newspapers to each town for distribution by town and district managers. This highly coordinated "get - out - the - vote '' drive would be familiar to modern political campaigners, but was the first of its kind in world history. Connecticut prospered during the era, as the seaports were busy and the first textile factories were built. The American Embargo and the British blockade during the War of 1812 severely hurt the export business, and bolstered the Federalists who strongly opposed the Embargo and the War of 1812. The cutoff of imports from Britain did stimulate the rapid growth of factories to replace the textiles and machinery. Eli Whitney of New Haven was a leader of the engineers and inventors who made the state a world leader in machine tools and industrial technology generally. The state was known for its political conservatism, typified by its Federalist party and the Yale College of Timothy Dwight. The foremost intellectuals were Dwight and Noah Webster, who compiled his great dictionary in New Haven. Religious tensions polarized the state, as the established Congregational Church, in alliance with the Federalists, tried to maintain its grip on power. The failure of the Hartford Convention in 1814 wounded the Federalists, who were finally upended by the Republicans in 1817. Up until this time, Connecticut had adhered to the 1662 Charter, and with the independence of the American colonies over forty years prior, much of what the Charter stood for was no longer relevant. In 1818, a new constitution was adopted that was the first piece of written legislation to separate church and state in Connecticut, and give equality all religions. Gubernatorial powers were also expanded as well as increased independence for courts by allowing their judges to serve life terms. Connecticut started off with the raw materials of abundant running water and navigable waterways, and using the Yankee work ethic quickly became an industrial leader. Between the birth of the U.S. patent system in 1790 and 1930, Connecticut had more patents issued per capita than any other state; in the 1800s, when the U.S. as a whole was issued one patent per three thousand population, Connecticut inventors were issued one patent for every 700 -- 1000 residents. Connecticut 's first recorded invention was a lapidary machine, by Abel Buell of Killingworth, in 1765. Starting in the 1830s, and accelerating when Connecticut abolished slavery entirely in 1848, African Americans from in - and out - of - state began relocating to urban centers for employment and opportunity, forming new neighborhoods such as Bridgeport 's Little Liberia. In 1832, Quaker schoolteacher Prudence Crandall created the first integrated schoolhouse in the United States by admitting Sarah Harris, the daughter of a free African American farmer in the local community, to her boarding school in Canterbury. Many prominent townspeople objected and pressured to have Harris dismissed from the school, but Crandall refused. Families of the current students removed their daughters. Consequently, Crandall ceased teaching white girls altogether and opened up her school strictly to African American girls. In 1995, the Connecticut General Assembly designated Prudence Crandall as the state 's official heroine. Connecticut manufacturers played a leading role in supplying the Union forces with rifles, cannon, ammunition, and military materiel during the Civil War. The state furnished 55,000 men. They were formed into thirty full regiments of infantry, including two in the U.S. Colored Troops made up of black men and white officers. Two regiments of heavy artillery served as infantry toward the end of the war. Connecticut also supplied three batteries of light artillery and one regiment of cavalry. The Navy attracted 250 officers and 2100 men. A number of Connecticut men became Union generals; Gideon Welles was a moderate whom Lincoln made Secretary of the Navy. Casualties were high: 2088 were killed in combat, 2801 died from disease, and 689 died in Confederate prison camps. Politics became red hot during the war. A surge of national unity in 1861 brought thousands flocking to the colors from every town and city. However, as the war became a crusade to end slavery, many Democrats (especially Irish Catholics) pulled back. The Democrats took a peace position and included many Copperheads willing to let the South secede. The intensely fought 1863 election for governor was narrowly won by the Republicans. Connecticut 's extensive industry, its dense population, its flat terrain, its proximity to metropolitan centers, and the wealth of its residents made it favorable grounds for railroad building, starting in 1839. By 1840, 102 miles of line were in operation, growing to 402 in 1850 and 601 in 1860. The main development after the Civil War was the consolidation of many small local lines into the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad -- popularly called "the Consolidated. '' It sought a monopoly of all transportation, including urban streetcar lines, inter-urban trolleys, and freighters and passenger steamers on Long Island Sound. It was a highly profitable enterprise, until it was bought out in 1903 and suffered serious mismanagement. The New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, commonly called the New Haven, dominated Connecticut travel after 1872. New York 's leading banker, J.P. Morgan, had grown up in Hartford and had a strong interest in the New England economy. Starting in the 1890s Morgan began financing the major New England railroads, and dividing territory so they would not compete. In 1903 he brought in Charles Mellen as president (1903 - 1913). The goal, richly supported by Morgan 's financing, was to purchase and consolidate the main railway lines of New England, merge their operations, lower their costs, electrify the heavily used routes, and modernize the system. With less competition and lower costs, there supposedly would be higher profits. The New Haven purchased 50 smaller companies, including steamship lines, and built a network of light rails (electrified trolleys) that provided inter-urban transportation for all of southern New England. By 1912, the New Haven operated over 2000 miles of track, and 120,000 employees. It practically monopolized traffic in a wide swath from Boston to New York City. Morgan 's quest for monopoly angered reformers during the Progressive Era, most notably Boston lawyer Louis Brandeis, who fought the New Haven for years. Mellen 's abrasive tactics alienated public opinion, led to high prices for acquisitions and to costly construction. The accident rate rose when efforts were made to save on maintenance costs. Debt soared from $14 million in 1903 to $242 million in 1913. Also in 1913 it was hit by an anti-trust lawsuit by the federal government and was forced to give up its trolley systems. The advent of automobiles, trucks and buses after 1910 slashed the profits of the New Haven. The line went bankrupt in 1935, was reorganized and reduced in scope, went bankrupt again in 1961, and in 1969 was merged into the Penn Central system, which itself went bankrupt. The remnants of the system are now part of Conrail. The automotive revolution came much faster than anyone expected, especially the railroads. In 1915 Connecticut had 40,000 automobiles; five years later it had 120,000. There was even faster growth in trucks from 7,000 to 24,000. Local government started upgrading the roads, while entrepreneurs opened dealerships, gasoline stations, repair shops and motels. The Republicans dominated state politics after 1896, and had a lock on the legislature where the one - town, one representative rule guaranteed that small rural towns could easily outvote the growing cities. While the Republicans developed factions over personalities, they drew together for elections. The Democrats had more internal dissension over issues, particularly the liberalism of William Jennings Bryan, and they were weakened in general elections. The rural Yankee Democrats battled the urban Irish for control of the state party. Most of the factory workers voted Republican, except the Irish Catholics who were Democrats, so most of the industrial cities voted Republican. In 1910, the Democrats elected their gubernatorial candidate Simeon Baldwin, a prominent professor at the Yale Law School. As the Republicans split between President William Taft and ex-president Theodore Roosevelt, the Democrats flourished in 1912, carrying the state for president, reelecting Baldwin, sweeping all five congressional districts with ethnic Irish candidates, and taking the state Senate. Only the malapportioned House remained in Republican hands and dominated by rural areas. The state did not participate much in the "progressive era, '' and the Democrats passed only one piece of liberal legislation; it set up a system of workman 's compensation. In 1914, the Republicans pulled themselves together and resumed their control of state politics. J. Henry Roraback was the Republican state leader from 1912 to his death in 1937. His machine, says Lockard, was "efficient, conservative, penurious, and in absolute control. '' Until the New Deal coalition of the 1930s pulled ethnic voters solidly into the Democratic Party, Roraback was unbeatable with his strong rural organization, funding from the business community, conservative policies, and a hierarchical party organization. Connecticut was the last state (in 1955) to adopt the party primary system, and it was used only if a loser wanted to challenge the choice of the state convention. When World War I broke out in 1914, Connecticut 's large machine industry received major contracts from British, Canadian, and French interests, as well as the U.S. forces. The largest munitions firms were Remington in Bridgeport, Winchester in New Haven, and Colt in Hartford, as well as the large federal arsenal in Bridgeport. The state enthusiastically supported the American war effort in 1917 - 1918, with large purchases of war bonds and a further expansion of war industry, and emphasis on increasing food production in the farms. Thousands of state, local and volunteer groups mobilized for the war effort, and were coordinated by the Connecticut State Council of Defense. Young men were eager to serve whether as volunteers or draftees. As the war ended the worldwide epidemic of "Spanish Flu '' hit the state. Fatalities were high because the state was a travel hub, was heavily urbanized so germs spread faster, and had many recent immigrants in densely settled areas. An estimated 8500 - 9000 people died, about one percent of the population, and about one - quarter contracted the disease. Connecticut factories in Bridgeport, New Haven, Waterbury and Hartford were magnets for European immigrants. The largest groups were Italian, and Polish and other Eastern Europeans. They brought Catholic unskilled labor to a historically Protestant state. A significant number of Jewish immigrants also arrived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Connecticut 's population was almost 30 % foreign - born by 1910. These ethnic groups supported the World War (the small numbers of German Americans tried to keep a low profile, encountering hostility and suspicion after the US entered the war.) Ethnic organizations supported an Americanization program for the many recent immigrants. Since transatlantic civilian travel was almost impossible in 1914 - 20, the flow of new immigrants ended. Recently arrived Italians, Poles and others had to cancel plans to return to their home villages. They moved up as higher - paying jobs opened in the munitions industry. They deepened their roots in American society, and became permanent residents. Instead of identifying with their former ancestral villages, the Italians developed a new pride in being both Americans and Italians. Their children, born in the U.S. and bilingual, flourished economically in the prosperous 1920s. The Poles enlisted in large numbers, and generously supported war bond efforts. They were motivated in part by the government 's commitment to a process to support an independent Poland, which was achieved after the end of the war. Nativists in the 1920s opposed the new immigrants as a threat to the state 's traditional social and political values. The Ku Klux Klan had a small anti-Catholic and anti-immigrant following in Connecticut in the 1920s, reaching about 15,000 members before its collapse nationwide in 1926 following scandals involving top leaders. With rising unemployment in urban and rural areas producing disaffection with Republican leaders, Connecticut Democrats saw a chance to return to power. The hero of the movement was Yale English professor Governor Wilbur Lucius Cross (1931 -- 1939), who emulated much of Franklin D. Roosevelt 's New Deal policies by creating new public services, contributing to infrastructure projects, and instituting a minimum wage. The Merritt Parkway was constructed in this period as part of the investment in infrastructure. In 1938, the state Democratic Party was wracked by controversy, and the Republicans elected Governor Raymond E. Baldwin. Connecticut became a highly competitive, two - party state. On September 21, 1938, the most destructive storm in New England history struck eastern Connecticut, killing hundreds of people. The eye of the "Long Island Express '' hurricane passed just west of New Haven and devastated the Connecticut shoreline between Old Saybrook and Stonington, which lacked the partial protection from the full force of wind and waves provided to the western coast by the barrier of Long Island, New York. The hurricane caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes and businesses. In New London, a 500 - foot sailing ship was driven into a warehouse complex, causing a major fire. Heavy rainfall caused the Connecticut River to flood downtown Hartford and East Hartford. An estimated 50,000 trees fell onto roadways. The lingering Depression soon gave way to an economic buildup as the United States invested in its defense industry before and during World War II (1941 -- 1945). Roosevelt 's call for America to be the Arsenal of Democracy led to remarkable growth in munition - related industries, such as airplane engines, radio, radar, proximity fuzes, rifles, and a thousand other products. Pratt and Whitney made airplane engines, Cheney sewed silk parachutes, and Electric Boat built submarines. This was coupled with traditional manufacturing including guns, ships, uniforms, munitions, and artillery. Connecticut manufactured 4.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II, ranking ninth among the 48 states. Ken Burns focused on Waterbury 's munitions production in his 2007 miniseries The War. Although most munitions production ended in 1945, new industries had resulted from the war, and manufacturing of high tech electronics and airplane parts continued. Connecticut 's suburbs thrived as people moved to newer housing via subsidized highways, while its cities peaked in the 1950s and then began a slow downhill slide as population spread into widely dispersed regions. Connecticut built the first nuclear - powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN - 571) and other essential weapons for The Pentagon. At the beginning of the 1960s, the increased job market gave the state the highest per capita income in the nation. The increased standard of living could be seen in the various suburban neighborhoods that began to develop outside major cities. Construction of major highways such as the Connecticut Turnpike, subsidized by federal investment, resulted in former small towns becoming sites for large - scale residential and retail development, a trend that continues to this day, with offices also moving to new locations. Fairfield County, Connecticut 's Gold Coast, was a favorite residence of many executives who worked in New York City. It attracted scores of corporate headquarters from New York, especially in the 1970s, when Connecticut had no state income tax. Connecticut offered ample inexpensive office space, high quality of life to people who did not want to live in New York City, and excellent public schools. The state did not offer any tax incentives for corporations to move their headquarters. Connecticut industrial workers were very well - paid, many of them in defense industries building nuclear submarines at Electric Boat shipyards, helicopters at Sikorsky, and jet engines at Pratt & Whitney. Labor unions were very powerful after the war, peaking in clout in the early 1970s. Since then the private sector labor unions have dramatically declined in size and influence with the decline in industry as factories closed and jobs were moved out of state and offshore. The public - sector unions, covering teachers, police, and city and state employees, have become more powerful, with influence in the Democratic Party. Deindustrialization left many industrial centers with empty factories and mills and high unemployment. As wealthier whites moved to suburbs, African American and Latino made up a higher proportion of urban populations, reflecting their later arrival in the Great Migration and immigration, and relative inability to find and move to other jobs. They had gained middle - class status through good - paying industrial jobs and became stranded. African Americans and Latinos inherited againg urban spaces that were no longer a high priority for the state or private industry. By the 1980s crime and urban blight were major issues. The poor conditions were catalysts for militant movements pushing to gentrify ghettos and desegregate the urban school systems, which were surrounded by majority - white suburbs. In 1987, Hartford became the first United States city to elect an African - American woman as mayor, Carrie Saxon Perry. Connecticut had very strong state parties, with the GOP led by leaders, such as A. Searle Pinney. John Bailey was the state chairman of the Democrats from 1946 to his death in 1975; he was also the party 's national chairman, 1961 until 1968. These party leaders controlled their legislative delegations and ran the state conventions that selected nominees for the top offices. The old WASP element was still a factor in rural Connecticut, but Catholics comprised 44 % of the state 's population and dominated all of the industrial cities. With the ethnics loyal to the Democratic Party, and labor unions at their peak, the Democratic Party strongly endorsed the New Deal coalition and its liberalism. The Republican Party was mildly liberal, typified by Senator Prescott Bush, a wealthy Yankee whose son and grandson were later each elected as president from their new conservative base in Texas. Connecticut had some difficulty in projecting its identity, with no big - league sports teams and its media markets dominated by outside television stations in New York, Providence, Rhode Island and Springfield, Massachusetts. Bailey 's contact with the liberal element that dominated the Democratic Party was Ella Grasso. He promoted her from the legislature, to Secretary of State, to Congress, and finally to the governorship. Bailey 's usual success in dictating the state ticket was upset in 1970, when the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Congressman Thomas Meskill, defeated a lackluster Democrat. More complex was the situation of Senator Thomas Dodd, a Democrat who had been censured by the Senate for his misuse of campaign funds. Dodd lost the Democratic primary, but ran as an independent and split the vote. The result was that liberal Republican Lowell Weicker won the Senate seat with 42 % of the vote. Bailey had an easier time in 1974 gaining re-election of Senator Abe Ribicoff. In 1950 Ribicoff was elected as the first Jewish and non-WASP governor in the state 's history. Weicker was repeatedly reelected until being narrowly defeated in 1988. He was elected governor in 1990 as an independent. In 1974 Democrats elected as governor Ella T. Grasso, the daughter of Italian immigrants. She was the first woman of any state to be elected governor in her own right. She was reelected in 1978. She faced a major crisis in 1978 when "The Blizzard of 78 '' dropped 30 inches of snow across the state, crippling highways and making virtually all roads impassible. She "Closed the State '' by proclamation, and forbade all use of public roads by businesses and citizens, closing all businesses. Effectively residents were restricted to their homes. This relieved the rescue and cleanup authorities from the need to help the mounting number of stuck cars, and allowed clean - up and emergency services for shut - ins to proceed. The crisis ended on the third day, and Grasso won accolades from all state sectors for her leadership and strength. Connecticut 's dependence on the defense industry posed an economic challenge at the end of the Cold War. The resulting budget crisis helped elect Lowell Weicker as Governor on a third party ticket in 1990. Despite campaigning against a state income tax, Weicker 's remedy to the budget crisis, a state income tax, proved effective in balancing the budget but was politically unpopular. Weicker retired after a single term. Until the late nineteenth century Connecticut agriculture included tobacco farms. Intensive family Burger who in immigrants from the West Indies, Puerto Rico, and the black South. In the off - season they turn to the cities for temporary apartments, schooling and services, but with the decline of tobacco they moved there permanently. With newly "reconquered '' land, the Pequots initiated plans for the construction of a multimillion - dollar casino complex to be built on reservation land. The Foxwoods Casino was completed in 1992 and the enormous revenue it received made the Mashantucket Pequot Reservation one of the wealthiest in the country. With the newfound money, great educational and cultural initiatives were carried out, including the construction of the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center. The Mohegan Reservation gained political recognition shortly thereafter and, in 1994, opened another successful casino (Mohegan Sun) near the town of Uncasville. The economic recession that began in 2007 took a heavy toll of receipts, and by 2012 both the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods were deeply in debt. Casinos provide an example of the shift in the economy away from manufacturing to entertainment, such as ESPN, financial services, including hedge funds and pharmaceutical firms such as Pfizer. In the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 65 state residents were killed. The vast majority were Fairfield County residents who were working in the World Trade Center. Greenwich lost 12 residents, Stamford and Norwalk each lost nine and Darien lost six. A state memorial was later set up at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport. The New York City skyline can be seen from the park. A number of political scandals rocked Connecticut in the early 21st century. These included the 2003 removal from office of the mayors of Bridgeport, Joseph P. Ganim on 16 corruption charges, as well as Waterbury mayor Philip A. Giordano, who was charged with 18 counts of sexual abuse of two girls. In 2004, Governor John G. Rowland resigned during a corruption investigation. Rowland later plead guilty to federal charges, and his successor M. Jodi Rell, focused her administration on reforms in the wake of the Rowland scandal. In April 2005, Connecticut passed a law which grants all rights of marriage to same - sex couples. However, the law required that such unions be called "civil unions '', and that the title of marriage be limited to those unions whose parties are of the opposite sex. The state was the first to pass a law permitting civil unions without a prior court proceeding. In October 2008, the Supreme Court of Connecticut ordered same - sex marriage legalized. In July 2009, the Connecticut legislature overrode a veto by Governor M. Jodi Rell to pass SustiNet, the first significant public - option health care reform legislation in the nation. The state 's criminal justice system also dealt with the first execution in the state since 1960, the 2005 execution of serial killer Michael Ross and was rocked by the July 2007 home invasion murders in Cheshire. As the accused perpetrators of the Petit murders were out on parole, Governor M. Jodi Rell promised a full investigation into the state 's criminal justice policies. On April 11, 2012 the State House of Representatives voted to end the state 's rarely enforced death penalty; the State Senate having previously passed the measure on April 5. Governor Dannel Malloy announced that "when it gets to my desk I will sign it ''. Eleven inmates were on death row at that time, including the two men convicted of the July 2007 Cheshire, Connecticut, home invasion murders. Controversy exists both in that the legislation is not retroactive and does not commute their sentences and that the repeal is against the majority view of the state 's citizens, as 62 % are for retaining it. In 2011 and 2012, Connecticut was hit by three major storms in the space of just over 14 months, with all three causing extensive property damage and electric outages. Hurricane Irene struck Connecticut August 28 with the storm blamed for the deaths of three residents. Damage totaled $235 million, including 20 houses that were destroyed in East Haven. Two months later in late October, the so - called "Halloween nor'easter '' dropped extensive snow onto trees in Connecticut that still had foliage, resulting in a significant numbers of snapped branches and trunks that damaged property and power lines, with some areas not seeing electricity restored for 11 days. Hurricane Sandy had tropical storm - force winds when it reached Connecticut October 29, 2012, with four deaths blamed on the storm. Sandy 's winds drove storm surges into coastal streets, toppled trees, and cut power to 98 percent of homes and businesses en route to more than $360 million in damage. On December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot and killed 26 people, including 20 children and 6 staff, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in the Sandy Hook village of Newtown, Connecticut, and then killed himself.

how many serpentine belts are in a car

Serpentine belt - wikipedia A serpentine belt, also known as a multi-vee, poly - v, or multi-rib belt, is a single, continuous belt used to drive multiple peripheral devices in an automotive engine, such as an alternator, power steering pump, water pump, air conditioning compressor, air pump, etc. The belt may also be guided by an idler pulley and / or a belt tensioner (which may be spring - loaded, hydraulic, or manual). On some engine designs, the "back '' (smooth side) of the belt may drive some accessories. This is typically limited to components requiring less torque or where a large angle of wrap is present. Such accessories will counter-rotate vs. the "normal '' pulleys. Some vehicles use two serpentine belts for their system, such as the manual transaxle equipped Ford Taurus SHO, 1995 -- 1999 DOHC Nissan Maxima, vehicles using the supercharged GM 3800 engine, and many BMWs. It is more efficient than the older multiple belt system and may consume less space in the engine compartment. By using a single, wider belt instead of multiple, thinner belts, the belt may be put under increased tension without stretching. Higher tension reduces slip, which increases belt life and mechanical efficiency. Reduced slip can allow the use of lower - ratio pulleys; this reduces the load on the engine, increasing fuel economy and available power. The tendency for V - belts to "flip over '' in the pulley groove (at high RPM and / or when the belt stretches) is eliminated, and a serpentine belt is also much easier to maintain and replace, since there is no need to remove multiple belts in order to replace one of them, although newer adjustable - length V - belts ("link belts '') can be put on without having to remove other belts, and their link design also allows a self - tensioning characteristic to reduce the risk of flipping over. Also since only one movable belt tensioner is required all of the peripheral components (alternator, A / C compressor, etc.) can simply be mounted to the engine without the need to swivel. The drawback of this single belt is that if the belt breaks or is knocked loose, the vehicle instantly loses multiple critical functions. The water pump, power steering pump, and alternator (for battery charging) would cease functioning. The vehicle becomes quickly unusable due to loss of engine cooling. The belt typically gives ample visual warning of impending failure, sometimes even totally shedding several grooves (ribs) while continuing to function acceptably.

who plays sax on still rock and roll to me

It 's Still Rock and Roll to Me - wikipedia "It 's Still Rock and Roll to Me '' is a hit 1980 song performed by Billy Joel, from the hit album Glass Houses. The song was number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for two weeks, from July 19 through August 1, 1980. The song spent 11 weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 and was the 7th biggest hit of 1980 according to American Top 40. The song is an examination of the themes of a musician 's declining fame and changing public tastes that were expressed in his 1975 hit "The Entertainer ''. The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 1 million copies in the United States. The video version differs from the album version in that Joel performs the main vocal live to the prerecorded album track. The song is a cynical look at the music industry as a publicist / manager begs the protagonist to remain hip for the younger crowd ("What 's the matter with the car I 'm driving? '' / "Ca n't you tell that it 's out of style? ''), and the protagonist 's refusal to change, claiming his music will remain relevant regardless of his appearance. The song was a reaction by Joel at the new music genres that were around in the late 1970s (punk, funk, new wave). It was inspired by Joel reading a review about a particular (unnamed) band, and realizing that he had no idea what their music sounded like. The song also includes the line "Alright Rico! '' to kick off the saxophone solo performed by Richie Cannata. The music video for the song depicted Joel mixing elements of new wave, punk, and funk as he records a music video. The song appears on the game Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol Encore. Pop rock musician Drake Bell covered the song in 2014 on his rockabilly album Ready Steady Go!. Kid Rock covered it as a demo in 1992 but rewrote the lyrics and changed the title to "It 's Still East Detroit To Me '' as a hardcore punk song. "Weird Al '' Yankovic recorded a parody of the song called "It 's Still Billy Joel to Me ''. It was never released officially, although he did play it live in the early ' 80s. Also, was covered by Sugaryline in the album WackyMusic. Rap metal band Hed PE quoted the chorus in the 2000 song "Crazy Legs '' but changed some of the words to "Everybody 's talking about that new sound crazy but it 's still hip hop to me ''

where do the us women's gymnastics team train

Karolyi Ranch - wikipedia The USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at Karolyi Ranch or simply Karolyi Ranch in unincorporated Walker County, Texas, southeast of Huntsville, was a gymnastics camp facility which was the site of the main training center for the United States women 's national gymnastics team, located 70 miles (110 km) north of Houston within the Sam Houston National Forest. From 2001 to 2018, it was the USA Gymnastics ' national training facility for women 's artistic, trampoline, and rhythmic gymnastics disciplines. In 1983, following his defection to the U.S., Béla Károlyi purchased 40 acres of the Sam Houston National Forest, where the camp is located. A year later, gymnastics facilities and cabins were built and the ranch was open for summer camp. After Mary Lou Retton won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics the ranch 's enrollment increased to 1,400 students. From 1986 - 89, the property expanded enormously to 2,000 acres. The ranch has a state of the art women 's artistic gymnastics facility as well as a dance room, medical room, office, rhythmic gym, trampoline and tumble gym and a sports acro gym. It also has athletes ' and coaches ' cabins, dining halls, meeting rooms, TV room and a cafeteria. The camp portion of the property is around 36 acres (15 ha). In 2001, the ranch was designated by USA Gymnastics as the U.S. Women 's National Gymnastics Training Center. In 2011, the Karolyi Ranch was recognized as a U.S. Olympic Training Site by the United States Olympic Committee. In January 2018, USA Gymnastics terminated its lease of the Karolyi Ranch during the sentencing phase of the trial of Dr. Larry Nassar, who was found guilty of numerous acts of sexual assault against young gymnasts, many of which took place at the facility, where parents were not allowed to be present. A lawsuit was filed against the Károlyis in 2016 alleging that they had known about and "turned a blind - eye to the sexual abuse ''. On January 25, 2018, the Ranch announced the permanent closure of the facility on its website.. On January 30, 2018, the Texas Rangers took over the criminal investigation of the ranch. National Team camps for the women 's artistic program were held once a month at the ranch, attended by members of the women 's national team and current elite gymnasts that the selectors considered good enough to attend. Different training models had been tried in the past but had been unsuccessful. Based on the former Soviet model, gymnasts used to live at national training centers. Later, they trained with local coaches closer to home and came together every four years to train as a national team. In 1999, USA Gymnastics settled on a "hybrid '' approach combining these two training methods: Gymnasts trained with local coaches, but each month they and their coaches attended a four - day camp with Márta Károlyi. After the poor performance of the United States Olympic Team at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the method of selecting athletes for competitions was also changed. In the past the six gymnasts with the top scores at the Olympic Trials went on to compete in the Olympics, but after 2000 the team was picked by Károlyi after a five - day training camp at the ranch. Kelli Hill, who coached Olympians Dominique Dawes and Amy Chow, spoke in favor of maintaining the old ranking system.

top 50 highest grossing hollywood movies of all time

List of highest - grossing films - wikipedia Films generate income from several revenue streams, including theatrical exhibition, home video, television broadcast rights and merchandising. However, theatrical box office earnings are the primary metric for trade publications in assessing the success of a film, mostly because of the availability of the data compared to sales figures for home video and broadcast rights, but also because of historical practice. Included on the list are charts of the top box office earners (ranked by both the nominal and real value of their revenue), a chart of high - grossing films by calendar year, a timeline showing the transition of the highest - grossing film record, and a chart of the highest - grossing film franchises and series. All charts are ranked by international theatrical box office performance where possible, excluding income derived from home video, broadcasting rights and merchandise. Traditionally, war films, musicals and historical dramas have been the most popular genres, but franchise films have been among the best performers in the 21st century. Six Harry Potter films and five films from Peter Jackson 's Middle - earth series are included in the nominal earnings chart, while the Star Wars and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises feature prominently. There is also continued interest in the superhero genre: Batman and Superman from DC Comics and films based on the Marvel Comics brand, such as Spider - Man, X-Men and films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, have generally done well. The only films in the top ten that are not adapted from a pre-existing property or a sequel are the top two, Avatar and Titanic, both directed by James Cameron. Animated family films have performed consistently well, with Disney films enjoying lucrative re-releases prior to the home - video era. Disney also enjoyed later success with films such as Frozen (the highest - grossing animated film), Zootopia and The Lion King, as well as with its Pixar brand, of which the Toy Story and Finding Nemo films have been the best performers. Beyond Disney and Pixar animation, the Shrek, Ice Age and Despicable Me series have met with the most success. While inflation has eroded away the achievements of most films from the 1960s and 1970s, there are franchises originating from that period that are still active. Besides the Star Wars and Superman franchises, James Bond and Star Trek films are still being released periodically; all four are among the highest - grossing franchises. Some of the older films that held the record of highest - grossing film still have respectable grosses by today 's standards, but no longer compete numerically against today 's top - earners in an era of much higher individual ticket prices. When properly adjusted for inflation, however, on that comparative scale Gone with the Wind -- which was the highest - grossing film outright for twenty - five years -- is still the highest - grossing film of all time. All grosses on the list are expressed in U.S. dollars at their nominal value, except where stated otherwise. With a worldwide box - office gross of over $2.7 billion, Avatar is often proclaimed to be the "highest - grossing '' film, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take into account home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film 's earnings. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. Titanic earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals, in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theaters. While complete sales data are not available for Avatar, it earned $345 million from the sale of sixteen million DVD and Blu - ray units in North America, and ultimately sold a total of thirty million DVD and Blu - ray units worldwide. After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film 's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 20 -- 25 % of its theatrical box - office for a couple of television runs on top of pay - per - view revenues; Titanic earned a further $55 million from the NBC and HBO broadcast rights, equating to about 9 % of its North American gross. When a film is highly exploitable as a commercial property, its ancillary revenues can dwarf its income from direct film sales. The Lion King earned over $2 billion in box - office and home video sales, but this pales in comparison to the $6 billion earned at box offices around the world by the stage adaptation. Merchandising can be extremely lucrative too: The Lion King also sold $3 billion of merchandise, while Pixar 's Cars -- which earned $462 million in theatrical revenues and was only a modest hit by comparison to other Pixar films -- generated global merchandise sales of over $8 billion in the five years after its 2006 release. Pixar also had another huge hit with Toy Story 3, which generated almost $10 billion in merchandise retail sales in addition to the $1 billion it earned at the box office. On this chart, films are ranked by the revenues from theatrical exhibition at their nominal value, along with the highest positions they attained. Thirty - two films in total have grossed in excess of $1 billion worldwide, of which three have grossed over $2 billion, with Avatar ranked in the top position. All of the films have had a theatrical run (including re-releases) in the 21st century, and films that have not played during this period do not appear on the chart because of ticket - price inflation, population size and ticket purchasing trends not being considered. Box Office Mojo stopped updating its main total for Frozen in August 2014, while it was still in release. The total listed here incorporates subsequent earnings in Japan, Nigeria, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany up to the end of 2015 but omits earnings in Turkey, Iceland, Brazil, and Australia (2016) which amount to a few hundred thousand dollars. It was re-released in the United Kingdom in December 2017 with Olaf 's Frozen Adventure earning an additional $1,655,398. The total is rounded to $1 million to compensate for the numerical inaccuracy. In the case of The Fate of the Furious the gross is sourced from BoxOffice rather than the chart 's regular source, Box Office Mojo, after irregularities were discovered in the latter 's figure. Ongoing weekly drops in the totals for several countries -- Argentina being the worst affected -- led to a drop in the overall worldwide total. In view of what appears to be an aberration in the source an alternative figure is provided. The gross for Toy Story 3 has been corrected to $1,066,969,703, meaning that it finished one place higher at the end of its release. Disney issued an erratum to the gross for The Lion King, correcting its gross from $987.5 million to $968.5 million. This means that Despicable Me 2 finished its run ahead of it and would have ranked one place higher at the end of its release. Finding Nemo finished one place higher at the end of its original release, after taking corrections into account. Its total now stands at $940.3 million, which would put the first run at $871.0 million after deducting the 3D reissue gross of $69.3 million. Meanwhile, the total gross for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring has been corrected to $871.5 million, which would rank below Finding Nemo 's first run once its 2011 reissue gross is deducted. Because of the long - term effects of inflation, notably the significant increase of movie theater ticket prices, the list unadjusted for inflation gives far more weight to later films. The unadjusted list, while commonly found in the press, is therefore largely meaningless for comparing films widely separated in time, as many films from earlier eras will never appear on a modern unadjusted list, despite achieving higher commercial success when adjusted for price increases. To compensate for the devaluation of the currency, some charts make adjustments for inflation, but not even this practice fully addresses the issue since ticket prices and inflation do not necessarily parallel one another. For example, in 1970, tickets cost $1.55 or about $6.68 in inflation - adjusted 2004 dollars; by 1980, prices had risen to about $2.69, a drop to $5.50 in inflation - adjusted 2004 dollars. Ticket prices have also risen at different rates of inflation around the world, further complicating the process of adjusting worldwide grosses. Another complication is release in multiple formats for which different ticket prices are charged. One notable example of this phenomenon is Avatar, which was also released in 3D and IMAX: almost two - thirds of tickets for that film were for 3D showings with an average price of $10, and about one - sixth were for IMAX showings with an average price over $14.50, compared to a 2010 average price of $7.61 for 2D films. Social and economic factors such as population change and the growth of international markets also impact on the number of people purchasing theater tickets, along with audience demographics where some films sell a much higher proportion of discounted children 's tickets, or perform better in big cities where tickets cost more. The measuring system for gauging a film 's success is based on unadjusted grosses, mainly because historically this is the way it has always been done because of the practices of the film industry: the box office receipts are compiled by theaters and relayed to the distributor, which in turn releases them to the media. Converting to a more representative system that counts ticket sales rather than gross is also fraught with problems because the only data available for older films are the sale totals. As the motion picture industry is highly oriented towards marketing currently released films, unadjusted figures are always used in marketing campaigns so that new blockbuster films can much more easily achieve a high sales ranking, and thus be promoted as a "top film of all time '', so there is little incentive to switch to a more robust analysis from a marketing or even newsworthy point of view. Despite the inherent difficulties in accounting for inflation, several attempts have been made. Estimates depend on the price index used to adjust the grosses, and the exchange rates used to convert between currencies can also impact upon the calculations, both of which can have an effect on the ultimate rankings of an inflation adjusted list. Gone with the Wind -- first released in 1939 -- is generally considered to be the most successful film, with Guinness World Records in 2014 estimating its adjusted global gross at $3.4 billion. Estimates for Gone with the Wind 's adjusted gross have varied substantially: its owner, Turner Entertainment, estimated its adjusted earnings at $3.3 billion in 2007, a few years earlier than the Guinness estimate; other estimates fall either side of this amount, with one putting its gross just under $3 billion in 2010, while another provided an alternative figure of $3.8 billion in 2006. Which film is Gone with the Wind 's nearest rival depends on the set of figures used: Guinness had Avatar in second place with $3 billion, while other estimates saw Titanic in the runner - up spot with first - run worldwide earnings of almost $2.9 billion at 2010 prices. The only other film that all sources agreed grossed in excess of $2 billion at recent prices is Star Wars; according to Guinness it has earned $2.8 billion at 2014 price levels, while other sources from 2010 / 2011 put its adjusted earnings at $2.2 -- 2.6 billion. Even though the nominal gross for Star Wars: The Force Awakens surpasses the inflation - adjusted gross for both Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Jaws, inflation has occurred in the interim so it is not possible to rank it until Guinness World Records provide an updated chart of adjusted grosses. The figure for Titanic is most likely based on the gross from its 1997 theatrical release, and does not incorporate earnings from the 2012 reissue. According to the 2012 edition of Guinness World Records, the adjusted total for Titanic as of 2011 stood at $2,413,800,000, and a re-release in 2012 added a further $343,550,770 to the total. However, the 2015 edition put the adjusted total at $2,516,000,000 -- an increase of just $102,000,000; this is a rise of 4.2 % since 2011, an increase shared by the other adjusted totals in the chart. The 2015 edition of Guinness World Records does not provide an explicit figure for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, it does state that it is one of only two pre-1955 films -- the other being Gone with the Wind -- that are among the adjusted top ten. It placed tenth in the 2012 edition, and the eleventh highest - grossing film according to the 2015 edition is The Exorcist, which has grossed $1.794 billion adjusted to 2014 prices. The adjusted grosses for the other films on the chart increased by 4.2 percent between 2011 and 2014 according to Guinness, and using this apparent rate of inflation would take the adjusted gross for Snow White from $1.746 billion at 2011 prices to $1.819 billion at 2014 prices. Audience tastes were fairly eclectic during the 20th century, but several trends did emerge. During the silent era, films with war themes were popular with audiences, with The Birth of a Nation (American Civil War), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Big Parade and Wings (all World War I) becoming the most successful films in their respective years of release, with the trend coming to an end with All Quiet on the Western Front in 1930. With the advent of sound in 1927, the musical -- the genre best placed to showcase the new technology -- took over as the most popular type of film with audiences, with 1928 and 1929 both being topped by musical films. The genre continued to perform strongly in the 1930s, but the outbreak of World War II saw war themed films dominate again during this period, starting with Gone with the Wind (American Civil War) in 1939, and finishing with The Best Years of Our Lives (World War II) in 1946. Samson and Delilah (1949) saw the beginning of a trend of increasingly expensive historical dramas set during Ancient Rome / biblical times throughout the 1950s as cinema competed with television for audiences, with Quo Vadis, The Robe, The Ten Commandments, Ben - Hur and Spartacus all becoming the highest - grossing film of the year during initial release, before the genre started to wane after several high - profile failures. The success of White Christmas and South Pacific in the 1950s foreshadowed the comeback of the musical in the 1960s with West Side Story, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Funny Girl all among the top films of the decade. The 1970s saw a shift in audience tastes to high concept films, with six such films made by either George Lucas or Steven Spielberg topping the chart during the 1980s. The 21st century has seen an increasing dependence on franchises and adaptations, with the box office dominance of films based on pre-existing intellectual property at record levels. Steven Spielberg is the most represented director on the chart with six films to his credit, occupying the top spot in 1975, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1989 and 1993. Cecil B. DeMille (1932, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1956) and William Wyler (1942, 1946, 1959 and 1968) are in second and third place with five and four films respectively, while D.W. Griffith (1915, 1916 and 1920), George Roy Hill (1966, 1969 and 1973) and James Cameron (1991, 1997 and 2009) all feature heavily with three films apiece. George Lucas directed two chart - toppers in 1977 and 1999, but also served in a strong creative capacity as a producer and writer in 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984 and 1989 as well. The following directors have also all directed two films on the chart: Frank Lloyd, King Vidor, Frank Capra, Michael Curtiz, Leo McCarey, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lean, Stanley Kubrick, Guy Hamilton, Mike Nichols, William Friedkin, Peter Jackson, Gore Verbinski and Michael Bay; Mervyn LeRoy, Ken Annakin and Robert Wise are each represented by one solo credit and one shared credit, and John Ford co-directed two films. Disney films are usually co-directed and some directors have served on several winning teams: Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi, David Hand, Ben Sharpsteen, Wolfgang Reitherman and Bill Roberts have all co-directed at least two films on the list. Only five directors have topped the chart in consecutive years: McCarey (1944 and 1945), Nichols (1966 and 1967), Spielberg (1981 and 1982), Jackson (2002 and 2003) and Verbinski (2006 and 2007). Because of release schedules -- especially in the case of films released towards the end of the year -- and different release patterns across the world, many films can do business in two or more calendar years; therefore the grosses documented here are not confined to just the year of release. Grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs either, with many older films often being re-released periodically so the figures represent all the business a film has done since its original release; a film 's first - run gross is included in brackets after the total if known. Because of incomplete data it can not be known for sure how much money some films have made and when they made it, but generally the chart chronicles the films from each year that went on to earn the most. In the cases where estimates conflict both films are recorded, and in cases where a film has moved into first place because of being re-released the previous record - holder is also retained. At least one film every year has generated $100 million in gross revenue at the box office since 1967, and from 2008 each year has succeeded in producing a billion dollar grossing film. (...) Since grosses are not limited to original theatrical runs, a film 's first - run gross is included in brackets after the total if known. Canada and U.S. gross only. Distributor rental. To be ascertained. No contemporary sources provide figures for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, although The Numbers provides a figure of $8,000,000 for the North American box office gross. However, it is possible this figure has been mistaken for the gross of the 1954 remake which also earned $8,000,000 in North American rentals. Some sources such as The Numbers state that Aloma of the South Seas is the highest grossing film of the year, earning $3 million. However, no contemporary sources provide figures for Aloma of the South Seas, so it is unclear what the $3 million figure relates to. If it were the rental gross then that would have made it not only the highest - grossing film of the year, but one of the highest - grossing films of the silent era, and if that is the case it would be unusual for both International Motion Picture Almanac and Variety to omit it from their lists. It is not clear if the figure for Sunny Side Up is for North America or worldwide. Other sources put its earnings at $2 million, which may suggest the higher figure is the worldwide rental, given the confusion over international figures during this period. The figure for It Happened One Night is not truly representative of its success: it was distributed as a package deal along with more than two dozen other Columbia films, and the total earnings were averaged out; the true gross would have been much higher. Snow White 's $418 million global cume omits earnings outside of North America from 1987 onwards. It is not absolutely clear how much Gone with the Wind earned from its initial release. Contemporary accounts often list it as earning $32 million in North American rentals and retrospective charts have often duplicated this claim; however, it is likely this was the worldwide rental figure. Trade journals would collate the data by either obtaining it from the distributors themselves, who were keen to promote a successful film, or by surveying theaters and constructing an estimate. Distributors would often report the worldwide rental since the higher figure made the film appear more successful, while estimates were limited to performance in North America; therefore it was not unusual for worldwide and North American rentals to be mixed up. Following the outbreak of World War II, many of the foreign markets were unavailable to Hollywood so it became standard practice to just report on North American box - office performance. In keeping with this new approach, the North American rental for Gone with the Wind was revised to $21 million in 1947 ($11 million lower than the previous figure), and as of 1953 -- following the 1947 re-release -- Variety was reporting earnings of $26 million. Through 1956, MGM reported cumulative North American earnings of $30,015,000 and foreign earnings of $18,964,000, from three releases. Worldwide rentals of $32 million from the initial release is consistent with the revised figures and later reported worldwide figures: they indicate that the film earned $21 million in North America and $11 million overseas from the initial release, and added a further $9 million in North America and $8 million overseas from subsequent re-releases up to 1956. Mom and Dad does not generally feature in ' high - gross ' lists such as those published by Variety due to its independent distribution. Essentially belonging to the exploitation genre, it was marketed as an educational sex hygiene film in an effort to circumvent censorship laws. Falling foul of the Motion Picture Production Code, Mom and Dad was prevented from obtaining mainstream distribution and restricted to independent and drive - in theaters. It was the biggest hit of its kind, and remained in continual distribution until the 1970s when hardcore pornography eventually took over. At the end of 1947 it had earned $2 million, and by 1949, $8 million; by 1956 it had earned $22 million in rentals, representing a gross of $80 million, and would have easily placed in the top ten films in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Estimates of its total earnings are as high as $100 million. Chopra - Gant stipulates that the figure given for Unconquered is for North American box - office, but as was common at the time, the chart confuses worldwide and North American grosses. Other sources state that the takings for Forever Amber ($8 million) and Life with Father ($6.5 million) were in fact worldwide rental grosses, so it is possible this is also true of Unconquered. The Cinerama figures represent gross amounts. Since the Cinerama corporation owned the theaters there were no rental fees for the films, meaning the studio received 100 % of the box - office gross, unlike the case with most other films where the distributor typically receives less than half the gross. Since Variety at the time ranked films by their US rental, they constructed a hypothetical rental figure for the Cinerama films to provide a basis for comparison to other films in their chart: in the case of This Is Cinerama, the $50 million worldwide gross was reconfigured as a $12.5 million US rental gross; this is exactly 25 % of the amount reported by Cinerama, so Variety 's formula seemingly halved the gross to obtain an estimate for the US share, and halved it again to simulate a rental fee. Variety 's ' rental ' amounts are often repeated, but have no basis in the reality of what the films actually earned -- they are hypothetical figures conceived for comparative analysis. All five Cinerama features collectively generated $120 million in worldwide box office receipts. Variety put the worldwide rental for The Greatest Show on Earth at around $18.35 million (with $12.8 million coming from the United States) a year after its release; however, Birchard puts its earnings at just over $15 million up to 1962. It is likely that Birchard 's figure is just the North American gross rental, and includes revenue from the 1954 and 1960 reissues. The "first run '' Star Wars grosses do not include revenue from the 1997 special - edition releases; however, the figure does include revenue from the re-releases prior to the special editions. Production costs were shared with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 1. At least ten films have held the record of ' highest - grossing film ' since The Birth of a Nation assumed the top spot in 1915. Both The Birth of a Nation and Gone with the Wind spent twenty - five consecutive years apiece as the highest - grosser, with films directed by Steven Spielberg holding the record on three occasions and James Cameron -- the current holder -- twice. Spielberg became the first director to break his own record when Jurassic Park overtook E.T., and Cameron emulated the feat when Avatar broke the record set by Titanic. Some sources claim that The Big Parade superseded The Birth of a Nation as highest - grossing film, eventually being replaced by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which in turn was quickly usurped by Gone with the Wind. Exact figures are not known for The Birth of a Nation, but contemporary records put its worldwide earnings at $5.2 million as of 1919. Its international release was delayed by World War I, and it was not released in many foreign territories until the 1920s; coupled with further re-releases in the United States, its $10 million earnings as reported by Variety in 1932 are consistent with the earlier figure. At this time, Variety still had The Birth of a Nation ahead of The Big Parade ($6,400,000) on distributor rentals and -- if its estimate is correct -- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ($8,500,000) would not have earned enough on its first theatrical run to take the record; although it would have been the highest - grossing ' talkie ', displacing The Singing Fool ($5,900,000). Although received wisdom holds that it is unlikely The Birth of a Nation was ever overtaken by a silent - era film, the record would fall to 1925 's Ben - Hur ($9,386,000) if The Birth of a Nation earned significantly less than its estimated gross. In addition to its gross rental earnings through public exhibition, The Birth of a Nation played at a large number of private, club and organizational engagements which figures are unavailable for. It was hugely popular with the Ku Klux Klan who used it to drive recruitment, and at one point Variety estimated its total earnings to stand at around $50 million. Despite later retracting the claim, the sum has been widely reported even though it has never been substantiated. While it is generally accepted that Gone with the Wind took over the record of highest - grossing film on its initial release -- which is true in terms of public exhibition -- it is likely it did not overtake The Birth of a Nation in total revenue until a much later date, with it still being reported as the highest earner up until the 1960s. Gone with the Wind itself may have been briefly overtaken by The Ten Commandments (1956), which closed at the end of 1960 with worldwide rentals of $58 -- 60 million compared to Gone with the Wind 's $59 million; if it did claim the top spot its tenure there was short - lived, since Gone with the Wind was re-released the following year and increased its earnings to $67 million. Depending on how accurate the estimates are, the 1959 remake of Ben - Hur may also have captured the record from Gone with the Wind: as of the end of 1961 it had earned $47 million worldwide, and by 1963 it was trailing Gone with the Wind by just $2 million with international takings of $65 million, ultimately earning $66 million from its initial release. Another film purported to have been the highest - grosser is the 1972 pornographic film, Deep Throat. In 1984, Linda Lovelace testified to a United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on juvenile justice that the film had earned $600 million; this figure has been the subject of much speculation, since if it is accurate then the film would have made more money than Star Wars, and finished the 1970s as the highest - grossing film. The main argument against this figure is that it simply did not have a wide enough release to sustain the sort of sums that would be required for it to ultimately gross this amount. Exact figures are not known, but testimony in a federal trial in 1976 -- about four years into the film 's release -- showed the film had grossed over $25 million. Roger Ebert has reasoned it possibly did earn as much as $600 million on paper, since mobsters owned most of the adult movie theaters during this period and would launder income from drugs and prostitution through them, so probably inflated the box office receipts for the film. The Birth of a Nation, Gone with the Wind, The Godfather, Jaws, Star Wars, E.T. and Avatar all increased their record grosses with re-releases. The grosses from their original theatrical runs are included here along with totals from re-releases up to the point that they lost the record; therefore the total for The Birth of a Nation includes income from its reissues up to 1940; the total for Star Wars includes revenue from the late 1970s and early 1980s reissues but not from the 1997 Special Edition; the total for E.T. incorporates its gross from the 1985 reissue but not from 2002; the total for Avatar -- as the current record - holder -- includes all its earnings at the present time. Gone with the Wind is represented twice on the chart: the 1940 entry includes earnings from its staggered 1939 -- 1942 release (roadshow / general release / second - run) along with all of its revenue up to the 1961 reissue prior to losing the record to The Sound of Music in 1966; its 1971 entry -- after it took back the record -- includes income from the 1967 and 1971 reissues but omitting later releases. The Godfather was re-released in 1973 after its success at the 45th Academy Awards, and Jaws was released again in 1976, and their grosses here most likely include earnings from those releases. The Sound of Music, The Godfather, Jaws, Jurassic Park and Titanic increased their earnings with further releases in 1973, 1997, 1979, 2013 and 2012 respectively, but they are not included in the totals here since they had already conceded the record prior to being re-released. Distributor rental. Includes revenue from re-releases. If a film increased its gross through re-releases while holding the record, the year in which it recorded its highest gross is also noted in italics. Prior to 2000, only seven film series had grossed over $1 billion at the box office: James Bond, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rocky, Batman, Jurassic Park and Star Trek. Since the turn of the century that number has increased to over fifty (not including one - off hits such as Avatar, Titanic and Frozen). This is partly due to inflation and market growth, but also to Hollywood 's adoption of the franchise model: films that have built - in brand recognition, such as being based on a well known literary source or an established character. The methodology is based on the concept that films associated with things audiences are already familiar with can be more effectively marketed to them, and as such are known as "pre-sold '' films within the industry. The films in the cross-franchise Marvel Cinematic Universe have collectively grossed the most, amassing over $13 billion at the box office, although the Eon James Bond films have earned over $14 billion in total when adjusted to current prices. The Harry Potter films are the highest - grossing series based on a single property, earning nearly $8 billion at the box office; Harry Potter has also generated at least $3.5 billion in home video revenue, taking total consumer spending on the films to over $11 billion. If ancillary income from merchandise is included, then Star Wars is the most lucrative property; it holds the Guinness world record for the "most successful film merchandising franchise '' and was valued at £ 19.51 billion in 2012 (approximately $30 billion). With four billion - dollar grossers, the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars are the only series where more than two films have grossed in excess of $1 billion, and the two Avengers films comprise the only franchise where each installment has grossed over $1 billion. Avengers is also the only franchise to have a series average of over $1 billion per film, although the Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, Jurassic Park and Finding Nemo franchises, Harry Potter films, and Peter Jackson 's Middle - earth adaptation also average over $1 billion adjusted for inflation. Canada and U.S. gross only. Distributor rental.

who is uncle henry in the wizard of oz

Uncle Henry (Oz) - wikipedia Uncle Henry is a fictional character from The Oz Books by L. Frank Baum. He is the uncle of orphan Dorothy Gale and husband of Aunt Em, and lived with them on a farm in Kansas. After their house was famously carried off to the Land of Oz by a tornado in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Henry mortgaged his farm in order to rebuild. This crisis, combined with the stress of Dorothy 's prolonged disappearance and sudden reappearance, took a toll on his health, and his doctor ordered him to take a vacation. He took Dorothy with him on an ocean voyage to Australia, where he had relatives, but during this trip (in Ozma of Oz) Dorothy was lost again during a storm, and for several weeks a despondent Henry believed she had drowned, until she suddenly returned again, courtesy of the Nome King 's Magic Belt. In The Emerald City of Oz, Henry and Em finally confessed to Dorothy the extent of their financial problems, and revealed to her that their farm was on the verge of foreclosure. Dorothy solved this problem for them by bringing them to live with her in the Emerald City, as permanent guests of Princess Ozma. Henry was given the job of being Keeper of the Jewels in Ozma 's treasure hoard for the purpose of keeping him occupied. Unlike Em, who is questioning everything about the Land of Oz, Henry accepts his new life and home with surprising ease, having traveled and seen the world a lot more than his wife had. By Glinda of Oz, he has become one of Ozma 's closest advisers, having taught his agricultural abilities to Ozite farmers, getting them producing surplus for the Emerald City storehouses. Henry has been featured slightly more than Em in the Oz books, despite being less featured than she in the film, The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ruth Plumly Thompson gave him only two brief mentions, in The Royal Book of Oz and Grampa in Oz. He had somewhat larger roles in John R. Neill 's The Wonder City of Oz and The Scalawagons of Oz, Jack Snow 's The Magical Mimics in Oz, and Eric Shanower 's The Giant Garden of Oz. Frank Alexander portrayed him as a villain in Larry Semon 's Wizard of Oz. In MGM 's 1939 musical adaptation The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Henry is played by Charley Grapewin. Hickory (Tin Man 's alter ego) addresses Aunt Em as "Mrs. Gale '' just before she offers crullers to the three farmhands, and Hunk (Scarecrow 's alter ego) does so just afterward. The name "Gale '' appears on the mailbox and Miss Almira Gulch (Wicked Witch 's alter ego) addresses him as "Mr. Gale ''. (Baum, however, never gives Uncle Henry 's surname in his books, nor indicates whether Henry or Em is Dorothy 's blood relative. It is also possible that "Aunt '' and "Uncle '' are affectionate terms of a foster family and that Dorothy is not related to either of them.) In this film, Uncle Henry and Aunt Em are the only characters whose roles are limited to the Kansas sequence and do not make an appearance in the Oz sequence, although Aunt Em is seen again in the crystal ball at the Wicked Witch 's castle still looking for Dorothy. He and Aunt Em reunite with their three farmworkers, and Professor Marvel (Wizard 's alter ego) when Dorothy awakens from being unconscious. In the 1974 animated film Journey Back to Oz, Paul Ford voices Uncle Henry. He and Aunt Em have a farmworker named Amos (voiced by Larry Storch) who does not have an alter ego in Oz. In the 1980 animated short film Dorothy in the Land of Oz, Uncle Henry is voiced by Charles Woolf. In the 1985 film Return to Oz, Uncle Henry 's wife Emily is called "Mrs. Blue, '' implying that his full name is Henry Blue. He is played by Matt Clark opposite Piper Laurie. He has a broken leg throughout the film that Aunt Em insists is mended. In the comic book The Oz / Wonderland Chronicles, Henry Gale was born in 1852, but died in old age of a heart attack. He was buried in St. Ann 's Cemetery in Kansas. Due to Oz residents never really dying in entirety, the "new '' Witch in Oz had Henry in unconscious stasis, after his Earthly soul had died. In the American television program Lost, the character Benjamin Linus initially tells survivors his name is Henry Gale, and claims to have arrived on the island via hot air balloon. It is later revealed that the real Henry Gale was indeed a balloonist who died upon crashing on the island -- just one of the many references to Baum 's Oz novels on the show. In the ABC telefilm The Muppets ' Wizard of Oz, Henry was played by David Alan Grier and owned a diner rather than a farm. In the VeggieTales episode The Wonderful Wizard of Ha 's, Uncle Henry and his wife Aunt Em were substituted by a father (Dad Asparagus) to retell The Prodigal Son, a biblical parable from the Gospel. Uncle Henry appears in Dorothy and the Witches of Oz played by Lance Henriksen. He posthumously reveals that his great - grandparents, Frank and Maud Baum, were the true parents of Dorothy Gale in a letter. Uncle Henry was voiced by Stephen Root in the direct - to - video animated film Tom and Jerry and the Wizard of Oz.

who plays rob stark in game of thrones

Oona Chaplin - wikipedia Oona Castilla Chaplin (ˈuna kasˈtija ˈt͡ʃaplin) (born 4 June 1986), known professionally as Oona Chaplin, is a Spanish actress. Her roles include Talisa Maegyr in the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, The Crimson Field and the series Taboo. A member of the Chaplin family, she is the daughter of actress Geraldine Chaplin and the granddaughter of acclaimed English filmmaker and actor Charlie Chaplin, and the great - granddaughter of American playwright Eugene O'Neill. She was named after her maternal grandmother Oona O'Neill, Charlie 's wife. Oona Chaplin was born in Madrid to Anglo - American actress Geraldine Chaplin and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla. Her paternal grandmother is a Mapuche Indian. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Oona O'Neill Chaplin. She spent her childhood mostly in Spain, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Cuba, but also travelled often because of her mother 's film career. She started dancing ballet, salsa and flamenco at an early age. When Chaplin was fifteen, she began studying at Gordonstoun School in Scotland on a drama scholarship. During her time there, she appeared in several school plays, touring the United Kingdom in an adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and impersonating her grandfather in the role of Bottom in an adaptation of A Midsummer Night 's Dream, which was performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After leaving Gordonstoun, she was accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which she graduated in 2007. Oona has a half - brother named Shane from her mother 's previous relationship with film director, Carlos Saura. Since graduating from RADA, Chaplin has acted in mainly British and Spanish short and feature films. She has played alongside her mother in three feature films: Inconceivable, ¿ Para qué sirve un oso? and Imago Mortis. Chaplin has also had several supporting roles in British and American television. In 2010, she appeared as a Brazilian cage dancer in ITV 's Married Single Other (2010), followed by roles as the wife of one of the main characters, Hector Madden, in the BBC period drama The Hour (2011 -- 2012), as Dr. John Watson 's girlfriend in an episode of BBC 's Sherlock (2012) and as Talisa Maegyr in HBO 's Game of Thrones (2012 -- 2013). She plays Kitty Trevelyan, a lead character, in the BBC drama The Crimson Field (2014) and Ruth Levinson, wife of Ira Levinson, in The Longest Ride (2015). Chaplin stars as Zilpha Geary in the eight - part historical fiction series Taboo (2017) on BBC One and FX. Chaplin joined the cast of James Cameron 's Avatar sequels in June 2017. Her character, named Varang, is described as "a strong and vibrant central character who spans the entire saga of the sequels ''.

which is the international terminal at munich airport

Munich airport - wikipedia Munich Airport (IATA: MUC, ICAO: EDDM), German: Flughafen München "Franz Josef Strauß ", is a major international airport near Munich, the capital of Bavaria. It is the second - busiest airport in Germany in terms of passenger traffic behind Frankfurt Airport, and the seventh - busiest airport in Europe, handling 42 million passengers in 2016. It is the world 's 15th - busiest airport in terms of international passenger traffic, and was the 34th - busiest airport worldwide in 2015. As of February 2017, the airport features flights to 248 destinations, making it the airport with the fifth-most destinations worldwide. Munich Airport serves as the secondary hub for Lufthansa including Lufthansa Regional and its Star Alliance partners besides Frankfurt. The airport is located 28.5 km (17.7 mi) northeast of Munich near the old city of Freising and is named in memory of the former Bavarian Prime Minister Franz Josef Strauss. It features two passenger terminals with an additional midfield terminal and two runways as well as extensive cargo and maintenance facilities and is fully equipped to handle wide - body aircraft including the Airbus A380. From 1939 to 1992, Munich was served by Munich - Riem Airport. First plans to expand or build a new airport were made in 1954 owing to the traffic flow - rate and the population density in its proximity. The decision for building the new airport at Erdinger Moos was made on 5 August 1969 by the Bavarian government. When construction started on 3 November 1980, a village named Franzheim was demolished and the ~ 500 inhabitants were resettled. The airport is located on the territory of four different municipalities: Oberding (location of the terminals; district of Erding), Hallbergmoos, Freising, and Marzling in the district of Freising. The airport is named after Franz Josef Strauss, who played a prominent, albeit sometimes controversial, role in politics of the Federal Republic of Germany from the 1950s until his death in 1988. Amongst other positions, Strauss was a long - time Minister - President (Governor) of the state of Bavaria, where the airport is located and was initiated under his government. Strauss, having been a private pilot himself, had a particular interest in the aviation industry. He is regarded one of the fathers of Airbus and served as initial chairman of its supervisory board. Naming the airport by its full name "Flughafen München Franz Josef Strauß '' is fairly uncommon. The company that owns and operates the airport is named "Flughafen München GmbH '' and brands itself as "M -- Flughafen München '' or "M -- Munich Airport ''. In the Munich area, most people use the term "Flughafen München '' (Munich Airport), sometimes "Flughafen München II '' in order to distinguish from the earlier airport, or simply "MUC '' for its IATA - code. The new Munich Airport commenced operation on 17 May 1992, when operations moved from the former site at Munich - Riem Airport, which was closed shortly before midnight on the day before. As their home base at Frankfurt Airport suffered from capacity limits back then, Lufthansa established a second hub offering several short - and long - haul connections through Munich in addition to Frankfurt. While Lufthansa serves more European destinations from Munich Airport than from Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt has many more intercontinental routes. Between 1995 and 2006 passenger numbers doubled from under 15 million per annum to over 30 million, despite the impact of the 11 September attacks in 2001 and 2002. In 1996 the airport overtook Düsseldorf as Germany 's second - busiest airport and currently handles almost twice as many passengers as the country 's third - busiest airport. In June 2003 construction of Terminal 2 was completed and it was inaugurated as an exclusive facility for Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners. In November 2013, the airport introduced its first new corporate design since its inauguration. The large letter ' M ' remains in a new font type, and a dash has been added which changes between several colors. There are also animated color - changing versions of the ' M ' - sign placed throughout the airport area, for example on the main entrance road and on the new Terminal 2 satellite. In May 2015, Munich Airport became the first airport outside Asia to be ranked as a "5 - Star Airport '' by Skytrax. It also won "Best Airport in Europe '' for the eighth time. In June 2015, Condor announced it intends to establish a long - haul base at Munich Airport from the 2016 summer season. Condor has already based short - and mid-haul operations at the airport and resumed long - haul flights in winter 2013 after a six - year absence. In November 2015, Transavia announced their intention to establish their first German base at Munich Airport which will consist of four aircraft serving 18 new routes by spring 2016. As of June 2015, the biggest foreign carrier in Munich in terms of passenger numbers is Air Dolomiti. During 2015, Munich Airport counted more than 40 million passengers per year for the first time. In December 2016, Lufthansa 's low - cost subsidiary Eurowings announced it intends to establish a major base at Munich Airport from March 2017, with 32 new routes. These new base operations will be carried out by Air Berlin on a new wet - lease contract with Eurowings. In February 2017, Transavia announced to shut down their entire base at Munich Airport by October 2017 after only a year of service due to a change in their business strategy and negative economic outlook. Munich Airport covers 15.75 square kilometres (3,890 acres) of land area. Most of the airport 's facilities are located in the area between the two runways. The approach road and railway divide the west part into a southern half, which contains cargo and maintenance facilities, and a northern half, which contains mostly administrative buildings and service facilities, a holiday long - term parking lot and the visitors ' centre. It is followed by the west apron and Terminal 1, then the Munich Airport Center (MAC), Terminal 2 and the east apron. Munich Airport has two passenger terminals, and shuffled 20 -- 25 million people through each terminal in 2014. Terminal 1 is the older terminal and commenced operation when the airport was opened on 17 May 1992. It has a total capacity of 25 million passengers per year and is subdivided into five modules designated A, B, C, D and E. Modules A through D provide all facilities necessary to handle departures and arrivals, including individual landside driveways and parking, whereas module E is equipped to handle arrivals only. This design essentially makes each module a self - contained sub-terminal of its own. Modules A and D are used for flights within the Schengen - area, while modules B and C handle those to destinations outside it. Hall F is separate, located near Terminal 2, and handles flights with increased security requirements, i.e. those to Israel. Furthermore, the check - in counters for some flights departing from Terminal 1 are located in the central area Z (German: Zentralbereich) where most of the shopping and restaurant facilities of this Terminal as well as the airport 's suburban railway station are also located. The 1,081 - metre (3,547 - foot) pier features 21 jet bridges, two of which have been rebuilt into waiting halls for bus transfers. One gate position has been equipped with three jet bridges to handle the Airbus A380 which is regularly used by Emirates. There are further 60 aircraft stands on the apron, some of which are equipped with specially designed apron jet bridges (German: Vorfeldfluggastbrücken), to which passengers are brought by bus. This unique concept allows passengers to board with full protection from the weather but without the high investments required for full satellite terminals connected through a passenger transport system. Terminal 1 currently handles all airlines that are not members or partners of the Star Alliance with the exception of Turkish Airlines. However, owing to lack of capacity at Terminal 2, Lufthansa 's subsidiary Germanwings and former affiliate Condor both moved back to Terminal 1 in 2007. Germanwings however moved back to Terminal 2 in late 2015. Some of the major users at Terminal 1 are Air Berlin, Condor, Emirates, Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, easyJet and TUIfly amongst several others. As of December 2015, a major redesign of Terminal 1 including a capacity increase and an extension of the central terminal building to the west for centralised security and shopping facilities was under preparation. In November 2016, a major € 400m extension and refurbishment for Terminal 1 has been announced. Terminal areas A and B will be entirely redesigned with the addition of a 320 - metre - long (1,050 ft) pier stretching out on the apron. The new facilities will provide capacity for 6 million additional passengers, will be able to handle 12 aircraft including two Airbus A380s at once, and are due to open by 2022. Terminal 2 commenced operation on 29 June 2003. It has a design capacity of 25 million passengers per year and is exclusively used by Lufthansa and all other Star Alliance members serving Munich except Turkish Airlines. Star Alliance partners Air Malta, Luxair and BMI Regional also use Terminal 2. Having been designed as a hub terminal it is not divided into modules like Terminal 1. Instead, all facilities are arranged around a central Plaza. Owing to security regulations imposed by the European Union, the terminal has been equipped with facilities to handle passengers from countries considered insecure, i.e. not implementing the same regulations. This required the construction of a new level as, unlike other airports, the terminal does not have separate areas for arriving and departing passengers. The new level 06 opened on 15 January 2009. The pier, which is 980 m (3,220 ft) long, is equipped with 24 jet bridges. As the total number of 75 aircraft stands on the east apron is not always sufficient, Terminal 2 sometimes also uses parking positions on the west apron, to which passengers are carried by airside buses. Terminal 2 is able to handle the Airbus A380 as well, however there are no designated stands or additional jet bridges for it until the opening of the Terminal 2 satellite building. As there is no airline currently serving Terminal 2 with the A380, the largest passenger aircraft regularly handled there are the Thai Airways Boeing 747 - 400s. Terminal 2 has two main departure levels, 04 and 05 and additional bus gates on the lower level 03. Gates on level 05 (H) are designated non-Schengen gates. Until the new transfer level 06 opened, the northernmost gates were behind an additional security checkpoint for departures to the USA most of the day. The lower level 04 (G) contains Schengen gates. The bus gates on level 03 are also designated G and are also used for Schengen flights. Level 03 is smaller than the main levels and consists of two separate parts which can be reached from two points on level 04. One area of these gates is designated to Air Dolomiti. The terminal is operated by Terminal - 2 - Betriebsgesellschaft (German for Terminal 2 Operating Company), which is owned by Flughafen München GmbH (60 %) and Lufthansa (40 %). This makes Terminal 2 the first terminal in Germany which is co-operated by an airline. While Terminal 1 still has plenty of capacity left -- in 2011, it handled only about 11 million passengers -- an extension of Terminal 2, which operated over full capacity handling 27.5 million passengers by 2013, was required by Lufthansa and its Star Alliance partners to allow easy transfers within a single terminal and to provide more building parking positions equipped with jetbridges and additional waiting areas. When Terminal 2 and its east apron were built prior to 2003, preparations for a satellite terminal had already been made. Construction for the satellite building was approved in 2010 and started in 2012; it was completed by the end of 2015. The satellite terminal was inaugurated on 22 April 2016 and has been in operation since 26 April 2016 after trial runs made with the help of volunteers that had started in January 2016. This extension to Terminal 2 saw the already existing baggage sorting hall on the east apron upgraded and heavily extended with new floors to become the satellite terminal. Besides the baggage transport tunnel, there already were three more unused tunnels beneath the Terminal 2 apron of which one was equipped with a fully automated people mover by Bombardier Transportation connecting the Terminal 2 main building with the new satellite. In July 2016, less than three months after its opening, the satellite terminal recorded its one millionth passenger. The new satellite building is 609 metres (1,998 ft) long with 125,000 square metres (1,345,500 sq ft) of floor space. It allows an additional 11 million passengers to be handled per year, adding 52 gates using 27 parking positions, of which 11 are able to handle wide - body aircraft including the Airbus A380. The building is able to handle Schengen and Non-Schengen flights on two main levels (K for Schengen and L for Non-Schengen destinations, as well as area J for some additional bus gates) and features 44 new passport control stations and 24 security lanes for transfer passengers as well as new restaurants, shops and five new Lufhansa lounges. However, the satellite is an airside only facility, check - in and arrivals is still located in the Terminal 2 main building only. The project did cost 650 million Euros, shared between the airport 's operator (60 %) and Lufthansa (40 %). An expansion for the satellite building into a ' T ' shape is planned for the future along with another satellite and room for a possible third Terminal to the east. The Munich Airport Center (sometimes shortened to MAC) is a shopping, business, and recreation area that connects the two terminals. The older Central Area (German: Zentralbereich), which was originally built as part of Terminal 1, hosts a shopping mall and the S - Bahn station. The newer MAC Forum built with Terminal 2 is a large outdoor area with a partly transparent tent - like roof. Next to it is the airport hotel managed by Hilton Hotels & Resorts which was designed by the world - famous architect Helmut Jahn and landscape architecture firm PWP Landscape Architecture in 1994. The Munich Airport Center has the only supermarket in the entire state of Bavaria where one can shop from 5: 30 a.m. to midnight every day, including Sundays, as it is exempt from the Bavarian law governing retail hours of operation (German: Ladenschlussgesetz). The airport has two parallel runways and one concrete helipad. The two concrete runways (08R / 26L and 26R / 08L) are each 4,000 metres (13,120 ft) long and 60 metres (200 ft) wide. A third runway would increase the number of schedulable aircraft movements per hour from 90 to 120. It would run in parallel to the existing runways and be located to the north - east of the current north runway, significantly extending the total area occupied by the airport. According to Flughafen München GmbH (FMG), the airport 's operator, the current two - runway system is already operating at full capacity during peak hours, and requests for additional slots from airlines have been denied. Further increase in air traffic is expected as Munich is to become a second major hub in Germany after Frankfurt. In August 2007, the airport operator applied for planning permission from the government of Upper Bavaria. More than 60,000 objections have been filed during public display of the plans. The objections, lawsuits, and results of a citywide referendum against the third runway were later overturned by the Bavarian Administrative Court, allowing for construction plans to proceed. On 26 July 2011, the government of Upper Bavaria issued the zoning approval for the construction of a third runway. With this decision, the zoning authority, after the intensive examination and consideration of all ramifications, expressly approved the need presented by Flughafen München GmbH and the plans submitted for the third runway. Also tied to the approval by the government of Upper Bavaria is the prompt completion of the construction project. However, the airport operator has chosen to follow the advice of Bavaria 's Higher Administrative Court and not to proceed until the principal proceedings concerning the project have reached a conclusion. The decision is currently being reviewed by the court. The building permit associated with the zoning will continue to be valid for up to 15 years. While according to ICAO Regulations (Annex XIV) the new runway would have to be named 08L / 26R (renaming the existing north runway to 08C / 26C), it is currently assigned the working title 09 / 27 in all plans. In 2015, the airport received approval from Germany 's Federal Administrative Court to build a third runway, dismissing all complaints and appeals, and confirming the 2014 decision of Bavaria 's Higher Administrative Court to grant approval. The plans include a new 4,000 - metre (13,000 ft) runway northeast of the existing airport and a new satellite building at Terminal 2, the latter of which did open in April 2016. However, construction of the new runway may yet be delayed as the project has to have unanimous approval by the airport 's three shareholders: Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany and the City of Munich. The latter has opposed the plan since a 2012 referendum. Currently, there are five parking garages and six underground parking areas, amounting together to a total of 30,000 parking spaces of which approximately 16,500 are under a roof. The parking garage P20 at Terminal 2, with 6,400 parking spaces on eleven levels (including four that are underground) since its commissioning in 2003 was the largest parking garage in Germany until the car park at the new Allianz Arena was opened in 2005. A parking guidance system was installed in the parking garages, which detects whether a parking space is occupied and newly arriving vehicles are shown where the empty parking spaces are located. Apart from the usual parking facilities, the Munich Airport offers, at additional cost, special parking spaces with additional benefits. This includes valet parking, in which the vehicle is picked up by an airport employee upon flight departure and parked, and the Park, Sleep & Fly option, in which a night at the Hilton hotel is included. Also there is an option for oversized parking spaces, the so - called XXL parking, and secure parking. Lastly, there is a special separate parking level in the P20 parking garage, where the parked cars are guarded. In addition, special services can be booked, such as interior / exterior cleaning and fuelling. To make shopping in the public areas more attractive for local residents of the airport area, there are special offers where visitors can park up to three hours for free in the P20 parking garage. Short - term parking can be found east of the central area, where visitors can park for free for a maximum of thirty minutes. During the holiday periods other cheaper options are provided in the P8 parking garage. The airport authorities have set out to cater for visitors and sightseers by creating a ' Visitors Park ' which includes a ' Visitors Hill ', from which a good view of the westerly aircraft apron and Terminal 1 can be obtained, as well as a restaurant and a shop for aircraft models and other collectors ' items. This location is served by a railway station named ' Besucherpark '. The view from the hill is shown in the above widescreen image of the Terminal 1 apron. Three historic aircraft are on display in the park, a Super Constellation, a Douglas DC - 3, and a Junkers Ju 52 / 3m. There is also a visitors ' viewing terrace on the roof of Terminal 2 that features a wide, glassed balcony with seating areas and gives a view of the easterly aircraft apron. All visitors can access the terrace from the landside. The entrance fee was abolished in September 2013. There are two additional smaller Visitor Hills on the north end of the north runway and at the center of the south runway. The following airlines offer regular scheduled and charter flights at Munich Airport: Since November 2005, the Munich Airport has a certified environmental management system according to DIN ISO 14001 and EMAS. Munich Airport was involved in the Air Transport Initiative for Germany, which was also attended by Fraport, Deutsche Flugsicherung and Lufthansa. It developed a so - called "four - pillar strategy '' with an overall concept designed to improve environmental protection; these four pillars include: "Reduction of CO2 emissions through technological progress and innovation, particularly in the field of engine development; a more efficient infrastructure with a needs - based adaptation of airport capacity with concentration on the avoidance of, for example, polluting queues; operational measures such as the optimization of soil processes; economic incentives '' -- Perspectives. Environmental Statement 2008 Munich Airport GmbH From the beginning, the state - administered parts of nature conservation aspects were considered in the planning of the airport. At the opening of the airport, 70 % of the grounds were planted; today there are 925 of the 1,575 hectares which remained planted, only 60 %. The prevalent Erdinger Moos area with its many intersecting small streams, and woodland series was taking into consideration in the planning by the landscape architect. At the same time, consideration was taking in making the airport unattractive to birds, in order to prevent bird strikes. An additional 230 - acre green belt was placed around the airport as a compensation area, in which the overall compensation areas extend over 600 acres. Even with the focus on the environment, environmental groups criticize the enormous land consumption of the airport and each additional expansion project. Also, they believe that the compensation areas are not sufficient enough in order to compensate for the damage caused by the airport. The construction in the Erdinger Moos area had a large impact on the water budget of the region, since the groundwater levels in the marshy landscape had to be greatly reduced in which drainage ditches were created. Existing watercourses, such as small streams, were not interrupted, but redirected so that they run either around or underneath the property, lowering the effects of groundwater reduction to only the areas in which the airport is located. The wastewater from the airport and the collected rain water are returned to the natural water cycle. In order to accomplish this, 100 km of sewer lines were laid, seven pumping stations, a water treatment plant and four rainwater sedimentation tanks were built and put into operation. The already rough cleansed water is then purified in a purification plant. For the necessary winter de-icing of the airport, deicing chemical such as glycol are used and collected together with the contaminated melted water and then either purified or reused. The cleaning is done in the degradation system area, where soil bacteria decompose the glycol into harmless components of water and carbon dioxide. To reduce noise from thrust reversal during aircraft landings, the runways were built to a length of 4,000 meters, however the noise reduction is offset by increased taxiing times. To reduce noise pollution, a hall for engine testing was built. After 11 p.m. engine tests may be carried out only with the approval of air traffic control. To motivate airlines to use low - noise aircraft, the airport charges are calculated according to the level of noise pollution. There are 16 stationary noise measuring points at the airport. At Munich airport there is no strict ban on night flights, but a ban on flights arriving and departing between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.. The only exemptions are flights from mail services and DFS survey flights. From midnight until 5am only those flights that operate in the interest of the public are generally possible, this includes so - called emergency flights: police and rescue helicopter missions or medical emergencies. Also, aircraft movements for security reasons such as for precautionary landings are allowed at all times. Flights with special permission from the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology are also feasible at this time. From 10 p.m. to midnight and 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. flights are possible through the so - called bonus list. Exceptions are delayed flights or premature landings if these aircraft are at least noise - admitted according to ICAO Chapter 3. In addition to both the bonus list and noise requirements they must fulfill further conditions, this includes that the airline must have a maintenance base at the airport, the maximum number of 28 scheduled flights per night (charter and scheduled services) must not be exceeded, the aircraft is not louder than 75 db (A) or it is an education or training flight. This rule applies until the total annual volume is exhausted in air traffic movements by these regulations. More flights of this type are then no longer allowed. The number of night flights increased from 1999 to 2007 from 42 to 60 flights average per night. Residents have been protesting for years against aircraft noise, in particular against the noise pollution at night. The Government of Upper Bavaria approved the night flight regulations currently in force in 2001. Most of Munich airport 's electricity and heat is generated by its own cogeneration plant (CHP), which is located south of the northern runway to the west of the airport. CHP has nine so - called cogeneration modules, seven run on diesel fuel, the other two on gasoline. The electrical generating capacity is 18.5 megawatts. The cogeneration modules run smoothly all year long; this creates surplus heat at certain times which is stored in heat storage to be used later. In summer, the heat generated is used for the operation of the absorption refrigerating machine. The total gross utilization rate is 78 percent (diesel) and 83 percent (gasoline). The cogeneration modules are an obligation, from the Renewable Energy Sources Act, so that Munich Airport can generate electricity from renewable energy sources, using biogas. The airport also has a connection to the district heating network of the Zolling power plant. There is a photovoltaic system on the roof of the central hall of Terminal 2. It is a joint project of BP Solar, German BP, Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management, Lufthansa, Munich Airport and others. In operation since 10 July 2003, it generates an average of 445,000 kilowatt hours per year, equivalent to the consumption of 155 households. The power comes from 2,856 modules of silicon cells, covering a total area of 3,594 square metres. It is expected to save 12,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over its 30 - year lifetime. € 2.65 million EUR were invested in the plant. The plant produces direct current, which after conversion to alternating current is initiated immediately in the power system. In Terminal 2, the energy currently generated is displayed on an overhead screen, which also displays other information. A biofuel gas station supplying rapeseed oil fuels, ethanol fuel and biomethane has been established, making it possible for the operating companies to convert their vehicle fleets to biofuels; the station can also be used by external companies operating at the airport. Despite measures to prevent bird strikes, the northern part of Erdinger Moos is still an important habitat for birds, especially for grassland birds such as lapwing, curlew or rare winter visitors such as the harrier. This led automatically to the area being reported under the European Birds Directive as a bird sanctuary. The fencing of the airport and the large meadows inside the fence attract open meadow birds. This leads to constant conflicts and the deaths, even of rare birds as a result of airplane accidents (vortices) and safety measures to avoid bird strikes. The planned third runway 3,440,000 square metres in the bird sanctuary will be laid with concrete, eliminating 8,000,000 square metres of living space. This would represent substantial interference with the bird sanctuary. For the safety of passengers and flight operations, four inspections by the Federal Police, departments of the Bavarian State Police (Police Inspection Munich Airport, PP Oberbayern Nord) and the security department of Flughafen München GmbH are responsible. The airport police station is located in Nordallee 6, and the police officers working there have an adapted qualification to the specific field of application, for example, they are also trained in the case of an aircraft hijacking. Bavaria 's police helicopter squad is also based at the Munich Airport, where five of the Eurocopter EC135 helicopters are stationed. A move of the unit to Schleißheim airport is planned for 2020. In addition, one of the world 's two chambers for explosive goods (the second one is located at Kuala Lumpur International Airport) is located on the airport grounds. In this chamber explosive substances can be defused. The airport has its own fire department with 32 fire engines distributed over two fire stations, which are located near the runways. They are positioned in a way that the emergency vehicles can reach every point of the apron, taxiway and runway in a maximum of three minutes, as long as no adverse weather conditions prevail. Should larger missions occur, the fire departments of the surrounding municipalities can be called in, which can provide up to 36 vehicles and about 216 men; in exchange, the airport fire department helps in large fires in the region. Most recently, this happened when a BMW plant in Eching went up in flames. *) The sum of the missions also includes other missions such as guided tours. Emergency medical care is provided by a rescue guard on Nordallee operated by the Malteser Hilfsdienst under a public service contract. A rescue vehicle is ready for use around the clock, which is also used outside the airport area for normal emergencies. If necessary, other rescue workers from the region or supraregional are used, the deployment coordination is carried out by the integrated control center which is also responsible for the area of the airport. On the premises of the airport is an emergency physician from the medical center that arrives on the emergency site, when required, in a separate vehicle according to the rendezvous procedure. Munich Airport is accessible via nearby Motorway A 92, which connects to motorway A9 (towards Nuremberg) and Munich 's ring motorway A99. Bavarian State Road St. 2584 connects A 92 's exit 6 (Flughafen München) -- an incomplete interchange that can only be used by traffic to and from the west -- to the terminals. Access from the east is possible via exit 8 (Freising Ost) and Bavarian State Road St. 2580, which connects to St. 2584 in the east of the airport. There are two railway stations on the grounds of Munich Airport: Munich Airport Terminal station is located in a tunnel directly beneath the central area between both passenger terminals. A second station called Besucherpark (German for Visitors ' Park) is located in the area that contains the cargo and maintenance areas, long - term parking, administrative buildings and the Visitors ' Park from which the station gets its name. The airport is connected to the city by Munich suburban railway (S - Bahn) lines S 1 and S 8. The ride takes approximately 45 minutes to the Marienplatz station in the city centre. S 1 runs from the airport through the northwestern suburbs and reaches the city centre from the west (Hauptbahnhof -- Marienplatz -- München Ost), while S 8 comes in from the eastern suburbs passing the stations from the opposite direction. The S - Bahn from the airport to the city runs approximately 20 hours a day with a short break between 1: 30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Furthermore, a scheduled regional bus service 635 connects the airport within 20 minutes to the Freising railway station, providing access to regional trains towards Munich as well as to Nuremberg, Regensburg and Prague. A second tunnel beneath the terminals is currently unused. Originally, there were plans to use it for intercity railway, then for a Transrapid maglev train making the trip to München Hauptbahnhof in 10 minutes. However, this project was cancelled in March 2008 due to cost escalation. Discussions regarding a faster connection between Munich city centre and the airport have taken place for several years, as the journey time of 40 -- 60 minutes faces ongoing criticism. As of September 2015, construction works to connect the airport with regional railway services of Deutsche Bahn to and from the north - east have started. This project, called Neufahrner Kurve (Neufahrn curve after the nearby town of Neufahrn bei Freising), will see the existing southwest - bound S - Bahn tracks being expanded with a curve leading to the north, connecting them with the already existing tracks of the Munich - Regensburg line. This new connection will enable hourly regional express train services from Regensburg via Landshut directly to the airport without the need to use a connecting bus coming from the north or to go to Munich city center at first and then all the way back to the airport. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in 2018. MVV regional bus lines connect the airport to the nearby city of Freising as well as Erding and Markt Schwaben. Lufthansa Airport Bus provides an alternative to the S - Bahn, stopping at Nordfriedhof U-Bahn station and Munich Central Station. At the beginning of the 1990s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn considered four options for a better railway connection to the airport. At an estimated cost of between 500 million and 2 billion Deutsche Mark, each option would have allowed the airport to be integrated into the ICE network. However, the idea was rejected and instead concentration was placed on a better connection of the airport to regional transportation as well as to the München Hauptbahnhof. In order to reach the central station and the Munich city center faster the proposal of an express S - Bahn was proposed by the critics of the unsuccessful proposal of a Transrapid connection in 2008. Due to the heavily utilized Stammstrecke (east west connection), its connection to the Munich East -- Munich Airport railway is not possible, and the use of the Munich South Ring as an alternative would be a major time saving loss on the way to the main station. The central station could be reached directly from the airport via the Munich - Regensburg railway line, which, however, also does not offer regularly usable capacities. The neighboring communities oppose its development as the route leads through several local centers and crosses the federal road 471 in Oberschleißheim. Therefore, the new construction of railway lines for the implementation of an airport express would be necessary. The solution approach from MAEX via the Munich East -- Munich Airport railway requires the construction of the second main route through Moosach and along the Bundesautobahn 92. Through the extension of different subway lines to the intersection with one of the two airport suburban railways, the travel time to the airport from different parts of the north of Munich can be considerably reduced. This was realized for the suburbs of Milbertshofen - Am Hart and Feldmoching - Hasenbergl with the subway line U 2 to the S 1 station Feldmoching in 1996 and the construction of the airport connector near Neufahrn in 1998. In 2010, the travel time to the airport from Moosach, Schwabing West and Neuhausen - Nymphenburg districts was shortened by connecting the subway line U 3 to the S 1 station Moosach. The extension of the U 6 from Garching to Neufahrn is currently being examined. The Erdinger Ring connection is to extend the S - Bahn (S2) from Erding in the direction of the airport and connect to neighboring Freising through a connecting curve, the Neufahrn Link. It will fulfill the demand of a rail connection between Eastern Bavaria, including the neighboring airport commuter cities Moosburg and Landshut, to the airport, realized with its own regional railway line. A faster connection from the airport to the inner city is not achieved by the Erdinger ring connection, however a direct connection between the airport and the Munich Messe would be. For this, the S2 would also make a short route north of Messe München and have a stop north of the exhibition center. Already before the opening of the airport there were plans for a regional station at the airport. To this, a railway connection from Mühldorf am Inn is to be made between Erding and Dorfen with the help of the Erdinger ring connection as well as a short new construction single - track called Walpertskirchner Spange. The actual planning phase for this also began, as in the case of the Erdinger ring connection, in August 2006. On 29 August 2013, the Bavarian Administrative Court rejected the complaints against the plan approval decision of the Neufahrn Link of October 2012 and therefore freed the way for a direct rail connection of the Munich airport from Regensburg, Landshut, Moosburg and Freising. The Neufahrner Kurve is to connect the railway line Landshut - Munich from Neufahr with the railway connection line Neufahr - Flughafen Munich, approximately 2.5 kilometres long, two - track and electrified section of the line. In the construction and financing agreement, signed by rail and free - trade in April 2013, it was agreed that the Neufahrn Link will be built and put into operation by the end of 2018. According to the airport, the growth of air traffic in Munich from 1997 to 2006 was an average of 7 % per year, and the airport 's capacity was already exhausted. Since new airlines in Munich no longer received the desired slots, a traffic - spoiling effect occurred. An air traffic forecast of Intraplan Consult GmbH estimated 58.2 million passengers for 2025, provided the airport has a tight - fitting growth. In order to exploit the expected traffic potential in Munich, the operator plans to expand today 's capacity from 90 movements per hour to 120 movements per hour by constructing a third runway. The shareholders of Flughafen München GmbH (FMG) stated that the construction of a third runway was necessary for the Munich region and for Bavaria as a whole, for reasons of transport and economic policy. Various associations and institutions from economics and politics reacted in favor of the plan approval decision issued by the government of Oberbayern for the construction of a third runway at Munich Airport. The project for the construction of a third runway is particularly appealing in the directly affected airport region of the counties of Freising and Erding, but also in other nearby counties. Among other things, one calls for the use of larger machines in order to meet demands and, above all, the growth projections presented by FMG. The opponents of the expansion project joined forces to form the action alliance aufgeMUCkt (over 80 groups, including citizens ' initiatives, ecclesiastical groups and environmental organizations), supported by, among others, the BUND in Bavaria, that organized many demonstrations. Also, the Catholic Church, which is the owner of some of the affected sites, also announced resistance to the construction. Since the plan approval decision of 26 July 2011, more protests have taken place. On 29 October 2011, a large demonstration with around 7,000 participants took place in Munich in Marienplatz directly in front of the Old Town Hall. Media related to Munich Airport at Wikimedia Commons Munich Airport travel guide from Wikivoyage

who introduced the feudal system in the peninsula

Early Middle Ages - wikipedia The Early Middle Ages or Early Medieval Period, lasting from the 5th to the 10th century CE, marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages (c. 10th to 13th centuries). The Early Middle Ages largely overlap with Late Antiquity. The term "Late Antiquity '' is used to emphasize elements of continuity with the Roman Empire, while "Early Middle Ages '' is used to emphasize developments characteristic of the later medieval period. The period saw a continuation of trends begun during late classical antiquity, including population decline, especially in urban centres, a decline of trade, and increased immigration. The period has been labelled the "Dark Ages '', a characterization highlighting the relative scarcity of literary and cultural output from this time, especially in Northwestern Europe. However, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, continued to survive, and in the 7th century the Islamic caliphates conquered swathes of formerly Roman territory. Many of these trends were reversed later in the period. In 800 the title of emperor was revived in Western Europe by Charlemagne, whose Carolingian Empire greatly affected later European social structure and history. Europe experienced a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the feudal system, which introduced such innovations as three - field planting and the heavy plough. Barbarian migration stabilized in much of Europe, although Northern Europe was greatly affected by the Viking expansion. Starting in the 2nd century, various indicators of Roman civilization began to decline, including urbanization, seaborne commerce, and population. Archaeologists have identified only 40 per cent as many Mediterranean shipwrecks from the 3rd century as from the first. Estimates of the population of the Roman Empire during the period from 150 to 400 suggest a fall from 65 million to 50 million, a decline of more than 20 per cent. Some scholars have connected this de-population to the Dark Ages Cold Period (300 -- 700), when a decrease in global temperatures impaired agricultural yields. Early in the 3rd century Germanic peoples migrated south from Scandinavia and reached the Black Sea, creating formidable confederations which opposed the local Sarmatians. In Dacia (present - day Romania) and on the steppes north of the Black Sea the Goths, a Germanic people, established at least two kingdoms: Therving and Greuthung. The arrival of the Huns in 372 -- 375 ended the history of these kingdoms. The Huns, a confederation of central Asian tribes, founded an empire. They had mastered the difficult art of shooting composite recurve bows from horseback. The Goths sought refuge in Roman territory (376), agreeing to enter the Empire as unarmed settlers. However many bribed the Danube border - guards into allowing them to bring their weapons. The discipline and organization of a Roman legion made it a superb fighting unit. The Romans preferred infantry to cavalry because infantry could be trained to retain the formation in combat, while cavalry tended to scatter when faced with opposition. While a barbarian army could be raised and inspired by the promise of plunder, the legions required a central government and taxation to pay for salaries, constant training, equipment, and food. The decline in agricultural and economic activity reduced the empire 's taxable income and thus its ability to maintain a professional army to defend itself from external threats. In the Gothic War (376 -- 382), the Goths revolted and confronted the main Roman army in the Battle of Adrianople (378). By this time, the distinction in the Roman army between Roman regulars and barbarian auxiliaries had broken down, and the Roman army comprised mainly barbarians and soldiers recruited for a single campaign. The general decline in discipline also led to the use of smaller shields and lighter weaponry. Not wanting to share the glory, Eastern Emperor Valens ordered an attack on the Therving infantry under Fritigern without waiting for Western Emperor Gratian, who was on the way with reinforcements. While the Romans were fully engaged, the Greuthung cavalry arrived. Only one - third of the Roman army managed to escape. This represented the most shattering defeat that the Romans had suffered since the Battle of Cannae (216 BCE), according to the Roman military writer Ammianus Marcellinus. The core army of the Eastern Roman Empire was destroyed, Valens was killed, and the Goths were freed to lay waste to the Balkans, including the armories along the Danube. As Edward Gibbon comments, "The Romans, who so coolly and so concisely mention the acts of justice which were exercised by the legions, reserve their compassion and their eloquence for their own sufferings, when the provinces were invaded and desolated by the arms of the successful Barbarians. '' The empire lacked the resources, and perhaps the will, to reconstruct the professional mobile army destroyed at Adrianople, so it had to rely on barbarian armies to fight for it. The Eastern Roman Empire succeeded in buying off the Goths with tribute. The Western Roman Empire proved less fortunate. Stilicho, the western empire 's half - Vandal military commander, stripped the Rhine frontier of troops to fend off invasions of Italy by the Visigoths in 402 -- 03 and by other Goths in 406 -- 07. Fleeing before the advance of the Huns, the Vandals, Suebi, and Alans launched an attack across the frozen Rhine near Mainz; on 31 December, 406, the frontier gave way and these tribes surged into Roman Gaul. There soon followed the Burgundians and bands of the Alamanni. In the fit of anti-barbarian hysteria which followed, the Western Roman Emperor Honorius had Stilicho summarily beheaded (408). Stilicho submitted his neck, "with a firmness not unworthy of the last of the Roman generals '', wrote Gibbon. Honorius was left with only worthless courtiers to advise him. In 410, the Visigoths led by Alaric I captured the city of Rome and for three days fire and slaughter ensued as bodies filled the streets, palaces were stripped of their valuables, and the invaders interrogated and tortured those citizens thought to have hidden wealth. As newly converted Christians, the Goths respected church property, but those who found sanctuary in the Vatican and in other churches were the fortunate few. The Roman Empire was n't "conquered '' by Germanic tribes, but overrun and even completely displaced by the flood of Germanic migrants. The Goths and Vandals were only the first of many waves of invaders that flooded Western Europe. Some lived only for war and pillage and disdained Roman ways. Other peoples had been in prolonged contact with the Roman civilization, and were, to a certain degree, romanized. "A poor Roman plays the Goth, a rich Goth the Roman '' said King Theoderic of the Ostrogoths. The subjects of the Roman empire were a mix of Catholic Christian, Arian Christian, Nestorian Christian, and pagan. The Germanic peoples knew little of cities, money, or writing, and were still mostly pagan, though were becoming increasingly Arian. Arianism was a branch of Christianity that was first proposed early in the 4th century by the Alexandrian presbyter Arius. Arius proclaimed that Christ is not truly divine but a created being. His basic premise was the uniqueness of God, who is alone self - existent and immutable; the Son, who is not self - existent, can not be God. During the migrations, or Völkerwanderung (wandering of the peoples), the earlier settled populations were sometimes left intact though usually partially or entirely displaced. Roman culture north of the Po River was almost entirely displaced by the migrations. Whereas the peoples of France, Italy, and Spain continued to speak the dialects of Latin that today constitute the Romance languages, the language of the smaller Roman - era population of what is now England disappeared with barely a trace in the territories settled by the Anglo - Saxons, although the Brittanic kingdoms of the west remained Brythonic speakers. The new peoples greatly altered established society, including law, culture, religion, and patterns of property ownership. The pax Romana had provided safe conditions for trade and manufacture, and a unified cultural and educational milieu of far - ranging connections. As this was lost, it was replaced by the rule of local potentates, sometimes members of the established Romanized ruling elite, sometimes new lords of alien culture. In Aquitania, Gallia Narbonensis, southern Italy and Sicily, Baetica or southern Spain, and the Iberian Mediterranean coast, Roman culture lasted until the 6th or 7th centuries. The gradual breakdown and transformation of economic and social linkages and infrastructure resulted in increasingly localized outlooks. This breakdown was often fast and dramatic as it became unsafe to travel or carry goods over any distance; there was a consequent collapse in trade and manufacture for export. Major industries that depended on trade, such as large - scale pottery manufacture, vanished almost overnight in places like Britain. Tintagel in Cornwall, as well as several other centres, managed to obtain supplies of Mediterranean luxury goods well into the 6th century, but then lost their trading links. Administrative, educational and military infrastructure quickly vanished, and the loss of the established cursus honorum led to the collapse of the schools and to a rise of illiteracy even among the leadership. The careers of Cassiodorus (died c. 585) at the beginning of this period and of Alcuin of York (died 804) at its close were founded alike on their valued literacy. For the formerly Roman area, there was another 20 per cent decline in population between 400 and 600, or a one - third decline for 150 - 600. In the 8th century, the volume of trade reached its lowest level. The very small number of shipwrecks found that dated from the 8th century supports this (which represents less than 2 per cent of the number of shipwrecks dated from the 1st century). There were also reforestation and a retreat of agriculture that centreed around 500. The Romans had practiced two - field agriculture, with a crop grown in one field and the other left fallow and ploughed under to eliminate weeds. Systematic agriculture largely disappeared and yields declined. It is estimated that the Plague of Justinian which began in 541 and recurred periodically for 150 years thereafter killed as many as 100 million people across the world. Some historians such as Josiah C. Russell (1958) have suggested a total European population loss of 50 to 60 per cent between 541 and 700. After the year 750, major epidemic diseases did not appear again in Europe until the Black Death of the 14th century. The disease Smallpox which was eradicated in the late 20th Century did not definitively enter Western Europe until about 581 when Bishop Gregory of Tours provided an eyewitness account that describes the characteristic findings of smallpox. Waves of epidemics wiped out large rural populations. Most of the details about the epidemics are lost, probably due to the scarcity of surviving written records. For almost a thousand years, Rome was the most politically important, richest and largest city in Europe. Around 100 CE, it had a population of about 450,000. Its population declined to a mere 20,000 during the Early Middle Ages, reducing the sprawling city to groups of inhabited buildings interspersed among large areas of ruins and vegetation. The death of Theodosius I in 395 was followed by the division of the empire between his two sons. The Western Roman Empire disintegrated into a mosaic of warring Germanic kingdoms in the 5th century, making the Eastern Roman Empire in Constantinople the legal successor to the classical Roman Empire. After Greek replaced Latin as the official language of the Empire, historians refer to the empire as "Byzantine. '' Westerners would gradually begin to refer to it as "Greek '' rather than "Roman. '' The inhabitants, however, always called themselves Romaioi, or Romans. The Eastern Roman Empire aimed at retaining control of the trade routes between Europe and the Orient, which made the Empire the richest polity in Europe. Making use of their sophisticated warfare and superior diplomacy, the Byzantines managed to fend off assaults by the migrating barbarians. Their dreams of subduing the Western potentates briefly materialized during the reign of Justinian I in 527 -- 565. Not only did Justinian restore some western territories to the Roman Empire, but he also codified Roman law (with his codification remaining in force in many areas of Europe until the 19th century) and built the largest and the most technically advanced edifice of the Early Middle Ages, the Hagia Sophia. A bubonic plague pandemic, the Plague of Justinian, marred Justinian 's reign, however, infecting the Emperor, killing perhaps 40 % of the people in Constantinople, and contributing to Europe 's early medieval population decline. Justinian 's successors Maurice and Heraclius had to confront invasions of the Avar and Slavic tribes. After the devastations by the Slavs and the Avars, large areas of the Balkans became depopulated. In 626 Constantinople, by far the largest city of early medieval Europe, withstood a combined siege by Avars and Persians. Within several decades, Heraclius completed a holy war against the Persians by taking their capital and having a Sassanid monarch assassinated. Yet Heraclius lived to see his spectacular success undone by the Muslim conquests of Syria, three Palaestina provinces, Egypt, and North Africa which was considerably facilitated by religious disunity and the proliferation of heretical movements (notably Monophysitism and Nestorianism) in the areas converted to Islam. Although Heraclius 's successors managed to salvage Constantinople from two Arab sieges (in 674 -- 77 and 717), the empire of the 8th and early 9th century was rocked by the great Iconoclastic Controversy, punctuated by dynastic struggles between various factions at court. The Bulgar and Slavic tribes profited from these disorders and invaded Illyria, Thrace and even Greece. After the decisive victory at Ongala in 680 the armies of the Bulgars and Slavs advanced to the south of the Balkan mountains, defeating again the Byzantines who were then forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty which acknowledged the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire on the borders of the Empire. To counter these threats, a new system of administration was introduced. The regional civil and military administration were combined in the hands of a general, or strategos. A theme, which formerly denoted a subdivision of the Byzantine army, came to refer to a region governed by a strategos. The reform led to the emergence of great landed families which controlled the regional military and often pressed their claims to the throne (see Bardas Phocas and Bardas Sklerus for characteristic examples). By the early 8th century, notwithstanding the shrinking territory of the empire, Constantinople remained the largest and the wealthiest city of the entire world, comparable only to Sassanid Ctesiphon, and later Abassid Baghdad. The population of the imperial capital fluctuated between 300,000 and 400,000 as the emperors undertook measures to restrain its growth. The only other large Christian cities were Rome (50,000) and Salonika (30,000). Even before the 8th century was out, the Farmer 's Law signalled the resurrection of agricultural technologies in the Roman Empire. As the 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica noted, "the technological base of Byzantine society was more advanced than that of contemporary western Europe: iron tools could be found in the villages; water mills dotted the landscape; and field - sown beans provided a diet rich in protein ''. The ascension of the Macedonian dynasty in 867 marked the end of the period of political and religious turmoil and introduced a new golden age of the empire. While the talented generals such as Nicephorus Phocas expanded the frontiers, the Macedonian emperors (such as Leo the Wise and Constantine VII) presided over the cultural flowering in Constantinople, known as the Macedonian Renaissance. The enlightened Macedonian rulers scorned the rulers of Western Europe as illiterate barbarians and maintained a nominal claim to rule over the West. Although this fiction had been exploded with the coronation of Charlemagne in Rome (800), the Byzantine rulers did not treat their Western counterparts as equals. Generally, they had little interest in political and economic developments in the barbarian (from their point of view) West. Against this economic background, the culture and the imperial traditions of the Eastern Roman Empire attracted its northern neighbours -- Slavs, Bulgars, and Khazars -- to Constantinople, in search of either pillage or enlightenment. The movement of the Germanic tribes to the south triggered the great migration of the Slavs, who occupied the vacated territories. In the 7th century, they moved westward to the Elbe, southward to the Danube and eastward to the Dnieper. By the 9th century, the Slavs had expanded into sparsely inhabited territories to the south and east from these natural frontiers, peacefully assimilating the indigenous Illyrian and Finno - Ugric populations. From the 7th century Byzantine history was greatly affected by the rise of Islam and the Caliphates. Muslim Arabs first invaded historically Roman territory under Abū Bakr, first Caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, who entered Roman Syria and Roman Mesopotamia. As the Byzantines and neighbouring Persian Sasanids had been severely weakened by a long succession of Byzantine -- Sasanian wars, especially the climactic Byzantine -- Sasanian War of 602 -- 628, under Umar, the second Caliph, the Muslims decisively conquered Syria and Mesopotamia, as well as Roman Palestine, Roman Egypt, parts of Asia Minor and Roman North Africa, while they entirely toppled the Sasanids. In the mid 7th century AD, following the Muslim conquest of Persia, Islam penetrated into the Caucasus region, of which parts would later permanently become part of Russia. This expansion of Islam continued under Umar 's successors and then the Umayyad Caliphate, which conquered the rest of Mediterranean North Africa and most of the Iberian Peninsula. Over the next centuries Muslim forces were able to take further European territory, including Cyprus, Malta, Septimania, Crete, and Sicily and parts of southern Italy. The Muslim conquest of Hispania began when the Moors (mostly Berbers with some Arabs) invaded the Christian Visigothic kingdom of Iberia in the year 711, under their Berber leader Tariq ibn Ziyad. They landed at Gibraltar on 30 April and worked their way northward. Tariq 's forces were joined the next year by those of his superior, Musa ibn Nusair. During the eight - year campaign most of the Iberian Peninsula was brought under Muslim rule -- save for small areas in the north - westnorthwest (Asturias) and largely Basque regions in the Pyrenees. This territory, under the Arab name Al - Andalus, became part of the expanding Umayyad empire. The unsuccessful second siege of Constantinople (717) weakened the Umayyad dynasty and reduced their prestige. After their success in overrunning Iberia, the conquerors moved northeast across the Pyrenees, but were defeated by the Frankish leader Charles Martel at the Battle of Poitiers in 732. The Umayyads were overthrown in 750 by the Abbāsids and most of the Umayyad clan massacred. A surviving Umayyad prince, Abd - ar - rahman I, escaped to Spain and founded a new Umayyad dynasty in the Emirate of Cordoba in 756. Charles Martel 's son Pippin the Short retook Narbonne, and his grandson Charlemagne established the Marca Hispanica across the Pyrenees in part of what today is Catalonia, reconquering Girona in 785 and Barcelona in 801. The Umayyads in Spain proclaimed themselves caliphs in 929. Due to a complex set of reasons, conditions in Western Europe began to improve after 700. In that year, the two major powers in western Europe were the Franks in Gaul and the Lombards in Italy. The Lombards had been thoroughly Romanized, and their kingdom was stable and well developed. The Franks, in contrast, were barely any different from their barbarian Germanic ancestors. Their kingdom was weak, hopelessly divided, and ruled by a king who was barely distinguishable from a peasant. Impossible to guess at the time, but by the end of the century, the Lombardic kingdom would be extinct, while the Frankish kingdom would have nearly reassembled the Western Roman Empire. Though much of Roman civilization north of the Po River had been wiped out in the years after the end of the Western Roman Empire, between the 5th and 8th centuries, new political and social infrastructure began to develop. Much of this was initially Germanic and pagan. Arian Christian missionaries had been spreading Arian Christianity throughout northern Europe, though by 700 the religion of northern Europeans was largely a mix of Germanic paganism, Christianized paganism, and Arian Christianity. Catholic Christianity had barely started to spread in northern Europe by this time. Through the practice of simony, local princes typically auctioned off ecclesiastical offices, causing priests and bishops to function as though they were yet another noble under the patronage of the prince. In contrast, a network of monasteries had sprung up as monks sought separation from the world. These monasteries remained independent from local princes, and as such constituted the "church '' for most northern Europeans during this time. Being independent from local princes, they increasingly stood out as centres of learning, of scholarship, and as religious centres where individuals could receive spiritual or monetary assistance. The interaction between the culture of the newcomers, their warband loyalties, the remnants of classical culture, and Christian influences, produced a new model for society, based in part on feudal obligations. The centralized administrative systems of the Romans did not withstand the changes, and the institutional support for chattel slavery largely disappeared. The Anglo - Saxons in England had also started to convert from Anglo - Saxon polytheism after the arrival of Christian missionaries around the year 600. The Lombards, who first entered Italy in 568 under Alboin, carved out a state in the north, with its capital at Pavia. At first, they were unable to conquer the Exarchate of Ravenna, the Ducatus Romanus, and Calabria and Apulia. The next two hundred years were occupied in trying to conquer these territories from the Byzantine Empire. The Lombard state was relatively Romanized, at least when compared to the Germanic kingdoms in northern Europe. It was highly decentralized at first, with the territorial dukes having practical sovereignty in their duchies, especially in the southern duchies of Spoleto and Benevento. For a decade following the death of Cleph in 575, the Lombards did not even elect a king; this period is called the Rule of the Dukes. The first written legal code was composed in poor Latin in 643: the Edictum Rothari. It was primarily the codification of the oral legal tradition of the people. The Lombard state was well - organized and stabilized by the end of the long reign of Liutprand (717 -- 744), but its collapse was sudden. Unsupported by the dukes, King Desiderius was defeated and forced to surrender his kingdom to Charlemagne in 774. The Lombard kingdom ended and a period of Frankish rule was initiated. The Frankish king Pepin the Short had, by the Donation of Pepin, given the pope the "Papal States '' and the territory north of that swath of papally - governed land was ruled primarily by Lombard and Frankish vassals of the Holy Roman Emperor until the rise of the city - states in the 11th and 12th centuries. In the south, a period of chaos began. The duchy of Benevento maintained its sovereignty in the face of the pretensions of both the Western and Eastern Empires. In the 9th century, the Muslims conquered Sicily. The coastal cities on the Tyrrhenian Sea departed from Byzantine allegiance. Various states owing various nominal allegiances fought constantly over territory until events came to a head in the early 11th century with the coming of the Normans, who conquered the whole of the south by the end of the century. Roman Britain was in a state of political and economic collapse at the time of the Roman departure c. 400. A series of settlements (traditionally referred to as an invasion) by Germanic peoples began in the early fifth century, and by the sixth century the island would consist of many small kingdoms engaged in ongoing warfare with each other. The Germanic kingdoms are now collectively referred to as Anglo - Saxons. Christianization began to take hold among the Anglo - Saxons in the sixth century, with 597 given as the traditional date for its large - scale adoption. Western Britain (Wales), eastern and northern Scotland (Pictland) and the Scottish highlands and isles continued their separate evolution. The Irish descended and Irish - influenced people of western Scotland were Christian from the fifth century onward, the Picts adopted Christianity in the sixth century under the influence of Columba, and the Welsh had been Christian since the Roman era. Northumbria was the pre-eminent power c. 600 -- 700, absorbing several weaker Anglo - Saxon and Brythonic kingdoms, while Mercia held a similar status c. 700 -- 800. Wessex would absorb all of the kingdoms in the south, both Anglo - Saxon and Briton. In Wales consolidation of power would not begin until the ninth century under the descendants of Merfyn Frych of Gwynedd, establishing a hierarchy that would last until the Norman invasion of Wales in 1081. The first Viking raids on Britain began before 800, increasing in scope and destructiveness over time. In 865 a large, well - organized Danish Viking army (called the Great Heathen Army) attempted a conquest, breaking or diminishing Anglo - Saxon power everywhere but in Wessex. Under the leadership of Alfred the Great and his descendants, Wessex would at first survive, then coexist with, and eventually conquer the Danes. It would then establish the Kingdom of England and rule until the establishment of an Anglo - Danish kingdom under Cnut, and then again until the Norman Invasion of 1066. Viking raids and invasion were no less dramatic for the north. Their defeat of the Picts in 839 led to a lasting Norse heritage in northernmost Scotland, and it led to the combination of the Picts and Gaels under the House of Alpin, which became the Kingdom of Alba, the predecessor of the Kingdom of Scotland. The Vikings combined with the Gaels of the Hebrides to become the Gall - Gaidel and establish the Kingdom of the Isles. The Merovingians established themselves in the power vacuum of the former Roman provinces in Gaul, and Clovis I converted to Christianity following his victory over the Alemanni at the Battle of Tolbiac (496), laying the foundation of the Frankish Empire, the dominant state of early medieval Western Christendom. The Frankish kingdom grew through a complex development of conquest, patronage, and alliance building. Due to salic custom, inheritance rights were absolute, and all land was divided equally among the sons of a dead land holder. This meant that, when the king granted a prince land in reward for service, that prince and all of his descendants had an irrevocable right to that land that no future king could undo. Likewise, those princes (and their sons) could sublet their land to their own vassals, who could in turn sublet the land to lower sub-vassals. This all had the effect of weakening the power of the king as his kingdom grew, since the result was that the land became controlled by not just by more princes and vassals, but by multiple layers of vassals. This also allowed his nobles to attempt to build their own power base, though given the strict salic tradition of hereditary kingship, few would ever consider overthrowing the king. This increasingly absurd arrangement was highlighted by Charles Martel, who as Mayor of the Palace was effectively the strongest prince in the kingdom. His accomplishments were highlighted, not just by his famous defeat of invading Muslims at the Battle of Tours, which is typically considered the battle that saved Europe from Muslim conquest, but by the fact that he greatly expanded Frankish influence. It was under his patronage that Saint Boniface expanded Frankish influence into Germany by rebuilding the German church, with the result that, within a century, the German church was the strongest church in western Europe. Yet despite this, Charles Martel refused to overthrow the Frankish king. His son, Pepin the Short, inherited his power, and used it to further expand Frankish influence. Unlike his father, however, Pepin decided to seize the Frankish kingship. Given how strongly Frankish culture held to its principle of inheritance, few would support him if he attempted to overthrow the king. Instead, he sought the assistance of Pope Zachary, who was himself newly vulnerable due to fallout with the Byzantine Emperor over the Iconoclastic Controversy. Pepin agreed to support the pope and to give him land (the Donation of Pepin, which created the Papal States) in exchange for being consecrated as the new Frankish king. Given that Pepin 's claim to the kingship was now based on an authority higher than Frankish custom, no resistance was offered to Pepin. With this, the Merovingian line of kings ended, and the Carolingian line began. Pepin 's son Charlemagne continued in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He further expanded and consolidated the Frankish kingdom (now commonly called the Carolingian Empire). His reign also saw a cultural rebirth, commonly called the Carolingian Renaissance. Though the exact reasons are unclear, Charlemagne was crowned "Roman Emperor '' by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800. Upon Charlemagne 's death, his empire had united much of modern - day France, western Germany and northern Italy. The years after his death illustrated how Germanic his empire remained. Rather than an orderly succession, his empire was divided in accordance with Frankish inheritance custom, which resulted in instability that plagued his empire until the last king of a united empire, Charles the Fat, died in 887, which resulted in a permanent split of the empire into West Francia and East Francia. West Francia would be ruled by Carolingians until 987 and East Francia until 911, after which time the partition of the empire into France and Germany was complete. Around 800 there was a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the open field, or strip, system. A manor would have several fields, each subdivided into 1 - acre (4,000 m) strips of land. An acre measured one "furlong '' of 220 yards by one "chain '' of 22 yards (that is, about 200 m by 20 m). A furlong (from "furrow long '') was considered to be the distance an ox could plough before taking a rest; the strip shape of the acre field also reflected the difficulty in turning early heavy ploughs. In the idealized form of the system, each family got thirty such strips of land. The three - field system of crop rotation was first developed in the 9th century: wheat or rye was planted in one field, the second field had a nitrogen - fixing crop, and the third was fallow. Compared to the earlier two - field system, a three - field system allows for significantly more land to be put under cultivation. Even more important, the system allows for two harvests a year, reducing the risk that a single crop failure will lead to famine. Three - field agriculture creates a surplus of oats that can be used to feed horses. Because the system required a major rearrangement of real estate and of the social order, it took until the 11th century before it came into general use. The heavy wheeled plough was introduced in the late 10th century. It required greater animal power and promoted the use of teams of oxen. Illuminated manuscripts depict two - wheeled ploughs with both a mouldboard, or curved metal ploughshare, and a coulter, a vertical blade in front of the ploughshare. The Romans had used light, wheel-less ploughs with flat iron shares that often proved unequal to the heavy soils of northern Europe. The return to systemic agriculture coincided with the introduction of a new social system called feudalism. This system featured a hierarchy of reciprocal obligations. Each man was bound to serve his superior in return for the latter 's protection. This made for confusion of territorial sovereignty since allegiances were subject to change over time and were sometimes mutually contradictory. Feudalism allowed the state to provide a degree of public safety despite the continued absence of bureaucracy and written records. Even land ownership disputes were decided based solely on oral testimony. Territoriality was reduced to a network of personal allegiances. The Viking Age spans the period between roughly between the late 8th and mid-11th centuries in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). During this period, the Vikings, Scandinavian warriors and traders raided and explored most parts of Europe, south - western Asia, northern Africa, and north - eastern North America. With the means to travel (longships and open water), desire for goods led Scandinavian traders to explore and develop extensive trading partnerships in new territories. Some of the most important trading ports during the period include both existing and ancient cities such as Aarhus, Ribe, Hedeby, Vineta, Truso, Kaupang, Birka, Bordeaux, York, Dublin, and Aldeigjuborg. Viking raiding expeditions were separate from, though coexisted with, regular trading expeditions. Apart from exploring Europe via its oceans and rivers, with the aid of their advanced navigational skills, they extended their trading routes across vast parts of the continent. They also engaged in warfare, looting and enslaving numerous Christian communities of Medieval Europe for centuries, contributing to the development of feudal systems in Europe. The Early Middle Ages marked the beginning of the cultural distinctions between Western and Eastern Europe north of the Mediterranean. Influence from the Byzantine Empire impacted the Christianization and hence almost every aspect of the cultural and political development of the East from the preeminence of Caesaropapism and Eastern Christianity to the spread of the Cyrillic alphabet. The turmoil of the so - called Barbarian invasions in the beginning of the period gradually gave way to more stabilized societies and states as the origins of contemporary Eastern Europe began to take shape during the High Middle Ages. Magyar region Turkic and Iranian invaders from Central Asia pressured the agricultural populations both in the Byzantine Balkans and in Central Europe creating a number of successor states in the Pontic steppes. After the dissolution of the Hunnic Empire, the Western Turkic and Avar Khaganates dominated territories from Pannonia to the Caspian Sea before replaced by the short lived Old Great Bulgaria and the more successful Khazar Khaganate north of the Black Sea and the Magyars in Central Europe. The Khazars were a nomadic Turkic people who managed to develop a multiethnic commercial state which owed its success to the control of much of the waterway trade between Europe and Central Asia. The Khazars also exacted tribute from the Alani, Magyars, various Slavic tribes, the Crimean Goths, and the Greeks of Crimea. Through a network of Jewish itinerant merchants, or Radhanites, they were in contact with the trade emporia of India and Spain. Once they found themselves confronted by Arab expansionism, the Khazars pragmatically allied themselves with Constantinople and clashed with the Caliphate. Despite initial setbacks, they managed to recover Derbent and eventually penetrated as far south as Caucasian Iberia, Caucasian Albania and Armenia. In doing so, they effectively blocked the northward expansion of Islam into Eastern Europe even before khan Tervel achieved the same at the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople and several decades before the Battle of Tours in Western Europe. In the beginning of the period the Slavic tribes started to expand aggressively into Byzantine possessions on the Balkans. The first attested Slavic polities were Serbia and Great Moravia, the latter of which emerged under the aegis of the Frankish Empire in the early 9th century. Great Moravia was ultimately overrun by the Magyars, who invaded the Pannonian Basin around 896. The Slavic state became a stage for confrontation between the Christian missionaries from Constantinople and Rome. Although West Slavs, Croats and Slovenes eventually acknowledged Roman ecclesiastical authority, the clergy of Constantinople succeeded in converting to Eastern Christianity two of the largest states of early medieval Europe, Bulgaria around 864, and Kievan Rus ' circa 990. In 632 the Bulgars established the khanate of Old Great Bulgaria under the leadership of Kubrat. The Khazars managed to oust the Bulgars from Southern Ukraine into lands along middle Volga (Volga Bulgaria) and along lower Danube (Danube Bulgaria). In 681 the Bulgars founded a powerful and ethnically diverse state that played a defining role in the history of early medieval Southeastern Europe. Bulgaria withstood the pressure from Pontic steppe tribes like the Pechenegs, Khazars, and Cumans, and in 806 destroyed the Avar Khanate. The Danube Bulgars were quickly slavicized and, despite constant campaigning against Constantinople, accepted Christianity from the Byzantine Empire. Through the efforts of missionaries Saint Cyril and Saint Methodius, the Bulgarian Glagolitic and Cyrillic alphabets were developed in the capital Preslav and a vernacular dialect, now known as Old Bulgarian or Old Church Slavonic, was established as the language of books and liturgy among Orthodox Christian Slavs. After the adoption of Christianity in 864, Bulgaria became a cultural and spiritual hub of the Eastern Orthodox Slavic world. The Cyrillic script was developed by Bulgarian scholar Clement of Ohrid in 885 - 886 and was afterwards introduced to Serbia and Kievan Rus '. Literature, art, and architecture were thriving with the establishment of the Preslav and Ohrid Literary Schools along with the distinct Preslav Ceramics School. In 927 the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was the first European national Church to gain independence with its own Patriarch while conducting services in the vernacular Old Church Slavonic. Under Simeon I (893 -- 927), the state was the largest and one of the most powerful political entities of Europe, and it consistently threatened the existence of the Byzantine empire. From the middle of the 10th century Bulgaria was in decline as it entered a social and spiritual turmoil. It was in part due to Simeon 's devastating wars, but was also exacerbated by a series of successful Byzantine military campaigns. Bulgaria was conquered after a long resistance in 1018. Led by a Varangian dynasty, the Kievan Rus ' controlled the routes connecting Northern Europe to Byzantium and to the Orient (for example: the Volga trade route). The Kievan state began with the rule (882 -- 912) of Prince Oleg, who extended his control from Novgorod southwards along the Dnieper river valley in order to protect trade from Khazar incursions from the east and moved his capital to the more strategic Kiev. Sviatoslav I (died 972) achieved the first major expansion of Kievan Rus ' territorial control, fighting a war of conquest against the Khazar Empire and inflicting a serious blow on Bulgaria. A Rus ' attack (967 or 968), instigated by the Byzantines, led to the collapse of the Bulgarian state and the occupation of the east of the country by the Rus '. An ensuing direct military confrontation between the Rus ' and Byzantium (970 - 971) ended with a Byzantine victory (971). The Rus ' withdrew and the Byzantine Empire incorporated eastern Bulgaria. Both before and after their conversion to Christianity (conventionally dated 988 under Vladimir I of Kiev -- known as Vladimir the Great), the Rus ' also embarked on predatory military campaigns against the Byzantine Empire, some of which resulted in trade treaties. The importance of Russo - Byzantine relations to Constantinople was highlighted by the fact that Vladimir I of Kiev, son of Svyatoslav I, became the only foreigner to marry (989) a Byzantine princess of the Macedonian dynasty (which ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from 867 to 1056), a singular honour sought in vain by many other rulers. With the end of the Western Roman Empire and with urban centres in decline, literacy and learning decreased in the West. This continued a pattern that had been underway since the 3rd century. Much learning under the Roman Empire was in Greek, and with the re-emergence of the wall between east and west, little eastern learning continued in the west. Much of the Greek literary corpus remained in Greek, and few in the west could speak or read Greek. Due to the demographic displacement that accompanied the end of the western Roman Empire, by this point most western Europeans were descendants of non-literate barbarians rather than literate Romans. In this sense, education was n't lost so much as it had yet to be acquired. Education did ultimately continue, and was centred in the monasteries and cathedrals. A "Renaissance '' of classical education would appear in Carolingian Empire in the 8th century. In the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), learning (in the sense of formal education involving literature) was maintained at a higher level than in the West. The classical education system, which would persist for hundreds of years, emphasized grammar, Latin, Greek, and rhetoric. Pupils read and reread classic works and wrote essays imitating their style. By the 4th century, this education system was Christianized. In De Doctrina Christiana (started 396, completed 426), Augustine explained how classical education fits into the Christian worldview: Christianity is a religion of the book, so Christians must be literate. Tertullian was more skeptical of the value of classical learning, asking "What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? '' De-urbanization reduced the scope of education, and by the 6th century teaching and learning moved to monastic and cathedral schools, with the study of biblical texts at the centre of education. Education of the laity continued with little interruption in Italy, Spain, and the southern part of Gaul, where Roman influences were more long - lasting. In the 7th century, however, learning expanded in Ireland and the Celtic lands, where Latin was a foreign language and Latin texts were eagerly studied and taught. In the ancient world, Greek was the primary language of science. Advanced scientific research and teaching was mainly carried on in the Hellenistic side of the Roman empire, and in Greek. Late Roman attempts to translate Greek writings into Latin had limited success. As the knowledge of Greek declined, the Latin West found itself cut off from some of its Greek philosophical and scientific roots. For a time, Latin - speakers who wanted to learn about science had access to only a couple of books by Boethius (c. 470 -- 524) that summarized Greek handbooks by Nicomachus of Gerasa. Saint Isidore of Seville produced a Latin encyclopedia in 630. Private libraries would have existed, and monasteries would also keep various kinds of texts. The study of nature was pursued more for practical reasons than as an abstract inquiry: the need to care for the sick led to the study of medicine and of ancient texts on drugs; the need for monks to determine the proper time to pray led them to study the motion of the stars; and the need to compute the date of Easter led them to study and teach mathematics and the motions of the Sun and Moon. In the late 8th century, there was renewed interest in Classical Antiquity as part of the Carolingian Renaissance. Charlemagne carried out a reform in education. The English monk Alcuin of York elaborated a project of scholarly development aimed at resuscitating classical knowledge by establishing programs of study based upon the seven liberal arts: the trivium, or literary education (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic), and the quadrivium, or scientific education (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). From 787 on, decrees began to circulate recommending the restoration of old schools and the founding of new ones across the empire. Institutionally, these new schools were either under the responsibility of a monastery (monastic schools), a cathedral, or a noble court. The teaching of dialectic (a discipline that corresponds to today 's logic) was responsible for the increase in the interest in speculative inquiry; from this interest would follow the rise of the Scholastic tradition of Christian philosophy. In the 12th and 13th centuries, many of those schools founded under the auspices of Charlemagne, especially cathedral schools, would become universities. Byzantium 's great intellectual achievement was the Corpus Juris Civilis ("Body of Civil Law ''), a massive compilation of Roman law made under Justinian (r. 528 - 65). The work includes a section called the Digesta which abstracts the principles of Roman law in such a way that they can be applied to any situation. The level of literacy was considerably higher in the Byzantine Empire than in the Latin West. Elementary education was much more widely available, sometimes even in the countryside. Secondary schools still taught the Iliad and other classics. As for higher education, the Neoplatonic Academy in Athens was closed in 526. There was also a school in Alexandria which remained open until the Arab conquest (640). The University of Constantinople, founded by Emperor Theodosius II (425), seems to have dissolved around this time. It was refounded by Emperor Michael III in 849. Higher education in this period focused on rhetoric, although Aristotle 's logic was covered in simple outline. Under the Macedonian dynasty (867 -- 1056), Byzantium enjoyed a golden age and a revival of classical learning. There was little original research, but many lexicons, anthologies, encyclopedias, and commentaries. In the course of the 11th century, Islam 's scientific knowledge began to reach Western Europe, via Islamic Spain. The works of Euclid and Archimedes, lost in the West, were translated from Arabic to Latin in Spain. The modern Hindu - Arabic numerals, including a notation for zero, were developed by Hindu mathematicians in the 5th and 6th centuries. Muslim mathematicians learned of it in the 7th century and added a notation for decimal fractions in the 9th and 10th centuries. Around 1000, Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II) made an abacus with counters engraved with Hindu - Arabic numbers. A treatise by Al - Khwārizmī on how to perform calculations with these numerals was translated into Latin in Spain in the 12th century. Monasteries were targeted in the eighth and ninth centuries by Vikings who invaded the coasts of northern Europe. They were targeted not only because they stored books but also precious objects that were looted by invaders. In the earliest monasteries, there were no special rooms set aside as a library, but from the sixth century onwards libraries became an essential aspect of monastic life in the Western Europe. The Benedictines placed books in the care of a librarian who supervised their use. In some monastic reading rooms, valuable books would be chained to shelves, but there were also lending sections as well. Copying was also another important aspect of monastic libraries, this was undertaken by resident or visiting monks and took place in the scriptorium. In the Byzantine world, religious houses rarely maintained their own copying centres. Instead they acquired donations from wealthy donors. In the tenth century, the largest collection in the Byzantine world was found in the monasteries of Mount Athos (modern - day Greece), which accumulated over 10,000 books. Scholars travelled from one monastery to another in search of the texts they wished to study. Travelling monks were often given funds to buy books, and certain monasteries which held a reputation for intellectual activities welcomed travelling monks who came to copy manuscripts for their own libraries. One of these was the monastery of Bobbio in Italy, which was founded by the Irish abbot St. Columba in 614, and by the ninth century boasted a catalogue of 666 manuscripts, including religious works, classical texts, histories and mathematical treatises. From the early Christians, early medieval Christians inherited a church united by major creeds, a stable Biblical canon, and a well - developed philosophical tradition. The history of medieval Christianity traces Christianity during the Middle Ages -- the period after the fall of the Roman Empire until the Protestant Reformation. The institutional structure of Christianity in the west during this period is different from what it would become later in the Middle Ages. As opposed to the later church, the church of the early Middle Ages consisted primarily of the monasteries. The practice of simony has caused the ecclesiastical offices to become the property of local princes, and as such the monasteries constituted the only church institution independent of the local princes. In addition, the papacy was relatively weak, and its power was mostly confined to central Italy. Individualized religious practice was uncommon, as it typically required membership in a religious order, such as the Order of Saint Benedict. Religious orders would n't proliferate until the high Middle Ages. For the typical Christian at this time, religious participation was largely confined to occasionally receiving mass from wandering monks. Few would be lucky enough to receive this as often as once a month. By the end of this period, individual practice of religion was becoming more common, as monasteries started to transform into something approximating modern churches, where some monks might even give occasional sermons. During the early Middle Ages, the divide between Eastern and Western Christianity widened, paving the way for the East - West Schism in the 11th century. In the West, the power of the Bishop of Rome expanded. In 607, Boniface III became the first Bishop of Rome to use the title Pope. Pope Gregory the Great used his office as a temporal power, expanded Rome 's missionary efforts to the British Isles, and laid the foundations for the expansion of monastic orders. Roman church traditions and practices gradually replaced local variants, including Celtic Christianity in Great Britain and Ireland. Various barbarian tribes went from raiding and pillaging the island to invading and settling. They were entirely pagan, having never been part of the Empire, though they experienced Christian influence from the surrounding peoples, such as those who were converted by the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury, sent by Pope Gregory the Great. In the East, the conquests of Islam reduced the power of the Greek - speaking patriarchates. The Catholic Church, the only centralized institution to survive the fall of the Western Roman Empire intact, was the sole unifying cultural influence in the West, preserving Latin learning, maintaining the art of writing, and preserving a centralized administration through its network of bishops ordained in succession. The Early Middle Ages are characterized by the urban control of bishops and the territorial control exercised by dukes and counts. The rise of urban communes marked the beginning of the High Middle Ages. The Christianization of Germanic tribes began in the 4th century with the Goths and continued throughout the Early Middle Ages, led in the 6th to 7th centuries by the Hiberno - Scottish mission and replaced in the 8th to 9th centuries by the Anglo - Saxon mission, with Anglo - Saxons like Alcuin playing an important role in the Carolingian renaissance. Saint Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans, propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He helped shape Western Christianity, and many of the dioceses he proposed remain until today. After his martyrdom, he was quickly hailed as a saint. By 1000, even Iceland had become Christian, leaving only more remote parts of Europe (Scandinavia, the Baltic, and Finno - Ugric lands) to be Christianized during the High Middle Ages. Listless and often ill, Carolingian Emperor Charles the Fat provoked an uprising, led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia, which resulted in the division of the empire in 887 into the kingdoms of France, Germany, and (northern) Italy. Taking advantage of the weakness of the German government, the Magyars had established themselves in the Alföld, or Hungarian grasslands, and began raiding across Germany, Italy, and even France. The German nobles elected Henry the Fowler, duke of Saxony, as their king at a Reichstag, or national assembly, in Fritzlar in 919. Henry 's power was only marginally greater than that of the other leaders of the stem duchies, which were the feudal expression of the former German tribes. Henry 's son King Otto I (r. 936 -- 973) was able to defeat a revolt of the dukes supported by French King Louis IV (939). In 951, Otto marched into Italy and married the widowed Queen Adelaide, named himself king of the Lombards, and received homage from Berengar of Ivrea, king of Italy (r. 950 - 52). Otto named his relatives the new leaders of the stem duchies, but this approach did n't completely solve the problem of disloyalty. His son Liudolf, duke of Swabia, revolted and welcomed the Magyars into Germany (953). At Lechfeld, near Augsburg in Bavaria, Otto caught up with the Magyars while they were enjoying a razzia and achieved a signal victory in 955. The Magyars ceased living on plunder, and their leaders created a Christian kingdom called Hungary (1000). The defeat of the Magyars greatly enhanced Otto 's prestige. He marched into Italy again and was crowned emperor (imperator augustus) by Pope John XII in Rome (962), an event that historians count as the founding of the Holy Roman Empire, although the term was not used until much later. The Ottonian state is also considered the first Reich, or German Empire. Otto used the imperial title without attaching it to any territory. He and later emperors thought of themselves as part of a continuous line of emperors that begins with Charlemagne. (Several of these "emperors '' were simply local Italian magnates who bullied the pope into crowning them.) Otto deposed John XII for conspiring against him with Berengar, and he named Pope Leo VIII to replace him (963). Berengar was captured and taken to Germany. John was able to reverse the deposition after Otto left, but he died in the arms of his mistress soon afterwards. Besides founding the German Empire, Otto 's achievements include the creation of the "Ottonian church system, '' in which the clergy (the only literate section of the population) assumed the duties of an imperial civil service. He raised the papacy out of the muck of Rome 's local gangster politics, assured that the position was competently filled, and gave it a dignity that allowed it to assume leadership of an international church. Speculation that the world would end in the year 1000 was confined to a few uneasy French monks. Ordinary clerks used regnal years, i.e. the 4th year of the reign of Robert II (the Pious) of France. The use of the modern "anno domini '' system of dating was confined to the Venerable Bede and other chroniclers of universal history. Western Europe remained less developed compared to the Islamic world, with its vast network of caravan trade, or China, at this time the world 's most populous empire under the Song Dynasty. Constantinople had a population of about 300,000, but Rome had a mere 35,000 and Paris 20,000. By contrast, Córdoba, in Islamic Spain, at this time the world 's largest city contained 450,000 inhabitants. The Vikings had a trade network in northern Europe, including a route connecting the Baltic to Constantinople through Russia, as did the Radhanites. With nearly the entire nation freshly ravaged by the Vikings, England was in a desperate state. The long - suffering English later responded with a massacre of Danish settlers in 1002, leading to a round of reprisals and finally to Danish rule (1013), though England regained independence shortly after. But Christianization made rapid progress and proved itself the long - term solution to the problem of barbarian raiding. The territories of Scandinavia were soon to be fully Christianized Kingdoms: Denmark in the 10th century, Norway in the 11th, and Sweden, the country with the least raiding activity, in the 12th. Kievan Rus, recently converted to Orthodox Christianity, flourished as the largest state in Europe. Iceland and Hungary were both declared Christian about 1000 CE. In Europe, a formalized institution of marriage was established. North of Italy, where masonry construction was never extinguished, stone construction was replacing timber in important structures. Deforestation of the densely wooded continent was under way. The 10th century marked a return of urban life, with the Italian cities doubling in population. London, abandoned for many centuries, was again England 's main economic centre by 1000. By 1000, Bruges and Ghent held regular trade fairs behind castle walls, a tentative return of economic life to western Europe. In the culture of Europe, several features surfaced soon after 1000 that mark the end of the Early Middle Ages: the rise of the medieval communes, the reawakening of city life, and the appearance of the burgher class, the founding of the first universities, the rediscovery of Roman law, and the beginnings of vernacular literature. In 1000, the papacy was firmly under the control of German Emperor Otto III, or "emperor of the world '' as he styled himself. But later church reforms enhanced its independence and prestige: the Cluniac movement, the building of the first great Transalpine stone cathedrals and the collation of the mass of accumulated decretals into a formulated canon law. Consult particular article for details (Andalusian city, Córdoba, Spain) The rise of Islam begins around the time Muhammad and his followers took flight, the Hijra, to the city of Medina. Muhammad spent his last ten years in a series of battles to conquer the Arabian region. From 622 to 632, Muhammad as the leader of a Muslim community in Medina was engaged in a state of war with the Meccans. In the proceeding decades, the area of Basra was conquered by the Muslims. During the reign of Umar, the Muslim army found it a suitable place to construct a base. Later the area was settled and a mosque was erected. Madyan was conquered and settled by Muslims, but the environment was considered harsh and the settlers moved to Kufa. Umar defeated the rebellion of several Arab tribes in a successful campaign, unifying the entire Arabian peninsula and giving it stability. Under Uthman 's leadership, the empire, through the Muslim conquest of Persia, expanded into Fars in 650, some areas of Khorasan in 651, and the conquest of Armenia was begun in the 640s. In this time, the Islamic empire extended over the whole Sassanid Persian Empire and to more than two - thirds of the Eastern Roman Empire. The First Fitna, or the First Islamic Civil War, lasted for the entirety of Ali ibn Abi Talib 's reign. After the recorded peace treaty between with Hassan ibn Ali and the suppression of early Kharijites ' disturbances, Muawiyah I acceded to the position of Caliph. The Muslim conquests of the Eastern Roman Empire and Arab wars occurred between 634 and 750. Starting in 633, Muslims conquered Iraq. The Muslim conquest of Syria would begin in 634 and would be complete by 638. The Muslim conquest of Egypt started in 639. Before the Muslim invasion of Egypt began, the Eastern Roman Empire had already lost the Levant and its Arab ally, the Ghassanid Kingdom, to the Muslims. The Muslims would bring Alexandria under control and the fall of Egypt would be complete by 642. Between 647 and 709, Muslims swept across North Africa and established their authority over that region. The Transoxiana region was conquered by Qutayba ibn Muslim between 706 and 715 and loosely held by the Umayyads from 715 to 738. This conquest was consolidated by Nasr ibn Sayyar between 738 and 740. It was under the Umayyads from 740 - 748 and under the Abbasids after 748. Sindh, attacked in 664, would be subjugated by 712. Sindh became the easternmost province of the Umayyad. The Umayyad conquest of Hispania (Visigothic Spain) would begin in 711 and end by 718. The Moors, under Al - Samh ibn Malik, swept up the Iberian peninsula and by 719 overran Septimania; the area would fall under their full control in 720. With the Islamic conquest of Persia, the Muslim subjugation of the Caucasus would take place between 711 and 750. The end of the sudden Islamic Caliphate expansion ended around this time. The final Islamic dominion eroded the areas of the Iron Age Roman Empire in the Middle East and controlled strategic areas of the Mediterranean. At the end of the 8th century, the former Western Roman Empire was decentralized and overwhelmingly rural. The Islamic conquest and rule of Sicily and Malta was a process which started in the 9th century. Islamic rule over Sicily was effective from 902, and the complete rule of the island lasted from 965 until 1061. The Islamic presence on the Italian Peninsula was ephemeral and limited mostly to semi-permanent soldier camps. The Abbasid Caliphate, ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, was the third of the Islamic caliphates. Under the Abbasids, the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists, and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations. Scientific and intellectual achievements blossomed in the period. The Abbasids built their capital in Baghdad after replacing the Umayyad caliphs from all but the Iberian peninsula. The influence held by Muslim merchants over African - Arabian and Arabian - Asian trade routes was tremendous. As a result, Islamic civilization grew and expanded on the basis of its merchant economy, in contrast to their Christian, Indian, and Chinese peers who built societies from an agricultural landholding nobility. The Abbasids flourished for two centuries but slowly went into decline with the rise to power of the Turkish army they had created, the Mamluks. Within 150 years of gaining control of Persia, the caliphs were forced to cede power to local dynastic emirs who only nominally acknowledged their authority. After the Abbasids lost their military dominance, the Samanids (or Samanid Empire) rose up in Central Asia. The Sunni Islam empire was a Tajik state and had a Zoroastrian theocratic nobility. It was the next native Persian dynasty after the collapse of the Sassanid Persian empire, caused by the Arab conquest.

who played jessica spencer in some mothers do ave em

Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em - wikipedia Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em is a British sitcom created and written by Raymond Allen and starring Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice. It was first broadcast in 1973 and ran for three series, ending in 1978, and returning briefly in 2016 for a one off special. The series follows the accident - prone Frank Spencer and his tolerant wife, Betty, through Frank 's various attempts to hold down a job, which frequently end in disaster. The sitcom was filmed in and around the town of Bedford in Bedfordshire. It was noted for its stuntwork, performed by Crawford himself, as well as featuring various well - remembered and much lampooned catchphrases, that have become part of popular culture. In a 2004 poll to find Britain 's Best Sitcom, Some Mothers Do ' Ave Em came 22nd. The expression "Some mothers do have them '' is meant to refer to someone clumsy or foolish. The wimpish, smiling Frank, sporting his trademark beret and trench coat, is married to the apparently normal Betty (Michele Dotrice) and in later series they have a baby daughter, Jessica. The character was popular with television impressionists such as Mike Yarwood in the 1970s, particularly his main catchphrase, "Ooh Betty '', which is only ever said in one episode: series 2, episode 2. "Ooh Betty... '' is not Frank 's only catchphrase of the series. Others include a quavering "Oooh... '', usually uttered with his forefinger to his mouth as he stands amidst the chaos of some disaster he has just caused (and which he himself has invariably escaped unscathed). He also sometimes complains about being "ha - RASSed! '', or occasionally, "I 've had a lot of ha - RASSments lately '' (originally an American pronunciation). Other recurring catchphrases include references to "a bit of trouble '', which usually implies some sort of undisclosed digestive disorder, and to the cat having "done a whoopsie '' (presumably a euphemism for having defecated in an inappropriate place, on one occasion in Spencer 's beret). If Frank is pleased (or confused) about something, he will often use the catchphrase "Mmmm -- nice! '' or "Ohhh -- nice! '' Despite his unfailing ability to infuriate people, Frank is essentially a very sympathetic character, who inspires much affection from his ever - loving and patient wife, Betty. He also venerates the memory of his late mother (Jessica Spencer) and worships his daughter (also named Jessica). (References to Frank 's mother by people who knew her suggest that she was very like her son.) The final series was written by Allen based on stories by Michael Crawford (not written by Crawford himself as sometimes reported) and made five years after the previous one (although there had been two Christmas specials in between). Frank 's character changes noticeably in this series, becoming more self - aware and keen to make himself appear more educated and well - spoken. He develops an air of pomposity which is always best demonstrated when someone would approach and enquire "Mr Spencer? '' to which he would always reply, "I am he. '' He also becomes more self - assured, and much more willing to argue back when criticised, and often wins arguments by leaving his opponents dumbfounded by the bizarreness of what he would say. Acknowledging the show 's success in Australia, the final series saw him begin talk of having relations there, and contemplating emigrating. Crawford himself has talked of how he based many of Frank 's reactions on those of a young child. Crawford also found it difficult to break out of the public association with the role, despite his later career as a hugely successful musical performer on the West End and Broadway stage, in popular shows such as Barnum and The Phantom of the Opera. Ronnie Barker and Norman Wisdom were the BBC 's first and second choices for the role of Frank. However the casting of Crawford proved effective, as many of Frank 's mannerisms and turns of phrase were invented by the actor (some having been used previously by Crawford in the film Hello, Dolly!), and his stunt - performing and singing skills were used in the series. In addition to Frank and Betty, most episodes would introduce at least one other character (a doctor, a neighbour, an employer, etc.) who would be seen to gradually suffer the inevitably chaotic consequences of Frank 's fleeting presence in their lives. These characters were often played by some of the greatest and recognisable character actors of the era, including George Baker, James Cossins, Peter Jeffrey, Richard Wilson, Fulton Mackay, Bernard Hepton, Christopher Timothy, George Sewell, Bryan Pringle, Milton Johns and Elisabeth Sladen (who, in her autobiography, mentions that she was considered for the role of Betty). A pre-Minder Glynn Edwards appeared in more than two episodes as Frank and Betty 's irascible new neighbour, Mr Lewis, while a pre-Bread Jean Boht appeared in two episodes as Mrs Lewis. One regular character in the early series was Frank 's long suffering mother - in - law Mrs. Fisher, played by Jane Hylton and Frank 's local catholic priest, Father O'Hara, who was played by Cyril Luckham. Australian actor and comedian Dick Bentley appeared in three of the last four episodes broadcast, as Frank 's Australian grandfather. The theme tune by Ronnie Hazlehurst features a piccolo spelling out the title in Morse code, excluding the apostrophes. Herne Bay in Kent features in this episode where Frank (Michael Crawford) arrives at a shop for a job interview. Guest stars Fulton Mackay. Starring Edward Hardwicke Starring Christopher Biggins as a learner pilot. Due to time pressures and aircraft noise problems, sound recordists were unable to accurately capture the audio within the aircraft cockpit. To alleviate this, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop used stock library sounds, including wind noise, the Wilhelm Scream No3 and radio chatter from a previous episode of Dads Army. The engine sound was recreated using an edited version of the aircraft sounds used in the classic film The Dambusters. A-V syncing issues mean it is clearly evident in these scenes that the actors voices have been re-recorded afterwards The BBC has repeated Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em several times since the series was produced in the 1970s. The programme has been shown on Catalan public television, Nigeria on the NTA in the 1980s and 1990s and in Australia on the Seven Network 's Great Comedy Classics Franchise in 2006 - 2007, GO! from 2009 to 2010 until the sitcom now screens on 7TWO. British channels Gold, BBC Two and BBC Prime took over repeats of the programme in 2007. On 4 October 2015, it was reported that the BBC were planning a return of the sitcom, with Crawford and Dotrice purported to be involved in shooting scheduled for early 2016. The news was met extremely positively on social media. On 18 March 2016, Michael Crawford and Michele Dotrice reprised their roles for a one - off sketch for Sport Relief. Cameo appearances included Sir Bradley Wiggins, Paul McCartney and Jenson Button. Sketch for Sport Relief. Gemma Arterton guest stars as a grown up version of Baby Jessica, alongside Sir Paul McCartney, Jenson Button, Boris Johnson, Roy Hodgson, Arsene Wenger, David Walliams, Jessica Ennis, Bradley Wiggins, Clare Balding, Sir Chris Hoy, Sir Andy Murray, and Jamie Murray playing themselves, and featured Chris Wilson as the Newsagent. In the United Kingdom six episodes from Series 1 and various selected episodes of Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em were originally released by BBC Video on VHS in the 1990s. Series 1 and Series 2 were released on VHS and DVD on 21 October 2002. Series 3 and the Christmas Specials were released on VHS and DVD on 19 May 2003. The Complete Series was released on VHS and DVD on 6 October 2003, by Second Sight available in Region 2. On 1 November 2010, 2 entertain reissued Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em -- The Complete Christmas Specials. On 14 February 2011 Some Mothers Do ' Ave ' Em -- The Complete Series and Christmas Specials was reissued by 2 entertain with new packaging. The complete collection is now available from both BBC Store and iTunes as a digital download. In Australia Series 1 - 3 and the Christmas Specials were released in 2003 and 2004. The complete boxset was released in 2004 on DVD in region 4. In the United States 13 selected episodes were released on VHS in 1998, and reissued on DVD region 1 in 2001. A stage adaptation, written and directed by Guy Unsworth based on the TV series will begin a UK tour at the Wyvern Theatre in Swindon in February 2018. Comedian Joe Pasquale will play Frank Spencer, with Sarah Earnshaw as Betty and Susie Blake as Mrs Fisher.

who scored the most goals in fifa 2018

2018 FIFA World Cup statistics - wikipedia These are statistics for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018. Goals scored from penalty shoot - outs are not counted, and matches decided by penalty shoot - outs are counted as draws. There were 169 goals scored in 64 matches, for an average of 2.64 goals per match. Twelve own goals were scored during the tournament, doubling the record of six set in 1998. 6 goals 4 goals 3 goals 2 goals 1 goal 1 own goal Source: FIFA 2 assists 1 assist Source: FIFA In order of achieving the tally. Bold numbers indicate the maximum values in each column. Team (s) rendered in italics represent (s) the host nation (s). The competition 's winning team is rendered in bold. -- Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won) -- Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved) -- As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot - outs are counted as draws. Host nation (s) are situated in the region (s) rendered in italics. -- Total games lost not counted in total games played (total games lost = total games won) -- Total number of games drawn (tied) for all teams = Total number of games drawn (tied) ÷ 2 (both teams involved) -- As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot - outs are counted as draws. Top 10 highest attendances.

where is the world golf championship being played at

2017 WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play - wikipedia The 2017 WGC - Dell Technologies Match Play was the 19th WGC Match Play, played March 22 -- 26 at Austin Country Club in Austin, Texas. It was the second of four World Golf Championships in 2017. Dustin Johnson won the final 1 up over Jon Rahm. The field consists of the top 64 players available from the Official World Golf Ranking on March 12. However, the seedings are based on the World Rankings on March 19. Henrik Stenson (ranked 5 on March 12, personal reasons), Adam Scott (8, personal reasons), Justin Rose (13, personal reasons), and Adam Hadwin (51, personal reasons) did not compete, allowing entry for Jason Dufner (ranked 65), Kim Kyung - tae (66), Joost Luiten (67) and Pat Perez (68). On March 17, world number nine Rickie Fowler dropped out, replaced by Kim Si - woo (69). In 2014 and earlier editions, the championship was a single elimination match play event. A new format was introduced in 2015, and the championship now starts with pool play, with 16 groups of four players playing round - robin matches, on Wednesday through Friday. The top 16 seeded players are allocated to the 16 groups, one in each group. The remaining 48 players are placed into three pools (seeds 17 -- 32, seeds 33 -- 48, seeds 49 -- 64). Each group has one player randomly selected from each pool to complete the group. All group play matches are limited to 18 holes with one point awarded for a win and one - half point for a halved match. Ties for first place in a group are broken by a sudden - death stroke play playoff, beginning on hole 1. The winners of each group advance to a single - elimination bracket on the weekend, with the round of 16 and quarterfinals on Saturday, and the semi-finals, finals, and consolation match on Sunday. Rank -- Official World Golf Ranking on March 19, 2017. Players were divided into 16 groups of four players and played round - robin matches Wednesday to Friday. Notes: Round 1 Of the 32 matches played, 10 were "upsets '' with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 5 matches were halved. These included top seeds # 2 Rory McIlroy, # 5 Jordan Spieth, and # 11 Danny Willett losing matches, # 3 Jason Day conceding his match and withdrawing from the tournament and # 4 Hideki Matsuyama, # 7 Sergio García, # 9 Patrick Reed, and # 16 Matt Kuchar halving matches. Notes: Round 2 Of the 32 matches played, 15 were upsets with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 2 matches were halved. These included top seeds # 4 Hideki Matsuyama, # 6 Justin Thomas, # 9 Patrick Reed, # 15 Branden Grace and # 16 Matt Kuchar losing matches and # 3 Jason Day conceding his match. Gary Woodland withdrew from the tournament for personal reasons, conceding his second - and third - round matches and Francesco Molinari withdrew after the second round with a wrist injury, conceding his third - round match. There were 14 players that had perfect 2 -- 0 -- 0 records, including the top seed, Dustin Johnson. Notes: Round 3 Of the 32 matches played, 14 were upsets with the lower seeded player beating the higher seeded player and 3 matches were halved. These included top seeds # 3 Jason Day (concession), # 4 Hideki Matsuyama, # 6 Justin Thomas, # 7 Sergio García, # 9 Patrick Reed, # 10 Tyrrell Hatton, and # 15 Danny Willett losing matches and # 2 Rory McIlroy, # 5 Jordan Spieth, and # 13 Bubba Watson halving matches. Five groups went to sudden - death playoffs, three involving two players and two involving three players. The playoffs went from one to six holes. Eight golfers advanced with perfect 3 -- 0 -- 0 records: # 1 Dustin Johnson, # 8 Alexander Norén, # 12 Paul Casey, # 14 Phil Mickelson, # 20 Brooks Koepka, # 21 Jon Rahm, # 48 William McGirt, and # 62 Søren Kjeldsen. Five of the top 16 seeds advanced while three of the bottom 16 seeds advanced. Nine Americans advance to the round of 16. Players by pool: A = 5, B = 3, C = 5, D = 3 Coordinates: 30 ° 20 ′ 35 '' N 97 ° 47 ′ 49 '' W  /  30.343 ° N 97.797 ° W  / 30.343; - 97.797

which countries were involved in the scramble for africa apex

Scramble for Africa - wikipedia The "Scramble for Africa '' was the occupation, division, and colonization of African territory by European powers during the period of New Imperialism, between 1881 and 1914. It is also called the Partition of Africa and by some, the Conquest of Africa. In 1870, only 10 percent of Africa was under European control; by 1914 it had increased to almost 90 percent of the continent, with only Ethiopia (Abyssinia), the Dervish state (present - day Somalia) and Liberia still being independent. The Berlin Conference of 1884, which regulated European colonisation and trade in Africa, is usually referred to as the starting point of the scramble for Africa. Consequent to the political and economic rivalries among the European empires in the last quarter of the 19th century, the partitioning, or splitting up of Africa was how the Europeans avoided warring amongst themselves over Africa. The later years of the 19th century saw the transition from "informal imperialism '' (hegemony), by military influence and economic dominance, to direct rule, bringing about colonial imperialism. The Portuguese established the first firm post-Middle Ages European settlements, trade posts, permanent fortifications and ports of call along the coast of the African continent, from the beginning of the Age of Discovery during the 15th century. But Europeans showed comparatively little interest in (and less knowledge of) the interior for some two centuries thereafter. European exploration of the African interior began in earnest at the end of the 18th century. By 1835, Europeans had mapped most of northwestern Africa. In the middle decades of the 19th century, famous European explorers included David Livingstone and H.M. Stanley, each of whom mapped vast areas of Southern Africa and Central Africa. Arduous expeditions in the 1850s and 1860s by Richard Burton, John Speke and James Grant located the great central lakes and the source of the Nile. By the end of the 19th century Europeans had charted the Nile from its source, traced the courses of the Niger, Congo and Zambezi Rivers, and realized the vast resources of Africa. Even as late as the 1870s, European states still controlled only ten percent of the African continent, with all their territories located near the coast. The most important holdings were Angola and Mozambique, held by Portugal; the Cape Colony, held by the United Kingdom; and Algeria, held by France. By 1914, only Ethiopia and Liberia remained independent of European control. Technological advances facilitated European expansion overseas. Industrialisation brought about rapid advancements in transportation and communication, especially in the forms of steam navigation, railways, and telegraphs. Medical advances also played an important role, especially medicines for tropical diseases. The development of quinine, an effective treatment for malaria, made vast expanses of the tropics more accessible for Europeans. Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the last regions of the world largely untouched by "informal imperialism '', was also attractive to Europe 's ruling elites for economic, political and social reasons. During a time when Britain 's balance of trade showed a growing deficit, with shrinking and increasingly protectionist continental markets due to the Long Depression (1873 -- 96), Africa offered Britain, Germany, France, and other countries an open market that would garner them a trade surplus: a market that bought more from the colonial power than it sold overall. In addition, surplus capital was often more profitably invested overseas, where cheap materials, limited competition, and abundant raw materials made a greater premium possible. Another inducement for imperialism arose from the demand for raw materials unavailable in Europe, especially copper, cotton, rubber, palm oil, cocoa, diamonds, tea, and tin, to which European consumers had grown accustomed and upon which European industry had grown dependent. Additionally, Britain wanted the southern and eastern coasts of Africa for stopover ports on the route to Asia and its empire in India. However, in Africa -- excluding the area which became the Union of South Africa in 1910 -- the amount of capital investment by Europeans was relatively small, compared to other continents. Consequently, the companies involved in tropical African commerce were relatively small, apart from Cecil Rhodes 's De Beers Mining Company. Rhodes had carved out Rhodesia for himself; Léopold II of Belgium later, and with considerable brutality, exploited the Congo Free State. These events might detract from the pro-imperialist arguments of colonial lobbies such as the Alldeutscher Verband, Francesco Crispi and Jules Ferry, who argued that sheltered overseas markets in Africa would solve the problems of low prices and over-production caused by shrinking continental markets. John A. Hobson argued in Imperialism that this shrinking of continental markets was a key factor of the global "New Imperialism '' period. William Easterly of New York University, however, disagrees with the link made between capitalism and imperialism, arguing that colonialism is used mostly to promote state - led development rather than "corporate '' development. He has stated that "imperialism is not so clearly linked to capitalism and free markets... historically there has been a closer link between colonialism / imperialism and state - led approaches to development. '' The rivalry between Britain, France, Germany, and the other European powers accounts for a large part of the colonisation. While tropical Africa was not a large zone of investment, other overseas regions were. The vast interior between Egypt and the gold and diamond - rich southern Africa had strategic value in securing the flow of overseas trade. Britain was under political pressure to secure lucrative markets against encroaching rivals in China and its eastern colonies, most notably India, Malaya, Australia and New Zealand. Thus, it was crucial to secure the key waterway between East and West -- the Suez Canal. However, the prevailing theory which suggested that Britain annexed East Africa in the 1880 - 90s out of geo - strategic concerns connected to the Nile Valley and Britain 's position in Egypt -- and by extension the sea - route to India via the Suez Canal -- was challenged by John Darwin in 1997, a refutation that was further contextualized and consolidated by Jonas F. Gjersø in 2015. The scramble for African territory also reflected concern for the acquisition of military and naval bases, for strategic purposes and the exercise of power. The growing navies, and new ships driven by steam power, required coaling stations and ports for maintenance. Defense bases were also needed for the protection of sea routes and communication lines, particularly of expensive and vital international waterways such as the Suez Canal. Colonies were also seen as assets in "balance of power '' negotiations, useful as items of exchange at times of international bargaining. Colonies with large native populations were also a source of military power; Britain and France used large numbers of British Indian and North African soldiers, respectively, in many of their colonial wars (and would again be utilized in the coming World Wars). In the age of nationalism there was pressure for a nation to acquire an empire as a status symbol; the idea of "greatness '' became linked with the sense of duty underlying many nations ' strategies. In the early 1880s, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza was exploring the Kingdom of Kongo for France, at the same time Henry Morton Stanley explored it on behalf of Léopold II of Belgium, who would have it as his personal Congo Free State (see section below). France occupied Tunisia in May 1881, which may have convinced Italy to join the German - Austrian Dual Alliance in 1882, thus forming the Triple Alliance. The same year, Britain occupied Egypt (hitherto an autonomous state owing nominal fealty to the Ottoman Empire), which ruled over Sudan and parts of Chad, Eritrea, and Somalia. In 1884, Germany declared Togoland, the Cameroons and South West Africa to be under its protection; and France occupied Guinea. French West Africa (AOF) was founded in 1895, and French Equatorial Africa in 1910. Germany was hardly a colonial power before the New Imperialism period, but would eagerly participate in this race. Fragmented in various states, Germany was only unified under Prussia 's rule after the 1866 Battle of Königgrätz and the 1870 Franco - Prussian War. A rising industrial power close on the heels of Britain, Germany began its world expansion in the 1880s. After isolating France by the Dual Alliance with Austria - Hungary and then the 1882 Triple Alliance with Italy, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck proposed the 1884 -- 85 Berlin Conference, which set the rules of effective control of a foreign territory. Weltpolitik (world policy) was the foreign policy adopted by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, with the aim of transforming Germany into a global power through aggressive diplomacy, the acquisition of overseas colonies, and the development of a large navy. Some Germans, claiming themselves of Friedrich List 's thought, advocated expansion in the Philippines and Timor; others proposed to set themselves up in Formosa (modern Taiwan), etc. At the end of the 1870s, these isolated voices began to be relayed by a real imperialist policy, backed by mercantilist thesis. In 1881, Hübbe - Schleiden, a lawyer, published Deutsche Kolonisation, according to which the "development of national consciousness demanded an independent overseas policy ''. Pan-Germanism was thus linked to the young nation 's imperialist drives. In the beginning of the 1880s, the Deutscher Kolonialverein was created, and got its own magazine in 1884, the Kolonialzeitung. This colonial lobby was also relayed by the nationalist Alldeutscher Verband. Generally, Bismarck was opposed to widespread German colonialism, but he had to resign at the insistence of the new German Emperor Wilhelm II on 18 March 1890. Wilhelm II instead adopted a very aggressive policy of colonisation and colonial expansion. Germany 's expansionism would lead to the Tirpitz Plan, implemented by Admiral von Tirpitz, who would also champion the various Fleet Acts starting in 1898, thus engaging in an arms race with Britain. By 1914, they had given Germany the second - largest naval force in the world (roughly three - fifths the size of the Royal Navy). According to von Tirpitz, this aggressive naval policy was supported by the National Liberal Party rather than by the conservatives, implying that imperialism was supported by the rising middle classes. Germany became the third - largest colonial power in Africa. Nearly all of its overall empire of 2.6 million square kilometres and 14 million colonial subjects in 1914 was found in its African possessions of Southwest Africa, Togoland, the Cameroons, and Tanganyika. Following the 1904 Entente cordiale between France and the British Empire, Germany tried to isolate France in 1905 with the First Moroccan Crisis. This led to the 1905 Algeciras Conference, in which France 's influence on Morocco was compensated by the exchange of other territories, and then to the Agadir Crisis in 1911. Along with the 1898 Fashoda Incident between France and Britain, this succession of international crises reveals the bitterness of the struggle between the various imperialist nations, which ultimately led to World War I. Italy took possession of parts of Eritrea in 1870 and 1882. Following its defeat in the First Italo -- Ethiopian War (1895 -- 1896), it acquired Italian Somaliland in 1889 -- 90 and the whole of Eritrea (1899). In 1911, it engaged in a war with the Ottoman Empire, in which it acquired Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (modern Libya). In 1919 Enrico Corradini -- who fully supported the war, and later merged his group in the early fascist party (PNF) -- developed the concept of Proletarian Nationalism, supposed to legitimize Italy 's imperialism by a mixture of socialism with nationalism: We must start by recognizing the fact that there are proletarian nations as well as proletarian classes; that is to say, there are nations whose living conditions are subject... to the way of life of other nations, just as classes are. Once this is realised, nationalism must insist firmly on this truth: Italy is, materially and morally, a proletarian nation. The Second Italo - Abyssinian War (1935 -- 36), ordered by the Fascist Benito Mussolini, would actually be one of the last colonial wars (that is, intended to colonise a foreign country, as opposed to wars of national liberation), occupying Ethiopia -- which had remained the last independent African territory, apart from Liberia. David Livingstone 's explorations, carried on by Henry Morton Stanley, excited imaginations with Stanley 's grandiose ideas for colonisation; but these found little support owing to the problems and scale of action required, except from Léopold II of Belgium, who in 1876 had organised the International African Association (the Congo Society). From 1869 to 1874, Stanley was secretly sent by Léopold II to the Congo region, where he made treaties with several African chiefs along the Congo River and by 1882 had sufficient territory to form the basis of the Congo Free State. Léopold II personally owned the colony from 1885 and used it as a source of ivory and rubber. While Stanley was exploring Congo on behalf of Léopold II of Belgium, the Franco - Italian marine officer Pierre de Brazza travelled into the western Congo basin and raised the French flag over the newly founded Brazzaville in 1881, thus occupying today 's Republic of the Congo. Portugal, which also claimed the area due to old treaties with the native Kongo Empire, made a treaty with Britain on 26 February 1884 to block off the Congo Society 's access to the Atlantic. By 1890 the Congo Free State had consolidated its control of its territory between Leopoldville and Stanleyville, and was looking to push south down the Lualaba River from Stanleyville. At the same time, the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes was expanding north from the Limpopo River, sending the Pioneer Column (guided by Frederick Selous) through Matabeleland, and starting a colony in Mashonaland. To the west, in the land where their expansions would meet, was Katanga, site of the Yeke Kingdom of Msiri. Msiri was the most militarily powerful ruler in the area, and traded large quantities of copper, ivory and slaves -- and rumors of gold reached European ears. The scramble for Katanga was a prime example of the period. Rhodes and the BSAC sent two expeditions to Msiri in 1890 led by Alfred Sharpe, who was rebuffed, and Joseph Thomson, who failed to reach Katanga. Leopold sent four CFS expeditions. First, the Le Marinel Expedition could only extract a vaguely worded letter. The Delcommune Expedition was rebuffed. The well - armed Stairs Expedition was given orders to take Katanga with or without Msiri 's consent. Msiri refused, was shot, and the expedition cut off his head and stuck it on a pole as a "barbaric lesson '' to the people. The Bia Expedition finished the job of establishing an administration of sorts and a "police presence '' in Katanga. Thus, the half million square kilometers of Katanga came into Leopold 's possession and brought his African realm up to 2,300,000 square kilometres (890,000 sq mi), about 75 times larger than Belgium. The Congo Free State imposed such a terror regime on the colonised people, including mass killings and forced labor, that Belgium, under pressure from the Congo Reform Association, ended Leopold II 's rule and annexed it in 1908 as a colony of Belgium, known as the Belgian Congo. The brutality of King Leopold II of Belgium in his former colony of the Congo Free State, now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was well documented; up to 8 million of the estimated 16 million native inhabitants died between 1885 and 1908. According to the former British diplomat Roger Casement, this depopulation had four main causes: "indiscriminate war '', starvation, reduction of births and diseases. Sleeping sickness ravaged the country and must also be taken into account for the dramatic decrease in population; it has been estimated that sleeping sickness and smallpox killed nearly half the population in the areas surrounding the lower Congo River. Estimates of the total death toll vary considerably. As the first census did not take place until 1924, it is difficult to quantify the population loss of the period. Casement 's report set it at three million. William Rubinstein wrote: "More basically, it appears almost certain that the population figures given by Hochschild are inaccurate. There is, of course, no way of ascertaining the population of the Congo before the twentieth century, and estimates like 20 million are purely guesses. Most of the interior of the Congo was literally unexplored if not inaccessible. '' See Congo Free State for further details including numbers of victims. A similar situation occurred in the neighbouring French Congo. Most of the resource extraction was run by concession companies, whose brutal methods, along with the introduction of disease, resulted in the loss of up to 50 percent of the indigenous population. The French government appointed a commission, headed by de Brazza, in 1905 to investigate the rumoured abuses in the colony. However, de Brazza died on the return trip, and his "searingly critical '' report was neither acted upon nor released to the public. In the 1920s, about 20,000 forced laborers died building a railroad through the French territory. French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps had obtained many concessions from Isma'il Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, in 1854 -- 56, to build the Suez Canal. Some sources estimate the workforce at 30,000, but others estimate that 120,000 workers died over the ten years of construction due to malnutrition, fatigue and disease, especially cholera. Shortly before its completion in 1869, Khedive Isma'il borrowed enormous sums from British and French bankers at high rates of interest. By 1875, he was facing financial difficulties and was forced to sell his block of shares in the Suez Canal. The shares were snapped up by Britain, under its Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, who sought to give his country practical control in the management of this strategic waterway. When Isma'il repudiated Egypt 's foreign debt in 1879, Britain and France seized joint financial control over the country, forcing the Egyptian ruler to abdicate, and installing his eldest son Tewfik Pasha in his place. The Egyptian and Sudanese ruling classes did not relish foreign intervention. During the 1870s, European initiatives against the slave trade caused an economic crisis in northern Sudan, precipitating the rise of Mahdist forces. In 1881, the Mahdist revolt erupted in Sudan under Muhammad Ahmad, severing Tewfik 's authority in Sudan. The same year, Tewfik suffered an even more perilous rebellion by his own Egyptian army in the form of the Urabi Revolt. In 1882, Tewfik appealed for direct British military assistance, commencing Britain 's administration of Egypt. A joint British - Egyptian military force ultimately defeated the Mahdist forces in Sudan in 1898. Thereafter, Britain (rather than Egypt) seized effective control of Sudan. The occupation of Egypt, and the acquisition of the Congo were the first major moves in what came to be a precipitous scramble for African territory. In 1884, Otto von Bismarck convened the 1884 -- 85 Berlin Conference to discuss the African problem. The diplomats put on a humanitarian façade by condemning the slave trade, prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages and firearms in certain regions, and by expressing concern for missionary activities. More importantly, the diplomats in Berlin laid down the rules of competition by which the great powers were to be guided in seeking colonies. They also agreed that the area along the Congo River was to be administered by Léopold II of Belgium as a neutral area, known as the Congo Free State, in which trade and navigation were to be free. No nation was to stake claims in Africa without notifying other powers of its intentions. No territory could be formally claimed prior to being effectively occupied. However, the competitors ignored the rules when convenient and on several occasions war was only narrowly avoided. Britain 's administration of Egypt and the Cape Colony contributed to a preoccupation over securing the source of the Nile River. Egypt was overrun by British forces in 1882 (although not formally declared a protectorate until 1914, and never an actual colony); Sudan, Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda were subjugated in the 1890s and early 20th century; and in the south, the Cape Colony (first acquired in 1795) provided a base for the subjugation of neighboring African states and the Dutch Afrikaner settlers who had left the Cape to avoid the British and then founded their own republics. Theophilus Shepstone annexed the South African Republic (or Transvaal) in 1877 for the British Empire, after it had been independent for twenty years. In 1879, after the Anglo - Zulu War, Britain consolidated its control of most of the territories of South Africa. The Boers protested, and in December 1880 they revolted, leading to the First Boer War (1880 -- 81). British Prime Minister William Gladstone signed a peace treaty on 23 March 1881, giving self - government to the Boers in the Transvaal. The Jameson Raid of 1895 was a failed attempt by the British South Africa Company and the Johannesburg Reform Committee to overthrow the Boer government in the Transvaal. The Second Boer War, fought between 1899 and 1902, was about control of the gold and diamond industries; the independent Boer republics of the Orange Free State and the South African Republic (or Transvaal) were this time defeated and absorbed into the British Empire. The French thrust into the African interior was mainly from the coasts of West Africa (modern day Senegal) eastward, through the Sahel along the southern border of the Sahara, a huge desert covering most of present - day Senegal, Mali, Niger, and Chad. Their ultimate aim was to have an uninterrupted colonial empire from the Niger River to the Nile, thus controlling all trade to and from the Sahel region, by virtue of their existing control over the Caravan routes through the Sahara. The British, on the other hand, wanted to link their possessions in Southern Africa (modern South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Zambia), with their territories in East Africa (modern Kenya), and these two areas with the Nile basin. The Sudan (which in those days included most of present - day Uganda) was the key to the fulfillment of these ambitions, especially since Egypt was already under British control. This "red line '' through Africa is made most famous by Cecil Rhodes. Along with Lord Milner, the British colonial minister in South Africa, Rhodes advocated such a "Cape to Cairo '' empire, linking the Suez Canal to the mineral - rich Southern part of the continent by rail. Though hampered by German occupation of Tanganyika until the end of World War I, Rhodes successfully lobbied on behalf of such a sprawling African empire. If one draws a line from Cape Town to Cairo (Rhodes 's dream), and one from Dakar to the Horn of Africa (now Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia), (the French ambition), these two lines intersect somewhere in eastern Sudan near Fashoda, explaining its strategic importance. In short, Britain had sought to extend its East African empire contiguously from Cairo to the Cape of Good Hope, while France had sought to extend its own holdings from Dakar to the Sudan, which would enable its empire to span the entire continent from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea. A French force under Jean - Baptiste Marchand arrived first at the strategically located fort at Fashoda, soon followed by a British force under Lord Kitchener, commander in chief of the British Army since 1892. The French withdrew after a standoff and continued to press claims to other posts in the region. In March 1899, the French and British agreed that the source of the Nile and Congo Rivers should mark the frontier between their spheres of influence. Although the 1884 -- 85 Berlin Conference had set the rules for the Scramble for Africa, it had not weakened the rival imperialists. The 1898 Fashoda Incident, which had seen France and the British Empire on the brink of war, ultimately led to the signature of the Entente Cordiale of 1904, which countered the influence of the European powers of the Triple Alliance. As a result, the new German Empire decided to test the solidity of such influence, using the contested territory of Morocco as a battlefield. Thus, Kaiser Wilhelm II visited Tangiers on 31 March 1905 and made a speech in favor of Moroccan independence, challenging French influence in Morocco. France 's influence in Morocco had been reaffirmed by Britain and Spain in 1904. The Kaiser 's speech bolstered French nationalism, and with British support the French foreign minister, Théophile Delcassé, took a defiant line. The crisis peaked in mid-June 1905, when Delcassé was forced out of the ministry by the more conciliation - minded premier Maurice Rouvier. But by July 1905 Germany was becoming isolated and the French agreed to a conference to solve the crisis. Both France and Germany continued to posture up until the conference, with Germany mobilizing reserve army units in late December and France actually moving troops to the border in January 1906. The 1906 Algeciras Conference was called to settle the dispute. Of the thirteen nations present, the German representatives found their only supporter was Austria - Hungary. France had firm support from Britain, the US, Russia, Italy and Spain. The Germans eventually accepted an agreement, signed on 31 May 1906, whereby France yielded certain domestic changes in Morocco but retained control of key areas. However, five years later the Second Moroccan Crisis (or Agadir Crisis) was sparked by the deployment of the German gunboat Panther to the port of Agadir on 1 July 1911. Germany had started to attempt to surpass Britain 's naval supremacy -- the British navy had a policy of remaining larger than the next two naval fleets in the world combined. When the British heard of the Panther 's arrival in Morocco, they wrongly believed that the Germans meant to turn Agadir into a naval base on the Atlantic. The German move was aimed at reinforcing claims for compensation for acceptance of effective French control of the North African kingdom, where France 's pre-eminence had been upheld by the 1906 Algeciras Conference. In November 1911 a convention was signed under which Germany accepted France 's position in Morocco in return for territory in the French Equatorial African colony of Middle Congo (now the Republic of the Congo). France and Spain subsequently established a full protectorate over Morocco (30 March 1912), ending what remained of the country 's formal independence. Furthermore, British backing for France during the two Moroccan crises reinforced the Entente between the two countries and added to Anglo - German estrangement, deepening the divisions that would culminate in the First World War. Following the Berlin Conference at the end of the 19th century, the British, Italians, and Ethiopians sought to claim lands owned by the Somalis such as the Warsangali Sultanate, the Ajuran Sultanate and the Gobroon Dynasty. The Dervish State was a state established by Mohammed Abdullah Hassan, a Somali religious leader who gathered Muslim soldiers from across the Horn of Africa and united them into a loyal army known as the Dervishes. This Dervish army enabled Hassan to carve out a powerful state through conquest of lands sought after by the Ethiopians and the European powers. The Dervish State successfully repulsed the British Empire four times and forced it to retreat to the coastal region. Due to these successful expeditions, the Dervish State was recognized as an ally by the Ottoman and German empires. The Turks also named Hassan Emir of the Somali nation, and the Germans promised to officially recognize any territories the Dervishes were to acquire. After a quarter of a century of holding the British at bay, the Dervishes were finally defeated in 1920 as a direct consequence of Britain 's use of aircraft. Between 1904 and 1908, Germany 's colonies in German South - West Africa and German East Africa were rocked by separate, contemporaneous native revolts against their rule. In both territories the threat to German rule was quickly defeated once large - scale reinforcements from Germany arrived, with the Herero rebels in German South - West Africa being defeated at the Battle of Waterberg and the Maji - Maji rebels in German East Africa being steadily crushed by German forces slowly advancing through the countryside, with the natives resorting to guerrilla warfare. German efforts to clear the bush of civilians in German South - West Africa then resulted in a genocide of the population. In total, as many as 65,000 Herero (80 % of the total Herero population), and 10,000 Namaqua (50 % of the total Namaqua population) either starved, died of thirst, or were worked to death in camps such as Shark Island Concentration Camp between 1904 and 1908. Characteristic of this genocide was death by starvation and the poisoning of the population 's wells whilst they were trapped in the Namib Desert. In its earlier stages, imperialism was generally the act of individual explorers as well as some adventurous merchantmen. The colonial powers were a long way from approving without any dissent the expensive adventures carried out abroad. Various important political leaders, such as Gladstone, opposed colonisation in its first years. However, during his second premiership between 1880 and 1885 he could not resist the colonial lobby in his cabinet, and thus did not execute his electoral promise to disengage from Egypt. Although Gladstone was personally opposed to imperialism, the social tensions caused by the Long Depression pushed him to favor jingoism: the imperialists had become the "parasites of patriotism '' (John A. Hobson). In France, then Radical politician Georges Clemenceau also adamantly opposed himself to it: he thought colonisation was a diversion from the "blue line of the Vosges '' mountains, that is revanchism and the patriotic urge to reclaim the Alsace - Lorraine region which had been annexed by the German Empire with the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt. Clemenceau actually made Jules Ferry 's cabinet fall after the 1885 Tonkin disaster. According to Hannah Arendt in The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), this expansion of national sovereignty on overseas territories contradicted the unity of the nation state which provided citizenship to its population. Thus, a tension between the universalist will to respect human rights of the colonised people, as they may be considered as "citizens '' of the nation state, and the imperialist drive to cynically exploit populations deemed inferior began to surface. Some, in colonising countries, opposed what they saw as unnecessary evils of the colonial administration when left to itself; as described in Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness (1899) -- published around the same time as Kipling 's The White Man 's Burden -- or in Louis - Ferdinand Céline 's Journey to the End of the Night (1932). Colonial lobbies emerged to legitimize the Scramble for Africa and other expensive overseas adventures. In Germany, France, and Britain, the middle class often sought strong overseas policies to ensure the market 's growth. Even in lesser powers, voices like Enrico Corradini claimed a "place in the sun '' for so - called "proletarian nations '', bolstering nationalism and militarism in an early prototype of fascism. However, by the end of World War I the colonial empires had become very popular almost everywhere in Europe: public opinion had been convinced of the needs of a colonial empire, although most of the metropolitans would never see a piece of it. Colonial exhibitions had been instrumental in this change of popular mentalities brought about by the colonial propaganda, supported by the colonial lobby and by various scientists. Thus, the conquest of territories were inevitably followed by public displays of the indigenous people for scientific and leisure purposes. Karl Hagenbeck, a German merchant in wild animals and a future entrepreneur of most Europeans zoos, thus decided in 1874 to exhibit Samoa and Sami people as "purely natural '' populations. In 1876, he sent one of his collaborators to the newly conquered Egyptian Sudan to bring back some wild beasts and Nubians. Presented in Paris, London, and Berlin these Nubians were very successful. Such "human zoos '' could be found in Hamburg, Antwerp, Barcelona, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, etc., with 200,000 to 300,000 visitors attending each exhibition. Tuaregs were exhibited after the French conquest of Timbuktu (visited by René Caillié, disguised as a Muslim, in 1828, thereby winning the prize offered by the French Société de Géographie); Malagasy after the occupation of Madagascar; Amazons of Abomey after Behanzin 's mediatic defeat against the French in 1894. Not used to the climatic conditions, some of the indigenous exposed died, such as some Galibis in Paris in 1892. Geoffroy de Saint - Hilaire, director of the Parisian Jardin d'acclimatation, decided in 1877 to organize two "ethnological spectacles '', presenting Nubians and Inuit. The public of the Jardin d'acclimatation doubled, with a million paying entrances that year, a huge success for these times. Between 1877 and 1912, approximately thirty "ethnological exhibitions '' were presented at the Jardin zoologique d'acclimatation. "Negro villages '' would be presented in Paris ' 1878 and 1879 World 's Fair; the 1900 World 's Fair presented the famous diorama "living '' in Madagascar, while the Colonial Exhibitions in Marseilles (1906 and 1922) and in Paris (1907 and 1931) would also display human beings in cages, often nudes or quasi-nudes. Nomadic "Senegalese villages '' were also created, thus displaying the power of the colonial empire to all the population. In the US, Madison Grant, head of the New York Zoological Society, exposed Pygmy Ota Benga in the Bronx Zoo alongside the apes and others in 1906. At the behest of Grant, a prominent scientific racist and eugenicist, zoo director Hornaday placed Ota Benga in a cage with an orangutan and labeled him "The Missing Link '' in an attempt to illustrate Darwinism, and in particular that Africans like Ota Benga are closer to apes than were Europeans. Other colonial exhibitions included the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and the successful 1931 Paris "Exposition coloniale ''. From the beginning of the 20th century onward, the elimination or control of disease in tropical countries became a driving force for all colonial powers. The sleeping sickness epidemic in Africa was arrested due to mobile teams systematically screening millions of people at risk. In the 20th century, Africa saw the biggest increase in its population due to lessening of the mortality rate in many countries due to peace, famine relief, medicine, and above all, the end or decline of the slave trade. Africa 's population has grown from 120 million in 1900 to over 1 billion today. During the New Imperialism period, by the end of the 19th century, Europe added almost 9,000,000 square miles (23,000,000 km) -- one - fifth of the land area of the globe -- to its overseas colonial possessions. Europe 's formal holdings now included the entire African continent except Ethiopia, Liberia, and Saguia el - Hamra, the latter of which would be integrated into Spanish Sahara. Between 1885 and 1914, Britain took nearly 30 % of Africa 's population under its control; 15 % for France, 11 % for Portugal, 9 % for Germany, 7 % for Belgium and 1 % for Italy. Nigeria alone contributed 15 million subjects, more than in the whole of French West Africa or the entire German colonial empire. It was paradoxical that Britain, the staunch advocate of free trade, emerged in 1914 with not only the largest overseas empire thanks to its long - standing presence in India, but also the greatest gains in the "scramble for Africa '', reflecting its advantageous position at its inception. In terms of surface area occupied, the French were the marginal victors but much of their territory consisted of the sparsely populated Sahara. The political imperialism followed the economic expansion, with the "colonial lobbies '' bolstering chauvinism and jingoism at each crisis in order to legitimize the colonial enterprise. The tensions between the imperial powers led to a succession of crises, which finally exploded in August 1914, when previous rivalries and alliances created a domino situation that drew the major European nations into World War I. Austria - Hungary attacked Serbia to avenge the murder by Serbian agents of Austrian crown prince Francis Ferdinand, Russia would mobilize to assist allied Serbia, Germany would intervene to support Austria - Hungary against Russia. Since Russia had a military alliance with France against Germany, the German General Staff, led by General von Moltke decided to realize the well prepared Schlieffen Plan to invade and quickly knock France out of the war before turning against Russia in what was expected to be a long campaign. This required an invasion of Belgium which brought Britain into the war against Germany, Austria - Hungary and their allies. German U-Boat campaigns against ships bound for Britain eventually drew the United States into what had become World War I. Moreover, using the Anglo - Japanese Alliance as an excuse, Japan leaped onto this opportunity to conquer German interests in China and the Pacific to become the dominating power in the Western Pacific, setting the stage for the Second Sino - Japanese War (starting in 1937) and eventually World War II. After the First World War, Germany 's possessions were partitioned among Britain (which took a sliver of western Cameroon, Tanzania, western Togo, and Namibia), France (which took most of Cameroon and eastern Togo) and Belgium (which took Rwanda and Burundi). Later, during the Interwar period, with the Second Italo - Ethiopian War Italy would annex Ethiopia, which formed together with Eritrea and Italian Somaliland the Italian East Africa (A.O.I., "Africa Orientale Italiana '', also defined by the fascist government as L'Impero). The British were primarily interested in maintaining secure communication lines to India, which led to initial interest in Egypt and South Africa. Once these two areas were secure, it was the intent of British colonialists such as Cecil Rhodes to establish a Cape - Cairo railway and to exploit mineral and agricultural resources. Control of the Nile was viewed as a strategic and commercial advantage. Liberia was the only nation in Africa that was a colony and a protectorate of the United States. Liberia was founded, colonised, established, and controlled by the American Colonization Society, a private organization established in order to relocate freed African - American and Caribbean slaves from the United States and the Caribbean islands in 1821. Liberia declared its independence from the American Colonization Society on July 26, 1847. Liberia is Africa 's oldest democratic republic, and the second - oldest black republic in the world (after Haiti). Ethiopia maintained its independence from Italy after the Battle of Adwa which resulted in the Treaty of Addis Ababa. With the exception of the occupation between 1936 and 1941 by Benito Mussolini 's military forces, Ethiopia is Africa 's oldest independent nation. The new scramble for Africa began with the emergence of the Afro - Neo-Liberal capitalist movement in Post-Colonial Africa. When African nations began to gain independence during the Post World War II Era, their post colonial economic structures remained undiversified and linear. In most cases, the bulk of a nation 's economy relied on cash crops or natural resources. The decolonisation process kept independent African nations at the mercy of colonial powers due to structurally - dependent economic relations. Structural Adjustment Programs lead to the privatization and liberalization of many African political and economic systems, forcefully pushing Africa into the global capitalist market. The economic decline in the 1990s fostered democratization by the World Bank intervening in the political and economic affairs of Africa once again. All of these factors led to Africa 's forced development under Western ideological systems of economics and politics. In the era of globalization, many African countries have emerged as petro - states (for example Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Angola). These are nations with an economic and political partnership between transnational oil companies and the ruling elite class in oil - rich African nations. Numerous countries have entered into a neo-imperial relationship with Africa during this time period. Mary Gilmartin notes that "material and symbolic appropriation of space (is) central to imperial expansion and control ''; nations in the globalization era who invest in controlling land internationally are engaging in neo-imperialism. Chinese (and other Asian countries) state oil companies have entered Africa 's highly competitive oil sector. China National Petroleum Corporation purchased 40 % of Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Company. Furthermore, Sudan exports 50 -- 60 % of its domestically produced oil to China, making up 7 % of China 's imports. China has also been purchasing equity shares in African oil fields, invested in industry related infrastructure development and acquired continental oil concessions throughout Africa.

extra-chromosomal dna within a bacterial cell is known as

Extrachromosomal DNA - wikipedia Extrachromosomal DNA is any DNA that is found outside of the nucleus of a cell. It is also referred to as extranuclear DNA or cytoplasmic DNA. Most DNA in an individual genome is found in chromosomes but DNA found outside of the nucleus also serves important biological functions. In prokaryotes, nonviral extrachromosomal DNA is primarily found in plasmids whereas in eukaryotes extrachromosomal DNA is primarily found in organelles. Mitochondrial DNA is a main source of this extrachromosomal DNA in eukaryotes. Extrachromosomal DNA is often used in research of replication because it is easy to identify and isolate. Extrachromosomal DNA was found to be structurally different from nuclear DNA. Cytoplasmic DNA is less methylated than DNA found within the nucleus. It was also confirmed that the sequences of cytoplasmic DNA was different from nuclear DNA in the same organism, showing that cytoplasmic DNAs are not simply fragments of nuclear DNA. In addition to DNA found outside of the nucleus in cells, infection of viral genomes also provides an example of extrachromosomal DNA. Although prokaryotic organisms do not possess a membrane bound nucleus like the eukaryotes, they do contain a nucleoid region in which the main chromosome is found. Extrachromosomal DNA exists in prokaryotes outside of the nucleoid region as circular or linear plasmids. Bacterial plasmids are typically short sequences, consisting of 1 kilobase (kb) to a few hundred kb segments, and contain an origin of replication which allows the plasmid to replicate independently of the bacterial chromosome. The total number of a particular plasmid within a cell is referred to as the copy number and can range from as few as two copies per cell to as many as several hundred copies per cell. Circular bacterial plasmids are classified according to the special functions that the genes encoded on the plasmid provide. Fertility plasmids, or f plasmids, allow for conjugation to occur whereas resistance plasmids, or r plasmids, contain genes that convey resistance to a variety of different antibiotics such as ampicillin and tetracycline. There also exists virulence plasmids that contain the genetic elements necessary for bacteria to become pathogenic as well as degradative plasmids that harbor the genes that allow bacteria to degrade a variety of substances such as aromatic compounds and xenobiotics. Bacterial plasmids can also function in pigment production, nitrogen fixation and the resistance to heavy metals in those bacteria that possess them. Naturally occurring circular plasmids can be modified to contain multiple resistance genes and several unique restriction sites, making them valuable tools as cloning vectors in biotechnology applications. Circular bacterial plasmids are also the basis for the production of DNA vaccines. Plasmid DNA vaccines are genetically engineered to contain a gene which encodes for an antigen or a protein produced by a pathogenic virus, bacterium or other parasite. Once delivered into the host, the products of the plasmid genes will then stimulate both the innate immune response and the adaptive immune response of the host. The plasmids are often coated with some type of adjuvant prior to delivery to enhance the immune response from the host. Linear bacterial plasmids have been identified in several species of spirochete bacteria, including members of the genus Borrelia (to which the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease belongs), several species of the gram positive soil bacteria of the genus Streptomyces, and in the gram negative species Thiobacillus versutus, a bacterium that oxidizes sulfur. The linear plasmids of prokarykotes are found either containing a hairpin loop or a covalently bonded protein attached to the telomeric ends of the DNA molecule. The adenine - thymine rich hairpin loops of the Borrelia bacteria range in size from 5 kilobase pairs (kb) to over 200 kb and contain the genes responsible for producing a group of major surface proteins, or antigens, on the bacteria that allow it to evade the immune response of its infected host. The linear plasmids which contain a protein that has been covalently attached to the 5 ' end of the DNA strands are known as invertrons and can range in size from 9 kb to over 600 kb consisting of inverted terminal repeats. The linear plasmids with a covalently attached protein may assist with bacterial conjugation and integration of the plasmids into the genome. These types of linear plasmids represent the largest class of extrachromosomal DNA as they are not only present in certain bacterial cells, but all linear extrachromosomal DNA molecules found in eukaryotic cells also take on this invertron structure with a protein attached to the 5 ' end. The mitochondria present in eukaryotic cells contain multiple copies of mitochondrial DNA referred to as mtDNA which is housed within the mitochondrial matrix. In multicellular animals, including humans, the circular mtDNA chromosome contains 13 genes that encode proteins that are part of the electron transport chain and 24 genes that produce RNA necessary for the production of mitochondrial proteins; these genes are broken down into 2 rRNA genes and 22 tRNA genes. The size of an animal mtDNA plasmid is roughly 16.6 kb and although it contains genes for tRNA and mRNA synthesis, proteins produced as a result of nuclear genes are still required in order for the mtDNA to replicate or for mitochondrial proteins to be translated. There is only one region of the mitochondrial chromosome that does not contain a coding sequence and that is the 1 kb region known as the D - loop to which nuclear regulatory proteins bind. The number of mtDNA molecules per mitochondria varies from species to species as well as between cells with different energy demands. For example, muscle and liver cells contain more copies of mtDNA per mitochondrion than blood and skin cells do. Due to the proximity of the electron transport chain within the mitochondrial inner membrane and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), and due to the fact that the mtDNA molecule is not bound by or protected by histones, the mtDNA is more susceptible to DNA damage than nuclear DNA. In cases where mtDNA damage does occur, the DNA can either be repaired via base excision repair pathways, or the damaged mtDNA molecule is destroyed (without causing damage to the mitochondrion since there are multiple copies of mtDNA per mitochondrion). The standard genetic code by which nuclear genes are translated is universal, meaning that each 3 - base sequence of DNA codes for the same amino acid regardless of what species from which the DNA comes. However, this universal nature of the code is not the case with mitochondrial DNA found in fungi, animals, protists and plants. While most of the 3 - base sequences in the mtDNA of these organisms do code for the same amino acids as those of the nuclear genetic code, there are some mtDNA sequences that code for amino acids different from those of their nuclear DNA counterparts. The coding differences are thought to be a result of chemical modifications in the transfer RNAs that interact with the messenger RNAs produced as a result of transcribing the mtDNA sequences. Eukaryotic chloroplasts, as well as the other plant plastids, also contain extrachromosomal DNA molecules. Most chloroplasts house all of their genetic material in a single ringed chromosome, however in some species there is evidence of multiple smaller ringed plasmids. A recent theory that questions the current standard model of ring shaped chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), suggests that cpDNA may more commonly take a linear shape. A single molecule of cpDNA can contain anywhere from 100 - 200 genes and varies in size from species to species. The size of cpDNA in higher plants is around 120 -- 160 kb. The genes found on the cpDNA code for mRNAs that are responsible for producing necessary components of the photosynthetic pathway as well as coding for tRNAs, rRNAs, RNA polymerase subunits, and ribosomal protein subunits. Like mtDNA, cpDNA is not fully autonomous and relies upon nuclear gene products for replication and production of chloroplast proteins. Chloroplasts contain multiple copies of cpDNA and the number can vary not only from species to species or cell type to cell type, but also within a single cell depending upon the age and stage of development of the cell. For example, cpDNA content in the chloroplasts of young cells, during the early stages of development where the chloroplasts are in the form of indistinct proplastids, are much higher than those present when that cell matures and expands, containing fully mature plastids. Extrachromosomal circular DNA (eccDNA) is present in all eukaryotic cells, is usually derived from genomic DNA, and consists of repetitive sequences of DNA found in both coding and non-coding regions of chromosomes. EccDNA can vary in size from less than 2000 base pairs to more than 20,000 base pairs. In plants, eccDNA contains repeated sequences similar to those that are found in the centromeric regions of the chromosomes and in repetitive satellite DNA. In animals, eccDNA molecules have been shown to contain repetitive sequences that are seen in satellite DNA, 5S ribosomal DNA and telomere DNA. Certain organisms, such as yeast, rely on chromosomal DNA replication to produce eccDNA whereas eccDNA formation can occur in other organisms, such as mammals, independently of the replication process. The function of eccDNA has not been widely studied, but it has been proposed that the production of eccDNA elements from genomic DNA sequences adds to the plasticity of the eukaryotic genome and can influence genome stability, cell aging and the evolution of chromosomes. Viral DNA is an example of extrachromosomal DNA. Understanding viral genomes is very important for understanding the evolution and mutation of the virus. Some viruses, such as HIV and oncogenetic viruses, incorporate their own DNA into the genome of the host cell. Viral genomes can be made up of single stranded DNA (ssDNA), double stranded DNA (dsDNA) and can be found in both linear and circular form. One example of infection of a virus constituting as extrachromosomal DNA is the human papillomavirus (HPV). The HPV DNA genome undergoes three distinct stages of replication: establishment, maintenance and amplification. HPV infects epithelial cells in the anogenital tract and oral cavity. Normally, HPV is detected and cleared by the immune system. The recognition of viral DNA is an important part of immune responses. For this virus to persist, the circular genome must be replicated and inherited during cell division. Cells can recognize foreign cytoplasmic DNA. Understanding the recognition pathways has implications towards prevention and treatment of diseases. Cells have sensors that can specifically recognize viral DNA such as the Toll - like receptor (TLR) pathway. The Toll Pathway was recognized, first in insects, as a pathway that allows certain cell types to act as sensors capable of detecting a variety of bacterial or viral genomes and PAMPS (pathogen - associated molecular patterns). PAMPs are known to be potent activators of innate immune signaling. There are approximately 10 human Toll - Like Receptors (TLRs). Different TLRs in human detect different PAMPS: lipopolysacchardies by TLR4, viral dsRNA by TLR3, viral ssRNA by TLR7 / TLR8, viral or bacterial unmethylated DNA by TLR9. TLR9 has evolved to detect CpG DNA commonly found in bacteria and viruses and to initiate the production of IFN (type I interferons) and other cytokines. Inheritance of extrachromosomal DNA differs from the inheritance of nuclear DNA found in chromosomes. In humans, virtually all of the cytoplasm is inherited from the egg of the mother. For this reason, organelle DNA, including mtDNA, is inherited from the mother. Mutations in mtDNA or other cytoplasmic DNA will also be inherited from the mother. This uniparental inheritance is an example of non-Mendelian inheritance. Plants also show uniparental mtDNA inheritance. Most plants inherit mtDNA maternally with one noted exception being the redwood Sequoia sempervirens that inherits mtDNA paternally. There are two theories why the paternal mtDNA is not transmitted to the offspring. One is simply the fact that paternal mtDNA is at such a lower concentration than the maternal mtDNA and thus it is not detectable in the offspring. A second, more complex theory, involves the digestion of the paternal mtDNA to prevent its inheritance. It is theorized that the uniparental inheritance of mtDNA, which has a high mutation rate, might be a mechanism to maintain the homoplasmy of cytoplasmic DNA. Sometimes called EEs, extrachromosomal elements, have been associated with genomic instability in eukaryotes. Small polydispersed DNAs (spcDNAs) are commonly found in conjunction with genome instability. SpcDNAs are derived from repetitive sequences such as satellite DNA, retrovirus - like DNA elements, and transposable elements in the genome. They are thought to be the products of gene rearrangements. Double minute chromosomes (DMs) are also extrachromosomal elements that are associated with genome instability. DMs are commonly seen in cancer cells. DMs are thought to be produced through breakages in chromosomes or overreplication of DNA in an organism. Studies show that in cases of cancer and other genomic instability, higher levels of EEs can be observed. Mitochondrial DNA can play a role in the onset of disease in a variety of ways. Point mutations in or alternative gene arrangements of mtDNA have been linked to several diseases that affect the heart, central nervous system, endocrine system, gastrointestinal tract, eye, and kidney. Loss of the amount of mtDNA present in the mitochondria can lead to a whole subset of diseases known as mitochondrial depletion syndromes (MDDs) which affect the liver, central and peripheral nervous systems, smooth muscle and hearing in humans. There have been mixed, and sometimes conflicting, results in studies that attempt to link mtDNA copy number to the risk of developing certain cancers. Studies have been conducted that show an association between both increased and decreased mtDNA levels and the increased risk of developing breast cancer. A positive association between increased mtDNA levels and an increased risk for developing kidney tumors has been observed but there does not appear to be a link between mtDNA levels and the development of stomach cancer. Extrachromosomal DNA is found in Apicomplexa, which is a group of protozoa. The malaria parasite (genus Plasmodium), the AIDS - related pathogen (Taxoplasma and Cryptosporidium) are both members of the Apicomplexa group. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was found in the malaria parasite. There are two forms of extrachromosomal DNA found in the malaria parasites. One of these is 6 - kb linear DNA and the second is 35 - kb circular DNA. These DNA molecules have been researched as potential nucleotide target sites for antibiotics. The following research articles provide more specific details regarding extrachromosomal DNA in a variety of different organisms.

when was the greatest love of all written

The Greatest Love of All - wikipedia "The Greatest Love of All '' is a song written by composers Michael Masser (music) and Linda Creed (lyrics). It was originally recorded in 1977 by American singer and guitarist George Benson, who made the song a substantial hit, peaking at number 2 on the R&B chart that year, the first R&B chart Top Ten hit for Arista Records. The song was written and recorded to be the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of the boxer Muhammad Ali. Eight years after Benson 's original recording, the song became even more well known for a version by Whitney Houston, whose 1985 cover (with the slightly amended title "Greatest Love of All '') eventually topped the charts, peaking at number 1 in Australia, Canada, U.S. and on the R&B chart in 1986. The original recording by Benson was released in 1977 in the U.S., Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Brazil, Netherlands, U.K. and in Thailand, on an extended play (EP). "The Greatest Love of All '' was written as the main theme of the 1977 film The Greatest, a biopic of Muhammad Ali. Michael Masser wrote the music; he was later accused by Gordon Lightfoot of plagiarizing 24 bars of his 1971 hit "If You Could Read My Mind ''. Lightfoot eventually dropped the suit out of respect for singer Whitney Houston. The original version of "The Greatest Love of All '' was recorded in 1977 by Benson and originally released on the album The Greatest Soundtrack. The song was written and recorded especially to be the main theme of the boxer Muhammad Ali biopic and therefore, not part of a Benson 's career album, only later collections. The song was released as a single in the same year and was a substantial hit, reaching at number 2 on the R&B chart, becoming the first R&B Top Ten hit for Arista Records. In other charts, the single was between positions number 22 and number 27 in the U.S. and in the UK, not peaking any position in other countries. The original version of "The Greatest Love of All '' recorded in 1977 by George Benson reached the following positions: The original single of the song released in the U.S. has two versions: one with the complete length of 5: 35 and another with an edited length of 3: 29. On May 29, 2001, the Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti performed the concert "Pavarotti & Friends '' in his hometown of Modena, Italy. To raise money for refugees from Afghanistan under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, this concert called "Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan '' featured guest artists, one of them being his friend George Benson. The song performed in duet by the two was Benson 's song "The Greatest Love of All '', sung in parts by Benson in English and elsewhere by Pavarotti in Italian. This complete concert "Pavarotti & Friends for Afghanistan '' raised $3.3 million for its cause, and was recorded and released in CD in 2001. The song was credited with the original title "The Greatest Love of All '' recorded by Benson. Being one of his hit songs, "The Greatest Love of All '' was included in several collections of George Benson over the years. For this reason, one of his many collections received the title The Greatest Hits of All (changing "love '' for "hits ''), launched in 2003, in reference and tribute to this song, which Benson is the original interpreter. The original single of "The Greatest Love of All '' by George Benson has also been released in several other countries, as shown in the chart below. In July 1984, a new alternative single was released in the UK by label Old Gold, with "The Greatest Love of All ''. Benson 's original recording remained on the A-side of the single, and on the B - side was another hit single of another artist: "Funkin ' for Jamaica (N.Y.) '' by Tom Browne, originally released in 1980. In 1977, an extended play (EP) with four successful soul music songs from that year was released in Thailand. The EP was called "Floating Gold '', released by label Royalsound, in reference to the song "Float On '' by the Floaters, the first track of the EP. The second track was the Manhattans ' "We Never Danced To Love Song '' and the third was the Brothers Johnson 's "Strawberry Letter 23 ''. To finish the EP, the fourth track was "The Greatest Love of All '' by George Benson. The song was further popularized by Whitney Houston under the title "Greatest Love of All ''. The song was recorded by the American recording artist for her debut album, self - titled Whitney Houston, which was released in February 1985 by Arista Records. The song became a major hit, topping the charts in Australia, Canada and the US, while reaching the top 20 in most countries, including Italy, Sweden and the UK. It remains her third biggest US hit, after "I Will Always Love You '' and "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) ''. All three songs, in order of their former popularity, re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after Houston 's death, debuting the same week at numbers 7, 35 and 41, respectively, giving Houston three posthumous chart hits. Clive Davis, founder of Houston 's label Arista Records, was initially against Houston recording the song for her debut studio album, Whitney Houston, but he eventually gave in after persuasion from Houston and Masser. It was released as the B - side to the single "You Give Good Love '', a previous Top 5 hit by Houston. The song, eventually released as a single in its own right, on March 18, 1986, was the seventh release from Houston 's debut album, and spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May of that year. Houston 's album version features a piano intro, while the single version begins with a keyboard intro. After the single became a success, it replaced the original album version on subsequent pressings of the album. However, the original version was restored for the 2010 Deluxe Anniversary Edition reissue of the album and international releases. Her live performance in 1990 in the 15th anniversary of Arista Records concert in Radio City Music Hall was included in the 25th anniversary deluxe edition of Whitney Houston and the 2014 CD / DVD release, Whitney Houston Live: Her Greatest Performances. Houston 's music video was filmed at Harlem 's Apollo Theater in New York City. In the video, she is a successful singer who is about to perform in front of an audience. She reminisces about the time when she was a child performing in a talent competition and receiving encouragement from her mother. The video features Houston 's mother Cissy Houston playing herself, supporting a young Whitney. Many critics called the song the centerpiece of Houston 's debut album. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that "Houston sings it with a forceful directness that gives its message of self - worth an astounding resonance and conviction '' and called the song a compelling assertion of spiritual devotion, black pride, and family loyalty, all at once. Don Shewey of Rolling Stone wrote that as the song builds, Houston "slowly pours on the soul, slips in some churchy phrasing, holds notes a little longer and shows off her glorious voice. '' However, some reviewers were more critical. Describing Houston 's performance as "straight - faced '', Armond White wrote that "(w) e had laughed at that song during the seventies as a mawkish ode to self - involvement, not dreaming it would ever be taken seriously. But last year we laughed again -- nervously -- because Houston seemed to be using it as a theme song for her own aggressive ambition. '' Benson 's 1977 version was an R&B hit, reaching number 2 on the R&B chart. It was a moderate pop hit, making the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100. Houston 's version reached number one on the Hot 100 chart for three weeks in 1986. The single was the fourth hit (and third number 1) from her debut album. To date, this song was her second longest stay atop this chart, behind 1992 's "I Will Always Love You. '' The song also reached number one on both component charts, the Hot 100 Singles Sales and the Hot 100 Airplay, her second consecutive release to do so, and stayed for 14 weeks inside the top 40. On other Billboard charts, Houston also performed well, reaching number three on the R&B chart. The song topped the adult contemporary chart for five weeks, Houston 's longest stay at the top of that chart at the time. The song ranked No. 11 on Billboard 's year end pop singles chart. Houston 's single fared well globally as well, reaching No. 8 in the United Kingdom and the top ten or No. 1 in several other European countries. It became her first No. 1 single in Australia. After her death, the single returned to the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number 41. Houston won the American Music Award for Favorite Soul / R&B Video Single, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Record of the Year and a Soul Train Music Award for Single of the Year. In April 1987, Gordon Lightfoot filed a lawsuit against Michael Masser, alleging that Masser 's song "The Greatest Love of All '' stole twenty - four bars from Lightfoot 's 1970 hit "If You Could Read My Mind. '' According to Maclean 's, Lightfoot commented, "It really rubbed me the wrong way. I do n't want the present - day generation to think that I stole my song from him. '' Lightfoot has stated that he dropped the suit when he felt it was having a negative effect on Whitney Houston, as the suit was about Masser and not her. In addition to the original version by George Benson, the soundtrack of The Greatest also brought the first cover of "The Greatest Love of All '', performed by its author Michael Masser. The song was covered in 1979 by Shirley Bassey, for her album "The Magic Is You ''. Pop singer Jane Olivor included a version of the song on her 1980 album "The Best Side of Goodbye. '' In the first - season episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, "The Puppet Show '', it was sung by the character Cordelia Chase as she auditions for a talent show. In 2008, British singers Duncan James and Rachel Stevens recorded a charity sponsored cover for "Children of Fight for Life ''. Big Daddy issued a unique doo - wop version of the song on their 1991 album Cutting Their Own Groove. Céline Dion sang the song several times over the years in honor of Whitney Houston. The most recent performance was in 2012 after the death of Whitney Houston for the Grammy Salute to Whitney Houston entitled: "We Will Always Love You '' along a piece of Saving All My Love For You sung at the beginning of the performance of Greatest Love Of All. Monica (singer) sang the song in the chapter "Miss Conception '' of the series Felicity (TV series) as Beauty pageant contestant Sarah during the talent competition. Eddie Murphy sang the song as singer Randy Watson in the comedy movie Coming to America in a live set, missing out chunks of the lyrics, to a lukewarm reception. He also sang it briefly when playing Donkey in Shrek Forever After. In March 2016 the Conservative peer, Baroness Mone recited the opening lyrics of the song in her maiden speech in the House of Lords during a debate on women, having been inspired herself by the words. On the episode of Dennis and Dee Get a New Dad of the show It 's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the song is performed by Dennis, Dee and their supposed father. Sharon Cuneta sings the song as the theme from the drama series of ABS - CBN The Greatest Love. In the German / Austrian film Toni Erdmann, the character of Ines (played by Sandra Hüller) sings the song at a party held at a family home in Bucharest, when she and her father visit a family in the guise of the German ambassador to Romania and his assistant.

what is the movie once upon a time in america about

Once Upon a Time in America - Wikipedia Once Upon a Time in America is a 1984 epic crime drama film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian - American venture produced by The Ladd Company, Embassy International Pictures, PSO Enterprises, and Rafran Cinematografica, and distributed by Warner Bros. Based on Harry Grey 's novel The Hoods, it chronicles the lives of best friends David "Noodles '' Aaronson and Maximilian "Max '' Bercovicz as they lead a group of Jewish ghetto youths who rise to prominence in New York City 's world of organized crime. The film explores themes of childhood friendships; love, lust, greed, betrayal, loss, broken relationships, together with the rise of mobsters in American society. It was the final film directed by Leone before his death five years later, and the first feature film he had directed in 13 years. The cinematography was by Tonino Delli Colli, and the film score by Ennio Morricone. Leone originally envisaged two three - hour films, then a single 269 - minute (4 hours and 29 minutes) version, but was convinced by distributors to shorten it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes). The American distributors, The Ladd Company, further shortened it to 139 minutes, and rearranged the scenes into chronological order, without Leone 's involvement. The shortened version was a critical and commercial flop in the United States, and critics who had seen both versions harshly condemned the changes that were made. The original "European cut '' has remained a critical favorite and frequently appears in lists of the greatest gangster films of all time. Gangsters enter a Chinese puppet theater, looking for a marked man. The proprietors slip into a hidden opium den and warn a man named "Noodles '', but he pays no attention. In a flashback, he watches the police remove three disfigured corpses from a street. He successfully kills one of the three thugs that are after him but learns that the thugs have murdered his girlfriend while looking for him and finds that someone else has stolen his money. He leaves the city. David "Noodles '' Aaronson struggles as a street kid in Manhattan 's Lower East Side in 1920. He and his friends Patrick "Patsy '' Goldberg, Philip "Cockeye '' Stein, and little Dominic commit petty crimes under the supervision of local boss Bugsy. Planning to rob a drunk at the moment a passing truck hides them from a policeman, they 're foiled by the older Max Bercovicz, who jumps off the truck to rob the man himself. Noodles confronts Max, but a crooked policeman steals the watch they were fighting over. Later, Max 's camera enables them to blackmail the policeman, who was having sex with a teenage girl, and thus start their own gang independent of Bugsy, who had previously enjoyed the policeman 's corrupt protection. The boys establish a suitcase money fund, which they hide in a locker at the railway station, giving the key to Fat Moe, a reliable friend who 's not part of the operation. Noodles is in love with Fat Moe 's sister Deborah, who aspires to be a dancer and actress. One day, Bugsy ambushes the boys and shoots little Dominic, who dies in Noodles ' arms, Noodles then stabs Bugsy to death and injures a police officer who tried to intervene. Noodles is arrested and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Adult Noodles is released from jail in 1932 and is reacquainted with his old gang: Max, Patsy, and Cockeye, who are now major players in the bootlegging industry during Prohibition. Noodles reunites with Deborah and tries to rekindle their relationship. Meanwhile, during a robbery, the gang meets Carol, who soon becomes Max 's girlfriend. The gang prospers from bootlegging under Prohibition, providing muscle for union boss Jimmy Conway O'Donnell. Noodles tries to impress Deborah on an extravagant date, then rapes her on their way home in a limousine, after which he becomes remorseful. The gang 's financial success ends with the repeal of Prohibition, when Max considers a suggestion to set up what was to become the Teamsters ' union, which Noodles refuses and leaves. Max runs after him and they go to Florida together. While there, Max suggests robbing the New York Federal Reserve Bank, but Noodles sees it as suicidal. Carol, who also fears for Max 's life, convinces Noodles to call the police on his friend for a minor offence, just to keep him in jail for a short time. Noodles does this at an end - of - Prohibition party. Shortly after, Max, who has followed him to the office, knocks him unconscious for calling him crazy. Regaining consciousness, Noodles finds out that Max, Patsy, and Cockeye have been killed by the police, and is consumed with guilt over making the phone call that led to the beginning scenes of the film. Noodles is then seen boarding the first bus to leave New York, going to Buffalo, where he will live in hiding under a fake identity for the next 35 years. In 1968, Noodles receives a letter informing him that the cemetery where his friends are buried has been sold and asking him to make arrangements for their reburial. Realising that someone has deduced his identity, Noodles returns to Manhattan and stays with Fat Moe above his still - open restaurant. While visiting the new cemetery, Noodles finds there, visibly hung for him to take it, a key to the railway locker once kept by the gang, and further notes the license plate of a car that is following him there. Opening the locker, he discovers a suitcase full of cash, like the one kept there and taken away, now with a note saying the money is a down payment on his next job. Noodles hears about the lavish estate of Secretary Bailey, an embattled political figure whose name has been mentioned in news reports of the car explosion that killed the District Attorney. Noodles visits Carol, who lives at a retirement home run by the Bailey Foundation. She tells him that Max planted the idea of Carol and Noodles tipping off the police because he wanted to die rather than go insane like his father, who died in an asylum. He opened fire on the police to ensure his own death. While at the home, Noodles sees a photo of Deborah at the institution 's dedication. Noodles tracks down Deborah, now a successful actress. He questions her about Secretary Bailey, telling her that he has received an invitation to a party at Bailey 's house. Deborah claims not to know much about Bailey, but Noodles already knows they have lived together for years. In the end, Deborah tells him Bailey was a starving immigrant who married a very wealthy woman who died in childbirth. She begs him to not go to the party but leave via the back exit and not the main door of her dressing room, where a young man named David is waiting for her. Noodles leaves via the main door and Deborah explains that the young man is Secretary Bailey 's son, named David (which is also Noodles ' given name). David bears an obvious resemblance to Max as a young man (and is played by the same actor), implying that Secretary Bailey is Max. Secretary Bailey is revealed to be Max. Noodles meets with Max in his private room at the party. Max explains that corrupt policemen helped him fake his own death so that he could steal the gang 's money and steal Noodles ' love interest, Deborah, in order to begin a new life as Mr. Bailey, a man with contacts to the Teamsters ' union. Now faced with ruin and the spectre of a Teamster assassination, Max asks Noodles to kill him. Noodles refuses despite Max 's permission and goading, because, in his eyes, Max died with the gang. As Noodles leaves Bailey 's estate, he hears a garbage truck start up and looks back to see a man standing at the driveway 's gated entrance. As he begins to walk towards Noodles, the truck passes between them. As the truck passes, Noodles sees its auger grinding down rubbish, the man nowhere to be seen. In a flashback, a young adult Noodles enters the opium den after his gang 's murder, taking the drug and broadly grinning. The cast also includes Robert Harper as Sharkey, Mario Brega as Mandy, Paul Herman as Monkey, Marcia Jean Kurtz as Max 's Mother, Estelle Harris as Peggy 's Mother, and Richard Foronji as Whitey. Louise Fletcher appears in the 2012 restoration as the director of the cemetery Noodles visits in 1968. During the mid-1960s, Sergio Leone read the novel The Hoods by Harry Grey, a pseudonym for the former gangster - turned - informant whose real name was Harry Goldberg. In 1968, after shooting Once Upon a Time in the West, Leone made many efforts to talk to Grey. Having enjoyed Leone 's Dollars Trilogy, Grey finally responded and agreed to meet with Leone at a Manhattan bar. Following that initial meeting, Leone met with Grey several times throughout the remainder of the 1960s and 1970s to understand America through Grey 's point of view. Intent on making another trilogy about America consisting of Once Upon a Time in the West, Duck, You Sucker! and Once Upon a Time in America, Leone turned down an offer from Paramount Pictures to direct The Godfather in order to pursue his pet project. Leone considered many actors for the film during the long development process. Originally, in 1975, Gérard Depardieu, who was determined to learn English with a Brooklyn accent for the role, was cast as Max, with Jean Gabin playing the older Max. Richard Dreyfuss was cast as Noodles, with James Cagney playing the older Noodles. In 1980, Leone spoke of casting Tom Berenger as Noodles, with Paul Newman playing the older Noodles. Among actors considered for the role of Max were Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, John Malkovich, and John Belushi. Early in 1981, Brooke Shields was offered the role of Deborah Gelly, after Leone had seen The Blue Lagoon, claiming that "she had the potential to play a mature character. '' A writers ' strike delayed the project, and Shields withdrew before auditions began. Elizabeth McGovern was cast as Deborah and Jennifer Connelly as her younger self. Joe Pesci was among many to audition for Max. He got the smaller role of Frankie, partly as a favor to his friend De Niro. Danny Aiello auditioned for several roles and was ultimately cast as the police chief who (coincidentally) shares his surname. Claudia Cardinale (who appeared in Once Upon a Time in the West) wanted to play Carol, but Leone was afraid she would not be convincing as a New Yorker and turned her down. The film was shot between June 14, 1982, and April 22, 1983. Leone tried, as he had with A Fistful of Dynamite, to produce the film with a young director under him. In the early days of the project he courted John Milius, a fan of his who was enthusiastic about the idea; but Milius was working on The Wind and the Lion and the script for Apocalypse Now and could not commit to the project. For the film 's visual style, Leone used as references the paintings of such artists as Reginald Marsh, Edward Hopper, and Norman Rockwell, as well as (for the 1922 sequences) the photographs of Jacob Riis. F. Scott Fitzgerald 's novel The Great Gatsby influenced Noodles ' relationship with Deborah. Most exteriors were shot in New York City (such as in Williamsburg along South 6th Street, where Fat Moe 's restaurant was based, and South 8th Street), but several key scenes were shot elsewhere. Most interiors were shot in Cinecittà in Rome. The beach scene, where Max unveils his plan to rob the Federal Reserve, was shot at the Don CeSar in St. Petersburg, Florida. The New York 's railway "Grand Central Station '' scene in the thirties flashbacks was filmed in the Gare du Nord in Paris. The interiors of the lavish restaurant where Noodles takes Deborah on their date were shot in the Hotel Excelsior in Venice, Italy. The gang 's hit on Joe was filmed in Quebec. The view of the Manhattan Bridge shown in the film 's poster can be seen from Washington Street in Brooklyn. The shooting script, completed in October 1981 after many delays and a writers ' strike between April and July of that year, was 317 pages in length. By the end of filming, Leone had eight to ten hours worth of footage. With his editor, Nino Baragli, Leone trimmed this to almost six hours, and he originally wanted to release the film in two parts, each three hours. The producers refused, partly because of the commercial and critical failure of Bertolucci 's two - part 1900, and Leone was forced to further shorten it. The film was originally 269 minutes (4 hours and 29 minutes), but when the film premiered out of competition at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival, Leone had cut it to 229 minutes (3 hours and 49 minutes) to appease the distributors, which was the version shown in European cinemas. However, the American wide release was edited further to 139 minutes (2 hours and 19 minutes) by the studio, against the director 's wishes. The musical score was composed by Leone 's longtime collaborator Ennio Morricone. The film 's long production resulted in Morricone 's finishing the composition of most of the soundtrack before many scenes had been filmed. Some of Morricone 's pieces were played on set as filming took place, a technique that Leone had used for Once Upon a Time in the West. "Deborah 's Theme '' was written for another film in the 1970s but was rejected; Morricone presented the piece to Leone, who was initially reluctant to include it, considering it too similar to Morricone 's main title music for Once Upon a Time in the West. The score is also notable for Morricone 's incorporation of the music of Gheorghe Zamfir, who plays a pan flute. At times this music is used to convey remembrance, at other times terror. Zamfir 's flute music was used to similarly haunting effect in Peter Weir 's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Morricone also collaborated with vocalist Edda Dell'Orso on the score. A soundtrack album was released in 1984 by Mercury Records. This was followed by a special - edition release in 1995, featuring four additional tracks. Besides the original music, the film used source music, including: Once Upon a Time in America premiered at the 1984 Cannes Film Festival on 23 May and received a "15 - minute standing ovation ''. In the United States, the film received a wide release in 894 theaters on June 1, 1984 and grossed $2.4 million during its opening weekend. It ended its box office run with a gross of just over $5.3 million on a $30 million budget, and became labeled as a box office flop. The financial and critical disaster of the American release almost bankrupted The Ladd Company. Eventually, the film premiered in Leone 's native Italy out of competition at the 41st Venice International Film Festival in September 1984. That same month, the film was released wide in Italy on September 28, 1984 in its 229 - minute version. Several different versions of Once Upon a Time in America have been shown. The original European release version (1984, 229 minutes) was shown internationally. The film was shown in limited release and for film critics in America, where it was slightly trimmed to secure an "R '' rating. Cuts were made to two rape scenes and some of the more graphic violence at the beginning. Noodles ' meeting with Bailey in 1968 was also excised. The film gained a mediocre reception at several sneak premieres in North America. Because of this early audience reaction, the fear of its length, its graphic violence, and the inability of theaters to have multiple showings in one day, the decision was made by The Ladd Company to make many edits and cut entire scenes without the supervision of Sergio Leone. This American wide release (1984, 139 minutes) was drastically different from the European release, as the non-chronological story was rearranged into chronological order. Other major cuts involved many of the childhood sequences, making the adult 1933 sections more prominent. Noodles ' 1968 meeting with Deborah was excised, and the scene with Bailey ends with him shooting himself (with the sound of a gunshot off screen) rather than the garbage truck conclusion of the 229 - minute version. In the Soviet Union, the film was shown theatrically in the late 1980s, with other Hollywood blockbusters such as the two King Kong films. The story was rearranged in chronological order and the film was split in two, with the two parts shown as separate movies, one containing the childhood scenes and the other comprising the adulthood scenes. Despite the rearranging, no major scene deletions were made. It was rated "16 + '' by the Goskino. A network television version was shown in the early to mid-1990s with a running time of almost three hours (excluding commercials). While it retained the film 's original non-chronological order, many key scenes involving violence and graphic content were left out. This version was a one - off showing, and no copies are known to exist. In March 2011, it was announced that Leone 's original 269 - minute version was to be re-created by a film lab in Italy under the supervision of Leone 's children, who had acquired the Italian distribution rights, and the film 's original sound editor, Fausto Ancillai, for a premiere in 2012 at either the Cannes Film Festival or Venice Film Festival. The restored film premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, but because of unforeseen rights issues for the deleted scenes, the restoration had a runtime of only 251 minutes. However, Martin Scorsese (whose Film Foundation helped with the restoration) stated that he is helping Leone 's children gain the rights to the final 24 minutes of deleted scenes to create a complete restoration of Leone 's envisaged 269 - minute version. On August 3, 2012, it was reported that after the premiere at Cannes, the restored film was pulled from circulation, pending further restoration work. In North America, the heavily edited 139 - minute version was made available on DVD in the late 1990s. This was followed by a two - disc special edition release on June 10, 2003, featuring the 229 - minute version of the film. This special edition was rereleased on January 11, 2011, on both DVD and Blu - ray. On September 30, 2014, Warner Bros. released a two - disc Blu - ray and DVD set of the 251 - minute restoration shown at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, dubbed the Extended Director 's Cut. This version was previously released in Italy, on September 4, 2012. The initial critical response to Once Upon a Time in America was mixed, because of the different versions released worldwide. While internationally the film was well received in its original form, American critics were much more dissatisfied with the 139 - minute version released in North America. This condensed version was a critical and financial disaster, and many American critics who knew of Leone 's original cut attacked the short version. Some critics compared shortening the film to shortening Richard Wagner 's operas, saying that works of art that are meant to be long should be given the respect they deserve. Roger Ebert wrote in his 1984 review that the uncut version was "an epic poem of violence and greed '' but described the American theatrical version as a "travesty ''. Ebert 's television film critic partner Gene Siskel considered the uncut version to be the best film of 1984. It was only after Leone 's death and the subsequent restoration of the original version that critics began to give it the kind of praise displayed at its original Cannes showing. The uncut original film is considered to be far superior to the edited version released in the US in 1984. Ebert, in his review of Brian De Palma 's The Untouchables, called the original uncut version of Once Upon a Time in America the best film depicting the Prohibition era. James Woods, who considers it to be Leone 's finest film, mentioned in the DVD documentary that one critic dubbed the film the worst of 1984, only to see the original cut years later and call it the best of the 1980s. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an 86 % approval rating with an average rating of 8.6 / 10 based on 50 reviews. The website 's consensus reads, "Sergio Leone 's epic crime drama is visually stunning, stylistically bold, and emotionally haunting, and filled with great performances from the likes of Robert De Niro and James Woods. '' The film has since been ranked as one of the best films of the gangster genre. When Sight & Sound asked several UK critics in 2002 what their favorite films of the last 25 years were, Once Upon a Time in America placed at number 10. In 2015, the film was ranked at number nine on Time Out 's list of the 50 best gangster films of all time. As the film begins and ends in 1933, with Noodles hiding in an opium den from syndicate hitmen, and the last shot of the film is of Noodles in a smiling, opium - soaked high, the film can be interpreted as having been a drug - induced dream, with Noodles remembering his past and envisioning the future. In an interview by Noël Simsolo published in 1987, Leone confirms the validity of this interpretation, saying that the scenes set in the 1960s could be seen as an opium dream of Noodles '. In the DVD commentary for the film, film historian and critic Richard Schickel states that opium users often report vivid dreams, and that these visions have a tendency to explore the user 's past and future. Many people (including Schickel) assume that the 1968 Frisbee scene, which has an immediate cut and gives no further resolution, was part of a longer sequence. Ebert stated that the purpose of the flying disc scene was to establish the 1960s time frame and nothing more. Despite its modern critical success, the initial American release did not fare well with critics and received no Academy Award nominations. The film 's music was disqualified from Oscar consideration for a technicality, as the studio accidentally omitted the composer 's name from the opening credits when trimming its running time for the American release.

when did season 1 of love island come out

Love Island (series 1) - wikipedia The first series of Love Island began on 7 June 2015 with a live special of the show hosted by Caroline Flack on ITV2, and ended on 15 July 2015. It is the first from the revived series, but third overall. The series was narrated by Iain Stirling. The series aired every night of the week except Friday, however the Saturday episode was used as a weekly catch - up entitled "Love Island: The Weekly Hot List '' rather than a nightly highlights episode. The average viewers for this series was 570,000. On 15 July 2015 the series was won by Jess Hayes and Max Morley, with Hannah Elizabeth and Jon Clark as runners - up. Islander Jon Clark later went onto appear as a cast member in The Only Way Is Essex, whilst both Josh Ritchie and Max Morley made appearances in Ex on the Beach. After finishing in fourth place, Cally and Luis became the first couple to have a baby as they welcomed their first child in May 2017. The first one - minute trailer for the series aired on 12 May 2015, confirming that the series would begin in June. Pictures of the villa were unveiled on 5 June 2015. The villa is located in Mallorca with 69 cameras watching the Islander 's every move. It only includes double beds forcing them to share with each other, but has a special Hideaway bedroom for couples to spend the night away from the others. The Islanders for the first series were revealed on 2 June 2015, just days before the launch. However, throughout the series, more Islanders entered the villa to find love. Some Islanders were dumped from the island for either failing to couple up, some were voted off by their fellow Islanders, and others for receiving the least votes in public eliminations. The series was won by Jess and Max on 15 July 2015 after receiving 42 % of the final vote, beating Hannah and Jon who received 36 %, Lauren and Josh with 12 %, and finally Cally and Luis who just received 10 %. The couples were chosen shortly after the Islanders entered the villa. After all of the boys entered, the girls were asked to choose a boy to pair up with. Jon was paired with Hannah, Chris was paired with Danielle, Omar and Rachel paired up, Josh and Lauren coupled up, whilst Jess paired herself with Jordan and Luis got with Zoe. They were competing in their pairs for £ 50,000. However, throughout the series the couples swapped and changed as the islanders re-coupled. During the series a number of guests entered the villa. The main events in the Love Island villa are summarised in the table below. Official ratings are taken from BARB but do not include + 1. Because the Saturday episodes are weekly catch - up episodes rather than nightly highlights, these are not included in the overall averages.

third most abundant element in earth's crust

Abundance of elements in Earth 's crust - wikipedia The abundance of elements in Earth 's crust is shown in tabulated form with the estimated crustal abundance for each chemical element shown as either percentage or parts per million (ppm) by mass (10,000 ppm = 1 %).

members of the lab from world of dance

CERN - wikipedia Coordinates: 46 ° 14 ′ 03 '' N 6 ° 03 ′ 10 '' E  /  46.23417 ° N 6.05278 ° E  / 46.23417; 6.05278 The European Organization for Nuclear Research (French: Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire), known as CERN (/ ˈsɜːrn /; French pronunciation: ​ (sɛʁn); derived from the name Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire), is a European research organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. CERN is an official United Nations Observer. Established in 1954, the organization is based in a northwest suburb of Geneva on the Franco -- Swiss border, (46 ° 14 ′ 3 '' N 6 ° 3 ′ 19 '' E  /  46.23417 ° N 6.05528 ° E  / 46.23417; 6.05528) and has 22 member states. Israel is the only non-European country granted full membership. The term CERN is also used to refer to the laboratory, which in 2013 had 2,513 staff members, and hosted some 12,313 fellows, associates, apprentices as well as visiting scientists and engineers representing 608 universities and research facilities. CERN 's main function is to provide the particle accelerators and other infrastructure needed for high - energy physics research -- as a result, numerous experiments have been constructed at CERN through international collaborations. The main site at Meyrin hosts a large computing facility, which is primarily used to store and analyse data from experiments, as well as simulate events. Researchers need remote access to these facilities, so the lab has historically been a major wide area network hub. CERN is also the birthplace of the World Wide Web. The convention establishing CERN was ratified on 29 September 1954 by 12 countries in Western Europe. The acronym CERN originally represented the French words for Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Council for Nuclear Research), which was a provisional council for building the laboratory, established by 12 European governments in 1952. The acronym was retained for the new laboratory after the provisional council was dissolved, even though the name changed to the current Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research) in 1954. According to Lew Kowarski, a former director of CERN, when the name was changed, the acronym could have become the awkward OERN, and Heisenberg said that the acronym could "still be CERN even if the name is (not) ''. CERN 's first president was Sir Benjamin Lockspeiser. Edoardo Amaldi was the general secretary of CERN at its early stages when operations were still provisional, while the first Director - General (1954) was Felix Bloch. The laboratory was originally devoted to the study of atomic nuclei, but was soon applied to higher - energy physics, concerned mainly with the study of interactions between subatomic particles. Therefore, the laboratory operated by CERN is commonly referred to as the European laboratory for particle physics (Laboratoire européen pour la physique des particules), which better describes the research being performed there. Several important achievements in particle physics have been made through experiments at CERN. They include: The 1984 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to Carlo Rubbia and Simon van der Meer for the developments that resulted in the discoveries of the W and Z bosons. The 1992 Nobel Prize for Physics was awarded to CERN staff researcher Georges Charpak "for his invention and development of particle detectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber ''. The World Wide Web began as a CERN project named ENQUIRE, initiated by Tim Berners - Lee in 1989 and Robert Cailliau in 1990. Berners - Lee and Cailliau were jointly honoured by the Association for Computing Machinery in 1995 for their contributions to the development of the World Wide Web. Based on the concept of hypertext, the project was intended to facilitate the sharing of information between researchers. The first website was activated in 1991. On 30 April 1993, CERN announced that the World Wide Web would be free to anyone. A copy of the original first webpage, created by Berners - Lee, is still published on the World Wide Web Consortium 's website as a historical document. Prior to the Web 's development, CERN had pioneered the introduction of Internet technology, beginning in the early 1980s. More recently, CERN has become a facility for the development of grid computing, hosting projects including the Enabling Grids for E-sciencE (EGEE) and LHC Computing Grid. It also hosts the CERN Internet Exchange Point (CIXP), one of the two main internet exchange points in Switzerland. On 22 September 2011, the OPERA Collaboration reported the detection of 17 GeV muon neutrinos, sent 730 kilometers (450 miles) from CERN near Geneva, Switzerland to the Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy, traveling apparently faster than light by a factor of 2.48 × 10 (approximately 1 in 40,000), a measurement with 6.0 - sigma significance. However, on 23 February, CERN stated in a press release that the results were flawed due to an incorrectly connected GPS - synchronization cable. In March 2012, the ICARUS Collaboration reported that the measurement would be reproduced by both OPERA and ICARUS. Further tests, after fixing the GPS connector, showed speed measurements consistent with the speed of light (or slightly below it) from four experiments at Gran Sasso, including OPERA. CERN operates a network of six accelerators and a decelerator. Each machine in the chain increases the energy of particle beams before delivering them to experiments or to the next more powerful accelerator. Currently active machines are: Many activities at CERN currently involve operating the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and the experiments for it. The LHC represents a large - scale, worldwide scientific cooperation project. The LHC tunnel is located 100 metres underground, in the region between the Geneva International Airport and the nearby Jura mountains. The majority of its length is on the French side of the border. It uses the 27 km circumference circular tunnel previously occupied by the Large Electron - Positron Collider (LEP), which was shut down in November 2000. CERN 's existing PS / SPS accelerator complexes are used to pre-accelerate protons and lead ions which are then injected into the LHC. Seven experiments (CMS, ATLAS, LHCb, MoEDAL, TOTEM, LHC - forward and ALICE) are located along the collider; each of them studies particle collisions from a different aspect, and with different technologies. Construction for these experiments required an extraordinary engineering effort. For example, a special crane was rented from Belgium to lower pieces of the CMS detector into its underground cavern, since each piece weighed nearly 2,000 tons. The first of the approximately 5,000 magnets necessary for construction was lowered down a special shaft at 13: 00 GMT on 7 March 2005. The LHC has begun to generate vast quantities of data, which CERN streams to laboratories around the world for distributed processing (making use of a specialized grid infrastructure, the LHC Computing Grid). During April 2005, a trial successfully streamed 600 MB / s to seven different sites across the world. The initial particle beams were injected into the LHC August 2008. The first beam was circulated through the entire LHC on 10 September 2008, but the system failed 10 days later because of a faulty magnet connection, and it was stopped for repairs on 19 September 2008. The LHC resumed operation on 20 November 2009 by successfully circulating two beams, each with an energy of 3.5 tera electronvolts (TeV). The challenge for the engineers was then to try to line up the two beams so that they smashed into each other. This is like "firing two needles across the Atlantic and getting them to hit each other '' according to the LHC 's main engineer Steve Myers, director for accelerators and technology at the Swiss laboratory. On 30 March 2010, the LHC successfully collided two proton beams with 3.5 TeV of energy per proton, resulting in a 7 TeV collision energy. However, this was just the start of what was needed for the expected discovery of the Higgs boson. When the 7 TeV experimental period ended, the LHC revved to 8 TeV (4 TeV per proton) starting March 2012, and soon began particle collisions at that energy. In July 2012, CERN scientists announced the discovery of a new sub-atomic particle that was later confirmed to be the Higgs boson. In March 2013, CERN announced that the measurements performed on the newly found particle allowed it to conclude that this is a Higgs boson. In early 2013, the LHC was deactivated for a two - year maintenance period, to strengthen the electrical connections between magnets inside the accelerator and for other upgrades. On 5 April 2015, after two years of maintenance and consolidation, the LHC restarted for a second run. Proton beams successfully circulated in the 27 - kilometer ring in both directions. The first ramp to the record - breaking energy of 6.5 TeV was performed on 10 April 2015. Operation continued in 2016, where the design collision rate could be exceeded for the first time, and 2017. CERN, in collaboration with groups worldwide, is investigating two main concepts for future accelerators: A linear electron - positron collider with a new acceleration concept to increase the energy (CLIC) and a larger version of the LHC, a project currently named Future Circular Collider. The smaller accelerators are on the main Meyrin site (also known as the West Area), which was originally built in Switzerland alongside the French border, but has been extended to span the border since 1965. The French side is under Swiss jurisdiction and there is no obvious border within the site, apart from a line of marker stones. There are six entrances to the Meyrin site: The SPS and LEP / LHC tunnels are almost entirely outside the main site, and are mostly buried under French farmland and invisible from the surface. However, they have surface sites at various points around them, either as the location of buildings associated with experiments or other facilities needed to operate the colliders such as cryogenic plants and access shafts. The experiments are located at the same underground level as the tunnels at these sites. Three of these experimental sites are in France, with ATLAS in Switzerland, although some of the ancillary cryogenic and access sites are in Switzerland. The largest of the experimental sites is the Prévessin site, also known as the North Area, which is the target station for non-collider experiments on the SPS accelerator. Other sites are the ones which were used for the UA1, UA2 and the LEP experiments (the latter are used by LHC experiments). Outside of the LEP and LHC experiments, most are officially named and numbered after the site where they were located. For example, NA32 was an experiment looking at the production of so - called "charmed '' particles and located at the Prévessin (North Area) site while WA22 used the Big European Bubble Chamber (BEBC) at the Meyrin (West Area) site to examine neutrino interactions. The UA1 and UA2 experiments were considered to be in the Underground Area, i.e. situated underground at sites on the SPS accelerator. Most of the roads on the CERN Meyrin and Prévessin sites are named after famous physicists, such as Richard Feynman, Niels Bohr, and Albert Einstein. Since its foundation by 12 members in 1954, CERN regularly accepted new members. All new members have remained in the organization continuously since their accession, except Spain and Yugoslavia. Spain first joined CERN in 1961, withdrew in 1969, and rejoined in 1983. Yugoslavia was a founding member of CERN but quit in 1961. Of the 22 members, Israel joined CERN as a full member on 6 January 2014, becoming the first (and currently only) non-European full member. The budget contributions of member states are computed based on their GDP. 1954 (12 members): CERN is founded (1954 - 1990 borders) 1959 (13 members): Austria joins (1954 - 1990 borders) 1961 (13 members): Spain joins and Yugoslavia leaves (1954 - 1990 borders) 1969 (12 members): Spain leaves (1954 - 1990 borders) 1983 (13 members): Spain re-joins (1954 - 1990 borders) 1985 (14 members): Portugal joins (1954 - 1990 borders) 1991 (16 members): Poland and Finland join, and Germany has been reunified (post 1993 borders) 1992 (17 members): Hungary joins (post 1993 borders) 1993 (19 members): Czech Republic and Slovakia join (post 1993 borders) 1999 (20 members): Bulgaria joins (post 1993 borders) Animated map showing changes in CERN membership from 1954 until 1999 (borders are as at dates of change) Associate Members, Candidates: Three countries have observer status: Also observers are the following international organizations: Non-Member States (with dates of Co-operation Agreements) currently involved in CERN programmes are: CERN also has scientific contacts with the following countries: International research institutions, such as CERN, can aid in science diplomacy. CERN has initiated an open access publishing project to convert scientific articles in high energy physics into gold open access by redirecting subscription fees. In the first phase from 2014 - 2016 3,000 libraries, consortia, research organisations, publishers and funding agencies in various countries participated. All publications by CERN authors are published with gold open access. Facilities at CERN open to the public include: CERN also provides daily tours to certain facilities such as the Synchro - cyclotron (CERNs first particle accelerator) and the superconducting magnet workshop.

who said the past causes the present and so the future

Uniformitarianism - wikipedia Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity, refers to the invariance in the principles underpinning science, such as the constancy of causality, or causation, throughout time, but it has also been used to describe invariance of physical laws through time and space. Though an unprovable postulate that can not be verified using the scientific method, uniformitarianism has been a key first principle of virtually all fields of science. In geology, uniformitarianism has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the key to the past '' (that events occur at the same rate now as they have always done); many geologists now, however, no longer hold to a strict theory of gradualism. Coined by William Whewell, the word was proposed in contrast to catastrophism by British naturalists in the late 18th century, starting with the work of the geologist James Hutton in his many books including Theory of the Earth. Hutton 's work was later refined by scientist John Playfair and popularised by geologist Charles Lyell 's Principles of Geology in 1830. Today, Earth 's history is considered to have been a slow, gradual process, punctuated by occasional natural catastrophic events. The earlier conceptions likely had little influence on 18th - century European geological explanations for the formation of Earth. Abraham Gottlob Werner (1749 -- 1817) proposed Neptunism, where strata represented deposits from shrinking seas precipitated onto primordial rocks such as granite. In 1785 James Hutton proposed an opposing, self - maintaining infinite cycle based on natural history and not on the Biblical account. The solid parts of the present land appear in general, to have been composed of the productions of the sea, and of other materials similar to those now found upon the shores. Hence we find reason to conclude: Hence we are led to conclude, that the greater part of our land, if not the whole had been produced by operations natural to this globe; but that in order to make this land a permanent body, resisting the operations of the waters, two things had been required; Hutton then sought evidence to support his idea that there must have been repeated cycles, each involving deposition on the seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion, and then moving undersea again for further layers to be deposited. At Glen Tilt in the Cairngorm mountains he found granite penetrating metamorphic schists, in a way which indicated to him that the presumed primordial rock had been molten after the strata had formed. He had read about angular unconformities as interpreted by Neptunists, and found an unconformity at Jedburgh where layers of greywacke in the lower layers of the cliff face have been tilted almost vertically before being eroded to form a level plane, under horizontal layers of Old Red Sandstone. In the spring of 1788 he took a boat trip along the Berwickshire coast with John Playfair and the geologist Sir James Hall, and found a dramatic unconformity showing the same sequence at Siccar Point. Playfair later recalled that "the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time '', and Hutton concluded a 1788 paper he presented at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, later rewritten as a book, with the phrase "we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end ''. Both Playfair and Hall wrote their own books on the theory, and for decades robust debate continued between Hutton 's supporters and the Neptunists. Georges Cuvier 's paleontological work in the 1790s, which established the reality of extinction, explained this by local catastrophes, after which other fixed species repopulated the affected areas. In Britain, geologists adapted this idea into "diluvial theory '' which proposed repeated worldwide annihilation and creation of new fixed species adapted to a changed environment, initially identifying the most recent catastrophe as the biblical flood. From 1830 to 1833 Charles Lyell 's multi-volume Principles of Geology was published. The work 's subtitle was "An attempt to explain the former changes of the Earth 's surface by reference to causes now in operation ''. He drew his explanations from field studies conducted directly before he went to work on the founding geology text, and developed Hutton 's idea that the earth was shaped entirely by slow - moving forces still in operation today, acting over a very long period of time. The terms uniformitarianism for this idea, and catastrophism for the opposing viewpoint, were coined by William Whewell in a review of Lyell 's book. Principles of Geology was the most influential geological work in the middle of the 19th century. Geoscientists support diverse systems of Earth history, the nature of which rest on a certain mixture of views about process, control, rate, and state which are preferred. Because geologists and geomorphologists tend to adopt opposite views over process, rate and state in the inorganic world, there are eight different systems of beliefs in the development of the terrestrial sphere. All geoscientists stand by the principle of uniformity of law. Most, but not all, are directed by the principle of simplicity. All make definite assertions about the quality of rate and state in the inorganic realm. According to Reijer Hooykaas (1963), Lyell 's uniformitarianism is a family of four related propositions, not a single idea: None of these connotations requires another, and they are not all equally inferred by uniformitarians. Gould explained Lyell 's propositions in Time 's Arrow, Time 's Cycle (1987), stating that Lyell conflated two different types of propositions: a pair of methodological assumptions with a pair of substantive hypotheses. The four together make up Lyell 's uniformitarianism. The two methodological assumptions below are accepted to be true by the majority of scientists and geologists. Gould claims that these philosophical propositions must be assumed before you can proceed as a scientist doing science. "You can not go to a rocky outcrop and observe either the constancy of nature 's laws or the working of unknown processes. It works the other way around. '' You first assume these propositions and "then you go to the outcrop. '' The substantive hypotheses were controversial and, in some cases, accepted by few. These hypotheses are judged true or false on empirical grounds through scientific observation and repeated experimental data. This is in contrast with the previous two philosophical assumptions that come before one can do science and so can not be tested or falsified by science. Stephen Jay Gould 's first scientific paper, Is uniformitarianism necessary? (1965), reduced these four assumptions to two. He dismissed the first principle, which asserted spatial and temporal invariance of natural laws, as no longer an issue of debate. He rejected the third (uniformity of rate) as an unjustified limitation on scientific inquiry, as it constrains past geologic rates and conditions to those of the present. So, Lyellian uniformitarianism was unnecessary. Uniformitarianism was proposed in contrast to catastrophism, which states that the distant past "consisted of epochs of paroxysmal and catastrophic action interposed between periods of comparative tranquility '' Especially in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most geologists took this interpretation to mean that catastrophic events are not important in geologic time; one example of this is the debate of the formation of the Channeled Scablands due to the catastrophic Missoula glacial outburst floods. An important result of this debate and others was the re-clarification that, while the same principles operate in geologic time, catastrophic events that are infrequent on human time - scales can have important consequences in geologic history. Derek Ager has noted that "geologists do not deny uniformitarianism in its true sense, that is to say, of interpreting the past by means of the processes that are seen going on at the present day, so long as we remember that the periodic catastrophe is one of those processes. Those periodic catastrophes make more showing in the stratigraphical record than we have hitherto assumed. '' Even Charles Lyell thought that ordinary geological processes would cause Niagara Falls to move upstream to Lake Erie within 10,000 years, leading to catastrophic flooding of a large part of North America. Modern geologists do not apply uniformitarianism in the same way as Lyell. They question if rates of processes were uniform through time and only those values measured during the history of geology are to be accepted. The present may not be a long enough key to penetrate the deep lock of the past. Geologic processes may have been active at different rates in the past that humans have not observed. "By force of popularity, uniformity of rate has persisted to our present day. For more than a century, Lyell 's rhetoric conflating axiom with hypotheses has descended in unmodified form. Many geologists have been stifled by the belief that proper methodology includes an a priori commitment to gradual change, and by a preference for explaining large - scale phenomena as the concatenation of innumerable tiny changes. '' The current consensus is that Earth 's history is a slow, gradual process punctuated by occasional natural catastrophic events that have affected Earth and its inhabitants. In practice it is reduced from Lyell 's conflation, or blending, to simply the two philosophical assumptions. This is also known as the principle of geological actualism, which states that all past geological action was like all present geological action. The principle of actualism is the cornerstone of paleoecology.

how long was america's involvement in the vietnam war

Role of the United States in the Vietnam war - Wikipedia The role of the United States in the Vietnam War began after World War II and escalated into full commitment during the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975. The U.S. involvement in South Vietnam stemmed from 20 long years of political and economic action. These had the common incentive of ending the growing communist domination in Vietnam. At the time, French forces, allies of the U.S., were backed by America -- President Harry S. Truman provided progressively increasing amounts of financial and military assistance to French forces fighting in Vietnam. From the spring of 1950, their involvement increased from just assisting French troops to providing direct military assistance to the associated states (Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia). Eventually, U.S. missions were carried out at a more constant rate by sending out increasing number of military assistance from the United States. Their main intent was to restrict the Communist domination that was present in the government of Vietnam as it would soon lead to a chain of neighbouring countries adopting the same. This would have resulted in a change in balance of power throughout Southeast Asia. Essentially, the U.S. saw their major security interests being disturbed due to the rise of the communist expansion and strived to take any measure to end it. Estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3,812,000. The conflict also resulted in 58,318 US soldiers dead. Feb 1965 - Operation Rolling Thunder begins In 1961 the new administration of President John F. Kennedy remained essentially committed to the bi-partisan, anti-communist foreign policies inherited from the administrations of Presidents Truman and Eisenhower. During 1961, his first year in office, Kennedy found himself faced with a three - part crisis: The failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba; the construction of the Berlin Wall by the Soviets; and a negotiated settlement between the pro-Western government of Laos and the Pathet Lao communist movement. Fearing that another failure on the part of the U.S. to stop communist expansion would fatally damage U.S. credibility with its allies, Kennedy realized, "Now we have a problem in making our power credible... and Vietnam looks like the place. '' The commitment to defend South Vietnam was reaffirmed by Kennedy on May 11 in National Security Action Memorandum 52, which became known as "The Presidential Program for Vietnam ''. Its opening statement reads: U.S. objectives and concept of operations (are) to prevent communist domination of South Vietnam; to create in that country a viable and increasingly democratic society, and to initiate, on an accelerated basis, a series of mutually supporting actions of a military, political, economic, psychological, and covert character designed to achieve this objective. Kennedy was intrigued by the idea of utilizing United States Army Special Forces for counterinsurgency conflicts in Third World countries threatened by the new "wars of national liberation ''. Originally intended for use behind front lines after a conventional invasion of Europe, Kennedy believed that the guerrilla tactics employed by Special Forces would be effective in the "brush fire '' war in South Vietnam. He saw British success in using such forces during the Malayan Emergency as a strategic template. Thus in May 1961 Kennedy sent detachments of Green Berets to South Vietnam to train South Vietnamese soldiers in guerrilla warfare. The Diệm regime had been initially able to cope with the insurgency of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF, or derogatively, Viet Cong) in South Vietnam with the aid of U.S. matériel and advisers, and, by 1962, seemed to be gaining the upper hand. Senior U.S. military leaders received positive reports from the U.S. commander, General Paul D. Harkins of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, or MACV. By the following year, however, cracks began to appear in the façade of success. In January a possible victory that was turned into a stunning defeat for government forces at the Battle of Ap Bac caused consternation among both the military advisers in the field and among politicians in Washington, D.C. JFK also indicated to Walter Cronkite that the war may be unwinnable, and that it was ultimately a Vietnamese war, not an American war. Diệm was already growing unpopular with many of his countrymen because of his administration 's nepotism, corruption, and its apparent bias in favor of the Catholic minority -- of which Diệm was a part -- at the expense of the Buddhist majority. This contributed to the impression of Diệm 's rule as an extension of the French Colonial regime. Promised land reforms were not instituted, and Diệm 's strategic hamlet program for village self - defense (and government control) was a disaster. The Kennedy administration grew increasingly frustrated with Diệm. In 1963, a crackdown by Diệm 's forces was launched against Buddhist monks protesting discriminatory practices and demanding a political voice. Diệm 's repression of the protests sparked the so - called Buddhist Revolt, during which several monks committed self - immolation, which was covered in the world press. The communists took full advantage of the situation and fueled anti-Diệm sentiment to create further instability. On July 27, 1964, 5,000 additional U.S. military advisers were ordered to the Republic of Vietnam (RVN or South Vietnam), bringing the total American troop level to 21,000. Shortly thereafter an incident occurred off the coast of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) that was destined to escalate the conflict to new levels and lead to the full scale Americanization of the war. On the evening of August 2, 1964, the destroyer USS Maddox was conducting an electronic intelligence collection mission in international waters (even as claimed by North Vietnam) in the Gulf of Tonkin when it was attacked by three P - 4 torpedo boats of the North Vietnamese Navy. Reports later reached the Johnson administration saying that the Maddox was under attack. Two nights later, after being joined by the destroyer C. Turner Joy, the Maddox again reported that both vessels were under attack (this event, which took place under adverse weather conditions, in fact never occurred). Regardless, President Johnson addressed Congress asking for more political power to utilize American military forces in South Vietnam, using the attack on the Maddox as cause to get what he wanted. There was rampant confusion in Washington, but the incident was seen by the administration as the perfect opportunity to present Congress with "a pre-dated declaration of war '' in order to strengthen weakening morale in South Vietnam through reprisal attacks by the U.S. on the North. Even before confirmation of the phantom attack had been received in Washington, President Johnson had decided that an attack could not go unanswered. Just before midnight he appeared on television and announced that retaliatory air strikes were underway against North Vietnamese naval and port facilities. Neither Congress nor the American people learned the whole story about the events in the Gulf of Tonkin until the publication of the Pentagon Papers in 1969. It was on the basis of the administration 's assertions that the attacks were "unprovoked aggression '' on the part of North Vietnam, that the United States Congress approved the Southeast Asia Resolution (also known as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) on August 7. The law gave the President broad powers to conduct military operations without an actual declaration of war. The resolution passed unanimously in the House of Representatives and was opposed in the Senate by only two members. National Security Council members, including United States Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and General Maxwell Taylor, agreed on November 28 to recommend that Johnson adopt a plan for a two - stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam. In February 1965, a U.S. air base at Pleiku, in the Central Highlands of South Vietnam, was attacked twice by the NLF, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen U.S. personnel. These guerrilla attacks prompted the administration to order retaliatory air strikes against North Vietnam. Operation Rolling Thunder was the code name given to a sustained strategic bombing campaign targeted against the North by aircraft of the U.S. Air Force and Navy that was inaugurated on March 2, 1965. Its original purpose was to bolster the morale of the South Vietnamese and to serve as a signaling device to Hanoi. U.S. airpower would act as a method of "strategic persuasion '', deterring the North Vietnamese politically by the fear of continued or increased bombardment. Rolling Thunder gradually escalated in intensity, with aircraft striking only carefully selected targets. When that did not work, its goals were altered to destroying North Vietnam 's will to fight by destroying the nation 's industrial base, transportation network, and its (continually increasing) air defenses. After more than a million sorties were flown and three - quarters of a million tons of bombs were dropped, Rolling Thunder was ended on November 11, 1968. Other aerial campaigns (Operation Barrel Roll, Operation Steel Tiger, Operation Tiger Hound, and Operation Commando Hunt) were directed to counter the flow of men and material down the PAVN logistical system that flowed from North Vietnam through southeastern Laos, and into South Vietnam known as the Ho Chi Minh Trail. President Johnson had already appointed General William C. Westmoreland to succeed General Harkins as Commander of MACV in June 1964. Under Westmoreland, the expansion of American troop strength in South Vietnam took place. American forces rose from 16,000 during 1964 to more than 553,000 by 1969. With the U.S. decision to escalate its involvement, ANZUS Pact allies Australia and New Zealand agreed to contribute troops and matériel to the conflict. They were quickly joined by the Republic of Korea (second only to the Americans in troop strength), Thailand, and the Philippines. The U.S. paid for (through aid dollars) and logistically supplied all of the allied forces. Meanwhile, political affairs in Saigon were finally settling down -- at least as far as the Americans were concerned. On February 14 the most recent military junta, the National Leadership Committee, installed Air Vice-Marshal Nguyễn Cao Kỳ as prime minister. In 1966, the junta selected General Nguyễn Văn Thiệu to run for president with Ky on the ballot as the vice-presidential candidate in the 1967 election. Thieu and Ky were elected and remained in office for the duration of the war. In the presidential election of 1971, Thieu ran for the presidency unopposed. With the installation of the Thieu and Ky government (the Second Republic), the U.S. had a pliable, stable, and semi-legitimate government in Saigon with which to deal. With the advent of Rolling Thunder, American airbases and facilities needed to be constructed and manned for the aerial effort. The defense of those bases would not be entrusted to the South Vietnamese. So, on March 8, 1965, 3,500 United States Marines came ashore at Da Nang as the first wave of U.S. combat troops into South Vietnam, adding to the 25,000 U.S. military advisers already in place. On May 5 the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade became the first U.S. Army ground unit committed to the conflict in South Vietnam. On August 18, Operation Starlite began as the first major U.S. ground operation, destroying an NLF stronghold in Quảng Ngãi Province. The NLF learned from their defeat and subsequently tried to avoid fighting an American - style ground war by reverting to small - unit guerrilla operations. The North Vietnamese had already sent units of their regular army into southern Vietnam beginning in late 1964. Some officials in Hanoi had favored an immediate invasion of the South, and a plan was developed to use PAVN units to split southern Vietnam in half through the Central Highlands. The two imported adversaries first faced one another during Operation Silver Bayonet, better known as the Battle of the Ia Drang. During the savage fighting that took place, both sides learned important lessons. The North Vietnamese, who had taken horrendous casualties, began to adapt to the overwhelming American superiority in air mobility, supporting arms, and close air support by moving in as close as possible during confrontations, thereby negating the effects of the above. The Americans learned that PAVN (which was basically a light infantry force) was not a rag - tag band of guerrillas, but was instead a highly disciplined, proficient, and well motivated force. On November 27, 1965, the Pentagon declared that if the major operations needed to neutralize North Vietnamese and NLF forces were to succeed, U.S. troop levels in South Vietnam would have to be increased from 120,000 to 400,000. In a series of meetings between Westmoreland and the President held in Honolulu in February 1966, Westmoreland argued that the U.S. presence had succeeded in preventing the immediate defeat of the South Vietnamese government but that more troops would be necessary if systematic offensive operations were to be conducted. The issue then became in what manner American forces would be used. The nature of the American military 's strategic and tactical decisions made during this period would color the conduct and nature of the conflict for the duration of the American commitment. Classical military logic demanded that the U.S. attack the locus of PAVN / NLF in the North. If that country could not be invaded, then the enemy 's logistical system in Laos and Cambodia should be cut by ground forces, isolating the southern battlefield. However, political considerations limited U.S. military actions, mainly because of the memory of communist reactions during the Korean War. Ever present in the minds of diplomats, military officers, and politicians was the possibility of a spiraling escalation of the conflict into a superpower confrontation and the possibility of a nuclear exchange. Therefore, there would be no invasion of North Vietnam, the "neutrality '' of Laos and Cambodia would be respected, and Rolling Thunder would not resemble the bombing of Germany and Japan during the Second World War. These limitations were not foisted upon the military as an afterthought. Before the first U.S. soldiers came ashore at Da Nang, the Pentagon was cognizant of all of the parameters that would be imposed by their civilian leaders, yet they still agreed that the mission could be accomplished within them. Westmoreland believed that he had found a strategy that would either defeat North Vietnam or force it into serious negotiations. Attrition was to be the key. The general held that larger offensive operations would grind down the communists and eventually lead to a "crossover point '' in PAVN / NLF casualties after which a decisive (or at least political) victory would be possible. It is widely held that the average U.S. serviceman was nineteen years old, as evidenced by the casual reference in a pop song ("19 '' by Paul Hardcastle); the figure is cited by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman ret. of the Killology Research Group in his 1995 book On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society (p. 265). However, it is disputed by the Vietnam Helicopter Flight Crew Network Website, which claims the average age of MOS 11B personnel was 22. This compares with 26 years of age for those who participated in World War II. Soldiers served a one - year tour of duty. The average age of the U.S. military men who died in Vietnam was 22.8 years old. The one - year tour of duty deprived units of experienced leadership. As one observer put it, "we were not in Vietnam for 10 years, but for one year 10 times. '' As a result, training programs were shortened. Some NCOs were referred to as "Shake ' N ' Bake '' to highlight their accelerated training. Unlike soldiers in World War II and Korea, there were no secure rear areas in which to get rest and relaxation. One unidentified soldier said to United Press International that there was nothing to do in Vietnam and therefore many of the men smoked marijuana. He said, "One of the biggest reasons that a lot of GIs do get high over here is there is nothing to do. This place is really a drag; it 's a bore over here. Like right now sitting around here, we are getting loaded. Whereas, it does n't really get you messed up; that 's I guess the main reason why we smoke it. '' American forces would conduct operations against PAVN forces, pushing them further back into the countryside away from the heavily populated coastal lowlands. In the backcountry the U.S. could fully utilize its superiority in firepower and mobility to bleed the enemy in set - piece battles. The cleaning - out of the NLF and the pacification of the villages would be the responsibility of the South Vietnamese military. The adoption of this strategy, however, brought Westmoreland into direct conflict with his Marine Corps commander, General Lewis W. Walt, who had already recognized the security of the villages as the key to success. Walt had immediately commenced pacification efforts in his area of responsibility, but Westmoreland was unhappy, believing that the Marines were being underutilized and fighting the wrong enemy. In the end, MACV won out and Westmoreland 's search and destroy concept, predicated on the attrition of enemy forces, won the day. Both sides chose similar strategies. PAVN, which had been operating a more conventional, large - unit war, switched back to small - unit operations in the face of U.S. military capabilities. The struggle moved to the villages, where the "hearts and minds '' of the South Vietnamese peasants, whose cooperation was absolutely necessary to military success, would be won or lost. The U.S. had given responsibility for this struggle to the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), whose troops and commanders were notoriously unfit for the task. For the American soldier, whose doctrine was one of absolute commitment to total victory, this strategy led to a frustrating small - unit war. Most of the combat was conducted by units smaller than battalion - size (the majority at the platoon level). Since the goal of the operations was to kill the enemy, terrain was not taken and held as in previous wars. Savage fighting and the retreat of the communists was immediately followed by the abandonment of the terrain just seized. Combined with this was the anger and frustration engendered among American troops by the effective tactics of the NLF, who conducted a war of sniping, booby traps, mines, and terror against the Americans. As a result of the conference held in Honolulu, President Johnson authorized an increase in troop strength to 429,000 by August 1966. The large increase in troops enabled MACV to carry out numerous operations that grew in size and complexity during the next two years. For U.S. troops participating in these operations (Operation Masher / White Wing, Operation Attleboro, Operation Cedar Falls, Operation Junction City and dozens of others) the war boiled down to hard marching through some of the most difficult terrain on the planet and weather conditions that were alternately hot and dry, or cold and wet. It was the PAVN / NLF that actually controlled the pace of the war, fighting only when their commanders believed that they had the upper hand and then disappearing when the Americans and / or ARVN brought their superiority in numbers and firepower to bear. North Vietnam, utilizing the Ho Chi Minh and Sihanouk Trails, matched the U.S. at every point of the escalation, funneling manpower and supplies to the southern battlefields. During the Vietnam War, the use of the helicopter, known as "Air Mobile '', was an essential tool for conducting the war. In fact, the whole conduct and strategy of the war depended on it. Vietnam was the first time the helicopter was used on a major scale, and in such important roles. Search and destroy missions, for example, would have been nearly impossible without it. Helicopters allowed American commanders to move large numbers of troops to virtually anywhere, regardless of the terrain or roads. Troops could also be easily resupplied in remote areas. The helicopter also provided another new and vital capability: medical evacuation. It could fly wounded soldiers to aid stations very quickly, usually within the critical first hour. This gave wounded soldiers a higher chance of survival in Vietnam than in any previous war. The helicopter was also adapted for many other roles in Vietnam, including ground attack, reconnaissance, and electronic warfare. Without the helicopter, the war would have been fought very differently. By mid-1967, Westmoreland said that it was conceivable that U.S. forces could be phased out of the war within two years, turning over progressively more of the fighting to the ARVN. That fall, however, savage fighting broke out in the northern provinces. Beginning below the DMZ at Con Tien and then spreading west to the Laotian border near Dak To, large PAVN forces began to stand their ground and fight. This willingness of the communists to remain fixed in place inspired MACV to send reinforcements from other sectors of South Vietnam. The Border Battles had begun. Most of the PAVN / NLF operational capability was possible only because of the unhindered movement of men along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. To threaten this flow of supplies, the Marine Corps established a combat base on the South Vietnamese side of the Laotian frontier, near the village of Khe Sanh. The U.S. used the base as a border surveillance position overlooking Route 9, the only east - west road that crossed the border in the province. Westmoreland also hoped to use the base as a jump - off point for any future incursion against the Trail system in Laos. During the spring of 1967, a series of small - unit actions near Khe Sanh prompted MACV to increase its forces. These small unit actions and increasing intelligence information indicated that the PAVN was building up significant forces just across the border. Indeed, PAVN was doing just that. Two regular divisions (and later elements of a third) were moving toward Khe Sanh, eventually surrounding the base and cutting off its only road access. Westmoreland, contrary to the advice of his Marine commanders, reinforced the outpost. As far as he was concerned, if the communists were willing to mass their forces for destruction by American air power, so much the better. He described the ideal outcome as a "Dien Bien Phu in reverse ''. MACV then launched the largest concentrated aerial bombardment effort of the conflict (Operation Niagara) to defend Khe Sanh. Another massive aerial effort was undertaken to keep the beleaguered Marines supplied. There were many comparisons (by the media, Americans military and political officials, and the North Vietnamese) to the possibility of PAVN staging a repeat of its victory at Dien Bien Phu, but the differences outweighed the similarities in any comparison. MACV used this opportunity to field its latest technology against the North Vietnamese. A sensor - driven, anti-infiltration system known as Operation Igloo White was in the process of being field tested in Laos as the siege of Khe Sanh began. Westmoreland ordered that it be employed to detect PAVN troop movements near the Marine base and the system worked well. By March, the long - awaited ground assault against the base had failed to materialize and communist forces began to melt back toward Laos. MACV (and future historians) were left with only questions. What was the goal of the PAVN? Was the siege a real attempt to stage another Dien Bien Phu? Or had the battles near the border (which eventually drew in half of MACV 's maneuver battalions) been a diversion, meant to pull forces away from the cities, where another PAVN offensive would soon commence? General Westmoreland 's public reassurances that "the light at the end of the tunnel '' was near were countered when, on January 30, 1968, PAVN and NLF forces broke the truce that accompanied the Tết holiday and mounted their largest offensive thus far, in hopes of sparking a general uprising among the South Vietnamese. These forces, ranging in size from small groups to entire regiments, attacked nearly every city and major military installation in South Vietnam. The Americans and South Vietnamese, initially surprised by the scope and scale of the offensive, quickly responded and inflicted severe casualties on their enemies. The NLF was essentially eliminated as a fighting force and the places of the dead within its ranks were increasingly filled by North Vietnamese. The PAVN / NLF attacks were speedily and bloodily repulsed in virtually all areas except Saigon, where the fighting lasted for three days, and in the old imperial capital of Huế, where it continued for a month. During the occupation of the historic city, 2,800 South Vietnamese were murdered by the NLF in the single worst massacre of the conflict. The hoped - for uprising never took place; indeed, the offensive drove some previously apathetic South Vietnamese to fight for the government. Another surprise for the communists was that the ARVN did not collapse under the onslaught, instead turning in a performance that pleased even its American patrons. After the Tet Offensive, influential news magazines and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Time and The New York Times, increasingly began to characterize the war as a stalemate. What shocked and dismayed the American public was the realization that either it had been lied to or that the American military command had been dangerously overoptimistic in its appraisal of the situation in Vietnam. The public could not understand how such an attack was possible after being told for several years that victory was just around the corner. The Tet Offensive came to embody the growing credibility gap at the heart of U.S. government statements. These realizations and changing attitudes forced the American public (and politicians) to face hard realities and to reexamine their position in Southeast Asia. Moreover, the U.S. media coverage made it even more clear that an overall victory in Vietnam was not imminent. It also massively weakened the domestic support for the Johnson administration at the time. The days of an open - ended commitment to the conflict were over. The psychological impact of the Tet Offensive effectively ended the political career of Lyndon Johnson. On March 11, Senator Eugene McCarthy won 42 percent of the vote in the Democratic New Hampshire primary. Although Johnson was not on the ballot, commentators viewed this as a defeat for the President. Shortly thereafter, Senator Robert Kennedy announced his intention to seek the Democratic nomination for the 1968 presidential election. On March 31, in a speech that took America and the world by surprise, Johnson announced that "I shall not seek, and I will not accept the nomination of my party for another term as your President '' and pledged himself to devoting the rest of his term in office to the search for peace in Vietnam. Johnson announced that he was limiting bombing of North Vietnam to just north of the Demilitarized Zone and that U.S. representatives were prepared to meet with North Vietnamese counterparts in any suitable place "to discuss the means to bring this ugly war to an end ''. A few days later, much to Johnson 's surprise, North Vietnam agreed to contacts between the two sides. On May 13, what became known as the Paris peace talks began. On March 16, 1968, three companies of Task Force Barker, part of the Americal Division, took part in a search and destroy operation near the village of My Lai, in Quảng Nam Province. Although not all of the members of the company participated, a significant number of them, led by Calley, did. He personally ordered the executions of hundreds of villagers in large groups. The killings ended only when an American helicopter crew, headed by Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson, Jr., discovered Calley 's unit in the act and threatened to attack them with his aircraft 's weapons unless they stopped. One of the soldiers on the scene was Ron Haeberle, a photographer for the newspaper Stars and Stripes, who took unobtrusive official black - and - white photos of the operation through the lens of his military - issued camera and color shots of the massacre with his personal camera. Although the operation appeared suspicious to Calley 's superiors, it was forgotten. In 1969, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh exposed the My Lai massacre in print, and the Haeberle photos were released to the world media. The Pentagon launched an investigation headed by General William R. Peers to look into the allegations. After a flurry of activity, the Peers Commission issued its report. It declared that "an atmosphere of atrocity '' surrounded the event, concluding that a massacre had taken place and the crime had been covered up by the commander of the Americal Division and his executive officer. Perhaps 400 Vietnamese civilians, mostly old men, women, and children had been killed by Charlie company. Several men were charged in the killings, but only Calley was convicted. He was given a life sentence by a court - martial in 1970, but after numerous appeals he was finally set free; he had served just over three years of house arrest. Although My Lai generated a lot of civilian recriminations and bad publicity for the military, it was not the only massacre. The Vietnam War Crimes Working Group Files made public in 1994 by the "Freedom of Information Act '' reveal seven, albeit much smaller, massacres previously unacknowledged by the Pentagon, in which at least 137 civilians had died. (1) Cover - ups may have occurred in other cases, as detailed in the Pulitzer Prize - winning series of articles concerning the Tiger Force of the 101st Airborne Division by the Toledo Blade in 2003. Richard Nixon had campaigned in the 1968 presidential election under the slogan that he would end the war in Vietnam and bring "peace with honor ''. However, there was no plan to do this, and the American commitment continued for another five years. The goal of the American military effort was to buy time, gradually building up the strength of the South Vietnamese armed forces, and re-equipping it with modern weapons so that they could defend their nation on their own. This policy became the cornerstone of the so - called Nixon Doctrine. As applied to Vietnam, it was labeled Vietnamization. Nixon 's papers show that in 1968, as a presidential candidate, he ordered Anna Chennault, his liaison to the South Vietnam government, to persuade them to refuse a cease - fire being brokered by President Lyndon Johnson. This action violated the Logan Act, banning private citizens from intruding into official government negotiations with a foreign nation, and has been said to constitute treason. Soon after Tet, General Westmoreland was promoted to Army Chief of Staff and he was replaced by his deputy, General Creighton W. Abrams. Because of the change in American strategy posed by Vietnamization, Abrams pursued a very different approach. The U.S. was gradually withdrawing from the conflict, and Abrams favored smaller - scale operations aimed at PAVN / NLF logistics, more openness with the media, less indiscriminate use of American firepower, elimination of the body count as the key indicator of battlefield success, and more meaningful cooperation with South Vietnamese forces. Vietnamization of the war, however, created a dilemma for U.S. forces: the strategy required that U.S. troops fight long enough for the ARVN to improve enough to hold its own against Communist forces. Morale in the U.S. ranks rapidly declined during 1969 -- 1972, as evidenced by declining discipline, worsening drug use among soldiers, and increased "fraggings '' of U.S. officers by disgruntled troops. One of Nixon 's main foreign policy goals had been the achievement of a breakthrough in U.S. relations with the People 's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. An avowed anti-communist since early in his political career, Nixon could make diplomatic overtures to the communists without being accused of being "soft on communism ''. The result of his overtures was an era of détente that led to nuclear arms reductions by the U.S. and Soviet Union and the beginning of a dialogue with China. In this context, Nixon viewed Vietnam as simply another limited conflict forming part of the larger tapestry of superpower relations; however, he was still determined to preserve South Vietnam until such time as he could not be blamed for what he saw as its inevitable collapse (or a "decent interval '', as it was known). To this end he and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger employed Chinese and Soviet foreign policy gambits to successfully defuse some of the anti-war opposition at home and secured movement at the negotiations that had begun in Paris. China and the Soviet Union had been the principal backers of North Vietnam 's effort through large - scale military and financial aid. The two communist superpowers had competed with one another to prove their "fraternal socialist links '' with the regime in Hanoi. The North Vietnamese had become adept at playing the two nations off against one another. Even with Nixon 's rapprochement, their support of North Vietnam increased significantly in the years leading up to the U.S. departure in 1973, enabling the North Vietnamese to mount full - scale conventional offensives against the South, complete with tanks, heavy artillery, and the most modern surface - to - air missiles. The credibility of the U.S. government again suffered in 1971 when The New York Times, The Washington Post and other newspapers serially published The Pentagon Papers (actually U.S. - Vietnam Relations, 1945 -- 1967). This top - secret historical study of the American commitment in Vietnam, from the Franklin Roosevelt administration until 1967, had been contracted to the RAND Corporation by Secretary of Defense McNamara. The documents were leaked to the press by Daniel Ellsberg, a former State Department official who had worked on the study. The Pentagon Papers laid out the missteps taken by four administrations in their Vietnam policies. For example, they revealed the Johnson administration 's obfuscations to Congress concerning the Gulf of Tonkin incidents that had led to direct U.S. intervention; they exposed the clandestine bombing of Laos that had begun in 1964; and they detailed the American government 's complicity in the death of Ngô Đình Diệm. The study presented a continuously pessimistic view of the likelihood of victory and generated fierce criticism of U.S. policies. The importance of the actual content of the papers to U.S. policy - making was disputed, but the window that they provided into the flawed decision - making process at the highest levels of the U.S. government opened the issue for other questions. Their publication was a news event and the government 's legal (Nixon lost to the Supreme Court) and extra-legal efforts (the "Plumbers '' break - in at the office of Ellsberg 's psychiatrist committed to gain material to discredit him, was one of the first steps on the road to Watergate) carried out to prevent their publication -- mainly on national security grounds -- then went on to generate yet more criticism and suspicion of the government by the American public. By 1969 the policy of non-alignment and neutrality had worn thin for Prince Sihanouk, ruler of Cambodia. Pressures from the right in Cambodia caused the prince to begin a shift away from the pro-left position he had assumed in 1965 -- 1966. He began to make overtures for normalized relations with the U.S. and created a Government of National Salvation with the assistance of the pro-American General Lon Nol. Seeing a shift in the prince 's position, President Nixon ordered the launching of a top - secret bombing campaign, targeted at the PAVN / NLF Base Areas and sanctuaries along Cambodia 's eastern border. On March 18, 1970, Sihanouk, who was out of the country on a state visit, was deposed by a vote of the National Assembly and replaced by General Lon Nol. Cambodia 's ports were immediately closed to North Vietnamese military supplies, and the government demanded that PAVN / NLF forces be removed from the border areas within 72 hours. On March 29, 1970, the Vietnamese had taken matters into their own hands and launched an offensive against the Cambodian army. A force of North Vietnamese quickly overran large parts of eastern Cambodia reaching to within 15 miles (24 km) of Phnom Penh allowing their allies, the Chinese - supported Khmer Rouge to extend their power. Nixon ordered a military incursion into Cambodia by U.S. and ARVN troops in order to both destroy PAVN / NLF sanctuaries bordering South Vietnam and to buy time for the U.S. withdrawal. During the Cambodian Campaign, U.S. and ARVN forces discovered and removed or destroyed a huge logistical and intelligence haul in Cambodia. The incursion also sparked large - scale demonstrations on and closures of American college campuses. The expansion of the conflict into Cambodia was seen as an expansion of the conflict into yet another country, nullifying Nixon 's promises of de-escalating the war. During the ensuing protests, four students were killed and a score were wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen during a demonstration at Kent State University. Two other students were killed at Jackson State University in Mississippi. In an effort to lessen opposition to the U.S. commitment, Nixon announced on October 12 that the U.S. would withdraw 40,000 more troops from Vietnam before Christmas. Following the coup, Sihanouk arrived in Beijing, where he established and headed a government in exile, throwing his substantial personal support behind the Khmer Rouge, the North Vietnamese, and the Laotian Pathet Lao. In 1971 the U.S. authorized the ARVN to carry out an offensive operation aimed at cutting the Ho Chi Minh Trail in southeastern Laos. Besides attacking the PAVN logistical system (which would buy time for the U.S. withdrawal) the incursion would be a significant test of Vietnamization. Backed by U.S. air and artillery support (American troops were forbidden to enter Laos), the ARVN moved across the border along Route 9, utilizing the abandoned Marine outpost of Khe Sanh as a jumping - off point. At first, the incursion went well, but unlike the Cambodian operation of 1970, the PAVN decided to stand and fight, finally mustering around 60,000 men on the battlefield. The North Vietnamese first struck the flanks of the ARVN column, smashed its outposts, and then moved in on the main ARVN force. Unlike previous encounters during the conflict, the PAVN fielded armored formations, heavy artillery, and large amounts of the latest anti-aircraft artillery. After two months of savage fighting, the ARVN retreated back across the border, closely pursued by the North Vietnamese. One half of the invasion force was killed or captured during the operation, and Vietnamization was seen as a failure. On August 18, Australia and New Zealand decided to withdraw their troops from the conflict. The total number of U.S. forces in South Vietnam dropped to 196,700 on October 29, 1971, the lowest level since January 1966. On November 12, 1971, Nixon set a February 1, 1972 deadline for the removal of another 45,000 troops. Vietnamization received another severe test in the spring of 1972 when the North Vietnamese launched a massive conventional offensive across the Demilitarized Zone. Beginning on March 30, the Easter Offensive (known as the Nguyễn Huệ Offensive to the North Vietnamese) quickly overran the three northernmost provinces of South Vietnam, including the provincial capital of Quảng Trị City. PAVN forces then drove south toward Huế. Early in April, PAVN opened two additional operations. The first, a three - division thrust supported by tanks and heavy artillery, advanced out of Cambodia on April 5. The North Vietnamese seized the town of Loc Ninh and advanced toward the provincial capital of An Lộc in Bình Long Province. The second new offensive, launched from the tri-border region into the Central Highlands, seized a complex of ARVN outposts near Dak To and then advanced toward Kon Tum, threatening to split South Vietnam in two. The U.S. countered with a buildup of American airpower to support ARVN defensive operations and to conduct Operation Linebacker, the first offensive bombing of North Vietnam since Rolling Thunder had been terminated in 1968. The PAVN attacks against Huế, An Lộc, and Kon Tum were contained and the ARVN launched a counteroffensive in May to retake the lost northern provinces. On September 10, the South Vietnamese flag once again flew over the ruins of the Citadel of Quảng Trị City, but the ARVN offensive then ran out of steam, conceding the rest of the occupied territory to the North Vietnamese. South Vietnam had countered the heaviest attack since Tet, but it was very evident that it was totally dependent on U.S. airpower for its survival. Meanwhile, the withdrawal of American troops, who numbered less than 100,000 at the beginning of the year, was continued as scheduled. By June only six infantry battalions remained. On August 12, the last American ground combat division left the country. However, the U.S. continued to operate the base At Long Binh. Combat patrols continued there until November 11 when the U.S. handed over the base to the South Vietnamese. After this, only 24,000 American troops remained in Vietnam and President Nixon announced that they would stay there until all U.S. POW 's were freed. At the beginning of the North Vietnamese invasion, the media, including conservative commentator William F. Buckley, predicted the downfall of the Republic of Vietnam; Buckley even called for the firing of General Creighton Abrams as an incompetent military leader. But the ARVN succeeded in defeating General Giap and his huge invading army. His forces were shattered at the Battle of An Lộc, where he threw several divisions at the entrenched South Vietnamese forces, ultimately losing over half of his army as casualties. General Giap 's loss and subsequent retreat was viewed as so great a failure by the North Vietnamese Communist Party that Giap was relieved of his command. Although ARVN troops withstood and repelled the massive PAVN attack at An Lộc, American air power seems to have been a key to the ARVN success, just as it had been a key factor in supporting U.S. ground forces when they operated in South Vietnam prior to 1972. Thus, the 1973 withdrawal of U.S. military support and passage of Congressional resolutions cutting off U.S. funding for combat activities in Indochina (H.R. 9055 and H.J. Res. 636) opened the way for the 1975 defeat of the Republic of Vietnam. During the run - up to the 1972 presidential election, the war was once again a major issue. An antiwar Democrat, George McGovern, ran against President Nixon. The president ended Operation Linebacker on October 22 after the negotiating deadlock was broken and a tentative agreement had been hammered out by U.S. and North Vietnamese representatives at the peace negotiations in Paris. The head of the U.S. negotiating team, Henry Kissinger, declared that "peace is at hand '' shortly before election day, dealing a death blow to McGovern 's already doomed campaign. Kissinger had not, however, counted on the intransigence of South Vietnamese President Thieu, who refused to accept the agreement and demanded some 90 changes in its text. These the North Vietnamese refused to accept, and Nixon was not inclined to put too much pressure on Thieu just before the election, even though his victory was all but assured. The mood between the U.S. and North further turned sour when Hanoi went public with the details of the agreement. The Nixon Administration claimed that North Vietnamese negotiators had used the pronouncement as an opportunity to embarrass the President and to weaken the United States. White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler told the press on November 30 that there would be no more public announcements concerning U.S. troop withdrawals from Vietnam since force levels were down to 27,000. Because of Thieu 's unhappiness with the agreement, primarily the stipulation that North Vietnamese troops could remain "in place '' on South Vietnamese soil, the negotiations in Paris stalled as Hanoi refused to accept Thieu 's changes and retaliated with amendments of its own. To reassure Thieu of American resolve, Nixon ordered a massive bombing campaign against North Vietnam utilizing B - 52s and tactical aircraft in Operation Linebacker II, which began on December 18 with large raids against both Hanoi and the port of Haiphong. Nixon justified his actions by blaming the impasse in negotiations on the North Vietnamese, causing one commentator to describe his actions as "War by tantrum ''. Although this heavy bombing campaign caused protests, both domestically and internationally, and despite significant aircraft losses over North Vietnam, Nixon continued the operation until December 29. He also exerted pressure on Thieu to accept the terms of the agreement reached in October. On January 15, 1973, citing progress in peace negotiations, Nixon announced the suspension of all offensive actions against North Vietnam, to be followed by a unilateral withdrawal of all U.S. troops. The Paris Peace Accords on "Ending the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam '' were signed on January 27, officially ending direct U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. The agreement called for the withdrawal of all U.S. personnel and an exchange of prisoners of war. Within South Vietnam, a cease - fire was declared (to be overseen by a multi-national, 1,160 - man International Control Commission force) and both ARVN and PAVN / NLF forces would remain in control of the areas they then occupied, effectively partitioning South Vietnam. Both sides pledged to work toward a compromise political solution, possibly resulting in a coalition government. To maximize the area under their control, both sides in South Vietnam almost immediately engaged in land - grabbing military operations, which turned into flashpoints. The signing of the Accords was the main motivation for the awarding of the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize to Henry Kissinger and to leading North Vietnamese negotiator Le Duc Tho. A separate cease - fire had been installed in Laos in February. Five days before the signing of the agreement in Paris, President Lyndon Johnson, whose presidency had been tainted with the Vietnam issue, died. The first U.S. prisoners of war were released by North Vietnam on February 11, and all U.S. military personnel were ordered to leave South Vietnam by March 29. As an inducement for Thieu 's government to sign the agreement, Nixon had promised that the U.S. would provide financial and limited military support (in the form of air strikes) so that the South would not be overrun. But Nixon was fighting for his political life in the growing Watergate scandal and facing an increasingly hostile Congress that withheld funding. The President was able to exert little influence on a hostile public long sick of the Vietnam War. Thus, Nixon (or his successor Gerald Ford) was unable to fulfill his promises to Thieu. At the same time, aid to North Vietnam from the Soviet Union increased. With the U.S. no longer heavily involved, both the U.S. and the Soviet Union no longer saw the war as significant to their relations. The balance of power shifted decisively in North Vietnam 's favor, and the North subsequently launched a major military offensive, the Ho Chi Minh Campaign, against the South that culminated in the surrender of the Republic of Vietnam to PAVN forces on April 30, 1975. The Office of the Secretary of Defense & Joint Staff, FOIA Requester Service Center Foreign Relations Series Under Eisenhower Under Kennedy Under Johnson Under Nixon Under Ford

when was the last time uconn football was ranked

Connecticut Huskies football - wikipedia The Connecticut Huskies football team is a college football team that represents the University of Connecticut in the sport of American football. The team competes in NCAA Division I FBS in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Connecticut first fielded a team in 1896, and participated in Division I - AA until 1999. The Huskies began their two - year Division I-A transition period in 2000, and became a full - fledged Division I-A team in 2002. From 2000 to 2003 the team played as an independent. The schools football team then joined the conference of its other sport teams, the Big East (later named the American Athletic Conference in 2013), starting in 2004. The University of Connecticut began playing football in 1896 when the school was known as Storrs Agricultural College, and the team was known as the "Aggies. '' It teamed up with the University of Massachusetts Amherst and University of Rhode Island to form the Athletic League of New England State Colleges for the purpose of scheduling football matchups between the schools. The first year was spent playing against local high schools and YMCA clubs. The following year provided their first competition against future rivals Rhode Island, an opponent that would be played over 100 times, and Massachusetts. Other early rivals included the Ivy League and the "Little Ivies '', particularly Yale University starting in 1948, who have played the Huskies for 50 years. Tragedy struck the team on September 27, 1919 when Gardner Dow died from brain injuries related to a flying tackle that he delivered in a game against New Hampshire. The college would honor Dow by naming the athletic fields after him. These fields would become the home for most of the school 's athletic teams for the next three decades. In 1924, the Aggies celebrated their first undefeated season when they finished with six wins, no losses and two ties. The defense was the strength of the team, as they allowed a meager thirteen points to be scored against them over the entire season, including a total of three points over the final seven games. The team was proclaimed by the New York Times to be among the best in the country, and was led by the school 's first All - America candidate in captain, Martin "Red '' O'Neill. The UConn Club memorializes O'Neill with a yearly award given to a former student - athlete who has had a successful professional career. Red O'Neill went on to become one of Connecticut 's first players to play in the NFL. He played for the Hartford Blues in 1926, their only year in the NFL. Another player is Art "Pop '' Williams, winning a championship with the Providence Steam Roller in 1928 and also has the record for the most rushing career touchdowns in Providence 's franchise history. The Steam Roller are New England 's first NFL champion. The renamed Huskies went on to become long - time members of the Yankee Conference, winning 15 conference championships. In 2012, Bill Belichick stated in an interview on WEEI that in 1983 he applied for the Huskies ' head coaching position but was eventually turned down in favor of an internal hire, Tom Jackson. Connecticut hired Lew Perkins as its athletic director in 1990. One of Perkins ' first projects was to gather facts for a possible upgrade of the football program to Division I-A. Perkins feared that if the university did n't upgrade the football program, that it ran the risk of falling behind other institutions that fielded both football and basketball teams at the highest level. However, UConn was in the middle of a budget deficit and many faculty feared that an upgrade of the football program would result in a loosening of academic standards. In 1997, the Big East Conference gave the University of Connecticut and Villanova University a December 31 deadline to decide if they were going to upgrade their respective football programs and join the Big East football conference. Villanova, a private institution, declined the invitation. However, in October 1997, the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees overwhelmingly endorsed, by a vote of sixteen to one, the football team 's plan to upgrade the program to Division I-A status. Part of the plan would be to build a new stadium, as the current stadium, Memorial Stadium, fell well below the minimum occupancy level of 30,000, as set by the NCAA. Originally, the new stadium was to be built on campus. However, the enthusiasm toward the new stadium quickly faded as the estimated expenses rose, the idea of an on - campus stadium was tabled, and the upgrade of the program was put on hold by the Connecticut state legislature. A year later, the stadium issue was rehashed during an attempt to bring the New England Patriots to Hartford, Connecticut. A proposed 70,000 seat, open - air stadium in downtown Hartford would also serve as the home of the Huskies football team. The plans for this stadium also fell through and the Patriots announced that they would remain in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Eventually, a new site emerged across the Connecticut River in East Hartford, when Pratt and Whitney donated their land on the old Rentschler Airfield to the state for purposes of building an off - campus football stadium which is 20 miles away from the main campus. Randy Edsall was named the 27th head football coach at the University of Connecticut on December 21, 1998 and led the Huskies from Division I - AA into Division I-A. UConn officially began the upgrade process in January 1999 by applying to join the Big East football conference. They would receive a special waiver from the NCAA in order to play in Memorial Stadium while Rentschler Field was under construction. UConn would become the first school to ever move from the FCS to the Bowl Championship Series as a member of the Big East after 3 years as an independent. The Huskies would spend the 2000 and 2001 as a transitional Division I-A program as they built their scholarship base to the maximum of 85. They recorded their first win over a Division I-A opponent on September 16, 2000, when they defeated Buffalo, 24 -- 21. They would finish the 2000 season with a final record of 3 -- 8. The 2001 season brought their first win over a BCS rival with a victory over Rutgers on September 29, by a score of 20 -- 19. The growing pains continued, as they finished the season at 2 -- 9. The breakthrough came during the Huskies first year as a full - fledged member of Division I-A in 2002. Led by sophomore quarterback, Dan Orlovsky, they showed vast improvement over the previous two seasons, despite starting the season losing six of the first eight games. They closed Memorial Stadium in fashion by routing the last two opponents, Florida Atlantic and Kent State, by a combined score of 124 -- 35. The 63 points scored against Kent State in the Memorial Stadium finale, was the most the Huskies ever scored in the 50 years of playing in the stadium. They concluded a successful season by defeating Navy, 38 -- 0, and Iowa State, 37 -- 20. The victory over Iowa State was the Huskies first win over a bowl - bound team. The success continued in 2003, when Connecticut began play in Rentschler Field. They would finish the season with an overall record of 9 -- 3. They opened the season with their first victory vs. a Big Ten team (34 -- 10 over Indiana) and the final game of the season provided their first victory over an ACC opponent, when they defeated Wake Forest, 51 -- 17. It was only the third time that a non-conference team had scored over 50 points in an ACC stadium. Despite the stellar record, the Huskies were not invited to play in a bowl game, largely due to their lack of conference affiliation. Connecticut was originally scheduled to join the Big East as a football member in 2005. However, following the departure of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College, the Huskies ' entrance into the Big East was expedited by one year. The Huskies played their first Big East conference game on September 17, 2004 when they dropped a 27 -- 7 decision at Boston College. Their first Big East conference win came only 13 days later, when they defeated Pittsburgh 29 -- 17. They completed their first season in the conference in 5th place with a record of 3 -- 3. That year 's overall record of 8 -- 4 was enough to garner an invitation to the 2004 Motor City Bowl, the first bowl invitation in the school 's history. The attendance of 52,552 was, at the time, a record crowd for the Bowl. The Huskies were hit hard by graduation and injuries in the 2005 and 2006 seasons. The program opened one of the best and newest college football facilities in 2006 with the completion of the $57.9 million (165,000 sq. ft.) Burton Family Football Complex & Mark R. Shenkman Training Center. The 2007 season saw a quick turnaround with the Huskies first ever Big East Conference football title, which they shared with West Virginia, and an invitation to the Meineke Car Care Bowl. That was followed up with consecutive 8 -- 5 seasons in 2008 and 2009 with wins in both of their bowl games (over Buffalo and the SEC 's South Carolina). The team was hit hard in 2009 with the on - campus murder of junior cornerback Jasper Howard after being stabbed by a non-student outside a dance following their homecoming game. UConn struggled following his death, dropping their next three games and falling to 1 -- 4 in - conference, but got a major win to break the streak at Notre Dame, a victory quoted by Coach Randy Edsall as being the program 's "Best Win ''. The game ball from that victory was sent to Howard 's mother in Miami, one of many tributes throughout the year for the fallen player. The team honored Howard prior to every game through the 2010 season, which would have been his senior year. They capped off the season with a game ending field goal by Dave Teggart and a 19 -- 16 win over USF for their 2nd Big East Championship in 4 years and a trip to the 2011 Fiesta Bowl. After a loss in the Fiesta Bowl, Edsall did not fly home with or tell his players that he was leaving the UConn football program. He instead took a separate flight to Maryland to become their new head coach. It had also been noted in the media that Edsall 's relationship with then - athletic director Jeff Hathaway had been strained for several years. Two weeks after Edsall left for the University of Maryland and after nearly seven years away from college football, Connecticut native Paul Pasqualoni was hired away as defensive coordinator from the Dallas Cowboys to lead the UConn football program, by the soon to be dismissed AD Hathaway. Following two seasons of mediocrity and a struggling offense, Pasqualoni was forced to replace his lifelong colleague George DeLeone as the offensive coordinator, just as he did prior to them both being fired at Syracuse. Pasqualoni named T.J. Weist as his OC for 2013. But Pasqualoni and Deleone (now his OL coach) were both fired after starting 0 -- 4 with UConn 's first ever and only loss as full D-I member to an FCS team (Towson 33 -- 18) and following a humiliating defeat to Buffalo (41 -- 12), which UConn had never lost to (8 -- 0) as an FBS team. Weist was named the interim head coach and finished the season strong on a 3 - game winning streak after starting out 0 -- 5 and totally revamping the offense free of Pasqualoni 's control. Though Weist was considered for the head coaching job, UConn AD Warde Manuel announced Notre Dame defensive coordinator and Broyles Award winner Bob Diaco as the new UConn head coach for the 2014 season. After a complete tear down of the program in 2014, which would lead to Diaco finishing the year with only around 60 scholarship players available and needing to use a dozen true freshman, the team finished 2 -- 10. The 2015 season resulted in a revitalization for the program as they finished 6 -- 6 and became bowl eligible for the first time since the Edsall regime and the Fiesta Bowl in 2011. The conference 's name changed in 2013 to the American Athletic Conference as a result of the non-FBS split that took place as part of the conference 's three - way realignment between 2010 -- 2013. Three members moved to the ACC as full members, Notre Dame went the ACC as a partial and West Virginia to the Big 12. With the seven non-FBS basketball schools buying the Big East conference name for their own newly formed conference. Three teams departing to the ACC, Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Notre Dame, left the Big East with losing records against the Huskies in football. On December 26, 2016, UConn announced Diaco would be fired effective January 2, 2017. By not making the move immediately, the school saved $1.6 million in buyout expenses. He was replaced by former coach Edsall, making his return to the program after six years. In addition to playing NCAA Division I football, the Huskies show pride in academics. In 2010, they had sixteen players named to the Big East All - Academic Football Team, an honor which requires a cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) of at least a 3.0 in a minimum of two semesters. And several times UConn was ranked as one of the top bowl teams in the country per the annual Graduation Gap Bowl report. In 2015, the team was honored by AF Coaches Assoc. for academic achievement and the 990 single year APR score in 2014 -- 15 under head coach Diaco was also the highest in school history. Official record against all former Big East teams (2004 -- 12): Official record against all AAC opponents (2013 -- present): Connecticut has won a total of 26 conference championships, which includes possibly 11 outright titles. Conference affiliations: The American Athletic Conference operated as the Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013. See 2010 -- 13 Big East Conference realignment for more information. The Huskies play their home football games at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Connecticut, an off - campus facility located 20 miles (32 km) to the west of the main campus and only 3 miles east of the new Downtown Hartford - Uconn campus. The inaugural game took place on August 30, 2003 when Connecticut defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 34 -- 10. Since the opening, Connecticut has enjoyed a decided home field advantage, posting a 50 -- 30 record when playing at Rentschler. In 2007, the Huskies completed their home season winning each of their seven home games, becoming only the second Big East team to compile a 7 -- 0 home record. The stadium played to an average of 97 % near capacity crowds for eight years (2003 -- 2010), prior to Paul Pasqualoni 's arrival and during the Big East. Note: Attendance goes back to the 2007 Season. The Huskies on - campus home is at the Burton Family Football Complex on Stadium Road in Storrs, Connecticut. It contains the coaches offices, team meeting rooms, video facilities, dining hall and student - athlete lounge. Construction began in the fall of 2004 and it officially opened in July 2006. The facilities are considered to be among the best in the country. The building is named after Robert Burton, who in 2002 made a donation of USD 2.5 million to the University of Connecticut. The original location of the building was to be where Memorial Stadium currently stands. However, it was later decided to construct the building across the street. Alongside the Burton Family Football Complex is the 85,000 - square - foot (7,900 m) Mark R. Shenkman Training Center. The indoor training center includes a full - length football field and an 18,000 - square - foot (1,700 m) strength and conditioning center. The training center was made possible by a USD 2.5 million gift from Connecticut businessman and UConn alum, Mark Shenkman. Construction of the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center and the Burton Family Football Complex were handled in tandem by HOK Sport + Venue + Event and JCJ Architecture. Upon completion in the summer of 2006, both buildings were granted a LEED silver designation. They are the first buildings on the University of Connecticut campus, and the first football facilities in the nation to be certified as a "green building. '' The Yankee Conference rivalry dates back to 1897. The rivalry became dormant in 1999 as UConn moved up to the FBS and UMass remained at the FCS level. UMass finally moved up to FBS and the teams played one game in 2012 a UConn (37 -- 0) win. The rivalry is set to be revived with a 4 - game agreement from the 2018 to the 2021 seasons. 2 games will be played at Rentschler Field, East Hartford, Connecticut and 2 games at the home of the New England Patriots, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts., which is 15 miles closer to the UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut than it is to the Umass campus in Amherst, Massachusetts The football rivalry dates back to 1897 and was centered around the Ramnapping Trophy after UConn students stole the URI mascot in 1934. The teams played nearly every year until the end of the Yankee Conference. Once UConn moved up to the FBS, the teams seldom play as Rhode Island remains an FCS program. Since 2000, there have been only 2 meetings; a UConn (52 -- 7) win in 2006 and a UConn (52 -- 10) win in 2009. They are scheduled to play again in 2018. Michael Smith wide receiver 2013 Houston Texans The Brian Kozlowski Award was first awarded in 1998. It honors the former UConn Husky and former New York Giants, Atlanta Falcons, & Washington Redskins tight end, Brian Kozlowski, who through hard work, effort and dedication has been able to have a lengthy NFL career. Announced schedules as of June 23, 2017. UConn and Tennessee have an unscheduled home - and - home series under contract.

what holes do they play in a masters playoff

Masters tournament - Wikipedia The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside of North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first major of the year, and unlike the others, it is held at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private course in the southeastern United States, in the city of Augusta, Georgia. The Masters was started by noted amateur champion Bobby Jones and investment banker Clifford Roberts. After his grand slam in 1930, Jones acquired the former plant nursery and co-designed Augusta National with course architect Alister MacKenzie. First played 84 years ago in 1934, the tournament is an official money event on the PGA Tour, the European Tour, and the Japan Golf Tour. The field of players is smaller than those of the other major championships because it is an invitational event, held by the Augusta National Golf Club. The tournament has a number of traditions. Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the champion, who must return it to the clubhouse one year after his victory, although it remains his personal property and is stored with other champions ' jackets in a specially designated cloakroom. In most instances, only a first - time and currently reigning champion may remove his jacket from the club grounds. A golfer who wins the event multiple times uses the same green jacket awarded upon his initial win (unless he needs to be re-fitted with a new jacket). The Champions Dinner, inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, is held on the Tuesday before each tournament, and is open only to past champions and certain board members of the Augusta National Golf Club. Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round to commence play. These have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player. Since 1960, a semi-social contest at the par - 3 course has been played on Wednesday, the day before the first round. Nicklaus has the most Masters wins, with six between 1963 and 1986. Palmer and Tiger Woods won four each, and five have won three titles at Augusta: Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson. Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament, in 1961; the second was Seve Ballesteros of Spain, the champion in 1980 and 1983. The Augusta National course first opened 85 years ago in 1933 and has been modified many times by different architects. Among the changes: greens have been reshaped and, on occasion, entirely re-designed, bunkers have been added, water hazards have been extended, new tee boxes have been built, hundreds of trees have been planted, and several mounds have been installed. The idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from Clifford Roberts, who later became the chairman of the club. They came across a piece of land in Augusta, Georgia, of which Jones said: "Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it. '' The land had been an indigo plantation in the early nineteenth century and a plant nursery since 1857. Jones hired Alister MacKenzie to help design the course, and work began in 1931. The course formally opened in 1933, but MacKenzie died before the first Masters Tournament was played. The first "Augusta National Invitational '' Tournament, as the Masters was originally known, began on March 22, 1934, and was won by Horton Smith, who took the first prize of $1,500. The present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine then reversed permanently to its present layout for the 1935 tournament. Initially the Augusta National Invitational field was composed of Bobby Jones ' close associates. Jones had petitioned the USGA to hold the U.S. Open at Augusta but the USGA denied the petition, noting that the hot Georgia summers would create difficult playing conditions. Gene Sarazen hit the "shot heard ' round the world '' in 1935, holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle (albatross). This tied Sarazen with Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36 - hole playoff Sarazen was the victor by five strokes. The tournament was not played from 1943 to 1945, due to World War II. To assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds. The Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, and Jack Nicklaus dominated the Masters from 1960 through 1978, winning the event 11 times among them during that span. After winning by one stroke in 1958, Palmer won by one stroke again in 1960 in memorable circumstances. Trailing Ken Venturi by one shot in the 1960 event, Palmer made birdies on the last two holes to prevail. Palmer would go on to win another two Masters in 1962 and 1964. Jack Nicklaus emerged in the early 1960s, and served as a rival to the popular Palmer. Nicklaus won his first green jacket in 1963, defeating Tony Lema by one stroke. Two years later, he shot a then - course record of 271 (17 under par) for his second Masters win, leading Bobby Jones to say that Nicklaus played "a game with which I am not familiar. '' The next year, Nicklaus won his third green jacket in a grueling 18 - hole playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. This made Nicklaus the first player to win consecutive Masters. He won again in 1972 by three strokes. In 1975, Nicklaus won by one stroke in a close contest with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller in one of the most exciting Masters to date. Gary Player became the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961, beating Palmer, the defending champion. In 1974, he won again by two strokes. After not winning a tournament on the U.S. PGA tour for nearly four years, and at the age of 42, Player won his third and final Masters in 1978 by one stroke over three players. Player currently shares (with Fred Couples) the record of making 23 consecutive cuts, and has played in a record 52 Masters. A controversial ending to the Masters occurred in 1968. Roberto De Vicenzo signed a scorecard (scored by playing partner Tommy Aaron) which incorrectly showed him as making a par 4 instead of a birdie 3 on the 17th hole of the final round. By the rules of golf, if a player signs a scorecard (thereby attesting to its veracity) that records a score on a hole higher than what he actually made on the hole, the player receives the higher score for that hole. This extra stroke cost De Vicenzo a chance to be in an 18 - hole Monday playoff with Bob Goalby, who won the green jacket. De Vicenzo 's mistake led to the famous quote, "What a stupid I am. '' In 1975, Lee Elder became the first African American to play in the Masters, doing so 15 years before Augusta National admitted its first black member, Ron Townsend, as a result of the Shoal Creek Controversy. Non-Americans collected 11 victories in 20 years in the 1980s and 1990s, by far the strongest run they have had in any of the three majors played in the United States since the early days of the U.S. Open. The first European to win the Masters was Seve Ballesteros in 1980. Nicklaus became the oldest player to win the Masters in 1986 when he won for the sixth time at age 46. During this period, no golfer suffered from the pressure of competing at Augusta more than Greg Norman. In 1987, Norman lost a sudden - death playoff to Larry Mize when Mize holed out a remarkable 45 - yard pitch shot to birdie the second playoff hole and win the Masters. In 1996, Norman tied the course record with an opening round 63, and had a six - stroke lead over Nick Faldo entering the final round. Norman shot a 78 while Faldo scored a 67 to win by five shots (for his third Masters championship). Norman also suffered in 1986 when after birdieing four straight holes, and needing only a par to tie Nicklaus for the lead and force a Monday playoff, he badly pushed his 4 - iron approach on 18 and missed his par putt for a closing bogey. At age 21 in 1997, Tiger Woods won the Masters by twelve shots and broke the 72 - hole record that had stood for 32 years. Woods completed his "Tiger Slam '' by winning his fourth straight major championship at the Masters in 2001. He won again the following year, making him only the third player in history to win the tournament in consecutive years, as well as in 2005 when he defeated Chris DiMarco in a playoff for his first major championship win in almost three years. The club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Masters to pressure the club into accepting female members. Burk planned to protest at the front gates of Augusta National during the third day of the tournament, but her application for a permit to do so was denied. A court appeal was dismissed. In 2004, Burk stated that she had no further plans to protest against the club. Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne himself made headlines in April 2010, however, when he commented (at the annual pre-Masters press conference) on Tiger Woods ' off - the - course behavior. "It 's not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here, '' Payne said, in his opening speech. "It is the fact he disappointed all of us and more importantly our kids and grandkids. '' The 2003 tournament was won by Mike Weir, who became the first Canadian to win a men 's major championship, and the first left - hander to win the Masters. The following year, another left - hander, Phil Mickelson, won his first major championship by making a birdie on the final hole to beat Ernie Els by a stroke. Mickelson also won the tournament in 2006 and 2010. In 2011, the tournament was won by South African Charl Schwartzel, who birdied the final four holes to win by two strokes. In 2012, Bubba Watson won the tournament on the second playoff hole. Watson 's win marked the fifth time that a left - hander won the Masters in the previous ten tournaments. Prior to 2003, no left - hander had ever won the Masters. The 2013 Masters was won by Adam Scott, the first Australian to win the tournament. Watson won the 2014 Masters by three strokes over Jordan Spieth and Jonas Blixt. It was his second Masters victory in three years. In 2015, Spieth would become the second - youngest winner in just his second Masters. The total prize money for the 2014 tournament was $9,000,000, with $1,620,000 going to the winner. In the inaugural year of 1934, the winner Horton Smith received $1,500 out of a $5,000 purse. After Nicklaus 's first win in 1963, he received $20,000, while after his final victory in 1986 he won $144,000. In recent years the purse has grown quickly. Between 2001 and 2014, the winner 's share grew by $612,000, and the purse grew by $3,400,000. In addition to a cash prize, the winner of the tournament is presented with a distinctive green jacket, formally awarded since 1949, and informally acquired by the champions for many years before that. The green sport coat is the official attire worn by members of Augusta National while on the club grounds; each Masters winner becomes an honorary member of the club. The recipient of the green jacket has it presented to him inside the Butler Cabin soon after the end of the tournament, and the presentation is then repeated outside near the 18th green in front of the patrons. Winners keep their jacket for the first year after their first victory, then return it to the club to wear whenever they visit. The tradition began in 1949, when Sam Snead won his first of three Masters titles. The green jacket is only allowed to be removed from Augusta National by the reigning champion, after which it must remain at the club. Exceptions to this rule include Gary Player, who in his joy of winning mistakenly took his jacket home to South Africa after his 1961 victory (although he has always followed the spirit of the rule and has never worn the jacket); Seve Ballesteros who, in an interview with Peter Alliss from his home in Pedreña, showed one of his two green jackets in his trophy room; and Henry Picard, whose jacket was removed from the club before the tradition was well established, remained in his closet for a number of years, and is now on display at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, where he was the club professional for many years. By tradition, the winner of the previous year 's Masters Tournament puts the jacket on the current winner at the end of the tournament. In 1966, Jack Nicklaus became the first player to win in consecutive years and he donned the jacket himself. When Nick Faldo (in 1990) and Tiger Woods (in 2002) repeated as champions, the chairman of Augusta National put the jacket on them. There are several awards presented to players who perform exceptional feats during the tournament. The player who has the daily lowest score receives a crystal vase, while players who score a hole - in - one or a double eagle win a large crystal bowl. For each eagle a player makes he receives a pair of crystal goblets. In addition to the green jacket, winners of the tournament receive a gold medal. They have their names engraved on the actual silver Masters trophy, introduced in 1961, which depicts the clubhouse. This trophy remains at Augusta National; since 1993 winners have received a sterling silver replica. The runner - up receives a silver medal, introduced in 1951. Beginning in 1978, a silver salver was added as an award for the runner - up. In 1952 the Masters began presenting an award, known as the Silver Cup, to the lowest scoring amateur to make the cut. In 1954 they began presenting an amateur silver medal to the low amateur runner - up. In 2017, a green jacket that was found at a thrift store in 1994 was sold at auction for $139,000. In 2013, Augusta National partnered with the USGA and the PGA of America to organize Drive, Chip and Putt, a youth golf skills competition which was first held in 2014. The event was established as part of an effort to help promote the sport of golf among youth; the winners of local qualifiers in different age groups advance to the national finals, which have been held at Augusta National on the Sunday immediately preceding the Masters. The driving and chipping portions of the event are held on the course 's practice range, but the putting portion has been played on the course 's 18th hole. On April 4, 2018, prior to the 2018 tournament, new Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley announced that the club would host a new Women 's amateur championship beginning in 2019. The first two rounds will be held at the Champion 's Retreat club in Evans, Georgia, with the final two rounds hosted by Augusta National (the final round will take place on the Saturday directly preceding the tournament). Ridley stated that "it was the right time for the women 's game. I thought for us to have the greatest impact on women 's golf that we needed to be committed to do it here at Augusta National, and I also wanted to be able to tell all of you about it today. '' Although concerns were raised that the event would conflict with the LPGA Tour 's Dinah Shore major (which has invited top amateur players to compete), Ridley stated that he had discussed the event with commissioner Mike Whan, and stated that he agreed on the notion that any move to bolster the prominence of women 's golf would be a "win '' for the LPGA over time. The Par 3 Contest was first introduced in 1960, and was won that year by Snead. Since then it has traditionally been played on the Wednesday before the tournament starts. The par 3 course was built in 1958. It is a nine - hole course, with a par of 27, and measures 1,060 yards (970 m) in length. There have been 94 holes - in - one in the history of the contest, with a record nine occurring in 2016. Camilo Villegas became the first player to card two holes - in - one in the same round during the 2015 Par 3 Contest. No par 3 contest winner has also won the Masters in the same year. There have been several repeat winners, including Pádraig Harrington, Sandy Lyle, Sam Snead, and Tom Watson. The former two won in successive years. In this event, golfers may use their children as caddies, which helps to create a family - friendly atmosphere. In 2008, the event was televised for the first time by ESPN. The winner of the par 3 competition, which is played the day before the tournament begins, wins a crystal bowl. As with the other majors, winning the Masters gives a golfer several privileges which make his career more secure. Masters champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship) for the next five years (except for amateur winners, unless they turn pro within the five - year period), and earn a lifetime invitation to the Masters. They also receive membership on the PGA Tour for the following five seasons and invitations to The Players Championship for five years. Because the tournament was established by an amateur champion, Bobby Jones, the Masters has a tradition of honoring amateur golf. It invites winners of the most prestigious amateur tournaments in the world. Also, the current U.S. Amateur champion always plays in the same group as the defending Masters champion for the first two days of the tournament. Amateurs in the field are welcome to stay in the "Crow 's Nest '' atop the Augusta National clubhouse during the tournament. The Crow 's Nest is 1,200 square feet (110 m) with lodging space for five during the competition. Since 1963, the custom in most years has been to start the tournament with an honorary opening tee shot at the first hole, typically by one or more legendary players. The original honorary starters were Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod; this twosome led off every tournament from 1963 until 1973, when poor health prevented Hutchison from swinging a club. McLeod continued on until his death in 1976. Byron Nelson and Gene Sarazen started in 1981, and were then joined by Sam Snead in 1984. This trio continued until 1999 when Sarazen died, while Nelson stopped in 2001. Snead hit his final opening tee shot in 2002, a little over a month before he died. In 2007, Arnold Palmer took over as the honorary starter. Palmer also had the honor in 2008 and 2009. At the 2010 and 2011 Masters Tournaments, Jack Nicklaus joined Palmer as an honorary co-starter for the event. In 2012, Gary Player joined them. Palmer announced in March 2016 that a lingering shoulder issue would prevent him from partaking in the 2016 tee shot. Palmer was still in attendance for the ceremony. Following Palmer 's death in 2016, the 2017 ceremony featured tributes; his green jacket was draped over an empty white chair, while everyone in attendance wore "Arnie 's Army '' badges. The Champions ' Dinner is held each year on the Tuesday evening preceding Thursday 's first round. The dinner was first held in 1952, hosted by defending champion Ben Hogan, to honor the past champions of the tournament. At that time 15 tournaments had been played, and the number of past champions was 11. Officially known as the "Masters Club '', it includes only past winners of the Masters, although selected members of the Augusta National Golf Club have been included as honorary members, usually the chairman. The defending champion, as host, selects the menu for the dinner. Frequently, Masters champions have served finely prepared cuisine by the Masters chef from their home regions. Notable examples have included haggis, served by Scotsman Sandy Lyle in 1989, and bobotie, a South African dish, served at the behest of 2008 champion Trevor Immelman. Other examples include German Bernhard Langer 's 1986 Wiener schnitzel, Britain 's Nick Faldo 's fish and chips, Canadian Mike Weir 's elk and wild boar, and Vijay Singh 's seafood tom kah and chicken panang curry. In 1997, 1979 champion Fuzzy Zoeller created a media storm when he suggested that Tiger Woods refrain from serving collard greens and fried chicken, dishes commonly associated with Afro - American culture, at the dinner. The 2011 dinner of Phil Mickelson was a Spanish - themed menu in hopes that Seve Ballesteros would attend, but he was too sick to attend and died weeks later. Until 1983, all players in the Masters were required to use the services of an Augusta National Club caddie, who by club tradition was always an African American man. Indeed, club co-founder Clifford Roberts is reputed to have said, "As long as I 'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black. '' Since 1983, players have been allowed the option of bringing their own caddie to the tournament. The Masters requires caddies to wear a uniform consisting of a white jumpsuit, a green Masters cap, and white tennis shoes. The surname, and sometimes first initial, of each player is found on the back of his caddie 's uniform. The defending champion always receives caddie number "1 '': other golfers get their caddie numbers from the order in which they register for the tournament. The other majors and some PGA Tour events formerly had a similar policy concerning caddies well into the 1970s; the U.S. Open first allowed players to use their own caddies in 1976. The day after the tournament closes, The Bobby Jones Scholars from The University of St Andrews in Scotland play a four - ball round on the course -- the last people to do so before the greenkeepers start the process of repairing and restoring the course to pre-tournament standard. The Masters is the first major championship of the year. Since 1948, its final round has been scheduled for the second Sunday of April, with several exceptions. It ended on the first Sunday four times (1952, 1957, 1958, 1959) and the 1979 and 1984 tournaments ended on April 15, the month 's third Sunday. The first edition in 1934 was held in late March and the next ten were in early April, with only the 1942 event scheduled to end on the second Sunday. Similar to the other majors, the tournament consists of four rounds at 18 holes each, Thursday through Sunday (when there are no delays). The Masters has a relatively small field of contenders, when compared with other golf tournaments, so the competitors play in groups of three for the first two rounds (36 holes) and the field is not split to start on the 1st and 10th tees, unless weather shortens the available playing time. The tournament is unique in that it is the only major tournament conducted by a private club rather than a national golf organization like the PGA. Originally, the Masters was the only tournament to use two - man pairings during the first two rounds. It was also the only event to re-pair based on the leaderboard before Friday 's round, as most tournaments only do this on the weekend. This practice ended in the early 2000s, when the Masters switched to the more standard three - man groups and the groups are now kept in - tact on Friday, with players sharing the same playing partners in both of the first two rounds. After 36 holes of play, a cut - off score is calculated to reduce the size of the field for the weekend rounds. To "make the cut '', players must be either in the top 50 places (ties counting), or within 10 strokes of the leader 's score. These criteria have applied since 2013. From 1957 to 1960, the top 40 scores (including ties) and those within 10 strokes of the leader made the cut. From 1961 to 2012, it was the top 44 (and ties) or within 10 strokes of the lead. Before 1957, there was no 36 - hole cut and all of the invitees played four rounds, if desired. Following the cut, an additional 36 holes are played over the final two days. Should the fourth round fail to produce a winner, all players tied for the lead enter a sudden - death playoff. Play begins on the 18th hole, followed by the adjacent 10th, repeating until one player remains. Adopted in 1976, the sudden - death playoff was originally formatted to start on the first hole, but was not needed for the first three years. It was changed for 1979 to the inward (final) nine holes, starting at the tenth tee, where the television coverage began. First employed that same year, the Masters ' first sudden - death playoff ended on the eleventh green. The current arrangement, beginning at the 18th tee, was amended for 2004 and first used the following year. Through 2017, the eleven sudden - death playoffs have yet to advance past the second extra hole. Earlier playoffs were 18 holes on the following day, except for the first in 1935, which was 36 holes; the last 18 - hole playoff was in 1970, and none of the full - round playoffs went to additional holes. The golf course was formerly a plant nursery and each hole is named after the tree or shrub with which it has become associated. The course layout in 2014: Lengths of the course for the Masters at the start of each decade: The course was lengthened to 7,445 yards (6,808 m) in 2006. The first hole was shortened by 10 yards (9 m) in 2009, resulting in the current length of 7,435 yards (6,799 m). As with many other courses, Augusta National 's championship setup was lengthened in recent years. In 2001, the course measured 6,925 yards (6,332 m) and was extended to 7,270 yards (6,648 m) for 2002, and again in 2006 to 7,445 yards (6,808 m); 520 yards (475 m) longer than the 2001 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle. '' Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course. '' After a practice round, Gary Player defended the changes, saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I 've played it... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit (in his prime) ''. Originally, the grass on the putting greens was the wide - bladed Bermuda. The greens lost speed, especially during the late 1970s, after the introduction of a healthier strain of narrow - bladed Bermuda, which thrived and grew thicker. In 1978, the greens on the par 3 course were reconstructed with bentgrass, a narrow - bladed species that could be mowed shorter, eliminating grain. After this test run, the greens on the main course were replaced with bentgrass in time for the 1981 Masters. The bentgrass resulted in significantly faster putting surfaces, which has required a reduction in some of the contours of the greens over time. Just before the 1975 tournament, the common beige sand in the bunkers was replaced with the now - signature white feldspar. It is a quartz derivative of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from North Carolina. The Masters has the smallest field of the major championships, with 90 -- 100 players. Unlike other majors, there are no alternates or qualifying tournaments. It is an invitational event, with invitations largely issued on an automatic basis to players who meet published criteria. The top 50 players in the Official World Golf Ranking are all invited. Past champions are always eligible, but since 2002 the Augusta National Golf Club has discouraged them from continuing to participate at an advanced age. Some will later become honorary starters. Most of the top current players will meet the criteria of multiple categories for invitation. The Masters Committee, at its discretion, can also invite any golfer not otherwise qualified, although in practice these invitations are currently reserved for international players. Changes for the 2014 tournament include invitations now being awarded to the autumn events in the PGA Tour, which now begin the wraparound season, tightening of qualifications (top 12 plus ties from the Masters, top 4 from the U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA Championship), and the top 30 on the PGA Tour now referencing the season - ending points before the Tour Championship, not the former annual money list. The 2015 Masters added the winner of the newly established Latin America Amateur Championship, which effectively replaced the exemption for the United States Amateur Public Links Championship, which ended after the 2014 tournament. (The final Public Links champion played in the 2015 Masters.) The first winner of the Masters Tournament was Horton Smith in 1934, and he repeated in 1936. The player with the most Masters victories is Jack Nicklaus, who won six times between 1963 and 1986. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have each won four, and Jimmy Demaret, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson have three titles to their name. Player was the tournament 's first overseas winner with his first victory in 1961. Two - time champions include Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Ben Crenshaw, José María Olazábal, and Bubba Watson. In 1952 the Masters began presenting an award, known as the Silver Cup, to the lowest - scoring amateur to make the cut. In 1954 they began presenting an amateur silver medal to the low amateur runner - up. There have been six players to win low amateur and then go on to win the Masters as a professional. These players are Cary Middlecoff, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Crenshaw, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods and Sergio García. Jack Nicklaus has won the most Masters (six) and was 46 years, 82 days old when he won in 1986, making him the oldest winner of the Masters. Nicklaus is the record holder for the most top tens, with 22, and the most cuts made, with 37. The youngest winner of the Masters is Tiger Woods, who was 21 years, 104 days old when he won in 1997. In that year Woods also broke the records for the widest winning margin (12 strokes), and the lowest winning score, with 270 (− 18). Jordan Spieth tied his score record in 2015. In 2013, Guan Tianlang became the youngest player ever to compete in the Masters, at age 14 years, 168 days on the opening day of the tournament; the following day, he became the youngest ever to make the cut at the Masters or any men 's major championship. Gary Player holds the record for most appearances, with 52. Player also holds the record for the number of consecutive cuts made, with 23 between 1959 and 1982 (Player did not compete in 1973 as he was recovering from recent surgery). He shares this record with Fred Couples, who made his consecutive cuts between 1983 and 2007, not competing in 1987 and 1994. Nick Price and Greg Norman share the course record of 63, with their rounds coming in 1986 and 1996 respectively. The highest winning score of 289 (+ 1) has occurred three times: Sam Snead in 1954, Jack Burke, Jr. in 1956, and Zach Johnson in 2007. Anthony Kim holds the record for most birdies in a round with 11 in 2009 during his second round. There have been only four double eagles carded in the history of the Masters; the latest was by a contender in the fourth round in 2012. In the penultimate pairing with eventual champion Bubba Watson, Louis Oosthuizen 's 260 - yard (238 m) downhill 4 iron from the fairway made the left side of the green at the par - 5 second hole, called Pink Dogwood, rolled downhill, and in. The other two rare occurrences of this feat after Sarazen 's double eagle on the fabled course 's Fire Thorn hole in 1935: Bruce Devlin made double eagle from 248 yards (227 m) out with a 4 - wood at the eighth hole (Yellow Jasmine) in the first round in 1967, while Jeff Maggert hit a 3 - iron 222 yards (203 m) at the 13th hole (Azalea) in the fourth round in 1994. Three players share the record for most runner - up finishes with four: Ben Hogan (1942, 1946, 1954, 1955), Tom Weiskopf (1969, 1972, 1974, 1975), Jack Nicklaus (1964, 1971, 1977, 1981) CBS has televised the Masters in the United States every year since 1956, when it used six cameras and covered only the final four holes. Tournament coverage of the first eight holes did not begin until 1993 because of resistance from the tournament organizers, but by 2006, more than 50 cameras were used. Chairman Jack Stephens felt that the back nine was always more "compelling '', increased coverage would increase the need for sponsorship spending, and that broadcasting the front nine of the course on television would cut down on attendance and television viewership for the tournament. USA Network added first - and second - round coverage in 1982. In 2008, ESPN replaced USA as broadcaster of early - round coverage. These broadcasts use the CBS Sports production staff and commentators, but with ESPN personality Scott Van Pelt (succeeding Mike Tirico, who replaced Bill Macatee 's similar role under USA Network) as studio host. In 2005, CBS broadcast the tournament with high - definition fixed and handheld wired cameras, as well as standard - definition wireless handheld cameras. In 2006, a webstream called "Amen Corner Live '' began providing coverage of all players passing through holes 11, 12, and 13 through all four rounds. This was the first full tournament multi-hole webcast from a major championship. In 2007, CBS added "Masters Extra, '' an extra hour of full - field bonus coverage daily on the internet, preceding the television broadcasts. In 2008, CBS added full coverage of holes 15 and 16 live on the web. In 2011, "Masters Extra '' was dropped after officials gave ESPN an extra hour each day on Thursday and Friday. In 2016, the Amen Corner feed was broadcast in 4K ultra high definition exclusively on DirecTV -- as one of the first live U.S. sports telecasts in the format. A second channel of 4K coverage covering holes 15 and 16 was added in 2017, and this coverage will be produced in high - dynamic - range video in 2018. While Augusta National Golf Club has consistently chosen CBS as its U.S. broadcast partner, it has done so in successive one - year contracts. Former CBS Sports president Neal Pilson stated that their relationship had gotten to the point where the contracts could be negotiated in just hours. Due to the lack of long - term contractual security, as well as the club 's limited dependence on broadcast rights fees (owing to its affluent membership), it is widely held that CBS allows Augusta National greater control over the content of the broadcast, or at least performs some form of self - censorship, in order to maintain future rights. The club, however, has insisted it does not make any demands with respect to the content of the broadcast. Despite this, announcers who have been deemed not to have acted with the decorum expected by the club have been removed, notably Jack Whitaker and Gary McCord, and there also tends to be a lack of discussion of any controversy involving Augusta National, such as the 2003 Martha Burk protests. Coverage itself carries a more formal style than other golf telecasts; announcers refer to the gallery as patrons rather than as spectators or fans. Gallery itself is also used. The club also disallows promotions for other network programs, or other forms of sponsored features. Significant restrictions have been placed on the tournament 's broadcast hours compared to other major championships. Only in the 21st century did the tournament allow CBS to air 18 - hole coverage of the leaders, a standard at the other three majors. Since 1982, CBS has used "Augusta '' by Dave Loggins as the event telecast 's distinctive theme music. Loggins originally came up with the song during his first trip to the Augusta course in 1981. The club mandates minimal commercial interruption, currently limited to four minutes per hour (as opposed to the usual 12 or more); this is subsidized by selling exclusive sponsorship packages to two or three companies -- currently these "global sponsors '' are AT&T, IBM, and Mercedes - Benz. AT&T (then SBC) and IBM have sponsored the tournament since 2005, joined at first by ExxonMobil, which in 2014 was replaced as a global sponsor by Mercedes - Benz. In 2002, in the wake of calls to boycott tournament sponsors over the Martha Burk controversy, club chairman Hootie Johnson suspended all television sponsorship of the 2003 tournament. He argued that it was "unfair '' to have the Masters ' sponsors become involved with the controversy by means of association with the tournament, as their sponsorship is of the Masters and not Augusta National itself. CBS agreed to split production costs for the tournament with the club to make up for the lack of sponsorship. After the arrangement continued into 2004, the tournament reinstated sponsorships for 2005, with the new partners of ExxonMobil, IBM, and SBC. The club also sells separate sponsorship packages, which do not provide rights to air commercials on the U.S. telecasts, to two "international partners ''; in 2014, those companies were Rolex and UPS (the latter of which replaced Mercedes - Benz upon that company 's elevation to "global sponsor '' status). WestwoodOne (previously Dial Global and CBS Radio) has provided live radio play - by - play coverage in the United States since 1956. This coverage can also be heard on the official Masters website. The network provides short two - or three - minute updates throughout the tournament, as well as longer three - and four - hour segments towards the end of the day. The BBC has broadcast the Masters in the UK since 1986, and it also provides live radio commentary on the closing stages on Radio Five Live. With the 2007 launch of BBC HD, UK viewers can now watch the championship in that format. BBC Sport held the TV and radio rights through to 2010. The BBC 's coverage airs without commercials because it is financed by a licence fee. From the 2011 Masters, Sky Sports began broadcasting all four days, as well as the par 3 contest in HD and, for the first time ever, in 3D. The BBC will only have highlights of the first two days ' play but will go head to head with Sky Sports, with full live coverage on the final two days of play. In Ireland, Setanta Ireland previously showed all four rounds, and now since 2017 Eir Sport broadcast all four rounds live having previously broadcast the opening two rounds with RTÉ broadcasting the weekend coverage. In Canada, broadcast rights to the Masters are held by Bell Media, with coverage divided between TSN (cable), which carries live simulcasts and primetime encores of CBS and ESPN coverage for all four rounds, CTV (broadcast), which simulcasts CBS 's coverage of the weekend rounds, and RDS, which carries French - language coverage. Prior to 2013, Canadian broadcast rights were held by a marketing company, Graham Sanborn Media, which in turn bought time on the Global Television Network, TSN, and RDS (except for 2012 when French - language coverage aired on TVA and TVA Sports) to air the broadcasts, also selling all of the advertising for the Canadian broadcasts. This was an unusual arrangement in Canadian sports broadcasting, as in most cases broadcasters acquire their rights directly from the event organizers or through partnerships with international rightsholders, such as ESPN International (ESPN owns a minority stake in TSN). In 2013, Global and TSN began selling advertising directly, and co-produced supplemental programs covering the tournament (while still carrying U.S. coverage for the tournament itself). On December 15, 2015, TSN parent company Bell Media announced that it had acquired exclusive Canadian rights to the tournament beginning 2016 under a multi-year deal. Broadcast television coverage moved to co-owned broadcast network CTV, while TSN uses its expanded five - channel service to carry supplemental feeds (including the Amen Corner feed and early coverage of each round) that were previously exclusive to digital platforms. In 53 countries, including much of Latin America, broadcast rights for the entire tournament are held by the ESPN International networks. Although tickets for the Masters are not expensive, they are very difficult to come by. Even the practice rounds can be difficult to get into. Applications for practice round tickets have to be made nearly a year in advance and the successful applicants are chosen by random ballot. Tickets to the actual tournament are sold only to members of a patrons list, which is closed. A waiting list for the patrons list was opened in 1972 and closed in 1978. It was reopened in 2000 and subsequently closed once again. In 2008, the Masters also began allowing children (between the ages of 8 and 16) to enter on tournament days free if they are accompanied by the patron who is the owner of his or her badge. The difficulty in acquiring Masters badges has made the tournament one of the largest events on the secondary - ticket market. A majority of the badges for the Masters are delivered to the same group of patrons, fans, and members each year, and these perennial ticket holders sometimes decide to sell their badges through large ticket marketplaces such as StubHub, TicketCity, and VividSeats. Some of these marketplaces will allow fans to purchase a Masters badge for a single day, as opposed to the traditional 4 - day pass. Coordinates: 33 ° 30 ′ 11 '' N 82 ° 01 ′ 12 '' W  /  33.503 ° N 82.020 ° W  / 33.503; - 82.020

how many this is england films are there

This is England - wikipedia This Is England is a 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. The story centres on young skinheads in England in 1983. The film illustrates how their subculture, which has its roots in 1960s West Indies culture, especially ska, soul, and reggae music, became adopted by the far - right, especially white nationalists and white supremacists, which led to divisions within the skinhead scene. The film 's title is a direct reference to a scene where the character Combo explains his nationalist views using the phrase "this is England '' during his speech. In 1983, 12 - year - old Shaun gets into a fight at school with a boy named Harvey after he makes an offensive joke about his father, who died in the Falklands War. On his way home, Shaun comes across a gang of young skinheads led by Woody, who feels sympathy for Shaun and invites him to join the group. They accept Shaun as a member, and he finds a big brother in Woody, while developing a romance with Michelle, also known as Smell, an older girl who dresses in a new wave style. Combo, an older skinhead, returns to the group after a prison sentence, accompanied by a knife - wielding moustachioed man called Banjo. A charismatic but unstable man with sociopathic tendencies, Combo expresses English nationalist and racist views, and attempts to enforce his leadership over the other skinheads. This leads the group to split, with young Shaun, the belligerent Pukey, and Gadget, who feels bullied by Woody for his weight, choosing Combo over Woody 's apolitical gang. Shaun finds a mentor figure in Combo, who in turn is impressed by and identifies with Shaun. Shaun goes with Combo 's group to a National Front meeting. After Pukey expresses doubt over their racist and nationalistic politics, Combo throws him out of his group and sends him back to Woody. The gang then engages in bigoted antagonism of, among others, shopkeeper Mr Sandhu, an Pakistani shopkeeper who had previously banned Shaun from his shop. Combo becomes depressed after Lol, Woody 's girlfriend, rejects him when he admits that he has loved her since they had sex years before. To console himself, Combo buys cannabis from Milky, the only black skinhead in Woody 's gang. During a party, Combo and Milky bond while intoxicated, but Combo becomes increasingly bitter and envious when Milky shares details of his many relatives, comfortable family life and happy upbringing, everything that Combo lacked. Enraged, Combo enters a frenzied state and brutally beats Milky unconscious, while Banjo holds down Shaun, and Meggy watches them on in horror. An angry Combo throws Shaun out of his flat after Shaun verbally defends Milky, then slams the door hard. When Banjo attempts to hit Milky as well, Combo violently beats him and evicts him and Meggy from the flat. Horrified at the realisation of what he has done, a remorseful Combo weeps over Milky. Shaun and Combo later take Milky to a nearby hospital. The film cuts forward to Shaun, who is in his bedroom looking at a picture of his dad who died in the Falklands conflict. He is contemplating the incident and brooding about what happened, with his mother Cynthia assuring him that Milky will be all right. Shaun is then shown walking near the beach and throwing his St George 's Flag, a gift from Combo, into the sea. Much of the film was shot in residential areas of Nottingham, including St Ann 's, Lenton, and The Meadows, with one section featuring abandoned houses at RAF Newton, a former airbase close to Bingham, Nottinghamshire. The opening fight was filmed at Wilsthorpe Business and Enterprise College, a secondary school in Long Eaton, Derbyshire, close to the Nottinghamshre / Derbyshire boundary. Additional scenes such as "the docks '' were filmed in Turgoose 's home town of Grimsby, which is also the opening scene for This is England ' 86, episode one. Turgoose was 13 at the time of filming. He had never acted before, was banned from his school play for bad behaviour, and demanded £ 5 to turn up for the film 's auditions. The film was dedicated to Turgoose 's mother, Sharon, who died of cancer on 29 December 2005; while she never saw the film, she saw a short preview. The cast attended her funeral. The film is set in an unidentified town in the Midlands. Although much of the film was shot on location in Nottingham, a number of scenes portray the town 's docks, which precludes this inland city being the setting for the action. Similarly, the dialects of the main characters are drawn from a wide geographical area. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 93 % of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 89 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 86 / 100, based on 23 reviews -- indicating "universal acclaim ''. This made it the tenth best reviewed film of the year. The film appeared on several US critics ' top ten lists of 2007; it was third on the list by Newsweek 's David Ansen, seventh on the list by The Oregonian 's Marc Mohan, and ninth on the list by Los Angeles Times ' Kevin Crust. In Britain, director Gillies Mackinnon rated the film the best of the year and David M. Thompson, critic and film - maker, rated it third. The film was ranked fourteenth in The Guardian 's list of 2007 's Best Films and fifteenth in Empire 's Movies of the Year. The film won the Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film at the 2007 British Academy Film Awards. It also won the Best Film category at the 2006 British Independent Film Awards, Turgoose winning the Most Promising Newcomer award. In 2010, a spin - off series set three years after the film, This Is England ' 86, was shown on Channel 4. A sequel to the series set two and a half years later, This Is England ' 88, was broadcast in December 2011. A third installment, This Is England ' 90, was shown in September 2015.

who said the customer is always right quote

The customer is always right - wikipedia "The customer is always right '' is a motto or slogan which exhorts service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction. It was popularised by pioneering and successful retailers such as Harry Gordon Selfridge, John Wanamaker and Marshall Field. They advocated that customer complaints should be treated seriously so that customers do not feel cheated or deceived. This attitude was novel and influential when misrepresentation was rife and caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) was a common legal maxim. Variations include "le client n'a jamais tort '' (the customer is never wrong) which was the slogan of hotelier César Ritz who said, "If a diner complains about a dish or the wine, immediately remove it and replace it, no questions asked ''. A variation frequently used in Germany is "der Kunde ist König '' (the customer is king), while in Japan the motto "okyakusama wa kamisama desu '' (お客様 は 神様 です) meaning "the customer is a god '', is common. However it was pointed out as early as 1914 that this view ignores that customers can be dishonest, have unrealistic expectations, and / or try to misuse a product in ways that void the guarantee and states "if we adopt the policy of admitting whatever claims the customer makes to be proper, and if we always settle them at face value, we shall be subjected to inevitable losses. '' The work concluded "If the customer is made perfectly to understand what it means for him to be right, what right on his part is, then he can be depended on to be right if he is honest, and if he is dishonest, a little effort should result in catching him at it. '' An article a year later by the same author addressed the caveat emptor aspect while raising many of the same points as the earlier piece.

what is the global economic and cultural impact of the colombian exchange

Columbian Exchange - wikipedia The Columbian Exchange was the widespread transfer of plants, animals, culture, human populations, technology, and ideas between the Americas and the Old World in the 15th and 16th centuries, related to European colonization and trade after Christopher Columbus 's 1492 voyage. Invasive species, including communicable diseases, were a byproduct of the Exchange. The changes in agriculture significantly altered and changed global populations. However, the most significant immediate impact of the Columbian Exchange was the cultural exchanges and the transfer of people between continents. Furthermore, a byproduct of the Columbian Exchange was the Atlantic slave trade, where as many as 12.5 million enslaved African people were forcibly transferred as a labor source to other regions. The new contact between the global population circulated a wide variety of crops and livestock, which supported increases in population in both hemispheres, although diseases initially caused precipitous declines in the numbers of indigenous peoples of the Americas. Traders returned to Europe with maize, potatoes, and tomatoes, which became very important crops in Europe by the 18th century. The term was first used in 1972 by American historian Alfred W. Crosby in his environmental history book The Columbian Exchange. It was rapidly adopted by other historians and journalists and has become widely known. In 1972 Alfred W. Crosby, an American historian at the University of Texas at Austin, published The Columbian Exchange. This book covers the environmental impact of Columbus ' landing in the new world. The term has become popular among historians and journalists, such as Charles C. Mann, whose book 1493 expands and updates Crosby 's original research. Four plants native to the Americas have spread around the world: Potato, maize, tomato, and tobacco. Before 1500, potatoes were not grown outside of South America. By the 1840s, Ireland was so dependent on the potato that the proximate cause of the Great Famine was a potato disease. Potatoes eventually became an important staple of the diet in much of Europe. Many European rulers, including Frederick the Great of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia, encouraged the cultivation of the potato. Maize and cassava, introduced to the Portuguese from South America in the 16th century, have replaced sorghum and millet as Africa 's most important food crops. 16th - century Spanish colonizers introduced new staple crops to Asia from the Americas, including maize and sweet potatoes, and thereby contributed to population growth in Asia. Tomatoes, which came to Europe from the New World via Spain, were initially prized in Italy mainly for their ornamental value (see below). From the 19th century tomato sauces became typical of Neapolitan cuisine and, ultimately, Italian cuisine in general. Coffee (introduced in the Americas circa 1720) from Africa and the Middle East and sugarcane (introduced from South Asia) from the Spanish West Indies became the main export commodity crops of extensive Latin American plantations. Introduced to India by the Portuguese, chili and potatoes from South America have become an integral part of Indian cuisine. Before the Columbian Exchange, there were no oranges in Florida, no bananas in Ecuador, no paprika in Hungary, no potatoes in Ireland, no coffee in Colombia, no pineapples in Hawaii, no rubber trees in Africa, no chili peppers in Thailand, no tomatoes in Italy, and no chocolate in Switzerland. It took three centuries after their introduction in Europe for tomatoes to become widely accepted. Of all the New World plants introduced to Italy, only the potato took as long as the tomato to gain acceptance. In large part this was due to 16th - century physicians believing that this native Mexican fruit was poisonous and the generator of "melancholic humours. '' In 1544, Pietro Andrea Mattioli, a Tuscan physician and botanist, suggested that tomatoes might be edible, but no record exists of anyone consuming them at this time. On October 31, 1548 the tomato was given its first name anywhere in Europe when a house steward of Cosimo I de ' Medici, Duke of Florence, wrote to the De ' Medici 's private secretary that the basket of pomi d'oro "had arrived safely. '' At this time, the label pomi d'oro was also used to refer to figs, melons, and citrus fruits in treatises by scientists. In the early years, tomatoes were mainly grown as ornamentals in Italy. For example, the Florentine aristocrat Giovan Vettorio Soderini wrote how they "were to be sought only for their beauty '' and were grown only in gardens or flower beds. Tomatoes were grown in elite town and country gardens in the fifty years or so following their arrival in Europe and were only occasionally depicted in works of art. However, in 1592 the head gardener at the botanical garden of Aranjuez near Madrid, under the patronage of Philip II of Spain wrote, "it is said (tomatoes) are good for sauces. '' Besides this account, tomatoes remained exotic plants grown for ornamental purposes, but rarely for culinary use. The combination of pasta with tomato sauce was developed only in the late nineteenth century. Today around 32,000 acres (12,950 ha) of tomatoes are cultivated in Italy, although there are still areas where relatively few tomatoes are grown and consumed. Initially, at least, the Columbian exchange of animals largely went through one route, from Europe to the New World, as the Eurasian regions had domesticated many more animals. Horses, donkeys, mules, pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, chickens, large dogs, cats and bees were rapidly adopted by native peoples for transport, food, and other uses. One of the first European exports to the Americas, the horse, changed the lives of many Native American tribes in the mountains. They shifted to a nomadic lifestyle, as opposed to agriculture, based on hunting bison on horseback and moved down to the Great Plains. The existing Plains tribes expanded their territories with horses, and the animals were considered so valuable that horse herds became a measure of wealth. Still, the effects of the introduction of European livestock on the environments and peoples of the New World were not always positive. In the Caribbean, the proliferation of European animals had large effects on native fauna and undergrowth and damaged conucos, plots managed by indigenous peoples for subsistence. European exploration of tropical areas was aided by the New World discovery of quinine, the first effective treatment for malaria. Europeans suffered from this disease, but some indigenous populations had developed at least partial resistance to it. In Africa, resistance to malaria has been associated with other genetic changes among sub-Saharan Africans and their descendants, which can cause sickle - cell disease. Before regular communication had been established between the two hemispheres, the varieties of domesticated animals and infectious diseases that jumped to humans, such as smallpox, were substantially more numerous in the Old World than in the New due to more extensive long - distance trade networks. Many had migrated west across Eurasia with animals or people, or were brought by traders from Asia, so diseases of two continents were suffered by all occupants. While Europeans and Asians were affected by the Eurasian diseases, their endemic status in those continents over centuries resulted in many people gaining acquired immunity. By contrast, "Old World '' diseases had a devastating effect when introduced to Native American populations via European carriers, as the people in the Americas had no natural immunity to the new diseases. Measles caused many deaths. The smallpox epidemics are believed to have caused the largest death tolls among Native Americans, surpassing any wars and far exceeding the comparative loss of life in Europe due to the Black Death. It is estimated that upwards of 80 -- 95 percent of the Native American population died in these epidemics within the first 100 -- 150 years following 1492. Many regions in the Americas lost 100 %. The beginning of demographic collapse on the North American continent has typically been attributed to the spread of a well - documented smallpox epidemic from Hispaniola in December 1518. At that point in time, approximately only 10,000 indigenous people were still alive in Hispaniola. Similarly, yellow fever is thought to have been brought to the Americas from Africa via the Atlantic slave trade. Because it was endemic in Africa, many people there had acquired immunity. Europeans suffered higher rates of death than did African - descended persons when exposed to yellow fever in Africa and the Americas, where numerous epidemics swept the colonies beginning in the 17th century and continuing into the late 19th century. The disease caused widespread fatalities in the Caribbean during the heyday of slave - based sugar plantation. The replacement of native forests by sugar plantations and factories facilitated its spread in the tropical area by reducing the number of potential natural predators. Yet, the means of the transmission was unknown until 1881, when Carlos Finlay suggested that the disease was transmitted through mosquitoes, now known to be female mosquitoes of the species Aedes aegypti. The history of syphilis has been well - studied, but the exact origin of the disease is unknown and remains a subject of debate. There are two primary hypotheses: one proposes that syphilis was carried to Europe from the Americas by the crew of Christopher Columbus in the early 1490s, while the other proposes that syphilis previously existed in Europe but went unrecognized. These are referred to as the "Columbian '' and "pre-Columbian '' hypotheses. The first written descriptions of the disease in the Old World came in 1493. The first large outbreak of syphilis in Europe occurred in 1494 / 1495 in Naples, Italy, among the army of Charles VIII, during their invasion of Naples. One of the influences related to the migration of people were cultural exchanges. For example, in the article "The Myth of Early Globalization: The Atlantic Economy, 1500 -- 1800 '' Pieter Remmer makes the point that "from 1500 onward, a ' clash of cultures ' had begun in the Atlantic ''. This clash of culture transferred European values to indigenous cultures. For example, the emergence of private property in regions where there were little to no rights to lands, the concepts of monogamy and the nuclear family, the role of women and children in the family system, and the "superiority of free labor ''. An example of this type of cultural exchange occurred during the 1500s in North America. When these early European colonizers first entered North America, they encountered fence-less lands which indicated to them that this land was unimproved. For these Europeans, they were seeking economic opportunities, therefore, land and resources were important for the success of the mission. When these colonizers entered North America they encountered a fully established culture of people called the Powhatan. The Powhatan farmers in Virginia scattered their farm plots within larger cleared areas. These larger cleared areas were a communal place for naturally growing and useful plants. As the Europeans viewed fences as "hallmarks of civilization '' they set about transforming "the land into something more suitable for themselves ''. In implementing their practices, the Europeans enslaved, murdered, and exploited indigenous populations. Furthermore, in cases of enslaved peoples (and in particular, enslaved Africans) the Europeans simultaneously implemented their value system while at the same time justifying enslaving people through a philosophy which reduced the enslaved people to property. Thus, the slave traders and some of the plantation owners used the concept of family to exploit and control the enslaved people. In other subtle ways, which had a large impact the cultural exchanges involved sharing practices and traditions. An example of this can be found in the tobacco industry. Tobacco was one of the luxury goods which was spread as a direct result of the Columbian Exchange. As is discussed in regard to the trans - Atlantic slave trade, the tobacco trade increased demand for free labor and spread tobacco worldwide. In discussing the widespread uses of tobacco, the Spanish physician Nicolas Monardes (1493 -- 1588) noted that "The black people that have gone from these parts to the Indies, have taken up the same manner and use of tobacco that the Indians have ''. As the European colonizers and enslaved Africans traveled the globe and came into contact with indigenous peoples, they took with them the cultural practices related to tobacco, and spread them to additional regions. Therefore, demand for tobacco grew in the course of the cultural exchanges and increased contacts among peoples. Plants that arrived by land, sea, or air in the times before 1492 are called archaeophytes, and plants introduced to Europe after those times are called neophytes. Invasive species of plants and pathogens also were introduced by chance, including such weeds as tumbleweeds (Salsola spp.) and wild oats (Avena fatua). Some plants introduced intentionally, such as the kudzu vine introduced in 1894 from Japan to the United States to help control soil erosion, have since been found to be invasive pests in the new environment. Fungi have also been transported, such as the one responsible for Dutch elm disease, killing American elms in North American forests and cities, where many had been planted as street trees. Some of the invasive species have become serious ecosystem and economic problems after establishing in the New World environments. A beneficial, although probably unintentional, introduction is Saccharomyces eubayanus, the yeast responsible for lager beer now thought to have originated in Patagonia. In addition to these, many animals were introduced to new habitats on the other side of the world either accidentally or incidentally. These include such animals as brown rats, earthworms (apparently absent from parts of the pre-Columbian New World), and zebra mussels, which arrived on ships. Escaped and feral populations of non-indigenous animals have thrived in both the Old and New Worlds, often negatively impacting or displacing native species. In the New World, populations of feral European cats, pigs, horses and cattle are common, and Burmese pythons are considered problematic. In the Old World, Eastern gray squirrel have been particularly successful in colonising Great Britain and populations of raccoons can now be found in some regions of Germany, the Caucasus and Japan. Fur farm escapees such as coypu and American mink have extensive populations. Canada geese are also common.

where was the sermon of the mount given

Sermon on the Mount - wikipedia Portals: Christianity Bible The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: Sermo in monte) is a collection of sayings and teachings of Jesus, which emphasizes his moral teaching found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). It is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew and takes place relatively early in the Ministry of Jesus after he has been baptized by John the Baptist and preached in Galilee. The Sermon is the longest continuous section of Jesus speaking found in the New Testament, and has been one of the most widely quoted elements of the Canonical Gospels. It includes some of the best known teachings of Jesus, such as the Beatitudes, and the widely recited Lord 's Prayer. The Sermon on the Mount is generally considered to contain the central tenets of Christian discipleship. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest piece of teaching from Jesus in the New Testament, and occupies chapters 5, 6 and 7 of the Gospel of Matthew. The Sermon has been one of the most widely quoted elements of the Canonical Gospels. This is the first of the Five Discourses of Matthew, the other four being Matthew 10, Matthew 13 (1 -- 53), Matthew 18 and the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24. The Sermon is set early in the Ministry of Jesus, after he has been baptized by John the Baptist in chapter 3 of Matthew 's Gospel and gathered his first disciples in chapter 4. Before this episode, Jesus had been "all about Galilee '' preaching, as in Matthew 4: 23, and "great crowds followed him '' from all around the area. The setting for the sermon is given in Matthew 5: 1 - 2. Jesus sees the multitudes, goes up into the mountain, is followed by his disciples, and begins to preach. The sermon is brought to its close by Matthew 8: 1, which reports that Jesus "came down from the mountain followed by great multitudes ''. While the issue of the exact theological structure and composition of the Sermon on the Mount is subject to debate among scholars, specific components within it, each associated with particular teachings, can be identified. Matthew 5: 3 -- 12 discusses the Beatitudes. These describe the character of the people of the Kingdom of Heaven, expressed as "blessings ''. The Greek word most versions of the Gospel render as "blessed, '' can also be translated "happy ''. (See Matthew 5: 3 -- 12 of Young 's Literal Translation for an example.) In Matthew, there are eight (or nine) blessings, while in Luke there are four, followed by four woes. In almost all cases the phrases used in the Beatitudes are familiar from an Old Testament context, but in the sermon Jesus gives them new meaning. Together, the Beatitudes present a new set of ideals that focus on love and humility rather than force and exaction; they echo the highest ideals of Jesus ' teachings on spirituality and compassion. In Christian teachings, the Works of Mercy, which have corporal and spiritual components, have resonated with the theme of the Beatitude for mercy. These teachings emphasize that these acts of mercy provide both temporal and spiritual benefits. Matthew 5: 13 -- 16 presents the metaphors of salt and light. This completes the profile of God 's people presented in the beatitudes, and acts as the introduction to the next section. There are two parts in this section, using the terms "salt of the earth '' and Light of the World to refer to the disciples -- implying their value. Elsewhere, in John 8: 12, Jesus applies Light of the World to himself. Jesus preaches about hell and what hell is like: "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother "Raca (fool) '' shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. '' Matthew 5: 22 KJV The longest discourse in the Sermon is Matthew 5: 17 -- 48, traditionally referred to as the Antitheses or Matthew 's Antitheses though Gundry disputes that title. In the discourse, Jesus fulfills and reinterprets the Old Covenant and in particular its Ten Commandments, contrasting with what "you have heard '' from others. For example, he advises turning the other cheek, and to love your enemies, in contrast to taking an eye for an eye. According to most interpretations of Matthew 5: 17, 18, 19, and 20, and most Christian views of the Old Covenant, these new interpretations of the Law and Prophets are not opposed to the Old Testament, which was the position of Marcion, but form Jesus ' new teachings which bring about salvation, and hence must be adhered to, as emphasized in Matthew 7: 24 -- 27 towards the end of the sermon. In Matthew 6 Jesus condemns doing what would normally be "good works '' simply for recognition and not from the heart, such as those of alms (6: 1 -- 4), prayer (6: 5 -- 15), and fasting (6: 16 -- 18). The discourse goes on to condemn the superficiality of materialism and call the disciples not to worry about material needs, but to "seek '' God 's kingdom first. Within the discourse on ostentation, Matthew presents an example of correct prayer. Luke places this in a different context. The Lord 's prayer (6: 9 -- 13) contains parallels to 1 Chronicles 29: 10 -- 18. The first part of Matthew 7, i.e. Matthew 7: 1 -- 6 deals with judging. Jesus condemns those who judge others before first judging themselves: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. '' In the last part in Matthew 7: 7 -- 29 Jesus concludes the sermon by warning against false prophets, and emphasizing that humans are unable to do right ("bear fruit '') apart from God. The teachings of the Sermon on the Mount have been a key element of Christian ethics, and for centuries the sermon has acted as a fundamental recipe for the conduct of the followers of Jesus. Various religious and moral thinkers (e.g. Tolstoy and Gandhi) have admired its message, and it has been one of the main sources of Christian pacifism. In the 5th century, Saint Augustine began his book Our Lord 's Sermon on the Mount by stating: The last verse of chapter 5 of Matthew (5: 48) is a focal point of the sermon that summarizes its teachings by advising the disciples to seek perfection. '' The Greek word telios used to refer to perfection also implies an end, or destination, advising the disciples to seek the path towards perfection and the Kingdom of God. It teaches that God 's children are those who act like God. The teachings of the sermon are often referred to as the Ethics of the Kingdom: they place a high level of emphasis on "purity of the heart '' and embody the basic standard of Christian righteousness. The issue of the theological structure and composition of the Sermon on the Mount remains unresolved. One group of theologians ranging from Saint Augustine in the 5th century to Michael Goulder in the 20th century, see the Beatitudes as the central element of the Sermon. Others such as Bornkamm see the Sermon arranged around the Lord 's prayer, while Daniel Patte, closely followed by Ulrich Luz, see a chiastic structure in the sermon. Dale Allison and Glen Stassen have proposed a structure based on triads. Jack Kingsbury and Hans Dieter Betz see the sermon as composed of theological themes, e.g. righteousness or way of life. The high ethical standards of the sermon have been interpreted in a wide variety of ways by different Christian groups and Craig S. Keener states that at least 36 different interpretations regarding the message of the Sermon exist, which he divides into 8 categories of views: Anabaptist groups would hold the Sermon on the Mount to be the primary section of the Gospels that gives direction to how a Christian should live. For example, Matthew 6: 24 says "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and mammon. '' For this reason, certain Anabaptist groups such as the Bruderhof and Hutterites share all their possessions. While Matthew groups Jesus ' teachings into sets of similar material, the same material is scattered when found in Luke. The Sermon on the Mount may be compared with the similar but more succinct Sermon on the Plain as recounted by the Gospel of Luke (6: 17 -- 49), which occurs at the same moment in Luke 's narrative, and also features Jesus heading up a mountain, but giving the sermon on the way down at a level spot. Some scholars believe that they are the same sermon, while others hold that Jesus frequently preached similar themes in different places. Although modern parallels between the teachings of Jesus such as the Sermon on the Mount and some Buddhist teachings have been drawn (by the 14th Dalai Lama for example) these comparisons emerged after missionary contacts in the 19th century, and there is no historically reliable evidence of contacts between Buddhism and Jesus during his life. Modern scholarship has almost unanimously agreed that claims of the travels of Jesus to Tibet, Kashmir or India (see Unknown years of Jesus) and the influence of Buddhism on his teachings are without historical basis. According to perennialist author Frithjof Schuon, the message of the Sermon is a perfect synthesis of the whole Christian tradition. The text has the largest number of perennial and universal doctrines, and spiritual advice of all Scripture. Much of what the Bible readers remembers from it derives from the Sermon. Source of spiritual and moral instructions, the Sermon on the Mount is regarded by the Perennial Philosophy "as the quintessence itself of religion ''. Perennialism considers the injunctions of the Sermon on the Mount as belonging to the esoteric dimension of Christianity.

who is the eagles number 2 running back

Darren Sproles - wikipedia Darren Lee Sproles (born June 20, 1983) is an American football running back and return specialist for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He played college football at Kansas State, where he is the all - time leading rusher, and was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Sproles was named as a kick returner on the Chargers 50th Anniversary Team. He joined the New Orleans Saints in free agency before the 2011 season, and broke the NFL record for most single - season all - purpose yardage the same year, with 2,696 yards. During that season, he set career highs with 603 yards rushing (6.9 yards per carry) and 710 yards receiving and a combined total of 9 touchdowns. Sproles is the first player in NFL history with 2,200 + all purpose yards in 4 different seasons (2008 -- 2011). Sproles is currently ranked 8th in career all - purpose yards in NFL history (19,020 yards). Darren Sproles attended Rolling Ridge Elementary, then Oregon Trail Junior High, followed by Olathe North High School, all in Olathe, Kansas. He has been conquering a speech impediment he has had since childhood. Sproles was a star in football, earning the name "Tank '', after having been born at 10 lb (4.5 kg). For two consecutive years, he was an All - Sunflower League honoree, All - Metro honoree, and an All - State selection. Additionally, he was twice named The Kansas City Star Player of the Year. As a senior, he was named the Kansas Hall of Fame Player of the Year and the USA Today Kansas Player of the Year. Throughout his high school career, Sproles rushed for 5,230 yards, averaging nearly 8.4 yards per carry and 79 touchdowns. Sproles was a high school All - American as selected by Student Sports Magazine. He was also the winner of Thomas A. Simone Trophy, given to the top big - class football player in Kansas City metro area. In 1999, he rushed for 2,031 yards in nine games as a junior. In 2000, during his senior year, Sproles rushed for 2,485 yards, scoring 49 touchdowns. He led his Olathe North Eagles to a 12 -- 0 record and their fourth Kansas 6A state title in five years. In addition to football, Sproles was a track star at Olathe (KS) North. He finished 2nd in the state in the 200 meters as a junior, with a time of 21.6 seconds. He also placed 4th at Class 6A States in 100 meters, with a time of 10.93 seconds, and 3rd in the 200 meters, with a time of 22.04 seconds. Sproles has achieved personal bests of 10.6 seconds in the 100 meters and 21.6 seconds in the 200 meters. Sproles played college football at Kansas State University from 2001 to 2004, starting all games in his last two seasons and setting 23 school records. In the 2001 season, he made his collegiate debut against New Mexico State and had four carries for 49 yards and a touchdown. He finished with 28 carries for 210 rushing yards and one touchdown in six games. In the 2002 season, Sproles 's role in the offense expanded. In the season opener against Western Kentucky, he had 135 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. On October 5, in the game at Colorado, he had 121 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. On November 2, against Kansas, he had 110 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He followed that up with 103 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against Iowa State. In the next game, against Nebraska, he had 159 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Overall, in the 2002 season, he finished with 1,465 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns. In the 2003 season, Sproles continued to produce greatly for the Wildcats. In the season opener against California, he had 175 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. On September 13, against Massachusetts, he had 152 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns to help get the Wildcats to a 4 -- 0 start. On November 8, in a game at Iowa State, he had 201 rushing yard and three rushing touchdowns. On November 22, against Missouri, he had 43 carries for 273 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In the Big 12 Conference championship in 2003, a 35 -- 7 win over # 1 ranked Oklahoma, he had 235 rushing yards and 88 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. Overall, he finished the 2003 season with 1,986 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. That same year, he finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He graduated with a degree in speech pathology. He led all FBS teams in rushing yards in 2003 with 1,986. Sproles started the 2004 season off strong with 42 carries for 221 yards and a touchdown in a victory over Western Kentucky. On September 18, against Louisiana -- Lafayette, he had 292 rushing yards and a touchdown. On October 23, against Nebraska, he had 135 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. On November 6, against Missouri, he had 160 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. In the final game of his collegiate career, against Iowa State, he had 167 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown. Overall, he finished the 2004 season with 1,318 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Sproles finished 11th on the all - time college rushing yards list, with the 6th most all - purpose yards in NCAA history. Sproles was drafted by the Chargers in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft with the 130th overall pick. Sproles spent the 2005 season as the third string running back, behind LaDainian Tomlinson and Michael Turner, returning kicks and punts. He then spent the entire 2006 season on injured reserve list after breaking his ankle during the preseason. On November 11, 2007, in the Chargers ' 23 - 21 upset over the Indianapolis Colts, Sproles made history by returning a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns -- the first player in league history ever to do so. He returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for the game 's first score. After Nate Kaeding 's field goal increased the Chargers ' lead to 10 - 0, Sproles returned a Hunter Smith punt 46 yards for another touchdown for a 16 - 0 lead. Sproles became the first player to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game since Dante Hall did so in 2003. On December 16, 2007, Sproles ran one yard for his first career rushing touchdown against the Detroit Lions. This was followed by an 11 - yard run for his second rushing touchdown, capping off his first career 100 + yard rushing game. Overall, he finished the 2007 regular season with 164 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 10 receptions for 31 yards. On special teams, he had 37 kick returns for 1,008 net yards and a touchdown to go along with 24 punt returns for 229 net yards and a touchdown. The Chargers made the playoffs in 2007. In the Divisional Round against the Indianapolis Colts, he had a 56 - yard receiving touchdown in the 28 -- 24 victory. He had 34 rushing yards in the AFC Championship loss to the New England Patriots in the next round. On September 14, 2008, Sproles became just the second player in NFL history with 50 rushing yards, 50 receiving yards, and 100 return yards in one game (the other being Gale Sayers with the Chicago Bears). His statistics for the game included: 53 rushing yards, 72 receiving yards, and 192 return yards. Sproles logged 317 all - purpose yards in a 39 - 38 loss to the Denver Broncos. He also had a 103 - yard touchdown return. On December 4, he had three receptions for 34 yards and two touchdowns in a 34 -- 7 victory over the Oakland Raiders. In the regular season finale, in the second divisional game against the Denver Broncos, he had 115 rushing yards and his lone rushing touchdown of the regular season. Overall, he finished the 2008 season with 330 rushing yards, one rushing touchdown, and 29 receptions for 342 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. On special teams, he had 53 kick returns for 1,376 net yards and a touchdown to go along with 22 punt returns for 249 net yards. On January 3, 2009, during an AFC Wild Card Round game against the Indianapolis Colts, Sproles ran for two touchdowns in place of the injured LaDainian Tomlinson, including the game - winning touchdown in overtime to beat the Colts 23 - 17. With 105 yards rushing, 45 yards receiving and 178 return yards, Sproles finished the game with 328 all - purpose yards in the Chargers victory over the Colts, the third most all - purpose yards by a player in a single NFL post-season game in NFL history. He was named the NBC Sunday Night Football "Horse Trailer Player of the Game '' for the second consecutive week. The week following however, Sproles was stopped by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He managed only 15 yards on 11 carries, but did have 5 receptions for 91 yards including a 62 - yard touchdown. On February 18, 2009, the Chargers placed their franchise tag on Sproles. He signed the tender on April 28, 2009, which was worth $6.621 million. In Week 2, against the Baltimore Ravens, he had seven receptions for 124 yards in the 31 -- 26 loss. On October 19, he had a 77 - yard punt return for a touchdown in a 34 -- 23 loss to the Denver Broncos. On Christmas Day, he had 38 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a 42 -- 17 victory over the Tennessee Titans. Overall, in the 2009 regular season, he finished with 343 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns, 45 receptions, 497 receiving yards, and four receiving touchdowns. On special teams, he had 54 kick returns for 1,300 net yards and 26 punt returns for 183 net yards and a touchdown. On March 4, 2010, it was reported that the Chargers would tender Sproles a contract, which was worth approximately $7.3 million. Another team would have had to give the Chargers first - and third - round draft picks if they signed Sproles. He appeared in all 16 games and recorded 59 receptions for 520 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 50 carries for 267 rushing yards. On special teams, he had 51 kick returns for 1,257 net yards and 24 punt returns for 166 net yards. On July 29, 2011, Sproles signed a four - year contract worth $14 million with the New Orleans Saints. The contract included $6 million in guaranteed money. On September 8, 2011, during a game against the Green Bay Packers, Sproles returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown during the second quarter, and returned a second punt for just 20 yards; he also had 2 kick - off returns for 83 yards, including a 57 - yard return. That gave Sproles 175 yards of returning on special teams, and on offense, he had 7 receptions for 75 yards, along with just 2 carries for 7 yards, and that gave him 257 all - purpose yards. On September 25, 2011, during a game against the Houston Texans, Sproles had 193 all - purpose yards (108 special teams yards and 85 offensive yards), with 6 receptions for 50 yards, 2 carries for 35 yards, including a 30 - yard touchdown run, and on special teams, had only 1 punt return for 5 yards, but also had 4 kick - off returns for 103 yards. On October 23, 2011, during a game against the Indianapolis Colts, Darren Sproles had 190 all - purpose yards with 2 touchdowns. On special teams, he had 6 returns for 83 yards (4 punt returns for 27 yards and 2 kick - off returns for 56 yards). On offense, he had 12 carries for 88 yards with a 16 - yard touchdown run, and 6 receptions for 19 yards with a 6 - yard touchdown pass. During this game, Sproles broke over 1,000 all - purpose yards mark. On December 26, 2011, during a game against the Atlanta Falcons, Sproles had 236 all - purpose yards. On special teams, he had 4 kick - off returns for 147 yards, including a 92 - yard return in which he almost returned the football to the house, and on offense, he had just 89 yards of total offense, with 5 carries for 67 yards, 2 receptions for 22 yards but with a 9 - yard touchdown pass from Drew Brees. This last - play touchdown pass in the 4th quarter helped Drew Brees break the single season record for passing yards (5,084), held by Dan Marino since 1984. That pass gave Brees 5,087 yards for the 2011 regular season with one game remaining. On January 1, 2012, in the last regular season game, a 45 -- 17 blowout of the Carolina Panthers, Sproles had 168 all - purpose yards, in which he had 5 returns for 99 yards (2 kick - off returns for 45 yards and 3 punt returns for 54 yards) on special teams, and broke the NFL record for all - purpose yards in a season (2,696). Sproles played in both of the Saints ' playoff games, scoring 3 touchdowns, including a 44 - yard catch and run in the fourth quarter of a celebrated back - and - forth contest against the San Francisco 49ers that the Saints ultimately lost 36 - 32. Sproles broke over 1000 all - purpose yards in only his seventh game as a Saint. Maintaining an average of 168.5 all purpose yards per game Sproles finished the 2011 season with 2,696 all - purpose yards, breaking the NFL single - season record, previously set in 2000 by Derrick Mason (2,690 yards). In Week 2, a 35 -- 27 loss to the Carolina Panthers, Sproles had 13 receptions for 128 yards. On November 2, 2012, Saints interim head coach Joe Vitt announced that Sproles would be out indefinitely due to a fractured hand. Sproles returned in Week 12 and played in the Saints ' remaining games, finishing the season with 48 rushes for 244 yards and 1 touchdown, 75 catches for 667 yards and 7 touchdowns, 18 kickoff returns for 483 yards, and 23 punt returns for 183 yards. In 2013, Sproles played in 15 regular season games, running for 220 yards and 2 touchdowns on 53 carries, making 71 catches for 604 yards and 2 touchdowns, 12 kickoff returns for 225 yards, and 29 punt returns for 194 yards. He played in both of the Saints ' playoff games, with 7 runs for 31 yards and 9 catches for 63 yards. On March 13, 2014, Sproles was acquired by the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2014 5th - round draft pick. Drew Brees was quoted after the trade: "You only see a Darren Sproles type of player come around once in your career. '' In his first regular season game with the Eagles, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he had 11 carries for a total of 71 yards and had 1 rushing touchdown (49 yards, which was the longest run of his career). He won offensive player of the week in Week 2 against the Indianapolis Colts, rushing for 26 yards and a touchdown on 4 carries and catching 7 receptions for 152 yards, 2 of which were over 50 yards. In 2014, Sproles played in 15 regular season games, running for 329 yards and six touchdowns on 57 carries, making 40 catches for 387 yards, 1 kickoff return for 15 yards, and 39 punt returns for 506 yards and two touchdowns, good for second place on the Eagles ' all - time single - season PR yards, and the most in the NFL in 2014. For his efforts, he was elected to his first career Pro Bowl, where he was drafted as a return specialist but contributed on offense, recording 3 carries for 42 yards and 6 catches for 79 yards. He was also named second team All - Pro as a return specialist, his first time on an All - Pro team. Starting the 2015 season, much hype surrounded the Eagles signing NFL Rushing Champ DeMarco Murray and San Diego starter Ryan Mathews, leading to speculation that Sproles would get less playing time. In the season opener against the Falcons, Sproles rushed for 50 yards on five attempts and caught seven passes for 76 yards, as well as returning 3 punts for 25 yards. Meanwhile, Murray and Mathews rushed for a combined 11 carries and 13 yards, although they each scored a touchdown rushing while Sproles did not. In Week 3, DeMarco Murray did not play due to injury, but the Eagles running game prospered under Mathews and Sproles. Sproles was named NFC Special Teams player of the week for returning a punt 89 yards for the touchdown. He also rushed for 17 yards and one touchdown, helping the Eagles win their first game of the season against the 2 - 0 Jets, 24 - 17. Sproles was given his largest workload since the 2009 season in a Week 13 game against the 10 - 1 New England Patriots, due to the ineffectiveness of Murray and Mathews being hurt. Sproles had 15 carries for 66 yards, 4 catches for 34 yards, and 5 punt returns for 115 yards and a touchdown in the 35 - 28 upset win. Sproles followed it up with a solid game against the Bills, with 7 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown in the 23 - 20 win. Sproles finished the regular season with 3 rushing touchdowns, 1 receiving touchdown, and 2 punt return touchdowns, leading the NFL for the second consecutive year. Sproles was selected to his second straight Pro Bowl, and was named First Team All - Pro, his second straight year as an All - Pro and his first first team selection. On July 29, 2016, Sproles signed a one - year $4.5 million contract extension with the Eagles through 2017. Sproles was an immediate weapon out of the backfield, catching 10 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown in the first three games of the season, however he was also held to only 51 yards on 19 carries rushing in that same timespan. In a Week 8 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Sproles took over as the lead back, carrying the ball 15 times for 86 yards and catching 5 passes for 17 yards. Sproles would retain the lead back role the following week against the New York Giants, rushing 13 times for 57 yards, catching 3 passes for 14 yards, and gaining 76 yards on 2 punt returns. On November 7, the day after the Giants game, head coach Doug Pederson officially named Sproles as the starting back. Overall, he finished the 2016 season with 438 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 52 receptions, 427 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. On September 25, 2017, it was revealed that Sproles suffered a broken arm and a torn ACL on the same play in a game against the New York Giants in Week 3. He was officially placed on injured reserve that day, prematurely ending his season. In three games, he rushed 15 times for 61 yards with seven receptions for 73 yards. The Eagles went on to win Super Bowl LII. After the season ended, Sproles stated his interest to return to the Eagles for one more season. On April 28, 2018, Sproles re-signed with the Eagles on a one - year contract. On July 15, 2018, Sproles announced that 2018 will be his last NFL season. He returned from his injury to play in the season - opening 18 -- 12 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. His return from injury was short - lived as he injured his hamstring in practice before the Week 2 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sproles 's father, Larry, played running back at MidAmerica Nazarene University. Larry was 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) tall. His mother Annette died of cancer in April 2004. Sproles maintains his off - season home near San Diego in Poway, California.

how many us congressional house representatives from indiana are republican

List of United States Representatives from Indiana - wikipedia The following is an alphabetical list of members of the United States House of Representatives from the state of Indiana. For chronological tables of members of both houses of the United States Congress from the state (through the present day), see United States Congressional Delegations from Indiana. The list of names should be complete, but other data may be incomplete. As of January, 2017 As of January 2017, there are twenty - six former members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the U.S. State of Indiana who are still alive. The most recent representative to die was William H. Hudnut III (1973 -- 1975) on December 17, 2016. The most recently serving representative to die was Julia Carson (1997 -- 2007), who died in office on December 15, 2007.

ppp theory predicts that foreign exchange rates are determined by

Purchasing power parity - wikipedia Purchasing power parity (PPP) is a neoclassical economic theory that states that the exchange rate between two countries is equal to the ratio of the currencies ' respective purchasing power. Theories that invoke the purchasing power parity assume that in some circumstances (for example, as a long - run tendency) it would cost exactly the same number of, for example, US dollars to buy euros and then buy a market basket of goods as it would cost to directly purchase the market basket of goods with dollars. A fall in either currency 's purchasing power would lead to a proportional decrease in that currency 's valuation on the foreign exchange market. The concept of purchasing power parity allows one to estimate what the exchange rate between two currencies would have to be in order for the exchange to be at par with the purchasing power of the two countries ' currencies. Using that PPP rate for hypothetical currency conversions, a given amount of one currency thus has the same purchasing power whether used directly to purchase a market basket of goods or used to convert at the PPP rate to the other currency and then purchase the market basket using that currency. Observed deviations of the exchange rate from purchasing power parity are measured by deviations of the real exchange rate from its PPP value of 1. PPP exchange rates help costing but exclude profits and above all do not consider the different quality of goods among countries. For example, suppose that two countries produce the same physical amounts of goods as each other in each of two different years. Since market exchange rates fluctuate substantially, when the GDP of one country measured in its own currency is converted to the other country 's currency using market exchange rates, one country might be inferred to have higher real GDP than the other country in one year but lower in the other; both of these inferences would fail to reflect the reality of their relative levels of production. But if one country 's GDP is converted into the other country 's currency using PPP exchange rates instead of observed market exchange rates, the false inference will not occur. Essentially GDP PPP controls for the different costs of living and price levels, usually relative to the United States dollar, thus enabling a more accurate depiction of a given nation 's level of production. The idea originated with the School of Salamanca in the 16th century, and was developed in its modern form by Gustav Cassel in 1916, in The Present Situation of the Foreign Trade. The concept is based on the law of one price, where in the absence of transaction costs and official trade barriers, identical goods will have the same price in different markets when the prices are expressed in the same currency. Another interpretation is that the difference in the rate of change in prices at home and abroad -- the difference in the inflation rates -- is equal to the percentage depreciation or appreciation of the exchange rate. Deviations from parity imply differences in purchasing power of a "basket of goods '' across countries, which means that for the purposes of many international comparisons, countries ' GDPs or other national income statistics need to be "PPP - adjusted '' and converted into common units. The best - known purchasing power adjustment is the Geary -- Khamis dollar (the "international dollar ''). The real exchange rate is then equal to the nominal exchange rate, adjusted for differences in price levels. If purchasing power parity held exactly, then the real exchange rate would always equal one. However, in practice the real exchange rates exhibit both short run and long run deviations from this value, for example due to reasons illuminated in the Balassa -- Samuelson theorem. There can be marked differences between purchasing power adjusted incomes and those converted via market exchange rates. For example, the World Bank 's World Development Indicators 2005 estimated that in 2003, one Geary - Khamis dollar was equivalent to about 1.8 Chinese yuan by purchasing power parity -- considerably different from the nominal exchange rate. This discrepancy has large implications; for instance, when converted via the nominal exchange rates GDP per capita in India is about US $ 1,965 while on a PPP basis it is about US $7,197. At the other extreme, for instance Denmark 's nominal GDP per capita is around US $53,242, but its PPP figure is US $46,602, in line with other developed nations. The purchasing power parity exchange rate serves two main functions. PPP exchange rates can be useful for making comparisons between countries because they stay fairly constant from day to day or week to week and only change modestly, if at all, from year to year. Second, over a period of years, exchange rates do tend to move in the general direction of the PPP exchange rate and there is some value to knowing in which direction the exchange rate is more likely to shift over the long run. The PPP exchange - rate calculation is controversial because of the difficulties of finding comparable baskets of goods to compare purchasing power across countries. Estimation of purchasing power parity is complicated by the fact that countries do not simply differ in a uniform price level; rather, the difference in food prices may be greater than the difference in housing prices, while also less than the difference in entertainment prices. People in different countries typically consume different baskets of goods. It is necessary to compare the cost of baskets of goods and services using a price index. This is a difficult task because purchasing patterns and even the goods available to purchase differ across countries. Thus, it is necessary to make adjustments for differences in the quality of goods and services. Furthermore, the basket of goods representative of one economy will vary from that of another: Americans eat more bread; Chinese more rice. Hence a PPP calculated using the US consumption as a base will differ from that calculated using China as a base. Additional statistical difficulties arise with multilateral comparisons when (as is usually the case) more than two countries are to be compared. Various ways of averaging bilateral PPPs can provide a more stable multilateral comparison, but at the cost of distorting bilateral ones. These are all general issues of indexing; as with other price indices there is no way to reduce complexity to a single number that is equally satisfying for all purposes. Nevertheless, PPPs are typically robust in the face of the many problems that arise in using market exchange rates to make comparisons. For example, in 2005 the price of a gallon of gasoline in Saudi Arabia was USD 0.91, and in Norway the price was USD 6.27. The significant differences in price would n't contribute to accuracy in a PPP analysis, despite all of the variables that contribute to the significant differences in price. More comparisons have to be made and used as variables in the overall formulation of the PPP. When PPP comparisons are to be made over some interval of time, proper account needs to be made of inflationary effects. Although it may seem as if PPPs and the law of one price are the same, there is a difference: the law of one price applies to individual commodities whereas PPP applies to the general price level. If the law of one price is true for all commodities then PPP is also therefore true; however, when discussing the validity of PPP, some argue that the law of one price does not need to be true exactly for PPP to be valid. If the law of one price is not true for a certain commodity, the price levels will not differ enough from the level predicted by PPP. The purchasing power parity theory states that the exchange rate between one currency and another currency is in equilibrium when their domestic purchasing powers at that rate of exchange are equivalent. Another example of one measure of the law of one price, which underlies purchasing power parity, is the Big Mac Index, popularized by The Economist, which compares the prices of a Big Mac burger in McDonald 's restaurants in different countries. The Big Mac Index is presumably useful because although it is based on a single consumer product that may not be typical, it is a relatively standardized product that includes input costs from a wide range of sectors in the local economy, such as agricultural commodities (beef, bread, lettuce, cheese), labor (blue and white collar), advertising, rent and real estate costs, transportation, etc. In theory, the law of one price would hold that if, to take an example, the Canadian dollar were to be significantly overvalued relative to the U.S. dollar according to the Big Mac Index, that gap should be unsustainable because Canadians would import their Big Macs from or travel to the U.S. to consume them, thus putting upward demand pressure on the U.S. dollar by virtue of Canadians buying the U.S. dollars needed to purchase the U.S. - made Big Macs and simultaneously placing downward supply pressure on the Canadian dollar by virtue of Canadians selling their currency in order to buy those same U.S. dollars. The alternative to this exchange rate adjustment would be an adjustment in prices, with Canadian McDonald 's stores compelled to lower prices to remain competitive. Either way, the valuation difference should be reduced assuming perfect competition and a perfectly tradable good. In practice, of course, the Big Mac is not a perfectly tradable good and there may also be capital flows that sustain relative demand for the Canadian dollar. The difference in price may have its origins in a variety of factors besides direct input costs such as government regulations and product differentiation. In some emerging economies, Western fast food represents an expensive niche product priced well above the price of traditional staples -- i.e. the Big Mac is not a mainstream ' cheap ' meal as it is in the West, but a luxury import. This relates back to the idea of product differentiation: the fact that few substitutes for the Big Mac are available confers market power on McDonald 's. For example, in India, the costs of local fast food like vada pav are comparative to what the Big Mac signifies in the U.S. Additionally, with countries such as Argentina that have abundant beef resources, consumer prices in general may not be as cheap as implied by the price of a Big Mac. The following table, based on data from The Economist 's January 2013 calculations, shows the under (−) and over (+) valuation of the local currency against the U.S. dollar in %, according to the Big Mac index. To take an example calculation, the local price of a Big Mac in Hong Kong when converted to U.S. dollars at the market exchange rate was $2.19, or 50 % of the local price for a Big Mac in the U.S. of $4.37. Hence the Hong Kong dollar was deemed to be 50 % undervalued relative to the U.S. dollar on a PPP basis. Like the Big Mac Index, the iPad index (elaborated by CommSec) compares an item 's price in various locations. Unlike the Big Mac, however, each iPad is produced in the same place (except for the model sold in Brazil) and all iPads (within the same model) have identical performance characteristics. Price differences are therefore a function of transportation costs, taxes, and the prices that may be realized in individual markets. An iPad will cost about twice as much in Argentina as in the United States. Similar to the Big Mac Index, the KFC Index measures PPP amongst African countries, created by Sagaci Research (a market research firm focusing solely on Africa). Instead of comparing a Big Mac, this index compares a KFC Original 12 / 15 pc. bucket. For example, the average price of KFC 's Original 12 pc. Bucket in the United States in January 2016 was $20.50; while in Namibia it was only $13.40 at market exchange rates. Therefore, the index states the Namibian dollar was undervalued by 33 % at that time. GlobalPetrolPrices has published two world rankings comparing gasoline prices with average income and minimum wages. Each month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development measures the difference in price levels between its member countries by calculating the ratios of PPPs for private final consumption expenditure to exchange rates. The OECD table below indicates the number of US dollars needed in each of the countries listed to buy the same representative basket of consumer goods and services that would cost 100 USD in the United States According to the table, an American living or travelling in Switzerland on an income denominated in US dollars would find that country to be the most expensive of the group, having to spend 62 % more US dollars to maintain a standard of living comparable to the US in terms of consumption. In addition to methodological issues presented by the selection of a basket of goods, PPP estimates can also vary based on the statistical capacity of participating countries. The International Comparison Program, which PPP estimates are based on, require the disaggregation of national accounts into production, expenditure or (in some cases) income, and not all participating countries routinely disaggregate their data into such categories. Some aspects of PPP comparison are theoretically impossible or unclear. For example, there is no basis for comparison between the Ethiopian laborer who lives on teff with the Thai laborer who lives on rice, because teff is not commercially available in Thailand and rice is not in Ethiopia, so the price of rice in Ethiopia or teff in Thailand can not be determined. As a general rule, the more similar the price structure between countries, the more valid the PPP comparison. PPP levels will also vary based on the formula used to calculate price matrices. Different possible formulas include GEKS - Fisher, Geary - Khamis, IDB, and the superlative method. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Linking regions presents another methodological difficulty. In the 2005 ICP round, regions were compared by using a list of some 1,000 identical items for which a price could be found for 18 countries, selected so that at least two countries would be in each region. While this was superior to earlier "bridging '' methods, which do not fully take into account differing quality between goods, it may serve to overstate the PPP basis of poorer countries, because the price indexing on which PPP is based will assign to poorer countries the greater weight of goods consumed in greater shares in richer countries. The exchange rate reflects transaction values for traded goods between countries in contrast to non-traded goods, that is, goods produced for home - country use. Also, currencies are traded for purposes other than trade in goods and services, e.g., to buy capital assets whose prices vary more than those of physical goods. Also, different interest rates, speculation, hedging or interventions by central banks can influence the foreign - exchange market. The PPP method is used as an alternative to correct for possible statistical bias. The Penn World Table is a widely cited source of PPP adjustments, and the associated Penn effect reflects such a systematic bias in using exchange rates to outputs among countries. For example, if the value of the Mexican peso falls by half compared to the US dollar, the Mexican Gross Domestic Product measured in dollars will also halve. However, this exchange rate results from international trade and financial markets. It does not necessarily mean that Mexicans are poorer by a half; if incomes and prices measured in pesos stay the same, they will be no worse off assuming that imported goods are not essential to the quality of life of individuals. Measuring income in different countries using PPP exchange rates helps to avoid this problem. PPP exchange rates are especially useful when official exchange rates are artificially manipulated by governments. Countries with strong government control of the economy sometimes enforce official exchange rates that make their own currency artificially strong. By contrast, the currency 's black market exchange rate is artificially weak. In such cases, a PPP exchange rate is likely the most realistic basis for economic comparison. Similarly, when exchange rates deviate significantly from their long term equilibrium due to speculative attacks or carry trade, a PPP exchange rate offers a better alternative for comparison. Since global PPP estimates -- such as those provided by the ICP -- are not calculated annually, but for a single year, PPP exchange rates for years other than the benchmark year need to be extrapolated. One way of doing this is by using the country 's GDP deflator. To calculate a country 's PPP exchange rate in Geary -- Khamis dollars for a particular year, the calculation proceeds in the following manner: PPPrate X, i = PPPrate X, b ⋅ GDPdef X, i GDPdef X, b PPPrate U, b ⋅ GDPdef U, i GDPdef U, b (\ displaystyle (\ textrm (PPPrate)) _ (X, i) = (\ frac ((\ textrm (PPPrate)) _ (X, b) \ cdot (\ frac ((\ textrm (GDPdef)) _ (X, i)) ((\ textrm (GDPdef)) _ (X, b)))) ((\ textrm (PPPrate)) _ (U, b) \ cdot (\ frac ((\ textrm (GDPdef)) _ (U, i)) ((\ textrm (GDPdef)) _ (U, b)))))) Where PPPrate is the PPP exchange rate of country X for year i, PPPrate is the PPP exchange rate of country X for the benchmark year, PPPrate is the PPP exchange rate of the United States (US) for the benchmark year (equal to 1), GDPdef is the GDP deflator of country X for year i, GDPdef is the GDP deflator of country X for the benchmark year, GDPdef is the GDP deflator of the US for year i, and GDPdef is the GDP deflator of the US for the benchmark year. There are a number of reasons that different measures do not perfectly reflect standards of living. The goods that the currency has the "power '' to purchase are a basket of goods of different types: The more that a product falls into category 1, the further its price will be from the currency exchange rate, moving towards the PPP exchange rate. Conversely, category 2 products tend to trade close to the currency exchange rate. (See also Penn effect). More processed and expensive products are likely to be tradable, falling into the second category, and drifting from the PPP exchange rate to the currency exchange rate. Even if the PPP "value '' of the Ethiopian currency is three times stronger than the currency exchange rate, it wo n't buy three times as much of internationally traded goods like steel, cars and microchips, but non-traded goods like housing, services ("haircuts ''), and domestically produced crops. The relative price differential between tradables and non-tradables from high - income to low - income countries is a consequence of the Balassa -- Samuelson effect and gives a big cost advantage to labour - intensive production of tradable goods in low income countries (like Ethiopia), as against high income countries (like Switzerland). The corporate cost advantage is nothing more sophisticated than access to cheaper workers, but because the pay of those workers goes farther in low - income countries than high, the relative pay differentials (inter-country) can be sustained for longer than would be the case otherwise. (This is another way of saying that the wage rate is based on average local productivity and that this is below the per capita productivity that factories selling tradable goods to international markets can achieve.) An equivalent cost benefit comes from non-traded goods that can be sourced locally (nearer the PPP - exchange rate than the nominal exchange rate in which receipts are paid). These act as a cheaper factor of production than is available to factories in richer countries. It 's difficult by the GDP PPP to consider the different quality of goods among the different countries. The Bhagwati -- Kravis -- Lipsey view provides a somewhat different explanation from the Balassa -- Samuelson theory. This view states that price levels for nontradables are lower in poorer countries because of differences in endowment of labor and capital, not because of lower levels of productivity. Poor countries have more labor relative to capital, so marginal productivity of labor is greater in rich countries than in poor countries. Nontradables tend to be labor - intensive; therefore, because labor is less expensive in poor countries and is used mostly for nontradables, nontradables are cheaper in poor countries. Wages are high in rich countries, so nontradables are relatively more expensive. PPP calculations tend to overemphasise the primary sectoral contribution, and underemphasise the industrial and service sectoral contributions to the economy of a nation. The law of one price, the underlying mechanism behind PPP, is weakened by transport costs and governmental trade restrictions, which make it expensive to move goods between markets located in different countries. Transport costs sever the link between exchange rates and the prices of goods implied by the law of one price. As transport costs increase, the larger the range of exchange rate fluctuations. The same is true for official trade restrictions because the customs fees affect importers ' profits in the same way as shipping fees. According to Krugman and Obstfeld, "Either type of trade impediment weakens the basis of PPP by allowing the purchasing power of a given currency to differ more widely from country to country. '' They cite the example that a dollar in London should purchase the same goods as a dollar in Chicago, which is certainly not the case. Nontradables are primarily services and the output of the construction industry. Nontradables also lead to deviations in PPP because the prices of nontradables are not linked internationally. The prices are determined by domestic supply and demand, and shifts in those curves lead to changes in the market basket of some goods relative to the foreign price of the same basket. If the prices of nontradables rise, the purchasing power of any given currency will fall in that country. Linkages between national price levels are also weakened when trade barriers and imperfectly competitive market structures occur together. Pricing to market occurs when a firm sells the same product for different prices in different markets. This is a reflection of inter-country differences in conditions on both the demand side (e.g., virtually no demand for pork in Islamic states) and the supply side (e.g., whether the existing market for a prospective entrant 's product features few suppliers or instead is already near - saturated). According to Krugman and Obstfeld, this occurrence of product differentiation and segmented markets results in violations of the law of one price and absolute PPP. Over time, shifts in market structure and demand will occur, which may invalidate relative PPP. Measurement of price levels differ from country to country. Inflation data from different countries are based on different commodity baskets; therefore, exchange rate changes do not offset official measures of inflation differences. Because it makes predictions about price changes rather than price levels, relative PPP is still a useful concept. However, change in the relative prices of basket components can cause relative PPP to fail tests that are based on official price indexes. The global poverty line is a worldwide count of people who live below an international poverty line, referred to as the dollar - a-day line. This line represents an average of the national poverty lines of the world 's poorest countries, expressed in international dollars. These national poverty lines are converted to international currency and the global line is converted back to local currency using the PPP exchange rates from the ICP. PPP exchange rates include data from the sales of high end none poverty related items which skews the value of food items and necessary goods which is 70 percent of poor peoples ' consumption. Angus Deaton argues that PPP indexes need to be reweighted for use in poverty measurement; they need to be redefined to reflect local poverty measures, not global measures, weighing local food items and excluding luxury items that are not prevalent or are not of equal value in all localities.

who wrote the health and safety at work act

Health and safety at work etc. Act 1974 - wikipedia The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c 37) (abbreviated to "HSWA 1974 '', "HASWA '' or "HASAWA '') is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that as of 2011 defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare within the United Kingdom. The Act defines general duties on employers, employees, contractors, suppliers of goods and substances for use at work, persons in control of work premises, and those who manage and maintain them, and persons in general. The Act enables a broad regime of regulation by government ministers through Statutory Instrument which has, in the years since 1974, generated an extensive system of specific provisions for various industries, disciplines and risks. It established a system of public supervision through the creation of the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive, since merged, and bestows extensive enforcement powers, ultimately backed by criminal sanctions extending to unlimited fines and imprisonment for up to two years. Further, the Act provides a critical interface with the law of the European Union on workplace health and safety. Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity Barbara Castle introduced an Employed Persons (Health and Safety) Bill in 1970 but the debate around the Bill soon generated a belief that it did not address fundamental issues of workplace safety. In the same year, the Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed into United States federal law. As a result, a committee of inquiry chaired by Lord Robens was established towards the end of Harold Wilson 's first government. When the Conservative Party came to power following the United Kingdom general election, 1970, they gave Castle 's Bill no parliamentary time, preferring to wait for the Robens Report which was published in 1972. Conservative Secretary of State for Employment William Whitelaw introduced a new Bill on 28 January 1974 but Labour were returned to power in the United Kingdom general election, February 1974 and the Bill again lost. The new Labour administration finally secured the passage of a Bill that year. The Act lays down general principles for the management of health and safety at work, enabling the creation of specific requirements through regulations enacted as Statutory Instruments or through a code of practice. For example, the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 (COSHH), the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at Work Regulations 1992 and the Health and Safety (First - Aid) Regulations 1981 are all Statutory Instruments that lay down detailed requirements. It was also the intention of the Act to rationalise the existing complex and confused system of legislation (section 1 (2)). Since the accession of the UK to the European Union (EU) in 1972, much health and safety regulation has needed to comply with the law of the European Union and Statutory Instruments under the Act have been enacted in order to implement EU directives. In particular, the Act is the principal means of complying with Health and Safety Framework Directive 89 / 391 / EEC on health and safety at work. Further important changes to section 6, duties in respect of articles and substances used at work, were made by the Consumer Protection Act 1987 in order to implement the Product Liability Directive 85 / 374 / EEC. Section 1 sets out the objectives of the Act as: As originally enacted, there was a fourth objective: -- but this provision was repealed when control of emissions was brought under a uniform scheme of legislation by the Environmental Protection Act 1990. In general, the other provisions about emissions in the original Act have subsequently been repealed. Section 2 states that "It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his / her employees '', and in particular that such a duty extends to: Section 3 states the duty of all employers and self - employed persons to ensure, as far as is reasonably practicable the safety of persons other than employees, for example, contractors, visitors, the general public and clients. Employers must also prepare and keep under review a safety policy and to bring it to the attention of his employees (s. 2 (2)). Trade unions may appoint safety representatives and demand safety committees. The representatives have a right to be consulted on safety issues (ss. 2 (4), (6) and (7)). Since 1996 employers have had a duty to consult all employees on safety matters. No employer may charge an employee for provision of health and safety arrangements (s. 9). The Act does not apply to domestic servants (s. 51). Section 4 defines a duty of occupiers of premises, for example commercial landlords, managers of serviced office accommodation, and also maintenance contractors, towards people who use those premises for work. Those premises, and the means of entry and exit, must be, as far as reasonably practicable, safe and without risks to health. An "article for use at work '' is any (s. 53 (1)): Section 6 (1) defines the duty of any person who designs, manufactures, imports or supplies any article for use at work to: A person may rely on testing done by others so long as it is reasonable for him to do so (s. 6 (6)). A person may rely on a written undertaking by another person to ensure the safety of an item (s. 6 (8)) Designers and manufacturers must carry out research to identify and eliminate risks, as far as reasonably practicable (s. 6 (2)). Erectors and installers have responsibilities to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, that an article is so erected and installed that it will be safe and without risks to health at all times when it is being set, used, cleaned or maintained by a person at work (s. 6 (3)). Section 6 was extended by the Consumer Protection Act 1987 to cover fairground equipment and its use by persons at work and enjoyment by members of the public. Section 6 (4) defines the duty of any person who manufactures, imports or supplies any substance for use at work to: Similar to the regulations concerning articles used at work, a person may also rely on testing or written undertaking by another person to ensure the safety of substances used at work. The duty to identify and eliminate risks of substances rests with manufacturers. The duties only extend to persons in business or acting by way of trade, even though not for profit, and only to matters within their control (s. 6 (7)). Persons who import into the UK are not relieved of liability for activities such as design and manufacture that took place outside the UK and over which they had control. Finance companies who supply articles or substances by way of hire purchase or credit agreement have no duties under section 6 (s. 6 (9))... Under section 7 all employees have a duty while at work to: Section 8 requires that "no person shall intentionally or recklessly interfere with or misuse anything provided in the interests of health, safety or welfare in pursuance of any of the relevant statutory provisions. '' What is reasonably practicable is a question of fact. The Court of Appeal held in 1949 that: ... in every case, it is the risk that has to be weighed against the measures necessary to eliminate the risk. The greater the risk, no doubt, the less will be the weight to be given to the factor of cost. -- and: Reasonably practicable is a narrower term than ' physically possible ' and seems to me to imply that a computation must be made by the owner in which the quantum of risk is placed on one scale and the sacrifice involved in the measures necessary for averting the risk (whether in money, time or trouble) is placed in the other, and that, if it be shown that there is a gross disproportion between them - the risk being insignificant in relation to the sacrifice - the defendants discharge the onus on them. Where a criminal prosecution arises from a breach of duty and the accused 's defence is that it would not have been practicable or reasonably practicable to act otherwise, the burden of proof falls on the defendant (s. 40). The prosecution have the burden of showing beyond reasonable doubt that certain acts were done or omitted to provide a prima facie case against the accused. Only if the prosecution succeed in this does the defendant have the burden of proving that the alternative was not practicable or reasonable practicable, but only on the balance of probabilities. The Court of Appeal held in 2002 that this requirement was compliant with article 6 (2) of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as to presumption of innocence. The Court of Appeal noted that the "reverse burden '' applied to purely regulatory breaches, rather than genuine criminal offences potentially punishable by imprisonment. However, the Health and Safety (Offences) Bill 2007, seeks to extend the sentences available for these offences to include imprisonment for two years. The Department for Work and Pensions has expressed the opinion that, should the Bill become law, it will still be compliant with the ECHR as it "strikes a fair balance between the fundamental right of the individual and the general interests of the community ''. In 2005, the European Commission challenged the defence as noncompliant with Directive 89 / 391 / EEC, which states that (Art. 5 (1) and (4)): "The employer shall have a duty to ensure the safety and health of workers in every aspect related to the work. '' but that "This Directive shall not restrict the option of Member States to provide for the exclusion or the limitation of employers ' responsibility where occurrences are due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances, beyond the employers ' control, or to exceptional events, the consequences of which could not have been avoided despite the exercise of all due care. '' The Commission argued that the "reasonably practicable '' defence was much broader than allowed under the directive but in 2007 the European Court of Justice found for the UK that the defence was in fact compliant. Section 6 (10) was added by the Consumer Protection Act 1987 disapplies duties as to articles and substances used at work where a risk "is shown to be one the occurrence of which could not reasonably be foreseen ''. This is known as the development risks defence. Section 10 created two bodies corporate, the Health and Safety Commission and Health and Safety Executive who performed their respective functions on behalf of the Crown (section 10 and Schedule 2). The bodies had wide powers to further their objectives by all means other than borrowing money (ss. 11 (6), 13). On 1 April 2008, the two bodies merged, the aggregate taking the name Health and Safety Executive. Before its merger with the HSE, the Commission consisted of a chairman and between six and nine other people, appointed by the appropriate Secretary of State, after consultation (section 10 (2) - (4)). The Commission 's duties were to (section 11 (2)): The Commission further had to keep the Secretary of State informed of its plans and ensure alignment with the policies of the Secretary of State, giving effect to any directions given to it (section 11 (3)). The Secretary of State could give directions to the Commission (section 12). On 1 April 2006, the Commission ceased to have responsibility for railway safety. The Commission could delegate any of its functions to, or otherwise direct, the Executive (section 11 (4)) and could direct the Executive to hold a public inquiry or other investigation into any accident (section 14). However, as of 1 April 2008, all its powers and responsibilities were transferred to the Executive. The Executive consists of a chairman and between 7 and 11 other people, all appointed by the Secretary of State, as of 2008, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Schedule 2). Before the 2008 merger, the Executive had to carry out all functions delegated to it, or otherwise directed by, the Commission and provide the Secretary of State with information and expert advice (section 11 (5)). The Executive is responsible for enforcement of the Act and regulations made under it though the Secretary of State may transfer some of the duties to local government (section 18). The Secretary of State has broad powers to make health and safety regulations (section 15). Breach of regulations can lead to criminal prosecution under section 33. Further, the Health and Safety Executive can issue codes of practice (section 16). Though breach of a code of practice is not in itself a criminal offence it may be evidential towards a criminal breach under the Act (section 17) Because individual litigation is unlikely, given that employees may find the regulations complex, the Health and Safety Executive enforces the Act. However, the HSE may also delegate its functions to local government under section 18, which allows for a more decentralised and targeted approach to regulation. Any enforcing authority may appoint inspectors with a written document stating their powers. This is as evidence of their authority (section 19). Enforcing authorities may indemnify the inspector against any civil litigation if he has acted in the honest belief that he was within his powers (section 26). Local government bodies who may be enforcing authorities are: Local government bodies can be enforcing authorities in respect of several workplaces and activities including offices, shops, retail and wholesale distribution, hotel and catering establishments, petrol filling stations, residential care homes and the leisure industry. As of 2008, 410 such bodies have responsibility in 1.1 million workplaces. From 1 April 2006 the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) became the enforcing authority for the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and laws made under it, for all health and safety matters relating to the operation of a railway (or tramway). Under section, inspectors have the following powers: The Consumer Protection Act 1987 added the power for a customs officer to seize imported goods for up to 48 hours (section 25A). In observance of the principle of a right to silence, answers given to questions that the inspector required a person to answer can not be used as evidence against him, nor his spouse or civil partner (section 20 (7)), neither can the inspector require production of a document protected by legal professional privilege (section 20 (8)). If an inspector is of the opinion that a person (section 21) is currently contravening the Act; or has contravened the Act in the past in circumstances that make it likely that the contravention will continue or be repeated he may serve him with an improvement notice: Appeal against a notice is within 21 days to an employment tribunal who may appoint one or more assessors to sit with them (s. 24). If an inspector is of the opinion that activities are being carried on, or are likely to be carried on, involving the risk of serious personal injury, he may serve him with a prohibition notice (section 22): The notice may start immediately or at the end of a specified period (section 22 (4). Appeal against a notice is within 21 days to an employment tribunal who may appoint one or more assessors to sit with them (section 24). Section 33 (1) creates 15 criminal offences including breach of a duty under the Act or a regulation, contravention of a notice, or obstructing an inspector. In England and Wales prosecution under the Act could originally only be brought by an inspector or with the permission of the Director of Public Prosecutions but the Environment Agency was also authorised on 1 April 1996 (section 38). All offences under the Act are either summary offences or offences triable either way so inspectors start prosecutions by laying an information before the Magistrates ' Court. Inspectors can themselves be authorised to exercise rights of audience before the Magistrates even though not legally qualified (section 39). If a person, by some act or omission, causes another person to commit the actus reus of an offence under the Act then they too are guilty of an offence, even if the other person was not prosecuted or could not be prosecuted because they were the Crown (section 36). Where an offence is committed by a body corporate with the consent or connivance, or by the neglect, of a director, manager, secretary or a member acting in a managerial capacity, that individual too is guilty of an offence (section 37). Where a person is convicted under the Act, the court can order that he remedy the state of affairs or can order forfeiture of an item in question (section 42). There is no civil liability for breach of statutory duty in respect of sections 2 to 8 but there is liability for breach of health and safety regulations unless the regulations themselves provide otherwise (section 47). However, a breach not actionable in itself may be evidential towards a claim for common law negligence. In particular, a criminal conviction may be given in evidence. The Crown is bound by health and safety regulations and by the Act itself save for (section 48): -- though an employee of the Crown can be criminally liable (s. 48 (2)). The Act was extended to the police on 1 July 1998 by the Police (Health and Safety) Act 1997 (section 51A). The Secretary of State may, "to the extent that it appears to him requisite or expedient to do so in the interests of the safety of the State or the safe custody of persons lawfully detained '' exempt the Crown by Order in Council (section 48 (4)). In 1987, the Crown Proceedings Act 1947 was repealed to allow military personnel to sue the Ministry of Defence and bring the Armed Services into line with the Act. Sections 55 to 60 provide for the continued existence of the Employment Medical Advisory Service in England and Wales. Section 68 is an Henry VIII clause enabling the Secretary of State to amend certain provisions of the Act by Statutory Instrument rather than Act of Parliament. Sections 61 to 76 originally enabled the HSE to create and amend building regulations and gave them other powers over buildings control and approval. These sections were repealed by the Building Act 1984 which replaced them by a general scheme of building regulations. The Act originally applied in England and Wales, Scotland (in part) and Northern Ireland (in part) (section 84). Its provisions were re-enacted for Northern Ireland in 1978 with enforcement made the responsibility of the Health and Safety Agency for Northern Ireland. The Agency 's name was changed to the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland in 1998. Section 84 (3) allowed the Secretary of State to extend, by Order in Council, the provisions outside England, Wales and Scotland. In 1995, the provisions were extended to offshore installations, wells and pipelines in UK territorial waters, mines extending into territorial waters and certain other engineering activities in territorial waters. Activities on a ship under the direction of its master are excluded. Reviewing performance of the act in 2008 Lord Grocott observed: Between 1974 and 2007, the number of fatal injuries to employees fell by 73 per cent; the number of reported non-fatal injuries fell by 70 per cent. Between 1974 and 2007, the rate of injuries per 100,000 employees fell by a huge 76 per cent, and Britain had the lowest rate of fatal injuries in the European Union in 2003, which is the most recent year for which figures are available. The EU average was 2.5 fatalities per 100,000 workers; the figure in the UK was 1.1.

what did the civil rights act of 1875 say

Civil Rights Act of 1875 - wikipedia The Civil Rights Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 335 -- 337), sometimes called Enforcement Act or Force Act, was a United States federal law enacted during the Reconstruction Era in response to civil rights violations to African Americans, "to protect all citizens in their civil and legal rights '', giving them equal treatment in public accommodations, public transportation, and to prohibit exclusion from jury service. The bill was passed by the 43rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1875. The law was generally opposed by public opinion, but blacks did favor it. It was not effectively enforced and historian William Gillette says the passage of the law was an "insignificant victory. '' Eight years later, the Supreme Court ruled in Civil Rights Cases (1883) that the public accommodation sections of the act were unconstitutional, saying Congress was not afforded control over private persons or corporations. The drafting of the bill was performed early in 1870 by Senator Charles Sumner, a dominant Radical Republican in the Senate, with the assistance of John Mercer Langston, a prominent African American who established the law department at Howard University. The bill was proposed by Senator Sumner and co-sponsored by Representative Benjamin F. Butler, both Republicans from Massachusetts, in the 41st Congress of the United States in 1870. Congress removed the coverage of public schools that Sumner had included. The act was passed by the 43rd Congress in February 1875 as a memorial to honor Sumner, who had just died. It was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1875. President Grant had wanted an entirely different law to help him suppress election - related violence against blacks and Republicans in the South. Congress did not give him that, but instead wrote a law for equal rights to public accommodations that was passed as a memorial to Grant 's bitterest enemy, the late Senator Charles Sumner. Grant never commented on the 1875 law, and did nothing to enforce it says historian John Hope Franklin. Grant 's Justice Department ignored it and did not send copies to US attorneys, says Franklin, while many federal judges called it unconstitutional before the Supreme Court shut it down. Franklin concludes regarding Grant and Hayes administrations, "The Civil Rights Act was never effectively enforced. '' Public opinion was opposed, with the black community in support. Historian Rayford Logan looking at newspaper editorials finds the press was overwhelmingly opposed. The Supreme Court, in an 8 -- 1 decision, declared sections of the act unconstitutional in the Civil Rights Cases on October 15, 1883. Justice John Marshall Harlan provided the lone dissent. The Court held the Equal Protection Clause within the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits discrimination by the state and local government, but it does not give the federal government the power to prohibit discrimination by private individuals and organizations. The Court also held that the Thirteenth Amendment was meant to eliminate "the badge of slavery, '' but not to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was the last civil rights bill to be signed into law by the federal government until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 is notable as the last major piece of legislation related to Reconstruction that was passed by Congress during the Reconstruction Era. These include the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the four Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and 1868, the three Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871, and the three Constitutional Amendments adopted between 1865 and 1870. Provisions contained in the Civil Rights Act of 1875 were later readopted by Congress during the Civil Rights Movement as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. The 1964 and 1968 acts relied upon the Commerce Clause contained in Article One of the Constitution of the United States rather than the Equal Protection Clause within the Fourteenth Amendment.

one of the pledges of the philippines is to defend its

Philippine presidential inauguration - wikipedia The inauguration of the President of the Philippines is a ceremonial event marking the commencement of a new six - year term of a President of the Philippines. The day a presidential inauguration occurs is June 30 as mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Under the previous 1935 Constitution, the date was December 30, which is also Rizal Day; the last inauguration to take place on the older date was Ferdinand Marcos ' second one on December 30, 1969. The most recent public presidential inauguration ceremony, the swearing in of President Rodrigo Duterte to begin his six - year term in office, took place on Thursday, June 30, 2016. The only inauguration element mandated by the Philippine Constitution is that the president make an oath or affirmation before that person can "enter on the Execution '' of the office of the presidency. However, over the years, various traditions have arisen that have expanded the inauguration from a simple oath - taking ceremony to a day - long event, including parades, speeches, and balls. When a new president takes over mid-term due to the death or resignation of a president, the oath of office is administered but formal, public inauguration events have not been held. The ceremony since 1992 traditionally begins with the President - Elect fetching the incumbent in Malacañan Palace on the morning of June 30. At the Palace 's State Entrance, the President - Elect will wait for the incumbent to descend the Grand Staircase. Upon meeting at the foot of the staircase, the President - Elect would greet the incumbent. Both travel to the Quirino Grandstand aboard any of the Presidential cars. Following protocol, the outgoing President takes the back right - hand seat of the vehicle, while the President - Elect is seated behind the chauffeur. At the Grandstand 's parade grounds, the outgoing President will be welcomed with arrival honours, and then shake hands with the President - Elect. The outgoing President conducts a final troop review and is presented to the public before departing the Grandstand aboard their own private vehicle. Only Corazón Aquino broke with the custom of leaving the Grandstand immediately, choosing instead to stay until the end of Fidel Ramos 's inaugural speech. Ramos also attended the oath taking of Joseph Estrada and the inaugural ceremonies. The inauguration proper then begins with the singing of the National Anthem. An ecumenical Invocation follows, led by leaders of the different major religions of the Philippines, followed by a patriotic musical piece by a musical ensemble. Afterwards, President of the Senate of the Philippines reads the Joint Resolution of the Joint Congressional Board of Canvassers proclaiming the newly - elected President and Vice President. Since the Third Republic, the Vice-President - Elect is sworn in before the President - Elect to immediately secure the line of succession. During his inauguration, President Manuel L. Quezon took the Oath of Office first to mark a "new start ''. As mandated by the Constitution, the President - Elect then takes the Oath of Office at exactly 12: 00 PST (GMT + 8); in 2010, President - Elect Aquino did not await noon, instead taking his Oath moments after Vice-President - Elect Binay finished doing so. The Oath is customarily administered by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, but that is not required. Due to political differences, Benigno Aquino III instead had then - Associate Justice Conchita Carpio - Morales administer the Oath instead of then - Chief Justice Renato Corona. A 21 - gun salute is then immediately fired, followed by four ruffles and flourishes and the Presidential Anthem, We Say Mabuhay, is played in honour of the new President. The new President then delivers an Inaugural Address. Previous inaugurations also saw a full military and civil parade in the same manner as the Independence Day celebrations on 12 June (similar to the US Inaugural Parades) right after the address. From the late 1940s to the late 1960s, similar parades were also held on Rizal Day on 30 December as well and to ring in the New Year 's celebrations that would start the day after. The new President then returns to Malacañan Palace to formally take possession of the residence. This formal entry is symbolised by the President ascending the Grand Staircase and proceeding to the Ceremonial Hall. Juan Luna 's painting, The Blood Compact, is currently displayed at the top of the Staircase. The President then inducts the new Cabinet on the same day, and holds its first meeting immediately after. In the evening, an Inaugural Reception is held for other officials and foreign dignitaries who wish to call on the new President. The customary banquets of either a vin d'honneur or an Inaugural Ball were abolished, in an effort to revert to the pre-Martial Law practise of simpler official receptions. The last Inaugural Ball was held in 1981 for Ferdinand Marcos ' third inauguration, which was also the last time the Rigodon de Honor (a Hispanic dance analogous to a court dance) was performed; it was again danced on Independence Day of 2009. The President concludes the ceremonies with a toast, as a gesture of amity towards states that maintain diplomatic ties with the Philippines. The new President is to be inaugurated at noon of June 30 as currently mandated by the 1987 Constitution, but past ceremonies were held on different dates. The first President, Emilio Aguinaldo, was inaugurated on January 23, 1899, while Presidents under the 1935 Constitution were inaugurated at noon of Rizal Day (December 30). Only two Presidents under the 1935 Constitution were not inaugurated on December 30, namely, Sergio Osmeña and Manuel Roxas. Ferdinand Marcos changed the inauguration date to the present June 30, while his successors Corazon Aquino and Gloria Macapagal - Arroyo were inaugurated on February 25, 1986 and January 20, 2001, respectively, Aquino after the EDSA Revolution and Arroyo after the EDSA II. Seven inaugurations have been held at the Quirino Grandstand in the Luneta, namely, Quirino (1949), Magsaysay (1953), Garcia (1957), Macapagal (1961), Marcos (1965, 1969, 1981), Ramos (1992) and Aquino III (2010). Presidents Estrada and Arroyo only delivered their inaugural addresses there. To date, Estrada and Arroyo were the only presidents to take the oath of office and inaugural addresses in two different locations. Other presidents, namely Aguinaldo and Estrada, were inaugurated at the Barasoain Church in Malolos, Bulacan; Quezon, Laurel and Roxas were inaugurated in front of the Legislative Building; and Aquino in Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. Marcos was inaugurated in Maharlika Hall, Malacañan Palace in 1986; and Duterte inaugurated in the Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace in 2016. Arroyo took her first oath as president at the EDSA Shrine in Quezon City. Osmeña, who assumed the presidency upon the death of his predecessor Manuel L. Quezon, took his oath of office in Washington D.C. Quirino and Garcia took the oath of office in the Malacañan Palace. In addition to the general public the following are the attendants of the Inauguration: If a civil - military parade follows the speech the format is the same as in the Independence Day parades, with the AFP first, with the units of the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Philippine Coast Guard following them and later by civilian marchers representing the government, private sector, youth uniformed organizations and the representatives of the nation 's various ethnic nationalities. Under Article VII, Section 5 of the 1987 Constitution, before the President - Elect and Vice-President - Elect enters into the execution of their offices, the President shall take the following oath or affirmation: (In case of affirmation, last sentence will be omitted.) The oath from the Filipino version of the Constitution was used for the inaugurations of Presidents Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Benigno Aquino III: (Kapag pagpapatotoo, ang huling pangungusap ay kakaltasin.) Every president since Emilio Aguinaldo delivered an inaugural address. Presidents, who became president upon the death of their predecessor, also delivered an address. It is usually delivered after the new president took the oath of office. However, President Gloria Macapagal - Arroyo delivered the inaugural address first at the Quirino Grandstand and then took the oath of office in Cebu. Inauguration of President Manuel Quezon, 1935. Inauguration of President Jose P. Laurel, 1943. Inauguration of President Sergio Osmeña, 1944. Second Inauguration of President Manuel Roxas, 1946. First Inauguration of President Elpidio Quirino, 1948. Second Inauguration of President Elpidio Quirino, 1949. Inauguration of President Ramon Magsaysay, 1953. First Inauguration of President Carlos P. García, 1957. Second Inauguration of President Carlos P. García, 1957. Inauguration of President Diosdado Macapagal, 1961. First Inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos, 1965. Second Inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos, 1969. Fourth Inauguration of President Ferdinand Marcos, 1986. Inauguration of President Corazon Aquino, 1986. Second Inauguration of President Gloria Macapagal - Arroyo, 2004. Inauguration of President Benigno Aquino III, 2010. Inauguration of President Rodrigo Duterte, 2016. Note: Vice President - elects usually take the oath of office with the President - elect, but Rodrigo Duterte broke tradition by requesting Vice President - elect Leni Robredo to hold inauguration rites separately. The only other instances that the Vice President was inaugurated separately, when Gloria Macapagal - Arroyo succeeded to the presidency and nominated Teofisto Guingona as Vice President. Guingona was confirmed by Congress on February 9, 2001 and took the oath of office the same day.

what happened to sally spectra and thomas forrester

Sally Spectra - Wikipedia Sally Spectra is a fictional character from the American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. Sally was played by actress Darlene Conley from 1989 until Conley 's death on January 14, 2007, appearing until January 26, 2007, and again on October 26, 2012, as an extra playing The Bangles ' Eternal Flame via a flashback memorial background. Sally, among other things, was a woman who lived life large. She was known for her large figure, open and very jovial personality, and her trademark red coiffure. She was often compared to the gal pal in old time movies. For many years, Sally owned and operated Spectra Fashions (later renamed Spectra Couture). For most of that time, the company was called a knock - off firm, since her designers often stole from the more established Forrester firm. At Spectra, Sally was usually helped by her daughter Macy Alexander (Bobbie Eakes), Sally 's receptionist, Darla Einstein (Schae Harrison), who Sally thought of as a daughter and Saul Feinberg (Michael Fox). Also seen often was fashion designer Clarke Garrison (Daniel McVicar), who Sally at first blackmailed to design for Spectra while working for Forrester but later crossovered to Spectra completely and began to woo Sally. Despite being warned by her family and friends that Clarke only wanted her company Sally married him. Despite the fact that Clarke at first claimed to be impotent he eventually fathered C.J. (Mick Cain), Sally 's son. Sally 's fears were realized when she discovered that Clarke was involved with Kristen Forrester (then played by Terri Ann Linn). With the help of her Spectra family Sally managed to prove Clarke 's infidelity to court and thus avoided losing her company. Sally divorced Clarke and he left town. Her relationships with the Forrester family were mixed. Eric Forrester (John McCook) admired her scrappiness, since that was how his father was when he began working in fashion. Sally, in fact, was absolutely crazy about Eric. Sally always kept the Forresters on their toes and often managed to get one up on them. Sally was fascinated with the Forrester family and often crashed many Forrester family events. These actions did not take kindly with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) and the two began a long feud. However, the feud between them ended in later years, as the two women came to more fully understand and respect one - another. Her daughter, Macy Alexander, was married to Thorne Forrester (Winsor Harmon) for quite a number of years, and had a long on - again / off - again relationship. Her surrogate daughter, Darla, was also married to Thorne until her life was tragically cut short recently (see main article). Sadly, her company eventually went under, after a very disastrous gamble of choosing to compete with the Forrester 's head to head. She shut down, and then sold off, what was left of her company. She then began working at Forrester Creations as the new receptionist, replacing Megan Conley (Maeve Quinlan). This came about after trying, and failing, to find a suitable receptionist. Sally offered her services, but warned that she did n't come cheap. She wanted a limo and a handsome driver with biceps, a sign of her very flirtatious and fun - loving nature. Sally also moved with Thorne, Darla, and their daughter, Alexandria (Harley Graham) for a while, and stayed with Thorne and Alexandria even after Darla 's death. Sally had some medical issues recently which resulted in needing to use a wheelchair. (This was due to a real - life leg injury that Darlene Conley suffered) Sally last appeared on - screen in November 2006 (shortly after, Darlene Conley died on January 14, 2007). For a long time after Darlene Conley 's death, nothing was explained about Sally 's absence, except mention by her son, C.J. that she had been ill. Finally, in November 2007 it was revealed by CJ to Clarke (and to the viewers as well) that Sally was alive and well, and true to her flirtatious and fun - loving nature, was living in the South of France with a string of cabana boys. It was also revealed that since the new owners of Spectra had gone bankrupt, ownership of the company had been reverted to Sally. She decided not to return to L.A. and run it but instead to sell the company. There are no plans to kill the character off, as initially speculated. In April 2009, Clarke revealed that Sally is currently in Canary Islands with a string of cabana boys. On July 27, 2009, Sally called Clarke to send her love and best wishes to everyone at Jackie M where her picture still hangs on the wall. On Christmas Eve 2009, Stephanie told Pam that unlike in past years, she did not receive a Christmas card from Sally, which usually consisted of the boasting of all the cabana boys. Stephanie believes she will still hear from her, but in the meantime offers a toast to her picture. At Christmas 2010 Stephanie buys the Insomnia by CJ, who told her that his mother is fine. In 2011, during the Thanksgiving Day, Stephanie and Eric receive a phone call from Sally, who informs them that she is spending a holiday on a Greek island. Sally has been married twice, first to Adam Alexander (Michael Swan) by whom she had a daughter, Macy and later to Clarke Garrison (Daniel McVicar), with whom she has a son named C.J. (Clarke Jr.) (Mick Cain) She was also a doting grandmother figure to Thorne 's daughter, Alexandria, with whom she had a very loving relationship. Sally also considered Darla (Schae Harrison) her daughter since she was an orphan. Her relationship with Stephanie Forrester (Susan Flannery) was unique. For years, they often fought and fussed, due to her firm 's knock - off reputation. These spats often ended with Sally taking an unceremonious dip in the water, usually instigated by Stephanie. (At that time, her catch phrase was a usually loud "Hello, Stephanie! '') One time, Stephanie and Sally were drunk in Stephanie 's office at Forrester, and Stephanie allowed Sally to cut her hair, which ended disastrously, but hilariously. This was the explanation for Susan Flannery 's sudden change of hair style, from her previously shoulder - length, to her now trademark cropped style. Time helped cement the two women 's friendship. Sally called Stephanie "Highness '' or "Queenie ''; at first the nicknames were meant to be sarcastic, but became terms of affection. (Stephanie called her "doll '' and she also referred to her as "Sal, my gal '') She was considered to be part of the extended Forrester family, often joining Stephanie at family functions (this was by virtue of Sally 's daughter Macy, and later, her surrogate daughter, Darla, being married to Thorne Forrester). Even after Forrester was unwillingly sold to Nick Marone (Jack Wagner), Sally was still considered family, and beloved by everyone. In fact, Eric considered her a Forrester herself. She also gave nicknames to others in her extended family, namely Felicia Forrester (Lesli Kay), whom she affectionately called "Fifi. '' In addition, Sally defended Stephanie against Sheila Carter (Kimberlin Brown), who was harassing the Forrester matriarch after poisoning her with mercury pills, this planted the seeds of Stephanie and Sally 's friendship.

who wrote the music for the movie rudderless

Rudderless - Wikipedia Rudderless is a 2014 American musical drama film which was the directorial debut of William H. Macy, and stars Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin, Felicity Huffman, Selena Gomez and Laurence Fishburne. The film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2014. The film was released in theaters and through video - on - demand beginning October 17, 2014. The film opens as Josh Manning (Miles Heizer) is recording his own songs in his college dorm room for demo and is interrupted by one of his floor mates looking for someone. He stops recording, annoyed at the interruption. Meanwhile, his father Sam Manning (Billy Crudup) has succeeded in landing a large account at his advertising firm, and calls Josh to celebrate with him and skip that day 's classes. Josh tells him he can not make it but his father insists, though Josh begins to make his way to the campus library anyway. Sam continues to wait at the bar where he told him to meet him and even leaves a message for Josh who has apparently stood him up. He is distracted by a news report of a school shooting incident at his son 's campus library on the television in the bar. Later, a memorial wake is being held at Josh 's home by his mother, Emily (Felicity Huffman), and due to the media coverage received, Sam has a difficult time being able to grieve in his own way with press being cordoned at the end of the street by police, and a news helicopter hovering above the family home. Sam is consoled by family and attendees while sitting alone to one side as his wife is greeting others. Sam walks into Josh 's bedroom to look around, attempting to find some kind of understanding over the loss, and is interrupted by Kate Lucas (Selena Gomez), who tells Sam that she and Josh had been dating the year prior. Sam then makes his way to his own home and finds the media coverage is interfering with his daily life, and he eventually succumbs to alcoholism, as far as showing up intoxicated at his firm; acting erratically and kissing his receptionist in a drunken state, for which his employer is advising him to take time off to better cope with the situation. Two years later, Sam has removed himself from his former life and is now living on a sailboat on a lake, far from home, having taken a job as a contractor 's assistant and for the most part drinking away his free time. His habits are causing habitual lateness and annoying his employer, who cautions Sam about repeated lateness. Getting up to relieve himself from the side of the boat has caught the chagrin of the governing board of the lake and the "wrath '' of Alaird Dupree (because it is openly visible to other tenants and the small seafood restaurant nearby), the agent acting on behalf of the board. It is clear he dislikes Sam, and the feeling is very much mutual. Going for a drink with some coworkers after his day of working, he hides the details of his previous life and his true identity from everyone, even making up humorous stories about his past. (He tells his coworkers that he "fingered '' Gotti and is in the protection of the Federal Witness Protection Program), Sam notices that "The Trill '' tavern hosts open mic events for musicians. Returning to the marina, he encounters Emily waiting for him, who says she is moving to Tulsa and is now the mother of a new son. She requires his signature to place their former house up for sale. She has also brought the remainder of Josh 's possessions -- demo discs, instruments and gear -- which Sam emphatically states he has no room for on his tiny sailboat. Emily tells him she was certain he would want it because they had played together since Josh was younger. Hours pass after Emily leaves. He tries his best to ignore the collection of his son 's possessions over a meal. He storms over to where Emily had left it beside the road and begins to place it in a dumpster but stops, noticing the notebooks and discs, and begins to listen to them back on the boat, and read through the collection of lyrics and writings Josh left behind. He even begins to teach himself some his son 's material. After work the next day, Sam decides to perform "Home '', one of Josh 's songs, at The Trill, and catches the attention of Quentin (Anton Yelchin), a young guitarist who was excitedly moved by the performance. The next day, Quentin brings Sam coffee and food and discusses the previous night performance, stating he believes there are other songs, and if there are, they could perform them together. Sam declares he is not interested, and continues to listen to more and teach himself his son 's material. Quentin tries again the next day and shows him an alternate arrangement possibility for the song. The two end up sharing a meal and playing instruments together for the rest of the night. Sam neglects to tell Quentin that he was not the piece 's actual author. At the end of the night, Quentin gets Sam to agree to perform together at The Trill, adding more and more to each arrangement, including a percussion section in the way of Aiken. The next day, Sam is introduced to Del (Laurence Fishburne), the owner and operator of the local music supply store, who reveals that he is selling his business and plans to retire and tour by motor home with his wife in his later years. Quentin shows Sam the 1978 Gibson Les Paul hanging in the store, but is unable to afford it (a source of good - natured joking between Quentin and Del). Upon leaving the store, Sam watches a staged meeting between Quentin and Willy, a bass guitarist, in hopes that they can include him in their performances, but Sam is resistant to starting a band. The next day, the quartet meeting to practice in Quentin 's garage beneath his apartment, and Quentin is very evasive about his own past. The group, now complete, has impressed The Trill owner (played by director William H. Macy) who asks them to perform regular Saturday nights as house entertainment, to which the band agrees -- even Sam, reluctantly. The new name, "Rudderless '', quickly gains notoriety and local fame. Meanwhile, Quentin is revealed as extremely shy of the opposite sex, which Sam attempts to help him through, though Quentin finds the advice generally unhelpful. Sam arrives at Quentin 's apartment one afternoon and meets his mother, Joyce, who Sam mistakes as an older prostitute after seeing Quentin hand her a small amount of cash as they hug. Quentin is embarrassed because his mother has had issues with (unspecified) responsibilities, even spending his junior year of high school living in a car, and has vowed never to lower himself to that level of poverty again. At the mall, Sam buys Quentin new clothing to give him a style, and develop confidence from it. It does help a little, and Quentin begins to enjoy the attention Rudderless has gained him. Following the show, as the band members are to go to a party, Sam sees Kate -- now calling herself by her middle name, Ann, who shames him for playing the songs in public. The next day, Sam visits Josh 's grave and finds it vandalized as Josh Manning is revealed to have been the killer in the school shooting incident where he died. Emily arrives with cleaning supplies, and implies its a fairly regular occurrence, and the two parents begin to clean off the graffiti from the headstone. Afterward, the two share some tequila, and its revealed that today is Josh 's birthday. Emily tells Sam that a couple of the other parents have reached out to her to forgive them for Josh 's actions, but Sam still appears to be in denial. Emily insists that they had acted properly in their parental roles and they have nothing to feel guilty for and that Josh had to have been mentally ill to carry out such an act of violence. Continuing to drink into the Saturday he is scheduled to work, Sam goes to his job and, finding a yard hammock, falls asleep. His employer finds and fires him. Sam assures him that he had already quit and walks away. Later that day, the other members of the band arrive with girls, and spend the afternoon on Sam 's boat. As Sam goes below, the other members plead with him about a local block party they have been invited to play, and its entirely possible it could lead to bigger and better opportunities for Rudderless in the way of airplay and exposure. But Sam is reluctant, now knowing that Josh 's songs would never be accepted when people find out the truth of their authorship. Sam visits Del the next day to acquire a new amplifier tube, and finds Del and wife Tina having gotten the RV stuck. Sam manages to get it out onto the street. Del asks him why he will not play the show, and Sam begins to question why he is really doing all of this. He arrives at Quentin 's garage and insists that the song Quentin wrote will be the final song, finally pushing him out of his comfort zone. Feeling good about the outcome, Sam makes his way toward the street stage and is surprised to find Kate / Ann talking to the other three members on the stage, presumably telling them the actual origin of the songs they all assumed Sam wrote. She confronts him and tells him that the incident and her association with it had so interfered with her life that she had to change her name and leave school. She had been pursued and harassed by people and media alike, asking humiliating questions, even suggesting they had been members of a cult. Quentin asks Sam if it was true, and Sam acknowledges the truth for the first time. Quentin outright refuses to play the material and strikes Sam as he is walking away despite the other two trying to persuade him to play the material one time only, and then move on. Sam again goes into a drinking binge and returns home to the marina to find the Board had the area sealed with a chain link fence. Sam attempts to climb it and falls over to the opposite side, breaking the guitar neck of his guitar strapped to his back, ruining it. The next morning, the scheduled sailing regatta Alaird warned him about is loudly underway. The sailboat procession is disrupted by Sam playing the 1812 Overture on his electric, sailing directly into the course of the other boats, and casting some over the sides of their own craft, for which Sam is arrested. He calls Del to bail him out and is surprised when Del tells him he knew who he was the entire time, but did not know the songs were written by Josh. The next day, Sam visits the site of the shooting, and finds the erected memorial identifying the shooting victims by name. Sam breaks down in tears of grief over the guilt of Josh 's actions, but finally accepts that he has lost his own son despite what he has done. Sam then visits Emily, bring her Josh 's discs, and says that one day, the new baby will want to know who his half brother was beyond what history will paint him to be. Sam then visits Del 's store and discovers Quentin has discarded his instruments, telling Del to sell them on consignment. Sam then asks if the offer on the store was a "good offer '', implying that Sam would be interested in buying Del 's store. He then goes to visit Quentin at the donut shop where he works, and implores him to continue playing and writing even if it is without Sam. Sam tells him that he found performing Josh 's material addictive, offering catharsis to his life and the bond with Josh. He concludes the visit, having brought back Quentin 's guitar cases. One contains the Les Paul that Quentin so long idolized and wanted. Finally, Sam performs the songs he had been working on, first admitting and telling the audience who Josh was, what he had done, and that he had written the song he was about to play. Closure for Rudderless lets us see Sam has been replaced by a new guitarist. Del has been given Sam 's sailboat (presumably in payment), and Emily finally decides to listen to Josh 's music. Sam completes the song, including (presumably) improvised lyrics about missing his son in the song 's climax and leaves the stage. Jeff Robison and Casey Twenter worked together on the screenplay for about five months in 2008. William H. Macy spent a year reworking the screenplay with the writers once he came aboard the project. Principal photography started on April 21, 2013 in Oklahoma City and Guthrie, Oklahoma. Scenes were shot at University of Central Oklahoma. Filming wrapped on May 26, 2013. Rudderless received generally mixed to positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a rating of 64 %, based on 42 reviews with an average rating of 6.4 / 10 with the reported consensus Rudderless asks its cast to carry an awful lot of weight for its occasionally manipulative story; fortunately, this talented bunch -- led by Billy Crudup -- is often more than up to the task. On Metacritic the film has a score of 52 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "Mixed or average reviews ''. The soundtrack album was released on September 30, 2014 by an independent label. It features songs by Eef Barzelay, the film band Rudderless, Selena Gomez and others. The album peaked at No. 12 on Billboard Top Soundtracks chart.

who escaped troy and eventually came to italy

Aeneid - wikipedia The Aeneid (/ ɪˈniːɪd /; Latin: Aeneis (ae̯ˈneːɪs)) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It comprises 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter. The first six of the poem 's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas 's wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem 's second half tells of the Trojans ' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco - Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas 's wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous pietas, and fashioned this into a compelling founding myth or national epic that at once tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic Wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues, and legitimized the Julio - Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes, and gods of Rome and Troy. The Aeneid is widely regarded as Virgil 's masterpiece and one of the greatest works of Latin literature. The Aeneid can be divided into two halves based on the disparate subject matter of Books 1 -- 6 (Aeneas 's journey to Latium in Italy) and Books 7 -- 12 (the war in Latium). These two halves are commonly regarded as reflecting Virgil 's ambition to rival Homer by treating both the Odyssey 's wandering theme and the Iliad 's warfare themes. This is, however, a rough correspondence, the limitations of which should be borne in mind. Virgil begins his poem with a statement of his theme (Arma virumque cano..., "I sing of arms and of a man... '') and an invocation to the Muse, falling some seven lines after the poem 's inception (Musa, mihi causas memora..., "O Muse, recount to me the causes... ''). He then explains the reason for the principal conflict in the story: the resentment held by the goddess Juno against the Trojan people. This is consistent with her role throughout the Homeric epics. Also in the manner of Homer, the story proper begins in medias res (into the middle of things), with the Trojan fleet in the eastern Mediterranean, heading in the direction of Italy. The fleet, led by Aeneas, is on a voyage to find a second home. It has been foretold that in Italy he will give rise to a race both noble and courageous, a race which will become known to all nations. Juno is wrathful, because she had not been chosen in the judgment of Paris, and because her favorite city, Carthage, will be destroyed by Aeneas 's descendants. Also, Ganymede, a Trojan prince, was chosen to be the cup bearer to her husband, Jupiter -- replacing Juno 's daughter, Hebe. Juno proceeds to Aeolus, King of the Winds, and asks that he release the winds to stir up a storm in exchange for a bribe (Deiopea, the loveliest of all her sea nymphs, as a wife). Aeolus does not accept the bribe, but agrees to carry out Juno 's orders (line 77, "My task is / To fulfill your commands ''); the storm then devastates the fleet. Neptune takes notice: although he himself is no friend of the Trojans, he is infuriated by Juno 's intrusion into his domain, and stills the winds and calms the waters, after making sure that the winds would not bother the Trojans again, lest they be punished more harshly than they were this time. The fleet takes shelter on the coast of Africa, where Aeneas rouses the spirits of his men, reassuring them that they have been through worse situations before. There, Aeneas 's mother, Venus, in the form of a huntress very similar to the goddess Diana, encourages him and recounts to him the history of Carthage. Eventually, Aeneas ventures into the city, and in the temple of Juno he seeks and gains the favor of Dido, queen of the city, which has only recently been founded by refugees from Tyre and which will later become a great imperial rival and enemy to Rome. Meanwhile, Venus has her own plans. She goes to her son, Aeneas 's half - brother Cupid, and tells him to imitate Ascanius (the son of Aeneas and his first wife Creusa). Disguised as such, Cupid goes to Dido and offers the gifts expected from a guest. With Dido 's motherly love revived as she cradles the boy during a banquet given in honour of the Trojans, Cupid secretly weakens her sworn fidelity to the soul of her late husband, Sychaeus, who had been murdered by her brother, Pygmalion. Aeneas sadly recounts the events that occasioned the Trojans ' arrival. He begins the tale shortly after the war described in the Iliad: Cunning Ulysses devised a way for Greek warriors to gain entry into the walled city of Troy by hiding in a large wooden horse. The Greeks pretended to sail away, leaving a warrior, Sinon, to inform the Trojans that the horse was an offering and that if it were taken into the city, the Trojans would be able to conquer Greece. The Trojan priest Laocoön saw through the Greek plot and urged the horse 's destruction, but his protests fell on deaf ears, so he hurled his spear at the horse. Then, in what would be seen by the Trojans as punishment from the gods, two serpents emerged from the sea and devoured Laocoön, along with his two sons. The Trojans then took the horse inside the fortified walls, and after nightfall the armed Greeks emerged from it, opening the city 's gates to allow the returned Greek army to slaughter the Trojans. In a dream, Hector, the fallen Trojan prince, advised Aeneas to flee with his family. Aeneas awoke and saw with horror what was happening to his beloved city. At first he tried to fight the enemy, but soon he lost his comrades and was left alone to fend off the Greeks. He witnessed the murder of Priam by Achilles ' son Pyrrhus. His mother, Venus, appeared to him and led him back to his house. Aeneas tells of his escape with his son, Ascanius, and father, Anchises, after the occurrence of various omens (Ascanius ' head catching fire without his being harmed, a clap of thunder and a shooting star). After fleeing Troy, he goes back for his wife, Creusa, but she has been killed. Her ghost tells him that his destiny is to found a new city in the West. He tells of how, rallying the other survivors, he built a fleet of ships and made landfall at various locations in the Mediterranean: Thrace, where they find the last remains of a fellow Trojan, Polydorus; the Strophades, where they encounter the Harpy Celaeno, who tells them to leave her island and to look for Italy; Crete, which they believe to be the land where they are to build their city, which they name Pergamea (but they are set straight by Apollo); and Buthrotum. This last city had been built in an attempt to replicate Troy. In Buthrotum, Aeneas meets Andromache, the widow of Hector. She is still lamenting the loss of her valiant husband and beloved child. There, too, Aeneas sees and meets Helenus, one of Priam 's sons, who has the gift of prophecy. Through him, Aeneas learns the destiny laid out for him: he is divinely advised to seek out the land of Italy (also known as Ausonia or Hesperia), where his descendants will not only prosper, but in time rule the entire known world. In addition, Helenus also bids him go to the Sibyl in Cumae. Heading into the open sea, Aeneas leaves Buthrotum, rounds the SE tip of Italy and makes his way towards Sicily (Trinacria). There, they are caught in the whirlpool of Charybdis and driven out to sea. Soon they come ashore at the land of the Cyclopes. There they meet a Greek, Achaemenides, one of Ulysses ' men, who has been left behind when his comrades escaped the cave of Polyphemus. They take Achaemenides on board and narrowly escape Polyphemus. Shortly after, Anchises dies peacefully of old age, and Aeneas sails to Carthage. Aeneas finishes his story, and Dido realizes that she has fallen in love with Aeneas. Juno seizes upon this opportunity to make a deal with Venus, Aeneas 's mother, with the intention of distracting Aeneas from his destiny of founding a city in Italy. Aeneas is inclined to return Dido 's love, and during a hunting expedition, a storm drives them into a cave in which Aeneas and Dido presumably have sex, an event that Dido takes to indicate a marriage between them. But when Jupiter sends Mercury to remind Aeneas of his duty, he has no choice but to part. Her heart broken, Dido commits suicide by stabbing herself upon a pyre with Aeneas 's sword. Before dying, she predicts eternal strife between Aeneas 's people and hers; "rise up from my bones, avenging spirit '' (4.625, trans. Fitzgerald) is a possible invocation to Hannibal. Looking back from the deck of his ship, Aeneas sees the smoke of Dido 's funeral pyre and knows its meaning only too clearly. Nevertheless, destiny calls, and the Trojan fleet sails on to Italy. Book 5 takes place on Sicily and centers on the funeral games that Aeneas organizes for the anniversary of his father 's death. Aeneas and his men have left Carthage for Sicily, where Aeneas organizes celebratory games -- a boat race, a foot race, a boxing match, and an archery contest. In all those contests, Aeneas is careful to reward winners and losers, showing his leadership qualities by not allowing antagonism even after foul play. Each of these contests comments on past events or prefigures future events: the boxing match, for instance, is "a preview of the final encounter of Aeneas and Turnus '', and the dove, the target during the archery contest, is connected to the deaths of Polites and King Priam in Book 2 and that of Camilla in Book 11. Afterwards, Ascanius leads the boys in a military parade and mock battle, a tradition he will teach the Latins while building the walls of Alba Longa. During these events (in which only men participate), Juno incites the womenfolk to burn the fleet and prevent the Trojans from ever reaching Italy, but her plan is thwarted when Ascanius and Aeneas intervene. Aeneas prays to Jupiter to quench the fires, which the god does with a torrential rainstorm. An anxious Aeneas is comforted by a vision of his father, who tells him to go to the underworld to receive a vision of his and Rome 's future. In return for safe passage to Italy, the gods, by order of Jupiter, will receive one of Aeneas 's men as a sacrifice: Palinurus, who steers Aeneas 's ship by night, falls overboard. In Book 6, Aeneas, with the guidance of the Cumaean Sibyl, descends into the underworld through an opening at Cumae. They pass by crowds of the dead by the banks of the river Acheron and are ferried across by Charon before passing by Cerberus. Then Aeneas is shown the fates of the wicked in Tartarus and is warned by the Sibyl to bow to the justice of the gods. He is then brought to green fields of Elysium. There he speaks with the spirit of his father and is offered a prophetic vision of the destiny of Rome. Upon returning to the land of the living, Aeneas leads the Trojans to settle in Latium, where he courts Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus. Although Aeneas wished to avoid a war, hostilities break out. Juno is heavily involved in bringing about this war -- she has persuaded the Queen of Latium to demand that Lavinia be married to Turnus, the ruler of a local people, the Rutuli. Juno continues to stir up trouble, even summoning the fury Alecto to ensure that a war takes place. Seeing the masses of warriors that Turnus has brought against him, Aeneas seeks help from the Tuscans, enemies of the Rutuli. He meets King Evander of Arcadia, whose son Pallas agrees to lead troops against the other Italians. Meanwhile, in book 9, the Trojan camp is attacked, and a midnight raid leads to the deaths of Nisus and his companion, Euryalus. The gates, however, are defended until Aeneas returns with his Tuscan and Arcadian reinforcements. In the battling that follows, many are slain -- notably Pallas (a close friend of Aeneas), who is killed by Turnus, and Mezentius, Turnus 's close associate. Mezentius, who has allowed his son to be killed while he himself fled, reproaches himself and faces Aeneas in single combat -- an honourable but essentially futile endeavour. In book 11, another notable, Camilla, a sort of Amazon character, fights bravely but is killed. She has been a virgin devoted to Diana and to her nation; Arruns, the man who kills her, is struck dead by Diana 's sentinel, Opis. Single combat is then proposed between Aeneas and Turnus, but Aeneas is so obviously superior to Turnus that the Italians, urged on by Turnus 's divine sister, Juturna, break the truce. Aeneas is injured, but returns to the battle. Turnus and Aeneas dominate the battle on opposite wings, but when Aeneas makes a daring attack at the city of Latium (causing the queen of Latium to hang herself in despair), he forces Turnus into single combat once more. Turnus 's strength deserts him as he tries to hurl a rock, and Aeneas 's spear goes through his thigh. As Turnus is begging on his knees for his life, the epic ends with Aeneas first tempted to obey pleas to spare Turnus 's life, but killing him in rage when he sees that Turnus is wearing his friend Pallas 's belt over a shoulder as a trophy. Critics of the Aeneid focus on a variety of issues. The tone of the poem as a whole is a particular matter of debate; some see the poem as ultimately pessimistic and politically subversive to the Augustan regime, while others view it as a celebration of the new imperial dynasty. Virgil makes use of the symbolism of the Augustan regime, and some scholars see strong associations between Augustus and Aeneas, the one as founder and the other as re-founder of Rome. A strong teleology, or drive towards a climax, has been detected in the poem. The Aeneid is full of prophecies about the future of Rome, the deeds of Augustus, his ancestors, and famous Romans, and the Carthaginian Wars; the shield of Aeneas even depicts Augustus ' victory at Actium in 31 BC. A further focus of study is the character of Aeneas. As the protagonist of the poem, Aeneas seems to constantly waver between his emotions and commitment to his prophetic duty to found Rome; critics note the breakdown of Aeneas 's emotional control in the last sections of the poem where the "pious '' and "righteous '' Aeneas mercilessly slaughters Turnus. The Aeneid appears to have been a great success. Virgil is said to have recited Books 2, 4 and 6 to Augustus; the mention of her son, Marcellus, in book 6 apparently caused Augustus ' sister Octavia to faint. The poem was unfinished when Virgil died in 19 BC. According to tradition, Virgil traveled to Greece around 19 BC to revise the Aeneid. After meeting Augustus in Athens and deciding to return home, Virgil caught a fever while visiting a town near Megara. Virgil crossed to Italy by ship, weakened with disease, and died in Brundisium harbour on 21 September 19 BC, leaving a wish that the manuscript of the Aeneid was to be burned. Augustus ordered Virgil 's literary executors, Lucius Varius Rufus and Plotius Tucca, to disregard that wish, instead ordering the Aeneid to be published with as few editorial changes as possible. As a result, the existing text of the Aeneid may contain faults which Virgil was planning to correct before publication. However, the only obvious imperfections are a few lines of verse that are metrically unfinished (i.e., not a complete line of dactylic hexameter). Other alleged "imperfections '' are subject to scholarly debate. The Aeneid was written in a time of major political and social change in Rome, with the fall of the Republic and the Final War of the Roman Republic having torn through society and many Romans ' faith in the "Greatness of Rome '' severely faltering. However, the new emperor, Augustus Caesar, began to institute a new era of prosperity and peace, specifically through the re-introduction of traditional Roman moral values. The Aeneid was seen as reflecting this aim, by depicting the heroic Aeneas as a man devoted and loyal to his country and its prominence, rather than personal gains, and going off on a journey for the betterment of Rome. In addition, the Aeneid gives mythic legitimization to the rule of Julius Caesar and, by extension, to his adopted son Augustus, by immortalizing the tradition that renamed Aeneas 's son, Ascanius (called Ilus from Ilium, meaning Troy), Iulus, thus making him an ancestor of the gens Julia, the family of Julius Caesar, and many other great imperial descendants as part of the prophecy given to him in the Underworld. (The meter shows that the name "Iulus '' is pronounced as 3 syllables, not as "Julus ''.) Despite the polished and complex nature of the Aeneid (legend stating that Virgil wrote only three lines of the poem each day), the number of half - complete lines and the abrupt ending are generally seen as evidence that Virgil died before he could finish the work. Because this poem was composed and preserved in writing rather than orally, the Aeneid is more complete than most classical epics. Furthermore, it is possible to debate whether Virgil intended to rewrite and add to such lines. Some of them would be difficult to complete, and in some instances, the brevity of a line increases its dramatic impact (some arguing the violent ending as a typically Virgilian comment on the darker, vengeful side of humanity). However, these arguments may be anachronistic -- half - finished lines might equally, to Roman readers, have been a clear indication of an unfinished poem and have added nothing whatsoever to the dramatic effect. The perceived deficiency of any account of Aeneas 's marriage to Lavinia or his founding of the Roman race led some writers, such as the 15th - century Italian poet Maffeo Vegio (through his Mapheus Vegius widely printed in the Renaissance), Pier Candido Decembrio (whose attempt was never completed), Claudio Salvucci (in his 1994 epic poem The Laviniad), and Ursula K. Le Guin (in her 2008 novel Lavinia) to compose their own supplements. Some legends state that Virgil, fearing that he would die before he had properly revised the poem, gave instructions to friends (including the current emperor, Augustus) that the Aeneid should be burned upon his death, owing to its unfinished state and because he had come to dislike one of the sequences in Book VIII, in which Venus and Vulcan have sexual intercourse, for its nonconformity to Roman moral virtues. The friends did not comply with Virgil 's wishes and Augustus himself ordered that they be disregarded. After minor modifications, the Aeneid was published. The first full and faithful rendering of the poem in an Anglic language is the Scots translation by Gavin Douglas -- his Eneados, completed in 1513, which also included Maffeo Vegio 's supplement. Even in the 20th century, Ezra Pound considered this still to be the best Aeneid translation, praising the "richness and fervour '' of its language and its hallmark fidelity to the original. The English translation by the 17th - century poet John Dryden is another important version. Most classic translations, including both Douglas and Dryden, employed a rhyme scheme, a very non-Roman convention that is not usually followed in modern versions. Recent English verse translations include those by British Poet Laureate Cecil Day - Lewis (1963) which strove to render Virgil 's original hexameter line, Allen Mandelbaum (honoured by a 1973 National Book Award), Library of Congress Poet Laureate Robert Fitzgerald (1981), Stanley Lombardo (2005), Robert Fagles (2006), Sarah Ruden (2008), and Barry B. Powell (2015). As with other classical Latin poetry, the meter is based on the length of syllables rather than the stress, though the interplay of meter and stress is also important. Virgil also incorporated such poetic devices as alliteration, onomatopoeia, synecdoche, and assonance. Furthermore, he uses personification, metaphor and simile in his work, usually to add drama and tension to the scene. An example of a simile can be found in book II when Aeneas is compared to a shepherd who stood on the high top of a rock unaware of what is going on around him. It can be seen that just as the shepherd is a protector of his sheep, so too is Aeneas to his people. As was the rule in classical antiquity, an author 's style was seen as an expression of his personality and character. Virgil 's Latin has been praised for its evenness, subtlety and dignity. The Aeneid, like other classical epics, is written in dactylic hexameters: each line consists of six metrical feet made up of dactyls (one long syllable followed by two short syllables) and spondees (two long syllables). This epic consists of twelve books, and the narrative is broken up into three sections of four books each, respectively addressing Dido; the Trojans ' arrival in Italy; and the war with the Latins. Each book has about 1000 lines. The Aeneid comes to an abrupt ending, and scholars have speculated that Virgil died before he could finish the poem. The Roman ideal of pietas ("piety, dutiful respect ''), which can be loosely translated from the Latin as a selfless sense of duty toward one 's filial, religious, and societal obligations, was a crux of ancient Roman morality. Throughout the Aeneid, Aeneas serves as the embodiment of pietas, with the phrase "pious Aeneas '' occurring 20 times throughout the poem, thereby fulfilling his capacity as the father of the Roman people. For instance, in Book 2 Aeneas describes how he carried his father Anchises from the burning city of Troy: "No help / Or hope of help existed. / So I resigned myself, picked up my father, / And turned my face toward the mountain range. '' Furthermore, Aeneas ventures into the underworld, thereby fulfilling Anchises ' wishes. His father 's gratitude is presented in the text by the following lines: "Have you at last come, has that loyalty / Your father counted on conquered the journey? However, Aeneas 's pietas extends beyond his devotion to his father: we also see several examples of his religious fervour. Aeneas is consistently subservient to the gods, even in actions opposed to his own desires, as he responds to one such divine command, "I sail to Italy not of my own free will. '' In addition to his religious and familial pietas, Aeneas also displays fervent patriotism and devotion to his people, particularly in a military capacity. For instance, as he and his followers leave Troy, Aeneas swears that he will "take up / The combat once again. We shall not all / Die this day unavenged. '' Aeneas is a symbol of pietas in all of its forms, serving as a moral paragon to whom a Roman should aspire. One of the most recurring themes in the Aeneid is that of divine intervention. Throughout the poem, the gods are constantly influencing the main characters and trying to change and impact the outcome, regardless of the fate that they all know will occur. For example, Juno comes down and acts as a phantom Aeneas to drive Turnus away from the real Aeneas and all of his rage from the death of Pallas. Even though Juno knows in the end that Aeneas will triumph over Turnus, she does all she can to delay and avoid this outcome. Divine intervention occurs multiple times in Book 4 especially. Aeneas falls in love with Dido, delaying his ultimate fate of traveling to Italy. However, it is actually the gods who inspired the love, as Juno plots: Dido and the Trojan captain (will come) To one same cavern. I shall be on hand, And if I can be certain you are willing, There I shall marry them and call her his. A wedding, this will be. Juno is speaking to Venus, making an agreement and influencing the lives and emotions of both Dido and Aeneas. Later in the same book, Jupiter steps in and restores what is the true fate and path for Aeneas, sending Mercury down to Aeneas 's dreams, telling him that he must travel to Italy and leave his new - found lover. As Aeneas later pleads with Dido: The gods ' interpreter, sent by Jove himself -- I swear it by your head and mine -- has brought Commands down through the racing winds!... I sail for Italy not of my own free will. Several of the gods try to intervene against the powers of fate, even though they know what the eventual outcome will be. The interventions are really just distractions to continue the conflict and postpone the inevitable. If the gods represent humans, just as the human characters engage in conflicts and power struggles, so too do the gods. Fate, described as a preordained destiny that men and gods have to follow, is a major theme in the Aeneid. One example is when Aeneas is reminded of his fate through Jupiter and Mercury while he is falling in love with Dido. Mercury urges, "Think of your expectations of your heir, / Iulus, to whom the whole Italian realm, the land / Of Rome, are due. '' Mercury is referring to Aeneas 's preordained fate to found Rome, as well as Rome 's preordained fate to rule the world: He was to be ruler of Italy, Potential empire, armorer of war; To father men from Teucer 's noble blood And bring the whole world under law 's dominion. It is important to recognize that there is a marked difference between fate and divine intervention, as even though the gods might remind mortals of their eventual fate, the gods themselves are not in control of it. For example, the opening lines of the poem specify that Aeneas "came to Italy by destiny, '' but is also harassed by the separate force of "baleful Juno in her sleepless rage. '' Even though Juno might intervene, Aeneas 's fate is set in stone and can not be changed. Later in Book 6 when Aeneas visits the underworld, his father Anchises introduces him to the larger fate of the Roman people, as contrasted against his own personal fate to found Rome: So raptly, everywhere, father and son Wandered the airy plain and viewed it all. After Anchises had conducted him To every region and had fired his love Of glory in the years to come, he spoke Of wars that he might fight, of Laurentines, And of Latinus ' city, then of how He might avoid or bear each toil to come. From the very beginning of the Aeneid, violence and conflict are used as a means of survival and conquest. Aeneas 's voyage is caused by the Trojan War and the destruction of Troy. Aeneas describes to Dido in Book 2 the massive amount of destruction that occurs after the Greeks sneak into Troy. He recalls that he asks his men to "defend / A city lost in flames. Come, let us die, / We 'll make a rush into the thick of it. '' This is one of the first examples of how violence begets violence: even though the Trojans know they have lost the battle, they continue to fight for their country. This violence continues as Aeneas makes his journey. Dido kills herself in an excessively violent way over a pyre in order to end and escape her worldly problem: being heartbroken over the departure of her "husband '' Aeneas. Queen Dido 's suicide is a double edged sword. While releasing herself from the burden of her pain through violence, her last words implore her people to view Aeneas 's people with hate for all eternity: This is my last cry, as my last blood flows. Then, O my Tyrians, besiege with hate His progeny and all his race to come: Make this your offering to my dust. No love, No pact must be between our peoples. Furthermore, her people, hearing of their queen 's death, have only one avenue on which to direct the blame: the already - departed Trojans. Thus, Dido 's request of her people and her people 's only recourse for closure align in their mutual hate for Aeneas and his Trojans. In effect, Dido 's violent suicide leads to the violent nature of the later relationship between Carthage and Rome. Finally, when Aeneas arrives in Latium, conflict inevitably arises. Juno sends Alecto, one of the Furies, to cause Turnus to go against Aeneas. In the ensuing battles, Turnus kills Pallas, who is supposed to be under Aeneas 's protection. This act of violence causes Aeneas to be consumed with fury. Although Turnus asks for mercy in their final encounter, when Aeneas sees that Turnus has taken Pallas ' sword belt, Aeneas proclaims: You in your plunder, torn from one of mine, Shall I be robbed of you? This wound will come From Pallas: Pallas makes this offering And from your criminal blood exacts his due. This final act of violence shows how Turnus ' violence -- the act of killing Pallas -- inevitably leads to more violence and his own death. It is possible that the recurring theme of violence in the Aeneid is a subtle commentary on the bloody violence contemporary readers would have just experienced during the Late Republican civil wars. The Aeneid potentially explores whether the violence of the civil wars was necessary to establish a lasting peace under Augustus, or whether it would just lead to more violence in the future. Written during the reign of Augustus, the Aeneid presents the hero Aeneas as a strong and powerful leader. The favorable representation of Aeneas parallels Augustus in that it portrays his reign in a progressive and admirable light, and allows Augustus to be positively associated with the portrayal of Aeneas. Although Virgil 's patron Maecenas was obviously not Augustus himself, he was still a high figure within Augustus ' administration and could have personally benefitted from representing Aeneas in a positive light. In the Aeneid, Aeneas is portrayed as the singular hope for the rebirth of the Trojan people. Charged with the preservation of his people by divine authority, Aeneas is symbolic of Augustus ' own accomplishments in establishing order after the long period of chaos of the Roman civil wars. Augustus as the light of savior and the last hope of the Roman people is a parallel to Aeneas as the savior of the Trojans. This parallel functions as propaganda in support of Augustus, as it depicts the Trojan people, future Romans themselves, as uniting behind a single leader who will lead them out of ruin: New refugees in a great crowd: men and women Gathered for exile, young - pitiful people Coming from every quarter, minds made up, With their belongings, for whatever lands I 'd lead them to by sea. Later in Book 6, Aeneas travels to the underworld where he sees his father Anchises, who tells him of his own destiny as well as that of the Roman people. Anchises describes how Aeneas 's descendant Romulus will found the great city of Rome, which will eventually be ruled by Caesar Augustus: Turn your two eyes This way and see this people, your own Romans. Here is Caesar, and all the line of Iulus, All who shall one day pass under the dome Of the great sky: this is the man, this one, Of whom so often you have heard the promise, Caesar Augustus, son of the deified, Who shall bring once again an Age of Gold To Latium, to the land where Saturn reigned In early times. Virgil writes about the fated future of the city that Aeneas will found, which will in turn lead directly to the golden reign of Augustus. Virgil is using a form of literary propaganda to demonstrate the Augustan regime 's destiny to bring glory and peace to Rome. Rather than use Aeneas indirectly as a positive parallel to Augustus as in other parts of the poem, Virgil outright praises the emperor in Book 6, referring to Augustus as a harbinger for the glory of Rome and new levels of prosperity. The poem abounds with smaller and greater allegories. Two of the debated allegorical sections pertain to the exit from the underworld and to Pallas 's belt. Aeneas 's leaving the underworld through the gate of false dreams has been variously interpreted: One suggestion is that the passage simply refers to the time of day at which Aeneas returned to the world of the living; another is that it implies that all of Aeneas 's actions in the remainder of the poem are somehow "false ''. In an extension of the latter interpretation, it has been suggested that Virgil is conveying that the history of the world since the foundation of Rome is but a lie. Other scholars claim that Virgil is establishing that the theological implications of the preceding scene (an apparent system of reincarnation) are not to be taken as literal. The second section in question is This section has been interpreted to mean that for the entire passage of the poem, Aeneas who symbolizes pietas (reason) in a moment becomes furor (fury), thus destroying what is essentially the primary theme of the poem itself. Many have argued over these two sections. Some claim that Virgil meant to change them before he died, while others find that the location of the two passages, at the very end of the so - called Volume I (Books 1 -- 6, the Odyssey), and Volume II (Books 7 -- 12, the Iliad), and their short length, which contrasts with the lengthy nature of the poem, are evidence that Virgil placed them purposefully there. The Aeneid is a cornerstone of the Western canon, and early (at least by the 2nd century AD) became one of the essential elements of a Latin education, usually required to be memorized. Even after the decline of the Roman Empire, it "remained central to a Latin education ''. In Latin - Christian culture, the Aeneid was one of the canonical texts, subjected to commentary as a philological and educational study, with the most complete commentary having been written by the 4th - century grammarian Maurus Servius Honoratus. It was widely held to be the pinnacle of Latin literature, much in the same way that the Iliad was seen to be supreme in Greek literature. The strong influence of the Aeneid has been identified in the development of European vernacular literatures -- some English works that show its influence being Beowulf, Layamon 's Brut (through the source text Historia Regum Britanniae), The Faerie Queene, and Milton 's Paradise Lost. The Italian poet Dante Alighieri was himself profoundly influenced by the Aeneid, so much so that his magnum opus The Divine Comedy, itself widely considered central to the western canon, includes a number of quotations from and allusions to the Aeneid and features the author Virgil as a major character -- the guide of Dante through the realms of the Inferno and Purgatorio. Another continental work displaying the influence of the Aeneid is the 16th - century Portuguese epic Os Lusíadas, written by Luís Vaz de Camões and dealing with Vasco de Gama 's voyage to India. The importance of Latin education itself was paramount in Western culture: "from 1600 to 1900, the Latin school was at the center of European education, wherever it was found ''; within that Latin school, Virgil was taught at the advanced level and, in 19th - century England, special editions of Virgil were awarded to students who distinguished themselves. In the United States, Virgil and specifically the Aeneid were taught in the fourth year of a Latin sequence, at least until the 1960s; the current (2011) Advanced Placement curriculum in Latin continues to assign a central position to the poem: "The AP Latin: Virgil Exam is designed to test the student 's ability to read, translate, understand, analyze, and interpret the lines of the Aeneid that appear on the course syllabus in Latin. '' Many phrases from this poem entered the Latin language, much as passages from Shakespeare and Alexander Pope have entered the English language. One example is from Aeneas 's reaction to a painting of the sack of Troy: Sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt -- "These are the tears of things, and our mortality cuts to the heart '' (Aeneid I, 462). The influence is also visible in very modern work: Brian Friel 's Translations (a play written in the 1980s, set in 19th century Ireland), makes references to the classics throughout and ends with a passage from the Aeneid: Urbs antiqua fuit -- there was an ancient city which, ' tis said, Juno loved above all the lands. And it was the goddess 's aim and cherished hope that here should be the capital of all nations -- should the fates perchance allow that. Yet in truth she discovered that a race was springing from Trojan blood to overthrow some day these Tyrian towers -- a people late regem belloque superbum -- kings of broad realms and proud in war who would come forth for Libya 's downfall. The Aeneid was the basis for the 1962 Italian film The Avenger. In the musical Spring Awakening, based on the play of the same title by Frank Wedekind, schoolboys study the Latin text, and the first verse of Book 1 is incorporated into the number "All That 's Known ''. Ursula Le Guin 's 2008 novel Lavinia is a free prose retelling of the last six books of the Aeneid narrated by and centered on Aeneas ' Latin wife Lavinia, a minor character in the epic poem. It carries the action forward to the crowning of Aeneas ' grandson Silvius as king of Latium. A seventeenth century popular broadside ballad also appears to recount events from books 1 -- 4 of the Aeneid, focusing mostly on the relationship between Aeneas and Dido. The ballad, "The Wandering Prince of Troy '', presents many similar elements as Virgil 's epic, but alters Dido 's final sentiments toward Aeneas, as well as presents an interesting end for Aeneas himself.

who won 2017-18 nba rookie of the year

NBA rookie of the Year award - wikipedia The National Basketball Association 's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie (s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952 -- 53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy, named after the former Philadelphia Warriors head coach. The winner is selected by a panel of United States and Canadian sportswriters and broadcasters, each casting first, second, and third place votes (worth five points, three points, and one point respectively). The player (s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first - place votes, wins the award. The most recent Rookie of the Year winner is Ben Simmons. Twenty - one winners were drafted first overall. Sixteen winners have also won the NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in their careers; Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld earning both honors the same season. Nineteen of the forty two non-active winners have been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Three seasons had joint winners -- Dave Cowens and Geoff Petrie in the 1970 -- 71 season, Grant Hill and Jason Kidd in the 1994 -- 95 season, and Elton Brand and Steve Francis in the 1999 -- 2000 season. Five players won the award unanimously (by capturing all of the first - place votes) -- Ralph Sampson, David Robinson, Blake Griffin, Damian Lillard, and Karl - Anthony Towns. Patrick Ewing of Jamaica, Pau Gasol of Spain, Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons of Australia and Andrew Wiggins of Canada are the only winners not born in the United States. Three of these individuals have dual nationality by birth -- Wiggins and Simmons have American fathers, and both of Irving 's parents are Americans. Ewing immigrated to the Boston area at age 11, Irving moved to the United States at age 2, and Wiggins and Simmons moved to the U.S. while in high school. Gasol is the only winner trained totally outside the U.S. Prior to the 1952 -- 53 season, the Rookie of the Year was selected by newspaper writers; however, the NBA does not officially recognize those players as winners. The league did publish the pre-1953 winners in their 1994 -- 95 edition of the Official NBA Guide and the 1994 Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, but those winners have not been listed in subsequent publications.

what type of land is the great plains

Great Plains - wikipedia The Great Plains (sometimes simply "the Plains '') is the broad expanse of flat land (a plain), much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland, that lies west of the Mississippi River tallgrass prairie in the United States and east of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. and Canada. It embraces: The region is known for supporting extensive cattle ranching and dry farming. The Canadian portion of the Plains is known as the Prairies. It covers much of Alberta and southern Saskatchewan, and a narrow band of southern Manitoba. Despite covering a relatively small geographic area, the Prairies are nevertheless home to the majority of each of the three provinces ' respective populations. The term "Great Plains '' is used in the United States to describe a sub-section of the even more vast Interior Plains physiographic division, which covers much of the interior of North America. It also has currency as a region of human geography, referring to the Plains Indians or the Plains States. In Canada the term is little used; Natural Resources Canada, the government department responsible for official mapping, treats the Interior Plains as one unit consisting of several related plateaux and plains. There is no region referred to as the "Great Plains '' in The Atlas of Canada. In terms of human geography, the term prairie is more commonly used in Canada, and the region is known as the Prairie Provinces or simply "the Prairies. '' The North American Environmental Atlas, produced by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, a NAFTA agency composed of the geographical agencies of the Mexican, American, and Canadian governments, uses the "Great Plains '' as an ecoregion synonymous with predominant prairies and grasslands rather than as physiographic region defined by topography. The Great Plains ecoregion includes five sub-regions: Temperate Prairies, West - Central Semi-Arid Prairies, South - Central Semi-Arid Prairies, Texas Louisiana Coastal Plains, and Tamaulipas - Texas Semi-Arid Plain, which overlap or expand upon other Great Plains designations. The region is about 500 mi (800 km) east to west and 2,000 mi (3,200 km) north to south. Much of the region was home to American bison herds until they were hunted to near extinction during the mid / late - 19th century. It has an area of approximately 500,000 sq mi (1,300,000 km). Current thinking regarding the geographic boundaries of the Great Plains is shown by this map at the Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska -- Lincoln. The term "Great Plains '', for the region west of about the 96th and east of the Rocky Mountains, was not generally used before the early 20th century. Nevin Fenneman 's 1916 study Physiographic Subdivision of the United States brought the term Great Plains into more widespread usage. Before that the region was almost invariably called the High Plains, in contrast to the lower Prairie Plains of the Midwestern states. Today the term "High Plains '' is used for a subregion of the Great Plains. The Great Plains are the westernmost portion of the vast North American Interior Plains, which extend east to the Appalachian Plateau. The United States Geological Survey divides the Great Plains in the United States into ten physiographic subdivisions: The Great Plains consist of a broad stretch of country underlain by nearly horizontal strata extends westward from the 97th meridian west to the base of the Rocky Mountains, a distance of from 300 to 500 miles (480 to 800 km). It extends northward from the Mexican boundary far into Canada. Although the altitude of the plains increases gradually from 600 or 1,200 ft (370 m) on the east to 4,000 -- 5,000 or 6,000 feet (1,800 m) near the mountains, the local relief is generally small. The semi-arid climate excludes tree growth and opens far - reaching views. The plains are by no means a simple unit. They are of diverse structure and of various stages of erosional development. They are occasionally interrupted by buttes and escarpments. They are frequently broken by valleys. Yet on the whole, a broadly extended surface of moderate relief so often prevails that the name, Great Plains, for the region as a whole is well - deserved. The western boundary of the plains is usually well - defined by the abrupt ascent of the mountains. The eastern boundary of the plains is more climatic than topographic. The line of 20 in. of annual rainfall trends a little east of northward near the 97th meridian. If a boundary must be drawn where nature presents only a gradual transition, this rainfall line may be taken to divide the drier plains from the moister prairies. The plains may be described in northern, intermediate, central and southern sections, in relation to certain peculiar features. The northern section of the Great Plains, north of latitude 44 °, including eastern Montana, north - eastern Wyoming, most of North and South Dakota, and the Canadian Prairies, is a moderately dissected peneplain. This is one of the best examples of its kind. The strata here are Cretaceous or early Tertiary, lying nearly horizontal. The surface is shown to be a plain of degradation by a gradual ascent here and there to the crest of a ragged escarpment, the escarpment - remnant of a resistant stratum. There are also the occasional lava - capped mesas and dike formed ridges, surmounting the general level by 500 ft (150 m) or more and manifestly demonstrating the widespread erosion of the surrounding plains. All these reliefs are more plentiful towards the mountains in central Montana. The peneplain is no longer in the cycle of erosion that witnessed its production. It appears to have suffered a regional uplift or increase in elevation, for the upper Missouri River and its branches no longer flow on the surface of the plain, but in well graded, maturely opened valleys, several hundred feet below the general level. A significant exception to the rule of mature valleys occurs, however, in the case of the Missouri, the largest river, which is broken by several falls on hard sandstones about 50 miles (80 km) east of the mountains. This peculiar feature is explained as the result of displacement of the river from a better graded preglacial valley by the Pleistocene ice sheet. Here, the ice sheet overspread the plains from the moderately elevated Canadian highlands far on the north - east, instead of from the much higher mountains near by on the west. The present altitude of the plains near the mountain base is 4,000 ft (1,200 m). The northern plains are interrupted by several small mountain areas. The Black Hills, chiefly in western South Dakota, are the largest group. They rise like a large island from the sea, occupying an oval area of about 100 miles (160 km) north - south by 50 miles (80 km) east - west. At Black Elk Peak, they reach an altitude of 7,216 feet (2,199 m) and have an effective relief over the plains of 2000 or 3,000 ft (910 m) This mountain mass is of flat - arched, dome - like structure, now well dissected by radiating consequent streams. The weaker uppermost strata have been eroded down to the level of the plains where their upturned edges are evenly truncated. The next following harder strata have been sufficiently eroded to disclose the core of underlying igneous and metamorphic crystalline rocks in about half of the domed area. In the intermediate section of the plains, between latitudes 44 ° and 42 °, including southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska, the erosion of certain large districts is peculiarly elaborate. Known as the Badlands, it is a minutely dissected form with a relief of a few hundred feet. This is due to several causes: The central section of the Great Plains, between latitudes 42 ° and 36 °, occupying eastern Colorado and western Kansas, is, briefly stated, for the most part a dissected fluviatile plain. That is, this section was once smoothly covered with a gently sloping plain of gravel and sand that had been spread far forward on a broad denuded area as a piedmont deposit by the rivers which issued from the mountains. Since then, it has been more or less dissected by the erosion of valleys. The central section of the plains thus presents a marked contrast to the northern section. While the northern section owes its smoothness to the removal of local gravels and sands from a formerly uneven surface by the action of degrading rivers and their inflowing tributaries, the southern section owes its smoothness to the deposition of imported gravels and sands upon a previously uneven surface by the action of aggrading rivers and their outgoing distributaries. The two sections are also alike in that residual eminences still here and there surmount the peneplain of the northern section, while the fluviatile plain of the central section completely buried the pre-existent relief. Exception to this statement must be made in the southwest, close to the mountains in southern Colorado, where some lava - capped mesas (Mesa de Maya, Raton Mesa) stand several thousand feet above the general plain level, and thus testify to the widespread erosion of this region before it was aggraded. The southern section of the Great Plains, between latitudes 35.5 ° and 25.5 ° lies in western Texas and eastern New Mexico. Like the central section, it is for the most part a dissected fluviatile plain. However, the lower lands which surround it on all sides place it in so strong relief that it stands up as a table - land, known from the time of Mexican occupation as the Llano Estacado. It measures roughly 150 miles (240 km) east - west and 400 miles (640 km) north - south. It is of very irregular outline, narrowing to the south. Its altitude is 5,500 feet (1,700 m) at the highest western point, nearest the mountains whence its gravels were supplied. From there, it slopes southeastward at a decreasing rate, first about 12 ft., then about 7 ft per mile (1.3 m / km), to its eastern and southern borders, where it is 2,000 feet (610 m) in altitude. Like the High Plains farther north, it is extraordinarily smooth. It is very dry, except for occasional shallow and temporary water sheets after rains. The Llano is separated from the plains on the north by the mature consequent valley of the Canadian River, and from the mountains on the west by the broad and probably mature valley of the Pecos River. On the east, it is strongly undercut by the retrogressive erosion of the headwaters of the Red, Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas and presents a ragged escarpment approximately 500 to 800 ft (240 m) high, overlooking the central denuded area of that state. There, between the Brazos and Colorado rivers, occurs a series of isolated outliers capped by a limestone which underlies both the Llano Uplift on the west and the Grand Prairies escarpment on the east. The southern and narrow part of the table - land, called the Edwards Plateau, is more dissected than the rest, and falls off to the south in a frayed - out fault scarp. This scarp overlooks the coastal plain of the Rio Grande embayment. The central denuded area, east of the Llano, resembles the east - central section of the plains in exposing older rocks. Between these two similar areas, in the space limited by the Canadian and Red Rivers, rise the subdued forms of the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma, the westernmost member of the Ouachita system. During the Cretaceous Period (145 -- 66 million years ago), the Great Plains were covered by a shallow inland sea called the Western Interior Seaway. However, during the Late Cretaceous to the Paleocene (65 -- 55 million years ago), the seaway had begun to recede, leaving behind thick marine deposits and a relatively flat terrain which the seaway had once occupied. During the Cenozoic era, specifically about 25 million years ago during the Miocene and Pliocene epochs, the continental climate became favorable to the evolution of grasslands. Existing forest biomes declined and grasslands became much more widespread. The grasslands provided a new niche for mammals, including many ungulates and glires, that switched from browsing diets to grazing diets. Traditionally, the spread of grasslands and the development of grazers have been strongly linked. However, an examination of mammalian teeth suggests that it is the open, gritty habitat and not the grass itself which is linked to diet changes in mammals, giving rise to the "grit, not grass '' hypothesis. Paleontological finds in the area have yielded bones of mammoths, saber - toothed cats and other ancient animals, as well as dozens of other megafauna (large animals over 100 lb (45 kg)) -- such as giant sloths, horses, mastodons, and American lion -- that dominated the area of the ancient Great Plains for thousands to millions of years. The vast majority of these animals became extinct in North America at the end of the Pleistocene (around 13,000 years ago). In general, the Great Plains have a wide variety of weather through the year, with very cold and harsh winters and very hot and humid summers. Wind speeds are often very high, especially in winter. Grasslands are among the least protected biomes. Humans have converted much of the prairies for agricultural purposes or to create pastures. The Great Plains have dust storms mostly every year or so. The 100th meridian roughly corresponds with the line that divides the Great Plains into an area that receive 20 in (510 mm) or more of rainfall per year and an area that receives less than 20 in (510 mm). In this context, the High Plains, as well as Southern Alberta, south - western Saskatchewan and Eastern Montana are mainly semi arid steppe land and are generally characterised by rangeland or marginal farmland. The region (especially the High Plains) is periodically subjected to extended periods of drought; high winds in the region may then generate devastating dust storms. The eastern Great Plains near the eastern boundary falls in the humid subtropical climate zone in the southern areas, and the northern and central areas fall in the humid continental climate. Many thunderstorms occur in the plains in the spring through summer. The southeastern portion of the Great Plains is the most tornado active area in the world and is sometimes referred to as Tornado Alley. The Great Plains are part of the floristic North American Prairies Province, which extends from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians. The first Americans (Paleo - Indians) who arrived to the Great Plains were successive indigenous cultures who are known to have inhabited the Great Plains for thousands of years, over 15,000 years ago. Humans entered the North American continent in waves of migration, mostly over Beringia, the Bering Straits land bridge. Historically the Great Plains were the range of the bison and of the culture of the Plains Indians, whose tribes included the Blackfoot, Crow, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and others. Eastern portions of the Great Plains were inhabited by tribes who lived in semi-permanent villages of earth lodges, such as the Arikara, Mandan, Pawnee and Wichita. With the arrival of Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, a Spanish conquistador, the first recorded history of encounter between Europeans and Native Americans in the Great Plains occurred in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska from 1540 to 1542. In that same time period, Hernando de Soto crossed a west - northwest direction in what is now Oklahoma and Texas. Today this is known as the De Soto Trail. The Spanish thought the Great Plains were the location of the mythological Quivira and Cíbola, a place said to be rich in gold. Over the next one hundred years, founding of the fur trade brought thousands of ethnic Europeans into the Great Plains. Fur trappers from France, Spain, Britain, Russia and the young United States made their way across much of the region, making regular contacts with Native Americans. After the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and conducted the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804 -- 1806, more information about the Plains became available and various pioneers entered the areas. Manuel Lisa, based in St. Louis, established a major fur trading site at his Fort Lisa on the Missouri River in Nebraska. Fur trading posts were often the basis of later settlements. Through the 19th century, more European Americans and Europeans migrated to the Great Plains as part of a vast westward expansion of population. New settlements became dotted across the Great Plains. The new immigrants also brought diseases against which the Native Americans had no resistance. Between a half and two - thirds of the Plains Indians are thought to have died of smallpox by the time of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. After 1870, the new railroads across the Plains brought hunters who killed off almost all the bison for their hides. The railroads offered attractive packages of land and transportation to European farmers, who rushed to settle the land. They (and Americans as well) also took advantage of the homestead laws to obtain free farms. Land speculators and local boosters identified many potential towns, and those reached by the railroad had a chance, while the others became ghost towns. In Kansas, for example, nearly 5000 towns were mapped out, but by 1970 only 617 were actually operating. In the mid-20th century, closeness to an interstate exchange determined whether a town would flourish or struggle for business. Much of the Great Plains became open range, or rangeland where cattle roamed free, hosting ranching operations where anyone was theoretically free to run cattle. In the spring and fall, ranchers held roundups where their cowboys branded new calves, treated animals and sorted the cattle for sale. Such ranching began in Texas and gradually moved northward. Between 1866 and 1895, cowboys herded 10 million cattle north to rail heads such as Dodge City, Kansas and Ogallala, Nebraska; from there, cattle were shipped eastward. Many foreign investors, especially British, financed the great ranches of the era. Overstocking of the range and the terrible winter of 1886 resulted in a disaster, with many cattle starved and frozen to death. Theodore Roosevelt, a rancher in the Dakotas, lost his entire investment; he returned east to reenter politics. From then on, ranchers generally raised feed to ensure they could keep their cattle alive over winter. To allow for agricultural development of the Great Plains and house a growing population, the US passed the Homestead Acts of 1862: it allowed a settler to claim up to 160 acres (65 ha) of land, provided that he lived on it for a period of five years and cultivated it. The provisions were expanded under the Kinkaid Act of 1904 to include a homestead of an entire section. Hundreds of thousands of people claimed such homesteads, sometimes building sod houses out of the very turf of their land. Many of them were not skilled dryland farmers and failures were frequent. Much of the Plains were settled during relatively wet years. Government experts did not understand how farmers should cultivate the prairies and gave advice counter to what would have worked. Germans from Russia who had previously farmed, under similar circumstances, in what is now Ukraine were marginally more successful than other homesteaders. The Dominion Lands Act of 1871 served a similar function for establishing homesteads on the prairies in Canada. The railroads opened up the Great Plains for settlement, for now it was possible to ship wheat and other crops at low cost to the urban markets in the East, and Europe. Homestead land was free for American settlers. Railroads sold their land at cheap rates to immigrants in expectation they would generate traffic as soon as farms were established. Immigrants poured in, especially from Germany and Scandinavia. On the plains, very few single men attempted to operate a farm or ranch by themselves; they clearly understood the need for a hard - working wife, and numerous children, to handle the many chores, including child - rearing, feeding and clothing the family, managing the housework, feeding the hired hands, and, especially after the 1930s, handling paperwork and financial details. During the early years of settlement, farm women played an integral role in assuring family survival by working outdoors. After approximately one generation, women increasingly left the fields, thus redefining their roles within the family. New technology including sewing and washing machines encouraged women to turn to domestic roles. The scientific housekeeping movement, promoted across the land by the media and government extension agents, as well as county fairs which featured achievements in home cookery and canning, advice columns for women regarding farm bookkeeping, and home economics courses in the schools. Although the eastern image of farm life in the prairies emphasized the isolation of the lonely farmer and wife, plains residents created busy social lives for themselves. They often sponsored activities that combined work, food and entertainment such as barn raisings, corn huskings, quilting bees, Grange meetings, church activities and school functions. Women organized shared meals and potluck events, as well as extended visits between families. The Grange was a nationwide farmers ' organization, they reserved high offices for women, and gave them a voice in public affairs. The region roughly centered on the Oklahoma Panhandle, including southeastern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, the Texas Panhandle, and extreme northeastern New Mexico was known as the Dust Bowl during the late 1920s and early 1930s. The effect of an extended drought, inappropriate cultivation, and financial crises of the Great Depression, forced many farmers off the land throughout the Great Plains. From the 1950s on, many areas of the Great Plains have become productive crop - growing areas because of extensive irrigation on large landholdings. The United States is a major exporter of agricultural products. The southern portion of the Great Plains lies over the Ogallala Aquifer, a huge underground layer of water - bearing strata dating from the last ice age. Center pivot irrigation is used extensively in drier sections of the Great Plains, resulting in aquifer depletion at a rate that is greater than the ground 's ability to recharge. The rural Plains have lost a third of their population since 1920. Several hundred thousand square miles of the Great Plains have fewer than 6 inhabitants per square mile (2.3 inhabitants per square kilometer) -- the density standard Frederick Jackson Turner used to declare the American frontier "closed '' in 1893. Many have fewer than 2 inhabitants per square mile (0.77 inhabitants per square kilometer). There are more than 6,000 ghost towns in the state of Kansas alone, according to Kansas historian Daniel Fitzgerald. This problem is often exacerbated by the consolidation of farms and the difficulty of attracting modern industry to the region. In addition, the smaller school - age population has forced the consolidation of school districts and the closure of high schools in some communities. The continuing population loss has led some to suggest that the current use of the drier parts of the Great Plains is not sustainable, and there has been a proposal -- the "Buffalo Commons '' -- to return approximately 139,000 sq mi (360,000 km) of these drier parts to native prairie land. The Great Plains contribute substantially to wind power in the United States. In July 2008, T. Boone Pickens, who developed wind farms after a long career as a petroleum executive, called for the U.S. to invest $ 1 trillion to build an additional 200,000 MW of wind power nameplate capacity in the Plains, as part of his Pickens Plan. Pickens cited Sweetwater, Texas as an example of economic revitalization driven by wind power development. Sweetwater was a struggling town typical of the Plains, steadily losing businesses and population, until wind turbines came to surrounding Nolan County. Wind power brought jobs to local residents, along with royalty payments to landowners who leased sites for turbines, reversing the town 's population decline. Pickens claims the same economic benefits are possible throughout the Plains, which he refers to as North America 's "wind corridor. ''

i'll follow my secret heart conversation piece

Conversation Piece (musical) - wikipedia Conversation Piece, billed as "A Romantic Comedy with Music '', is a musical written by Noël Coward. It premiered at His Majesty 's Theatre, London, on 16 February 1934, and ran for 177 performances over five months. A Broadway production opened at the 44th Street Theatre later that year but ran for only 55 performances. Conversation Piece was inspired by the book The Regent and his Daughter by Dormer Creston (1881 -- 1973). Coward wrote the libretto in 1933 while on a sea voyage from Trinidad to England and composed the score on his return home. From the outset, Coward had the French star Yvonne Printemps in mind for the leading role of Mélanie, despite the fact that she spoke no English. Printemps agreed to play the part, and with the aid of her future husband, Pierre Fresnay, learned the words by rote. The male lead, Paul, Duc de Chaucigny - Varennes, was given to Romney Brent, but during rehearsals Coward came to think Brent was not up to the part, and asked him to relinquish it. On learning that Coward himself proposed to take the role, Brent gladly resigned, "providing you let me still come to rehearsals and watch you find out what a bloody awful part it is. '' Whether or not Coward came to share Brent 's view, he handed the part over to Pierre Fresnay after three months. Other members of the large cast included Louis Hayward and George Sanders, and in the chorus Valerie Hobson. The big tune from the show, "I 'll Follow My Secret Heart '', caused Coward much difficulty while he was composing the score, and he was on the verge of giving up the whole show: The London production had a truncated run of 177 performances, by contrast with Coward 's earlier romantic musical Bitter Sweet, because Printemps had to leave the cast to fulfil a film commitment in France, and no suitable replacement could be found. Later that year, the Broadway run, despite starring Printemps, managed only 55 performances. With the onset of the Depression, times had changed since the success of Bitter Sweet, and Conversation Piece was unable to find an audience. In New York, Fresnay played Paul, Irene Browne was Lady Julia, and Carl Harbord was Edward. The London cast released a cast album in 1934. Beginning in the late 1940s, Columbia Records recorded a series of musicals produced by Goddard Lieberson and musical director Lehman Engel, including Conversation Piece in 1951. Coward sang the role of Paul, and the recording featured opera singer Lily Pons, the young Richard Burton, Cathleen Nesbitt and Ethel Griffies. The story is set in Regency Brighton in 1811. Paul, the Duc de Chaucigny - Varennes, an émigré from the terrors of the French Revolution, is passing off Melanie, a beautiful young girl, as his ward -- the daughter of an executed friend, the Marquis de Tramont. In fact, Melanie is a dance hall singer. Paul 's plan is to marry Melanie to a rich husband such as Edward, Marquis of Sheere, who seeks her hand. The rich Lady Julia Charteris, who is much taken with Paul, encourages Edward 's marital plans and tries to woo Paul for herself. But Melanie has long loved Paul, and in a last gamble to turn him away from Lady Julia, she pretends to return to France. Her trick works: Paul realises the depth of his feelings for her and there is a romantic happy ending. The Noël Coward Society 's website, drawing on performing statistics from the publishers and the Performing Rights Society, ranks "I 'll follow my secret heart '' among Coward 's ten most popular songs.

when does boy in the striped pajamas take place

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - wikipedia The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Unlike the months of planning Boyne devoted to his other books, he said that he wrote the entire first draft of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in two and a half days, barely sleeping until he got to the end. As of March 2010, the novel had sold more than five million copies around the world. In both 2007 and 2008, it was the best selling book of the year in Spain, and it has also reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in the UK, Ireland, and Australia. The book was adapted in 2008 as a film of the same name. Bruno is a 9 - year - old boy growing up during World War II in Berlin. He lives with his parents, his 12 - year - old sister Gretel and maids, one of whom is called Maria. After a visit by Adolf Hitler, Bruno 's father is promoted to Commandant, and the family has to move to ' Out - With ' because of the orders of "The Fury '' (Bruno 's naïve interpretation of the word ' Führer '). Bruno is initially upset about moving to Out - With (never identified, but cf. Auschwitz) and leaving his friends, Daniel, Karl, and Martin. From the house at Out - With, Bruno sees a camp. One day, Bruno decides to explore the strange wire fence. As he walks along the fence, he meets a Jewish boy named Shmuel, who he learns shares his birthday. Shmuel says that his father, grandfather, and brother are with him on this side of the fence, but he is separated from his mother. Bruno and Shmuel talk and become very good friends, although Bruno still does not understand very much about Shmuel and his side of the fence. Nearly every day, unless it 's raining Bruno goes to see Shmuel and sneaks him food. As the meetings go on, and Shmuel gets more and more skinny, Bruno 's naïveté means he never realizes he is living beside a death camp. When lice eggs are discovered in Bruno 's hair he is forced to get all of his hair shaved off. Bruno comments that he looks like Shmuel, and Shmuel agrees, except that Bruno is fatter. Bruno 's mother eventually persuades his father to take them back to Berlin and stay at Out - With without them. The next day Bruno concocts a plan with Shmuel to sneak into the camp to look for Shmuel 's father. Shmuel brings a set of prison clothes (which look to Bruno like striped pyjamas), and Bruno leaves his own clothes outside the fence. As they search the camp, both children are rounded up along with a group of prisoners on a "march ''. In the gas chamber, Bruno apologizes to Shmuel for not finding his father and tells Shmuel that he is Bruno 's best friend for life. Shmuel does not answer, as at that moment the door of the gas chamber is closed, it becomes dark, and all is chaos. Some critics have called the premise of the book and subsequent film -- that there would be a child of Shmuel 's age in the camp -- erroneous. Reviewing the original book, Rabbi Benjamin Blech wrote: "Note to the reader: There were no 9 - year - old Jewish boys in Auschwitz -- the Nazis immediately gassed those not old enough to work. '' Rabbi Blech affirmed the opinion of a Holocaust survivor friend that the book is "not just a lie and not just a fairytale, but a profanation ''. Blech acknowledges the objection that a "fable '' need not be factually accurate; he counters that the book trivializes the conditions in and around the death camps and perpetuates the "myth that those (...) not directly involved can claim innocence '', and thus undermines its moral authority. Students who read it, he warns, may believe the camps "were n't that bad '' if a boy could conduct a clandestine friendship with a Jewish captive of the same age, unaware of "the constant presence of death ''. Kathryn Hughes, whilst agreeing about the implausibility of the plot, argues that "Bruno 's innocence comes to stand for the willful refusal of all adult Germans to see what was going on under their noses ''.

what was the name of the hound dog on the beverly hillbillies

The Beverly Hillbillies - wikipedia Coordinates: 34 ° 05 ′ 13 '' N 118 ° 26 ′ 32 '' W  /  34.0870638 ° N 118.4421671 ° W  / 34.0870638; - 118.4421671 The Beverly Hillbillies is an American sitcom originally broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. The show had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family who move to posh Beverly Hills, California, after striking oil on their land. The show was produced by Filmways and was created by writer Paul Henning. It was followed by two other Henning - inspired "country cousin '' series on CBS: Petticoat Junction, and its spin - off Green Acres, which reversed the rags - to - riches, country - to - city model of The Beverly Hillbillies. The Beverly Hillbillies ranked among the top 20 most - watched programs on television for eight of its nine seasons, twice ranking as the number one series of the year, with a number of episodes that remain among the most - watched television episodes in history. It accumulated seven Emmy nominations during its run. The series remains in syndicated reruns, and its ongoing popularity spawned a 1993 film remake by 20th Century Fox. The series starts as Jed Clampett, an impoverished and widowed mountaineer, is living alongside an oil - rich swamp with his daughter and mother - in - law. A surveyor for the OK Oil Company realizes the size of the oil field, and the company pays him a fortune for the right to drill on his land. Patriarch Jed 's cousin Pearl Bodine prods him to move to California after being told his modest property could yield $25 million, and pressures him into taking her son Jethro along. The family moves into a mansion in wealthy Beverly Hills, California, next door to Jed 's banker, Milburn Drysdale. The Clampetts bring a moral, unsophisticated, and minimalistic lifestyle to the swanky, sometimes self - obsessed and superficial community. Double entendres and cultural misconceptions are the core of the sitcom 's humor. Plots often involve the outlandish efforts Drysdale makes to keep the Clampetts ' money in his bank. The family 's periodic attempts to return to the mountains are often prompted by Granny 's perceiving a slight from one of the "city folk ''. Although he has little formal education, Jed Clampett (Buddy Ebsen) has a good deal of common sense. He is the son of Luke Clampett and his wife, and has a sister called Myrtle. Jed is a good - natured man and the head of the family. The huge oil pool in the swamp he owned was the beginning of his rags - to - riches journey to Beverly Hills. He is usually the straight man to Granny and Jethro 's antics. His catchphrase is, "Welllllll, doggies! '' Jed was one of the three characters to appear in all 274 episodes of the series. Daisy May Moses (Irene Ryan), called "Granny '' by all, is Jed 's mother - in - law. Paul Henning, the show 's creator / producer, quickly discarded the idea of making Granny Jed 's mother, which would have changed the show 's dynamics, making Granny the matriarch and Jed subordinate to her. Granny can be aggressive, but is often overruled by Jed. She is a Confederate to the core, defending President Jefferson Davis, the Stars and Bars, and the simple life. Short - fused and easily angered, Granny fancies herself a Baptist ("dunked, not sprinkled '') Christian with forgiveness in her heart. A self - styled "M.D. '' -- "mountain doctor '' -- she claims to be better than expensive trained physicians. In lieu of conventional anesthesia, Granny uses her "white lightning '' brew before commencing painful treatments such as leech bleeding and yanking teeth with pliers. Granny 's full name, Daisy Moses, is allegedly an homage to the popular and dearly loved folk artist Anna Mary Robertson, known to the world as Grandma Moses, who died in 1961, a year before The Beverly Hillbillies made its television debut. Granny is frequently referred to as "Granny Clampett '' in a number of episodes, but technically she is a Moses. Granny appears in all 274 episodes. Elly May (Donna Douglas in all 274 episodes), the only child of Jed and Rose Ellen Clampett, is a mountain beauty with the body of a pinup girl and the soul of a tomboy. She can throw a fastball as well as "rassle '' most men to a fall, and she can be as tender with her friends, animals, and family as she is tough with anyone she rassles. She says once that animals can be better companions than people, but as she grows older, she allows that, "fellas kin be more fun than critters. "In addition to the family dog, Duke (an old Bloodhound), a number of pets live on the Clampett estate thanks to animal - lover Elly. In the 1981 TV movie, Elly May is the head of a zoo. Elly is a terrible cook. Family members cringe whenever, for plot reasons, Elly takes over the kitchen. Jethro (Max Baer Jr. in 272 episodes) is the son of Jed 's cousin, Pearl Bodine (though he addresses Jed as "Uncle Jed ''). He drives the Clampett family to their new home in California and stays on with them to further his education. The others boast of Jethro 's "sixth - grade education '', but he is ignorant about nearly every aspect of modern California life. In one episode, he decides to go to college. He enrolls late in the semester at a local secretarial school and "earns '' his diploma by the end of the day because he is so disruptive. This was an ironic in - joke -- in real life, Max Baer Jr. has a bachelor 's degree in business administration, minoring in philosophy, from Santa Clara University. Many story lines involve Jethro 's endless career search, which include such diverse vocations as a millwright, a brain surgeon, street car conductor, "double - naught '' spy, telephone lineman, soda jerk, chauffeur, short - order cook, sculptor, restaurant owner (with Granny 's cooking), psychiatrist, and once as a bookkeeper for Milburn Drysdale 's bank; a Hollywood agent for "cousin '' Bessie and "Cousin Roy '' (see below); Hollywood producer (a studio flunky remarks Jethro has the "right qualifications '' for being a producer: a sixth - grade education and an uncle who owns the studio; this in - joke gag as a movie producer was replayed in the 1981 movie). More often than not, his overall goal in these endeavors is to meet pretty girls. He only manages to gain (but is oblivious to) the affections of the plain Miss Jane Hathaway. Of all the Clampett clan, he is the most eager to embrace city life. A running gag is that Jethro is known as the "six - foot stomach '' for his huge appetite: in one episode, he eats a jetliner 's entire supply of steaks; in another, Jethro tries to set himself up as a Hollywood agent for cousin "Bessie '' the chimpanzee -- with a fee of 10,000 bananas for Bessie and 1,000 for him. Jethro does not appear in the third - or second - to - last episodes, but Baer remains billed in the title credits. With the January 2015 death of Donna Douglas, Baer is the only surviving main cast member. Milburn (Raymond Bailey in 247 episodes) is the Clampetts ' banker, confidant and next - door neighbor. He is obsessed with money, and to keep the Clampetts ' $96,000,000 (in 1969, equal to $640,638,838 today) in his Commerce Bank, Mr. Drysdale will do everything he can to cater to their every wish. He often forces others, especially his long - suffering secretary, to help fulfill their outlandish requests. Jane Hathaway (Nancy Kulp in 246 episodes), whom the Clampetts address as "Miss Jane '', is Drysdale 's loyal and efficient secretary. Though she reluctantly carries out his wishes, she is genuinely fond of the family and tries to shield them from her boss 's greed. Miss Hathaway frequently has to "rescue '' Drysdale from his schemes, receiving little or no thanks for her efforts. The Clampetts consider her family; even Granny, the one most dead - set against living in California, likes her very much. Jane harbors something of a crush on Jethro for most of the series ' run. In 1999, TV Guide ranked Jane Hathaway number 38 on its "50 Greatest TV Characters of All Time '' list. The show 's theme song, "The Ballad of Jed Clampett '', was written by producer and writer Paul Henning and originally performed by bluegrass artists Flatt and Scruggs. The song is sung by Jerry Scoggins (backed by Flatt and Scruggs) over the opening and end credits of each episode. Flatt and Scruggs subsequently cut their own version of the theme (with Flatt singing) for Columbia Records; released as a single, it reached number 44 on Billboard Hot 100 pop music chart and number one on the Billboard Hot Country chart (the lone country chart - topper for the duo). The six main cast members participated on a 1963 Columbia soundtrack album, which featured original song numbers in character. Additionally, Ebsen, Ryan, and Douglas each made a few solo recordings following the show 's success, including Ryan 's 1966 novelty single, "Granny 's Miniskirt ''. The series generally features no country music beyond the bluegrass banjo theme song, although country star Roy Clark and the team of Flatt and Scruggs occasionally play on the program. Pop singer Pat Boone appears in one episode as himself, under the premise that he hails from the same area of the country as the Clampetts, although Boone is a native of Jacksonville, Florida. The 1989 film UHF featured a "Weird Al '' Yankovic parody music video, "Money for Nothing / Beverly Hillbillies * '', combining "The Ballad of Jed Clampett '' and English rock band Dire Straits ' 1985 hit song "Money for Nothing ''. Season seven (1968 -- 69) was packed with strategically placed, multi-episode crossover stories in which the fictional worlds of all three Paul Henning series overlap. The Clampett family makes several trips to Hooterville, Sam Drucker visits Beverly Hills, and Granny (Irene Ryan) does two guest appearances on Petticoat Junction. In season eight (1969 -- 70), the Clampett family visits Hooterville one last time for a two - part episode. The Beverly Hillbillies received poor reviews from some contemporary critics. The New York Times called the show "strained and unfunny ''; Variety called it "painful to sit through ''. Film professor Janet Staiger writes that "the problem for these reviewers was that the show confronted the cultural elite 's notions of quality entertainment. '' The show did receive a somewhat favorable review from noted critic Gilbert Seldes in the December 15, 1962 TV Guide: "The whole notion on which The Beverly Hillbillies is founded is an encouragement to ignorance... But it is funny. What can I do? '' Regardless of the poor reviews, the show shot to the top of the Nielsen ratings shortly after its premiere and stayed there for several seasons. During its first two seasons, it was the number one program in the U.S. During its second season, it earned some of the highest ratings ever recorded for a half - hour sitcom. The season - two episode "The Giant Jackrabbit '' also became the most watched telecast up to the time of its airing, and remains the most - watched half - hour episode of a sitcom, as well. The series enjoyed excellent ratings throughout its run, although it had fallen out of the top 20 most - watched shows during its final season. In 1997, the season 3 episode "Hedda Hopper 's Hollywood '' was ranked Number 62 on "TV Guide 's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time ''. Season nine, during the 1970 -- 71 TV season placed 33rd out of 96 shows. Despite the respectable ratings, the show was canceled in the spring of 1971 after 274 episodes. The CBS network, prompted by pressure from advertisers seeking a more sophisticated urban audience, decided to refocus its schedule on several "hip '' new urban - themed shows and, to make room for them, the two remaining series of CBS 's rural - themed comedies were simultaneously cancelled. This action came to be known as "the Rural Purge ''. Pat Buttram, who played Mr. Haney on Green Acres, famously remarked, "It was the year CBS cancelled everything with a tree - including Lassie. '' In 1981, Return of the Beverly Hillbillies television movie, written and produced by series creator Henning, was aired on the CBS network. Irene Ryan had died in 1973, and Raymond Bailey had died in 1980. The script acknowledged Granny 's passing, but featured Imogene Coca as Granny 's mother. Max Baer decided against reprising the role that both started and stymied his career, so the character of Jethro Bodine was given to another actor, Ray Young. The film 's plot had Jed back in his old homestead in Bug Tussle, having divided his massive fortune among Elly May and Jethro, both of whom stayed on the West Coast. Jane Hathaway had become a Department of Energy agent and was seeking Granny 's "White Lightnin ' '' recipe to combat the energy crisis. Since Granny had gone on to "her re-ward '', it was up to Granny 's centenarian "Maw '' (Imogene Coca) to divulge the secret brew 's ingredients. Subplots included Jethro playing an egocentric, starlet - starved Hollywood producer, Jane and her boss (Werner Klemperer) having a romance, and Elly May owning a large petting zoo. The four main characters finally got together by the end of the story. Having been filmed a mere decade after the final episode of the original series, viewer consensus was that the series ' original spirit was lost to the film on many fronts, chief of which being the deaths of Ryan and Bailey and Baer 's absence, which left only three of the six original cast members available to reprise their respective roles. Further subtracting from the familiarity was the fact that the legendary Clampett mansion was unavailable for a location shoot as the owners ' lease was too expensive. Henning himself admitted sheer embarrassment when the finished product aired, blaming his inability to rewrite the script due to the 1981 Writers Guild strike. In 1993, Ebsen, Douglas, and Baer reunited onscreen for the only time in the CBS - TV retrospective television special, The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies, which ranked as the fourth-most watched television program of the week -- a major surprise given the mediocre rating for the 1981 TV movie. It was a rare tribute from the "Tiffany network '', which owed much of its success in the 1960s to the series, but has often seemed embarrassed by it in hindsight, often downplaying the show in retrospective television specials on the network 's history and rarely inviting cast members to participate in such all - star broadcasts. The Legend of The Beverly Hillbillies special ignored several plot twists of the TV movie, notably Jethro was now not a film director, but a leading Los Angeles physician. Critter - loving Elly May was still in California with her animals, but Jed was back home in the Hills, having lost his fortune, stolen by the now - imprisoned banker Drysdale. Nancy Kulp had died in 1991 and was little referred to beyond the multitude of film clips that dotted the special. The special was released on VHS tape by CBS / Fox Video in 1995 and as a bonus feature on the Official Third Season DVD Set in 2009. The Beverly Hillbillies is still televised daily around the world in syndication. In the United States, the show is broadcast currently on MeTV, Retro TV, MyFamily TV, and was previously on Nick at Nite, The Hallmark Channel, and WGN America. A limited number of episodes from the earlier portions of the series run have turned up in the public domain and as such are seen occasionally on many smaller networks. MeTV Network airs The Beverly Hillbillies Monday - Saturday at 7 A.M. The show is distributed by CBS Television Distribution, the syndication arm of CBS Television Studios and the CBS network. It was previously distributed by CBS Films, Viacom Enterprises, Paramount Domestic Television, and CBS Paramount Domestic Television (all through corporate changes involving TV distribution rights to the early CBS library). The repeats of the show that debuted on CBS Daytime on September 5 -- 9, 1966, as "Mornin ' Beverly Hillbillies '' through September 10, 1971 and on September 13 -- 17, 1971 as "The Beverly Hillbillies '' lasted up to winter 1971 -- 72. It aired at 11: 00 -- 11: 30 am Eastern / 10: 00 - 10: 30 am Central through September 3, 1971, then moved to 10: 30 -- 11: 00 am Eastern / 9: 30 -- 10: 00 am Central for the last season on CBS Daytime. Fifty - five episodes of the series are in the public domain (all 36 season - one episodes and 19 season - two episodes), because Orion Television, successor to Filmways, neglected to renew their copyrights. As a result, these episodes have been released on home video and DVD on many low - budget labels and shown on low - power television stations and low - budget networks in 16 - mm prints. In many video prints of the public domain episodes, the original theme music has been replaced by generic music due to copyright issues. Before his death, Paul Henning, whose estate now holds the original film elements to the public domain episodes, authorized MPI Home Video to release the best of the first two seasons on DVD, the first "ultimate collection '' of which was released in the fall of 2005. These collections include the original, uncut versions of the first season 's episodes, complete with their original theme music and opening sponsor plugs. Volume 1 has, among its bonus features, the alternate, unaired version of the pilot film, The Hillbillies Of Beverly Hills (the version of the episode that sold the series to CBS), and the "cast commercials '' (cast members pitching the products of the show 's sponsors) originally shown at the end of each episode. With the exception of the public domain episodes, the copyrights to the series were renewed by Orion Television. However, any new compilation of Hillbillies material will be copyrighted by either MPI Media Group or CBS, depending on the content of the material used. For many years, 20th Century Fox, through a joint venture with CBS called CBS / Fox Video, released select episodes of Hillbillies on videocassette. After Viacom merged with CBS, Paramount Home Entertainment (the video division of Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom in 1994) took over the video rights. In 2006, Paramount announced plans to release the copyrighted episodes in boxed sets through CBS DVD later that year. The show 's second season (consisting of the public domain episodes from that season) was released on DVD in Region 1 on October 7, 2008 as "... The Official Second Season ''. The third season was released on February 17, 2009. Both seasons are available to be purchased together from major online retailers. On October 1, 2013, season four was released on DVD as a Walmart exclusive. It was released as a full retail release on April 15, 2014. On April 26, 2016, CBS / Paramount released the complete first season on DVD. A three - act stage play based on the pilot was written by David Rogers in 1968. "The Deadly Hillbillies, '' an interactive murder mystery, was written by John R. Logue using the core "Beverly Hillbillies '' cast of characters as inspiration. This Gypsy Productions Murder Mystery Parody features characters such as "Jed Clumpett, '' "Daisy May Mostes, '' and "Jane Hatchaway. '' Dell Comics adapted the series into a comic book series in 1962. The art work was provided by Henry Scarpelli. In 1993, a movie version of The Beverly Hillbillies was released starring Jim Varney as Jed Clampett and featuring Buddy Ebsen in a cameo as Barnaby Jones, the lead character in his long - running post-Hillbillies television series. Based on The Beverly Hillbillies movie, a PC computer adventure game for operating system MS - DOS was developed by Synergistic Software, Inc. and published in 1993 by Capstone Software.

abandon all hope ye who enter here origin

Inferno (Dante) - wikipedia Inferno (pronounced (iɱ'fɛrno); Italian for "Hell '') is the first part of Dante Alighieri 's 14th - century epic poem Divine Comedy. It is followed by Purgatorio and Paradiso. The Inferno tells the journey of Dante through Hell, guided by the ancient Roman poet Virgil. In the poem, Hell is depicted as nine concentric circles of torment located within the Earth; it is the "realm... of those who have rejected spiritual values by yielding to bestial appetites or violence, or by perverting their human intellect to fraud or malice against their fellowmen ''. As an allegory, the Divine Comedy represents the journey of the soul toward God, with the Inferno describing the recognition and rejection of sin. Canto I The poem begins on the night of Maundy Thursday on March 24 (or April 7), A.D. 1300, shortly before dawn of Good Friday. The narrator, Dante himself, is thirty - five years old, and thus "midway in the journey of our life '' (Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita) -- half of the Biblical lifespan of seventy (Psalm 89: 10, Vulgate; Psalm 90: 10, KJV). The poet finds himself lost in a dark wood (selva oscura), astray from the "straight way '' (diritta via, also translatable as "right way '') of salvation. He sets out to climb directly up a small mountain, but his way is blocked by three beasts he can not evade: a lonza (usually rendered as "leopard '' or "leopon ''), a leone (lion), and a lupa (she - wolf). The three beasts, taken from the Jeremiah 5: 6, are thought to symbolize the three kinds of sin that bring the unrepentant soul into one of the three major divisions of Hell. According to John Ciardi, these are incontinence (the she - wolf); violence and bestiality (the lion); and fraud and malice (the leopard); Dorothy L. Sayers assigns the leopard to incontinence and the she - wolf to fraud / malice. It is now dawn of Good Friday, April 8, with the sun rising in Aries. The beasts drive him back despairing into the darkness of error, a "lower place '' (basso loco) where the sun is silent (l sol tace). However, Dante is rescued by a figure who announces that he was born sub Iulio (i.e. in the time of Julius Caesar) and lived under Augustus: it is the shade of the Roman poet Virgil, author of the Aeneid, a Latin epic. Canto II On the evening of Good Friday, Dante is following Virgil but hesitates; Virgil explains how he has been sent by Beatrice, the symbol of Divine Love. Beatrice had been moved to aid Dante by the Virgin Mary (symbolic of compassion) and Saint Lucia (symbolic of illuminating Grace). Rachel, symbolic of the contemplative life, also appears in the heavenly scene recounted by Virgil. The two of them then begin their journey to the underworld. Canto III Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with the famous phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate '', most frequently translated as "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here. '' Dante and his guide hear the anguished screams of the Uncommitted. These are the souls of people who in life took no sides; the opportunists who were for neither good nor evil, but instead were merely concerned with themselves. Among these Dante recognizes a figure implied to be Pope Celestine V, whose "cowardice (in selfish terror for his own welfare) served as the door through which so much evil entered the Church ''. Mixed with them are outcasts who took no side in the Rebellion of Angels. These souls are forever unclassified; they are neither in Hell nor out of it, but reside on the shores of the Acheron. Naked and futile, they race around through the mist in eternal pursuit of an elusive, wavering banner (symbolic of their pursuit of ever - shifting self - interest) while relentlessly chased by swarms of wasps and hornets, who continually sting them. Loathsome maggots and worms at the sinners ' feet drink the putrid mixture of blood, pus, and tears that flows down their bodies. This symbolizes the sting of their guilty conscience and the repugnance of sin. This may also be seen as a reflection of the spiritual stagnation in which they lived. After passing through the vestibule, Dante and Virgil reach the ferry that will take them across the river Acheron and to Hell proper. The ferry is piloted by Charon, who does not want to let Dante enter, for he is a living being. Virgil forces Charon to take him by declaring, Vuolsi così colà dove si puote / ciò che si vuole ("It is so willed there where is power to do / That which is willed ''), referring to the fact that Dante is on his journey on divine grounds. The wailing and blasphemy of the damned souls entering Charon 's boat contrast with the joyful singing of the blessed souls arriving by ferry in the Purgatorio. The passage across the Acheron, however, is undescribed, since Dante faints and does not awaken until he is on the other side. Canto IV Virgil proceeds to guide Dante through the nine circles of Hell. The circles are concentric, representing a gradual increase in wickedness, and culminating at the centre of the earth, where Satan is held in bondage. The sinners of each circle are punished for eternity in a fashion fitting their crimes: each punishment is a contrapasso, a symbolic instance of poetic justice. For example, later in the poem, Dante and Virgil encounter fortune - tellers who must walk forward with their heads on backward, unable to see what is ahead, because they tried to see the future through forbidden means. Such a contrapasso "functions not merely as a form of divine revenge, but rather as the fulfilment of a destiny freely chosen by each soul during his or her life ''. People who sinned, but prayed for forgiveness before their deaths are found not in Hell but in Purgatory, where they labour to become free of their sins. Those in Hell are people who tried to justify their sins and are unrepentant. Dante 's Hell is structurally based on the ideas of Aristotle, but with "certain Christian symbolisms, exceptions, and misconstructions of Aristotle 's text ''. Dante 's three major categories of sin, as symbolized by the three beasts that Dante encounters in Canto I, are Incontinence, Violence and Bestiality, and Fraud and Malice. Sinners punished for incontinence (also known as wantonness) -- the lustful, the gluttonous, the hoarders and wasters, and the wrathful and sullen -- all demonstrated weakness in controlling their appetites, desires, and natural urges; according to Aristotle 's Ethics, incontinence is less condemnable than malice or bestiality, and therefore these sinners are located in four circles of Upper Hell (Circles 2 -- 5). These sinners endure lesser torments than do those consigned to Lower Hell, located within the walls of the City of Dis, for committing acts of violence and fraud -- the latter of which involves, as Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "abuse of the specifically human faculty of reason ''. The deeper levels are organized into one circle for violence (Circle 7) and two circles for fraud (Circles 8 and 9). As a Christian, Dante adds Circle 1 (Limbo) to Upper Hell and Circle 6 (Heresy) to Lower Hell, making 9 Circles in total; incorporating the Vestibule of the Futile, this leads to Hell containing 10 main divisions. This "9 + 1 = 10 '' structure is also found within the Purgatorio and Paradiso. Lower Hell is further subdivided: Circle 7 (Violence) is divided into three rings, Circle 8 (Simple Fraud) is divided into ten bolge, and Circle 9 (Complex Fraud) is divided into four regions. Thus, Hell contains, in total, 24 divisions. Dante wakes up to find that he has crossed the Acheron, and Virgil leads him to the first circle of the abyss, Limbo, where Virgil himself resides. The first circle contains the unbaptized and the virtuous pagans, who, although not sinful, did not accept Christ. Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "After those who refused choice come those without opportunity of choice. They could not, that is, choose Christ; they could, and did, choose human virtue, and for that they have their reward. '' Limbo shares many characteristics with the Asphodel Meadows; thus, the guiltless damned are punished by living in a deficient form of Heaven. Without baptism ("the portal of the faith that you embrace '') they lacked the hope for something greater than rational minds can conceive. When Dante asked if anyone has ever left Limbo, Virgil states that he saw Jesus ("a Mighty One '') descend into Limbo and take Noah, Moses, Abraham, David, and Rachel (see Limbo of the Patriarchs) into his all - forgiving arms and transport them to Heaven as the first human souls to be saved. The event, known as the Harrowing of Hell, would have occurred in A.D. 33 or 34. Dante encounters the poets Homer, Horace, Ovid, and Lucan, who include him in their number and make him "sixth in that high company ''. They reach the base of a great Castle -- the dwelling place of the wisest men of antiquity -- surrounded by seven gates, and a flowing brook. After passing through the seven gates, the group comes to an exquisite green meadow and Dante encounters the inhabitants of the Citadel. These include figures associated with the Trojans and their descendants (the Romans): Electra (mother of Troy 's founder Dardanus), Hector, Aeneas, Julius Caesar in his role as Roman general ("in his armor, falcon - eyed ''), Camilla, Penthesilea (Queen of the Amazons), King Latinus and his daughter, Lavinia, Lucius Junius Brutus (who overthrew Tarquin to found the Roman Republic), Lucretia, Julia, Marcia, and Cornelia Africana. Dante also views Saladin, a Muslim military leader known for his struggle against the Crusaders as well as his generous, chivalrous, and merciful conduct. Dante next encounters a group of philosophers, including Aristotle with Socrates and Plato at his side, as well as Democritus, "Diogenes '' (either Diogenes the Cynic or Diogenes of Apollonia), Anaxagoras, Thales, Empedocles, Heraclitus, and "Zeno '' (either Zeno of Elea or Zeno of Citium). He sees the scientist Dioscorides; the mythical Greek poets Orpheus and Linus; and Roman statesmen Marcus Tullius Cicero and Seneca. Dante sees the Alexandrian geometer Euclid and Ptolemy, the Alexandrian astronomer and geographer, as well as the physicians Hippocrates and Galen. He also encounters Avicenna, a Persian polymath, and Averroes, a medieval Andalusian polymath known for his commentaries on Aristotle 's works. Dante and Virgil depart from the four other poets and continue their journey. Although Dante implies that all virtuous non-Christians find themselves here, he later encounters two (Cato of Utica and Statius) in Purgatory and two (Trajan and Ripheus) in Heaven. In Purg. XXII, Virgil names several additional inhabitants of Limbo who were not mentioned in the Inferno. Dante and Virgil leave Limbo and enter the Second Circle -- the first of the circles of Incontinence -- where the punishments of Hell proper begin. It is described as "a part where no thing gleams ''. They find their way hindered by the serpentine Minos, who judges all of those condemned for active, deliberately willed sin to one of the lower circles. Minos sentences each soul to its torment by wrapping his tail around himself a corresponding number of times. Virgil rebukes Minos, and he and Dante continue on. In the second circle of Hell are those overcome by lust. These "carnal malefactors '' are condemned for allowing their appetites to sway their reason. These souls are buffeted back and forth by the terrible winds of a violent storm, without rest. This symbolizes the power of lust to blow needlessly and aimlessly: "as the lovers drifted into self - indulgence and were carried sway by their passions, so now they drift for ever. The bright, voluptuous sin is now seen as it is -- a howling darkness of helpless discomfort. '' Since lust involves mutual indulgence and is not, therefore, completely self - centered, Dante deems it the least heinous of the sins and its punishment is the most benign within Hell proper. The "ruined slope '' in this circle is thought to be a reference to the earthquake that occurred after the death of Christ. In this circle, Dante sees Semiramis, Dido, Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Paris, Achilles, Tristan, and many others who were overcome by sexual love during their life. Dante comes across Francesca da Rimini, who married the deformed Giovanni Malatesta (also known as "Gianciotto '') for political purposes but fell in love with his younger brother Paolo Malatesta; the two began to carry on an adulterous affair. Sometime between 1283 and 1286, Giovanni surprised them together in Francesca 's bedroom and violently stabbed them both to death. Francesca explains: Love, which in gentlest hearts will soonest bloom seized my lover with passion for that sweet body from which I was torn unshriven to my doom. Love, which permits no loved one not to love, took me so strongly with delight in him that we are one in Hell, as we were above. Love led us to one death. In the depths of Hell Caïna waits for him who took our lives. '' This was the piteous tale they stopped to tell. Francesca further reports that she and Paolo yielded to their love when reading the story of the adultery between Lancelot and Guinevere in the Old French romance Lancelot du Lac. Francesca says, "Galeotto fu ' l libro e chi lo scrisse. '' The word "Galeotto '' means "pander '' but is also the Italian term for Gallehaut, who acted as an intermediary between Lancelot and Guinevere, encouraging them on to love. John Ciardi renders line 137 as "That book, and he who wrote it, was a pander. '' Inspired by Dante, author Giovanni Boccaccio invoked the name Prencipe Galeotto in the alternative title to The Decameron, a 14th - century collection of novellas. The English poet John Keats, in his sonnet "On a Dream, '' imagines what Dante does not give us, the point of view of Paolo: ... But to that second circle of sad hell, Where ' mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw Of rain and hail - stones, lovers need not tell Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw, Pale were the lips I kiss 'd, and fair the form I floated with, about that melancholy storm. As he did at the end of Canto III, Dante -- overcome by pity and anguish -- describes his swoon: "I fainted, as if I had met my death. / And then I fell as a dead body falls '' Canto VI In the third circle, the gluttonous wallow in a vile, putrid slush produced by a ceaseless, foul, icy rain -- "a great storm of putrefaction '' -- as punishment for subjecting their reason to a voracious appetite. Cerberus (described as "il gran vermo '', literally "the great worm '', line 22), the monstrous three - headed beast of Hell, ravenously guards the gluttons lying in the freezing mire, mauling and flaying them with his claws as they howl like dogs. Virgil obtains safe passage past the monster by filling its three mouths with mud. Dorothy L. Sayers writes that "the surrender to sin which began with mutual indulgence leads by an imperceptible degradation to solitary self - indulgence ''. The gluttons grovel in the mud by themselves, sightless and heedless of their neighbors, symbolizing the cold, selfish, and empty sensuality of their lives. Just as lust has revealed its true nature in the winds of the previous circle, here the slush reveals the true nature of sensuality -- which includes not only overindulgence in food and drink, but also other kinds of addiction. In this circle, Dante converses with a Florentine contemporary identified as Ciacco, which means "hog ''. A character with the same nickname later appears in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio. Ciacco speaks to Dante regarding strife in Florence between the "White '' and "Black '' Guelphs, which developed after the Guelph / Ghibelline strife ended with the complete defeat of the Ghibellines. In the first of several political prophecies in the Inferno, Ciacco "predicts '' the expulsion of the White Guelphs (Dante 's party) from Florence by the Black Guelphs, aided by Pope Boniface VIII, which marked the start of Dante 's long exile from the city. These events occurred in 1302, prior to when the poem was written but in the future at Easter time of 1300, the time in which the poem is set. Canto VII The Fourth Circle is guarded by a figure Dante names as Pluto: this is Plutus, the deity of wealth in classical mythology. Although the two are often conflated, he is a distinct figure from Pluto (Dis), the classical ruler of the underworld. At the start of Canto VII, he menaces Virgil and Dante with the cryptic phrase Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe, but Virgil protects Dante from him. Those whose attitude toward material goods deviated from the appropriate mean are punished in the fourth circle. They include the avaricious or miserly (including many "clergymen, and popes and cardinals ''), who hoarded possessions, and the prodigal, who squandered them. The hoarders and spendthrifts joust, using as weapons great weights that they push with their chests: Here, too, I saw a nation of lost souls, far more than were above: they strained their chests against enormous weights, and with mad howls rolled them at one another. Then in haste they rolled them back, one party shouting out: "Why do you hoard? '' and the other: "Why do you waste? '' Relating this sin of incontinence to the two that preceded it (lust and gluttony), Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "Mutual indulgence has already declined into selfish appetite; now, that appetite becomes aware of the incompatible and equally selfish appetites of other people. Indifference becomes mutual antagonism, imaged here by the antagonism between hoarding and squandering. '' The contrast between these two groups leads Virgil to discourse on the nature of Fortune, who raises nations to greatness and later plunges them into poverty, as she shifts, "those empty goods from nation unto nation, clan to clan ''. This speech fills what would otherwise be a gap in the poem, since both groups are so absorbed in their activity that Virgil tells Dante that it would be pointless to try to speak to them -- indeed, they have lost their individuality and been rendered "unrecognizable '' In the swampy, stinking waters of the river Styx -- the Fifth Circle -- the actively wrathful fight each other viciously on the surface of the slime, while the sullen (the passively wrathful) lie beneath the water, withdrawn, "into a black sulkiness which can find no joy in God or man or the universe ''. At the surface of the foul Stygian marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers writes, "the active hatreds rend and snarl at one another; at the bottom, the sullen hatreds lie gurgling, unable even to express themselves for the rage that chokes them ''. As the last circle of Incontinence, the "savage self - frustration '' of the Fifth Circle marks the end of "that which had its tender and romantic beginnings in the dalliance of indulged passion ''. Canto VIII Phlegyas reluctantly transports Dante and Virgil across the Styx in his skiff. On the way they are accosted by Filippo Argenti, a Black Guelph from the prominent Adimari family. Little is known about Argenti, although Giovanni Boccaccio describes an incident in which he lost his temper; early commentators state that Argenti 's brother seized some of Dante 's property after his exile from Florence. Just as Argenti enabled the seizing of Dante 's property, he himself is "seized '' by all the other wrathful souls. When Dante responds "In weeping and in grieving, accursed spirit, may you long remain, '' Virgil blesses him with words used to describe Christ himself (Luke 11: 27). Literally, this reflects the fact that souls in Hell are eternally fixed in the state they have chosen, but allegorically, it reflects Dante 's beginning awareness of his own sin. In the distance, Dante perceives high towers that resemble fiery red mosques. Virgil informs him that they are approaching the City of Dis. Dis, itself surrounded by the Stygian marsh, contains Lower Hell within its walls. Dis is one of the names of Pluto, the classical king of the underworld, in addition to being the name of the realm. The walls of Dis are guarded by fallen angels. Virgil is unable to convince them to let Dante and him enter, and Dante is threatened by the Furies (consisting of Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone) and Medusa. Canto IX An angel sent from Heaven secures entry for the poets, opening the gate by touching it with a wand, and rebukes those who opposed Dante. Allegorically, this reveals the fact that the poem is beginning to deal with sins that philosophy and humanism can not fully understand. Virgil also mentions to Dante how Erichtho sent him down to the lowest circle of Hell to bring back a spirit from there. Canto X In the sixth circle, heretics, such as Epicurus and his followers (who say "the soul dies with the body '') are trapped in flaming tombs. Dante holds discourse with a pair of Epicurian Florentines in one of the tombs: Farinata degli Uberti, a famous Ghibelline leader (following the Battle of Montaperti in September 1260, Farinata strongly protested the proposed destruction of Florence at the meeting of the victorious Ghibellines; he died in 1264 and was posthumously condemned for heresy in 1283); and Cavalcante de ' Cavalcanti, a Guelph who was the father of Dante 's friend and fellow poet, Guido Cavalcanti. The political affiliation of these two men allows for a further discussion of Florentine politics. In response to a question from Dante about the "prophecy '' he has received, Farinata explains that what the souls in Hell know of life on earth comes from seeing the future, not from any observation of the present. Consequently, when "the portal of the future has been shut '', it will no longer be possible for them to know anything. Farinata explains that also crammed within the tomb are Emperor Frederick II, commonly reputed to be an Epicurean, and Ottaviano degli Ubaldini, to whom Dante refers to as il Cardinale. Canto XI Dante reads an inscription on one of the tombs indicating it belongs to Pope Anastasius II -- although some modern scholars hold that Dante erred in the verse mentioning Anastasius ("Anastasio papa guardo, / lo qual trasse Fotin de la via dritta '', lines 8 -- 9), confusing the pope with the Byzantine emperor of the time, Anastasius I. Pausing for a moment before the steep descent to the foul - smelling seventh circle, Virgil explains the geography and rationale of Lower Hell, in which the sins of violence (or bestiality) and fraud (or malice) are punished. In his explanation, Virgil refers to the Nicomachean Ethics and the Physics of Aristotle, with medieval interpretations. Virgil asserts that there are only two legitimate sources of wealth: natural resources ("Nature '') and human labor and activity ("Art ''). Usury, to be punished in the next circle, is therefore an offence against both; it is a kind of blasphemy, since it is an act of violence against Art, which is the child of Nature, and Nature derives from God. Virgil then indicates the time through his unexplained awareness of the stars ' positions. The "Wain '', the Great Bear, now lies in the northwest over Caurus (the northwest wind). The constellation Pisces (the Fish) is just appearing over the horizon: it is the zodiacal sign preceding Aries (the Ram). Canto I notes that the sun is in Aries, and since the twelve zodiac signs rise at two - hour intervals, it must now be about two hours prior to sunrise: 4: 00 A.M. on Holy Saturday, April 9. Canto XII The Seventh Circle, divided into three rings, houses the Violent. Dante and Virgil descend a jumble of rocks that had once formed a cliff to reach the Seventh Circle from the Sixth Circle, having first to evade the Minotaur (L'infamia di Creti, "the infamy of Crete '', line 12); at the sight of them, the Minotaur gnaws his flesh. Virgil assures the monster that Dante is not its hated enemy, Theseus. This causes the Minotaur to charge them as Dante and Virgil swiftly enter the seventh circle. Virgil explains the presence of shattered stones around them: they resulted from the great earthquake that shook the earth at the moment of Christ 's death (Matt. 27: 51), at the time of the Harrowing of Hell. Ruins resulting from the same shock were previously seen at the beginning of Upper Hell (the entrance of the Second Circle, Canto V). Canto XIII Canto XIV Canto XV Protected by the powers of the boiling rivulet, Dante and Virgil progress across the burning plain. They pass a roving group of Sodomites, and Dante, to his surprise, recognizes Brunetto Latini. Dante addresses Brunetto with deep and sorrowful affection, "paying him the highest tribute offered to any sinner in the Inferno '', thus refuting suggestions that Dante only placed his enemies in Hell. Dante has great respect for Brunetto and feels spiritual indebtedness to him and his works ("you taught me how man makes himself eternal; / and while I live, my gratitude for that / must always be apparent in my words ''), Brunetto prophesies Dante 's bad treatment by the Florentines. He also identifies other sodomites, including Priscian, Francesco d'Accorso, and Bishop Andrea de ' Mozzi. Canto XVI The Poets begin to hear the waterfall that plunges over the Great Cliff into the Eighth Circle when three shades break from their company and greet them. They are Iacopo Rusticucci, Guido Guerra, and Tegghiaio Aldobrandi -- all Florentines much admired by Dante. Rusticucci blames his "savage wife '' for his torments. The sinners ask for news of Florence, and Dante laments the current state of the city. At the top of the falls, at Virgil 's order, Dante removes a cord from about his waist and Virgil drops it over the edge; as if in answer, a large, distorted shape swims up through the filthy air of the abyss. Canto XVII The creature is Geryon, the Monster of Fraud; Virgil announces that they must fly down from the cliff on the monster 's back. Dante goes alone to examine the Usurers: he does not recognize them, but each has a heraldic device emblazoned on a leather purse around his neck ("On these their streaming eyes appeared to feast ''). The coats of arms indicate that they came from prominent Florentine families; they indicate the presence of Catello di Rosso Gianfigliazzi, Ciappo Ubriachi, the Paduan Reginaldo degli Scrovegni (who predicts that his fellow Paduan Vitaliano di Iacopo Vitaliani will join him here), and Giovanni di Buiamonte. Dante then rejoins Virgil and, both mounted atop Geryon 's back, the two begin their descent from the great cliff in the Eighth Circle: the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious. Geryon, the winged monster who allows Dante and Virgil to descend a vast cliff to reach the Eighth Circle, was traditionally represented as a giant with three heads and three conjoined bodies. Dante 's Geryon, meanwhile, is an image of fraud, combining human, bestial, and reptilian elements: Geryon is a "monster with the general shape of a wyvern but with the tail of a scorpion, hairy arms, a gaudily - marked reptilian body, and the face of a just and honest man ''. The pleasant human face on this grotesque body evokes the insincere fraudster whose intentions "behind the face '' are all monstrous, cold - blooded, and stinging with poison. Canto XVIII Dante now finds himself in the Eighth Circle, called Malebolge ("Evil ditches ''): the upper half of the Hell of the Fraudulent and Malicious. The Eighth Circle is a large funnel of stone shaped like an amphitheatre around which run a series of ten deep, narrow, concentric ditches or trenches called bolge (singular: bolgia). Within these ditches are punished those guilty of Simple Fraud. From the foot of the Great Cliff to the Well (which forms the neck of the funnel) are large spurs of rock, like umbrella ribs or spokes, which serve as bridges over the ten ditches. Dorothy L. Sayers writes that the Malebolge is, "the image of the City in corruption: the progressive disintegration of every social relationship, personal and public. Sexuality, ecclesiastical and civil office, language, ownership, counsel, authority, psychic influence, and material interdependence -- all the media of the community 's interchange are perverted and falsified ''. Canto XIX Canto XX Canto XXI Canto XXII One of the grafters, an unidentified Navarrese (identified by early commentators as Ciampolo) is seized by the demons, and Virgil questions him. The sinner speaks of his fellow grafters, Friar Gomita (a corrupt friar in Gallura eventually hanged by Nino Visconti (see Purg. VIII) for accepting bribes to let prisoners escape) and Michel Zanche (a corrupt Vicar of Logodoro under King Enzo of Sardinia). He offers to lure some of his fellow sufferers into the hands of the demons, and when his plan is accepted he escapes back into the pitch. Alichino and Calcabrina start a brawl in mid-air and fall into the pitch themselves, and Barbariccia organizes a rescue party. Dante and Virgil take advantage of the confusion to slip away. Canto XXIII Canto XXIV Canto XXV Vanni hurls an obscenity at God and the serpents swarm over him. The centaur Cacus arrives to punish the wretch; he has a fire - breathing dragon on his shoulders and snakes covering his equine back. (In Roman mythology, Cacus, the monstrous, fire - breathing son of Vulcan, was killed by Hercules for raiding the hero 's cattle; in Aeneid VIII, 193 -- 267, Virgil did not describe him as a centaur). Dante then meets five noble thieves of Florence and observes their various transformations. Agnello Brunelleschi, in human form, is merged with the six - legged serpent that is Cianfa Donati. A figure named Buoso (perhaps either Buoso degli Abati or Buoso Donati, the latter of whom is mentioned in Inf. XXX. 44) first appears as a man, but exchanges forms with Francesco de ' Cavalcanti, who bites Buoso in the form of a four - footed serpent. Puccio Sciancato remains unchanged for the time being. Canto XXVI ' Brothers, ' I said, ' o you, who having crossed a hundred thousand dangers, reach the west, to this brief waking - time that still is left unto your senses, you must not deny experience of that which lies beyond the sun, and of the world that is unpeopled. Consider well the seed that gave you birth: you were not made to live your lives as brutes, but to be followers of worth and knowledge. ' Canto XXVII Dante is approached by Guido da Montefeltro, head of the Ghibellines of Romagna, asking for news of his country. Dante replies with a tragic summary of the current state of the cities of Romagna. Guido then recounts his life: he advised Pope Boniface VIII to offer a false amnesty to the Colonna family, who, in 1297, had walled themselves inside the castle of Palestrina in the Lateran. When the Colonna accepted the terms and left the castle, the Pope razed it to the ground and left them without a refuge. Guido describes how St. Francis, founder of the Franciscan order, came to take his soul to Heaven, only to have a devil assert prior claim. Although Boniface had absolved Guido in advance for his evil advice, the devil points out the invalidity: absolution requires contrition, and a man can not be contrite for a sin at the same time that he is intending to commit it Canto XXVIII Canto XXIX Canto XXX Suddenly, two spirits -- Gianni Schicchi de ' Cavalcanti and Myrrha, both punished as Imposters (Falsifiers of Persons) -- run rabid through the pit. Schicchi sinks his tusks into Capocchio 's neck and drags him away like prey. Griffolino explains how Myrrha disguised herself to commit incest with her father King Cinyras, while Schicchi impersonated the dead Buoso Donati to dictate a will giving himself several profitable bequests. Dante then encounters Master Adam of Brescia, one of the Counterfeiters (Falsifiers of Money): for manufacturing Florentine florins of twenty - one (rather than twenty - four) carat gold, he was burned at the stake in 1281. He is punished by a loathsome dropsy - like disease, which gives him a bloated stomach, prevents him from moving, and an eternal, unbearable thirst. Master Adam points out two sinners of the fourth class, the Perjurers (Falsifiers of Words). These are Potiphar 's wife (punished for her false accusation of Joseph, Gen. 39: 7 -- 19) and Sinon, the Achaean spy who lied to the Trojans to convince them to take the Trojan Horse into their city (Aeneid II, 57 -- 194); Sinon is here rather than in Bolgia 8 because his advice was false as well as evil. Both suffer from a burning fever. Master Adam and Sinon exchange abuse, which Dante watches until he is rebuked by Virgil. As a result of his shame and repentance, Dante is forgiven by his guide. Sayers remarks that the descent through Malebolge "began with the sale of the sexual relationship, and went on to the sale of Church and State; now, the very money is itself corrupted, every affirmation has become perjury, and every identity a lie '' so that every aspect of social interaction has been progressively destroyed. Canto XXXI Dante and Virgil approach the Central Well, at the bottom of which lies the Ninth and final Circle of Hell. The classical and biblical Giants -- who perhaps symbolize pride and other spiritual flaws lying behind acts of treachery -- stand perpetual guard inside the well - pit, their legs embedded in the banks of the Ninth Circle while their upper halves rise above the rim and can be visible from the Malebolge. Dante initially mistakes them for great towers of a city. Among the Giants, Virgil identifies Nimrod (who tried to build the Tower of Babel; he shouts out the unintelligible Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi); Ephialtes (who with his brother Otus tried to storm Olympus during the Gigantomachy; he has his arms chained up) and Briareus (who Dante claimed to have challenged the Gods); and Tityos and Typhon, who insulted Jupiter. Also here is the Giant Antaeus, who did not join in the rebellion against the Olympian Gods and therefore is not chained. At Virgil 's persuasion, Antaeus takes the Poets in his large palm and lowers them gently to the final level of Hell. Canto XXXII At the base of the well, Dante finds himself within a large frozen lake: Cocytus, the Ninth Circle of Hell. Trapped in the ice, each according to his guilt, are punished sinners guilty of treachery against those with whom they had special relationships. The lake of ice is divided into four concentric rings (or "rounds '') of traitors corresponding, in order of seriousness, to betrayal of family ties, betrayal of community ties, betrayal of guests, and betrayal of lords. This is in contrast to the popular image of Hell as fiery; as Ciardi writes, "The treacheries of these souls were denials of love (which is God) and of all human warmth. Only the remorseless dead center of the ice will serve to express their natures. As they denied God 's love, so are they furthest removed from the light and warmth of His Sun. As they denied all human ties, so are they bound only by the unyielding ice. '' This final, deepest level of hell is reserved for traitors, betrayers and oathbreakers (its most famous inmate is Judas Iscariot). Canto XXXIII The gnawing sinner tells his story: he is Count Ugolino, and the head he gnaws belongs to Archbishop Ruggieri. In "the most pathetic and dramatic passage of the Inferno '', Ugolino describes how he conspired with Ruggieri in 1288 to oust his nephew and take control over the Guelphs of Pisa. However, as soon as Nino was gone, the Archbishop, sensing the Guelphs ' weakened position, turned on Ugolino and imprisoned him with his sons and grandsons in the Torre dei Gualandi. In March 1289, the Archbishop condemned the prisoners to death by starvation in the tower. Canto XXXIV In the very centre of Hell, condemned for committing the ultimate sin (personal treachery against God), is the Devil, referred to by Virgil as Dis (the Roman god of the underworld; the name "Dis '' was often used for Pluto in antiquity, such as in Virgil 's Aeneid). The arch - traitor, Lucifer was once held by God to be fairest of the angels before his pride led him to rebel against God, resulting in his expulsion from Heaven. Lucifer is a giant, terrifying beast trapped waist - deep in the ice, fixed and suffering. He has three faces, each a different color: one red (the middle), one a pale yellow (the right), and one black (the left): ... he had three faces: one in front bloodred; and then another two that, just above the midpoint of each shoulder, joined the first; and at the crown, all three were reattached; the right looked somewhat yellow, somewhat white; the left in its appearance was like those who come from where the Nile, descending, flows. Dorothy L. Sayers notes that Satan 's three faces are thought by some to suggest his control over the three human races: red for the Europeans (from Japheth), yellow for the Asiatic (from Shem), and black for the African (the race of Ham). All interpretations recognize that the three faces represent a fundamental perversion of the Trinity: Satan is impotent, ignorant, and full of hate, in contrast to the all - powerful, all - knowing, and all - loving nature of God. Lucifer retains his six wings (he originally belonged to the angelic order of Seraphim, described in Isaiah 6: 2), but these are now dark, bat - like, and futile: the icy wind that emanates from the beating of Lucifer 's wings only further ensures his own imprisonment in the frozen lake. He weeps from his six eyes, and his tears mix with bloody froth and pus as they pour down his three chins. Each face has a mouth that chews eternally on a prominent traitor. Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus dangle with their feet in the left and right mouths, respectively, for their involvement in the assassination of Julius Caesar (March 15, 44 BC) -- an act which, to Dante, represented the destruction of a unified Italy and the killing of the man who was divinely appointed to govern the world. In the central, most vicious mouth is Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ. Judas is receiving the most horrifying torture of the three traitors: his head is gnawed inside Lucifer 's mouth while his back is forever flayed and shredded by Lucifer 's claws. According to Dorothy L. Sayers, "just as Judas figures treason against God, so Brutus and Cassius figure treason against Man - in - Society; or we may say that we have here the images of treason against the Divine and the Secular government of the world ''. At about 6: 00 p.m. on Saturday evening, Virgil and Dante begin their escape from Hell by clambering down Satan 's ragged fur, feet - first. When they reach Satan 's genitalia, the poets pass through the center of the universe and of gravity from the Northern Hemisphere of land to the Southern Hemisphere of water. When Virgil changes direction and begins to climb "upward '' towards the surface of the Earth at the antipodes, Dante, in his confusion, initially believes they are returning to Hell. Virgil indicates that the time is halfway between the canonical hours of Prime (6 a.m.) and Terce (9 a.m.) -- that is, 7: 30 a.m. of the same Holy Saturday which was just about to end. Dante is confused as to how, after about an hour and a half of climbing, it is now apparently morning. Virgil explains that as a result of passing through the Earth 's center into the Southern Hemisphere, which is twelve hours ahead of Jerusalem, the central city of the Northern Hemisphere (where, therefore, it is currently 7: 30 p.m.). Virgil goes on to explain how the Southern Hemisphere was once covered with dry land, but the land recoiled in horror to the north when Lucifer fell from Heaven and was replaced by the ocean. Meanwhile, the inner rock Lucifer displaced as he plunged into the center of the earth rushed upwards to the surface of the Southern Hemisphere to avoid contact with him, forming the Mountain of Purgatory. This mountain -- the only land mass in the waters of the Southern Hemisphere -- rises above the surface at a point directly opposite Jerusalem. The poets then ascend a narrow chasm of rock through the "space contained between the floor formed by the convex side of Cocytus and the underside of the earth above, '' moving in opposition to Lethe, the river of oblivion, which flows down from the summit of Mount Purgatory. The poets finally emerge a little before dawn on the morning of Easter Sunday (April 10, 1300 A.D.) beneath a sky studded with stars.

when did germany occupy italy in world war 2

Military History of Italy during World war II - wikipedia Timeline The participation of Italy in the Second World War was characterized by a complex framework of ideology, politics, and diplomacy, while its military actions were often heavily influenced by external factors. The imperial ambitions of the Fascist regime, which aspired to restore the Roman Empire in North Africa and the Mediterranean (the Mare Nostrum, or the Italian Empire), were partially met with the annexation of Albania and the Province of Ljubljana, and the occupation of British Somaliland and other territories, but ultimately collapsed after defeats in the East and North African campaigns. In July 1943, following the Allied invasion of Sicily, Benito Mussolini was arrested by order of King Victor Emmanuel III, provoking a civil war. Italy surrendered to the Allies at the end of the Italian Campaign. The northern half of the country was occupied by Germans with the fascists help and made a collaborationist puppet state (with more than 600,000 soldiers), while the south was governed by monarchist and liberal forces, which fought for the Allied cause as the Italian Co-Belligerent Army (at its height numbering more than 50,000 men), helped by circa 350,000 partisans of disparate political ideologies that operated all over Italy. During the late 1920s, the Italian Prime Minister Benito Mussolini spoke with increasing urgency about imperial expansion, arguing that Italy needed an outlet for its "surplus population '' and that it would therefore be in the best interests of other countries to aid in this expansion. The immediate aspiration of the regime was political "hegemony in the Mediterranean -- Danubian -- Balkan region '', more grandiosely Mussolini imagined the conquest "of an empire stretching from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Strait of Hormuz ''. Balkan and Mediterranean hegemony was predicated by ancient Roman dominance in the same regions. There were designs for a protectorate over Albania and for the annexation of Dalmatia, as well as economic and military control of Yugoslavia and Greece. The regime also sought to establish protective patron -- client relationships with Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, which all lay on the outside edges of its European sphere of influence. Although it was not among his publicly proclaimed aims, Mussolini wished to challenge the supremacy of Britain and France in the Mediterranean Sea, which was considered strategically vital, since the Mediterranean was Italy 's only conduit to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In 1935, Italy initiated the Second Italo - Ethiopian War, "a nineteenth - century colonial campaign waged out of due time ''. The campaign gave rise to optimistic talk on raising a native Ethiopian army "to help conquer '' Anglo - Egyptian Sudan. The war also marked a shift towards a more aggressive Italian foreign policy and also "exposed (the) vulnerabilities '' of the British and French. This in turn created the opportunity Mussolini needed to begin to realize his imperial goals. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War broke out. From the beginning, Italy played an important role in the conflict. Their military contribution was so vast, that it played a decisive role in the victory of the rebel forces led by Francisco Franco. Mussolini had engaged in "a full - scale external war '' due to the insinuation of future Spanish subservience to the Italian Empire, and as a way of placing the country on a war footing and creating "a warrior culture ''. The aftermath of the war in Ethiopia saw a reconciliation of German - Italian relations following years of a previously strained relationship, resulting in the signing of a treaty of mutual interest in October 1936. Mussolini referred to this treaty as the creation of a Berlin - Rome Axis, which Europe would revolve around. The treaty was the result of increasing dependence on German coal following League of Nations sanctions, similar policies between the two countries over the conflict in Spain, and German sympathy towards Italy following European backlash to the Ethiopian War. The aftermath of the treaty saw the increasing ties between Italy and Germany, and Mussolini falling under Adolf Hitler 's influence from which "he never escaped ''. In October 1938, in the aftermath of the Munich Agreement, Italy demanded concessions from France. These included a free port at Djibouti, control of the Addis Ababa - Djibouti railroad, Italian participation in the management of Suez Canal Company, some form of French - Italian condominium over French Tunisia, and the preservation of Italian culture on Corsica with no French assimilation of the people. The French refused the demands, believing the true Italian intention was the territorial acquisition of Nice, Corsica, Tunisia, and Djibouti. On 30 November 1938, Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano addressed the Chamber of Deputies on the "natural aspirations of the Italian people '' and was met with shouts of "Nice! Corsica! Savoy! Tunisia! Djibouti! Malta! '' Later that day, Mussolini addressed the Fascist Grand Council "on the subject of what he called the immediate goals of ' Fascist dynamism '. '' These were Albania; Tunisia; Corsica, an integral part of France; the Ticino, a canton of Switzerland; and all "French territory east of the River Var '', including Nice, but not Savoy. Beginning in 1939 Mussolini often voiced his contention that Italy required uncontested access to the world 's oceans and shipping lanes to ensure its national sovereignty. On 4 February 1939, Mussolini addressed the Grand Council in a closed session. He delivered a long speech on international affairs and the goals of his foreign policy, "which bears comparison with Hitler 's notorious disposition, minuted by colonel Hossbach ''. He began by claiming that the freedom of a country is proportional to the strength of its navy. This was followed by "the familiar lament that Italy was a prisoner in the Mediterranean ''. He called Corsica, Tunisia, Malta, and Cyprus "the bars of this prison '', and described Gibraltar and Suez as the prison guards. To break British control, her bases on Cyprus, Gibraltar, Malta, and in Egypt (controlling the Suez Canal) would have to be neutralized. On 31 March, Mussolini stated that "Italy will not truly be an independent nation so long as she has Corsica, Bizerta, Malta as the bars of her Mediterranean prison and Gibraltar and Suez as the walls. '' Fascist foreign policy took for granted that the democracies -- Britain and France -- would someday need to be faced down. Through armed conquest Italian North Africa and Italian East Africa -- separated by the Anglo - Egyptian Sudan -- would be linked, and the Mediterranean prison destroyed. Then, Italy would be able to march "either to the Indian Ocean through the Sudan and Abyssinia, or to the Atlantic by way of French North Africa ''. As early as September 1938, the Italian military had drawn up plans to invade Albania. On 7 April, Italian forces landed in the country and within three days had occupied the majority of the country. Albania represented a territory Italy could acquire for "' living space ' to ease its overpopulation '' as well as the foothold needed to launch other expansionist conflicts in the Balkans. On 22 May 1939, Italy and Germany signed the Pact of Steel joining both countries in a military alliance. The pact was the culmination of German - Italian relations from 1936 and was not defensive in nature. Rather, the pact was designed for a "joint war against France and Britain '', although the Italian hierarchy held the understanding that such a war would not take place for several years. However, despite the Italian impression, the pact made no reference to such a period of peace and the Germans proceeded with their plans to invade Poland. Mussolini 's Under - Secretary for War Production, Carlo Favagrossa, had estimated that Italy could not possibly be prepared for major military operations until at least October 1942. This had been made clear during the Italo - German negotiations for the Pact of Steel, whereby it was stipulated that neither signatory was to make war without the other earlier than 1943. Although considered a great power, the Italian industrial sector was relatively weak compared to other European major powers. Italian industry did not equal more than 15 % of that of France or of Britain in militarily critical areas such as automobile production: the number of automobiles in Italy before the war was around 374,000, in comparison to around 2,500,000 in Britain and France. The lack of a stronger automotive industry made it difficult for Italy to mechanize its military. Italy still had a predominantly agricultural - based economy, with demographics more akin to a developing country (high illiteracy, poverty, rapid population growth and a high proportion of adolescents) and a proportion of GNP derived from industry less than that of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Sweden, in addition to the other great powers. In terms of strategic materials, in 1940, Italy produced 4.4 mega tonnes (Mt) of coal, 0.01 Mt of crude oil, 1.2 Mt of iron ore and 2.1 Mt of steel. By comparison, Great Britain produced 224.3 Mt of coal, 11.9 Mt of crude oil, 17.7 Mt of iron ore, and 13.0 Mt of steel and Germany produced 364.8 Mt of coal, 8.0 Mt of crude oil, 29.5 Mt of iron ore and 21.5 Mt of steel. Most raw material needs could be fulfilled only through importation, and no effort was made to stockpile key materials before the entry into war. Approximately one quarter of the ships of Italy 's merchant fleet were in foreign ports at the outbreak of hostilities, and, given no forewarning, were immediately impounded. Between 1936 and 1939, Italy had supplied the Spanish "Nationalist '' forces, fighting under Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War, with large number of weapons and supplies practically free. In addition to weapons, the Corpo Truppe Volontarie ("Corps of Volunteer Troops '') had also been dispatched to fight for Franco. The financial cost of the war was between 6 and 8.5 billion lire, approximately 14 to 20 per cent of the country 's annual expenditure. Adding to these problems was Italy 's extreme debt position. When Benito Mussolini took office, in 1921, the government debt was 93 billion lire, un-repayable in the short to medium term. Only two years later this debt had increased to 405 billion lire. In September 1939, Britain imposed a selective blockade of Italy. Coal from Germany, which was shipped out of Rotterdam, was declared contraband. The Germans promised to keep up shipments by train, over the Alps, and Britain offered to supply all of Italy 's needs in exchange for Italian armaments. The Italians could not agree to the latter terms without shattering their alliance with Germany. On 2 February 1940, however, Mussolini approved a draft contract with the Royal Air Force to provide 400 Caproni aircraft; yet he scrapped the deal on 8 February. The British intelligence officer, Francis Rodd, believed that Mussolini was convinced to reverse policy by German pressure in the week of 2 -- 8 February, a view shared by the British ambassador in Rome, Percy Loraine. On 1 March, the British announced that they would block all coal exports from Rotterdam to Italy. Italian coal was one of the most discussed issues in diplomatic circles in the spring of 1940. In April Britain began strengthening their Mediterranean Fleet to enforce the blockade. Despite French uncertainty, Britain rejected concessions to Italy so as not to "create an impression of weakness ''. Germany supplied Italy with about one million tons of coal a month beginning in the spring of 1940, an amount that even exceeded Mussolini 's demand of August 1939 that Italy receive six million tons of coal for its first twelve months of war. The Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) was comparatively depleted and weak at the commencement of the war. Italian tanks were of poor quality and radios few in number. The bulk of Italian artillery dated to World War I. The primary fighter of the Italian Air Force (Regia Aeronautica) was the Fiat CR. 42, which, though an advanced biplane, with excellent performance, was obsolete against monoplane fighters of other nations. Of the Regia Aeronautica 's approximately 1,760 aircraft, only 900 could be considered in any way combat - worthy. The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) had several modern battleships but no aircraft carriers. Italian authorities were acutely aware of the need to modernize and were taking steps to meet the requirements of their own relatively advanced tactical principles. Almost 40 % of the 1939 budget was allocated for military spending. Recognizing the Navy 's need for close air support, the decision was made to build carriers. Three series of modern fighters, capable of meeting the best allied planes on equal terms, were in development, with a few hundred of each eventually being produced. The Carro Armato P40 tank, roughly equivalent to the M4 Sherman and Panzer IV medium tanks, was designed in 1940 (though no prototype was produced until 1942 and manufacture was not able to begin before the Armistice, owing in part to the lack of sufficiently powerful engines, which were themselves undergoing a development push; total Italian tank production for the war -- about 3,500 -- was less than the number of tanks used by Germany in its invasion of France). The Italians were pioneers in the use of self - propelled guns, both in close support and anti-tank roles. Their 75 / 46 fixed AA / AT gun, 75 / 32 gun, 90 / 53 AA / AT gun (an equally deadly but less famous peer of the German 88 / 55), 47 / 32 AT gun, and the 20 mm AA autocannon were effective, modern weapons. Also of note were the AB 41 and the Camionetta AS 42 armoured cars, which were regarded as excellent vehicles of their type. None of these developments, however, precluded the fact that the bulk of equipment was obsolete and poor. The relatively weak economy, lack of suitable raw materials and consequent inability to produce suitable quantities of armaments and supplies were therefore the key material reasons for Italian military failure. On paper Italy had one of the world 's largest armies, but the reality was the opposite. According to the estimates of Bierman and Smith, the Italian regular army could field only about 200,000 troops at the war 's beginning. Irrespective of the attempts to modernize, the majority of Italian army personnel were lightly armed infantry lacking sufficient motor transport. There was insufficient budget to train the men in the services, such that the bulk of personnel received much of their training at the front, when it was too late to be of use. Air units had not been trained to operate with the naval fleet and the majority of ships had been built for fleet actions, rather than the convoy protection duties in which they were primarily employed during the war. In any event, a critical lack of fuel kept naval activities to a minimum. Senior leadership was also a problem. Mussolini personally assumed control of all three individual military service ministries with the intention of influencing detailed planning. Comando Supremo (the Italian High Command) consisted of only a small complement of staff that could do little more than inform the individual service commands of Mussolini 's intentions, after which it was up to the individual service commands to develop proper plans and execution. The result was that there was no central direction for operations; the three military services tended to work independently, focusing only on their fields, with little inter-service cooperation. Discrepancies in pay existed for personnel who were of equal rank, but from different units. Nazi Germany 's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939, marked the beginning of World War II. Despite being an Axis power, Italy remained non-belligerent until June 1940. Following the German conquest of Poland, Mussolini hesitated to enter the war. The British commander for land forces in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean, General Sir Archibald Wavell, correctly predicted that Mussolini 's pride would ultimately cause him to enter the war. Wavell would compare Mussolini 's situation to that of someone at the top of a diving board: "I think he must do something. If he can not make a graceful dive, he will at least have to jump in somehow; he can hardly put on his dressing - gown and walk down the stairs again. '' Initially, the entry into the war appeared to be political opportunism (though there was some provocation), which led to a lack of consistency in planning, with principal objectives and enemies being changed with little regard for the consequences. Mussolini was well aware of the military and material deficiencies but thought the war would be over soon and did not expect to do much fighting.In Italy anyway people was divided about the declaration of war and many in the military system were against war. On 10 June 1940, as the French government fled to Bordeaux during the German invasion, declaring Paris an open city, Mussolini felt the conflict would soon end and declared war on Britain and France. As he said to the Army 's Chief - of - Staff, Marshal Badoglio: I only need a few thousand dead so that I can sit at the peace conference as a man who has fought. Mussolini had the immediate war aim of expanding the Italian colonies in North Africa by taking land from the British and French colonies. About Mussolini 's declaration of war in France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States said: On this tenth day of June 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor. The Italian entry into the war opened up new fronts in North Africa and the Mediterranean. After Italy entered the war, pressure from Nazi Germany led to the internment in the Campagna concentration camp of some of Italy 's Jewish refugees. In June 1940, after initial success, the Italian offensive into southern France stalled at the fortified Alpine Line. On 24 June 1940, France surrendered to Germany. Italy occupied a swathe of French territory along the Franco - Italian border. During this operation, Italian casualties amounted to 1,247 men dead or missing and 2,631 wounded. A further 2,151 Italians were hospitalised due to frostbite. Late in the Battle of Britain, Italy contributed an expeditionary force, the Corpo Aereo Italiano, which took part in the Blitz from October 1940 until April 1941, at which time the last elements of the force were withdrawn. In November 1942, the Italian Royal Army occupied south - eastern Vichy France and Corsica as part of Case Anton. From December 1942, Italian military government of French departments east of the Rhône River was established, and continued until September 1943, when Italy quit the war. This had the effect of providing a de facto temporary haven for French Jews fleeing the Holocaust. In January 1943 the Italians refused to cooperate with the Nazis in rounding up Jews living in the occupied zone of France under their control and in March prevented the Nazis from deporting Jews in their zone. German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop complained to Mussolini that "Italian military circles... lack a proper understanding of the Jewish question. '' The Italian Navy established a submarine base at Bordeaux, code named BETASOM, and thirty two Italian submarines participated in the Battle of the Atlantic. Plans to attack the harbour of New York City with CA class midget submarines in 1943 were disrupted when the submarine converted to carry out the attack, the Leonardo da Vinci, was sunk in May 1943. The armistice put a stop to further planning. The Italians fared poorly in North Africa almost from the beginning. Within a week of Italy 's declaration of war on 10 June 1940, the British 11th Hussars had seized Fort Capuzzo in Libya. In an ambush east of Bardia, the British captured the Italian 10th Army Engineer - in - Chief, General Lastucci. On 28 June Marshal Italo Balbo, the Governor - General of Libya, was killed by friendly fire while landing in Tobruk. Mussolini ordered Balbo 's replacement, General Rodolfo Graziani, to launch an attack into Egypt immediately. Graziani complained to Mussolini that his forces were not properly equipped for such an operation, and that an attack into Egypt could not possibly succeed; nevertheless, Mussolini ordered him to proceed. On 13 September, elements of the 10th Army retook Fort Capuzzo and crossed the border into Egypt. Lightly opposed, they advanced about 100 km (62 mi) to Sidi Barrani, where they stopped and began entrenching themselves in a series of fortified camps. At this time, the British had only 36,000 troops available (out of about 100,000 under Middle Eastern command) to defend Egypt, against 236,000 Italian troops. The Italians, however, were not concentrated in one location. They were divided between the 5th army in the west and the 10th army in the east and thus spread out from the Tunisian border in western Libya to Sidi Barrani in Egypt. At Sidi Barrani, Graziani, unaware of the British lack of numerical strength, planned to build fortifications and stock them with provisions, ammunition, and fuel, establish a water pipeline, and extend the via Balbia to that location, which was where the road to Alexandria began. This task was being obstructed by British Royal Navy attacks on Italian supply ships in the Mediterranean. At this stage Italian losses remained minimal, but the efficiency of the British Royal Navy would improve as the war went on. Mussolini was fiercely disappointed with Graziani 's sluggishness. However, according to Bauer he had only himself to blame, as he had withheld the trucks, armaments, and supplies that Graziani had deemed necessary for success. Wavell was hoping to see the Italians overextend themselves before his intended counter at Marsa Matruh. Graziani and his staff lacked faith in the strength of the Italian military. One of his officers wrote: "We 're trying to fight this... as though it were a colonial war... this is a European war... fought with European weapons against a European enemy. We take too little account of this in building our stone forts... We are not fighting the Ethiopians now. '' (This was a reference to the Second Italo - Abyssinian War where Italian forces had fought against a relatively poorly equipped opponent.) Balbo had said "Our light tanks, already old and armed only with machine guns, are completely out - classed. The machine guns of the British armoured cars pepper them with bullets which easily pierce their armour. '' Italian forces around Sidi Barrani had severe weaknesses in their deployment. Their five main fortifications were placed too far apart to allow mutual support against an attacking force, and the areas between were weakly patrolled. The absence of motorised transport did not allow for rapid reorganisation, if needed. The rocky terrain had prevented an anti-tank ditch from being dug and there were too few mines and 47 mm anti-tank guns to repel an armoured advance. By the summer of 1941, the Italians in North Africa had regrouped, retrained and rearmed into a much more effective fighting force, one that proved to be much harder for the British to overcome in encounters from 1941 to 1943. On 8 December 1940, the British launched Operation Compass. Planned as an extended raid, it resulted in a force of British, Indian, and Australian troops cutting off the Italian 10th Army. Pressing the British advantage home, General Richard O'Connor succeeded in reaching El Agheila, deep in Libya (an advance of 500 miles (800 km)) and taking some 130,000 prisoners. The Allies nearly destroyed the 10th Army, and seemed on the point of sweeping the Italians out of Libya altogether. Winston Churchill, however, directed the advance be stopped, initially because of supply problems and because of a new Italian offensive that had gained ground in Albania, and ordered troops dispatched to defend Greece. Weeks later the first troops of the German Afrika Korps started to arrive in North Africa (February 1941), along with six Italian divisions including the motorized Trento and armored Ariete. German General Erwin Rommel now became the principal Axis field commander in North Africa, although the bulk of his forces consisted of Italian troops. Though subordinate to the Italians, under Rommel 's direction the Axis troops pushed the British and Commonwealth troops back into Egypt but were unable to complete the task because of the exhaustion and their extended supply lines which were under threat from the Allied enclave at Tobruk, which they failed to capture. After reorganising and re-grouping the Allies launched Operation Crusader in November 1941 which resulted in the Axis front line being pushed back once more to El Agheila by the end of the year. In January 1942 the Axis struck back again, advancing to Gazala where the front lines stabilised while both sides raced to build up their strength. At the end of May, Rommel launched the Battle of Gazala where the British armoured divisions were soundly defeated. The Axis seemed on the verge of sweeping the British out of Egypt, but at the First Battle of El Alamein (July 1942) General Claude Auchinleck halted Rommel 's advance only 90 mi (140 km) from Alexandria. Rommel made a final attempt to break through during the Battle of Alam el Halfa but Eighth Army, by this time commanded by Lieutenant - General Bernard Montgomery, held firm. After a period of reinforcement and training the Allies assumed the offensive at the Second Battle of Alamein (October / November 1942) where they scored a decisive victory and the remains of Rommel 's German - Italian Panzer Army were forced to engage in a fighting retreat for 1,600 mi (2,600 km) to the Libyan border with Tunisia. After the Operation Torch landings in the Vichy French territories of Morocco and Algeria (November 1942) British, American and French forces advanced east to engage the German - Italian forces in the Tunisia Campaign. By February, the Axis forces in Tunisia were joined by Rommel 's forces, after their long withdrawal from El Alamein, which were re-designated the Italian First Army (under Giovanni Messe) when Rommel left to command the Axis forces to the north at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass. Despite the Axis success at Kasserine, the Allies were able to reorganise (with all forces under the unified direction of 18th Army Group commanded by General Sir Harold Alexander) and regain the initiative in April. The Allies completed the defeat of the Axis armies in North Africa in May 1943. In addition to the well - known campaigns in the western desert during 1940, the Italians initiated operations in June 1940 from their East African colonies of Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland, and Eritrea. As in Egypt, Italian forces (roughly 70,000 Italian soldiers and 180,000 native troops) outnumbered their British opponents. Italian East Africa, however, was isolated and far from the Italian mainland, leaving the forces there cut off from supply and thus severely limited in the operations they could undertake. Initial Italian attacks in East Africa took two different directions, one into the Sudan and the other into Kenya. Then, in August 1940, the Italians advanced into British Somaliland. After suffering and inflicting few casualties, the British and Commonwealth garrison evacuated Somaliland, retreating by sea to Aden. The Italian invasion of British Somaliland was one of the few successful Italian campaigns of World War II accomplished without German support. In the Sudan and Kenya, Italy captured small territories around several border villages, after which the Italian Royal Army in East Africa adopted a defensive posture in preparation for expected British counterattacks. The Regia Marina maintained a small squadron in the Italian East Africa area. The "Red Sea Flotilla '', consisting of seven destroyers and eight submarines, was based at the port of Massawa in Eritrea. Despite a severe shortage of fuel, the flotilla posed a threat to British convoys traversing the Red Sea. However, Italian attempts to attack British convoys resulted in the loss of four submarines and one destroyer. On 19 January 1941, the expected British counter-attack arrived in the shape of the Indian 4th and Indian 5th Infantry Divisions, which made a thrust from the Sudan. A supporting attack was made from Kenya by the South African 1st Division, the 11th African Division, and the 12th African Division. Finally, the British launched an amphibious assault from Aden to re-take British Somaliland. Fought from February to March, the outcome of the Battle of Keren determined the fate of Italian East Africa. In early April, after Keren fell, Asmara and Massawa followed. The Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa also fell in April 1941. The Viceroy of Ethiopia, Amedeo, Duke of Aosta, surrendered at the stronghold of Amba Alagi in May. He received full military honours. The Italians in East Africa made a final stand around the town of Gondar in November 1941. When the port of Massawa fell to the British, the remaining destroyers were ordered on final missions in the Red Sea, some of them achieving small successes before being scuttled or sunk. At the same time, the last four submarines made an epic voyage around the Cape of Good Hope to Bordeaux in France. Some Italians, after their defeat, waged a guerilla war mainly in Eritrea and Ethiopia, that lasted until fall 1943. Notable among them was Amedeo Guillet. In early 1939, while the world was focused on Adolf Hitler 's aggression against Czechoslovakia, Mussolini looked to the Kingdom of Albania, across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Italian forces invaded Albania on 7 April 1939 and swiftly took control of the small country. Even before the invasion, Albania had been politically dominated by Italy; after the invasion it was formally made part of Italy and the Italian king took the Albanian crown. Along with the intervention in the Spanish Civil War and the invasion of Abyssinia, the invasion of Albania was part of the Italian contribution to the disintegration of the collective security the League of Nations instituted after World War I. As such, it was part of the prelude to World War II. On 28 October 1940, Italy started the Greco - Italian War by launching an invasion of the Kingdom of Greece from Albania. In part, the Italians attacked Greece because of the growing influence of Germany in the Balkans. Both Yugoslavia and Greece had governments friendly to Germany. Mussolini launched the invasion of Greece in haste after the Kingdom of Romania, a state which he perceived as lying within the Italian sphere of influence, allied itself with Germany. The order to invade Greece was given by Mussolini to Badoglio and Army Chief of Staff Mario Roatta on 15 October, with the expectation that the attack would commence within 12 days. Badoglio and Roatta were appalled given that, acting on his orders, they had demobilised 600,000 men three weeks prior. Given the expected requirement of at least 20 divisions to facilitate success, the fact that only eight divisions were currently in Albania, and the inadequacies of Albanian ports and connecting infrastructure, adequate preparation would require at least three months. Nonetheless, D - day was set at dawn on 28 October. The initial Italian offensive was quickly contained, and the invasion soon ended in an embarrassing stalemate. Taking advantage of Bulgaria 's decision to remain neutral, the Greek Commander - in - Chief, Lt Gen Alexandros Papagos, was able to establish numerical superiority by mid-November, prior to launching a counter-offensive that drove the Italians back into Albania. In addition, the Greeks were naturally adept at operating in mountainous terrain, while only six of the Italian Army 's divisions, the Alpini, were trained and equipped for mountain warfare. Only when the Italians were able to establish numerical parity was the Greek offensive stopped. By then they had been able to penetrate deep into Albania. An Italian "Spring Offensive '' in March 1941, which tried to salvage the situation prior to German intervention, amounted to little. The Italian Army was still pinned down in Albania by the Greeks when the Germans began their invasion of Greece on 6 April. Crucially, the bulk of the Greek Army (fifteen divisions) was left deep in Albania as the German attack approached. After British troops arrived in Greece in March 1941, British bombers operating from Greek bases could reach the Romanian oil fields, vital to the German war effort. Hitler decided that he had to help the Italians and committed German troops to invade Greece via Yugoslavia (where a coup had deposed the German - friendly government). On 6 April 1941, the Wehrmacht invasions of Yugoslavia (Operation 25) and Greece (Operation Marita) both started. Together with the rapid advance of the German forces the Italians attacked Yugoslavia in Dalmatia and pushed the Greeks finally out of Albania. On 17 April, Yugoslavia surrendered to the Germans and the Italians. On 30 April, Greece too surrendered to the Germans and Italians, and was divided into German, Italian and Bulgarian sectors. The invasions ended with a complete Axis victory in May when Crete fell. On 3 May, during the triumphal parade in Athens to celebrate the Axis victory, Mussolini started to boast of an Italian Mare Nostrum in the Mediterranean sea. Some 28 Italian divisions participated in the Balkan invasions. The coast of Yugoslavia was occupied by the Italian Army, while the rest of the country was divided between the Axis forces (a German and Italian puppet State of Croatia was created, under the nominal sovereignty of Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta, but actually governed by the Croatian fascist Ante Pavelić). The Italians assumed control of most of Greece with their 11th Army, while the Bulgarians occupied the northern provinces and the Germans the strategically most important areas. Italian troops would occupy parts of Greece and Yugoslavia until the Italian armistice with the Allies in September 1943. In spring 1941, Italy created a Montenegrin client state and annexed most of the Dalmatian coast as the Governorship of Dalmatia (Governatorato di Dalmazia). Yugoslav Partisans fought a guerilla war against the occupying forces until 1945. In 1942 the Italian military commander in Croatia refused to hand over Jews in his zone to the Nazis. In 1940, the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) could not match the overall strength of the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. After some initial setbacks, the Italian Navy declined to engage in a confrontation of capital ships. Since the British Navy had as a principal task the supply and protection of convoys supplying Britain 's outposts in the Mediterranean, the mere continued existence of the Italian fleet (the so - called "fleet in being '' concept) caused problems to Britain, which had to utilise warships sorely needed elsewhere to protect Mediterranean convoys. On 11 November, Britain launched the first carrier strike of the war, using a squadron of Fairey Swordfish torpedo bombers. This raid at Taranto left three Italian battleships crippled or destroyed for the loss of two British aircraft shot down. The Italian navy found other ways to attack the British. The most successful involved the use of frogmen and riding manned torpedoes to attack ships in harbour. The 10th Light Flotilla, also known as Decima Flottiglia MAS or XMAS, which carried out these attacks, sank or damaged 28 ships from September 1940 to the end of 1942. These included the battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and Valiant (damaged in the harbour of Alexandria on 18 December 1941), and 111,527 long tons (113,317 t) of merchant shipping. The XMAS used a particular kind of torpedo, the SLC (Siluro a Lenta Corsa), whose crew was composed of two frogmen, and motorboats packed with explosives, called MTM (Motoscafo da Turismo Modificato). Following the attacks on these two battleships, an Italian - dominated Mediterranean Sea appeared much more possible to achieve. However, this was only a brief happy time for Mussolini. The oil and supplies brought to Malta, despite heavy losses, by Operation Pedestal in August and the Allied landings in North Africa, Operation Torch, in November 1942, turned the fortunes of war against Italy. The Axis forces were ejected from Libya and Tunisia in six months after the Battle of El Alamein, while their supply lines were harassed day after day by the growing and overwhelming aerial and naval supremacy of the Allies. By the summer of 1943 the Allies were poised for an invasion of the Italian homeland. In July 1941, some 62,000 Italian troops of the Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (Corpo di Spedizione Italiano in Russia, or CSIR) left for the Eastern Front to aid in the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa). In July 1942, the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) expanded the CSIR to a full army of about 200,000 men named the Italian Army in Russia (Armata Italiana in Russia, or ARMIR). The ARMIR was also known as the "Italian 8th Army. '' From August 1942 -- February 1943, the Italian 8th Army took part in the Battle of Stalingrad. At Stalingrad, the 8th Army suffered heavy losses (some 20,000 dead and 64,000 captured) when the Soviets isolated the German forces in Stalingrad by attacking the over-stretched Hungarian, Romanian, and Italian forces protecting the German 's flanks. By the summer of 1943, Rome had withdrawn the remnants of these troops to Italy. Many of the Italian POWs captured in the Soviet Union died in captivity due to the harsh conditions in the Soviet prison camps. On 10 July 1943, a combined force of American and British Commonwealth troops invaded Sicily. German generals again took the lead in the defence and, although they lost the island after weeks of bitter fights, they succeeded in ferrying large numbers of German and Italian forces safely off Sicily to the Italian mainland. On 19 July, an Allied air raid on Rome destroyed both military and collateral civil installations. With these two events, popular support for the war diminished in Italy. On 25 July, the Grand Council of Fascism voted to limit the power of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and handed control of the Italian armed forces over to King Victor Emmanuel III. The next day Mussolini met with the King, was dismissed as prime minister, and was then imprisoned. A new Italian government, led by General Pietro Badoglio and Victor Emmanuel III, took over in Italy. Although they publicly declared that they would keep fighting alongside the Germans, the new Italian government began secret negotiations with the Allies to come over to the Allied side. On 3 September, a secret armistice was signed with the Allies at Fairfield Camp in Sicily. The armistice was publicly announced on 8 September. By then, the Allies were on the Italian mainland. On 3 September, British troops crossed the short distance from Sicily to the ' toe ' of Italy in Operation Baytown. Two more Allied landings took place on 9 September at Salerno (Operation Avalanche) and at Taranto (Operation Slapstick). The Italian surrender meant that the Allied landings at Taranto took place unopposed, with the troops simply disembarking from warships at the docks rather than assaulting the coastline. Because of the time it took for the new Italian government to negotiate the armistice, the Germans had time to reinforce their presence in Italy and prepare for their defection. In the first weeks of August they increased the number of divisions in Italy from two to seven and took control of vital infrastructure. Once the signing of the armistice was announced on 8 September, German troops quickly disarmed the Italian forces and took over critical defensive positions in Operation Achse. This included Italian - occupied southeastern France and the Italian - controlled areas in the Balkans. Only in Sardinia, Corsica, and in part of Apulia and Calabria were Italian troops able to hold their positions until the arrival of Allied forces. In the area of Rome, only one infantry division -- the Granatieri di Sardegna -- and some small armoured units fought with commitment, but by 11 September they were overwhelmed by superior German forces. King Victor Emmanuel III and his family, with Marshal Badoglio, General Mario Roatta, and others, abandoned Rome on 9 September. General Caroni, who was tasked with defending Rome, was given duplicitous orders to have his troops abandon Rome (something he did not want to do), and essentially to provide rear guard protection to the King and his entourage so they could flee to the Abruzzi hills, and later out to sea. They later landed at Brindisi. Most importantly, Badoglio never gave the order "OP 44 '' for the Italian people to rise up against the Germans until he knew it was too late to do any good; that is, he belatedly issued the order on 11 September. However, from the day of the announcement of the Armistice, when Italian citizens, military personnel and military units decided to rise up and resist on their own, they were sometimes quite effective against the Germans. On 9 September, two German Fritz X guided bombs sank the Italian battleship Roma off the coast of Sardinia. A Supermarina (Italian Naval Command) broadcast led the Italians to initially believe this attack was carried out by the British. On the Greek island of Cephallonia, General Antonio Gandin, commander of the 12,000 - strong Italian Acqui Division, decided to resist the German attempt to forcibly disarm his force. The battle raged from 13 -- 22 September, when the Italians were forced to surrender after suffering some 1,300 casualties. The ensuing massacre of several thousand Italian prisoners of war by the Germans stands as one of the worst single war crimes committed by the Wehrmacht. Italian troops captured by the Germans were given a choice to keep fighting with the Germans. About 94,000 Italians accepted and the remaining 710,000 were designated Italian military internees and were transported as slave labour to Germany. Some Italian troops that evaded German capture in the Balkans joined the Yugoslav (about 40,000 soldiers) and Greek Resistance (about 20,000). The same happened in Albania. After the German invasion, deportations of Italian Jews to Nazi death camps began. However, by the time the German advance reached the Campagna concentration camp, all the inmates had already fled to the mountains with the help of the local inhabitants. Rev. Aldo Brunacci of Assisi, under the direction of his bishop, Giuseppe Nicolini, saved all the Jews who sought refuge in Assisi. In October 1943 Nazis raided the Jewish ghetto in Rome. In November 1943 Jews of Genoa and Florence were deported to Auschwitz. It is estimated that 7,500 Italian Jews became victims of the Holocaust. About two months after Benito Mussolini was stripped of power, he was rescued by the Germans in Operation Eiche ("Oak ''). The Germans re-located Mussolini to northern Italy where he set up a new Fascist state, the Italian Social Republic (Repubblica Sociale Italiana or RSI). Many Italian personalities joined the RSI, like General Rodolfo Graziani. The Allied armies continued to advance through Italy despite increasing opposition from the Germans. The Allies soon controlled most of southern Italy, and Naples rose against and ejected the occupying German forces. The Allies organized some Italian troops in the south into what were known as "co-belligerent '' or "royalist '' forces. In time, there was a co-belligerent army (Italian Co-Belligerent Army), navy (Italian Co-Belligerent Navy), and air force (Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force). These Italian forces fought alongside the Allies for the rest of the war. Other Italian troops, loyal to Mussolini and his RSI, continued to fight alongside the Germans (among them were the Esercito Nazionale Repubblicano, the National Republican Army). From this point on, a large Italian resistance movement located in northern Italy fought a guerilla war against the German and RSI forces. Winston Churchill had long regarded southern Europe as the military weak spot of the continent (in World War I he had advocated the Dardanelles campaign, and during World War II he favoured the Balkans as an area of operations, for example in Greece in 1940). Calling Italy the "soft underbelly '' of the Axis, Churchill had therefore advocated this invasion instead of a cross-channel invasion of occupied France. But Italy itself proved anything but a soft target: the mountainous terrain gave Axis forces excellent defensive positions, and it also partly negated the Allied advantage in motorized and mechanized units. The final Allied victory over the Axis in Italy did not come until the spring offensive of 1945, after Allied troops had breached the Gothic Line, leading to the surrender of German and RSI forces in Italy on 2 May shortly before Germany finally surrendered ending World War II in Europe on 8 May. Mussolini was captured and killed on 28 April 1945 by the Italian resistance while attempting to flee. Japan reacted with shock and outrage to the news of the surrender of Italy to the Allied forces in September 1943. Italian citizens residing in Japan and in Manchukuo were swiftly rounded up and summarily asked whether they were loyal to the King of Savoy, who dishonoured their country by surrendering to the enemy, or with the Duce and the newly created Repubblica Sociale Italiana, which vowed to continue fighting alongside the Germans. Those who sided with the King were interned in concentration camps and detained in dismal conditions until the end of the war, while those who opted for the Fascist dictator were allowed to go on with their lives, although under strict surveillance by the Kempeitai. The Italian concession of Tientsin was occupied by Japanese troops after resistance from its garrison. The Social Republic of Italy later formally gave it to the Japanese puppet state in China. The news of Italy 's surrender did not reach the crew members of the three Italian submarines Giuliani, Cappellini and Torelli travelling to Singapore, then occupied by Japan, to take a load of rubber, tin and strategic materials bound for Italy and Germany 's war industry. All the officers and sailors on board were arrested by the Japanese army, and after a few weeks of detention the vast majority of them chose to side with Japan and Germany. The Kriegsmarine assigned new officers to the three units, who were renamed as U-boat U. IT. 23, U. IT. 24 and U. IT. 25, taking part in German war operations in the Pacific until the Giuliani was sunk by the British submarine HMS Tally - ho in February 1944 and the other two vessels were taken over by the Japanese Imperial Navy upon Germany 's surrender in 1945. Alberto Tarchiani, an anti-fascist journalist and activist, was appointed as Ambassador to Washington by the cabinet of Badoglio, which acted as provisional head of the Italian government pending the occupation of the country by the Allied forces. On his suggestion, Italy issued a formal declaration of war on Japan on 14 July 1945. The purpose of this act, which brought no military follow - up, was mainly to persuade the Allies that the new government of Italy deserved to be invited to the San Francisco Peace Conference, as a reward for its co-belligerence. However, the British Prime Minister Churchill and John Foster Dulles were resolutely against the idea, and so Italy 's new government was left out of the Conference. Italy and Japan negotiated the resumption of their respective diplomatic ties after 1951, and later signed several bilateral agreements and treaties. Nearly four million Italians served in the Italian Army during the Second World War and nearly half a million Italians (including civilians) lost their lives between June 1940 and May 1945. The official Italian government accounting of World War II 1940 -- 45 losses listed the following data: Prisoner - of - war losses are included with military losses mentioned above. Updated studies (2010) by the Ufficio dell'Albo d'Oro of the Italian Ministry of Defence have however revised the military deaths to 319,207: Civilian losses were 153,147 (123,119 post armistice) including 61,432 (42,613 post armistice) in air attacks. A brief summary of data from this report can be found online. There were in addition to these losses the deaths of African soldiers conscripted by Italy which were estimated by the Italian military at 10,000 in East African Campaign of 1940 -- 41. Civilian losses as a result of the fighting in Italian Libya were estimated by an independent Russian journalist to be 10,000. Included in the losses are also 64,000 victims of Nazi reprisals and genocide including 30,000 POWs and 8,500 Jews Russian sources list the deaths of 28,000 of the 49,000 Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union (1942 -- 1954). The genocide of Roma people was 1,000 persons. Jewish Holocaust victims totalled 8,562 (including Libya). After the armistice with the Allies, some 650,000 members of the Italian armed forces who refused to side with the occupying Germans were interned in concentration and labour camps. Of these, around 50,000 died while imprisoned or while under transportation. A further 29,000 died in armed struggles against the Germans while resisting capture immediately following the armistice. The Treaty of Peace with Italy, 1947 spelled the end of the Italian colonial empire, along with other border revisions. The Paris Peace Treaties, 1947 compelled Italy to pay $360,000,000 (US dollars at 1938 prices) in war reparations: $125,000,000 to Yugoslavia, $105,000,000 to Greece, $100,000,000 to the Soviet Union, $25,000,000 to Ethiopia and $5,000,000 to Albania. Italy also agreed to pay £ 1,765,000 to Greek nationals whose property in Italian territory had been destroyed or seized during the war. In the Italian constitutional referendum, 1946 the Italian monarchy was abolished, having been associated with the deprivations of the war and the Fascist rule. Unlike in Germany and Japan, no war crimes tribunals were held against Italian military and political leaders, though the Italian resistance summarily executed some of them (such as Mussolini) at the end of the war. Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945. Allied press reports of Italian military prowess in the Second World War were almost always dismissive. British wartime propaganda trumpeted the destruction of the Italian 10th Army by a significantly smaller British force during the early phase of the North African Campaign. The propaganda from this Italian collapse, which was designed to boost British morale during a bleak period of the war, left a lasting impression. The later exploits of Rommel and German accounts of events tended to disparage their Italian allies and downplay their contributions; these German accounts were used as a primary source for the Axis side by English - language historians after the war. Kenneth Macksey wrote in 1972, that after the split in the Italian state and the reinforcement of fascist Italy by German troops, "the British threw out the Italian Chicken only to let in the German Eagle '', for example.. James Sadkovich, Peter Haining, Vincent O'Hara, Ian Walker and others have attempted to reassess the performance of the Italian forces. Many previous authors used only German or British sources, not considering the Italian ones, hampered by few Italian sources being translated into English. Contemporary British reports ignored an action of Bir El Gobi, where a battalion of Giovani Fascisti held up the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade and destroyed dozens of tanks of the 22nd Armoured Brigade. Sadkovich, Walker and others have found examples of actions where Italian forces were effective, yet are rarely discussed by most histories. During the Tunisian Campaign, where Italian units were involved in most encounters, such as Kasserine Pass, Mareth, Akarit and Enfidaville, it was observed by General Alexander, "... the Italians fought particularly well, outdoing the Germans in line with them ''. Rommel also conceded praise on several occasions. Other times, German mistakes were blamed on Italians, or the Germans left the Italians in hopeless situations where failure was unavoidable. Questionable German advice, broken promises and security lapses had direct consequences at the Battle of Cape Matapan, in the convoy war and North Africa. According to Sadkovich, Rommel often retreated leaving immobile infantry units exposed, withdrew German units to rest even though the Italians had also been in combat, would deprive the Italians of their share of captured goods, ignore Italian intelligence, seldom acknowledge Italian successes and often resist formulation of joint strategy. Alan J. Levine, an author who has also extensively worked with Italian sources, points out that while Allied efforts to choke off Rommel 's supply lines were eventually successful and played the decisive role in the Allied victory in Africa, the Italians who defended it, especially navy commanders, were not feeble - minded or incompetent at all. He criticises Rommel for ignoring the good advice of Italians during the Crusader Offensive (although he also presents a positive picture of the Field Marshal in general), and in review of Sadkovich 's work The Italian Navy in World War II, criticises it for being unreliable and recommends Bragadin and the Italian official history instead. Gerhard L. Weinberg, in his 2011 George C. Marshall Lecture "Military History -- Some Myths of World War II '' (2011) complained that "there is far too much denigration of the performance of Italy 's forces during the conflict. '' In addition, Italian ' cowardice ' did not appear to be more prevalent than the level seen in any army, despite claims of wartime propaganda. Ian Walker wrote: ... it is perhaps simplest to ask who is the most courageous in the following situations: the Italian carristi, who goes into battle in an obsolete M14 tank against superior enemy armour and anti-tank guns, knowing they can easily penetrate his flimsy protection at a range where his own small gun will have little effect; the German panzer soldier or British tanker who goes into battle in a Panzer IV Special or Sherman respectively against equivalent enemy opposition knowing that he can at least trade blows with them on equal terms; the British tanker who goes into battle in a Sherman against inferior Italian armour and anti-tank guns, knowing confidently that he can destroy them at ranges where they can not touch him. It would seem clear that, in terms of their motto Ferrea Mole, Ferreo Cuore, the Italian carristi really had "iron hearts '', even though as the war went on their "iron hulls '' increasingly let them down. The problems that stand out to the vast majority of historians pertain to Italian strategy and equipment. Italian equipment was, in general, not up to the standard of either the Allied or the German armies. An account of the defeat of the Italian 10th Army noted that the incredibly poor quality of the Italian artillery shells saved many British soldiers ' lives. More crucially, they lacked suitable quantities of equipment of all kinds and their high command did not take necessary steps to plan for most eventualities. This was compounded by Mussolini 's assigning unqualified political favourites to key positions. Mussolini also dramatically overestimated the ability of the Italian military at times, sending them into situations where failure was likely, such as the invasion of Greece. Footnotes Citations

all characters in the once and future king

The Once and Future King - wikipedia The Once and Future King is a work by T.H. White based upon Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory. It was first published in 1958. It collects and revises shorter novels published from 1938 to 1941, with much new material. The Once and Future King contains much deliberately anachronistic humour, affectionate mockery of the source text and commentary on totalitarianism. The work explores human nature regarding power and justice. As the young Arthur becomes king, he attempts to quell the prevalent "might makes right '' attitude with his idea of chivalry, even as he foresees the ascendancy of another form of might, namely legal prowess in the courtroom, and, from without, a form of fascism. White 's title derives from the inscription that, according to Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur, was written upon King Arthur 's tomb: Hic iacet Arthurus, rex quondam, rexque futurus or "Here lies Arthur, king once, and king to be. '' Most of the book takes place in "Gramarye '', the name White gives to Britain, and chronicles the youth and education of King Arthur, his rule as a king, and the romance between Sir Lancelot and Queen Guinevere. Though Arthur, if he existed at all, would have ruled some time around the 6th century, the book is set around the 14th century (and Arthur is portrayed as a Anglo - Norman rather than a Briton), and the actual monarchs of that period are referred to as "mythical ''. The book ends immediately before Arthur 's final battle against his illegitimate son Mordred. Though White admits his book 's source material is loosely derived from Le Morte d'Arthur, he reinterprets the epic events, filling them with renewed meaning for a world recovering from World War II. The book is divided into four parts: A final part, called The Book of Merlyn (written 1941, published 1977), was published separately following White 's death. It chronicles Arthur 's final lessons from Merlyn before his death, although some parts of it were incorporated into the final editions of the previous books. Much of the contents of this book appears in the first part of The Once and Future King. The story starts in the final years of the rule of King Uther Pendragon. The first part, "The Sword in the Stone '', chronicles Arthur 's upbringing by his foster father Sir Ector, his rivalry and friendship with his foster brother Kay, and his initial training by Merlyn, a wizard who lives through time backwards. Merlyn, knowing the boy 's destiny, teaches Arthur (known as "Wart '') what it means to be a good king by turning him into various kinds of animals: fish, hawk, ant, goose, and badger. Each of the transformations is meant to teach Wart a lesson, which will prepare him for his future life. Merlyn instills in Arthur the concept that the only justifiable reason for war is to prevent another from going to war and that contemporary human governments and powerful people exemplify the worst aspects of the rule of Might. Neither the ant nor goose episodes were in the original Sword in the Stone when it was published as a stand - alone book. The original novel also contains a battle between Merlyn and sorceress Madam Mim that was not included in The Once and Future King but was included in the Disney film. In part two, "The Queen of Air and Darkness '', White sets the stage for Arthur 's demise by introducing the Orkney clan and detailing Arthur 's seduction by their mother, his half - sister Queen Morgause. While the young king suppresses initial rebellions, Merlyn leads him to envision a means of harnessing potentially destructive Might for the cause of Right: the chivalric order of the Round Table. The third part, "The Ill - Made Knight '', shifts focus from King Arthur to the story of Sir Lancelot and Queen Guenever 's forbidden love, the means they go through to hide their affair from the King (although he already knows of it from Merlyn), and its effect on Elaine, Lancelot 's sometime lover and the mother of his son Galahad. "The Candle in the Wind '' unites these narrative threads by telling how Mordred 's hatred of his father and Sir Agravaine 's hatred of Lancelot caused the eventual downfall of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and the entire ideal kingdom of Camelot. The book begins as a quite light - hearted account of the young Arthur 's adventures, and King Pellinore 's interminable search for the Questing Beast. Parts of "The Sword in the Stone '' read almost as a parody of the traditional Arthurian legend by virtue of White 's prose style, which relies heavily on anachronisms. However, the tale gradually changes tone until "Ill - Made Knight '' becomes more meditative and "The Candle in the Wind '' finds Arthur brooding over death and his legacy. Perhaps most striking about White 's work is how he reinterprets the traditional Arthurian characters, often giving them motivations or traits more complex or even contradictory to those in earlier versions of the legend. For example: White allows Sir Thomas Malory, in the form of a young page named Tom, to have a cameo appearance towards the end of the final book. Due to his living backwards, Merlyn makes many anachronistic allusions to events in more recent times; of note are references to World War II, telegraphs, tanks, and "an Austrian who... plunged the civilized world into misery and chaos '' (i.e. Adolf Hitler). A veiled reference to Nazism also occurs when Sir Agravaine suggests setting up an organisation of "National Communists '' who use Jews as a scapegoat and have the fylfot as their badge. Floyd C. Gale praised "The Sword in the Stone '' as "blithely comic and entirely delightful '', stating that it was "in utter contrast to the mounting tragedy '' of the other three volumes of the series. Fantasy historian Lin Carter wrote, "... the single finest fantasy novel written in our time, or for that matter, "ever '' written, is, must be, by any conceivable standard, T.H. White 's "The Once and Future King ''. I can hardly imagine that any mature, literate person who has read the book would disagree with this estimate. White is a great writer. '' Although Walt Disney initially purchased the film rights to "The Ill - Made Knight '' in 1944, he eventually produced an adaptation of "The Sword in the Stone '' (released in 1963). This movie reflects more the sense of humour of Disney 's team of animators than White 's. The movie adds a more comical side to the original story, including song and dance, as in most Walt Disney films. Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe 's 1960 musical Camelot (which was made into a movie in 1967) is based mostly on the last two books of "The Once and Future King '' and features White 's idea of having Thomas Malory make a cameo appearance at the end, again as "Tom of Warwick ''. BBC Radio produced a dramatised version of "The Sword in the Stone '' for Children 's Hour shortly after its publication in 1938. Incidental music for the serial was specially composed by Benjamin Britten. A two - hour version of "The Sword in the Stone '', dramatised by Neville Teller, was first broadcast as a Saturday Night Theatre on Boxing Day, 1981. Michael Hordern played Merlyn and Toby Robertson was the Wart. The cast included Pauline Letts, David Davis, Jeffrey Segal and Lewis Stringer. Benjamin Britten 's incidental music, played by the English Sinfonia, was used in the production, which was by Graham Gauld. BBC Radio 4 serialised the book in six one - hour episodes dramatised by Brian Sibley, beginning on Sunday 9 November 2014 with Paul Ready as Arthur and David Warner as Merlyn.

where does the last name ortiz originate from

Ortiz - wikipedia Ortiz (pronounced (orˈtiθ)) is a surname of Spanish origin. Means "son of Orti ''. Patronymic from the Basque given name "Orti '', which seems to be disputed in meaning, deriving from either Latin fortis meaning "brave, strong '' or Latin fortunius meaning "fortunate ''.

who wrote it only takes a minute girl

It only Takes a Minute - wikipedia "It Only Takes a Minute '' is a 1975 song by Tavares. The song was the group 's only Top 10 pop hit in the United States, peaking at number 10, and their second number one song on the American soul charts. On the US Disco chart, "It Only Takes a Minute '' spent five weeks at # 2 and was the first of four entries on the chart. The song was subsequently covered by Jonathan King performing as 100 Ton and a Feather in 1976 and by boy band Take That in 1992. Tavares did not release their original version in the UK until 1986 when it could only reach No 46 in the UK Singles Chart. It was the last of their ten hits in the UK. Jonathan King 's version peaked at number nine for two weeks in July 1976. It would prove to be the last of his six Top ten UK singles in a career that started in 1965 with "Everyone 's Gone to the Moon ''. Released on 1 June 1992 by boyband Take That, it was the fourth single from the band 's debut album, Take That & Party. It became the band 's first top ten single, charting at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. A re-mastered version of Tavares ' track is featured in the soundtrack of Konami 's dancing game Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix. A remix from European producer X-Treme was featured in DDRMAX2: Dance Dance Revolution 7th MIX. The song was performed as conjunction with "Do What U Like '' in the Take That Hometown Tour which featured Mini Take That. In the UK the song has sold 146,000 copies as of March 2017. The music video involves the band singing and performing the song at a boxing ring with members Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen breakdancing whilst Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow chase after a girl. UK CD single (74321 10100 2) UK 7 '' vinyl (74321 10100 7) UK 7 '' vinyl (Limited Edition) (74321 10101 7) UK 12 '' vinyl (74321 10102 7) UK cassette (74321 10100 4) EU CD single (74321 11100 5) US CD single (TAKE4) US 7 '' vinyl (TAKE14) US 12 '' vinyl (TAKE214) Japanese 3 '' CD single (TAKEJAP4) * Only included as part of the ' Club Megamix ' on the "Could It Be Magic '' 12 '' Vinyl, unreleased as full track.

who won the year jennifer hudson was on american idol

American Idol (season 3) - wikipedia The third season of American Idol premiered on Monday, January 19, 2004 and continued until May 26, 2004. The third season was won by Fantasia Barrino, who defeated Diana DeGarmo by an approximate margin of 2 % (1.3 million votes); the vote total (65 million votes) was the highest recorded vote total in the show 's history until the May 23, 2007, finale of the sixth season. This season also featured Jennifer Hudson, who would subsequently win the 2006 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was the last season to be aired in standard definition, with the only exception being the grand finale. Season 3 wais the first season where both the winner and the runner - up had been in the bottom 2 or 3 prior to the finale. It was the first season to have a finale with two female contestants. It is also the first season where a Wild Card contestant, Leah LaBelle, was eliminated in the first episode of the finals. It was the first season to have a gender imbalance among the finalists, Season 3 had eight female finalists. Both Fantasia and Diana DeGarmo released a single after the finale. Fantasia 's first single, released in June 2004 on the RCA record label, entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number one, making Fantasia the first artist in the history of Billboard to debut at number one with their first single. In addition to Fantasia and DeGarmo, Jasmine Trias, LaToya London, George Huff, Jennifer Hudson, and Camile Velasco have all released albums since the season ended. Leah LaBelle was signed by Epic Records. Unlike previous seasons, this season the semi-finalists performed in front of a small studio audience, with orchestra accompaniment on backing tape. During Top 10 was the first time where are there were five judges when the duo Ashford & Simpson joined as judges. Auditions were held in the following cities: In this season over 80,000 attended the auditions in 6 cities. Paula Abdul was absent from the Los Angeles audition. A prominent auditioner was William Hung, a University of California, Berkeley student, who became a surprise cult figure following his tuneless rendition of Ricky Martin 's "She Bangs '' at the San Francisco audition. He was later invited back to perform on a special edition Uncut, Uncensored and Untalented. His appearance on the show landed him a record deal with Koch Records and he released an album soon afterwards. During the audition round in Houston, Texas, auditioner Jonathan Rey threw a cup of water at Simon, who moments earlier commented that he was terrible and "there 's not a song in the world you could sing. '' Security quickly escorted Jonathan out, and Houston police questioned him, but released him after Simon decided against pressing assault charges on him. Other prominent auditioners that year were "scooter girl '' Nicole Tieri, and Alan Ritchson who sang to Paula Abdul alone. There were 117 contestants in the first Hollywood round which was held at the Pasadena Civic Center in Pasadena, California. The contestants first came onto the stage in groups but each performed solo and talked briefly about themselves. Simon Cowell was not impressed with their performances. They were also asked to write original lyrics and melody for one of ten song titles given and perform their song the next day. After their performance, they were divided into four groups and one group was eliminated. In the next round, the remaining 87 contestants performed in groups in three. The girls and boys were separate and they were each given 3 different songs to choose -- Girls with The Supremes ' "You Ca n't Hurry Love '', Vonda Shepard 's "Tell Him '', Candi Staton 's "Young Hearts Run Free '', the boys with Billy Joel 's "Tell Her About It '', Rick Astley 's "Never Gonna Give You Up '', The Drifters 's "Up on the Roof ''. 30 contestants were cut and 57 then advanced to the next stage where they performed solo. The contestants were then divided into three groups and placed in separate rooms, with one group sent home. 32 contestants remained for the semi-finals. The contestants who reached this stage were referred to in the show as the Top 32 finalists. George Huff replaced Donnie Williams in Semifinal Round 4 after Williams was disqualified following a DUI arrest. Unlike previous seasons, this season the contestants performed in front of a small studio audience, with orchestra accompaniment on backing tape. As with the second season, in these rounds, two from each group were selected by public vote to proceed on to the Top 12, and those who failed at any of the previous stages were given a second chance in the wild - card show. During the wild card show, twelve contestants were invited back to participate. However, after being evaluated during the week in rehearsals, only eight were chosen by the judges to sing that night. Four contestants in the wild card round were eliminated by the judges before they had the chance to sing. They were Lisa Leuschner, Eric Yoder, Tiara Purifoy, and Marque Lynche. In this season, guest judges were introduced in some episodes, and sometimes the mentor joined as judges. In the result shows, the bottom two vote - getters reprised their performances before the elimination was announced, or only the eliminated one performed after the result is revealed, or they performed before and after their elimination as in Top 5 when George Huff reprised both his songs from the performance night. Guest judge: Quentin Tarantino Mentor and guest judge -- Gloria Estefan Guest band -- Miami Sound Machine Guest judge: Donna Summer Guest judge: Clive Davis Guest performance: Paul Anka -- "My Way '' Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard "1 - 2 - 3 '' "Heaven Knows '' "She Works Hard for the Money '' "Solid '' "It Do n't Mean a Thing '' "I 'm Still Standing '' "I Made It Through the Rain '' Gloria Estefan Donna Summer Donna Summer Ashford & Simpson Duke Ellington Elton John Barry Manilow After a nationwide vote of more than 65 million votes in total -- more than the first two seasons combined -- Fantasia Barrino won the "American Idol '' title beating out Diana DeGarmo. The third season was also shown in Australia on Network Ten about half a week after episodes were shown in the US. Leah LaBelle is the first contestant to advance to the finals via Wild Card then get eliminated in the first week of the finals. As a nod to the "Did Clay see the card? '' controversy in the second season, Ryan Seacrest was instructed to memorize the winner 's name and the vote margin and was given a blank card to hold while reporting the results. However, in a post-show interview with USA Today, Diana DeGarmo admitted that she had figured out that she had not won when the contestants were going over the schedule for the finale and she saw she would be singing "I Believe '' (the winner 's single) before the results were announced. Realizing that she would not be scheduled to sing a song she would have to sing again minutes later if she were announced as the winner, she correctly deduced that she had lost and Fantasia had won. Kelly Clarkson is quoted in the June 14, 2004 People magazine as saying she voted for Fantasia: "I just hit redial, redial. '' Prior to the results show, the governors of Georgia and North Carolina -- the home states of DeGarmo and Barrino respectively -- announced a friendly bet between them over which state 's resident would prevail, each wagering a VIP NASCAR ticket package and a shipment of his state 's signature fruit. The bet participants were Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue, a Republican, and North Carolina Governor Mike Easley, a Democrat. Paul Anka made an appearance in the Season Finale. ^ Note 1: During the week of April 14, the week got delayed for White House press conference on Tuesday, April 13, 2004. The performance show was moved to Wednesday, April 14. Jon Peter Lewis was sent home on Thursday, April 15. This is the first time that two contestants who previously tried out for American Idol (Matthew Metzger and Lisa Leuschner) made it to the top 3 of their semifinals group. Both contestants were eliminated during Hollywood round in the previous season. Finalist Jon Peter Lewis teamed with Ryan Hayes to create the duo "Midas Whale '' and competed on fourth season of The Voice. They were eliminated in the Knockout Rounds Both Jennifer Hudson and LaToya London, part of final twelve, were eliminated, despite high praises from the judges. After Hudson was eliminated, Elton John, who was a mentor for that season, criticized the vote as ' incredibly racist ' in a press conference. The elimination of both Hudson and London has been pointed out as a classic demonstration of vote - splitting in the American Idol vote, in which the presence of similar choices reduces the votes for each of the similar choices. Hudson, London and Barrino (who would eventually go on to win the competition) were female, African - American, highly praised singers -- all appealing to the same demographic bloc of voters. All three of these previously popular singers ended up in the "bottom three '' the night Hudson was eliminated -- the three having the lowest individual vote counts. Questions were nevertheless raised about the inadequacy of the phone voting system when it was revealed that the state of Hawaii with a population of just 1.2 million managed to log more calls than every other state apart from New York and California. Jasmine Trias ' and Camile Velasco 's fans from Hawaii, which is on its own time zone, enjoyed a far less crowded calling period and were able to get more of their votes through. Live + same day ratings This season the show was ranked second overall in total viewer for the 2003 -- 2004 TV seasons, with its Tuesday episodes taking the top spot, averaging 25.73 million viewers, while the Wednesday episodes ranked third with 24.31 million. It became the top - rated show for the 18 - 49 demographic for the season, a position it has held for all subsequent years up to and including 2011. Note 1: The Top 8 shows were shifted to Wednesday and Thursday due to a presidential address on Tuesday. Live + 7 day (DVR) ratings Home For The Holidays: Kelly, Ruben, & Fantasia Home For The Holidays: Kelly, Ruben, & Fantasia was aired in November 2004. American Idol Rewind (season 3) Re-edited episodes of American Idol season 3 were shown in syndication as American Idol Rewind. Music releases Compilation Fantasia Barrino Diana DeGarmo Jasmine Trias LaToya London George Huff John Stevens Jennifer Hudson Jon Peter Lewis Leah LaBelle Lisa Leuschner John Preator Lisa Wilson Donnie Williams Alan Ritchson Dina Lopez Kiira Bivens Lana Phillips Leah LaBelle Finalist Leah LaBelle died January 31, 2018 in a car accident. Marque Lynche Semi-finalist Marque Lynche died on December 6, 2015 from alcoholism.

in the 1940s the two television networks most competitive in the creation of television were

Big Three television networks - wikipedia The Big Three television networks are the three major traditional commercial broadcast television networks in the United States: the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), CBS (formerly known as the Columbia Broadcasting System) and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Beginning in 1948 until the late 1980s, the Big Three networks dominated U.S. television. The National Broadcasting Company and Columbia Broadcasting System were both founded as radio networks in the 1920s, with NBC eventually encompassing two national radio networks, the prestige Red Network and the lower - profile Blue Network. They gradually began experimental television stations in the 1930s, with commercial broadcasts being allowed by the Federal Communications Commission on July 1, 1941. In 1943, the U.S. government determined that NBC 's two - network setup was anticompetitive and forced it to spin off one of the networks; NBC chose to sell the Blue Network operations, which became the American Broadcasting Company. All three networks began regular, commercial television broadcasts in the 1940s. NBC and CBS began commercial operations in 1941, followed by the DuMont Television Network in 1944 and ABC in 1948. The three networks originally controlled only a few local television stations, but they swiftly affiliated with other stations to cover almost the entire United States by the late 1950s. Several of these stations affiliated with all three major networks and DuMont, or some combination of the four, in markets where only one or two television stations operated in the early years of commercial television; this resulted in several network shows (often those with lower national viewership) receiving scattershot market clearances, since in addition to maintaining limited broadcast schedules early on, affiliates that shoehorned programming from multiple networks had to also make room for locally produced content. As other stations signed on in larger cities, ABC, NBC, and CBS were eventually able to carry at least a sizeable portion of their programming on one station. Of the four original networks, only DuMont did not have a corresponding radio network. Conversely, the fourth major radio network of the era, the Mutual Broadcasting System, never attempted to enter television (its component stations did launch television outlets in their home cities), nor did it pursue any sort of affiliation with its television only counterpart, DuMont. Some of Mutual 's component stations did buy a stake in the Overmyer Network in 1967, but other than a single late - night talk show (The Las Vegas Show) that lasted one month, that network never made it to its full launch. For most of the history of television in the United States, the Big Three dominated, controlling the vast majority of television broadcasting. DuMont ceased regular programming in 1955; the NTA Film Network (unusual in that its programming, all pre-recorded, was distributed by mail instead of through communications wires) signed on in 1956 and lasted until 1961. From 1961, and lasting until the early 1990s, there were effectively only three major networks. Every hit series appearing in the Nielsen top 20 television programs and every successful commercial network telecast of a major feature film was aired by one of the Big Three networks. There were attempts by other companies, such as the Overmyer Network, to enter the television medium, but all of these ventures lasted for brief periods. The prohibitive cost of starting a broadcast network, coupled with the difficulty of competing with the massive distribution of the Big Three networks, and the infancy and complexities of UHF broadcasting before cable television became commonplace in the 1980s, led to the downfall of almost all new network ventures; most media markets were limited to no more than three VHF channels, and even after the All - Channel Receiver Act was passed in 1961, the VHF stations were far more efficient and their signals could reach a greater range than their UHF counterparts. As the Big Three networks had already affiliated with most of the more desirable VHF stations, and the full - service approach of the time meant that the networks programmed almost the entire broadcast day (leaving little room for even off - prime - time programming), that left any upstart network to settle for the inferior UHF outlets. Those networks that could have had the resources to compete, such as Canada 's CTV Television Network (which briefly attempted an American expansion via WNYB (channel 26) in Buffalo, New York, now a religious station), were forced off the air through legal threats. A viable fourth television network in the commercial sense would not again become competitive with the Big Three until Fox was founded in October 1986 (from some of the assets / remnants of the DuMont network, which became Metromedia after DuMont folded, and were acquired by News Corporation earlier in 1986). Fox, which began as a distant fourth network, leapfrogged into major network status in 1994 after must - carry rules took effect; the rules allowed Fox affiliates to force their way onto cable lineups, and the network 's affiliation deal with New World Communications (which it later purchased in 1996) and the acquisition of National Football League broadcast rights brought a wave of new Fox affiliates. Since its founding, Fox has surpassed ABC and NBC in the ratings during the early primetime hours in which it competes against the longer established networks, becoming the second most - watched network behind CBS during the 2000s. During the 2007 - 08 season, Fox was the highest - rated of the major broadcast networks (as well as the first non-Big Three network to reach first place), but lost the spot in the 2008 - 09 season and dropped to a close second. From 2004 to 2012, Fox also dominated U.S. television in the lucrative and viewer - rich 18 - 49 demographics, in large part due to the success of its NFL coverage and its top rated prime time program, American Idol. Given the network 's success in its prime time and sports offerings, it has been occasionally included with the Big Three, in which case the phrase "Big Four '' is used. Although Fox has firmly established itself as the nation 's fourth major network with its ratings success, it is not considered part of the Big Three. Among Fox 's differences with the Big Three is its reduced weekday programming. It lacks national morning and evening news programs -- Fox has its news division, consists of cable and radio operations, but does not provide content for the broadcast television network other than a weekly news analysis program, limited special breaking news reports and an affiliate news service for its stations called Fox News Edge. Fox does not feaure any daytime programming, a third hour of primetime, late - night talk shows, and Saturday morning children 's programming. Fox had an extensive lineup of children 's programs throughout the 1990s called Fox Kids, but sold the division to The Walt Disney Company in 2001 as part of its sale of cable network Fox Family Channel, after which 4Kids Entertainment supplied the network 's children 's lineup until 2009. Outside prime time, Fox affiliates either produce their own programming or run syndicated shows. Fox is also the only one of the four major networks to include a regular block of infomercials on its lineup, via the Weekend Marketplace Saturday morning block. Other networks eventually launched in an attempt to not only compete with the Big Three as well as Fox, although these "netlets '' have been unable to ascend to the same level of success. The WB and UPN launched in January 1995; like Fox, they both added nights of prime time programming over the course of a few years (though The WB was the only one that aired any on weekends, carrying a Sunday night lineup for all but its first half - season on the air). Both networks mainly aired only prime time and children 's programming (the latter was the only form of weekday daytime programming offered by either one, although UPN discontinued its children 's lineup in 2003 at the conclusion of a content deal with Disney), though UPN did air sports programming via the short - lived Xtreme Football League (XFL) in 2001 as part of a deal with the World Wrestling Federation (which also gave it the rights to air WWF SmackDown!). While The WB and UPN each had a handful of popular series during their existences, they struggled for overall viewership and financial losses. This led their respective parent companies, CBS Corporation and Time Warner, to shut them down in September 2006 to jointly launch The CW, which initially featured a mix of programs from both predecessors as well as some newer shows. Fox launched MyNetworkTV at the same time as The CW, with a lineup of English language telenovelas; it later shifted toward unscripted programs and movies, though its persistent lack of ratings success led News Corporation to convert it into a programming service, relying on a lineup of acquired series, in 2009. Likewise, the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which has existed since 1970, is not considered part of the "big three '' networks. PBS operates as a noncommercial service with a much different distribution model compared to the major networks; most uniquely, its member stations in essence own the network rather than the traditional mode of a network owning some of its stations and affiliating with additional stations owned by other broadcasters, and that it maintains memberships with more than one educational station in a few markets (prior to the 1990s, some commercial broadcast networks maintained affiliations with two stations in a few markets, with both stations carrying a share of the network 's programming lineups). Today, the "Big Three '' control only a (relatively) small portion of the broadcasting market in the United States, which in 2005, was estimated at a combined 32 %. The Big Three 's market share has dwindled considerably as a result of growing competition from broadcast networks such as Fox, The CW and MyNetworkTV and more recently Spanish language networks such as Univision and Telemundo, as well as national cable and satellite channels such as TNT, ESPN and AMC, and Internet services such as Netflix. The following is a list of television stations in the United States that have had primary network affiliations, at one point or another, all with ABC, CBS or NBC.

what was the song of the year at the grammys

Grammy Award for Song of the Year - wikipedia The Grammy Award for Song of the Year is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Awards in several categories are distributed annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position. '' The Song of the Year awards have been awarded since 1959. It is one of the four most prestigious Grammy Awards. Despite both the Record of the Year award and Song of the Year being awarded for a single or for one track from an album, this award goes only to the composer (s) of the song whereas the Record of the Year award goes to the performer and production team of the song. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guide, the award is given to the songwriter (s) of a song that "must contain melody and lyrics and must be either a new song or a song first achieving prominence during the eligibility year. Songs containing prominent samples or interpolations are not eligible ''. Since the late 1960s other songwriter 's awards have been presented for genre - specific categories including Grammy Award for Best Country Song, Grammy Award for Best Rock Song, Grammy Award for Best R&B Song and most recently in Grammy Award for Best Rap Song (since 2004), Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song (since 2006), Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song (since 2012) and Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song (since 2014). Thirty of the winning songs have also won the award for Record of the Year. In many cases, the songwriters were also the performers. (Domenico Modugno, Henry Mancini, John Lennon & Paul McCartney, Joe South, Paul Simon, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, Christopher Cross, Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie, Billy Joel, Sting, Bobby McFerrin, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Seal, Shawn Colvin, James Horner, Rob Thomas, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, John Mayer, U2, Dixie Chicks, Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Beyoncé, Lady Antebellum, Adele, Fun, Lorde, Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars.) Multiple winners in this category include Henry Mancini (1962 and 1964), Johnny Mercer (1962 and 1964), James Horner (1988 and 1999), Will Jennings (1993 and 1999) U2 (2001 and 2006) and Adele (2012 and 2017), winning two times each. However, songs written for Andy Williams, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler, and Roberta Flack have received this award twice. Christopher Cross is the first artist to receive the Grammy Award for Song of the Year as well as for Record of the Year, Album of the Year, and Best New Artist in one ceremony. Adele is the first female artist to receive the award for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best New Artist, and Album of the Year, nonconsecutively. Only five artists have won the Song of the Year and Best New Artist awards the same year: Christopher Cross (1981), Alicia Keys (2002), Amy Winehouse (2008), Fun (2013), and Sam Smith. The song "Volare '', winner in 1959 by Domenico Modugno and performed in Italian, is the only foreign - language song to win this award, although the 1967 winner "Michelle '' by the Beatles has a critical part of its lyrics in French. As of 2017, no songwriter has won Song of the Year twice in a row.

who has been awarded with the nobel prize 2018 in the field of economic

List of Nobel Memorial Prize laureates in Economics - wikipedia The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, officially known as The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (Swedish: Sveriges riksbanks pris i ekonomisk vetenskap till Alfred Nobels minne), is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to researchers in the field of economic sciences. The first prize was awarded in 1969 to Ragnar Frisch and Jan Tinbergen. Each recipient receives a medal, a diploma and a monetary award that has varied throughout the years. In 1969, Frisch and Tinbergen were given a combined 375,000 SEK, which is equivalent to 2,871,041 SEK in December 2007. The award is presented in Stockholm at an annual ceremony on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel 's death. As of the awarding of the 2017 prize, 49 Nobel Memorial Prizes in Economic Sciences have been given to 79 individuals. Up to 2007, nine awards had been given for contributions to the field of macroeconomics, more than any other category. The institution with the most affiliated laureates in economic sciences is the University of Chicago, which has 29 affiliated laureates.

what was the first pizza place in america

Lombardi 's Pizza - Wikipedia Coordinates: 40 ° 43 ′ 18 '' N 73 ° 59 ′ 44 '' W  /  40.72155 ° N 73.995624 ° W  / 40.72155; - 73.995624 Lombardi 's is a pizzeria located at 32 Spring Street on the corner of Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been acknowledged by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in the United States. Gennaro Lombardi started the business in 1897 as a grocery store at 531⁄2 Spring Street, and began selling tomato pies wrapped in paper and tied with a string at lunchtime to workers from the area 's factories. In 1905 Lombardi received a business license to operate a pizzeria restaurant, and soon had a loyal clientele, including Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. He later passed the business on to his son, George. In 1984, the original Lombardi 's closed, but re-opened ten years later a block away at 32 Spring Street, run by Gennaro Lombardi III, Gennaro Lombardi 's grandson, and his childhood friend John Brescio. This change in location and ten - year hiatus surrendered the title of America 's oldest continuously operating pizzeria to Papa 's Tomato Pies in Trenton, New Jersey, which opened in 1912 and has sold pies without interruption since. The relocated, reopened Lombardi 's uses a coal oven to bake its pies the way the original did. It is unusual in not selling slices, highly popular throughout New York City. Only whole pies made to order are sold. In 2005, Lombardi 's offered entire pizzas for 5 cents, their 1905 price, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first pizza sold at its original location.

who plays in the hobbit desolation of smaug

The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug - wikipedia The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a 2013 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson and produced by WingNut Films in collaboration with New Line Cinema and Metro - Goldwyn - Mayer. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and is the second installment in the three - part film series based on the novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. The film was preceded by An Unexpected Journey (2012) and followed by The Battle of the Five Armies (2014); together they operate as a prequel to Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The film follows the titular character Bilbo Baggins as he accompanies Thorin Oakenshield and his fellow dwarves on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. The film also features the vengeful pursuit of Azog the Defiler and Bolg, while Gandalf the Grey investigates a growing evil in the ruins of Dol Guldur. The ensemble cast includes Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, and Orlando Bloom. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro wrote the screenplay. The films were shot simultaneously in 3D at a projection rate of 48 frames per second, with principal photography taking place around New Zealand and at Pinewood Studios. Additional filming took place throughout May 2013. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premiered on 2 December 2013 in Los Angeles and was released internationally on 11 December 2013 in both conventional and IMAX theatres. The film received positive reviews and has grossed over $958 million at the worldwide box office, surpassing both The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, making it the fourth highest - grossing film of 2013 and the 40th highest - grossing film of all time. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. Thorin and his company are being pursued by Azog and his Orc party following the events of the previous film. They are ushered along by Gandalf to the nearby home of Beorn, a skin - changer who can take the form of the bear. That night, Azog is summoned to Dol Guldur by the Necromancer, who commands him to marshal his forces for war, so Azog delegates the hunt for Thorin to his son Bolg. The following day, Beorn escorts the company to the borders of Mirkwood, where Gandalf discovers Black Speech imprinted on an old ruin. Heeding a promise he made to Galadriel, he warns the company to remain on the path and leaves to investigate the tombs of the Nazgûl. Upon entering the forest, the dwarves lose their way and are ensnared by giant spiders. Bilbo sets about freeing them with the help of his recently acquired invisibility ring. He subsequently drops the ring and first begins to understand its dark influence after he brutally kills a creature to retrieve it. The remaining spiders are fended off by the Wood - elves led by Tauriel and Legolas. They also capture the Dwarves and bring Thorin before their king Thranduil. Thorin confronts Thranduil about his neglect of the Dwarves of Erebor following Smaug 's attack 60 years earlier, and is consequently imprisoned with the other Dwarves. Bilbo, having avoided capture, arranges an escape using empty wine barrels that are sent downstream. While being pursued by the Wood - elves, they are ambushed by Bolg and his Orc party, and Kíli is wounded with a Morgul shaft. They engage in a running three - way battle down the river, but ultimately the Dwarves are able to escape both groups of pursuers. Thranduil then seals off his kingdom when an Orc captive reveals an evil entity has returned and is amassing an army in the south, but Tauriel decides to leave and assist the Dwarves, and Legolas goes after her. Meanwhile, Gandalf and Radagast go to investigate the tombs of the Nazgûl, which they find to be empty. The company are smuggled into Esgaroth by a bargeman called Bard, but are discovered raiding the town armory for new weapons. Thorin promises the Master and the people of Laketown a share of the mountain 's treasure, and it is revealed that Bard is a descendant of the last ruler of Dale, and possesses the last black arrow capable of killing Smaug. Kíli is forced to remain behind, tended to by Fíli, Óin, and Bofur, as the remaining company receive a grand farewell. Meanwhile, Gandalf travels south to the ruins of Dol Guldur, while Radagast leaves to warn Galadriel of their discovery at the tombs of the Nazgûl. Gandalf finds the ruins infested with Orcs and is ambushed by Azog. The Necromancer overpowers Gandalf and reveals himself as Sauron. Thorin and his remaining company reach the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo discovers the hidden entrance. He is sent in to retrieve the Arkenstone, and while doing so, he accidentally awakens Smaug. While trying to find Bilbo, Smaug reveals his knowledge of Sauron 's return. Back in Laketown, Bard attempts to bring the black arrow to the town 's launcher, as he fears what may happen when the Dwarves enter the mountain. However, he is arrested in the process and leaves his son to hide the arrow. Bolg and his Orc party infiltrate the town and attack the four Dwarves, but are quickly dispatched by Tauriel and Legolas. Tauriel then tends to Kíli, while Legolas leaves in pursuit of Bolg. Meanwhile, Gandalf watches helplessly as Azog and an Orc army march from Dol Guldur towards the Lonely Mountain. Back inside the mountain, during a long chase, Bilbo and the Dwarves rekindle the mountain 's forge using Smaug 's flames to create and melt a large golden statue of Thrór, hoping to bury Smaug alive in the molten gold. They do so, but Smaug emerges from the gold, storms out of the mountain and flies off to destroy Laketown as Bilbo watches in horror. Some characters in the film are not in the novel, but created for the film. Legolas appears in Tolkien 's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but not in the novel The Hobbit. Additionally, Peter Jackson makes a cameo appearance in the film, reprising his role as the man eating a carrot in Bree, his daughter Katie portrays Barliman Butterbur 's wife Betsy, Philippa Boyens 's daughter Phoebe and scale double Kiran Shah appear as a waitress and a Hobbit in the Prancing Pony, James Nesbitt 's daughters Peggy and Mary portray Tilda and Sigrid, the daughters of Bard, Stephen Colbert and his family along with WingNut Films ' assistant Norman Kali and producer Zane Weiner appear as Lake - town spies, and editor Jabez Olssen appears as a fishmonger. Brian Sergent (who portrayed the Hobbit Ted Sandyman in the extended edition of Fellowship of the Ring) and Peter Vere - Jones provide the voices of the spiders in Mirkwood. Most of the filming was finished during 2012, ending in July 2012. During May 2013, additional shooting for the film and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies began in New Zealand, lasting 10 weeks. Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones were used for some shots in the film. The musical score for The Desolation of Smaug was composed by Howard Shore. Shore provided orchestral sketches and synth mock - ups to orchestrators James Sizemore and Conrad Pope (who also conducted the orchestra). It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, London Voices and Tiffin ' Boys Choir, as well as two New Zealand Gamelan orchestras. The score featured themes from the previous film and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but relied heavily on the themes of Smaug, Laketown, the Woodland Realm (including themes for Tauriel and for Legolas), etc. In the process, the themes for the company of the Dwarves were discontinued. The original motion picture soundtrack album was released on 10 December 2013. It received positive reviews, especially for its new themes. English singer - songwriter Ed Sheeran wrote and recorded "I See Fire '', which plays during the end credits. The song was released on iTunes on 5 November 2013. Peter Jackson provided the first details about the second film in the series at a live event held on 24 March 2013. The access code was attached to the DVD editions of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The live - broadcast event revealed some plot details; Jackson said that the role of Tauriel, acted by Evangeline Lilly, is a part of the elven guard and a bodyguard of the Elvenking, Thranduil. In addition, he revealed a scene from the film in which Gandalf and Radagast the Brown search for the Necromancer fortress and discover that the Ringwraiths have been released from their graves. The first trailer for the film was released on 11 June 2013. On 4 November 2013, an extra long 3 minute trailer / sneak peek was released and revealed new footage and major plot points. On 4 November 2013, a special Desolation of Smaug live online fan event, hosted by Anderson Cooper in New York, was held across eleven different cities with participants including Peter Jackson, Jed Brophy, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Andy Serkis and Richard Armitage. Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Peter Jackson and, to a lesser extent, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen, took part in the press tour, appearing on talk shows and giving interviews before the film 's release. The film premiered in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre on 2 December 2013, and was released internationally on 11 December 2013 and in the United Kingdom and United States on 13 December 2013. An extended edition of the film had a limited re-release on 7 October 2015, accompanied by a special greeting from Peter Jackson. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was released on DVD, Blu - ray, and Blu - ray 3D on 7 April 2014 in the United Kingdom and on 8 April 2014 in the United States. Three different versions were released: a Limited Collector 's Edition Blu - ray, Blu - ray 3D, DVD, and digital download combo pack; a Blu - ray 3D combo pack; a Blu - ray combo pack, and a two - disc DVD special edition. Extras include three making - of featurettes, 4 production web videos, and a music video for "I See Fire '' by Ed Sheeran. An extended edition of The Desolation of Smaug was released digitally on 21 October 2014, and was released on DVD, Blu - ray and 3D Blu - ray 3 November 2014 in the United Kingdom, and 4 November 2014 in the United States, with 25 minutes of new material and original music. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug grossed $258,366,855 in North America and $700,000,000 in other countries for a worldwide total of $958,366,855. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline.com estimated that the film made a profit of $134.1 million. It is the fourth highest - grossing 2013 film and currently the 26th highest - grossing film of all time. It grossed $209 million worldwide on its opening weekend. In North America, The Desolation of Smaug earned $8.8 million during its midnight opening, making it the second - highest December showing ever, behind only the first instalment. The film topped the box office on its opening day with $31.2 million. It remained in first place throughout its opening weekend, grossing $73,645,197, a 13 % drop from its predecessor. The Desolation of Smaug was in first place at the box office for three consecutive weekends. Outside North America, The Desolation of Smaug was released internationally on 16,405 screens. The film earned $135.4 million in its opening weekend. Its largest openings occurred in China ($33.0 million), Germany ($19.0 million) and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($15.2 million). It topped the box office outside North America on four consecutive weekends and five in total. It is the highest - grossing film of 2013 in many European countries, as well as in New Zealand and Fiji. The films largest markets outside north america are Germany ($88 million), China ($74.7 million), United kingdom ($70 million), Russia - CIS ($45 million), France ($44.7 million) and Australia ($34.5 million). Following the Los Angeles premiere, Metro noted that early critical reaction was "glowing '', with critics describing it as a "spectacle '', while The Guardian reported that it was receiving "much stronger early reviews ''. However, before the film 's theatrical release, E! reported that reviews had been "mixed '', but stated they were still "much better '' than the previous film. After the film 's international release, MTV reported that the film has garnered a "positive '' critical reaction, while the Los Angeles Times stated the consensus is that the film "reinvigorates '' the series, putting it "back on course ''. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 74 % approval rating with an average rating of 6.8 / 10 based on 227 reviews. The website 's consensus reads, "While still slightly hamstrung by ' middle chapter ' narrative problems and its formidable length, The Desolation of Smaug represents a more confident, exciting second chapter for the Hobbit series. '' On aggregate review site Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100 based on 44 reviews, indicating "generally favorable '' reviews. According to CinemaScore polls the film received an "A - '' from audiences. Nick de Semlyen of Empire awarded the film five stars out of five and wrote that "Middle - earth 's got its mojo back. A huge improvement on the previous installment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton '', while Richard Corliss of TIME declared it one of the top ten films of 2013, and wrote "In all, this is a splendid achievement, close to the grandeur of Jackson 's Lord of the Rings films. '' Justin Chang of Variety wrote that "After a bumpy beginning with An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson 's ' Hobbit ' trilogy finds its footing in this much more exciting and purposeful second chapter. '' Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Nearly everything... represents an improvement over the first installment of Peter Jackson 's three - part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien 's beloved creation. '' He also praised the High Frame Rate of The Desolation of Smaug as being better than that of An Unexpected Journey. Mark Hughes, who reviewed the film for Forbes, was highly enthusiastic, and felt "The Desolation of Smaug is another grand entry in the Tolkien saga, raising the emotional and physical stakes while revealing more of the sinister forces, '' before concluding "It 's pleasing to see a filmmaker this in love with storytelling, this committed to creating entire worlds... that 's a rare thing indeed, and for it to turn out so well is even more rare. It 's a sight to behold, and you wo n't be sorry you did. '' Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian scored the film four stars out of five, writing, "It 's mysterious and strange, and yet Jackson also effortlessly conjures up that genial quality that distinguishes ' The Hobbit ' from the more solemn ' Rings ' stories. '' Total Film also scored the film four stars out of five, but reviewer Matt Maytum noted that, in his opinion, the film suffered "from middle - act wobbles. '' Despite this, he praised the "rousing action... incredible visuals... and one stupendous dragon '', and concluded his review saying "There 's a lot to admire in The Desolation of Smaug. '' Jim Vejvoda, who reviewed the film for IGN, awarded it 8.5 out of 10, and felt "It 's a breathlessly told, action - packed crowd - pleaser that restores the luster of the saga for those underwhelmed by its predecessor and leaves you excited for the final chapter in the trilogy. '' Conversely, Peter Travers, who reviewed the film for Rolling Stone, gave it two and a half stars out of four. He felt it was "a little less long and a little less boring '' than the first installment, and offered praise for the depiction of Smaug, saying "as a digital creation, Smaug is a bloody wonder of slithering fright. '' He was, however, very critical of the film 's padding of a "slender novel '', but concluded: "I 'd endure another slog through Middle - Earth just to spend more time with Smaug ''. Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph was even less admiring, and awarded it two stars out of five. He too criticised the decision to turn Tolkien 's book into three films and felt Jackson "is mostly stalling for time: two or three truly great sequences tangled up in long beards and longer pit - stops. '' He continued, writing "There is an awful lot of Desolation to wade through before we arrive, weary and panting, on Smaug 's rocky porch, '' and disapproved of the introduction of a love triangle to Tolkien 's narrative, adding: "Maybe this really is what a lot of people want to see from a film version of The Hobbit, but let 's at least accept that Tolkien would probably not have been among them. '' The New York Post 's Lou Lumenick was extremely negative in his 1.5 / 4 star review and he compared it to Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones, and remarked "There are probably enough moments to satisfy hard - core fans, but for the rest of us, this amounts to the Middle Earth equivalent of "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones, ' ' a space - holding, empty - headed epic filled with characters and places (digital and otherwise) that are hard to keep straight, much less care about. ''

what does index finger and thumb sign mean

List of gestures - wikipedia Gestures are a form of nonverbal communication in which visible bodily actions are used to communicate important messages, either in place of speech or together and in parallel with spoken words. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or other parts of the body. Physical non-verbal communication such as purely expressive displays, proxemics, or displays of joint attention differ from gestures, which communicate specific messages. Gestures are culture - specific and can convey very different meanings in different social or cultural settings. Gesture is distinct from sign language. Although some gestures, such as the ubiquitous act of pointing, differ little from one place to another, most gestures do not have invariable or universal meanings but connote specific meanings in particular cultures. A single emblematic gesture can have very different significance in different cultural contexts, ranging from complimentary to highly offensive. This list includes links to pages that discuss particular gestures, as well as short descriptions of some gestures that do not have their own page. Not included are the specialized gestures, calls, and signals used by referees and umpires in organized sports. Police officers also make gestures when directing traffic. Mime is an art form in which the performer utilizes gestures to convey a story. Charades is a game of gestures.

when was indian independence act passed in british parliament

Indian Independence Act 1947 - wikipedia The Indian Independence Act 1947 (1947 c. 30 (10 & 11. Geo. 6.)) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan. The Act received the royal assent on 18 July 1947, and Pakistan came into being on 14 August and India came into being on 15 August. The legislation was formulated by the government of Prime Minister Clement Attlee and the Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten, after representatives of the Indian National Congress, the Muslim League, and the Sikh community came to an agreement with the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma, on what has come to be known as the 3 June Plan or Mountbatten Plan. This plan was the last plan for independence. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom announced on 20 February 1947 that: This was also known as the Mountbatten Plan. The British government proposed a plan announced on 3 June 1947 that included these principles: The Act 's most important provisions were: The Act also made provision for the division of joint property, etc. between the two new countries, including in particular the division of the armed forces. On 4 June 1947 Mountbatten held a press conference in which he addressed the question of the princely states, of which there were over 570. The treaty relations between Britain and the Indian States would come to an end, and on 15 August 1947 the suzerainty of the British Crown was to lapse. They would be free to accede to one or the other of the new dominions. Lord Mountbatten of Burma, the last Viceroy, was asked by the Indian leaders to continue as the Governor - General of India. Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister of India and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became the Home Minister. Over 560 princely states acceded to India by 15 August. The exceptions were Junagadh, Hyderabad and Jammu and Kashmir. The state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was contiguous to both India and Pakistan, was expected to accede to Pakistan on account of its 77 % Muslim majority and its cultural and commercial links to West Punjab (Pakistan), but its Hindu ruler chose to remain initially independent. Following a Pakistani tribal invasion, he acceded to India on 26 October 1947, and the state became a dispute between India and Pakistan. The state of Junagadh initially acceded to Pakistan but faced a revolt from its Hindu population. Following a breakdown of law and order, its Dewan requested India to take over the administration on 8 November 1947. India conducted a referendum in the state on 20 February 1948, in which the people voted overwhelmingly to join India. The state of Hyderabad, with majority Hindu population but Muslim ruler, faced an intense turmoil and sectarian violence. India invaded the state on 13 September 1948, following which the ruler of the state signed the Instrument of Accession, joining India. Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the Governor - General of Pakistan, and Liaquat Ali Khan became the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Between October 1947 and March 1948 the rulers of several Muslim - majority states signed an Instrument of Accession to join Pakistan. These included Amb, Bahawalpur, Chitral, Dir, Kalat, Khairpur, Kharan, Las Bela, Makran, and Swat. There was much violence, and many Muslims from what would become India fled to Pakistan; and Hindus and Sikhs from what would become Pakistan fled to India. Many people left behind all their possessions and property to avoid the violence and flee to their new country. The act was subsequently repealed in the article 395 of the Constitution of India and article 221 of the Constitution of Pakistan of 1956 to obtain true independence for the new states. Though the new constitutions did not have legal authority to repeal the act, it was done to sever the legal chain of validity and establish the constitution as an independent legal system. It has not been repealed in the United Kingdom, where it is still current legislation, although some sections have been repealed.

when did croatia finish 3rd in the world cup

Croatia national Football team - wikipedia The Croatia national football team (Croatian: Hrvatska nogometna reprezentacija) represents Croatia in international association football matches. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation (HNS), the nation 's governing body for football, and is widely supported throughout the country due to the ever - present popularity of the sport. Most home matches are played at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb or at the Stadion Poljud in Split, though other smaller venues are also used occasionally. They are one of the youngest national teams (since formation) to reach the knockout stage of a major tournament, as well as the youngest team to occupy the top 10 in the FIFA World Rankings. Croatia has represented itself as an independent nation since 1993, when the team was officially recognised by both FIFA and UEFA following dissolution from Yugoslavia. However, short - lived national sides were briefly active during periods of political upheaval, representing sovereign states such as the Banovina of Croatia from 1939 to 1941, or the Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1944. Before the current team was formed, most Croatian players represented the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia instead. The modern - day team has played competitive matches since 1994, starting with a successful qualifying campaign for the 1996 European Championships. In 1998, they competed in their first FIFA World Cup, finishing 3rd and providing the tournament 's top scorer, Davor Šuker. Exactly twenty years later, under their second golden generation, Croatia reached the 2018 World Cup Final, securing second place and featuring the tournament 's best player, Luka Modrić. Among other nicknames, the team is colloquially referred to as the Vatreni ("Blazers '' or "Fiery Ones '') or the Kockasti ("Chequered ''). In the Italian - speaking counties the team is known as Il furioso incendio ("The Blazing Fire ''). Since becoming eligible to compete, Croatia has only failed to qualify for two major tournaments; the 2000 European Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Their biggest defeat came in 2009 with a 5 -- 1 loss to England, while their highest - scoring victory was a 10 -- 0 friendly win over San Marino in 2016. The national team is also known for some long - standing rivalries, such as the Derby Adriatico with Italy, or the politically - charged rivalry with Serbia, both of which have led to controversial or disruptive matches. The team represents the second - smallest country by population and land mass to reach the World Cup final, behind Uruguay and Netherlands respectively. At major tournaments, Croatia holds joint - records for longest period between one goal and another of a player (2002 -- 2014), most penalty shootouts played (2), most extra time periods played (3) and most penalties saved in a match (3). They are also one of only two teams -- along with Colombia -- to be named FIFA 's "Best Mover of the Year '' more than once, winning the award in 1994 and 1998. Upon admission to FIFA, Croatia was ranked 125th in the world; following the 1998 World Cup campaign, the side rose to third place in the rankings, making it the most volatile team in FIFA Rankings history. Association football was first introduced to Croatia by English expatriates working on industrial projects in Rijeka and Županja in 1873. By 1907, local clubs had been established in Croatia and a modern edition of the sport 's laws was translated and published. Before the nation 's independence, Croatian footballers played for the national teams of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1919 -- 39) and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945 -- 92), though during periods of political upheaval, ethnically Croatian sides occasionally formed to play unofficial matches. A hastily arranged Croatian side, managed by Hugo Kinert, played a few matches in 1918 -- 19. In 1940, Jozo Jakopić led an unofficial national team representing the Banovina of Croatia (part of Kingdom of Yugoslavia) in four friendly matches, against Switzerland and Hungary. Following invasion by the Axis powers, the Croatian Football Federation became briefly active, joining FIFA on 17 July 1941, representing the Independent State of Croatia. The side, led by Rudolf Hitrec, went on to play 15 friendly matches, 14 of those as a member of FIFA. Croatia 's first recorded result as a FIFA member was a 1 -- 1 draw with Slovakia on 8 September in Bratislava. The Independent State of Croatia continued playing matches until 1945 and the end of World War II, when SR Croatia was formed as constituent part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. From 1950 to 1956, unofficial Croatian teams were briefly active once again -- winning games against Indonesia and a Yugoslav team playing as "Serbia ''. The Yugoslavia squad at the 1956 Summer Olympics included Croatian footballers, as did Yugoslavia in World Cup and European Championship tournaments up to 1990. The last Yugoslav team to field a considerable Croatian contingent played against Faroe Islands on 16 May 1991, days before Croatia 's independence referendum. However, an unofficial Croatian team was formed shortly before, and played the team 's first modern international game, against the United States on 17 October 1990 at Maksimir Stadium. The game, which Croatia won 2 -- 1, was one of three games played under caretaker manager Dražan Jerković. The match against the American side also marked the introduction of Croatia 's national jersey, inspired by the chequered design of the country 's coat of arms. Although Croatia was still officially part of Yugoslavia until its independence declaration on 8 October 1991, this team already served as a de facto national side. Croatia went on to win two more friendly games under Jerković, against Romania in December 1990 and Slovenia in June 1991. On 3 July 1992, Croatia was re-admitted to FIFA, playing its first official matches in the modern era against Australia in Melbourne, Adelaide and Sydney. This team was led by Stanko Poklepović as part of an international exhibition tour; in April 1993, Vlatko Marković was appointed as manager. Croatia finally gained admission into UEFA in June 1993, which was too late for the national team to enter the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, as these already commenced the year before. Marković only led the team in one match, a home win against Ukraine in June 1993, before being dismissed in February 1994 and replaced by Miroslav Blažević the following month. The team 's performances before Croatia 's official independence were not recorded by FIFA, so they entered the World Rankings in 125th place. Blažević led Croatia 's qualifying campaign for Euro 1996, beginning with the nation 's first post-independence competitive victory, a 2 -- 0 win over Estonia on 4 September 1994. Their first competitive defeat came on 11 June 1995 in a 1 -- 0 away loss to Ukraine during the same qualifying campaign. They eventually finished first in their qualifying group and won FIFA 's 1994 Best Mover of the Year award as they moved up to 62nd in the rankings by the end of the year. Goran Vlaović scored the team 's first goal at a major tournament, a late winner against Turkey at the City Ground in Nottingham in their first group match at Euro 96. After their opening victory, Croatia beat reigning champions Denmark 3 -- 0, but went on to lose against Portugal by the same scoreline in their final group fixture. Croatia still advanced to the knockout stage, but were beaten in the quarter - finals 1 -- 2 by Germany, who went on to win the tournament. In spite of the quarter - final exit, Blažević continued to lead Croatia in the 1998 World Cup qualifying campaign, which ended successfully after an aggregate victory against Ukraine in the two - legged play - off. In the group stage of the World Cup, Croatia beat Jamaica and Japan but lost to Argentina, before defeating Romania to reach a quarter - final tie against Germany, then ranked second in the world. Croatia won 3 -- 0 with goals from Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaović and Davor Šuker, all after Christian Wörns had been sent off. Croatia then faced the host nation, France, in the semi-final. After a goalless first - half, Croatia took the lead, only to concede two goals by opposing defender Lilian Thuram and lose 1 -- 2. In the third - place match, Croatia beat the Netherlands 2 -- 1, with Davor Šuker winning the Golden Boot award for scoring the most goals of the tournament with six goals in seven games. Croatia 's performance in 1998 was among the best debut performances in the World Cup (equaling Portugal 's third place debut finish at the 1966 World Cup), and as a result, Croatia rose to number three in the January 1999 FIFA World Rankings, their highest ranking to date. For their achievements, the team of the 1990s was dubbed the "Golden Generation. '' A considerable portion of this squad (Jarni, Štimac, Boban, Prosinečki and Šuker), previously won the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship with the Yugoslavia under - 20 team. Despite good performances in their first two major competitions, Croatia 's qualifying campaign for Euro 2000 was less successful, as they finished third in their qualifying group behind Yugoslavia and Republic of Ireland, and thus failed to qualify. Both fixtures against archenemies Yugoslavia (the rump state later renamed Serbia and Montenegro) ended in draws, which prevented Croatia from qualifying for the tournament. Although Blažević continued his tenure in spite of failure to qualify for Euro 2000, he resigned in October 2000 following draws against Belgium and Scotland in the first two games of the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. His successor at the helm of the national team was Mirko Jozić, who previously led the Yugoslavia under - 20 team to a World Cup triumph in 1987. Despite the retirement of many Golden Generation players, Croatia went unbeaten during the rest of the qualifiers. They opened their 2002 World Cup campaign with a narrow loss to Mexico before producing a surprise 2 -- 1 victory over Euro 2000 finalists Italy in the next fixture, giving life to hopes of passing through to the knockout stage. However, they lost their final group fixture to Ecuador and were eliminated. Jozić then resigned, and was replaced in July 2002 by Croatian - Austrian Otto Barić, the team 's first manager born outside the Balkans. During Barić 's tenure, most of the remaining players from the Golden Generation squad were gradually replaced by younger players over the course of the Euro 2004 qualifiers. Croatia went on to qualify for the tournament with a playoff victory against Slovenia, winning 2 -- 1 on aggregate after Dado Pršo 's decisive late goal in the second leg. At the finals tournament in Portugal, Croatia drew 0 -- 0 with Switzerland and 2 -- 2 with reigning champions France only to lose to England 2 -- 4 and suffer another elimination in the group stage. Barić 's two - year contract ended in June 2004 and was not renewed. Former Croatia international Zlatko Kranjčar, appointed to succeed Barić in July 2004, led the team through the 2006 World Cup qualifiers without losing a single match and topping the group ahead of Sweden and Bulgaria. However, local media outlets accused him of nepotism for selecting his son Niko Kranjčar for the national squad. At the 2006 World Cup, Croatia lost their opening game to Brazil and drew 0 -- 0 with Japan after Darijo Srna missed a first - half penalty. A 2 -- 2 draw with Australia, in which three players were sent off, confirmed Croatia 's exit in the group stage. The game was also notable for a mistake by referee Graham Poll, who gave three yellow cards to Croatian defender Josip Šimunić, failing to send him off after his second offense. He later stated that he mistook Šimunić for an Australian player due to his Australian accent. Poll was heavily criticised for losing control of the match, and retired from refereeing shortly afterwards. In July 2006, the Croatian Football Federation replaced Kranjčar with Slaven Bilić, who played for the national team during their Golden Generation era. Bilić, who previously managed the under - 21 team between 2004 and 2006, introduced a host of young players into the squad, which ultimately proved successful. His first game was a friendly away victory against 2006 World Cup champions Italy. After controversially suspending Darijo Srna, Ivica Olić and Boško Balaban for missing a curfew after a turbofolk nightclub outing, Bilić led the team through qualifiers for Euro 2008. Croatia topped their group, losing only one game to Macedonia and beating England twice, who as a result failed to qualify for the first time since 1984. Shortly before the European Championships, first - choice striker Eduardo, who was the team 's top goalscorer during qualifying, suffered a compound fracture while playing for Arsenal in the Premier League. Bilić was forced to alter his final Euro 2008 squad significantly and recruited Nikola Kalinić and Nikola Pokrivač, neither of whom had yet played competitive games for the national team. The team received criticism after poor attacking performances in warm - up games against Scotland and Moldova, but at the tournament they beat Austria, Germany and Poland in the group stages to reach the quarter - finals with maximum group points for the first time in their tournament history. Niko Kovač remained team captain at what was expected to be his final international tournament, except in the final group fixture when Dario Šimić temporarily held the captain 's armband. Croatia 's campaign ended dramatically when they lost a penalty shoot - out to Turkey, with Luka Modrić, Mladen Petrić and Ivan Rakitić all missing their penalties. Croatia left the tournament with records for fewest goals conceded (2), fewest games lost (0), and earliest goal (in the fourth minute of their opening game against Austria; this was also the all - time earliest successful penalty at the European Championship Finals). Following the tournament, Bilić renewed his contract, becoming the first manager since Blažević to lead Croatia to successive tournaments. Croatia were again drawn to play England in the qualifying stages for the 2010 World Cup; the tie was voted the most anticipated of the campaign on FIFA.com. After a home win against Kazakhstan Croatia lost at home to England, ending a 14 - year unbeaten home record. The team was eventually weakened due to a number of key players ' injuries and went on to suffer their heaviest defeat in history, losing 5 -- 1 to England at Wembley Stadium. Although Croatia defeated Kazakhstan in their final qualifying fixture, they were ultimately eliminated as Ukraine, who had previously defeated group leaders England, beat Andorra to win second place in the group. Bilić was once again heavily expected to resign as national coach, but instead vowed to renew his contract and remain in charge. Despite heavy loss of form, which also saw the team fall outside the top ten in the FIFA rankings, Croatia were placed in the top tier of teams for the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying draw; Croatia was previously a candidate to co-host the tournament with Hungary which would have allowed the team to qualify automatically, but UEFA eventually chose Poland and Ukraine as hosts instead. Despite being top - seeds in their qualifying group, Croatia finished second behind Greece, settling for a play - off against Euro 2008 rivals Turkey. Croatia proceeded to beat Turkey 3 -- 0 on aggregate, with all three goals coming in the away leg in Istanbul, thereby qualifying for the 2012 European championship. In the proceeding group - stage draw for the tournament, Croatia were placed in the third tier of teams, and were eventually grouped with Ireland, Italy and defending champions Spain. In the buildup towards the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, the team 's first major competition since their 2008 run at the same event, manager Slaven Bilić formally agreed a deal to manage Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow, thereby announcing he would resign from the national team when the tournament ended. Croatia opened their campaign with a comfortable 3 -- 1 victory over the Republic of Ireland, with striker Mario Mandžukić scoring twice. Mandžukić continued his run at the tournament with an equaliser in the 1 -- 1 draw against Italy, which was marred by controversial fan reactions and referee decisions from English official Howard Webb. In their last group match, Croatia suffered a 0 -- 1 defeat to Spain. The late Spanish goal by Jesús Navas, along with Italy 's victory over the Republic of Ireland in the final round, forced Croatia to exit the tournament in the group stage once again. Upon his formal departure, Bilić was also praised for his long - standing service to the national side. Jutarnji List daily labelled him as Croatia 's only manager to depart on such positive terms and credited him for his strong revival of the national side during his six - year tenure. Following Bilić 's departure, former player and pundit Igor Štimac was appointed manager of the national team. Croatia 's all - time top goalscorer Davor Šuker also took over as president of the Croatian Football Federation (HNS) after the death of Vlatko Marković ended a 14 - year tenure. Štimac 's managerial campaign was unsuccessful, as the team endured a succession of poor performances and narrowly finished second in their 2014 World Cup qualifying group. After only a year of his appointment, Štimac was replaced by former captain Niko Kovač, who previously managed the under - 21 youth side. Kovač led the team to a 2 -- 0 aggregate victory over Iceland in the qualifying playoffs for the 2014 World Cup, with both goals coming in the home leg in Zagreb. At the World Cup, Croatia were drawn with host - nation Brazil, Mexico and Cameroon. In the opening game of the tournament, Croatia lost 3 -- 1 to Brazil. The match garnered heavy media attention and controversy as Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura was scrutinized for a number of controversial decisions. In their second game, Croatia won 4 -- 0 against Cameroon, but did not progress from the group as they lost 3 -- 1 to Mexico in their final fixture. In the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, Croatia were drawn against Italy, Bulgaria, Norway, Azerbaijan and Malta. Following a goalless away draw against Azerbaijan and an away defeat to Norway, in early September 2015, the Executive Committee of the Croatian Football Federation unanimously decided to terminate Kovač 's contract. On 21 September 2015, Ante Čačić was named as the head coach of the Croatian national team. On 13 October 2015, Croatia qualified for the finals by finishing as runners - up in Group H. Under Čačić, Croatia broke the record for most goals scored in one match, by beating San Marino in a friendly 10 -- 0. At Euro 2016, Croatia were drawn in Group D; against Turkey, the Czech Republic and defending champions Spain, who had won the two previous editions of the tournament, in 2008 and 2012. Croatia began their campaign with a 1 -- 0 win over Turkey; following a sensational long - volley kick from Luka Modrić, with the goal receiving praise and being considered one of the best of the tournament. The next match was against the Czech Republic; with Croatia taking the lead through Ivan Perišić and doubling it through Ivan Rakitić, before goals from Milan Škoda and a last - minute penalty from Tomáš Necid; but the match received controversy for crowd trouble in the last minutes of the match, with Flares being thrown on the pitch and a steward being hurt by a firework during stoppage time. Croatia 's final match was against Spain; conceding an early goal from Álvaro Morata, before goals from Nikola Kalinić and a late winning goal from Ivan Perišić, securing Croatia a historic win as they topped the group, meanwhile for Spain it was their first defeat at a Euro finals match for the first time since 2004. After the match, Croatia were tipped as one of the tournament favourites, and drew Portugal in the round of sixteen, who surprisingly finished third in the group, advancing only as the third - best third - placed team. The match was extremely poor, described by BBC Sport as "abysmal '', as there were no serious efforts on goal, with Ricardo Quaresma 's winning goal in the 117th minute knocking Croatia out of the tournament. Shortly after the Euro 2016 campaign, long - standing captain Darijo Srna announced his retirement from international football, amassing a record 134 appearances for the national side. Luka Modrić was announced as his successor for team captain. Croatia started their 2018 World Cup qualification strongly, leading their group and remaining undefeated for the first round of matches. However, consecutive defeats against Iceland and Turkey, as well as a draw against lowly - ranked Finland threatened their qualification hopes and caused a public outcry against manager Ante Čačić. He was quickly replaced by Zlatko Dalić, who led the team to a crucial 2 -- 0 win against Ukraine in Kiev, securing a spot in the playoff round against Greece. Croatia went on to qualify for the 2018 World Cup after beating Greece 4 -- 1, with all goals coming in the first leg in Zagreb. In the buildup to the tournament, The Guardian, among other news outlets, labelled the 2017 -- 18 squad as Croatia 's second golden generation. Key players such as Luka Modrić, Ivan Rakitić, and Mario Mandžukić drew close comparisons to their 1998 counterparts, and were expected to achieve similar success. Despite a poor showing in their friendly matches, Croatia started their World Cup campaign with a 2 -- 0 victory over Nigeria, with Luka Modrić scoring a penalty. Modrić went on to score again in a highly - applauded 3 -- 0 victory over previous finalists Argentina, which was also marked by Vedran Ćorluka earning his 100th cap for the national team. Croatia then defeated Iceland to top the group with maximum points, marking their best ever performance in the group stages of the World Cup. They went on to play Denmark in the round of sixteen; the match was dubbed as Croatia 's best chance to finally win a knockout round fixture at a major tournament, which they had n't done since 1998. Despite conceding in the first minute of the match, they equalized to force extra-time. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Croatia prevailed after goalkeeper Danijel Subašić saved three penalties, equalling the record for most penalties saved in a match. This was the team 's first ever successful penalty shootout, garnering praise from the local public and media. In the quarter - finals, Croatia drew 2 -- 2 with hosts Russia, but advanced after another successful penalty shootout. This made them the first team since 1990 to win two consecutive penalty shootouts at the World Cup, and also equalled their best ever run at the tournament. Croatia went on to play England in the semi-finals. After going behind once more, they equalized to force their third consecutive extra-time, equalling another record for most extra-time matches at the tournament. Mario Mandžukić eventually scored as Croatia won 2 -- 1, making them the second - smallest country by population to reach the World Cup final (after Uruguay in 1930). The win sparked massive celebrations across the country, as reported by several media outlets. In the buildup to the final, Croatian parliamentary members, including president Kolinda Grabar - Kitarović, wore football jerseys in support of the team. Online searches for the team also reached their highest level in history, as the Croatian tourist board reported a 250 % increase in website visits. Due to tournament structure, France received an extra day of rest before the final which promoted many, most notably football manager Jose Mourinho, to label the final "unfair '' and deserving of "equal opportunities ''. Croatia eventually lost the final 4 -- 2 to France, after a controversial penalty awarded by the video assistant referee (VAR). After the match, Luka Modrić became the first Croatian to win the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament. For achieving their best ever World Cup finish, the Croatian players were greeted by over 550, 000 people at their homecoming in Zagreb. On 23 January 2018, Croatia were drawn to play against England and Spain in the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League; an international tournament contested by all UEFA member 's national teams. Croatia 's modern - day jersey was designed in 1990 by locally acclaimed painter Miroslav Šutej, who also designed the nation 's coat of arms and banknotes. The traditional red and white motif is based on the historic Croatian checkerboard (šahovnica), which has been used to represent Croats since the Middle Ages. Although there have been many slight variations made by manufacturers Lotto and Nike since the original release, the traditional chequered theme has remained a symbol of national identity, with similar incorporation used by many Croatian national sports teams and entities. Football is Croatia 's most popular team sport, and the national team has developed an extensive fan base since its formation in 1991. Following their run at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, just three years after the Croatian war of Independence, there was a rapid rise in domestic and global attention for the side. Balkan Insight commented that the national team became a symbol of Croatian independence from Yugoslavia. However, after the death of former - president Franjo Tuđman, local political ties with the national team have loosened. All matches are widely followed and televised throughout the country, particularly during tournaments. A large part of the team 's support base consists of fans of Hajduk Split and Dinamo Zagreb, the two best - supported clubs in the Croatian domestic league, the Prva HNL. Both sets of fans -- the Bad Blue Boys of Zagreb and The Torcida from Split -- have been associated with hooliganism due to their ultra-style support, though violence between them does not occur at international matches. Heavy support for the Croatian national team also comes from Croats in Bosnia - Herzegovina, particularly from fans of Zrinjski Mostar. There are also considerable Croatian communities in Australia, North America, and South America that follow the team. Among supporters, it is customary to include an inscription of their city of origin onto the Croatian flag to indicate where they are from. They are also notable for their vocal support and orchestrated chants during matches. It is common for one section to shout "U boj, u boj '' (to battle, to battle), with another responding "za narod svoj '' (for our people), which is an old Croatian mantra. When the team wins, supporters often chant "Bježite ljudi, bježite iz grada '' (beware people, move away from here), which is a song praising the large presence of euphoric Croatian fans. The Croatian Football Federation endorses an official fan club for the team, known as Uvijek Vjerni (Always Faithful). The national team enjoys widespread support from various local musicians, who often release tracks dedicated to them. Former manager Slaven Bilić and his rock band released a single, "Vatreno Ludilo '' (Fiery Madness), which reached the top position on the Croatian music charts during Euro 2008. Other Croatian artists such as Dino Dvornik, Connect, Prljavo Kazalište and Baruni have also recorded songs praising the team. The most widely used among supporters are "Malo nas je al nas ima '' (We are few, but we exist), "Samo je jedno '' (There is but one thing (in my life)), "Moja Domovina '' (My Homeland), "Srce vatreno '' (Fiery Heart), and "Hrvatska je prvak svijeta '' (Croatia are World Champions). The players and fans often adopt other patriotic songs to celebrate victories as well. Fans ' behaviour at international games has led to various sanctions against the national side, despite due efforts by the HNS, Croatian government and players to prevent unwanted incidents. The team has been heavily penalized for multiple acts of inappropriate behaviour by its travelling fans, such as an isolated incident of racial abuse towards English striker Emile Heskey in 2010. There were also reports of minor clashes involving Croatian fans at various tournaments, which led to further sanctions imposed by FIFA and UEFA. There are often fears of violence during matches against Serbia too, such as the politically - fuelled football riot between Croat and Serb fans following the 1990 parliamentary election. This has led to extra security measures being imposed for these matches, such as restrictions on travelling fans, which has prevented any major incidents from occurring. In response to widespread allegations of corruption within the Croatian Football Federation, there have been multiple acts of protest against the national team. Croatia 's Euro 2016 qualifying fixture against Italy in Milan was interrupted due to flares being thrown onto the field by a small section of attendants, which also occurred at a European Championship match against Czech Republic. A similar incident took place in 2015 during another fixture against Italy as a swastika symbol was embedded onto the pitch at the Poljud Stadium. The Croatian Football Federation apologized for the incident and called it an act of sabotage. The players and supporters also condemned this behavior. A criminal investigation was commenced, and the team was docked 1 point in their qualifying group over the incident. The majority of home matches take place at the Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb, which is also the home - ground of local football club Dinamo Zagreb. The venue, built in 1912 and refurbished in 1997, is named after the surrounding neighbourhood of Maksimir and has hosted national team games since Croatia 's competitive home debut against Lithuania. The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) previously agreed on extensive plans with the government to renovate the stadium and increase its current forty - thousand seating capacity, however the proposal was eventually rejected by Zagreb Mayor Milan Bandić in 2008 due to high construction costs. Some home matches are occasionally played at other, smaller venues around the country. The Poljud Stadium in Split has hosted several qualifying fixtures since 1995, the first being a 1 -- 1 draw with Italy. In the period between 1995 and 2011, Croatia never won a competitive match at Poljud, which the local media dubbed "Poljudsko prokletsvo '' ("the Poljud curse ''). The run was finally ended after the team came from behind to beat Georgia on 3 June 2011. Qualifying fixtures have also been played at the Stadion Kantrida in Rijeka, along with the Gradski vrt stadium in Osijek and the Stadion Anđelko Herjavec in Varaždin. However, these venues are rarely used due to their remote locations and smaller seating capacity, despite objections from local residents and some players. The following table provides a summary Croatia results at various venues used for home games. Since Croatia 's first match in October 1990, they played home games at eleven stadiums around the country. The following table provides a summary of Croatia 's results at home venues. Last updated: Croatia vs. Senegal, 8 June 2018. Statistics include official FIFA - recognised matches only. The Croatia national football team has developed numerous rivalries with other national teams. Most of these are friendly in nature, stemming from repeated match - ups and the context in which they are played. However, some are also politically and socially charged. Here are the team 's most notable opponents: Croatia qualified for and competed in three consecutive World Cup tournaments between 1998 and 2006, but failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after finishing 3rd in Group 6 behind England and Ukraine. Although they had joined both FIFA and UEFA by 1992, they were unable to enter the 1994 World Cup as qualification had started before the side was officially recognised as a state. In the following three World Cup groups they were eliminated after finishing third in all of them, before finally advancing further than the group stage at the 2018 World Cup. On 11 July 2018, Croatia won their semi-final match against England, advancing the national team to their first FIFA World Cup final wherein they secured second place as runners - up against winners France. Supplanting their third place positioning in 1998, this is the nation 's best performance to date. Croatia is set to play in the UEFA Nations League 's League A in against Spain and England. Dario Šimić was Croatia 's first player to reach 100 appearances, doing so before his retirement in 2008. This allowed him to surpass Robert Jarni 's previous record of 81 appearances. On 6 February 2013, captain Darijo Srna, Josip Šimunić and Stipe Pletikosa each also played their 100th cap for Croatia in a 4 -- 0 friendly victory over South Korea in London. The trio went on to set a new joint - record of 101 appearances for the national team in March 2013 in a World Cup qualifying victory against Serbia in Zagreb. Srna eventually surpassed his teammates and accrued a record total of 134 international caps for Croatia before retiring in 2016. Alen Halilović is the youngest player to represent the team, making his senior debut in June 2013 aged 16 years, 11 months and 22 days. The team 's oldest player is Dražen Ladić, who played his last match in May 2000 aged 37 years, 4 months and 27 days. With 45 goals scored, Davor Šuker, the current president of the Croatian Football Federation, is the team 's highest - scoring player. Mladen Petrić holds the national team record for goals in a single match, having scored four times during Croatia 's 7 -- 0 home victory over Andorra on 7 October 2006. The national team 's record for highest - scoring victory was achieved in 2016, a 10 -- 0 friendly win over San Marino. Croatia 's heaviest defeat is a joint record; the Independent State of Croatia side lost 5 -- 1 to Germany twice in the 1940s. The modern Croatian team also lost to England by the same scoreline in a 2010 World Cup qualifying fixture in London. FIFA - ranking yearly averages for Croatia. Upon admission to FIFA, Croatia was ranked 125th in the world; following the 1998 World Cup campaign, the side rose to third place in the rankings, making it the most volatile team in FIFA Rankings history. The following players were called up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and preceding warm - up matches. All numbers, caps and goals as of 15 July 2018 after match against France, only matches as FIFA member are included. The following players have also been called up to the Croatia squad in the last 12 months and are still eligible for selection. Last updated: France vs. Croatia, 15 July 2018. Source: Croatian Football Federation Last updated: France vs. Croatia, 15 July 2018. Source: Croatian Football Federation The following table provides a summary of the complete record of each Croatia manager including their results regarding World Cups and European Championships. Last updated: Croatia vs. France, 15 July 2018. Source: Croatian Football Federation Minor tournaments Other awards

who is who and what is what pakistan

Pakistan - wikipedia Coordinates: 30 ° N 70 ° E  /  30 ° N 70 ° E  / 30; 70 Pakistan (/ ˈpækɪstæn / (listen) or / pɑːkɪˈstɑːn / (listen); Urdu: پاکستان ‎), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: اسلامی جمہوریہ پاکستان ‎), is a country in South Asia and on junction of West Asia, Central Asia and East Asia. It is the fifth-most populous country with a population exceeding 207.77 million people. In terms of area, it is the 33rd - largest country spanning 881,913 square kilometres (340,509 square miles). Pakistan has a 1,046 - kilometre (650 - mile) coastline along the Arabian Sea and its Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west, Iran to the southwest, and China in the far northeast, respectively. It is separated narrowly from Tajikistan by Afghanistan 's Wakhan Corridor in the north - west, and also shares a maritime border with Oman. The territory that constitutes Pakistan is considered a cradle of civilisation that was previously home to several ancient cultures, including the Mehrgarh of the Neolithic and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and later home to kingdoms ruled by people of different faiths and cultures, including Hindus, Indo - Greeks, Muslims, Turco - Mongols, Afghans, and Sikhs. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Persian Achaemenid Empire, Alexander III of Macedon, the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Afghan Durrani Empire, the Sikh Empire (partially), and most recently, the British Empire. Pakistan is unique among Muslim countries in that it is the only country to have been created in the name of Islam. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the subcontinent 's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent homeland for Indian Muslims. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similarly diverse geography and wildlife. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. An ethnic civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country of Bangladesh. In 1973 Pakistan adopted a new constitution establishing, alongside its pre-existing parliamentary republic status, a federal government based in Islamabad consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. The new constitution also stipulated that all laws were to conform to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah. A regional and middle power, Pakistan has the sixth - largest standing armed forces in the world and is also a nuclear power as well as a declared nuclear - weapons state, being the second in South Asia and the only nation in the Muslim world to have that status. Pakistan has a semi-industrialised economy with a well - integrated agriculture sector, and a growing services sector. The Pakistani economy is the 24th - largest in the world in terms of purchasing power and the 41st - largest in terms of nominal GDP (World Bank). It is ranked among the emerging and growth - leading economies of the world, and is backed by one of the world 's largest and fastest - growing middle classes. The post-independence history of Pakistan has been characterised by periods of military rule, and since 2008 a transition to democracy, amid conflicts with neighbouring India. The country continues to face challenging problems such as illiteracy, healthcare, and corruption, but has substantially reduced poverty and terrorism and expanded per capita income. Pakistan is a member of the United Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Economic Cooperation Organisation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the Developing Eight, and the G20 developing nations, Group of 24, Group of 77, and ECOSOC. It is also an associate member of CERN. Pakistan is a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The name Pakistan literally means "land of the pure '' in Urdu and Persian. It is a play on the word pāk meaning pure in Persian and Pashto; the suffix ـستان (- stān) is a Persian word meaning the place of. The word also coincides with a similar sounding word of different language, the Sanskrit word sthāna स्थान. The name of the country was coined in 1933 as Pakstan by Choudhry Rahmat Ali, a Pakistan Movement activist, who published it in his pamphlet Now or Never, using it as an acronym ("thirty million Muslim brethren who live in PAKSTAN '') referring to the names of the five northern regions of the British Raj: Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan. The letter i was incorporated to ease pronunciation and form the linguistically correct, meaningful, and colorful name. Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present - day Pakistan. The earliest known inhabitants in the region were Soanian during the Lower Paleolithic, of whom stone tools have been found in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Indus region, which covers most of present day Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation (2,800 -- 1,800 BC) at Harappa and Mohenjo - Daro. The Vedic Civilisation (1500 -- 500 BC), characterised by Indo - Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, which later became well established in the region. Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in the Punjab. Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire (around 519 BC), Alexander the Great 's empire in 326 BC and the Maurya Empire, founded by Chandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great, until 185 BC. The Indo - Greek Kingdom founded by Demetrius of Bactria (180 -- 165 BC) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165 -- 150 BC), prospering the Greco - Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world. At its zenith, the Rai Dynasty (489 -- 632 AD) of Sindh ruled this region and the surrounding territories. The Pala Dynasty was the last Buddhist empire, which, under Dharmapala and Devapala, stretched across South Asia from what is now Bangladesh through Northern India to Pakistan. The Arab conqueror Muhammad bin Qasim conquered the Indus valley from Sindh to Multan in southern Punjab in 711 AD. The Pakistan government 's official chronology identifies this as the time when the foundation of Pakistan was laid. The Early Medieval period (642 -- 1219 AD) witnessed the spread of Islam in the region. During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam. These developments set the stage for the rule of several successive Muslim empires in the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975 -- 1187 AD), the Ghorid Kingdom, and the Delhi Sultanate (1206 -- 1526 AD). The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526 -- 1857 AD). The Mughals introduced Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo - Persian culture in the region. From the region of modern - day Pakistan, key cities during the Mughal rule were Lahore and Thatta, both of which were chosen as the site of impressive Mughal buildings. In the early 16th century, the region remained under the Mughal Empire ruled by Muslim emperors. By the early 18th century, increasing European influence contributed to the slow disintegration of the empire as the lines between commercial and political dominance became increasingly blurred. During this time, the English East India Company had established coastal outposts. Control over the seas, greater resources, technology, and British military protection led the Company to increasingly flex its military muscle, allowing the Company to gain control over the subcontinent by 1765 and sideline European competitors. Expanding access beyond Bengal and the subsequent increased strength and size of its army enabled it to annex or subdue most of region by the 1820s. Many historians see this as the start of the region 's colonial period. By this time, with its economic power severely curtailed by the British parliament and itself effectively made an arm of British administration, the Company began more deliberately to enter non-economic arenas such as education, social reform, and culture. Such reforms included the enforcement of the English Education Act in 1835 and the introduction of the Indian Civil Service (ICS). Traditional madrasahs -- primary institutions of higher learning for Muslims in the subcontinent -- were no longer supported by the English Crown, and nearly all of the madrasahs lost their financial endowment. The gradual decline of the Mughal Empire in the early 18th century enabled the Sikh Empire to control larger areas until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over the Indian subcontinent. A rebellion in 1857 called the Sepoy mutiny was the region 's major armed struggle against the British Empire and Queen Victoria. Divergence in the relationship between Hinduism and Islam created a major rift in British India that led to racially motivated religious violence in India. The language controversy further escalated the tensions between Hindus and Muslims. The Hindu renaissance witnessed an awakening of intellectualism in traditional Hinduism and saw the emergence of more assertive influence in the social and political spheres in British India. An intellectual movement to counter the Hindu renaissance was led by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, who helped found the All - India Muslim League in 1901 and envisioned, as well as advocated for, the two - nation theory. In contrast to the Indian Congress 's anti-British efforts, the Muslim League was a pro-British movement whose political program inherited the British values that would shape Pakistan 's future civil society. In events during World War I, British Intelligence foiled an anti-English conspiracy involving the nexus of Congress and the German Empire. The largely non-violent independence struggle led by the Indian Congress engaged millions of protesters in mass campaigns of civil disobedience in the 1920s and 1930s against the British Empire. The Muslim League slowly rose to mass popularity in the 1930s amid fears of under - representation and neglect of Muslims in politics. In his presidential address of 29 December 1930, Allama Iqbal called for "the amalgamation of North - West Muslim - majority Indian states '' consisting of Punjab, North - West Frontier Province, Sindh, and Balochistan. The perceived neglect of muslim interests by Congress led provincial governments during the period of 1937 -- 39 convinced Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan to espouse the two - nation theory and led the Muslim League to adopt the Lahore Resolution of 1940, popularly known as the Pakistan Resolution. In World War II, Jinnah and British - educated founding fathers in the Muslim League supported the United Kingdom 's war efforts, countering opposition against it whilst working towards Sir Syed 's vision. The 1946 elections resulted in the Muslim League winning 90 percent of the seats reserved for Muslims. Thus, the 1946 election was effectively a plebiscite in which the Indian Muslims were to vote on the creation of Pakistan, a plebiscite won by the Muslim League. This victory was assisted by the support given to the Muslim League by the rural peasantry of Bengal as well as the support of the landowners of Sindh and Punjab. The Congress, which initially denied the Muslim League 's claim of being the sole representative of Indian Muslims, was now forced to recognise the fact. The British had no alternative except to take Jinnah 's views into account as he had emerged as the sole spokesperson of India 's Muslims. However, the British did not want India to be partitioned, and in one last effort to prevent it they devised the Cabinet Mission plan. As the cabinet mission failed, the British government announced its intention to end the British Raj in India in 1946 -- 47. Nationalists in British India -- including Jawaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad of Congress, Jinnah of the All - India Muslim League, and Master Tara Singh representing the Sikhs -- agreed to the proposed terms of transfer of power and independence in June 1947 with the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten of Burma. As the United Kingdom agreed to the partitioning of India in 1947, the modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 (27th of Ramadan in 1366 of the Islamic Calendar), amalgamating the Muslim - majority eastern and northwestern regions of British India. It comprised the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North - West Frontier Province, West Punjab, and Sindh. In the riots that accompanied the partition in Punjab Province, it is believed that between 200,000 and 2,000,000 people were killed in what some have described as a retributive genocide between the religions while 50,000 Muslim women were abducted and raped by Hindu and Sikh men and 33,000 Hindu and Sikh women also experienced the same fate at the hands of Muslims. Around 6.5 million Muslims moved from India to West Pakistan and 4.7 million Hindus and Sikhs moved from West Pakistan to India. It was the largest mass migration in human history. Dispute over Jammu and Kashmir led to the First Kashmir War in 1948. After independence in 1947, Jinnah, the President of the Muslim League, became the nation 's first Governor - General as well as the first President - Speaker of the Parliament, but he died of tuberculosis on 11 September 1948. Meanwhile, Pakistan 's founding fathers agreed to appoint Liaquat Ali Khan, the secretary - general of the party, the nation 's first Prime Minister. With dominion status in the Commonwealth of Nations, independent Pakistan had two British monarchs before it became a republic. The creation of Pakistan was never fully accepted by many British leaders, among them Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten clearly expressed his lack of support and faith in the Muslim League 's idea of Pakistan. Jinnah refused Mountbatten 's offer to serve as Governor - General of Pakistan. When Mountbatten was asked by Collins and Lapierre if he would have sabotaged Pakistan had he known that Jinnah was dying of tuberculosis, he replied ' most probably '. Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, a respected Deobandi alim (scholar) who occupied the position of Shaykh al - Islam in Pakistan in 1949, and Maulana Mawdudi of Jamaat - i - Islami played a pivotal role in the demand for an Islamic constitution. Mawdudi demanded that the Constituent Assembly make an explicit declaration affirming the "supreme sovereignty of God '' and the supremacy of the shariah in Pakistan. A significant result of the efforts of the Jamaat - i - Islami and the ulama was the passage of the Objectives Resolution in March 1949. The Objectives Resolution, which Liaquat Ali Khan called the second most important step in Pakistan 's history, declared that "sovereignty over the entire universe belongs to God Almighty alone and the authority which He has delegated to the State of Pakistan through its people for being exercised within the limits prescribed by Him is a sacred trust ''. The Objectives Resolution has been incorporated as a preamble to the constitutions of 1956, 1962, and 1973. Democracy was stalled by the martial law that had been enforced by President Iskander Mirza, who was replaced by army chief, General Ayub Khan. After adopting a presidential system in 1962, the country experienced exceptional growth until a second war with India in 1965 that led to an economic downturn and wide - scale public disapproval in 1967. Consolidating control from Ayub Khan in 1969, President Yahya Khan had to deal with a devastating cyclone that caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan. In 1970 Pakistan held its first democratic elections since independence, meant to mark a transition from military rule to democracy, but after the East Pakistani Awami League won against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Yahya Khan and the military establishment refused to hand over power. Operation Searchlight, a military crackdown on the Bengali nationalist movement, led to a declaration of independence and the waging of a war of liberation by the Bengali Mukti Bahini forces in East Pakistan, with support from India. However, in West Pakistan the conflict was described as a civil war as opposed to a war of liberation. Independent researchers estimate that between 300,000 and 500,000 civilians died during this period while the Bangladesh government puts the number of dead at three million, a figure that is now nearly universally regarded as excessively inflated. Some academics such as Rudolph Rummel and Rounaq Jahan say both sides committed genocide; others such as Richard Sisson and Leo E. Rose believe there was no genocide. In response to India 's support for the insurgency in East Pakistan, preemptive strikes on India by Pakistan 's air force, navy, and marines sparked a conventional war in 1971 that resulted in an Indian victory and East Pakistan gaining independence as Bangladesh. With Pakistan surrendering in the war, Yahya Khan was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as president; the country worked towards promulgating its constitution and putting the country on the road to democracy. Democratic rule resumed from 1972 to 1977 -- an era of self - consciousness, intellectual leftism, nationalism, and nationwide reconstruction. In 1972 Pakistan embarked on an ambitious plan to develop its nuclear deterrence capability with the goal of preventing any foreign invasion; the country 's first nuclear power plant was inaugurated in that same year. Accelerated in response to India 's first nuclear test in 1974, this crash program was completed in 1979. Democracy ended with a military coup in 1977 against the leftist PPP, which saw General Zia - ul - Haq become the president in 1978. From 1977 to 1988, President Zia 's corporatisation and economic Islamisation initiatives led to Pakistan becoming one of the fastest - growing economies in South Asia. While building up the country 's nuclear program, increasing Islamisation, and the rise of a homegrown conservative philosophy, Pakistan helped subsidise and distribute US resources to factions of the mujahideen against the USSR 's intervention in communist Afghanistan. Pakistan 's North - West Frontier Province became a base for the anti-Soviet Afghan fighters, with the province 's influential Deobandi ulama playing a significant role in encouraging and organising the ' jihad '. President Zia died in a plane crash in 1988, and Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the country 's first female Prime Minister. The PPP was followed by conservative Pakistan Muslim League (N), and over the next decade the leaders of the two parties fought for power, alternating in office while the country 's situation worsened; economic indicators fell sharply, in contrast to the 1980s. This period is marked by prolonged stagflation, instability, corruption, nationalism, geopolitical rivalry with India, and the clash of left wing - right wing ideologies. As PML (N) secured a supermajority in elections in 1997, Sharif authorised nuclear testings (See: Chagai - I and Chagai - II), as a retaliation to the second nuclear tests ordered by India, led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in May 1998. Military tension between the two countries in the Kargil district led to the Kargil War of 1999, and turmoil in civic - military relations allowed General Pervez Musharraf to take over through a bloodless coup d'état. Musharraf governed Pakistan as chief executive from 1999 to 2001 and as President from 2001 to 2008 -- a period of enlightenment, social liberalism, extensive economic reforms, and direct involvement in the US - led war on terrorism. When the National Assembly historically completed its first full five - year term on 15 November 2007, the new elections were called by the Election Commission. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in 2007, the PPP secured the most votes in the elections of 2008, appointing party member Yousaf Raza Gillani as Prime Minister. Threatened with impeachment, President Musharraf resigned on 18 August 2008, and was succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari. Clashes with the judicature prompted Gillani 's disqualification from the Parliament and as the Prime Minister in June 2012. By its own financial calculations, Pakistan 's involvement in the war on terrorism has cost up to ~ $118 billion, sixty thousand casualties and more than 1.8 million displaced civilians. The general election held in 2013 saw the PML (N) almost achieve a supermajority, following which Nawaz Sharif was elected as the Prime Minister, returning to the post for the third time in fourteen years, in a democratic transition. The idea of Pakistan, which had received overwhelming popular support among Indian Muslims, especially those in the provinces of British India where Muslims were in a minority such as the United Provinces., was articulated in terms of an Islamic state by the Muslim League leadership, the ulama (Islamic clergy) and Jinnah. Jinnah had developed a close association with the ulama and upon his death was described by one such alim, Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani, as the greatest Muslim after Aurangzeb and as someone who desired to unite the Muslims of the world under the banner of Islam. The Objectives Resolution in March 1949, which declared God as the sole sovereign over the entire universe, represented the first formal step to transform Pakistan into an Islamic state. Muslim League leader Chaudhry Khaliquzzaman asserted that Pakistan could only truly become an Islamic state after bringing all believers of Islam into a single political unit. Keith Callard, one of the earliest scholars on Pakistani politics, observed that Pakistanis believed in the essential unity of purpose and outlook in the Muslim world and assumed that Muslim from other countries would share their views on the relationship between religion and nationality. However, Pakistan 's pan-Islamist sentiments for a united Islamic bloc called Islamistan were not shared by other Muslim governments, although Islamists such as the Grand Mufti of Palestine, Al - Haj Amin al - Husseini, and leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, became drawn to the country. Pakistan 's desire for an international organization of Muslim countries was fulfilled in the 1970s when the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) was formed. The strongest opposition to the Islamist ideological paradigm being imposed on the state came from the Bengali Muslims of East Pakistan whose educated class, according to a survey by social scientist Nasim Ahmad Jawed, preferred secularism and focused on ethnic identity unlike educated West Pakistanis who tended to prefer an Islamic identity. The Islamist party Jamaat - e-Islami considered Pakistan to be an Islamic state and believed Bengali nationalism to be unacceptable. In the 1971 conflict over East Pakistan the Jamaat - e-Islami fought the Bengali nationalists on the Pakistan Army 's side. After Pakistan 's first ever general elections the 1973 Constitution was created by an elected Parliament. The Constitution declared Pakistan an Islamic Republic and Islam as the state religion. It also stated that all laws would have to be brought into accordance with the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Quran and Sunnah and that no law repugnant to such injunctions could be enacted. The 1973 Constitution also created certain institutions such as the Shariat Court and the Council of Islamic Ideology to channel the interpretation and application of Islam. Pakistan 's leftist Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto faced vigorous opposition which coalesced into a movement united under the revivalist banner of Nizam - e-Mustafa ("Rule of the prophet '') which aimed to establish an Islamic state based on Sharia laws. Bhutto agreed to some Islamist demands before being overthrown in a coup. After taking power from Bhutto in a coup de'tat, General Zia - ul - Haq, who came from a religious background, committed himself to establishing an Islamic state and enforcing sharia law. Zia established separate Shariat judicial courts and court benches to judge legal cases using Islamic doctrine. Zia bolstered the influence of the ulama (Islamic clergy) and the Islamic parties. Zia - ul - Haq forged a strong alliance between the military and Deobandi institutions and even though most Barelvi ulama and only a few Deobandi scholars had supported Pakistan 's creation, Islamic state politics came to be mostly in favour of Deobandi (and later Ahl - e-Hadith / Salafi) institutions instead of Barelvi. Sectarian tensions increased with Zia 's anti-Shia policies. According to a PEW opinion poll a majority of Pakistanis support making Sharia the official law of the land. In a survey of several Muslim countries, the PEW Research Centre also found that Pakistanis tend to identify with their religion more than their nationality in contrast to Muslims in other nations such as Egypt, Indonesia and Jordan. The geography and climate of Pakistan are extremely diverse, and the country is home to a wide variety of wildlife. Pakistan covers an area of 881,913 km (340,509 sq mi), approximately equal to the combined land areas of France and the United Kingdom. It is the 33rd - largest nation by total area, although this ranking varies depending on how the disputed territory of Kashmir is counted. Pakistan has a 1,046 km (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and land borders of 6,774 km (4,209 mi) in total: 2,430 km (1,510 mi) with Afghanistan, 523 km (325 mi) with China, 2,912 km (1,809 mi) with India and 909 km (565 mi) with Iran. It shares a marine border with Oman, and is separated from Tajikistan by the cold, narrow Wakhan Corridor. Pakistan occupies a geopolitically important location at the crossroads of South Asia, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Geologically, Pakistan is located in the Indus -- Tsangpo Suture Zone and overlaps the Indian tectonic plate in its Sindh and Punjab provinces; Balochistan and most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are within the Eurasian plate, mainly on the Iranian plateau. Gilgit -- Baltistan and Azad Kashmir lie along the edge of the Indian plate and hence are prone to violent earthquakes. This region has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalaya region. Ranging from the coastal areas of the south to the glaciated mountains of the north, Pakistan 's landscapes vary from plains to deserts, forests, hills, and plateaus. Pakistan is divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, the Indus River plain, and the Balochistan Plateau. The northern highlands contain the Karakoram, Hindu Kush, and Pamir mountain ranges (see mountains of Pakistan), which contain some of the world 's highest peaks, including five of the fourteen eight - thousanders (mountain peaks over 8,000 metres or 26,250 feet), which attract adventurers and mountaineers from all over the world, notably K2 (8,611 m or 28,251 ft) and Nanga Parbat (8,126 m or 26,660 ft). The Balochistan Plateau lies in the west and the Thar Desert in the east. The 1,609 km (1,000 mi) Indus River and its tributaries flow through the country from the Kashmir region to the Arabian Sea. There is an expanse of alluvial plains along it in the Punjab and Sindh. The climate varies from tropical to temperate, with arid conditions in the coastal south. There is a monsoon season with frequent flooding due to heavy rainfall, and a dry season with significantly less rainfall or none at all. There are four distinct seasons: a cool, dry winter from December through February; a hot, dry spring from March through May; the summer rainy season, or southwest monsoon period, from June through September; and the retreating monsoon period of October and November. Rainfall varies greatly from year to year, and patterns of alternate flooding and drought are common. The diversity of the landscape and climate in Pakistan allows a wide variety of trees and plants to flourish. The forests range from coniferous alpine and subalpine trees such as spruce, pine, and deodar cedar in the extreme northern mountains to deciduous trees in most of the country (for example, the mulberry - like shisham found in the Sulaiman Mountains), to palms such as coconut and date in the southern Punjab, southern Balochistan, and all of Sindh. The western hills are home to juniper, tamarisk, coarse grasses, and scrub plants. Mangrove forests form much of the coastal wetlands along the coast in the south. Coniferous forests are found at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300 to 13,100 feet) in most of the northern and northwestern highlands. In the xeric regions of Balochistan, date palm and Ephedra are common. In most of the Punjab and Sindh, the Indus plains support tropical and subtropical dry and moist broadleaf forest as well as tropical and xeric shrublands. These forests are mostly of mulberry, acacia, and eucalyptus. About 2.2 % or 1,687,000 hectares (16,870 km) of Pakistan was forested in 2010. The fauna of Pakistan also reflects the country 's varied climate. Around 668 bird species are found there, including crows, sparrows, mynas, hawks, falcons, and eagles. Palas, Kohistan, has a significant population of western tragopan. Many birds sighted in Pakistan are migratory, coming from Europe, Central Asia, and India. The southern plains are home to mongooses, civets, hares, the Asiatic jackal, the Indian pangolin, the jungle cat, and the desert cat. There are mugger crocodiles in the Indus, and wild boar, deer, porcupines, and small rodents in the surrounding areas. The sandy scrublands of central Pakistan are home to Asiatic jackals, striped hyenas, wildcats, and leopards. The lack of vegetative cover, the severe climate, and the impact of grazing on the deserts have left wild animals in a precarious position. The chinkara is the only animal that can still be found in significant numbers in Cholistan. A small number of nilgai are found along the Pakistan -- India border and in some parts of Cholistan. A wide variety of animals live in the mountainous north, including the Marco Polo sheep, the urial (a subspecies of wild sheep), the markhor goat, the ibex goat, the Asian black bear, and the Himalayan brown bear. Among the rare animals found in the area are the snow leopard and the blind Indus river dolphin, of which there are believed to be about 1,100 remaining, protected at the Indus River Dolphin Reserve in Sindh. In total, 174 mammals, 177 reptiles, 22 amphibians, 198 freshwater fish species and 5,000 species of invertebrates (including insects) have been recorded in Pakistan. The flora and fauna of Pakistan suffer from a number of problems. Pakistan has the second - highest rate of deforestation in the world, which, along with hunting and pollution, has had adverse effects on the ecosystem. The government has established a large number of protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and game reserves to address these issues. Pakistan 's political experience is essentially related to the struggle of Indian Muslims to regain the power they lost to British colonisation. Pakistan is a democratic parliamentary federal republic, with Islam as the state religion. The first constitution was adopted in 1956 but suspended by Ayub Khan in 1958, who replaced it with the second constitution in 1962. A complete and comprehensive constitution was adopted in 1973 -- it was suspended by Zia - ul - Haq in 1977 but reinstated in 1985 -- is the country 's most important document, laying the foundations of the current government. The Pakistani military establishment has played an influential role in mainstream politics throughout Pakistan 's political history. The periods 1958 -- 1971, 1977 -- 1988, and 1999 -- 2008 saw military coups that resulted in the imposition of martial law and military commanders who governed as de facto presidents. Today Pakistan has a multi-party parliamentary system with clear division of powers and checks and balances among the branches of government. The first successful democratic transition occurred in May 2013. Politics in Pakistan is centred on, and dominated by, a homegrown social philosophy comprising a blend of ideas from socialism, conservatism, and the third way. As of the general elections held in 2013, the three main political parties in the country are: the centre - right conservative Pakistan Muslim League - N; the centre - left socialist PPP; and the centrist and third - way Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI). As the Muslim world 's second most populous nation - state (after Indonesia) and its only nuclear power state, Pakistan has an important role in the international community. With a semi-agricultural and semi-industrialized economy, its foreign policy determines its standard of interactions for its organisations, corporations, and individual citizens. Its geostrategic intentions were explained by Jinnah in a broadcast message in 1947, which is featured in a prominent quotation on the homepage of Pakistan 's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website: "The foundation of our foreign policy is friendship with all nations across the globe. '' Since Independence, Pakistan has attempted to balance its relations with foreign nations. Pakistan is a major non-NATO ally of the United States in the war against terrorism -- a status achieved in 2004. Pakistan 's foreign policy and geostrategy mainly focus on the economy and security against threats to its national identity and territorial integrity, and on the cultivation of close relations with other Muslim countries. The Kashmir conflict remains the major point of contention between Pakistan and India; three of their four wars were fought over this territory. Due partly to difficulties in relations with its geopolitical rival India, Pakistan maintains close political relations with Turkey and Iran, and both countries have been a focal point in Pakistan 's foreign policy. Saudi Arabia also maintains a respected position in Pakistan 's foreign policy. A non-signatory party of the Treaty on Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Pakistan is an influential member of the IAEA. In recent events, Pakistan has blocked an international treaty to limit fissile material, arguing that the "treaty would target Pakistan specifically ''. In the 20th century, Pakistan 's nuclear deterrence program focused on countering India 's nuclear ambitions in the region, and nuclear tests by India eventually led Pakistan to reciprocate to maintain a geopolitical balance as becoming a nuclear power. Currently, Pakistan maintains a policy of credible minimum deterrence, calling its program vital nuclear deterrence against foreign aggression. Located in the strategic and geopolitical corridor of the world 's major maritime oil supply lines and communication fibre optics, Pakistan has proximity to the natural resources of Central Asian countries. Briefing on the country 's foreign policy in 2004, a Pakistani senator reportedly explained: "Pakistan highlights sovereign equality of states, bilateralism, mutuality of interests, and non-interference in each other 's domestic affairs as the cardinal features of its foreign policy. '' Pakistan is an active member of the United Nations and has a Permanent Representative to represent Pakistan 's positions in international politics. Pakistan has lobbied for the concept of "enlightened moderation '' in the Muslim world. Pakistan is also a member of Commonwealth of Nations, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO), and the G20 developing nations. Because of ideological differences, Pakistan opposed the Soviet Union in the 1950s, and during the Soviet - Afghan War in the 1980s, Pakistan was one of the closest allies of the United States. Relations between Pakistan and Russia have greatly improved since 1999, and co-operation in various sectors has increased. Pakistan has had an "on - and - off '' relationship with the United States. A close ally of the United States during the Cold war, Pakistan 's relationship with the United States soured in the 1990s when the US imposed sanctions because of Pakistan 's secretive nuclear development. Since 9 / 11, Pakistan has been a close ally of the United States on the issue of counter-terrorism in the regions of the Middle East and South Asia, with the US supporting Pakistan with aid money and weapons. Initially, the United States - led war on terrorism led to an improvement in the relationship, but it was strained by a divergence of interests and resulting mistrust during the war in Afghanistan and by issues related to terrorism. Pakistan does not have diplomatic relations with Israel; nonetheless, some Israeli citizens have visited the country on tourist visas. However, an exchange took place between the two countries using Turkey as a communication conduit. Despite Pakistan being the only country in the world that has not established diplomatic relations with Armenia, an Armenian community still resides in Pakistan. Pakistan had warm relations with Bangladesh despite initial strains in their relationship. Pakistan was the first country to have established diplomatic relations with China, and the relationship continues to be warm since China 's war with India in 1962. In the 1960s to 1980s, Pakistan greatly helped China in reaching out to the world 's major countries and helped facilitate US President Nixon 's state visit to China. Despite the change of governments in Pakistan and fluctuations in the regional and global situation, China policy in Pakistan continues to be a dominant factor at all times. In return, China is Pakistan 's largest trading partner, and economic co-operation has flourished, with substantial Chinese investment in Pakistan 's infrastructural expansion such as the Pakistani deep - water port at Gwadar. Sino - Pakistani friendly relations touched new heights as both the countries signed 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) in 2015 for co-operation in different areas. Both countries signed a Free Trade Agreement in the 2000s, and Pakistan continues to serve as China 's communication bridge to the Muslim world. In 2016 China announced that it will set up an anti-terrorism alliance with Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. After Independence, Pakistan vigorously pursued bilateral relations with other Muslim countries and made an active bid for leadership of the Muslim world, or at least for leadership in efforts to achieve unity. The Ali brothers had sought to project Pakistan as the natural leader of the Islamic world, in part due to its large manpower and military strength. A top - ranking Muslim League leader, Khaliquzzaman, declared that Pakistan would bring together all Muslim countries into Islamistan -- a pan-Islamic entity. Such developments (along with Pakistan 's creation) did not get American approval, and British Prime Minister Clement Attlee voiced international opinion at the time by stating that he wished that India and Pakistan would re-unite. Since most of the Arab world was undergoing a nationalist awakening at the time, there was little attraction to Pakistan 's Pan-Islamic aspirations. Some of the Arab countries saw the ' Islamistan ' project as a Pakistani attempt to dominate other Muslim states. Pakistan vigorously championed the right of self - determination for Muslims around the world. Pakistan 's efforts for the independence movements of Indonesia, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Eritrea were significant and initially led to close ties between these countries and Pakistan. However, Pakistan also masterminded an attack on the Afghan city of Jalalabad during the Afghan Civil War to establish an Islamic government there. Pakistan had wished to foment an ' Islamic Revolution ' that would transcend national borders, covering Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia. On the other hand, Pakistan 's relations with Iran have been strained at times due to sectarian tensions. Iran and Saudi Arabia used Pakistan as a battleground for their proxy sectarian war, and by the 1990s Pakistan 's support for the Sunni Taliban organisation in Afghanistan became a problem for Shia Iran, which opposed a Taliban - controlled Afghanistan. Tensions between Iran and Pakistan intensified in 1998 when Iran accused Pakistan of war crimes after Pakistani warplanes had bombarded Afghanistan 's last Shia stronghold in support of the Taliban. Pakistan is an influential and founding member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Maintaining cultural, political, social, and economic relations with the Arab world and other countries in the Muslim world is a vital factor in Pakistan 's foreign policy. A federal parliamentary republic state, Pakistan is a federation that comprises four provinces: Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, and Balochistan and four territories: the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Islamabad Capital Territory Gilgit -- Baltistan, and Azad Kashmir. The Government of Pakistan exercises the de facto jurisdiction over the Frontier Regions and the western parts of the Kashmir Regions, which are organised into the separate political entities Azad Kashmir and Gilgit -- Baltistan (formerly Northern Areas). In 2009, the constitutional assignment (the Gilgit -- Baltistan Empowerment and Self - Governance Order) awarded the Gilgit -- Baltistan a semi-provincial status, giving it self - government. The local government system consists of a three - tier system of districts, tehsils, and union councils, with an elected body at each tier. There are about 130 districts altogether, of which Azad Kashmir has ten and Gilgit -- Baltistan seven. The Tribal Areas comprise seven tribal agencies and six small frontier regions detached from neighbouring districts. Law enforcement is carried out by a joint network of the intelligence community with jurisdiction limited to the relevant province or territory. The National Intelligence Directorate coordinates the information intelligence at both federal and provincial level; including the FIA, IB, Motorway Police, and paramilitary forces such as the Pakistan Rangers and the Frontier Corps. Pakistan 's "premier '' intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), was formed just within a year after the Independence of Pakistan in 1947. Pakistan 's ISI was ranked as the top intelligence agency in the world in 2011 by the International Business Times UK. ABC News Point in 2014 also reported that the ISI was ranked as the top intelligence agency in the world while Zee News reported the ISI as ranking fifth among the world 's most powerful intelligence agencies. The court system is organised as a hierarchy, with the Supreme Court at the apex, below which are High Courts, Federal Shariat Courts (one in each province and one in the federal capital), District Courts (one in each district), Judicial Magistrate Courts (in every town and city), Executive Magistrate Courts, and civil courts. The Penal code has limited jurisdiction in the Tribal Areas, where law is largely derived from tribal customs. The Kashmir -- the most northwesterly region of South Asia -- is a major territorial dispute that has hindered relations between India and Pakistan. The two nations have fought at least three large - scale conventional wars in successive years in 1947, 1965, and 1971. The conflict in 1971 witnessed Pakistan 's unconditional surrender and a treaty that subsequently led to the independence of Bangladesh. Other serious military engagements and skirmishes have included the armed contacts in Siachen Glacier (1984) and Kargil (1999). Approximately 45.1 % of the Kashmir region is controlled by India, which also claims the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including most of Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and the Siachen. The claim is contested by Pakistan, which controls approximately 38.2 % of the Kashmir region, an area known as the Azad Kashmir and Gilgit -- Baltistan. India claims the Kashmir on the basis of the Instrument of Accession -- a legal agreement with Kashmir 's leaders executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, who agreed to accede the area to India. Pakistan claims Kashmir on the basis of a Muslim majority and of geography, the same principles that were applied for the creation of the two independent states. India referred the dispute to the United Nations on 1 January 1948. In a resolution passed in 1948, the UN 's General Assembly asked Pakistan to remove most of its troops as a plebiscite would then be held. However, Pakistan failed to vacate the region and a ceasefire was reached in 1949 establishing a Line of Control (LoC) that divided Kashmir between the two nations. India, fearful that the Muslim majority populace of Kashmir would secede from India, did not allow a plebiscite to take place in the region. This was confirmed in a statement by India 's Defense Minister, Krishna Menon, who said: "Kashmir would vote to join Pakistan and no Indian Government responsible for agreeing to plebiscite would survive. '' Pakistan claims that its position is for the right of the people of Jammu and Kashmir to determine their future through impartial elections as mandated by the United Nations, while India has stated that Kashmir is an integral part of India, referring to the Simla Agreement (1972) and to the fact that elections take place regularly. In recent developments, certain Kashmiri independence groups believe that Kashmir should be independent of both India and Pakistan. The law enforcement in Pakistan is carried out by joint network of several federal and provincial police agencies. The four provinces and the Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) each have a civilian police force with jurisdiction extending only to the relevant province or territory. At the federal level, there are a number of civilian intelligence agencies with nationwide jurisdictions including the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and the Motorway Patrol, as well as several paramilitary forces such as the National Guards (Northern Areas), the Rangers (Punjab and Sindh), and the Frontier Corps (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan). The most senior officers of all the civilian police forces also form part of the Police Service, which is a component of the civil service of Pakistan. Namely, there are four provincial police service including the Punjab Police, Sindh Police, Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa Police, and the Balochistan Police; all headed by the appointed senior Inspector - Generals. The ICT has its own police component, the Capital Police, to maintain law and order in the capital. The CID bureaus are the crime investigation unit and forms a vital part in each provincial police service. The law enforcement in Pakistan also has a Motorway Patrol which is responsible for enforcement of traffic and safety laws, security and recovery on Pakistan 's inter-provincial motorway network. In each of provincial Police Service, it also maintains a respective Elite Police units led by the NACTA -- a counter-terrorism police unit as well as providing VIP escorts. In the Punjab and Sindh, the Pakistan Rangers are an internal security force with the prime objective to provide and maintain security in war zones and areas of conflict as well as maintaining law and order which includes providing assistance to the police. The Frontier Corps serves the similar purpose in Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa, and the Balochistan. The armed forces of Pakistan are the eighth largest in the world in terms of numbers in full - time service, with about 617,000 personnel on active duty and 513,000 reservists, as of tentative estimates in 2010. They came into existence after independence in 1947, and the military establishment has frequently influenced in the national politics ever since. Chain of command of the military is kept under the control of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee; all of the branches joint works, co-ordination, military logistics, and joint missions are under the Joint Staff HQ. The Joint Staff HQ is composed of the Air HQ, Navy HQ, and Army GHQ in the vicinity of the Rawalpindi Military District. The Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee is the highest principle staff officer in the armed forces, and the chief military adviser to the civilian government though the chairman has no authority over the three branches of armed forces. The Chairman joint chiefs controls the military from the JS HQ and maintains strategic communications between the military and the civilian government. As of 2017, the CJCSC is General Zubair Hayat alongside chief of army staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, chief of naval staff Admiral Muhammad Zaka, and chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal Suhail Aman. The main branches are the Army -- Air Force -- Navy -- Marines, which are supported by the number of paramilitary forces in the country. Control over the strategic arsenals, deployment, employment, development, military computers and command and control is a responsibility vested under the National Command Authority which oversaw the work on the nuclear policy as part of the credible minimum deterrence. The United States, Turkey, and China maintain close military relations and regularly export military equipment and technology transfer to Pakistan. Joint logistics and major war games are occasionally carried out by the militaries of China and Turkey. Philosophical basis for the military draft is introduced by the Constitution in times of emergency, but it has never been imposed. Since 1947 Pakistan has been involved in four conventional wars, the first war occurred in Kashmir with Pakistan gaining control of Western Kashmir, (Azad Kashmir and Gilgit -- Baltistan), and India capturing Eastern Kashmir (Jammu and Kashmir). Territorial problems eventually led to another conventional war in 1965; over the issue of Bengali refugees that led to another war in 1971 which resulted in Pakistan 's unconditional surrender of East Pakistan. Tensions in Kargil brought the two countries at the brink of war. Since 1947 the unresolved territorial problems with Afghanistan saw border skirmishes which was kept mostly at the mountainous border. In 1961, the military and intelligence community repelled the Afghan incursion in the Bajaur Agency near the Durand Line border. Rising tensions with neighbouring USSR in their involvement in Afghanistan, Pakistani intelligence community, mostly the ISI, systematically coordinated the US resources to the Afghan mujahideen and foreign fighters against the Soviet Union 's presence in the region. Military reports indicated that the PAF was in engagement with the Soviet Air Force, supported by the Afghan Air Force during the course of the conflict; one of which belonged to Alexander Rutskoy. Apart from its own conflicts, Pakistan has been an active participant in United Nations peacekeeping missions. It played a major role in rescuing trapped American soldiers from Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 in Operation Gothic Serpent. According to UN reports, the Pakistani military are the third largest troop contributors to UN peacekeeping missions after Ethiopia and India. Pakistan has deployed its military in some Arab countries, providing defence, training, and playing advisory roles. The PAF and Navy 's fighter pilots have voluntarily served in Arab nations ' militaries against Israel in the Six - Day War (1967) and in the Yom Kippur War (1973). Pakistan 's fighter pilots shot down ten Israeli planes in the Six - Day War. In the 1973 war one of the PAF pilots, Flt. Lt. Sattar Alvi (flying a MiG - 21), shot down an Israeli Air Force Mirage and was honoured by the Syrian government. Requested by the Saudi monarchy in 1979, Pakistan 's special forces units, operatives, and commandos were rushed to assist Saudi forces in Mecca to lead the operation of the Grand Mosque. For almost two weeks Saudi Special Forces and Pakistani commandos fought the insurgents who had occupied the Grand Mosque 's compound. In 1991 Pakistan got involved with the Gulf War and sent 5,000 troops as part of a US - led coalition, specifically for the defence of Saudi Arabia. Despite the UN arms embargo on Bosnia, General Javed Nasir of the ISI airlifted anti-tank weapons and missiles to Bosnian mujahideen which turned the tide in favour of Bosnian Muslims and forced the Serbs to lift the siege. Under Nasir 's leadership the ISI was also involved in supporting Chinese Muslims in Xinjiang Province, rebel Muslim groups in the Philippines, and some religious groups in Central Asia. Since 2004 the military has been engaged in a war in North - West Pakistan, mainly against the homegrown Taliban factions. Major operations undertaken by the army include Operation Black Thunderstorm, Operation Rah - e-Nijat and Operation Zarb - e-Azb. According to SIPRI, Pakistan was the 9th largest recipient and importer of arms between 2012 -- 2016. Economists estimate that Pakistan was part of the wealthiest region of the world throughout the first millennium CE, with the largest economy by GDP. This advantage was lost in the 18th century as other regions such as China and Western Europe edged forward. Pakistan is considered a developing country and is one of the Next Eleven, a group of eleven countries that, along with the BRICs, have a high potential to become the world 's largest economies in the 21st century. In recent years, after decades of social instability, as of 2013, serious deficiencies in macromanagement and unbalanced macroeconomics in basic services such as rail transportation and electrical energy generation have developed. The economy is considered to be semi-industrialized, with centres of growth along the Indus River. The diversified economies of Karachi and Punjab 's urban centres coexist with less - developed areas in other parts of the country, particularly in Balochistan. According to the Economic complexity index, Pakistan is the 67th - largest export economy in the world and the 106th most complex economy. During the fiscal year 2015 -- 16, Pakistan 's exports stood at US $20.81 billion and imports at US $44.76 billion, resulting in a negative trade balance of US $23.96 billion. As of 2016 Pakistan 's estimated nominal GDP is US $271 billion. The GDP by PPP is US $ 946,667 million. The estimated nominal per capita GDP is US $ 1,561, the GDP (PPP) / capita is US $ 5,010 (international dollars), and the debt - to - GDP ratio is 66.50 %. According to the World Bank, Pakistan has important strategic endowments and development potential. The increasing proportion of Pakistan 's youth provides the country with both a potential demographic dividend and a challenge to provide adequate services and employment. 21.04 % of the population live below the international poverty line of US $1.25 a day. The unemployment rate among the aged 15 and over population is 5.5 %. Pakistan has an estimated 40 million middle class citizens, projected to increase to 100 million by 2050. A 2015 report published by the World Bank ranked Pakistan 's economy at 24th - largest in the world by purchasing power and 41st - largest in absolute terms. It is South Asia 's second - largest economy, representing about 15.0 % of regional GDP. Pakistan 's economic growth since its inception has been varied. It has been slow during periods of democratic transition, but robust during the three periods of martial law, although the foundation for sustainable and equitable growth was not formed. The early to middle 2000s was a period of rapid economic reforms; the government raised development spending, which reduced poverty levels by 10 % and increased GDP by 3 %. The economy cooled again from 2007. Inflation reached 25.0 % in 2008, and Pakistan had to depend on a fiscal policy backed by the International Monetary Fund to avoid possible bankruptcy. A year later, the Asian Development Bank reported that Pakistan 's economic crisis was easing. The inflation rate for the fiscal year 2010 -- 11 was 14.1 %. Since 2013, as part of an International Monetary Fund program, Pakistan 's economic growth has picked up. In 2014 Goldman Sachs predicted that Pakistan 's economy would grow 15 times in the next 35 years to become the 18th - largest economy in the world by 2050. In his 2016 book, The Rise and Fall of Nations, Ruchir Sharma termed Pakistan 's economy as at a ' take - off ' stage and the future outlook until 2020 has been termed ' Very Good '. Sharma termed it possible to transform Pakistan from a "low - income to a middle - income country during the next five years ''. Pakistan is one of the largest producers of natural commodities, and its labour market is the 10th - largest in the world. The 7 - million -- strong Pakistani diaspora contributed US $19.9 billion to the economy in 2015 -- 16. The major source countries of remittances to Pakistan are: the UAE; the United States; Saudi Arabia; the Gulf states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman); Australia; Canada; Japan; the United Kingdom; Norway; and Switzerland. According to the World Trade Organization, Pakistan 's share of overall world exports is declining; it contributed only 0.128 % in 2007. The structure of the Pakistani economy has changed from a mainly agricultural to a strong service base. Agriculture as of 2015 accounts for only 20.9 % of the GDP. Even so, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Pakistan produced 21,591,400 metric tons of wheat in 2005, more than all of Africa (20,304,585 metric tons) and nearly as much as all of South America (24,557,784 metric tons). Majority of the population, directly or indirectly, is dependent on this sector. It accounts for 43.5 % of employed labour force and is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings. A large portion of the country 's manufactured exports are dependent on raw materials such as cotton and hides that are part of the agriculture sector, while supply shortages and market disruptions in farm products do push up inflationary pressures. The country is also the fifth - largest producer of cotton, with cotton production of 14 million bales from a modest beginning of 1.7 million bales in the early 1950s; is self sufficient in sugarcane; and is the fourth - largest producer in the world of milk. Land and water resources have not risen proportionately, but the increases have taken place mainly due to gains in labour and agriculture productivity. The major breakthrough in crop production took place in the late 1960s and 1970s due to the Green Revolution that made a significant contribution to land and yield increases of wheat and rice. Private tube wells led to a 50 percent increase in the cropping intensity which was augmented by tractor cultivation. While the tube wells raised crop yields by 50 percent, the High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of wheat and rice led to a 50 -- 60 percent higher yield. Meat industry accounts for 1.4 percent of overall GDP. Industry is the third - largest sector of the economy, accounting for 20.3 % of gross domestic product (GDP), and 13 percent of total employment. Large - scale manufacturing (LSM), at 12.2 % of GDP, dominates the overall sector, accounting for 66 % of the sectoral share, followed by small - scale manufacturing, which accounts for 4.9 % of total GDP. Pakistan 's cement industry is also fast growing mainly because of demand from Afghanistan and from the domestic real estate sector. In 2013 Pakistan exported 7,708,557 metric tons of cement. Pakistan has an installed capacity of 44,768,250 metric tons of cement and 42,636,428 metric tons of clinker. In 2012 and 2013, the cement industry in Pakistan became the most profitable sector of the economy. The textile industry has a pivotal position in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. In Asia, Pakistan is the eighth - largest exporter of textile products, contributing 9.5 % to the GDP and providing employment to around 15 million people (some 30 % of the 49 million people in the workforce). Pakistan is the fourth - largest producer of cotton with the third - largest spinning capacity in Asia after China and India, contributing 5 % to the global spinning capacity. China is the second largest buyer of Pakistani textiles, importing US $1.527 billion of textiles last fiscal. Unlike the US, where mostly value - added textiles are imported, China buys only cotton yarn and cotton fabric from Pakistan. In 2012, Pakistani textile products accounted for 3.3 % or US $1.07 bn of all UK textile imports, 12.4 % or $4.61 bn of total Chinese textile imports, 2.98 % or $2.98 b of all US textile imports, 1.6 % or $0.88 bn of total German textile imports and 0.7 % or $0.888 bn of total Indian textile imports. Services sector has 58.8 % share in GDP and has emerged as the main driver of economic growth. Pakistani society like other developing countries is a consumption oriented society, having a high marginal propensity to consume. The growth rate of services sector is higher than the growth rate of agriculture and industrial sector. Services sector accounts for 54 percent of GDP in 2014 and little over one - third of total employment. Services sector has strong linkages with other sectors of economy; it provides essential inputs to agriculture sector and manufacturing sector. Pakistan 's I.T sector is regarded as among the fastest growing sector 's in Pakistan. The World Economic Forum, assessing the development of Information and Communication Technology in the country ranked Pakistan 110th among 139 countries on the ' Networked Readiness Index 2016 '. As of 2016, Pakistan has over 35 million Internet users and is ranked as one of the top countries that have registered a high growth rate in Internet penetration. Overall, it has the 20th - largest population of Internet users in the world. The current growth rate and employment trend indicate that Pakistan 's Information Communication Technology (ICT) industry will exceed the $10 - billion mark by 2020. The sector employees 12,000 and count 's among top five freelancing nations. The country has also improved its export performance in telecom, computer and information services, as the share of their exports surged from 8.2 pc in 2005 -- 06 to 12.6 pc in 2012 -- 13. This growth is much better than that of China, whose share in services exports was 3pc and 7.7 pc for the same period respectively. By the end of 2016, nuclear power was provided by four licensed commercial nuclear power plants. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is solely responsible for operating these power plants, while the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority regulates safe usage of the nuclear energy. The electricity generated by commercial nuclear power plants constitutes roughly 5.8 % of Pakistan 's electrical energy, compared to 64.2 % from fossil fuels (crude oil and natural gas), 29.9 % from hydroelectric power, and 0.1 % from coal. Pakistan is one of the four nuclear armed states (along with India, Israel, and North Korea) that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but it is a member in good standing of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The KANUPP - I, a Candu - type nuclear reactor, was supplied by Canada in 1971 -- the country 's first commercial nuclear power plant. The Sino - Pakistani nuclear cooperation began in the early 1980 's. After a Sino - Pakistani nuclear cooperation agreement in 1986, China provided Pakistan with a nuclear reactor dubbed CHASNUPP - I for energy and industrial growth of the country. In 2005 both countries proposed working on a joint energy security plan, calling for a huge increase in generation capacity to more than 160,000 MWe by 2030. Under its Nuclear Energy Vision 2050, the Pakistani government plans to increase nuclear power generation capacity to 40,000 MWe, 8,900 MWe of it by 2030. In June 2008 the nuclear commercial complex was expanded with the ground work of installing and operationalising the Chashma - III and Chashma -- IV reactors at Chashma, Punjab Province, each with 325 -- 340 MWe and costing Rs 129 billion,; from which the Rs 80 billion came from international sources, principally China. A further agreement for China 's help with the project was signed in October 2008, and given prominence as a counter to the US -- India agreement that shortly preceded it. The cost quoted then was US $1.7 billion, with a foreign loan component of US $1.07 billion. In 2013 Pakistan established a second commercial nuclear complex in Karachi with plans of additional reactors, similar to the one in Chashma. The electrical energy is generated by various energy corporations and evenly distributed by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) among the four provinces. However, the Karachi - based K - Electric and the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) generates much of the electrical energy used in Pakistan in addition to gathering revenue nationwide. As of 2014 Pakistan has an installed electricity generation capacity of ~ 22,797 MWt. With its diverse cultures, people, and landscapes, Pakistan attracted around 1 million foreign tourists in 2014, contributing PKR 94.8 billion to the country 's economy, which represented a significant decline since the 1970s when the country received unprecedented numbers of foreign tourists due to the popular Hippie trail. The trail attracted thousands of Europeans and Americans in the 1960s and 1970s who travelled via land through Turkey and Iran into India through Pakistan. The main destinations of choice for these tourists were the Khyber Pass, Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Swat and Rawalpindi. The numbers following the trail declined after the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet -- Afghan War. The country continues to attract an estimated 500,000 foreign tourists annually. Pakistan 's tourist attractions range from the mangroves in the south to the Himalayan hill stations in the north - east. The country 's tourist destinations range from the Buddhist ruins of Takht - i - Bahi and Taxila, to the 5,000 - year - old cities of the Indus Valley Civilization such as Mohenjo - daro and Harappa. Pakistan is home to several mountain peaks over 7,000 metres (23,000 feet). The northern part of Pakistan has many old fortresses, examples of ancient architecture, and the Hunza and Chitral valleys, home to the small pre-Islamic animist Kalasha community claiming descent from Alexander the Great. Pakistan 's cultural capital, Lahore, contains many examples of Mughal architecture such as the Badshahi Masjid, the Shalimar Gardens, the Tomb of Jahangir, and the Lahore Fort. In October 2006, just one year after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, The Guardian released what it described as "The top five tourist sites in Pakistan '' in order to help the country 's tourism industry. The five sites included Taxila, Lahore, the Karakoram Highway, Karimabad, and Lake Saiful Muluk. To promote Pakistan 's unique cultural heritage, the government organizes various festivals throughout the year. In 2015 the World Economic Forum 's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report ranked Pakistan 125 out of 141 countries. The transport industry accounts for ~ 10.5 % of the nation 's GDP. Pakistan 's motorway infrastructure is better than those of India, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, but the train system lags behind those of India and China, and aviation infrastructure also needs improvement. There is scarcely any inland water transportation system, and coastal shipping only meets minor local requirements. Highways form the backbone of Pakistan 's transport system; a total road length of 263,942 kilometres (164,006 miles) accounts for 92 % of passenger and 96 % of inland freight traffic. Road transport services are largely in the hands of the private sector. The National Highway Authority is responsible for the maintenance of national highways and motorways. The highway and motorway system depends mainly on north -- south links connecting the southern ports to the populous provinces of Punjab and Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa. Although this network only accounts for 4.59 % of total road length, it carries 85 % of the country 's traffic. The Pakistan Railways, under the Ministry of Railways (MoR), operates the railroad system. From 1947 until the 1970s the train system was the primary means of transport until the nationwide constructions of the national highways and the economic boom of the automotive industry. Beginning in the 1990s there was a marked shift in traffic from rail to highways; dependence grew on roads after the introduction of vehicles in the country. Now the railway 's share of inland traffic is below 8 % for passengers and 4 % for freight traffic. As personal transportation began to be dominated by the automobile, total rail track decreased from 8,775 kilometres (5,453 miles) in 1990 -- 91 to 7,791 kilometres (4,841 miles) in 2011. Pakistan expects to use the rail service to boost foreign trade with China, Iran, and Turkey. There are an estimated 139 airports and airfields in Pakistan -- including both the military and the mostly publicly owned civilian airports. Though Jinnah International Airport is the principal international gateway to Pakistan, the international airports in Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Sialkot, and Multan also handle significant amounts of traffic. The civil aviation industry is mixed with public and private sectors, which was deregulated in 1993. While the state - owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is the major and dominant air carrier that carries about 73 % of domestic passengers and all domestic freight, the private airlines such as airBlue, Shaheen Air International, and Air Indus, also provide similar services at a low cost. Major seaports are in Karachi, Sindh (the Karachi port, and Port Qasim). Since the 1990s some seaport operations have been moved to Balochistan with the construction of Gwadar Port and Gadani Port. According to the WEF 's Global Competiveness Report, quality ratings of Pakistan 's port infrastructure increased from 3.7 to 4.1 between 2007 and 2016. Developments in science and technology have played an important role in Pakistan 's infrastructure and helped the country connect to the rest of the world. Every year, scientists from around the world are invited by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences and the Pakistan Government to participate in the International Nathiagali Summer College on Physics. Pakistan hosted an international seminar on "Physics in Developing Countries '' for the International Year of Physics 2005. Pakistani theoretical physicist Abdus Salam won a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the electroweak interaction. Influential publications and critical scientific work in the advancement of mathematics, biology, economics, computer science, and genetics have been produced by Pakistani scientists at both the domestic and international levels. In chemistry, Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was the first Pakistani scientist to bring the therapeutic constituents of the neem tree to the attention of natural products chemists. Pakistani neurosurgeon Ayub Ommaya invented the Ommaya reservoir, a system for treatment of brain tumours and other brain conditions. Scientific research and development plays a pivotal role in Pakistani universities, government - sponsored national laboratories, science parks, and the industry. Abdul Qadeer Khan, regarded as the founder of the HEU - based gas - centrifuge uranium enrichment program for Pakistan 's integrated atomic bomb project. He founded and established the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) in 1976, serving as both its senior scientist and the Director - General until his retirement in 2001, and he was an early and vital figure in other science projects. Apart from participating in Pakistan 's atomic bomb project, he made major contributions in molecular morphology, physical martensite, and its integrated applications in condensed and material physics. In 2010 Pakistan was ranked 43rd in the world in terms of published scientific papers. The Pakistan Academy of Sciences, a strong scientific community, plays an influential and vital role in formulating recommendations regarding science policies for the government. The 1960s saw the emergence of an active space program led by SUPARCO that produced advances in domestic rocketry, electronics, and aeronomy. The space program recorded a few notable feats and achievements. The successful launch of its first rocket into space made Pakistan the first South Asian country to have achieved such a task. Successfully producing and launching the nation 's first space satellite in 1990, Pakistan became the first Muslim country and second South Asian country to put a satellite into space. As an aftermath of the 1971 war with India, the clandestine crash program developed atomic weapons partly motivated by fear and to prevent any foreign intervention, while ushering in the atomic age in the post cold war era. Competition with India and tensions eventually led to Pakistan 's decision to conduct underground nuclear tests in 1998, thus becoming the seventh country in the world to successfully develop nuclear weapons. Pakistan is the first and only Muslim country that maintains an active research presence in Antarctica. Since 1991 Pakistan has maintained two summer research stations and one weather observatory on the continent and plans to open another full - fledged permanent base in Antarctica. Energy consumption by computers and usage has grown since the 1990s when PCs were introduced; Pakistan has about 30 million Internet users and is ranked as one of the top countries that have registered a high growth rate in Internet penetration as of 2013. Key publications have been produced by Pakistan, and domestic software development has gained considerable international praise. Overall, it has the 20th - largest population of Internet users in the world. Since the 2000s Pakistan has made a significant amount of progress in supercomputing, and various institutions offer research opportunities in parallel computing. The Pakistan government reportedly spends Rs 4.6 billion on information technology projects, with emphasis on e-government, human resources, and infrastructure development. The constitution of Pakistan requires the state to provide free primary and secondary education. At the time of the establishment of Pakistan as a state, the country had only one university, Punjab University in Lahore. Very soon the Pakistan government established public universities in each of the four provinces, including Sindh University (1949), Peshawar University (1950), Karachi University (1953), and Balochistan University (1970). Pakistan has a large network of both public and private universities, which includes collaboration between the universities aimed at providing research and higher education opportunities in the country, although there is concern about the low quality of teaching in many of the newer schools. It is estimated that there are 3,193 technical and vocational institutions in Pakistan, and there are also madrassahs that provide free Islamic education and offer free board and lodging to students, who come mainly from the poorer strata of society. Strong public pressure and popular criticism over extremists ' usage of madrassahs for recruitment, the Pakistan government has made repeated efforts to regulate and monitor the quality of education in the madrassahs. Education in Pakistan is divided into six main levels: nursery (preparatory classes); primary (grades one through five); middle (grades six through eight); matriculation (grades nine and ten, leading to the secondary certificate); intermediate (grades eleven and twelve, leading to a higher secondary certificate); and university programmes leading to graduate and postgraduate degrees. There is a network of private schools that constitutes a parallel secondary education system based on a curriculum set and administered by the Cambridge International Examinations of the United Kingdom. Some students choose to take the O - level and A level exams conducted by the British Council. According to the International Schools Consultancy, Pakistan has 439 international schools. As a result of initiatives taken in 2007, the English medium education has been made compulsory in all schools across the country. Additional reforms enacted in 2013 required all educational institutions in Sindh to begin offering Chinese language courses, reflecting China 's growing role as a superpower and its increasing influence in Pakistan. The literacy rate of the population is ~ 58 %. The rate of male literacy is ~ 70.2 % while the rate of female literacy is 46.3 %. Literacy rates vary by region and particularly by sex; as one example, female literacy in tribal areas is 3.0 %. With the advent of computer literacy in 1995, the government launched a nationwide initiative in 1998 with the aim of eradicating illiteracy and providing a basic education to all children. Through various educational reforms, by 2015 the Ministry of Education expected to attain 100.00 % enrolment levels among children of primary school age and a literacy rate of ~ 86 % among people aged over 10. Pakistan is currently spending 2.2 percent of its GDP on education; which according to the Institute of Social and Policy Sciences is one of the lowest in South Asia. According to Provisional results of 2017 Census in Pakistan, the total population in Pakistan was 207.8 million, representing a 57 % increase in 19 years. which is equivalent to 2.57 % of the world population. Pakistan 's census provisional results exclude data from Gilgit - Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, which is likely to be included in the final report. Noted as the sixth most populated country in the world, its growth rate in 2016 was reported to be 1.45 %, which is the highest of the SAARC nations, though this growth rate has been decreasing in recent years. The population is projected to reach 210.13 million by 2020. At the time of the partition in 1947, Pakistan had a population of 32.5 million; the population increased by ~ 57.2 % between the years 1990 and 2009. By 2030 Pakistan is expected to surpass Indonesia as the largest Muslim - majority country in the world. Pakistan is classified as a "young nation '', with a median age of 23.4 in 2016; about 104 million people were under the age of 30 in 2010. In 2016 Pakistan 's fertility rate was estimated to be 2.68, higher than its neighbour India (2.45). Around 35 % of the people are under 15. The vast majority of those residing in southern Pakistan live along the Indus River, with Karachi being the most populous commercial city in the south. In eastern, western, and northern Pakistan, most of the population lives in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Islamabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. During 1990 -- 2008, city dwellers made up 36 % of Pakistan 's population, making it the most urbanised nation in South Asia, which increased to 38 % by 2013. Furthermore, 50 % of Pakistanis live in towns of 5,000 people or more. Expenditure on healthcare was ~ 2.8 % of GDP in 2013. Life expectancy at birth was 67 years for females and 65 years for males in 2013. The private sector accounts for about 80 % of outpatient visits. Approximately 19 % of the population and 30 % of children under five are malnourished. Mortality of the under - fives was 86 per 1,000 live births in 2012. More than sixty languages are spoken in Pakistan, including a number of provincial languages. Urdu -- the lingua franca and a symbol of Muslim identity and national unity -- is the national language understood by over 75 % of Pakistanis. It is the main medium of communication in the country but the primary language of only 8 % of Pakistan 's population. Urdu and English are the official languages of Pakistan, with English primarily used in official business and government, and in legal contracts; the local variety is known as Pakistani English. The Punjabi language, the most common in Pakistan and the first language of 44.15 % of Pakistan 's population, is mostly spoken in the Punjab. Saraiki, mainly spoken in South Punjab and Hindko, is predominant in the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Pashto is the provincial language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is well understood in Sindh and Balochistan. The Sindhi language is commonly spoken in Sindh while the Balochi language is dominant in Balochistan. Brahui, a Dravidian language, is spoken by the Brahui people who live in Balochistan. Gujarati community leaders in Pakistan claim that there are 3 million Gujarati speakers in Karachi. Marwari, a Rajasthani language, is also spoken in parts of Sindh. Various languages such as Shina, Balti, and Burushaski are spoken in Gilgit - Baltistan, whilst languages such as Pahari, Gojri, and Kashmiri are spoken by many in Azad Kashmir. Even after partition in 1947, Indian Muslims continued to migrate to Pakistan throughout the 1950s and 1960s, and these migrants settled mainly in Karachi and other towns of Sindh province. The wars in neighboring Afghanistan during the 1980s and 90s also forced millions of Afghan refugees into Pakistan. The Pakistan Census excludes the 1.41 million registered refugees from Afghanistan, who are found mainly in the Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa and tribal belt, with small numbers residing in Karachi and Quetta. Pakistan is home to one of the world 's largest refugee populations. In addition to Afghans, around 2 million Bangladeshis and half a million other undocumented people live in Pakistan. They are claimed to be from other areas such as Myanmar, Iran, Iraq, and Africa. Experts say that the migration of both Bengalis and Burmese (Rohingya) to Pakistan started in the 1980s and continued until 1998. Shaikh Muhammad Feroze, the chairman of the Pakistani Bengali Action Committee, claims that there are 200 settlements of Bengali - speaking people in Pakistan, of which 132 are in Karachi. They are also found in various other areas of Pakistan such as Thatta, Badin, Hyderabad, Tando Adam, and Lahore. Large - scale Rohingya migration to Karachi made that city one of the largest population centres of Rohingyas in the world after Myanmar. The Burmese community of Karachi is spread out over 60 of the city 's slums such as the Burmi Colony in Korangi, Arakanabad, Machchar colony, Bilal colony, Ziaul Haq Colony, and Godhra Camp. Thousands of Uyghur Muslims have also migrated to the Gilgit - Baltistan region of Pakistan, fleeing religious and cultural persecution in Xinjiang, China. Since 1989 thousands of Kashmiri Muslim refugees have sought refuge in Pakistan, complaining that many of the refugee women had been raped by Indian soldiers and that they were forced out of their homes by the soldiers. The population is dominated by four main ethnic groups: Punjabis, Pashtuns (Pathans), Sindhis, and Balochs. Rough accounts from 2009 indicate that the Punjabis dominate with 78.7 million (~ 45 %) while the Pashtuns are the second - largest group with ~ 29.3 million (15.42 %). The number of Sindhis is estimated at 24.8 million (14.1 %), with the number of Seraikis (a sub-group of Punjabis) estimated at 14.8 million (8.4 %). The number of Urdu - speaking Muhajirs (the Indian emigrants) stands at ~ 13.3 million (7.57 %) while the number of Balochs is estimated at 6.3 million (3.57 %) -- the smallest group in terms of population. The remaining 11.1 million (4.66 %) consist of various ethnic minorities such as the Brahuis, the Hindkowans, the various peoples of Gilgit - Baltistan, the Kashmiris, the Sheedis (who are of African descent), and the Hazaras. There is also a large Pakistani diaspora worldwide, numbering over seven million, which has been recorded as the sixth largest diaspora in the world. Since achieving independence as a result of the partition of India, the urbanisation has increased exponentially, with several different causes. The majority of the population in the south resides along the Indus River, with Karachi the most populous commercial city. In the east, west, and north, most of the population lives in an arc formed by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Gujrat, Jhelum, Sheikhupura, Nowshera, Mardan, and Peshawar. During the period 1990 -- 2008, city dwellers made up 36.0 % of Pakistan 's population, making it the most urbanised nation in South Asia. Furthermore, more than 50 % of Pakistanis live in towns of 5,000 people or more. Immigration, from both within and outside the country, is regarded as one of the main factors contributing to urbanisation in Pakistan. One analysis of the 1998 national census highlighted the significance of the partition of India in the 1940s as it relates to urban change in Pakistan. During and after the independence period, Urdu speaking Muslims from India migrated in large numbers to Pakistan, especially to the port city of Karachi, which is today the largest metropolis in Pakistan. Migration from other countries, mainly from those nearby, has further accelerated the process of urbanisation in Pakistani cities. Inevitably, the rapid urbanisation caused by these large population movements has also created new political and socio - economic challenges. In addition to immigration, economic trends such as the green revolution and political developments, among a host of other factors, are also important causes of urbanisation. About 97.0 % of Pakistanis are Muslim. Pakistan has the second - largest number of Muslims in the world after Indonesia. The majority of them are Sunni (estimated between 75 and 95 %) while Shias represent between 5 -- 20 %. Pakistan, like India, is said to have at least 16 million Shias. A PEW survey in 2012 found that only 6 % of Pakistani Muslims were Shia. The Ahmadis, a small minority representing 0.22 -- 2 % of Pakistan 's population, are officially considered non-Muslims by virtue of the constitutional amendment. The Ahmadis are particularly persecuted, especially since 1974 when they were banned from calling themselves Muslims. In 1984, Ahmadiyya places of worship were banned from being called "mosques ''. As of 2012, 12 % of Pakistani Muslims self - identify as non-denominational Muslims. There are also several Quraniyoon communities. Sufism, a mystical Islamic tradition, has a long history and a large following among the Sunni Muslims in Pakistan, at both the academic and popular levels. Popular Sufi culture is centered around gatherings and celebrations at the shrines of saints and annual festivals that feature Sufi music and dance. Two Sufis whose shrines receive much national attention are Ali Hajweri in Lahore (c. 12th century) and Shahbaz Qalander in Sehwan, Sindh (c. 12th century). There are two levels of Sufism in Pakistan. The first is the ' populist ' Sufism of the rural population. This level of Sufism involves belief in intercession through saints, veneration of their shrines, and forming bonds with a pir (saint). Many rural Pakistani Muslims associate with pirs and seek their intercession. The second level of Sufism in Pakistan is ' intellectual Sufism ', which is growing among the urban and educated population. They are influenced by the writings of Sufis such as the medieval theologian al - Ghazali, the Sufi reformer Shaykh Aḥmad Sirhindi, and Shah Wali Allah. Contemporary Islamic fundamentalists criticise Sufism 's popular character, which in their view does not accurately reflect the teachings and practice of the Prophet and his companions. Hinduism is the second - largest religion in Pakistan after Islam, according to the 1998 census. As of 2010, Pakistan had the fifth - largest Hindu population in the world. In the 1998 census the Hindu (jati) population was found to be 2,111,271 while the Hindu (scheduled castes) numbered an additional 332,343. Hindus are found in all provinces of Pakistan but are mostly concentrated in Sindh. They speak a variety of languages such as Sindhi, Seraiki, Aer, Dhatki, Gera, Goaria, Gurgula, Jandavra, Kabutra, Koli, Loarki, Marwari, Sansi, Vaghri, and Gujarati. At the time of Pakistan 's creation the ' hostage theory ' gained currency. According to this theory, the Hindu minority in Pakistan was to be given a fair deal in Pakistan in order to ensure the protection of the Muslim minority in India. However, Khawaja Nazimuddin, the second Prime Minister of Pakistan, stated: I do not agree that religion is a private affair of the individual nor do I agree that in an Islamic state every citizen has identical rights, no matter what his caste, creed or faith be. Some Hindus in Pakistan feel that they are treated as second - class citizens and many have continued to migrate to India. Pakistani Hindus faced riots after the Babri Masjid demolition, endured a massacre (in 2005) by security forces in Balochistan, and have experienced other attacks, forced conversions, and abductions. Christians formed the next largest religious minority, after Hindus, with a population of 2,092,902, according to the 1998 census. They were followed by the Bahá'í Faith, which had a following of 30,000, then Sikhism, Buddhism, and Zoroastrianism, each back then claiming 20,000 adherents, and a very small community of Jains. There is a Roman Catholic community in Karachi that was established by Goan and Tamil migrants when Karachi 's infrastructure was being developed by the British during the colonial administration between World War I and World War II. The influence of atheism is very small, with 1.0 % of the population identifying as atheist in 2005. However, the figure rose to 2.0 % in 2012 according to Gallup. Civil society in Pakistan is largely hierarchical, emphasising local cultural etiquette and traditional Islamic values that govern personal and political life. The basic family unit is the extended family, although for socio - economic reasons there has been a growing trend towards nuclear families. The traditional dress for both men and women is the Shalwar Kameez; trousers, jeans, and shirts are also popular among men. In recent decades, the middle class has increased to around 35 million and the upper and upper - middle classes to around 17 million, and power is shifting from rural landowners to the urbanised elites. Pakistani festivals, including Eid - ul - Fitr, Eid - ul - Azha, Ramazan, Christmas, Easter, Holi, and Diwali, are mostly religious in origin. Increasing globalisation has resulted in Pakistan ranking 56th on the A.T. Kearney / FP Globalization Index. The Shalwar Kameez is the national dress of Pakistan and is worn by both men and women in all four provinces: Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa as well as in FATA and Azad Kashmir. Each province has its own style of Shalwar Kameez. Pakistanis wear clothes in a range of exquisite colours and designs and in type of fabric (silk, chiffon, cotton, etc). Besides the national dress, domestically tailored suits and neckties are often worn by men, and are customary in offices, schools, and social gatherings. The fashion industry has flourished in the changing environment of the fashion world. Since Pakistan came into being, its fashion has evolved in different phases and developed a unique identity. Today, Pakistani fashion is a combination of traditional and modern dress and has become a mark of Pakistani culture. Despite modern trends, regional and traditional forms of dress have developed their own significance as a symbol of native tradition. This regional fashion continues to evolve into both more modern and purer forms. The Pakistan Fashion Design Council based in Lahore organizes PFDC Fashion Week and the Fashion Pakistan Council based in Karachi organizes Fashion Pakistan Week. Pakistan 's first fashion week was held in November 2009. The private print media, state - owned Pakistan Television Corporation (PTV), and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) for radio were the dominant media outlets until the beginning of the 21st century. Pakistan now has a large network of domestic, privately - owned 24 - hour news media and television channels. A 2016 report by the Reporters Without Borders ranked Pakistan 147th on the Press Freedom Index, while at the same time terming the Pakistani media "among the freest in Asia when it comes to covering the squabbling among politicians. '' BBC calls the Pakistani media "among the most outspoken in South Asia ''. Pakistani media has also played a vital role in exposing corruption. The Lollywood, Kariwood, Punjabi, and Pashto film industry is based in Karachi, Lahore, and Peshawar. While Bollywood films were banned from public cinemas from 1965 until 2008, they have remained an important part of popular culture. In contrast to the ailing Pakistani film industry, Urdu televised dramas and theatrical performances continue to be popular, as many entertainment media outlets air them regularly. Urdu dramas dominate the television entertainment industry, which has launched critically acclaimed miniseries and featured popular actors and actresses since the 1990s. In the 1960s -- 1970s, pop music and disco (1970s) dominated the country 's music industry. In the 1980s -- 1990s, British influenced rock music appeared and jolted the country 's entertainment industry. In the 2000s, heavy metal music gained popular and critical acclaim. Pakistani music ranges from diverse forms of provincial folk music and traditional styles such as Qawwali and Ghazal Gayaki to modern musical forms that fuse traditional and western music. Pakistan has many famous folk singers. The arrival of Afghan refugees in the western provinces has stimulated interest in Pashto music, although there has been intolerance of it in some places. According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Pakistan has the sixth - largest diaspora in the world. Statistics gathered by the Pakistani government show that there are around 7 million Pakistanis residing abroad, with the vast majority living in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. Pakistan ranks 10th in the world for remittances sent home. The largest inflow of remittances, as of 2016, is from Saudi Arabia, amounting to $5.9 billion. The term Overseas Pakistani is officially recognised by the Government of Pakistan. The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis was established in 2008 to deal exclusively with all matters of overseas Pakistanis such as attending to their needs and problems, developing projects for their welfare, and working for resolution of their problems and issues. Overseas Pakistanis are the second - largest source of foreign exchange remittances to Pakistan after exports. Over the last several years, home remittances have maintained a steadily rising trend, with a more than 100 % increase from US $8.9 billion in 2009 -- 10 to US $19.9 billion in 2015 -- 16. The Overseas Pakistani Division (OPD) was created in September 2004 within the Ministry of Labour (MoL). It has since recognised the importance of overseas Pakistanis and their contribution to the nation 's economy. Together with Community Welfare Attaches (CWAs) and the Overseas Pakistanis Foundation (OPF), the OPD is making efforts to improve the welfare of Pakistanis who reside abroad. The division aims to provide better services through improved facilities at airports, and suitable schemes for housing, education, and health care. It also facilitates the reintegration into society of returning overseas Pakistanis. Notable members of the Pakistani diaspora include London Mayor Sadiq Khan, UK Cabinet Member Sajid Javid, former UK Conservative Party Chair Baroness Warsi, singers Zayn Malik and Nadia Ali, MIT Physics Professor Dr. Nergis Mavalvala, actors Riz Ahmed and Kumail Nanjiani, businessmen Shahid Khan and Sir Anwar Pervez, Boston University professors Adil Najam and Hamid Nawab, Texas A&M Professor Muhammad Suhail Zubairy, Yale Professor Sara Suleri, UC San Diego Professor Farooq Azam, and historian Ayesha Jalal. Pakistan has literature in Urdu, Sindhi, Punjabi, Pashto, Baluchi, Persian, English, and many other languages. The Pakistan Academy of Letters is a large literary community that promotes literature and poetry in Pakistan and abroad. The National Library publishes and promotes literature in the country. Before the 19th century, Pakistani literature consisted mainly of lyric and religious poetry and mystical and folkloric works. During the colonial period, native literary figures were influenced by western literary realism and took up increasingly varied topics and narrative forms. Prose fiction is now very popular. The national poet of Pakistan, Muhammad Iqbal, wrote poetry in Urdu and Persian. He was a strong proponent of the political and spiritual revival of Islamic civilisation and encouraged Muslims all over the world to bring about a successful revolution. Well - known figures in contemporary Pakistani Urdu literature include Josh Malihabadi Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Saadat Hasan Manto. Sadequain and Gulgee are known for their calligraphy and paintings. The Sufi poets Shah Abdul Latif, Bulleh Shah, Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, and Khawaja Farid enjoy considerable popularity in Pakistan. Mirza Kalich Beg has been termed the father of modern Sindhi prose. Historically, philosophical development in the country was dominated by Muhammad Iqbal, Sir Syed, Muhammad Asad, Maududi, and Mohammad Ali Johar. Ideas from British and American philosophy greatly shaped philosophical development in Pakistan. Analysts such as M.M. Sharif and Zafar Hassan established the first major Pakistani philosophical movement in 1947. After the 1971 war, philosophers such as Jalaludin Abdur Rahim, Gianchandani, and Malik Khalid incorporated Marxism into Pakistan 's philosophical thinking. Influential work by Manzoor Ahmad, Jon Elia, Hasan Askari Rizvi, and Abdul Khaliq brought mainstream social, political, and analytical philosophy to the fore in academia. Works by Noam Chomsky have influenced philosophical ideas in various fields of social and political philosophy. Four periods are recognised in Pakistani architecture: pre-Islamic, Islamic, colonial, and post-colonial. With the beginning of the Indus civilization around the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, an advanced urban culture developed for the first time in the region, with large buildings, some of which survive to this day. Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, and Kot Diji are among the pre-Islamic settlements that are now tourist attractions. The rise of Buddhism and the influence of Greek civilisation led to the development of a Greco - Buddhist style, starting from the 1st century AD. The high point of this era was the Gandhara style. An example of Buddhist architecture is the ruins of the Buddhist monastery Takht - i - Bahi in Khyber - Pakhtunkhwa. The arrival of Islam in what is today Pakistan meant the sudden end of Buddhist architecture in the area and a smooth transition to the predominantly pictureless Islamic architecture. The most important Indo - Islamic - style building still standing is the tomb of the Shah Rukn - i - Alam in Multan. During the Mughal era, design elements of Persian - Islamic architecture were fused with and often produced playful forms of Hindustani art. Lahore, as the occasional residence of Mughal rulers, contains many important buildings from the empire. Most prominent among them are the Badshahi Mosque, the fortress of Lahore with the famous Alamgiri Gate, the colourful, Mughal - style Wazir Khan Mosque, the Shalimar Gardens in Lahore, and the Shahjahan Mosque in Thatta. In the British colonial period, predominantly functional buildings of the Indo - European representative style developed from a mixture of European and Indian - Islamic components. Post-colonial national identity is expressed in modern structures such as the Faisal Mosque, the Minar - e-Pakistan, and the Mazar - e-Quaid. Several examples of architectural infrastructure demonstrating the influence of British design can be found in Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi. Pakistani cuisine is similar to that of other regions of South Asia, since much of it originated from the royal kitchens of 16th - century Mughal emperors. Most of those dishes have their roots in British, Central Asian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Unlike Middle Eastern cuisine, Pakistani cooking uses large quantities of spices, herbs, and seasoning. Garlic, ginger, turmeric, red chili, and garam masala are used in most dishes, and home cooking regularly includes curry, roti, a thin flatbread made from wheat, is a staple food, usually served with curry, meat, vegetables, and lentils. Rice is also common; it is served plain, fried with spices, and in sweet dishes. Lassi is a traditional drink in the Punjab region. Black tea with milk and sugar is popular throughout Pakistan and is consumed daily by most of the population. Sohan halwa is a popular sweet dish from the southern region of Punjab province and is enjoyed all over Pakistan. Most sports played in Pakistan originated and were substantially developed by athletes and sports fans from the United Kingdom who introduced them during the British Raj. Field hockey is the national sport of Pakistan; it has won three gold medals in the Olympic Games held in 1960, 1968, and 1984. Pakistan has also won the Hockey World Cup a record four times, held in 1971, 1978, 1982, and 1994. Cricket, however, is the most popular game across the country. The cricket team (known as Shaheen) won the Cricket World Cup held in 1992; it was runner - up once, in 1999. Pakistan was runner - up in the inaugural World Twenty20 (2007) in South Africa and won the World Twenty20 in England in 2009. In March 2009, militants attacked the touring Sri Lankan cricket team, after which no international cricket was played in Pakistan until May 2015, when the Zimbabwean team agreed to a tour. Pakistan has hosted or co-hosted several international sporting events: the 1989 and 2004 South Asian Games; the 1984, 1993, 1996 and 2003 World Squash Championships; the 1987 and 1996 Cricket World Cup; and the 1990 Hockey World Cup.

who is katherine's one true love weathering heights

Catherine Linton - wikipedia Catherine Linton (also known as "Young Catherine '' or Cathy Linton and later as Catherine Heathcliff then as Catherine Earnshaw) is a character in Emily Brontë 's novel Wuthering Heights. She is the daughter of Edgar Linton and Cathy Earnshaw, and, despite Heathcliff 's attempts at exacting revenge on her for the indiscretions of her family, she eventually marries her true love, Hareton Earnshaw, re-establishing long - lost equilibrium in the story. About eleven o'clock that night was born the Catherine you saw at Wuthering Heights: a puny, seven - months ' child; and two hours after the mother died, having never recovered sufficient consciousness to miss Heathcliff, or know Edgar. Cathy is the only child of Catherine and Edgar. Her mother dies a few hours after giving premature birth to her, about half - way through the novel. Her father, Edgar, calls her "Cathy '' for the most part, while Heathcliff refers to her as "Catherine '', because he called her mother "Cathy '' as an expression of his immense affection and love for her. Cathy is a very curious and mischievous girl, and, at thirteen years of age, she seeks out Wuthering Heights, the house to which she is not allowed to travel because Heathcliff, Edgar 's enemy, resides there. On arrival she meets Hareton Earnshaw, the nephew of her mother. Nelly, who travels with her, insists that he is indeed her cousin, but Cathy, genuinely amazed at his coarse, uneducated language, his dirty clothes and his savage manner, insists that there is no way that it could be so. On her second visit, which Nelly desperately tries to prevent, Heathcliff meets her for the first time, greeting her with a warm and kindly matter, although we know that he blames her for the death of his soul mate, her mother. He tells Nelly that he means no harm; he only wants Cathy and his own son, Linton, to fall in love and be married. As a result of his encouragement, Cathy and Linton grow close. When Nelly forbids Cathy from visiting Wuthering Heights and the bitter tyrant Heathcliff, they take to writing love letters to one another. It soon becomes apparent that Heathcliff 's plans for their marriage form part of his endeavour for revenge on Edgar and his daughter: Catherine will marry Linton, be it willingly or not. Nelly finds the childish love letters and burns them. Linton 's letters, it is implied, are so beautiful that they were most likely written by Heathcliff as a means of drawing Cathy to the Heights. ... yet with touches, here and there, which, I thought, were borrowed from a more experienced source. The relationship sinks after Nelly 's discovery, but it later emerges, to Nelly 's considerable horror, that Cathy has been making more visits to Wuthering Heights in their stead. Edgar presently falls ill with distress, and Heathcliff keeps Cathy and Nelly at the Heights until Catherine finally agrees to marry Linton. Desperate to see her father once more before he dies, she consents, and her fate at Wuthering Heights is sealed. Edgar dies, kissing his daughter on the cheek, knowing that Thrushcross Grange, the Linton household, is now in the hands of his enemy. Linton, who does not at all resemble his father, but is in almost every way like his mother, falls ill as well and dies shortly after his marriage. Heathcliff forces him in his dying moments to bequeath everything to him, nothing to Catherine. As a result, it seems that Catherine, now cold and distant because of her understandable misery, is yet another character destined for an unhappy ending. Eventually, however, she and Hareton form an unlikely romance: after long having shrugged off his attempts at winning her affection, she begins to aid him in his education. Heathcliff sees the love between the two blossom and, probably because he has a grudging soft spot for Hareton, no longer takes pleasure in degrading them. Heathcliff begins to see Hareton as an adopted son, sharing a similar life of the poor stable boy robbed of his inheritance and love. He no longer stands between Hareton and Catherine, seeing it as now a pointless endeavour and essentially as revenge against himself, and the two are finally allowed to openly love each other. Heathcliff dies and is buried next to the elder Cathy. Catherine and Hareton make plans to marry on New Year 's Day, and to reside at Thrushcross Grange. Although she is Cathy Earnshaw 's daughter, she resembles her father more in looks, with golden ringlets and fair skin. The only qualities that she inherits from her mother are the beautiful "Earnshaw eyes '' (which also belong to her future husband, Hareton Earnshaw) and her wayward, mischievous spirit. At first, Catherine is gentle and kind, but a bit snobbish because of her guarded and wealthy upbringing at the Grange; however, when reduced to a life of misery at the Heights, she grows cold, distant, and dismissive of everyone around her. It is her romance with Hareton that re-establishes her bubbly personality.

who said according to vedas are not apaurusheya

Apauruṣeya - Wikipedia Vedanta Apaurusheya (Sanskrit: अपौरुषेय, Apauruṣeya), literally means "not of a man '' and "superhuman ''. The term also means "impersonal, authorless '', a context used to describe the Vedas, the earliest scripture in Hinduism. Apaurusheya shabda ("impersonal words, authorless '') is an extension of apaurusheya which refers to the Vedas and numerous other texts in Hinduism. Apaurusheya is a central concept in the Vedanta and Mimamsa schools of Hindu philosophy. These schools accept the Vedas as svatah pramana ("self - evident means of knowledge ''). The Mimamsa school asserts that since the Vedas are composed of words (shabda) and the words are composed of phonemes, the phonemes being eternal, the Vedas are also eternal. To this, if asked whether all words and sentences are eternal, the Mimamsa philosophers reply that the rules behind combination of phonemes are fixed and pre-determined for the Vedas, unlike other words and sentences. The Vedanta school also accepts this line of argument.

the first book printed by the chinese technique of block printing was

Woodblock printing - wikipedia Woodblock printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to before 220 AD. Woodblock printing existed in Tang China during the 7th century AD and remained the most common East Asian method of printing books and other texts, as well as images, until the 19th century. Ukiyo - e is the best known type of Japanese woodblock art print. Most European uses of the technique for printing images on paper are covered by the art term woodcut, except for the block - books produced mainly in the 15th century in India. Prior to the invention of woodblock printing, seals and stamps were used for making impressions. The oldest of these seals came from Mesopotamia and Egypt. The use of round "cylinder seals '' for rolling an impress onto clay tablets goes back to early Mesopotamian civilization before 3000 BC, where they are the most common works of art to survive, and feature complex and beautiful images. A few much larger brick (e.g. 13 × 13 cm) stamps for marking clay bricks survive from Akkad from around 2270 BC. There are also Roman lead pipe inscriptions of some length that were stamped, and amulet MS 5236 may be a unique surviving gold foil sheet stamped with an amulet text in the 6th century BC. However none of these used ink, which is necessary for printing (on a proper definition), but stamped marks into relatively soft materials. In both China and Egypt, the use of small stamps for seals preceded the use of larger blocks. In Europe and India, the printing of cloth certainly preceded the printing of paper or papyrus; this was probably also the case in China. The process is essentially the same -- in Europe special presentation impressions of prints were often printed on silk until at least the 17th century. The wood block is carefully prepared as a relief pattern, which means the areas to show ' white ' are cut away with a knife, chisel, or sandpaper leaving the characters or image to show in ' black ' at the original surface level. The block was cut along the grain of the wood. It is necessary only to ink the block and bring it into firm and even contact with the paper or cloth to achieve an acceptable print. The content would of course print "in reverse '' or mirror - image, a further complication when text was involved. The art of carving the woodcut is technically known as xylography, though the term is rarely used in English. For colour printing, multiple blocks are used, each for one colour, although overprinting two colours may produce further colours on the print. Multiple colours can be printed by keying the paper to a frame around the woodblocks. There are three methods of printing to consider: In addition, jia xie is a method for dyeing textiles (usually silk) using wood blocks invented in the 5th - 6th centuries in China. An upper and a lower block is made, with carved out compartments opening to the back, fitted with plugs. The cloth, usually folded a number of times, is inserted and clamped between the two blocks. By unplugging the different compartments and filling them with dyes of different colours, a multi-coloured pattern can be printed over quite a large area of folded cloth. The method is not strictly printing however, as the pattern is not caused by pressure against the block. The earliest woodblock printing known is in colour -- Chinese silk from the Han Dynasty printed in three colours. On paper, European woodcut prints with coloured blocks were invented in Germany in 1508 and are known as chiaroscuro woodcuts. Colour is very common in Asian woodblock printing on paper; in China the first known example is a Diamond sutra of 1341, printed in black and red at the Zifu Temple in modern - day Hubei province. The earliest dated book printed in more than 2 colours is Chengshi moyuan (Chinese: 程 氏 墨 苑), a book on ink - cakes printed in 1606 and the technique reached its height in books on art published in the first half of the 17th century. Notable examples are the Hu Zhengyan 's Treatise on the Paintings and Writings of the Ten Bamboo Studio of 1633, and the Mustard Seed Garden Painting Manual published in 1679 and 1701. In Japan, a multi-colour technique, called nishiki - e ("brocade pictures ''), spread more widely, and was used for prints, from the 1760s on. Japanese woodcut became a major artistic form, although at the time it was accorded a much lower status than painting. In both Europe and Japan, book illustrations were normally printed in black ink only, and colour reserved for individual artistic prints. In China, the reverse was true, and colour printing was used mainly in books on art and erotica. The earliest woodblock printed fragments to survive are from China and are of silk, printed with flowers in three colours from the Han Dynasty (before AD 220). It is clear that woodblock printing developed in Asia several centuries before Europe. The Chinese were the first to use the process to print solid text, and equally that, much later, in Europe the printing of images on cloth developed into the printing of images on paper (woodcuts). It is also now established that the use in Europe of the same process to print substantial amounts of text together with images in block - books only came after the development of movable type, which was developed by Bi Sheng (990 -- 1051) during the Northern Song Dynasty of China, about four hundred years later. In China, an alternative to woodblock printing was a system of reprography since the Han Dynasty using carved stone steles to reproduce pages of text. The three necessary components for woodblock printing are the wood block, which carries the design cut in relief; dye or ink, which had been widely used in the ancient world; and either cloth or paper, which was first developed in China, around the 3rd century BC or 2nd century BC. Woodblock printing on papyrus seems never to have been practised, although it would be possible. A few specimen of wood block printing, possibly called tarsh in Arabic, have been excavated from a 10th - century context in Arabic Egypt. They were mostly used for prayers and amulets. The technique may be spread from China or an independent invention, but had very little impact and virtually disappeared at the end of the 14th century. In India the main importance of the technique has always been as a method of printing textiles, which has been a large industry since at least the 10th century. Large quantities of printed Indian silk and cotton were exported to Europe throughout the Modern Period. Because Chinese has a character set running into the thousands, woodblock printing suits it better than movable type to the extent that characters only need to be created as they occur in the text. Although the Chinese had invented a form of movable type with baked clay in the 11th century, and metal movable type was invented in Korea in the 13th century, woodblocks continued to be preferred owing to the formidable challenges of typesetting Chinese text with its 40,000 or more characters. Also, the objective of printing in the East may have been more focused on standardization of ritual text (such as the Buddhist canon Tripitaka, requiring 80,000 woodblocks), and the purity of validated woodblocks could be maintained for centuries. When there was a need for the reproduction of a text, the original block could simply be brought out again, while moveable type necessitated error - prone composition of distinct "editions ''. In China, Korea, and Japan, the state involved itself in printing at a relatively early stage; initially only the government had the resources to finance the carving of the blocks for long works. The difference between East Asian woodblock printing and the Western printing press had major implications for the development of book culture and book markets in East Asia and Europe. Woodblock printing in China is strongly associated with Buddhism, which encouraged the spread of charms and sutras. In the Tang Dynasty, a Chinese writer named Fenzhi first mentioned in his book "Yuan Xian San Ji '' that the woodblock was used to print Buddhist scriptures during the Zhenguan years (AD 627 ~ 649). The oldest existing print done with wood - blocks was discovered in 1974 in an excavation in Xi'an (the capital of Tang - Dynasty China, then called Chang'an), Shaanxi, China, whereby individual sheets of paper were pressed into wooden blocks with the text and illustrations carved into them. It is a dharani sutra printed on hemp paper and dated to 650 to 670 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618 -- 907). Another printed document dating to the early half of the Chinese Tang Dynasty has also been found, the Saddharma pundarika sutra printed from 690 to 699. An early example of woodblock printing on paper is The Great Dharani Sutra that is dated between AD 704 and 751. It was found at Bulguksa, South Korea in 1966. Its Buddhist text was printed on a 8 cm × 630 cm (3.1 in × 248.0 in) mulberry paper scroll in the early Korean Kingdom of Unified Silla. Another version of the Dharani sutra, printed in Japan around AD 770, is also frequently cited as an example of early printing. One million copies of the sutra, along with other prayers, were ordered to be produced by Empress Shōtoku. As each copy was then stored in a tiny wooden pagoda, the copies are together known as the Hyakumantō Darani (百 万 塔 陀羅尼, "1,000,000 towers / pagodas Darani ''). The world 's earliest dated (AD 868) printed book is a Chinese scroll about sixteen feet long containing the text of the Diamond Sutra. It was found in 1907 by the archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, and is currently in the possession of the British Museum. The book displays a great maturity of design and layout and speaks of a considerable ancestry for woodblock printing. The colophon, at the inner end, reads: Reverently (caused to be) made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 13th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong (i.e. 11 May, AD 868). In late 10th century China the complete Buddhist canon Tripitaka of 130,000 pages was printed with blocks, which took between 1080 and 1102, and many other very long works were printed. Early books were on scrolls, but other book formats were developed. First came the Jingzhe zhuang or "sutra binding '', a scroll folded concertina-wise, which avoided the need to unroll half a scroll to see a passage in the middle. About AD 1000 "butterfly binding '' was developed; two pages were printed on a sheet, which was then folded inwards. The sheets were then pasted together at the fold to make a codex with alternate openings of printed and blank pairs of pages. In the 14th century the folding was reversed outwards to give continuous printed pages, each backed by a blank hidden page. Later the bindings were sewn rather than pasted. Only relatively small volumes (juan 卷) were bound up, and several of these would be enclosed in a cover called a tao, with wooden boards at front and back, and loops and pegs to close up the book when not in use. For example, one complete Tripitaka had over 6,400 juan in 595 tao. The earliest known woodblock printing dates from 764 - 770, when Empress Shotoku commissioned one million small wooden pagodas containing short printed scrolls -- typically 6 cm × 45 cm (2.4 in × 17.7 in) -- to be distributed to temples. Apart from the production of Buddhist texts, which became widespread from the 11th century in Japan, the process was only adopted in Japan for secular books surprisingly late, and a Chinese - Japanese dictionary of 1590 is the earliest known example. Though the Jesuits operated a movable type printing - press in Nagasaki, printing equipment which Toyotomi Hideyoshi 's army seized from Korea in 1593 had far greater influence on the development of the medium. Four years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu, even before becoming shogun, effected the creation of the first native movable type, using wooden type - pieces rather than metal. He oversaw the creation of 100,000 type - pieces, which were used to print a number of political and historical texts. An edition of the Confucian Analects was printed in 1598, using a Korean moveable type printing press, at the order of Emperor Go - Yōzei. This document is the oldest work of Japanese moveable type printing extant today. Despite the appeal of moveable type, however, it was soon decided that the running script style of Japanese writing would be better reproduced using woodblocks, and so woodblocks were once more adopted; by 1640 they were once again being used for nearly all purposes. The technology quickly gained popularity among publishers, and was used to produce affordable prints as well as books. As a result, Japan began to see something of literary mass production and increasing literacy. The content of these books varied widely, including travel guides, advice manuals, kibyōshi (satirical novels), sharebon (books on urban culture), art books, and play scripts for the jōruri (puppet) theatre. Often, within a certain genre, such as the jōruri theatre scripts, a particular style of writing would come to be the standard for that genre; in other words, one person 's personal calligraphic style was adopted as the standard style for printing plays. The technique is found through South and Central Asia, and in the Byzantine world for cloth, and by AD 1000 examples of woodblock printing on paper appear in Islamic Egypt. Printing onto cloth had spread much earlier, and was common in Europe by 1300. "In the 13th century the Chinese technique of blockprinting was transmitted to Europe, '' soon after paper became available in Europe. The print in woodcut, later joined by engraving, quickly became an important cultural tradition for popular religious works, as well as playing cards and other uses. Many early Chinese examples, such as the Diamond Sutra (above) contain images, mostly Buddhist, that are often elaborate. Later, some notable artists designed woodblock images for books, but the separate artistic print did not develop in China as it did in Europe and Japan. Apart from devotional images, mainly Buddhist, few "single - leaf '' Chinese prints were made until the 19th century. Block - books, where both text and images are cut on a single block for a whole page, appeared in Europe in the mid-15th century. As they were almost always undated and without statement of printer or place of printing, determining their dates of printing has been an extremely difficult task. Allan H. Stevenson, by comparing the watermarks in the paper used in blockbooks with watermarks in dated documents, concluded that the "heyday '' of blockbooks was the 1460s, but that at least one dated from about 1451. Block books printed in the 1470s were often of cheaper quality, as a cheaper alternative to books printed by printing press. Block books continued to be printed sporadically up through the end of the 15th century. The most famous block - books are the Speculum Humanae Salvationis and the Ars moriendi, though in this the images and text are on different pages, but all block - cut. The Biblia pauperum, a Biblical picture - book, was the next most common title, and the great majority of block - books were popular devotional works. All block - books are fairly short at less than fifty pages. While in Europe movable metal type soon became cheap enough to replace woodblock printing for the reproduction of text, woodcuts remained a major way to reproduce images in illustrated works of early modern European printing. (See also: Old master print.) Most block - books before about 1480 were printed on only one side of the paper -- if they were printed by rubbing it would be difficult to print on both sides without damaging the first one to be printed. Many were printed with two pages per sheet, producing a book with opening of two printed pages, followed by openings with two blank pages (as earlier in China). The blank pages were then glued together to produce a book looking like a type - printed one. Where both sides of a sheet have been printed, it is presumed a printing - press was used. The method was also used extensively for printing playing cards. In East Asia, woodblock printing proved to be more enduring than in Europe, continuing well into the 19th century as the major form of printing texts, especially in China, even after the introduction of the European printing press. In countries using Arabic, Turkish and similar scripts, works, especially the Qur'an were sometimes printed by lithography in the 19th century, as the links between the characters require compromises when movable type is used which were considered inappropriate for sacred texts. Nianhua were a form of coloured woodblock prints in China, depicting images for decoration during the Chinese New Year. Dr. Henry, in his "Notes on the Economic Botany of China, '' refers to your wish to obtain specimens of the woods used in China for printing blocks. The name which the neighbouring city of Wuchang enjoys for the excellence of its printing work has led me to inquire into the woods used there, and I am sending you specimens of them by parcel post. The wood which is considered the best is the Veng li mu, which has been identified as the Pyrus betulcefolia, Bunge., and which grows in this Province. Slabs of this wood 1 ft. x 6 ins. x 1 ^ in. cost 150 cash, or about 51⁄2. d. A cheaper wood generally used for printing proclamations is the tu chung mu. Eucommia ulmoides, Oliv., has been determined to be the tu chung mu. The tu chung here used is a native of this Province. A wood used in Kiangsu is the yin hsing mu, which is one of the names of the Salisburia adiantifolia. Boxwood, huang yang mu, is obtained from Szechuen, but only in small pieces, which are mainly used for cutting the stamps used for private seals on letters and documents. In the third volume of the Japanese work, the "So Mokn Sei Fu, '' a drawing is given of the huang yang, together with a quotation from the Chinese Materia Medica, which speaks of the tree as growing an inch a year, except in these years which have an intercalary moon, when it grows backwards. From this it would appear to be a slow growing tree. W.R. Carles, Esq., to Royal Gardens, Kew, dated Her Majesty 's Consulate, Hankow, July 25, 1896. Block printing has also been extensively used for decorative purposes such as fabrics, leathers and wallpaper. This is easiest with repetitive patterns composed of one or a small number of motifs that are small to medium in size (due to the difficulty of carving and handling larger blocks). For a multi-colour pattern, each colour element is carved as a separate block and individually inked and applied. Block printing was the standard method of producing wallpaper until the early 20th century, and is still used by a few traditionalist firms. It also remains in use for making cloth, mostly in small artisanal settings, for example in India. William Morris was one artist who used woodblock printing to produce patterned wallpaper and textiles during the late 19th century. Examples of Morris ' work are housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The museum also holds a number of Morris ' original woodblocks, which are still in limited use.

who is bianca and what role does she play in iago's scheme

Bianca (Othello) - wikipedia Bianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare 's Othello (c. 1601 -- 1604). She is Cassio 's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago 's scheme to incite Othello 's jealousy of Cassio. Bianca is traditionally regarded as a courtesan, although this occupation is not specifically designated in the drama. The character was occasionally cut from performances in the 19th century on moral grounds. Bianca is not to be confused with Bianca Minola in Shakespeare 's The Taming of the Shrew. Othello has its source in the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro '' from Gli Hecatommithi by Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio. While no English translation of Cinthio was available in Shakespeare 's lifetime, it is probable that Shakespeare knew both the Italian original and Gabriel Chappuy 's 1584 French translation. Cinthio 's tale may have been based on an actual incident occurring in Venice about 1508. Bianca is based upon a character in Cinthio 's tale who, apparently of her own volition, copies the work in the handkerchief after finding it in the Cassio counterpart 's house. While the woman sits with the handkerchief at a window, the ensign makes certain the Moor sees her with it. The Moor then believes he is confirmed in his suspicions of Desdemona 's adultery. It is unclear if Cinthio 's character is a courtesan, wife, or other. In 3.3, Iago reveals to the audience that, having surreptitiously obtained the handkerchief that Othello had originally given Desdemona as a lover 's token, he will lose it in Cassio 's lodging. Upon discovering the handkerchief in the following scene, Cassio admires its craftsmanship and asks Bianca to copy it for him. Bianca, already furious with Cassio for his apparent disregard of their relationship, suggests that the handkerchief is a gift from another woman, but eventually agrees to his request. Midway through 4.1., and prior to Bianca 's entrance, Othello has been secretly observing a bawdy discussion between Iago and Cassio about the latter 's sexual exploits with a young woman. Thanks to Iago 's impeccable planning (and some bad luck), neither speaker mentions the name of the woman in question; it is in fact Bianca, but Othello tragically assumes it to be his wife, Desdemona. Bianca suddenly enters, and her suspicions of Cassio are even greater than before. She is convinced that the handkerchief belongs to another woman, and throws it contemptuously at Cassio 's feet. In Othello 's eyes, her apparent jealousy confirms his wife 's infidelity. This "evidence '' completes Iago 's manufactured case against Desdemona, and thereafter Othello is determined to murder both her and Cassio. In 5.1, Bianca arrives just after Cassio has been stabbed by Iago. She reacts with horror and concern. Iago, pretending to have just entered the scene, accuses Bianca of having been part of the group that attacked Cassio. Iago claims her emotional reaction is due to her being caught rather than concern for Cassio and gets her to admit that Cassio ate at her home earlier that evening. Both Iago and Emilia call her a prostitute, but Bianca replies "I am no strumpet; but of life as honest / as you that doth abuse me '' (5.1. 122 - 3). She is led off at the end of the scene to be questioned about the attack and is not mentioned again in the play. In film, Doris Dowling played the character in Orson Welles 's troubled but critically acclaimed 1952 adaptation. In 1965, Sheila Reid portrayed Bianca in Laurence Olivier 's 1965 version, and Indra Ové played the character in the 1995 feature film starring Laurence Fishburne. Bianca was renamed "Brandy '' and played by Rachel Shumate in O, a retelling of the story set in a contemporary high school. In the 2006 Hindi film adaptation Omkara, the character was renamed "Billo Chamanbahar '' and played by Bipasha Basu. In this variation, the Bianca character is not given a handkerchief, but a jewelled belt called a kamarbandh. On television, Betsy Blair played the character in a 1955 BBC adaptation with Gordon Heath as Othello and Rosemary Harris as Desdemona. Wendy Morgan played Bianca in 1981 in the critically acclaimed BBC complete Shakespeare series. The character was renamed "Lulu '' and played by Rachael Stirling in an award winning modern English telemovie first broadcast on ITV on 23 December 2001.

when does hills have eyes 3 come out

The Hills Have Eyes (franchise) - wikipedia The Hills Have Eyes is an American horror franchise that consists of four slasher films, as well as a graphic novel and merchandise. The first film was released in 1977, The Hills Have Eyes; the series was rebooted in a 2006 remake. The films focus on a group of people stranded in a desert who become hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills. The films collectively grossed over $ 132 million at the box - office worldwide. The series was created by Wes Craven who is known for the A Nightmare on Elm Street films and Scream films. The series has featured actors and actresses including Dee Wallace, Aaron Stanford, Michael Berryman and Emilie de Ravin. The unrelated film Mind Ripper was marketed as a sequel in some areas, but has no direct connection to the first two films. In the first film, a family on a road trip becomes stranded in the Nevada desert become hunted by a clan of deformed cannibals in the surrounding hills. While The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985) has the same setting and concept as the original film, but it has a variety of new characters. The Hills Have Eyes (2006) follows the same story as the original film. The Hills Have Eyes 2 follows several heroic, but troubled, U.S. National Guardsmen as they fight for survival against the mutant people living in a military base in New Mexico. Most of the films have received mixed reception from critics. In 2007, to coincide with the release of The Hills Have Eyes 2, Fox Atomic Comics released a graphic novel set in the continuity of the remake series. The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning reveals the genesis of the mutants, who were once normal people, ignorant to the rest of the world, and how they evolved into horrific creatures.

where were nuclear bombs tested in the us

Nuclear weapons testing - Wikipedia Nuclear weapons tests are experiments carried out to determine the effectiveness, yield, and explosive capability of nuclear weapons. Throughout the twentieth century, most nations that developed nuclear weapons tested them. Testing nuclear weapons can yield information about how the weapons work, as well as how the weapons behave under various conditions and how personnel, structures, and equipment behave when subjected to nuclear explosions. Nuclear testing has often been used as an indicator of scientific and military strength, and many tests have been overtly political in their intention; most nuclear weapons states publicly declared their nuclear status by means of a nuclear test. The first nuclear device was detonated as a test by the United States at the Trinity site on July 16, 1945, with a yield approximately equivalent to 20 kilotons of TNT. The first thermonuclear weapon technology test of engineer device, codenamed "Ivy Mike '', was tested at the Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands on November 1, 1952 (local date), also by the United States. The largest nuclear weapon ever tested was the "Tsar Bomba '' of the Soviet Union at Novaya Zemlya on October 30, 1961, with the largest yield ever seen, an estimated 50 -- 58 megatons. In 1963, three (UK, US, Soviet Union) of the four nuclear states and many non-nuclear states signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty, pledging to refrain from testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, underwater, or in outer space. The treaty permitted underground nuclear testing. France continued atmospheric testing until 1974, and China continued until 1980. Neither has signed the treaty. Underground tests in the United States continued until 1992 (its last nuclear test), the Soviet Union until 1990, the United Kingdom until 1991, and both China and France until 1996. In signing the Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty in 1996, these states have pledged to discontinue all nuclear testing; the treaty has not yet entered into force because of failure to be ratified by eight countries. Non-signatories India and Pakistan last tested nuclear weapons in 1998. North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016, and 2017. The most recent confirmed nuclear test occurred in September 2017 in North Korea. Nuclear weapons tests have historically been divided into four categories reflecting the medium or location of the test. Another way to classify nuclear tests are by the number of explosions that constitute the test. The treaty definition of a salvo test is: "In conformity with treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union, a salvo is defined, for multiple explosions for peaceful purposes, as two or more separate explosions where a period of time between successive individual explosions does not exceed 5 seconds and where the burial points of all explosive devices can be connected by segments of straight lines, each of them connecting two burial points, and the total length does not exceed 40 kilometers. For nuclear weapon tests, a salvo is defined as two or more underground nuclear explosions conducted at a test site within an area delineated by a circle having a diameter of two kilometers and conducted within a total period of time of 0.1 second. '' The USSR has exploded up to eight devices in a single salvo test; Pakistan 's second and last official test exploded four different devices. Almost all lists in the literature are lists of tests; in the lists in Wikipedia (for example, Operation Cresset has separate items for Cremino and Caerphilly, which together constitute a single test), the lists are of explosions. Separately from these designations, nuclear tests are also often categorized by the purpose of the test itself. Aside from these technical considerations, tests have been conducted for political and training purposes, and can often serve multiple purposes. Hydronuclear tests study nuclear materials under the conditions of explosive shock compression. They can create sub-critical conditions, or supercritical conditions with yields ranging from negligible all the way up to a substantial fraction of full weapon yield. Critical mass experiments determine the quantity of fissile material required for criticality with a variety of fissile material compositions, densities, shapes, and reflectors. They can be sub-critical or super-critical, in which case significant radiation fluxes can be produced. This type of test resulted in several criticality accidents. Sub-critical (or cold) tests are any type of tests involving nuclear materials and possibly high - explosives (like those mentioned above) that purposely result in no yield. The name refers to the lack of creation of a critical mass of fissile material. They are the only type of tests allowed under the interpretation of the Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty tacitly agreed to by the major atomic powers. Sub-critical tests continue to be performed by the United States, Russia, and the People 's Republic of China, at least. Subcritical test executed by the United States include: There have also been simulations of the effects of nuclear detonations using conventional explosives (such as the Minor Scale U.S. test in 1985). The explosives might be spiked with radioactive materials to simulate fallout dispersal. The first atomic weapons test was conducted near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during the Manhattan Project, and given the codename "Trinity ''. The test was originally to confirm that the implosion - type nuclear weapon design was feasible, and to give an idea of what the actual size and effects of a nuclear explosion would be before they were used in combat against Japan. While the test gave a good approximation of many of the explosion 's effects, it did not give an appreciable understanding of nuclear fallout, which was not well understood by the project scientists until well after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States conducted six atomic tests before the Soviet Union developed their first atomic bomb (RDS - 1) and tested it on August 29, 1949. Neither country had very many atomic weapons to spare at first, and so testing was relatively infrequent (when the U.S. used two weapons for Operation Crossroads in 1946, they were detonating over 20 % of their current arsenal). However, by the 1950s the United States had established a dedicated test site on its own territory (Nevada Test Site) and was also using a site in the Marshall Islands (Pacific Proving Grounds) for extensive atomic and nuclear testing. The early tests were used primarily to discern the military effects of atomic weapons (Crossroads had involved the effect of atomic weapons on a navy, and how they functioned underwater) and to test new weapon designs. During the 1950s, these included new hydrogen bomb designs, which were tested in the Pacific, and also new and improved fission weapon designs. The Soviet Union also began testing on a limited scale, primarily in Kazakhstan. During the later phases of the Cold War, though, both countries developed accelerated testing programs, testing many hundreds of bombs over the last half of the 20th century. Atomic and nuclear tests can involve many hazards. Some of these were illustrated in the U.S. Castle Bravo test in 1954. The weapon design tested was a new form of hydrogen bomb, and the scientists underestimated how vigorously some of the weapon materials would react. As a result, the explosion -- with a yield of 15 Mt -- was over twice what was predicted. Aside from this problem, the weapon also generated a large amount of radioactive nuclear fallout, more than had been anticipated, and a change in the weather pattern caused the fallout to spread in a direction not cleared in advance. The fallout plume spread high levels of radiation for over a hundred miles, contaminating a number of populated islands in nearby atoll formations. Though they were soon evacuated, many of the islands ' inhabitants suffered from radiation burns and later from other effects such as increased cancer rate and birth defects, as did the crew of the Japanese fishing boat Daigo Fukuryū Maru. One crewman died from radiation sickness after returning to port, and it was feared that the radioactive fish they had been carrying had made it into the Japanese food supply. Castle Bravo was the worst U.S. nuclear accident, but many of its component problems -- unpredictably large yields, changing weather patterns, unexpected fallout contamination of populations and the food supply -- occurred during other atmospheric nuclear weapons tests by other countries as well. Concerns over worldwide fallout rates eventually led to the Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which limited signatories to underground testing. Not all countries stopped atmospheric testing, but because the United States and the Soviet Union were responsible for roughly 86 % of all nuclear tests, their compliance cut the overall level substantially. France continued atmospheric testing until 1974, and China until 1980. A tacit moratorium on testing was in effect from 1958 to 1961, and ended with a series of Soviet tests in late 1961, including the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever tested. The United States responded in 1962 with Operation Dominic, involving dozens of tests, including the explosion of a missile launched from a submarine. Almost all new nuclear powers have announced their possession of nuclear weapons with a nuclear test. The only acknowledged nuclear power that claims never to have conducted a test was South Africa (although see Vela Incident), which has since dismantled all of its weapons. Israel is widely thought to possess a sizable nuclear arsenal, though it has never tested, unless they were involved in Vela. Experts disagree on whether states can have reliable nuclear arsenals -- especially ones using advanced warhead designs, such as hydrogen bombs and miniaturized weapons -- without testing, though all agree that it is very unlikely to develop significant nuclear innovations without testing. One other approach is to use supercomputers to conduct "virtual '' testing, but codes need to be validated against test data. There have been many attempts to limit the number and size of nuclear tests; the most far - reaching is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty of 1996, which has not, as of 2013, been ratified by eight of the "Annex 2 countries '' required for it to take effect, including the United States. Nuclear testing has since become a controversial issue in the United States, with a number of politicians saying that future testing might be necessary to maintain the aging warheads from the Cold War. Because nuclear testing is seen as furthering nuclear arms development, many are opposed to future testing as an acceleration of the arms race. In total nuclear test megatonnage, from 1945 -- 92, 520 atmospheric nuclear explosions (including 8 underwater) have been conducted with a total yield of 545 megatons, with a peak occurring in 1961 - 62, when 340 megatons were detonated in the atmosphere by the United States and Soviet Union. while the estimated number of underground nuclear tests conducted in the period from 1957 to 1992 is 1,352 explosions with a total yield of 90 Mt. The first atomic test, "Trinity '', took place on July 16, 1945. The Sedan test of 1962 was an experiment by the United States in using nuclear weapons to excavate large amounts of earth. The nuclear powers have conducted more than 2,000 nuclear test explosions (numbers are approximate, as some test results have been disputed): There may also have been at least three alleged but unacknowledged nuclear explosions (see list of alleged nuclear tests) including the Vela Incident. From the first nuclear test in 1945 until tests by Pakistan in 1998, there was never a period of more than 22 months with no nuclear testing. June 1998 to October 2006 was the longest period since 1945 with no acknowledged nuclear tests. A summary table of all the nuclear testing that has happened since 1945 is here: Worldwide nuclear testing counts and summary. There are many proposed anti-nuclear explosion treaties, such as the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Most of these treaties were passed because scientists in many different countries noticed spikes in radiation levels in civilian areas. Nuclear testing involving humans also contributed to the formation of the treaties, and examples can be seen in the following articles: The Partial Nuclear Test Ban treaty makes it illegal to detonate any nuclear explosion anywhere except underground, in order to reduce atmospheric fallout. Most countries have signed and ratified the Partial Nuclear Test Ban, which went into effect in October 1963. Of the nuclear states, France, China, and North Korea have never signed the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty (CTBT) bans all nuclear explosions everywhere, including underground. For that purpose, the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Nuclear - Test - Ban Treaty Organization is building an international monitoring system with 337 facilities located all over the globe. 85 % of these facilities are already operational. As of May 2012, the CTBT has been signed by 183 States, of which 157 have also ratified. However, for the Treaty to enter into force it needs to be ratified by 44 specific nuclear technology - holder countries. These "Annex 2 States '' participated in the negotiations on the CTBT between 1994 and 1996 and possessed nuclear power or research reactors at that time. The ratification of eight Annex 2 states is still missing: China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States have signed but not ratified the Treaty; India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed it. The following is a list of the treaties applicable to nuclear testing: Over 500 atmospheric nuclear weapons tests were conducted at various sites around the world from 1945 to 1980. As public awareness and concern mounted over the possible health hazards associated with exposure to the nuclear fallout, various studies were done to assess the extent of the hazard. A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention / National Cancer Institute study claims that nuclear fallout might have led to approximately 11,000 excess deaths, most caused by thyroid cancer linked to exposure to iodine - 131. The following list is of milestone nuclear explosions. In addition to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first nuclear test of a given weapon type for a country is included, and tests which were otherwise notable (such as the largest test ever). All yields (explosive power) are given in their estimated energy equivalents in kilotons of TNT (see TNT equivalent). Putative tests (like Vela Incident) have not been included. "Staging '' refers to whether it was a "true '' hydrogen bomb of the so - called Teller - Ulam configuration or simply a form of a boosted fission weapon. For a more complete list of nuclear test series, see List of nuclear tests. Some exact yield estimates, such as that of the Tsar Bomba and the tests by India and Pakistan in 1998, are somewhat contested among specialists.

who demonstrated that radio radiation has all the properties of waves

Radio wave - wikipedia Radio waves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum longer than infrared light. Radio waves have frequencies as high as 300 GHz to as low as 3 kHz, though some definitions describe waves above 1 or 3 GHz as microwaves, or include waves of any lower frequency. At 300 GHz, the corresponding wavelength is 1 mm (0.039 in), and at 3 kHz is 100 km (62 mi). Like all other electromagnetic waves, they travel at the speed of light. Naturally occurring radio waves are generated by lightning, or by astronomical objects. Artificially generated radio waves are used for fixed and mobile radio communication, broadcasting, radar and other navigation systems, communications satellites, computer networks and innumerable other applications. Radio waves are generated by radio transmitters and received by radio receivers. Different frequencies of radio waves have different propagation characteristics in the Earth 's atmosphere; long waves can diffract around obstacles like mountains and follow the contour of the earth (ground waves), shorter waves can reflect off the ionosphere and return to earth beyond the horizon (skywaves), while much shorter wavelengths bend or diffract very little and travel on a line of sight, so their propagation distances are limited to the visual horizon. To prevent interference between different users, the artificial generation and use of radio waves is strictly regulated by law, coordinated by an international body called the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which defines radio waves as "electromagnetic waves of frequencies arbitrarily lower than 3 000 GHz, propagated in space without artificial guide ''. The radio spectrum is divided into a number of radio bands on the basis of frequency, allocated to different uses. Radio waves were first predicted by mathematical work done in 1867 by Scottish mathematical physicist James Clerk Maxwell. Maxwell noticed wavelike properties of light and similarities in electrical and magnetic observations. His mathematical theory, now called Maxwell 's equations, described light waves and radio waves as waves of electromagnetism that travel in space, radiated by a charged particle as it undergoes acceleration. In 1887, Heinrich Hertz demonstrated the reality of Maxwell 's electromagnetic waves by experimentally generating radio waves in his laboratory, showing that they exhibited the same wave properties as light: standing waves, refraction, diffraction, and polarization. Radio waves, originally called "Hertzian waves '', were first used for communication in the mid 1890s by Guglielmo Marconi, who developed the first practical radio transmitters and receivers. The study of electromagnetic phenomena such as reflection, refraction, polarization, diffraction, and absorption is of critical importance in the study of how radio waves move in free space and over the surface of the Earth. Different frequencies experience different combinations of these phenomena in the Earth 's atmosphere, making certain radio bands more useful for specific purposes than others. Practical radio systems use three different techniques of radio propagation to communicate: Radio waves travel at the speed of light. When passing through an object, they are slowed according to that object 's permeability and permittivity. The wavelength is the distance from one peak of the wave 's electric field (wave 's peak / crest) to the next, and is inversely proportional to the frequency of the wave. The distance a radio wave travels in one second, in a vacuum, is 299,792,458 meters (983,571,056 ft) which is the wavelength of a 1 hertz radio signal. A 1 megahertz radio signal has a wavelength of 299.8 meters (984 ft). In order to receive radio signals, for instance from AM / FM radio stations, a radio antenna must be used. However, since the antenna will pick up thousands of radio signals at a time, a radio tuner is necessary to tune in a particular signal. This is typically done via a resonator (in its simplest form, a circuit with a capacitor, inductor, or crystal oscillator, but many modern radios use Phase Locked Loop systems). The resonator is configured to resonate at a particular frequency, allowing the tuner to amplify sine waves at that radio frequency and ignore other sine waves. Usually, either the inductor or the capacitor of the resonator is adjustable, allowing the user to change the frequency at which it resonates. Electromagnetic radiation has been classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as "Possibly carcinogenic to humans ''. The List of IARC Group 2B carcinogens classification level includes lead, DDT, and styrene substances in addition to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. ELF 3 Hz / 100 Mm 30 Hz / 10 Mm SLF 30 Hz / 10 Mm 300 Hz / 1 Mm ULF 300 Hz / 1 Mm 3 kHz / 100 km VLF 3 kHz / 100 km 30 kHz / 10 km LF 30 kHz / 10 km 300 kHz / 1 km MF 300 kHz / 1 km 3 MHz / 100 m HF 3 MHz / 100 m 30 MHz / 10 m VHF 30 MHz / 10 m 300 MHz / 1 m UHF 300 MHz / 1 m 3 GHz / 100 mm SHF 3 GHz / 100 mm 30 GHz / 10 mm EHF 30 GHz / 10 mm 300 GHz / 1 mm THF 300 GHz / 1 mm 3 THz / 0.1 mm

who played carrie's boss on king of queens

The King of Queens - Wikipedia International: The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007. The show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions (1998 -- 2006), CBS Paramount Television (2006 -- 07), in association with Columbia TriStar Television (1998 -- 2002), and Sony Pictures Television (2002 -- 07). It was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California. The series finale aired on May 14, 2007. Doug and Carrie Heffernan are a working class couple living at "3121 Aberdeen Street '' in Rego Park, Queens, New York, along with Carrie 's eccentric father, Arthur Spooner. Doug works for the fictional International Parcel Service (IPS) as a delivery driver, while Carrie works as a secretary in Manhattan, first for a law firm and later for a real estate firm. Their lives are complicated by the demands of Arthur, so much so that they eventually hire Holly, a professional dog walker, to spend time with him as she walks dogs in the park. Also featured on the show are Doug 's friends Deacon Palmer, Spence Olchin and Richie Iannucci, as well as Doug 's cousin Danny Heffernan. Deacon 's wife Kelly is Carrie 's best friend. Most scenes take place in the Heffernans ' home, but other common locations include Doug and Carrie 's workplaces, the restaurant "Cooper 's '' and the residences of friends and family. While locations seen during the theme - song were filmed in areas surrounding New York, the series was filmed in California. The show begins after Doug and Carrie have already married, and how they met is slightly unclear due to continuity issues. In one flashback episode, "Meet By - Product '', Doug meets Carrie when he is a bouncer at a nightclub that Carrie attends. However, in another episode, "Road Rayge '', Carrie reflects on a song that she says Doug asked her to dance to when they were in junior high school. In a later episode, it was implied that they all went to high school together, as Kelly and Carrie were said to have slept with the same guy neither husband knew of until the day of the guy 's wedding. Based on the lives of blue - collar couple Doug and Carrie Heffernan, The King of Queens debuted on CBS on September 21, 1998. During its run, it brought in solid ratings (usually ranking in the Top 40) for the most part and was a Monday night staple, competing with shows such as the long - running drama 7th Heaven. In 2003, when scheduled against The West Wing and Nanny 911, it began to drop in the ratings. The final episode aired on May 14, 2007. The series shot at Sony Pictures Studios ' Stage 28 in Culver City, California. The character of Arthur was conceived with Jerry Stiller in mind, but he initially turned down the role. Veteran comedian Jack Carter was then cast and a pilot was shot. Soon afterward, Stiller changed his mind and took the part, which required re-shooting of scenes featuring Carter. The King of Queens was partly inspired by the classic television sitcom The Honeymooners, as the characters of Doug and Carrie are based on the Kramden couple, with similar mannerisms and deadpan expressions. In a 2001 episode of the show ("Inner Tube ''), the show pays homage to The Honeymooners, as a distraught Doug dreams that he is Ralph Kramden, his wife Carrie is Alice Kramden, and his friend Deacon is Ed Norton. The sequence was filmed in black - and - white and the audio quality (including the audience) matches a 1950s style. The show is currently in syndication worldwide and airs on TBS and TV Land in the United States. and on TVTropolis and OMNI in Canada. In Sweden, Germany, Ireland, Romania, Denmark, the UK and Poland it runs on the ComedyCentral network. In April 2014, the show began running weekdays on Channel 4 at 7: 35am in the UK and Ireland. The season one main opening was a simple eight - second sequence which showed the window of a subway train with moving through and quickly stopping at the original show logo, which then peeled off to reveal the names of the show 's creators. Starting with season two, the show added a new theme song called "Baby All My Life I Will Be Driving Home to You '', which was written by series writers Josh Goldsmith and Cathy Yuspa, composed by Jonathan Wolff and Scott Clausen, and performed by Billy Vera and the Beaters. An instrumental version was used as the closing theme during season two, but was replaced in season three with a new closing theme composed by Kurt Farquhar. The opening credits from seasons two through nine featured an opening shot of Doug getting into an IPS truck, which then cuts to a long shot of an elevated subway station, (Which is the 111 Street Station on the IRT Flushing Line which is on the 7 Line of the New York City Subway) where he drives under the subway station onto which the show 's logo is digitally placed, as if it 's a street sign. It then cuts to scenes of Doug, Carrie and Arthur spending time around Queens. In the season two sequence, Kevin James ' starring credit was placed over a shot of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline, but was re-edited after the September 11 attacks that felled the World Trade Center. Two short versions of the sequence exist: in original airings where the opening was shortened due to time constraints and in some syndicated airings, the opening featured the shot of the IPS truck going under the bridge, then to the final shot of the credits where Doug and Carrie get ices at the Lemon Ice King of Corona on 108th St in Queens. The second version used in U.S. syndicated airings since 2007 simply features the first eight seconds of the full sequence with the opening establishing shots of Queens placed before the truck scene. In syndicated airings of season one episodes that have aired in the U.S. since the fall of 2007, this version replaced the standard season one sequence in all episodes for unknown reasons. In 2006, Kevin James received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his portrayal of Doug Heffernan. The Emmy was won by Tony Shalhoub for his performance on Monk. In addition, The King of Queens received several BMI Awards during its prime - time run. The series won BMI Awards in the "TV Music Award '' category in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004. These awards were presented to Kurt Farquhar, Josh Goldsmith, Andrew Gross, and Cathy Yuspa. Seasons two and three were released on Blu - ray Disc by Koch Media on November 21, 2008. They are presented with 1080i / 25fps VC - 1 video, 2.0 DTS audio tracks in both English and German with German subtitles optional. They include the same extras as the DVD releases from Koch Media. Even though they are only released in Germany and Austria, they are not region locked. On March 26, 2015, Koch Media released the whole series on Blu - ray in HD. The complete box set is distributed for Region B / 2.

who is known as the father of history and why

Herodotus - wikipedia Herodotus (/ hɪˈrɒdətəs /; Ancient Greek: Ἡρόδοτος, Hêródotos, Attic Greek pronunciation: (hɛː. ró. do. tos)) was a Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern - day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the fifth century BC (c. 484 -- c. 425 BC), a contemporary of Thucydides, Socrates, and Euripides. He is often referred to as "The Father of History '', a title first conferred by Cicero; he was the first historian known to have broken from Homeric tradition to treat historical subjects as a method of investigation -- specifically, by collecting his materials systematically and critically, and then arranging them into a historiographic narrative. The Histories is the only work which he is known to have produced, a record of his "inquiry '' (ἱστορία historía) on the origins of the Greco - Persian Wars; it primarily deals with the lives of Croesus, Cyrus, Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius, and Xerxes and the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale; however, its many cultural, ethnographical, geographical, historiographical, and other digressions form a defining and essential part of the Histories and contain a wealth of information. Some of his stories are fanciful and others inaccurate; yet he states that he is reporting only what he was told; a sizable portion of the information he provided was later confirmed by historians and archaeologists. Despite Herodotus 's historical significance, little is known of his personal life. Herodotus announced the size and scope of his work at the beginning of his Researches or Histories: Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by Herodotus of Halicarnassus. The purpose is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and non-Greeks; among the matters covered is, in particular, the cause of the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks. His record of the achievements of others was an achievement in itself, though the extent of it has been debated. Herodotus 's place in history and his significance may be understood according to the traditions within which he worked. His work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact. However, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a literary critic of Augustan Rome, listed seven predecessors of Herodotus, describing their works as simple, unadorned accounts of their own and other cities and people, Greek or foreign, including popular legends, sometimes melodramatic and naïve, often charming -- all traits that can be found in the work of Herodotus himself. Modern historians regard the chronology as uncertain, but according to the ancient account, these predecessors included Dionysius of Miletus, Charon of Lampsacus, Hellanicus of Lesbos, Xanthus of Lydia and, the best attested of them all, Hecataeus of Miletus. Of these, only fragments of Hecataeus 's works survived, and the authenticity of these is debatable, but they provide a glimpse into the kind of tradition within which Herodotus wrote his own Histories. In his introduction to Hecataeus 's work, Genealogies: Hecataeus the Milesian speaks thus: I write these things as they seem true to me; for the stories told by the Greeks are various and in my opinion absurd. This points forward to the "folksy '' yet "international '' outlook typical of Herodotus. However, one modern scholar has described the work of Hecataeus as "a curious false start to history '', since despite his critical spirit, he failed to liberate history from myth. Herodotus mentions Hecataeus in his Histories, on one occasion mocking him for his naive genealogy and, on another occasion, quoting Athenian complaints against his handling of their national history. It is possible that Herodotus borrowed much material from Hecataeus, as stated by Porphyry in a quote recorded by Eusebius. In particular, it is possible that he copied descriptions of the crocodile, hippopotamus, and phoenix from Hecataeus 's Circumnavigation of the Known World (Periegesis / Periodos ges), even misrepresenting the source as "Heliopolitans '' (Histories 2.73). But Hecataeus did not record events that had occurred in living memory, unlike Herodotus, nor did he include the oral traditions of Greek history within the larger framework of oriental history. There is no proof that Herodotus derived the ambitious scope of his own work, with its grand theme of civilizations in conflict, from any predecessor, despite much scholarly speculation about this in modern times. Herodotus claims to be better informed than his predecessors by relying on empirical observation to correct their excessive schematism. For example, he argues for continental asymmetry as opposed to the older theory of a perfectly circular earth with Europe and Asia / Africa equal in size (Histories 4.36 and 4.42). However, he retains idealizing tendencies, as in his symmetrical notions of the Danube and Nile. His debt to previous authors of prose "histories '' might be questionable, but there is no doubt that Herodotus owed much to the example and inspiration of poets and story - tellers. For example, Athenian tragic poets provided him with a world - view of a balance between conflicting forces, upset by the hubris of kings, and they provided his narrative with a model of episodic structure. His familiarity with Athenian tragedy is demonstrated in a number of passages echoing Aeschylus 's Persae, including the epigrammatic observation that the defeat of the Persian navy at Salamis caused the defeat of the land army (Histories 8.68 ~ Persae 728). The debt may have been repaid by Sophocles because there appear to be echoes of The Histories in his plays, especially a passage in Antigone that resembles Herodotus 's account of the death of Intaphernes (Histories 3.119 ~ Antigone 904 - 920). However, this point is one of the most contentious issues in modern scholarship. Homer was another inspirational source. Just as Homer drew extensively on a tradition of oral poetry, sung by wandering minstrels, so Herodotus appears to have drawn on an Ionian tradition of story - telling, collecting and interpreting the oral histories he chanced upon in his travels. These oral histories often contained folk - tale motifs and demonstrated a moral, yet they also contained substantial facts relating to geography, anthropology, and history, all compiled by Herodotus in an entertaining style and format. It is on account of the many strange stories and the folk - tales he reported that his critics in early modern times branded him "The Father of Lies ''. Even his own contemporaries found reason to scoff at his achievement. In fact, one modern scholar has wondered if Herodotus left his home in Greek Anatolia, migrating westwards to Athens and beyond, because his own countrymen had ridiculed his work, a circumstance possibly hinted at in an epitaph said to have been dedicated to Herodotus at one of his three supposed resting places, Thuria: Herodotus the son of Sphynx lies; in Ionic history without peer; a Dorian born, who fled from slander 's brand and made in Thuria his new native land. Yet it was in Athens where his most formidable contemporary critics could be found. In 425 BC, which is about the time that Herodotus is thought by many scholars to have died, the Athenian comic dramatist Aristophanes created The Acharnians, in which he blames the Peloponnesian War on the abduction of some prostitutes -- a mocking reference to Herodotus, who reported the Persians ' account of their wars with Greece, beginning with the rapes of the mythical heroines Io, Europa, Medea, and Helen. Similarly, the Athenian historian Thucydides dismissed Herodotus as a "logos - writer '' (story - teller). Thucydides, who had been trained in rhetoric, became the model for subsequent prose - writers as an author who seeks to appear firmly in control of his material, whereas with his frequent digressions Herodotus appeared to minimize (or possibly disguise) his authorial control. Moreover, Thucydides developed a historical topic more in keeping with the Greek world - view: focused on the context of the polis or city - state. The interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory. Before the Persian crisis, history had been represented among the Greeks only by local or family traditions. The "Wars of Liberation '' had given to Herodotus the first genuinely historical inspiration felt by a Greek. These wars showed him that there was a corporate life, higher than that of the city, of which the story might be told; and they offered to him as a subject the drama of the collision between East and West. With him, the spirit of history was born into Greece; and his work, called after the nine Muses, was indeed the first utterance of Clio. Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus 's own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with ancient yet much later sources, such as the Byzantine Suda, an 11th century encyclopaedia which possibly took its information from traditional accounts. The data are so few -- they rest upon such late and slight authority; they are so improbable or so contradictory, that to compile them into a biography is like building a house of cards, which the first breath of criticism will blow to the ground. Still, certain points may be approximately fixed... Modern accounts of his life typically go something like this: Herodotus was born at Halicarnassus around 484 BC. There is no reason to disbelieve the Suda 's information about his family: that it was influential and that he was the son of Lyxes and Dryo, and the brother of Theodorus, and that he was also related to Panyassis -- an epic poet of the time. The town was within the Persian Empire at that time, making Herodotus a Persian subject, and it may be that the young Herodotus heard local eye - witness accounts of events within the empire and of Persian preparations for the invasion of Greece, including the movements of the local fleet under the command of Artemisia I of Caria. Inscriptions recently discovered at Halicarnassus indicate that her grandson Lygdamis negotiated with a local assembly to settle disputes over seized property, which is consistent with a tyrant under pressure. His name is not mentioned later in the tribute list of the Athenian Delian League, indicating that there might well have been a successful uprising against him some time before 454 BC. The epic poet Panyassis -- a relative of Herodotus -- is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising. Herodotus expresses affection for the island of Samos (III, 39 -- 60), and this is an indication that he might have lived there in his youth. So it is possible that his family was involved in an uprising against Lygdamis, leading to a period of exile on Samos and followed by some personal hand in the tyrant 's eventual fall. Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, yet he was born in Halicarnassus, which was a Dorian settlement. According to the Suda, Herodotus learned the Ionian dialect as a boy living on the island of Samos, to which he had fled with his family from the oppressions of Lygdamis, tyrant of Halicarnassus and grandson of Artemisia. The Suda also informs us that Herodotus later returned home to lead the revolt that eventually overthrew the tyrant. Due to recent discoveries of inscriptions at Halicarnassus dated to about Herodotus 's time, we now know that the Ionic dialect was used in Halicarnassus in some official documents, so there is no need to assume (like the Suda) that he must have learned the dialect elsewhere. Further, the Suda is the only source which we have for the role played by Herodotus as the heroic liberator of his birthplace. That itself is a good reason to doubt such a romantic account. As Herodotus himself reveals, Halicarnassus, though a Dorian city, had ended its close relations with its Dorian neighbours after an unseemly quarrel (I, 144), and it had helped pioneer Greek trade with Egypt (II, 178). It was, therefore, an outward - looking, international - minded port within the Persian Empire, and the historian 's family could well have had contacts in other countries under Persian rule, facilitating his travels and his researches. Herodotus 's eye - witness accounts indicate that he traveled in Egypt in association with Athenians, probably some time after 454 BC or possibly earlier, after an Athenian fleet had assisted the uprising against Persian rule in 460 -- 454 BC. He probably traveled to Tyre next and then down the Euphrates to Babylon. For some reason, possibly associated with local politics, he subsequently found himself unpopular in Halicarnassus, and some time around 447 BC, migrated to Periclean Athens -- a city whose people and democratic institutions he openly admires (V, 78). Athens was also the place where he came to know the local topography (VI, 137; VIII, 52 -- 5), as well as leading citizens such as the Alcmaeonids, a clan whose history features frequently in his writing. According to Eusebius and Plutarch, Herodotus was granted a financial reward by the Athenian assembly in recognition of his work. It is possible that he unsuccessfully applied for Athenian citizenship, a rare honour after 451 BC, requiring two separate votes by a well - attended assembly. In 443 BC or shortly afterwards, he migrated to Thurium as part of an Athenian - sponsored colony. Aristotle refers to a version of The Histories written by "Herodotus of Thurium '', and indeed some passages in the Histories have been interpreted as proof that he wrote about southern Italy from personal experience there (IV, 15, 99; VI, 127). Intimate knowledge of some events in the first years of the Peloponnesian War (VI, 91; VII, 133, 233; IX, 73) indicate that he might have returned to Athens, in which case it is possible that he died there during an outbreak of the plague. Possibly he died in Macedonia instead, after obtaining the patronage of the court there; or else he died back in Thurium. There is nothing in the Histories that can be dated to later than 430 BC with any certainty, and it is generally assumed that he died not long afterwards, possibly before his sixtieth year. Herodotus would have made his researches known to the larger world through oral recitations to a public crowd. John Marincola writes in his introduction to the Penguin edition of The Histories that there are certain identifiable pieces in the early books of Herodotus 's work which could be labeled as "performance pieces ''. These portions of the research seem independent and "almost detachable '', so that they might have been set aside by the author for the purposes of an oral performance. The intellectual matrix of the 5th century, Marincola suggests, comprised many oral performances in which philosophers would dramatically recite such detachable pieces of their work. The idea was to criticize previous arguments on a topic and emphatically and enthusiastically insert their own in order to win over the audience. It was conventional in Herodotus 's day for authors to "publish '' their works by reciting them at popular festivals. According to Lucian, Herodotus took his finished work straight from Anatolia to the Olympic Games and read the entire Histories to the assembled spectators in one sitting, receiving rapturous applause at the end of it. According to a very different account by an ancient grammarian, Herodotus refused to begin reading his work at the festival of Olympia until some clouds offered him a bit of shade -- by which time the assembly had dispersed. (Hence the proverbial expression "Herodotus and his shade '' to describe someone who misses an opportunity through delay.) Herodotus 's recitation at Olympia was a favourite theme among ancient writers, and there is another interesting variation on the story to be found in the Suda: that of Photius and Tzetzes, in which a young Thucydides happened to be in the assembly with his father, and burst into tears during the recital. Herodotus observed prophetically to the boy 's father, "Your son 's soul yearns for knowledge. '' Eventually, Thucydides and Herodotus became close enough for both to be interred in Thucydides ' tomb in Athens. Such at least was the opinion of Marcellinus in his Life of Thucydides. According to the Suda, he was buried in Macedonian Pella and in the agora in Thurium. The Histories were occasionally criticized in antiquity, but modern historians and philosophers generally take a positive view. Despite the controversy, Herodotus still serves as the primary, and often only, source for events in the Greek world, Persian Empire, and the region generally in the two centuries leading up until his own day. Herodotus, like many ancient historians, preferred an element of show to purely analytic history, aiming to give pleasure with "exciting events, great dramas, bizarre exotica. '' As such, certain passages have been the subject of controversy and even some doubt, both in antiquity and today. The accuracy of the works of Herodotus has been controversial since his own era. Cicero Aristotle, Josephus, Duris of Samos, Harpocration and Plutarch all commented on this controversy. Generally, however, he was regarded as reliable in antiquity, and is especially so today. Many scholars, ancient and modern, routinely cite Herodotus (e.g., Aubin, A.H.L. Heeren, Davidson, Cheikh Anta Diop, Poe, Welsby, Celenko, Volney, Pierre Montet, Bernal, Jackson, DuBois, Strabo). Many of these scholars (Welsby, Heeren, Aubin, Diop, etc.) explicitly mention the reliability of Herodotus 's work and demonstrate corroboration of Herodotus 's writings by modern scholars. A. H. L. Heeren quoted Herodotus throughout his work and provided corroboration by scholars regarding several passages (source of the Nile, location of Meroe, etc.). To further his work on the Egyptians and Assyrians, Aubin uses Herodotus 's accounts in various passages and defends Herodotus 's position. Aubin said that Herodotus was "the author of the first important narrative history of the world ''. Diop provides several examples (the inundations of the Nile) which, he argues, support his view that Herodotus was "quite scrupulous, objective, scientific for his time. '' Diop argues that Herodotus "always distinguishes carefully between what he has seen and what he has been told. '' Diop also notes that Strabo corroborated Herodotus 's ideas about the Black Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Colchians. The reliability of Herodotus is sometimes criticized when writing about Egypt. Alan B. Lloyd argues that, as a historical document, the writings of Herodotus are seriously defective, and that he was working from "inadequate sources ''. Nielsen writes: "Though we can not entirely rule out the possibility of Herodotus having been in Egypt, it must be said that his narrative bears little witness to it. '' German historian Detlev Fehling questions whether Herodotus ever traveled up the Nile River, and considers doubtful almost everything that he says about Egypt and Ethiopia. Fehling states that "there is not the slightest bit of history behind the whole story '' about the claim of Herodotus that Pharaoh Sesostris campaigned in Europe, and that he left a colony in Colchia. Herodotus provides much information about the nature of the world and the status of science during his lifetime, often engaging in private speculation. For example, he reports that the annual flooding of the Nile was said to be the result of melting snows far to the south, and he comments that he can not understand how there can be snow in Africa, the hottest part of the known world, offering an elaborate explanation based on the way that desert winds affect the passage of the Sun over this part of the world (2: 18ff). He also passes on reports from Phoenician sailors that, while circumnavigating Africa, they "saw the sun on the right side while sailing westwards ''. Owing to this brief mention, which is included almost as an afterthought, it has been argued that Africa was indeed circumnavigated by ancient seafarers, for this is precisely where the sun ought to have been. His accounts of India are among the oldest records of Indian civilization by an outsider. Discoveries made since the end of the 19th century have generally added to Herodotus 's credibility. He described Gelonus, located in Scythia, as a city thousands of times larger than Troy; this was widely disbelieved until it was rediscovered in 1975. The archaeological study of the now - submerged ancient Egyptian city of Heracleion and the recovery of the so - called "Naucratis stela '' give credibility to Herodotus 's previously unsupported claim that Heracleion was founded during the Egyptian New Kingdom. After journeys to India and Pakistan, French ethnologist Michel Peissel claimed to have discovered an animal species that may illuminate one of the most bizarre passages in Herodotus 's Histories. In Book 3, passages 102 to 105, Herodotus reports that a species of fox - sized, furry "ants '' lives in one of the far eastern, Indian provinces of the Persian Empire. This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of fine gold dust. These giant ants, according to Herodotus, would often unearth the gold dust when digging their mounds and tunnels, and the people living in this province would then collect the precious dust. Peissel reports that, in an isolated region of northern Pakistan on the Deosai Plateau in Gilgit -- Baltistan province, there is a species of marmot -- the Himalayan marmot, a type of burrowing squirrel -- that may have been what Herodotus called giant ants. The ground of the Deosai Plateau is rich in gold dust, much like the province that Herodotus describes. According to Peissel, he interviewed the Minaro tribal people who live in the Deosai Plateau, and they have confirmed that they have, for generations, been collecting the gold dust that the marmots bring to the surface when they are digging their underground burrows. Later authors such as Pliny the Elder mentioned this story in the gold mining section of his Naturalis Historia. Peissel offers the theory that Herodotus may have confused the old Persian word for "marmot '' with the word for "mountain ant ''. Research suggests that Herodotus probably did not know any Persian (or any other language except his native Greek) and was forced to rely on many local translators when travelling in the vast multilingual Persian Empire. Herodotus did not claim to have personally seen the creatures which he described. Herodotus did, though, follow up in passage 105 of Book 3 with the claim that the "ants '' are said to chase and devour full - grown camels. Some "calumnious fictions '' were written about Herodotus in a work titled On the Malice of Herodotus by Plutarch, a Chaeronean by birth, (or it might have been a Pseudo-Plutarch, in this case "a great collector of slanders ''), including the allegation that the historian was prejudiced against Thebes because the authorities there had denied him permission to set up a school. Similarly, in a Corinthian Oration, Dio Chrysostom (or yet another pseudonymous author) accused the historian of prejudice against Corinth, sourcing it in personal bitterness over financial disappointments -- an account also given by Marcellinus in his Life of Thucydides. In fact, Herodotus was in the habit of seeking out information from empowered sources within communities, such as aristocrats and priests, and this also occurred at an international level, with Periclean Athens becoming his principal source of information about events in Greece. As a result, his reports about Greek events are often coloured by Athenian bias against rival states -- Thebes and Corinth in particular. The Histories were sometimes criticized in antiquity, but modern historians and philosophers take a more positive view of Herodotus 's methodology, especially those searching for a paradigm of objective historical writing. A few modern scholars have argued that Herodotus exaggerated the extent of his travels and invented his sources, yet his reputation continues largely intact. Herodotus is variously considered "father of comparative anthropology '', "the father of ethnography '', and "more modern than any other ancient historian in his approach to the ideal of total history ''. It is clear from the beginning of Book 1 of the Histories that Herodotus utilizes (or at least claims to utilize) various sources in his narrative. K.H. Waters relates that "Herodotos did not work from a purely Hellenic standpoint; indeed, he was accused by the patriotic but somewhat imperceptive Plutarch of being philobarbaros, a pro-barbarian or pro-foreigner. '' Herodotus will at times relate various accounts of the same story. For example, in Book 1 he mentions both the Phoenician and the Persian accounts of Io. However, Herodotus will at time arbitrate between varying accounts: "I am not going to say that these events happened one way or the other. Rather, I will point out the man who I know for a fact began the wrong - doing against the Greeks. '' Again, later, Herodotus claims himself as an authority: "I know this is how it happened because I heard it from the Delphians myself. '' Throughout his work, Herodotus attempts to explain the actions of people. Speaking about Solon the Athenian, Herodotus states "(Solon) sailed away on the pretext of seeing the world, but it was really so that he could not be compelled to repeal any of the laws he had laid down. '' Again, in the story about Croesus and his son 's death, when speaking of Adrastus (the man who accidentally killed Croesus ' son), Herodotus states: "Adrastus... believing himself to be the most ill - fated man he had ever known, cut his own throat over the grave. '' While Herodotus had not met these people whom he is discussing, he claims to understand their thoughts and intentions. Herodotus writes with the purpose of explaining; that is, he discusses the reason for or cause of for an event. He lays this out in the proem: "This is the publication of the research of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that the actions of people shall not fade with time, so that the great and admirable achievements of both Greeks and barbarians shall not go unrenowned, and, among other things, to set forth the reasons why they waged war on each other. '' This mode of explanation traces itself all the way back to Homer, who opened the Iliad by asking: Both Homer and Herodotus begin with a question of causality. In Homer 's case, "who set these two at each other 's throats? '' In Herodotus 's case, "Why did the Greeks and barbarians go to war with each other? '' Herodotus 's means of explanation does not necessarily posit a simple cause; rather, his explanations cover a host of potential causes and emotions. It is notable, however, that "the obligations of gratitude and revenge are the fundamental human motives for Herodotus, just as... they are the primary stimulus to the generation of narrative itself. '' Some readers of Herodotus believe that his habit of tying events back to personal motives signifies an inability to see broader and more abstract reasons for action. Gould argues to the contrary that this is likely because Herodotus attempts to provide the rational reasons, as understood by his contemporaries, rather than providing more abstract reasons. Herodotus attributes cause to both divine and human agents. These are not perceived as mutually exclusive, but rather mutually interconnected. This is true of Greek thinking in general, at least from Homer onward. Gould notes that invoking the supernatural in order to explain an event does not answer the question "why did this happen? '' but rather "why did this happen to me? '' By way of example, faulty craftsmanship is the human cause for a house collapsing. However, divine will is the reason that the house collapses at the particular moment when I am inside. It was the will of the gods that the house collapsed while a particular individual was within it, whereas it was the cause of man that the house had a weak structure and was prone to falling. Some authors, including Geoffrey de Ste Croix and Mabel Lang, have argued that Fate, or the belief that "this is how it had to be, '' is Herodotus 's ultimate understanding of causality. Herodotus 's explanation that an event "was going to happen '' maps well on to Aristotelean and Homeric means of expression. The idea of "it was going to happen '' reveals a "tragic discovery '' associated with fifth - century drama. This tragic discovery can be seen in Homer 's, Iliad as well. John Gould argues that Herodotus should be understood as falling in a long line of story - tellers, rather than thinking of his means of explanation as a "philosophy of history '' or "simple causality ''. Thus, according to Gould, Herodotus 's means of explanation is a mode of story - telling and narration that has been passed down from generations prior: Herodotus ' sense of what was ' going to happen ' is not the language of one who holds a theory of historical necessity, who sees the whole of human experience as constrained by inevitability and without room for human choice or human responsibility, diminished and belittled by forces too large for comprehension or resistance; it is rather the traditional language of a teller of tales whose tale is structured by his awareness of the shape it must have and who presents human experience on the model of the narrative patterns that are built into his stories; the narrative impulse itself, the impulse towards ' closure ' and the sense of an ending, is retrojected to become ' explanation '. Although Herodotus considered his "inquiries '' a serious pursuit of knowledge, he was not above relating entertaining tales derived from the collective body of myth, but he did so judiciously with regard for his historical method, by corroborating the stories through enquiry and testing their probability. While the gods never make personal appearances in his account of human events, Herodotus states emphatically that "many things prove to me that the gods take part in the affairs of man '' (IX, 100). In Book One, passages 23 and 24, Herodotus relates the story of Arion, the renowned harp player, "second to no man living at that time, '' who was saved by a dolphin. Herodotus prefaces the story by noting that "a very wonderful thing is said to have happened, '' and alleges its veracity by adding that the "Corinthians and the Lesbians agree in their account of the matter. '' Having become very rich while at the court of Periander, Arion conceived a desire to sail to Italy and Sicily. He hired a vessel crewed by Corinthians, whom he felt he could trust, but the sailors plotted to throw him overboard and seize his wealth. Arion discovered the plot and begged for his life, but the crew gave him two options: that either he kill himself on the spot or jump ship and fend for himself in the sea. Arion flung himself into the water, and a dolphin carried him to shore. Herodotus clearly writes as both historian and teller of tales. Indeed, Herodotus takes a fluid position between the artistic story - weaving of Homer and the rational data - accounting of later historians. John Herrington has developed a helpful metaphor for describing Herodotus 's dynamic position in the history of Western art and thought -- Herodotus as centaur: The human forepart of the animal... is the urbane and responsible classical historian; the body indissolubly united to it is something out of the faraway mountains, out of an older, freer and wilder realm where our conventions have no force. Herodotus is neither a mere gatherer of data nor a simple teller of tales -- he is both. While Herodotus is certainly concerned with giving accurate accounts of events, this does not preclude for him the insertion of powerful mythological elements into his narrative, elements which will aid him in expressing the truth of matters under his study. Thus to understand what Herodotus is doing in the Histories, we must not impose strict demarcations between the man as mythologist and the man as historian, or between the work as myth and the work as history. As James Romm has written, Herodotus worked under a common ancient Greek cultural assumption that the way events are remembered and retold (e.g. in myths or legends) produces a valid kind of understanding, even when this retelling is not entirely factual. For Herodotus, then, it takes both myth and history to produce truthful understanding. Several English translations of The Histories of Herodotus are readily available in multiple editions. The most readily available are those translated by:

when was the smith and the devil written

The smith and the Devil - Wikipedia The Smith and the Devil is a European fairy tale. The story is of a smith who makes a pact with a malevolent being -- commonly the Devil (in later times), Death or a genie -- selling his soul for some power, then tricks the devil out of his prize. In one version, the smith gains the power to weld any materials, then uses this power to stick the devil to an immovable object, allowing the smith to renege on the bargain. The tale was collected by the Brothers Grimm in their Children 's and Household Tales (published in two volumes in 1812 and 1815), although they removed it in editions of 1822 and later, substituting "Brother Lustig '' and relegating references to it to the notes for "Gambling Hansel '', a very similar tale. Edith Hodgetts ' 1891 book Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tsar collects a Russian version, while Ruth Manning - Sanders included a Gascon version as "The Blacksmith and the Devil '' in her 1970 book A Book of Devils and Demons.. Richard Chase presents a version from the Southern Appalachians, called "Wicked John and the Devil. '' According to George Monbiot, the blacksmith is a motif of folklore throughout (and beyond) Europe associated with malevolence (the medieval vision of Hell may draw upon the image the smith at his forge), and several variant tales tell of smiths entering into a pact with the devil to obtain fire and the means of smelting metal. According to research applying phylogenetic techniques to linguistics by folklorist Sara Graça da Silva and anthropologist Jamie Tehrani, "The Smith and the Devil '' may be one of the oldest European folk tales, with the basic plot stable throughout the Indo - European speaking world from India to Scandinavia, possibly being first told in Indo - European 6,000 years ago in the Bronze Age. Folklorist John Lindow, however, notes that a word for "smith '' may not have existed in Indo - European, and if so the tale may not be that old.

who got the most votes in the general election

United Kingdom general election records - wikipedia United Kingdom general election records is an annotated list of notable records from United Kingdom general elections. Prior to 1945, electoral competition in the United Kingdom exhibited features which make meaningful comparisons with modern results difficult. Among the most significant were: - Since 1945, the evolution of a stable 3 - party system has tended to negate each of the above features so that, broadly speaking, elections are more comparable. In Northern Ireland, as ever, the pattern of party competition is completely different from that in Great Britain and comparisons remain problematic. Hence, unless otherwise stated records are based on results since the 1945 General Election, and earlier exceptional results are listed separately. For comparison purposes the following definitions have been adopted. For more information about what is meant by the term "swing '', see Swing (politics) A party 's share of the vote at a general election is not always matched at subsequent general elections, but given the five - year maximum term of a Parliament, reductions of 20 % or more are unusual. These records detail the change in the share of the vote by parties when compared to the same constituency in the previous General Election. In some cases, such as Brent East in 2005 for the Liberal Democrats, the figures should be framed by the context of a by - election in that constituency between the two Elections. The most votes received by a single individual in a general election was Sir Cooper Rawson who polled 75,205 votes when being reelected as MP for Brighton in 1931. Brighton was a two - member constituency with a larger than average electorate. The most votes received by an individual in a single - seat constituency was 69,762 for Reginald Blair in Hendon in 1935. The largest majority received by an individual is also Sir Cooper Rawson, reelected with a majority of 62,253 at Brighton in 1931. The largest majority received by a woman is 38,823 by the Countess of Iveagh elected MP for Southend in 1931. All general election victors receiving less than 33.33 % of the vote are listed. The list is complete from 1945 onwards. Seats with more than one member are omitted. Candidates in general elections since 1918 who won fewer than ten votes: Both W.M. Somerville in Bewdley at the 1874 UK general election and F.R. Lees in Drogheda at the 1852 UK general election received no votes. Since 1945 Notes: Any number of candidates can be nominated for election under current UK electoral law. The only restrictions are that a candidate must be a Commonwealth or Irish citizen, not legally disqualified, with the valid nomination of ten electors from the constituency. Candidates must pay a £ 500 deposit which is only refunded if the candidate wins 5 % or more of the votes cast. Fourteen constituencies have seen more than ten candidates stand in a general election: The two cases from before 2010 were both the constituency of the Prime Minister. Before 1983, the consecutive records were 6 candidates in Paddington North in 1918, 7 in Tottenham in February 1974 and 9 in Devon North in 1979. The last four seats to be uncontested at a general election were Armagh, Londonderry, North Antrim and South Antrim, at the 1951 general election. The last mainland seats to be uncontested were Liverpool Scotland and Rhondda West, at the 1945 general election. Three seats were contested only by Labour and Conservative candidates at the 1979 general election: Birmingham Handsworth, Dudley West and Salford East. Buckingham was the only seat contested by only three candidates at the 2015 general election. Traditionally, the Speaker of the House of Commons is not opposed by major parties, so the only opposition to John Bercow was candidates from the Green Party and from UKIP. However, in the 2017 UK general election, there were 21 seats with only three candidates, all in England. A selection of politicians who have contested seats in at least thirteen general elections are listed: On rare occasions an MP has been defeated at a general election, returned at a by - election, only to be defeated again at the subsequent general election. Shirley Williams is distinguished by achieving this while in two different parties. Notes: It is unusual for a defeated MP to pursue more than a couple of attempts at re-election. Notes: Attempts at a comeback usually occur almost immediately It is unusual for a candidate who has been unsuccessful on more than a couple of occasions to finally win a seat. For a comprehensive list of MPs with total service of less than 365 days see List of United Kingdom MPs with the shortest service Notes See Baby of the House of Commons A contender for the longest gap prior to returning at a general election was possibly Henry Drummond (1786 - 1860), who returned to the House of Commons in the 1847 general election as member for West Surrey, after a near 35 - year absence, though aged only 60. He was previously MP for Plympton Erle from 1810 - 12. Others, who returned at older ages than Drummond 's: When the UK Parliament was established in 1801, non-Anglicans were prevented from taking their seats as MPs under the Test Act 1672. However, Methodists took communion at Anglican churches until 1795, and some continued to do so, and many Presbyterians were prepared to accept Anglican communion, thus ensuring that members of these creeds were represented in the Parliament. Some Unitarians were also elected. The first Roman Catholic general election victors in the UK Parliament were at the 1830 general election. They included Daniel O'Connell and James Patrick Mahon in Clare. The first Quaker general election victor was Edward Pease, at the 1832 general election. The first Moravian general election victor was Charles Hindley, at the 1835 general election. Lionel de Rothschild was the first Jewish general election victor, at the 1847 general election. He was not permitted to take his seat until the passage of the Jews Relief Act 1858. The first declared atheist to win a general election was Charles Bradlaugh at the 1880 general election. He was not permitted to take his seat in that parliament, but was elected again at the 1885 general election and allowed to take the oath. Dadabhai Naoroji was the first Parsi general election victor at the 1892 general election. Piara Khabra became the first Sikh general election victor, at the 1992 general election. Terry Rooney became the first Mormon general election victor at the 1992 general election (previously taking his seat at a by - election in 1990). The first Muslim general election victor was Mohammed Sarwar at the 1997 general election. The first Hindu general election victor was Shailesh Vara at the 2005 general election. Lord Robert Grosvenor: Fermanagh and South Tyrone, 1955 It is of course common for former (defeated) MPs to seek re-election, often in their old constituencies, especially if they are marginal or bellwether seats. What is quite unusual is for two MPs both sitting in the same parliament to seek re-election in the same seat. This usually occurs by reason of boundary changes or party splits. Notes: after announcing his retirement as member for Central Fife, long - serving Scottish Labour MP Willie Hamilton obtained his party 's nomination in the hopeless prospect of South Hams in southern England. Hamilton insisted that he knew local parties often found themselves without candidates shortly before nominations closed, and was offering because it would help them out of difficulty; however by standing again and being "defeated '' he qualified for an additional allowance. Winner The longest possible duration of a Parliament is currently five years. All period of six years or more between general elections are listed: All period of less than a year between general elections are listed: The longest continuous Conservative government was in office for almost 18 years, between 4 May 1979 and 2 May 1997. The longest continuous Labour government was in office for over 13 years, between 2 May 1997 and 11 May 2010. The longest continuous Liberal government was in office for over 9 years, between 5 December 1905 and 25 May 1915. The longest continuous coalition government was in office for almost 14 years, between 24 August 1931 and 26 July 1945, although its components changed significantly during that period. Currently, all British Parliamentary elections are invariably held on a Thursday. The last general election not held on a Thursday was the 1931 election, which was held on Tuesday 27 October. Prior to this, it was common to hold general elections on any day of the week (other than Sunday), and until the 1918 general election, polling (and the declaration of results) was held over a period of several weeks. On rare occasions, polling in an individual constituency may be suspended, usually as a result of the death of a candidate. The last occasion was at Thirsk and Malton in 2010, where polling was delayed for three weeks owing to the death of the UKIP candidate. Previous examples occurred at When there is a decisive change in electoral sentiment, a tiny number of seats will not only buck the trend by not moving as expected, but may actually move in the opposite direction. Only elections that saw a change of government are listed, since it is fairly common for a few seats to move in divergent directions when an incumbent government is re-elected; 2005 was an exception to this case, when the Labour party scored no gains. Note: In 2010 the Conservatives entered government as the largest party in a coalition and in 2015 they went from being part of a coalition to being a majority government in their own right. Note: In 2010 the Liberal Democrats entered government as a junior partner in a coalition. Notes: by - election loss confirmed at the General Election It is unusual for a party that had not contested the seat at the previous election to win it. Since the major mainland parties now routinely contest all seats, except the Speaker 's, such rare victories tend to come from independents or splinter - parties. Notes: The rare occasions where the party which won the previous election did not contest the seat. Independent candidates are not included, nor are Speakers of the House or Commons. Also excluded are occasions where the party had merged into an organisation which did contest the election, such as when the Social Democratic Party and Liberal Party formed the Liberal Democrats, or the Vanguard Unionist Progressive Party merged into the Ulster Unionist Party. Victories by independent and minor party candidates since 1945. For a complete list, see the list of UK minor party and independent MPs elected. Independent candidates who did not win, but took 10 % or more of the vote in their constituency Parties without representation in Parliament which won 10 % or more of the votes cast: Listed below parties which have returned MPs, either at the listed election or a later one. Asterisked - first election where party fielded candidates but MPs elected at later general election. Otherwise all parties listed returned MPs at first contested election. Listed below are parties which had returned MPs and which ceased to exist after the listed election: * After the Liberal Party and SDP merged to form the Liberal Democrats, some members opposed to the merger formed new parties, the continuation Liberal Party and continuation Social Democratic Party. These parties are legally distinct from their predecessors and have never won a seat in Parliament. Participation in, and outcome of, general elections can be influenced by changes in electoral law or practice.

a chemical bond in which electrons are shared between two atoms

Covalent bond - wikipedia A covalent bond, also called a molecular bond, is a chemical bond that involves the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. These electron pairs are known as shared pairs or bonding pairs, and the stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces between atoms, when they share electrons, is known as covalent bonding. For many molecules, the sharing of electrons allows each atom to attain the equivalent of a full outer shell, corresponding to a stable electronic configuration. Covalent bonding includes many kinds of interactions, including σ - bonding, π - bonding, metal - to - metal bonding, agostic interactions, bent bonds, and three - center two - electron bonds. The term covalent bond dates from 1939. The prefix co - means jointly, associated in action, partnered to a lesser degree, etc.; thus a "co-valent bond '', in essence, means that the atoms share "valence '', such as is discussed in valence bond theory. In the molecule H, the hydrogen atoms share the two electrons via covalent bonding. Covalency is greatest between atoms of similar electronegativities. Thus, covalent bonding does not necessarily require that the two atoms be of the same elements, only that they be of comparable electronegativity. Covalent bonding that entails sharing of electrons over more than two atoms is said to be delocalized. The term covalence in regard to bonding was first used in 1919 by Irving Langmuir in a Journal of the American Chemical Society article entitled "The Arrangement of Electrons in Atoms and Molecules ''. Langmuir wrote that "we shall denote by the term covalence the number of pairs of electrons that a given atom shares with its neighbors. '' The idea of covalent bonding can be traced several years before 1919 to Gilbert N. Lewis, who in 1916 described the sharing of electron pairs between atoms. He introduced the Lewis notation or electron dot notation or Lewis dot structure, in which valence electrons (those in the outer shell) are represented as dots around the atomic symbols. Pairs of electrons located between atoms represent covalent bonds. Multiple pairs represent multiple bonds, such as double bonds and triple bonds. An alternative form of representation, not shown here, has bond - forming electron pairs represented as solid lines. Lewis proposed that an atom forms enough covalent bonds to form a full (or closed) outer electron shell. In the diagram of methane shown here, the carbon atom has a valence of four and is, therefore, surrounded by eight electrons (the octet rule), four from the carbon itself and four from the hydrogens bonded to it. Each hydrogen has a valence of one and is surrounded by two electrons (a duet rule) -- its own one electron plus one from the carbon. The numbers of electrons correspond to full shells in the quantum theory of the atom; the outer shell of a carbon atom is the n = 2 shell, which can hold eight electrons, whereas the outer (and only) shell of a hydrogen atom is the n = 1 shell, which can hold only two. While the idea of shared electron pairs provides an effective qualitative picture of covalent bonding, quantum mechanics is needed to understand the nature of these bonds and predict the structures and properties of simple molecules. Walter Heitler and Fritz London are credited with the first successful quantum mechanical explanation of a chemical bond (molecular hydrogen) in 1927. Their work was based on the valence bond model, which assumes that a chemical bond is formed when there is good overlap between the atomic orbitals of participating atoms. Atomic orbitals (except for s orbitals) have specific directional properties leading to different types of covalent bonds. Sigma (σ) bonds are the strongest covalent bonds and are due to head - on overlapping of orbitals on two different atoms. A single bond is usually a σ bond. Pi (π) bonds are weaker and are due to lateral overlap between p (or d) orbitals. A double bond between two given atoms consists of one σ and one π bond, and a triple bond is one σ and two π bonds. Covalent bonds are also affected by the electronegativity of the connected atoms which determines the chemical polarity of the bond. Two atoms with equal electronegativity will make nonpolar covalent bonds such as H -- H. An unequal relationship creates a polar covalent bond such as with H − Cl. However polarity also requires geometric asymmetry, or else dipoles may cancel out resulting in a non-polar molecule. There are several types of structures for covalent substances, including individual molecules, molecular structures, macromolecular structures and giant covalent structures. Individual molecules have strong bonds that hold the atoms together, but there are negligible forces of attraction between molecules. Such covalent substances are usually gases, for example, HCl, SO, CO, and CH. In molecular structures, there are weak forces of attraction. Such covalent substances are low - boiling - temperature liquids (such as ethanol), and low - melting - temperature solids (such as iodine and solid CO). Macromolecular structures have large numbers of atoms linked by covalent bonds in chains, including synthetic polymers such as polyethylene and nylon, and biopolymers such as proteins and starch. Network covalent structures (or giant covalent structures) contain large numbers of atoms linked in sheets (such as graphite), or 3 - dimensional structures (such as diamond and quartz). These substances have high melting and boiling points, are frequently brittle, and tend to have high electrical resistivity. Elements that have high electronegativity, and the ability to form three or four electron pair bonds, often form such large macromolecular structures. Bonds with one or three electrons can be found in radical species, which have an odd number of electrons. The simplest example of a 1 - electron bond is found in the dihydrogen cation, H. One - electron bonds often have about half the bond energy of a 2 - electron bond, and are therefore called "half bonds ''. However, there are exceptions: in the case of dilithium, the bond is actually stronger for the 1 - electron Li than for the 2 - electron Li. This exception can be explained in terms of hybridization and inner - shell effects. The simplest example of three - electron bonding can be found in the helium dimer cation, He. It is considered a "half bond '' because it consists of only one shared electron (rather than two); in molecular orbital terms, the third electron is in an anti-bonding orbital which cancels out half of the bond formed by the other two electrons. Another example of a molecule containing a 3 - electron bond, in addition to two 2 - electron bonds, is nitric oxide, NO. The oxygen molecule, O can also be regarded as having two 3 - electron bonds and one 2 - electron bond, which accounts for its paramagnetism and its formal bond order of 2. Chlorine dioxide and its heavier analogues bromine dioxide and iodine dioxide also contain three - electron bonds. Molecules with odd - electron bonds are usually highly reactive. These types of bond are only stable between atoms with similar electronegativities. There are situations whereby a single Lewis structure is insufficient to explain the electron configuration in a molecule, hence a superposition of structures are needed. The same two atoms in such molecules can be bonded differently in different structures (a single bond in one, a double bond in another, or even none at all), resulting in a non-integer bond order. The nitrate ion is one such example with three equivalent structures. The bond between the nitrogen and each oxygen is a double bond in one structure and a single bond in the other two, so that the average bond order for each N -- O interaction is 2 + 1 + 1 / 3 = 4 / 3. In organic chemistry, when a molecule with a planar ring obeys Hückel 's rule, where the number of π electrons fit the formula 4n + 2 (where n is an integer), it attains extra stability and symmetry. In benzene, the prototypical aromatic compound, there are 6 π bonding electrons (n = 1, 4n + 2 = 6). These occupy three delocalized π molecular orbitals (molecular orbital theory) or form conjugate π bonds in two resonance structures that linearly combine (valence bond theory), creating a regular hexagon exhibiting a greater stabilization than the hypothetical 1, 3, 5 - cyclohexatriene. In the case of heterocyclic aromatics and substituted benzenes, the electronegativity differences between different parts of the ring may dominate the chemical behaviour of aromatic ring bonds, which otherwise are equivalent. Certain molecules such as xenon difluoride and sulfur hexafluoride have higher co-ordination numbers than would be possible due to strictly covalent bonding according to the octet rule. This is explained by the three - center four - electron bond ("3c -- 4e '') model which interprets the molecular wavefunction in terms of non-bonding highest occupied molecular orbitals in molecular orbital theory and ionic - covalent resonance in valence bond theory. In three - center two - electron bonds ("3c -- 2e '') three atoms share two electrons in bonding. This type of bonding occurs in electron deficient compounds like diborane. Each such bond (2 per molecule in diborane) contains a pair of electrons which connect the boron atoms to each other in a banana shape, with a proton (nucleus of a hydrogen atom) in the middle of the bond, sharing electrons with both boron atoms. In certain cluster compounds, so - called four - center two - electron bonds also have been postulated. After the development of quantum mechanics, two basic theories were proposed to provide a quantum description of chemical bonding: valence bond (VB) theory and molecular orbital (MO) theory. A more recent quantum description is given in terms of atomic contributions to the electronic density of states. In COOP, COHP and BCOOP, evaluation of bond covalency is dependent on the basis set. To overcome this issue, an alternative formulation of the bond covalency can be provided in this way. The center mass cm (n, l, m, m) of an atomic orbital n, l, m, m ⟩, with quantum numbers n, l, m, m, for atom A is defined as where g (E) is the contribution of the atomic orbital n, l, m, m ⟩ of the atom A to the total electronic density of states g (E) of the solid where the outer sum runs over all atoms A of the unit cell. The energy window (E, E) is chosen in such a way that it encompasses all relevant bands participating in the bond. If the range to select is unclear, it can be identified in practice by examining the molecular orbitals that describe the electron density along the considered bond. The relative position C of the center mass of n, l ⟩ levels of atom A with respect to the center mass of n, l ⟩ levels of atom B is given as where the contributions of the magnetic and spin quantum numbers are summed. According to this definition, the relative position of the A levels with respect to the B levels is where, for simplicity, we may omit the dependence from the principal quantum number n in the notation referring to C. In this formalism, the greater the value of C, the higher the overlap of the selected atomic bands, and thus the electron density described by those orbitals gives a more covalent A -- B bond. The quantity C is denoted as the covalency of the A -- B bond, which is specified in the same units of the energy E.

who has the 4th pick in the nba draft

2009 NBA draft - wikipedia The 2009 NBA draft was held on June 25, 2009, at the WaMu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In this draft, the National Basketball Association (NBA) teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players. The Los Angeles Clippers, who won the draft lottery on May 19, 2009, used their first overall draft pick to draft Blake Griffin from University of Oklahoma. However, he missed the entire 2009 -- 10 season due to surgery on his broken left kneecap, which he injured during the pre-season. Tanzanian - born Hasheem Thabeet from University of Connecticut was drafted second by the Memphis Grizzlies. Thabeet became the first player born in Tanzania to be drafted by an NBA team. James Harden was drafted 3rd by the Oklahoma City Thunder. This made him the first player to be drafted by the franchise as the Oklahoma City Thunder whose franchise moved from Seattle to OKC in 2008. The Sacramento Kings drafted Tyreke Evans 4th; he was named 2009 -- 10 NBA Rookie of the Year, after he became the fourth NBA player in history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in his rookie season, joining the elite club of Oscar Robertson (1960), Michael Jordan (1984) and LeBron James (2003). Spanish teenager Ricky Rubio was drafted 5th by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rubio became the fifth - highest - drafted international player who never played U.S. college basketball to be drafted in the NBA, tied with Nikoloz Tskitishvili (5th in 2002), and behind Yao Ming (1st in 2002), Andrea Bargnani (1st in 2006), Darko Miličić (2nd in 2003) and Pau Gasol (3rd in 2001). Twenty - third pick Omri Casspi became the first Israeli player to be drafted in the first round, and later he became the first Israeli to play in the NBA. The 2009 draft marked the first time three sons of former NBA players were selected in the top 15 picks of the draft. Stephen Curry, son of Dell Curry, was drafted 7th by the Golden State Warriors. Gerald Henderson Jr., son of Gerald Henderson, was drafted 12th by the Charlotte Bobcats. Austin Daye, son of Darren Daye, was drafted 15th by the Detroit Pistons. The draft also marked the first time a former high school player who skipped college to play professional basketball in Europe was selected in an NBA draft. Brandon Jennings, who skipped college to play professional basketball with Italian team Lottomatica Roma, was drafted 10th overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the draft. Stephen Curry was named NBA MVP for 2 consecutive years (2015 -- 2016), and won his first NBA championship in 2015. Of the 60 players drafted, four were freshmen, nine were sophomores, 12 were juniors, 22 were seniors, and 13 were international players without U.S. college basketball experience. The University of North Carolina 's Tar Heels had the most players selected in the draft; three players were selected in the first round and one was selected in the second round. This marked the second time ever that four Tar Heels players were selected in the first two rounds of an NBA draft. The Minnesota Timberwolves had the league - high four first - round draft picks and the first time in team history that the team held two top - 10 draft picks. The Timberwolves also had two second - round draft picks and became the team with the most draft picks in the 2009 draft with a total of six. The Houston Rockets and the Orlando Magic were the only NBA teams who did not have a draft pick this year, although Houston acquired three drafted players ' rights after the draft. ^ a: Nick Calathes was born in the United States, and has dual U.S. and Greek citizenship by birth. He has represented Greece internationally. ^ b: Goran Suton, who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is also a naturalized citizen of the United States since 2006. ^ c: Emir Preldžič, who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also has Slovenian and Turkish citizenship. He had represented Slovenia internationally in 2008, before switching to Turkey. ^ d: Chinemelu Elonu was born in Nigeria, is also a naturalized citizen of the United States. These players were not selected in the 2009 NBA draft but have played at least one game in the NBA. The basic requirements for draft eligibility are: The CBA defines "international players '' as players who permanently resided outside the U.S. for three years prior to the draft, did not complete high school in the U.S., and have never enrolled at a U.S. college or university. The basic requirement for automatic eligibility for a U.S. player is the completion of his college eligibility. Players who meet the CBA definition of "international players '' are automatically eligible if their 22nd birthday falls during or before the calendar year of the draft (i.e., born on or before December 31, 1987). U.S. players who were at least one year removed from their high school graduation and have played professional basketball with a team outside the NBA were also automatically eligible. Former high school player Brandon Jennings meets these criteria, having graduated high school in 2008, skipped college basketball and then played professional basketball in Italy. A player who is not automatically eligible must declare his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 60 days before the draft. For the 2009 draft, this date fell on April 26. An early entry candidate is allowed to withdraw his eligibility for the draft by notifying the NBA offices in writing no later than 10 days before the draft. This year, a total of 74 collegiate players and 29 international players declared as early entry candidates. At the withdrawal deadline, 55 early - entry candidates withdrew from the draft, leaving 39 collegiate players and 10 international players as the early - entry candidates for the draft. A player who has hired an agent will forfeit his remaining college eligibility, regardless of whether he is drafted. Also, while the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and its players ' union allows a player to withdraw from the draft twice, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) mandates that a player who has declared twice loses his college eligibility. This second provision affected Chase Budinger, Wayne Ellington, and Ty Lawson, all of whom declared for and withdrew from the 2008 draft. The lottery selection to determine the order of the top fourteen picks in the 2009 draft occurred on May 19, 2009. The Los Angeles Clippers won the first pick, while the Memphis Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder moved up to second and third picks respectively. The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards, who had the two best chances to land a top - three pick, fell down to the fourth and fifth spots, the lowest possible picks they could be awarded through the lottery. The remaining first - round picks and all the second - round picks were assigned to teams in reverse order of their win - loss records in the previous season. As is commonplace in the event of identical win - loss records, the NBA performed a random drawing to break the ties on April 17, 2009. Below were the chances for each team to get specific picks in the 2009 draft lottery, rounded to three decimal places: ^ 1: Washington Wizards ' pick was later traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Prior to the day of the draft, the following trades were made and resulted in exchanges of draft picks between the teams. The following trades involving drafted players were made on the day of the draft. 1961 1966 1967 1968 1970 1980 1988 1989 1995

map of the middle east 2000 years ago

History of the Middle East - wikipedia Home to the Cradle of Civilization, the Middle East (usually interchangeable with the Near East) has seen many of the world 's oldest cultures and civilizations. This history started from the earliest human settlements, continuing through several major pre - and post-Islamic Empires through to the modern collection of nation - states covering the Middle East today. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh. Mesopotamia was home to several powerful empires that came to rule almost the entire Middle East -- particularly the Assyrian Empires of 1365 -- 1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 -- 605 BC. From the early 7th century BC and onwards, the Iranian Medes followed by Achaemenid Persia and other subsequent Iranian states empires dominated the region. In the 1st century BC, the expanding Roman Republic absorbed the whole Eastern Mediterranean, which included much of the Near East. The Eastern Roman Empire, today commonly known as the Byzantine Empire, ruling from the Balkans to the Euphrates, became increasingly defined by and dogmatic about Christianity, gradually creating religious rifts between the doctrines dictated by the establishment in Constantinople and believers in many parts of the Middle East. From the 3rd up to the course of the 7th century AD, the entire Middle East was dominated by the Byzantines and Sassanid Persia. From the 7th century, a new power was rising in the Middle East, that of Islam. The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the Seljuq Turks. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the Mongol Empire, mainly Turkic, swept through the region. By the early 15th century, a new power had arisen in western Anatolia, the Ottoman emirs, linguistically Turkic and religiously Islamic, who in 1453 captured the Christian Byzantine capital of Constantinople and made themselves sultans. Large parts of the Middle East became a warground between the Ottomans and Iranian Safavids for centuries starting in the early 16th century. By 1700, the Ottomans had been driven out of Hungary and the balance of power along the frontier had shifted decisively in favor of the West. The British also established effective control of the Persian Gulf, and the French extended their influence into Lebanon and Syria. In 1912, the Italians seized Libya and the Dodecanese islands, just off the coast of the Ottoman heartland of Anatolia. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Middle Eastern rulers tried to modernize their states to compete more effectively with the European powers. A turning point in the history of the Middle East came when oil was discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later in Saudi Arabia (in 1938) and the other Persian Gulf states, and also in Libya and Algeria. A Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the decline of British influence led to a growing American interest in the region. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence. The British, the French, and the Soviets departed from many parts of the Middle East during and after World War II (1939 -- 1945). The struggle between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine culminated in the 1947 United Nations plan to partition Palestine. Later in the midst of Cold War tensions, the Arabic - speaking countries of Western Asia and Northern Africa saw the rise of pan-Arabism. The departure of the European powers from direct control of the region, the establishment of Israel, and the increasing importance of the oil industry, marked the creation of the modern Middle East. In most Middle Eastern countries, the growth of market economies was inhibited by political restrictions, corruption and cronyism, overspending on arms and prestige projects, and over-dependence on oil revenues. The wealthiest economies in the region per capita are the small oil - rich countries of Persian Gulf: Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. A combinations of factors -- among them the 1967 Six Day War, the 1970s energy crisis beginning with the 1973 OPEC oil embargo in response to US support of Israel in the Yom Kippur War, the concurrent Saudi - led popularization of Salafism / Wahhabism, and the 1978 - 79 Iranian Revolution -- promoted the increasing rise of Islamism and the ongoing Islamic revival (Tajdid). The Fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought a global security refocus from a Cold War to a War on Terror. Starting in the early 2010s, a revolutionary wave popularly known as the Arab Spring brought major protests, uprisings, and even revolutions to several Middle Eastern and Maghreb countries. Clashes in western Iraq on 30 December 2013 were preliminary to the Sunni pan-Islamist ISIL uprising. The term Near East can be used interchangeably with Middle East, but in a different context, especially when discussing ancient times, it may have a limited meaning, namely the northern, historically Aramaic - speaking Semitic area and adjacent Anatolian territories, marked in the two maps below. Geographically, the Middle East can be thought of as Western Asia with the addition of Egypt (which is the non-Maghreb region of Northern Africa) and with the exclusion of the Caucasus. The Middle East was the first to experience a Neolithic Revolution (c. the 10th millennium BC), as well as the first to enter the Bronze Age (c. 3300 -- 1200 BC) and Iron Age (c. 1200 -- 500 BC). Historically human populations have tended to settle around bodies of water, which is reflected in modern population density patterns. Irrigation systems were extremely important for the agricultural Middle East: for Egypt that of the lower Nile River, and for Mesopotamia that of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Levantine agriculture depended on precipitation rather than on the river - based irrigation of Egypt and Mesopotamia, resulting in preference for different crops. Since travel was faster and easier by sea, civilizations along the Mediterranean, such as Phoenicia and later Greece, participated in intense trade. Similarly, Ancient Yemen, much more conducive to agriculture than the rest of the Arabian Peninsula, sea traded heavily with the Horn of Africa, some of which it lingually Semitized. The Adnanite Arabs, inhabiting the drier desert areas of the Middle East, were all nomadic pastoralists before some began settling in city states, with the geo - linguistic distribution today being divided between Persian Gulf, the Najd and the Hejaz in the Peninsula, as well as the Bedouin areas beyond the Peninsula. Since ancient times the Middle East has had several lingue franche: Akkadian (c. 14th -- 8th century BCE), Aramaic (c. 8th century BCE -- 8th century CE), Greek (c. 4th century BCE -- 8th century CE), and Arabic (c. 8th century CE -- present). Familiarity with English is not uncommon among the middle and upper classes. Arabic is not commonly spoken in Turkey, Iran, and Israel, and some varieties of Arabic lack mutual intelligibility, thus qualifying as distinct languages by this linguistic criterion. The Middle East was the birthplace of the Abrahamic, Gnostic, and most Iranian religions. Initially the ancient inhabitants of the region followed various ethnic religions, but most of those began to be gradually replaced at first by Christianity (even before the 313 CE Edict of Milan) and finally by Islam (after the spread of the Muslim conquests beyond the Arabian Peninsula in 634 CE). To this day, however, the Middle East has, in particular, some sizable, ethnically distinct Christian minority groups, as well as Jews, concentrated in Israel, and followers of Iranian religions, such as Yazdânism and Zoroastrianism. Some of the smaller ethnoreligious minorities include the Shabak people, the Mandaeans and the Samaritans. It is somewhat controversial whether the Druze religion is a distinct religion in its own right or merely a part of the Ismailist branch of Shia Islam. The Arabian Tectonic Plate was part of the African Plate during much of the Phanerozoic Eon (Paleozoic -- Cenozoic), until the Oligocene Epoch of the Cenozoic Era. Red Sea rifting began in the Eocene, but the separation of Africa and Arabia occurred in the Oligocene, and since then the Arabian Plate has been slowly moving toward the Eurasian Plate. The collision between the Arabian Plate and Eurasia is pushing up the Zagros Mountains of Iran. Because the Arabian Plate and Eurasia plate collide, many cities are in danger such as those in south eastern Turkey (which is on the Arabian Plate). These dangers include earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. The earliest human migrations out of Africa occurred through the Middle East, namely over the Levantine corridor, with the pre-modern Homo erectus about 1.8 million years BP. One of the potential routes for early human migrations toward southern and eastern Asia is Iran. Haplogroup J - P209, the most common human Y - chromosome DNA haplogroup in the Middle East today, is believed to have arisen in the region 31,700 ± 12,800 years ago. The two main current subgroups, J - M267 and J - M172, which now comprise between them almost all of the population of the haplogroup, are both believed to have arisen very early, at least 10,000 years ago. Nonetheless, Y - chromosomes F - M89 * and IJ - M429 * were reported to have been observed in the Iranian plateau. There is evidence of rock carvings along the Nile terraces and in desert oases. In the 10th millennium BC, a culture of hunter - gatherers and fishermen was replaced by a grain - grinding culture. Climate changes and / or overgrazing around 6000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, forming the Sahara. Early tribal peoples migrated to the Nile River, where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia Egypt Persia Anatolia The Levant The ancient Near East was the first to practice intensive year - round agriculture and currency - mediated trade (as opposed to barter), gave the rest of the world the first writing system, invented the potter 's wheel and then the vehicular and mill wheel, created the first centralized governments and law codes, served as birthplace to the first city - states with their high degree of division of labor, as well as laying the foundation for the fields of astronomy and mathematics. However, its empires also introduced rigid social stratification, slavery, and organized warfare. The earliest civilizations in history were established in the region now known as the Middle East around 3500 BC by the Sumerians, in Mesopotamia (Iraq), widely regarded as the cradle of civilization. The Sumerians and the Akkadians (later known as Babylonians and Assyrians) all flourished in this region. "In the course of the fourth millennium BC, city - states developed in southern Mesopotamia that were dominated by temples whose priests represented the cities ' patron deities. The most prominent of the city - states was Sumer, which gave its language to the area, (presumably the first written language,) and became the first great civilization of mankind. About 2340 BC, Sargon the Great (c. 2360 -- 2305 BC) united the city - states in the south and founded the Akkadian dynasty, the world 's first empire. '' During this same time period, Sargon the Great appointed his daughter, Enheduanna, as High Priestess of Inanna at Ur. Her writings, which established her as the first known author in world history, also helped cement Sargon 's position in the region. Soon after the Sumerian civilization began, the Nile valley of Lower and Upper Egypt was unified under the Pharaohs approximately around 3150 BC. Since then, Ancient Egypt experienced 3 high points of civilization, the so - called "Kingdom '' periods: The history of Ancient Egypt is concluded by the Late Period (664 -- 332 BC), immediately followed by the history of Egypt in Classical Antiquity, beginning with Ptolemaic Egypt. Thereafter, civilization quickly spread through the Fertile Crescent to the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea and throughout the Levant, as well as to ancient Anatolia. Ancient Levantine kingdoms and city states included Ebla City, Ugarit City, Kingdom of Aram - Damascus, Kingdom of Israel, Kingdom of Judah, Kingdom of Ammon, Kingdom of Moab, Kingdom of Edom, and the Nabatean kingdom. The Phoenician civilization, encompassing several city states, was a maritime trading culture that established colonial cities in the Mediterranean Basin, most notably Carthage, in 814 BC. Mesopotamia was home to several powerful empires that came to rule almost the entire Middle East -- particularly the Assyrian Empires of 1365 -- 1076 BC and the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 -- 605 BC. The Assyrian Empire, at its peak, was the largest the world had seen. It ruled all of what is now Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, and Bahrain -- with large swathes of Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Sudan, and Arabia. "The Assyrian empires, particularly the third, had a profound and lasting impact on the Near East. Before Assyrian hegemony ended, the Assyrians brought the highest civilization to the then known world. From the Caspian to Cyprus, from Anatolia to Egypt, Assyrian imperial expansion would bring into the Assyrian sphere nomadic and barbaric communities, and would bestow the gift of civilization upon them. '' From the early 6th century BC onwards, several Persian states dominated the region, beginning with the Medes and non-Persian Neo-Babylonian Empire, then their successor the Achaemenid Empire known as the first Persian Empire, conquered in the late 4th century BC. by the very short - lived Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great, and then successor kingdoms such as Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid state in Western Asia. After a century of hiatus, the idea of the Persian Empire was revived by the Parthians in the 3rd century BC -- and continued by their successors, the Sassanids from the 3rd century AD. This empire dominated sizable parts of what is now the Asian part of the Middle East and continued to influence the rest of the Asiatic and African Middle East region, until the Arab Muslim conquest of Persia in the mid-7th century CE. Between the 1st century BC and the early 7th century AD, the region was completely dominated by the Romans and the Parthians and Sassanids on the other hand, which often culminated in various Roman - Persian Wars over the seven centuries. Eastern Rite, Church of the East Christianity took hold in Persian - ruled Mesopotamia, particularly in Assyria from the 1st century AD onwards, and the region became a center of a flourishing Syriac -- Assyrian literary tradition. In the 1st century BC, the expanding Roman Republic absorbed the whole Eastern Mediterranean, which included much of the Near East. The Roman Empire united the region with most of Europe and North Africa in a single political and economic unit. Even areas not directly annexed were strongly influenced by the Empire, which was the most powerful political and cultural entity for centuries. Though Roman culture spread across the region, the Greek culture and language first established in the region by the Macedonian Empire continued to dominate throughout the Roman period. Cities in the Middle East, especially Alexandria, became major urban centers for the Empire and the region became the Empire 's "bread basket '' as the key agricultural producer. Ægyptus was by far the most wealthy Roman province. As the Christian religion spread throughout the Roman and Persian Empires, it took root in the Middle East, and cities such as Alexandria and Edessa became important centers of Christian scholarship. By the 5th century, Christianity was the dominant religion in the Middle East, with other faiths (gradually including heretical Christian sects) being actively repressed. The Middle East 's ties to the city of Rome were gradually severed as the Empire split into East and West, with the Middle East tied to the new Roman capital of Constantinople. The subsequent Fall of the Western Roman Empire therefore, had minimal direct impact on the region. The Eastern Roman Empire, today commonly known as the Byzantine Empire, ruling from the Balkans to the Euphrates, became increasingly defined by and dogmatic about Christianity, gradually creating religious rifts between the doctrines dictated by the establishment in Constantinople and believers in many parts of the Middle East. By this time, Greek had become the ' lingua franca ' of the region, although ethnicities such as the Syriacs and the Hebrew continued to exist. Under Byzantine / Greek rule the area of the Levant met an era of stability and prosperity. From the 7th century, a new power was rising in the Middle East, that of Islam, whilst the Byzantine Roman and Sassanid Persian empires were both weakened by centuries of stalemate warfare during the Roman -- Persian Wars. In a series of rapid Muslim conquests, the Arab armies, motivated by Islam and led by the Caliphs and skilled military commanders such as Khalid ibn al - Walid, swept through most of the Middle East; reducing Byzantine lands by more than half and completely engulfing the Persian lands. In Anatolia, their expansion was blocked by the still capable Byzantines with the help of the Bulgarians. The Byzantine provinces of Roman Syria, North Africa, and Sicily, however, could not mount such a resistance, and the Muslim conquerors swept through those regions. At the far west, they crossed the sea taking Visigothic Hispania before being halted in southern France by the Franks. At its greatest extent, the Arab Empire was the first empire to control the entire Middle East, as well 3 / 4 of the Mediterranean region, the only other empire besides the Roman Empire to control most of the Mediterranean Sea. It would be the Arab Caliphates of the Middle Ages that would first unify the entire Middle East as a distinct region and create the dominant ethnic identity that persists today. The Seljuq Empire would also later dominate the region. Much of North Africa became a peripheral area to the main Muslim centres in the Middle East, but Iberia (Al - Andalus) and Morocco soon broke from this distant control and founded one of the world 's most advanced societies at the time, along with Baghdad in the eastern Mediterranean. Between 831 and 1071, the Emirate of Sicily was one of the major centres of Islamic culture in the Mediterranean. After its conquest by the Normans the island developed its own distinct culture with the fusion of Arab, Western and Byzantine influences. Palermo remained a leading artistic and commercial centre of the Mediterranean well into the Middle Ages. Africa was reviving, however, as more organized and centralized states began to form in the later Middle Ages after the Renaissance of the 12th century. Motivated by religion and dreams of conquest, the kings of Europe launched a number of Crusades to try to roll back Muslim power and retake the Holy Land. The Crusades were unsuccessful in this goal, but they were far more effective in weakening the already tottering Byzantine Empire that began to lose increasing amounts of territory to the Ottoman Turks. They also rearranged the balance of power in the Muslim world as Egypt once again emerged as a major power in the eastern Mediterranean. The dominance of the Arabs came to a sudden end in the mid-11th century with the arrival of the Seljuq Turks, migrating south from the Turkic homelands in Central Asia, who conquered Persia, Iraq (capturing Baghdad in 1055), Syria, Palestine, and the Hejaz. Egypt held out under the Fatimid caliphs until 1169, when it too fell to the Turks. Despite massive territorial losses in the 7th century, the Christian Byzantine Empire continued to be a potent military and economic force in the Mediterranean, preventing Arab expansion into much of Europe. The Seljuqs ' defeat of the Byzantine military in the 11th century and settling in Anatolia effectively marked the end of Byzantine influence in the region. The Seljuks ruled most of the Middle East region for the next 200 years, but their empire soon broke up into a number of smaller sultanates. Christian (Western Europe) had staged a remarkable economic and demographic recovery in the 11th century since the nadir of its fortunes in the 7th century. The fragmentation of the Middle East allowed joined forces, mainly from England, France and the emerging Holy Roman Empire to enter the region. In 1095, Pope Urban II had responded to pleas from the flagging Byzantine Empire, summoned the European aristocracy to recapture the Holy Land for Christianity, and in 1099 the knights of the First Crusade captured Jerusalem. They founded the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which survived until 1187, when Saladin retook the city. Smaller crusader fiefdoms survived until 1291. In the early 13th century, a new wave of invaders, the armies of the Mongol Empire, swept through the region, sacking Baghdad in 1258 and advancing as far south as the border of Egypt. Mamluk Emir Baibars left Damascus to Cairo where he was welcomed by Sultan Qutuz. After taking Damascus, the Ilkhanate was established and Hulagu demanded that Sultan Qutuz surrender Egypt but Sultan Qutuz had Hulagu 's envoys killed and, with the help of Baibars, mobilized his troops. Although Hulagu had to leave for the East when great Khan Möngke died in action against the Southern Song, he left his lieutenant, the Christian Kitbuqa, in charge. Sultan Qutuz drew the Mongol army into an ambush near the Orontes River, routed them at the Battle of Ain Jalut and captured and executed Kitbuqa. With this victory Mamluk Turks became Sultans of Egypt and the real power in the Middle East and gaining control of Palestine and Syria, while other Turkish sultans controlled Iraq and Anatolia until the arrival of the Ottomans. By the early 15th century, a new power had arisen in western Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire. Ottoman khans, who in 1453 captured the Christian Byzantine capitol of Constantinople and made themselves sultans. The Mamluks held the Ottomans out of the Middle East for a century, but in 1514 Selim the Grim began the systematic Ottoman conquest of the region. Syria was occupied in 1516 and Egypt in 1517, extinguishing the Mameluk line. Iraq was conquered almost in 40 years from the Iranian Safavids, who were successors of the Aq Qoyunlu. The Ottomans united the whole region under one ruler for the first time since the reign of the Abbasid caliphs of the 10th century, and they kept control of it for 400 years, despite brief intermissions created by the Iranian Safavids and Afsharids. "The Ottoman Empires was one of the greatest, most extensive, and long lasting in the History of the World. It included most of the territories of the Eastern Roman Empire (...) and held portions that the Byzantines never ruled (...) The Ottoman Empire was born in 1300 and endured until World War I -. '' By this time the Ottomans also held Greece, the Balkans, and most of Hungary, setting the new frontier between east and west far to the north of the Danube. In the west, Europe was rapidly expanding; demographically, economically and culturally. By the 19th century, Europe had overtaken the Muslim world in wealth, population and -- most importantly -- technology. The industrial revolution fuelled a boom that laid the foundations for the growth of capitalism. By 1700, the Ottomans had been driven out of Hungary. Although some areas of Ottoman Europe, such as Albania and Bosnia, saw many conversions to Islam, the area was never culturally absorbed into the Muslim world. From 1768 to 1918, the Ottomans gradually lost territory. During the 19th century, Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria asserted their independence, and in the Balkan Wars of 1912 -- 13 the Ottomans were driven out of Europe altogether, except for the city of Constantinople and its hinterland. By the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire was known as the "sick man of Europe '', increasingly under the financial control of the European powers. Domination soon turned to outright conquest. The French annexed Algeria in 1830 and Tunisia in 1878. The British occupied Egypt in 1882, though it remained under nominal Ottoman sovereignty. The British also established effective control of the Persian Gulf, and the French extended their influence into Lebanon and Syria. In 1912, the Italians seized Libya and the Dodecanese islands, just off the coast of the Ottoman heartland of Anatolia. The Ottomans turned to Germany to protect them from the western powers, but the result was increasing financial and military dependence on Germany. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Middle Eastern rulers tried to modernize their states to compete more effectively with the European powers. In the Ottoman Empire, the Tanzimat reforms re-strengthened Ottoman rule and were furthered by the Young Ottomans in the late 19th century, leading to the First Constitutional Era in the Empire that included the writing of the 1876 constitution and the establishment of the Ottoman Parliament. The authors of the 1906 revolution in Persia all sought to import versions of the western model of constitutional government, civil law, secular education and industrial development into their countries. Across the region, railways and telegraphs lines were built, schools and universities were opened, and a new class of army officers, lawyers, teachers and administrators emerged, challenging the traditional leadership of Islamic scholars. The first Ottoman constitutional experiment ended soon after it began, however, when the autocratic Sultan Abdul Hamid II abolished the parliament and the constitution in favor of personal rule. Abdul Hamid ruled by decree for the next 30 years, stirring democratic resentment towards his rule. The reform movement known as the Young Turks emerged in the 1890s against Abdul Hamid 's rule, which included massacres against minorities. The Young Turks seized power in the 1908 Young Turk Revolution and established the Second Constitutional Era, leading to a pluralist and multiparty elections in the Empire for the first time in 1908. The Young Turks split into two parties, the pro-German and pro-centralization Committee of Union and Progress and the pro-British and pro-decentralization Freedom and Accord Party. The former was led by an ambitious pair of army officers, Ismail Enver Bey (later Pasha) and Ahmed Cemal Pasha, and a radical lawyer, Mehmed Talaat Bey (later Pasha). After a power struggle between the two parties of Young Turks, the Committee emerged victorious and became a ruling junta, with Talaat as Grand Vizier and Enver as War Minister, and established a German - funded modernisation program across the Empire. Enver Bey 's alliance with Germany, which he saw as the most advanced military power in Europe, was enabled by the British demands that the Ottoman Empire cede their formal capital Edirne (Adrianople) to the Bulgarians after losing the First Balkan War, which the Turks saw as a betrayal by Britain. These demands cost Britain the support of the Turks, as the pro-British Freedom and Accord Party was now repressed under the pro-German Committee for, in Enver 's words, "shamefully delivering the country to the enemy (Britain) '' after agreeing to the demands to give up Edirne. In 1878, as the result of the Cyprus Convention, the United Kingdom took over the government of Cyprus as a protectorate from the Ottoman Empire. While the Cypriots at first welcomed British rule, hoping that they would gradually achieve prosperity, democracy and national liberation, they soon became disillusioned. The British imposed heavy taxes to cover the compensation they paid to the Sultan for conceding Cyprus to them. Moreover, the people were not given the right to participate in the administration of the island, since all powers were reserved to the High Commissioner and to London. In 1819, the Government of Lord Liverpool created the Six Acts, which established press censorship, the banning of political parties (mainly the communist party), the dissolution of municipal elections, as well as the out - ruling of trade unions, meetings of more than five individuals, and the tolling of church bells outside services. Meanwhile, the fall of the Ottomans and the partitioning of Anatolia by the Allies led to resistance by the Turkish population, under the Turkish National Movement led by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the Turkish victory against the invading powers during the Turkish War of Independence, and the founding of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923. As the first President of Turkey, Atatürk embarked on a program of modernisation and secularisation. He abolished the caliphate, emancipated women, enforced western dress and the use of a new Turkish alphabet based on Latin script in place of the Arabic alphabet, and abolished the jurisdiction of the Islamic courts. In effect, Turkey, having given up rule over the Arab World, was now determined to secede from the Middle East and become culturally part of Europe. Another turning point in the history of the Middle East came when oil was discovered, first in Persia in 1908 and later in Saudi Arabia (in 1938) and the other Persian Gulf states, and also in Libya and Algeria. The Middle East, it turned out, possessed the world 's largest easily accessible reserves of crude oil, the most important commodity in the 20th - century industrial world. Although western oil companies pumped and exported nearly all of the oil to fuel the rapidly expanding automobile industry and other western industrial developments, the kings and emirs of the oil states became immensely rich, enabling them to consolidate their hold on power and giving them a stake in preserving western hegemony over the region. A Western dependence on Middle Eastern oil and the decline of British influence led to a growing American interest in the region. Initially, the Western oil companies established a predominance over oil production and extraction. However, indigenous movements towards nationalizing oil assets, oil sharing and the advent of OPEC ensured a shift in the balance of power towards the Arab oil producing nations. Oil wealth also had the effect of stultifying whatever movement towards economic, political or social reform might have emerged in the Arab world under the influence of the Kemalist revolution in Turkey. In 1914, Enver Pasha 's alliance with Germany led the Ottoman Empire into the fatal step of joining Germany and Austria - Hungary in World War I, against Britain and France. The British saw the Ottomans as the weak link in the enemy alliance, and concentrated on knocking them out of the war. When a direct assault failed at Gallipoli in 1915, they turned to fomenting revolution in the Ottoman domains, exploiting the awakening force of Arab, Armenian, and Assyrian nationalism against the Ottomans. The British found an ally in Sharif Hussein, the hereditary ruler of Mecca (and believed by Muslims to be a descendant of the family of Muhammad), who led an Arab Revolt against Ottoman rule, having received a promise of Arab independence in exchange. The Allies, led by Britain, won the war and seized most of the Ottoman territories. Turkey just managed to survive. The war transformed the region in terms of increased British and French involvement; the creation of the Middle Eastern state system as seen in Turkey and Saudi Arabia; the emergence of explicitly more nationalist politics, as seen in Turkey and Egypt; and, with the rise of the motor vehicle industry, the rapid growth of the Middle Eastern oil industry. When the Ottoman Empire was defeated by an Arab uprising and the British forces after the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in 1918, the Arab population did not get what it wanted. Islamic activists of more recent times have described as an Anglo - French betrayal. British and French governments concluded a secret treaty (the Sykes -- Picot Agreement) to partition the Middle East between them. The British in 1917 announced the Balfour Declaration promised the international Zionist movement their support in re-creating the historic Jewish homeland in Palestine. When the Ottomans departed, the Arabs proclaimed an independent state in Damascus, but were too weak, militarily and economically, to resist the European powers for long, and Britain and France soon established control and re-arranged the Middle East to suit themselves. Syria became a French protectorate as a League of Nations mandate. The Christian coastal areas were split off to become Lebanon, another French protectorate. Iraq and Palestine became British mandated territories. Iraq became the "Kingdom of Iraq '' and one of Sharif Hussein 's sons, Faisal, was installed as the King of Iraq. Iraq incorporated large populations of Kurds, Assyrians and Turkmens, many of whom had been promised independent states of their own. Palestine became the "British Mandate of Palestine '' and was split in half. The eastern half of Palestine became the "Emirate of Transjordan '' to provide a throne for another of Husayn 's sons, Abdullah. The western half of Palestine was placed under direct British administration. The Jewish population of Palestine which numbered less than 8 percent in 1918 was given free rein to immigrate, buy land from absentee landlords, set up a shadow government in waiting and establish the nucleus of a state under the protection of the British Army which suppressed a Palestinian revolt in 1936. Most of the Arabian peninsula fell to another British ally, Ibn Saud. Saud created the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, Syria and Egypt made moves towards independence. In 1919, Saad Zaghloul orchestrated mass demonstrations in Egypt known as the First Revolution. While Zaghloul would later become Prime Minister, the British repression of the anticolonial riots led to the death of some 800 people. In 1920, Syrian forces were defeated by the French in the Battle of Maysalun and Iraqi forces were defeated by the British when they revolted. In 1922, the (nominally) independent Kingdom of Egypt was created following the British government 's issuance of the Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was technically "neutral '' during World War II, Cairo soon became a major military base for the British forces and the country was occupied. The British were able to do this because of a 1936 treaty by which the United Kingdom maintained that it had the right to station troops on Egyptian soil to protect the Suez Canal. In 1941, the Rashīd ` Alī al - Gaylānī coup in Iraq led to the British invasion of the country during the Anglo - Iraqi War. The British invasion of Iraq was followed by the Allied invasion of Syria -- Lebanon and the Anglo - Soviet invasion of Iran. In Palestine, conflicting forces of Arab nationalism and Zionism created a situation the British could neither resolve nor extricate themselves from. The rise to power of German dictator Adolf Hitler had created a new urgency in the Zionist quest to immigrate to Palestine and create a Jewish state. A Palestinian state was also an attractive alternative to the Arab and Persian leaders, instead of the de facto British, French, and perceived Jewish colonialism or imperialism, under the logic of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend ''. The British, the French, and the Soviets departed from many parts of the Middle East during and after World War II. Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East states on the Arabian Peninsula generally remained unaffected by World War II. However, after the war, the following Middle East states had independence restored or became independent: The struggle between the Arabs and the Jews in Palestine culminated in the 1947 United Nations plan to partition Palestine. This plan attempted to create an Arab state and a Jewish state in the narrow space between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. While the Jewish leaders accepted it, the Arab leaders rejected this plan. On 14 May 1948, when the British Mandate expired, the Zionist leadership declared the State of Israel. In the 1948 Arab -- Israeli War which immediately followed, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia intervened and were defeated by Israel. About 800,000 Palestinians fled from areas annexed by Israel and became refugees in neighbouring countries, thus creating the "Palestinian problem '', which has troubled the region ever since. Approximately two - thirds of 758,000 -- 866,000 of the Jews expelled or who fled from Arab lands after 1948 were absorbed and naturalized by the State of Israel. On August 16, 1960, Cyprus gained its independence from the United Kingdom. Archbishop Makarios III, a charismatic religious and political leader, was elected the first president of independent Cyprus, and in 1961 it became the 99th member of the United Nations. The departure of the European powers from direct control of the region, the establishment of Israel, and the increasing importance of the oil industry, marked the creation of the modern Middle East. These developments led to a growing presence of the United States in Middle East affairs. The U.S. was the ultimate guarantor of the stability of the region, and from the 1950s the dominant force in the oil industry. When revolutions brought radical anti-Western regimes to power in Egypt in 1954, Syria in 1963, Iraq in 1968 and Libya in 1969, the Soviet Union, seeking to open a new arena of the Cold War in the Middle East, allied itself with Arab socialist rulers such as Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and Saddam Hussein of Iraq. These regimes gained popular support through their promises to destroy the state of Israel, defeat the U.S. and other "western imperialists, '' and to bring prosperity to the Arab masses. When the Six - Day War of 1967 between Israel and its neighbours ended in a decisive loss for the Muslim side, many in the Islamic world saw this as the failure of Arab socialism. This represents a turning point when "fundamental and militant Islam began to fill the political vacuum created ''. In response to this challenge to its interests in the region, the U.S. felt obliged to defend its remaining allies, the conservative monarchies of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran and the Persian Gulf emirates, whose methods of rule were almost as unattractive to western eyes as those of the anti-western regimes. Iran in particular became a key U.S. ally, until a revolution led by the Shi'a clergy overthrew the monarchy in 1979 and established a theocratic regime that was even more anti-western than the secular regimes in Iraq or Syria. This forced the U.S. into a close alliance with Saudi Arabia. The list of Arab - Israeli wars includes a great number of major wars such as 1948 Arab -- Israeli War, 1956 Suez War, 1967 Six - Day War, 1970 War of Attrition, 1973 Yom Kippur War, 1982 Lebanon War, as well as a number of lesser conflicts. Between 1963 and 1974, conflict arising between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots in British colonial Cyprus led to Cypriot intercommunal violence and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The Cyprus dispute remains unresolved. In the mid-to - late 1960s, the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al - Din al - Bitar took power in both Iraq and Syria. Iraq was first ruled by Ahmed Hassan al - Bakr, but was succeeded by Saddam Hussein in 1979, and Syria was ruled first by a Military Committee led by Salah Jadid, and later Hafez al - Assad until 2000, when he was succeeded by his son, Bashar al - Assad. In 1979, Egypt under Nasser 's successor, Anwar Sadat, concluded a peace treaty with Israel, ending the prospects of a united Arab military front. From the 1970s the Palestinians, led by Yasser Arafat 's Palestine Liberation Organization, resorted to a prolonged campaign of violence against Israel and against American, Jewish and western targets generally, as a means of weakening Israeli resolve and undermining western support for Israel. The Palestinians were supported in this, to varying degrees, by the regimes in Syria, Libya, Iran and Iraq. The high point of this campaign came in the 1975 United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379 condemning Zionism as a form of racism and the reception given to Arafat by the United Nations General Assembly. Resolution 3379 was revoked in 1991 by the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 4686. Due to many of the frantic events of the late 1970s in the Middle East it culimated in the Iran -- Iraq War between neighbouring Iran and Iraq. The war, started by Iraq, who invaded Iranian Khuzestan in 1980 at the behest of the latter 's chaotic state of country due to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, eventually turned into a stalemate with hundreds of thousands of dead on both sides. The fall of the Soviet Union and the collapse of communism in the early 1990s had several consequences for the Middle East. It allowed large numbers of Soviet Jews to emigrate from Russia and Ukraine to Israel, further strengthening the Jewish state. It cut off the easiest source of credit, armaments and diplomatic support to the anti-western Arab regimes, weakening their position. It opened up the prospect of cheap oil from Russia, driving down the price of oil and reducing the west 's dependence on oil from the Arab states. It discredited the model of development through authoritarian state socialism, which Egypt (under Nasser), Algeria, Syria and Iraq had followed since the 1960s, leaving these regimes politically and economically stranded. Rulers such as Saddam Hussein in Iraq increasingly turned to Arab nationalism as a substitute for socialism. Saddam Hussein led Iraq into a prolonged and very costly war with Iran in the 1980s, and then into its fateful invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Kuwait had been part of the Ottoman province of Basra before 1918, and thus in a sense part of Iraq, but Iraq had recognized its independence in the 1960s. The U.S. responded to the invasion by forming a coalition of allies that included Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria, gaining approval from the United Nations and then evicting Iraq from Kuwait by force in the Persian Gulf War. President George H.W. Bush did not, however, attempt to overthrow Saddam Hussein 's regime, something the U.S. later came to regret. The Persian Gulf War and its aftermath brought about a permanent U.S. military presence in the Persian Gulf region, particularly in Saudi Arabia, which offended many Muslims, and was a reason often cited by Osama bin Laden as justification for the September 11 attacks. The rapid spread of political democracy and the development of market economies in Eastern Europe, Latin America, East Asia and parts of Africa had passed by the Middle East. In the whole region, only Israel, Turkey and to some extent Lebanon and the Palestinian territories were democracies. Other countries had legislative bodies, but these had little power. In the Persian Gulf states the majority of the population could not vote because they were guest workers rather than citizens. Many Arab countries counter-claim that a direct result of Western foreign policy and an overly strong Israel, has been the removal of much progress that would come naturally from these nations. In most Middle Eastern countries, the growth of market economies was inhibited by political restrictions, corruption and cronyism, overspending on arms and prestige projects, and over-dependence on oil revenues. Successful economies in the region were those that combined oil wealth with low populations, such as Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. In these states, the ruling emirs allowed some political and social liberalization, but without giving up any of their own power. Lebanon also rebuilt a fairly successful economy after a prolonged civil war in the 1980s. In the opening years of the 21st century all these factors combined to raise the Middle East conflict to a new height, and to spread its consequences across the globe. The failure of the attempt by Bill Clinton to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians at Camp David in 2000 (2000 Camp David Summit) led directly to the election of Ariel Sharon as Prime Minister of Israel and to the Al - Aqsa Intifada, characterised by suicide bombing of Israeli civilian targets. This was the first major outbreak of violence since the Oslo Peace Accords of 1993. At the same time, the failures of most of the Arab regimes and the bankruptcy of secular Arab radicalism led a section of educated Arabs (and other Muslims) to embrace Islamism, promoted both by the Shi'a clerics of Iran and by the powerful Wahhabist sect of Saudi Arabia. Many of the militant Islamists gained their military training while fighting against the forces of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. Many of the Afghan jihadists, though supposedly none of the Arab volunteers, were funded by the US under Operation Cyclone as part of the Reagan Doctrine, one of the longest and most expensive covert CIA operations ever undertaken. One of these Arab militants was a wealthy Saudi Arabian, Osama bin Laden. After fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan, he formed the al - Qaida organization, which was responsible for the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, the USS Cole bombing and the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. The September 11 attacks led the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to launch an invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 to overthrow the Taliban regime, which was harbouring Bin Laden and his organisation. The U.S. and its allies described this operation as part of a global "War on Terror. '' During 2002 the administration, led by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, developed a plan to invade Iraq, remove Saddam from power, and turn Iraq into a democratic state with a free - market economy, which they hoped would serve as a model for the rest of the Middle East. When the U.S. and its principal allies, Britain, Italy, Spain and Australia, could not secure United Nations approval for the execution of the numerous United Nations resolutions, they launched an invasion of Iraq, overthrowing Saddam with no great difficulty in April 2003. The advent of a new western army of occupation in a Middle Eastern capital marked a turning point in the history of the region. Despite successful elections (although boycotted by large portions of Iraq 's Sunni population) held in January 2005, much of Iraq had all but disintegrated, due to a post-war insurgency which morphed into persistent ethnic violence that the American army was initially unable to quell. Many of Iraq 's intellectual and business elite fled the country, and many Iraqi refugees left as a result of the insurgency, further destabilizing the region. A responsive surge in US forces in Iraq has recently been largely successful in controlling the insurgency and stabilizing the country. By 2005, President George W. Bush 's Road map for peace between Israel and the Palestinians was stalled, although this situation had begun to change with Yasser Arafat 's death in 2004. In response, Israel moved towards a unilateral solution, pushing ahead with the Israeli West Bank barrier to protect Israel from Palestinian suicide bombers and proposed unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. The barrier if completed would amount to a de facto annexation of areas of the West Bank by Israel. In 2006 a new conflict erupted between Israel and Hezbollah Shi'a militia in southern Lebanon, further setting back any "prospects for peace ''. Starting in late 2010 to the present, a revolutionary wave popularly known as the Arab Spring has brought major protests, uprisings, and even revolutions to several Middle Eastern countries and appears to be in the process of significantly changing the social order of the region. By country: General:

who sang the song we're an american band

We 're an American band (song) - wikipedia "We 're an American Band '' (from the album of the same name) became Grand Funk Railroad 's first # 1 single on September 29, 1973, Mark Farner 's 25th birthday. Written by Don Brewer and produced by Todd Rundgren, its huge chart success broadened Grand Funk 's appeal. It was sung by Brewer rather than Farner, who usually took lead vocals. It is the 99th song on VH1 's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. Brewer 's lyrics are somewhat autobiographical, detailing the band 's recent tour and their energetic live performances. In the song, the band mentions traveling through Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as stopping to party with four groupies that sneak into their hotel in Omaha, Nebraska. The lyrics also mention "sweet sweet Connie '', which is a reference to legendary groupie Connie Hamzy. According to rock critic / writer Dave Marsh in his book, The Heart of Rock and Soul, Grand Funk was touring with the British group Humble Pie in early 1973. After one performance, the two groups were drinking in a bar when they began arguing over the merits of British versus American rock. Grand Funk drummer Don Brewer stood up and after bragging about American rock heroes such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley, proudly announced, "We 're an American band! ''. Thus inspired, he wrote the song the next morning; by late 1973, it was the top - selling song in the world. A video was also made, showing the band playing the song as well as engaging in activities such as basketball, dirtbike riding, and watersports. The original single was released on gold transparent vinyl.

who wrote a gospel (nt) between matthew and luke

Gospel of Matthew - wikipedia The Gospel According to Matthew (Greek: Τὸ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγέλιον, translit. Tò katà Matthaīon euangélion) is the first book of the New Testament and one of the three synoptic gospels. It tells how the Messiah, Jesus, rejected by Israel, finally sends the disciples to preach the gospel to the whole world. Most scholars believe it was composed between AD 80 and 90, with a range of possibility between AD 70 to 110 (a pre-70 date remains a minority view). The anonymous author was probably a male Jew, standing on the margin between traditional and non-traditional Jewish values, and familiar with technical legal aspects of scripture being debated in his time. Writing in a polished Semitic "synagogue Greek '', he drew on three main sources: the Gospel of Mark, the hypothetical collection of sayings known as the Q source, and material unique to his own community, called the M source or "Special Matthew ''. The divine nature of Jesus was a major issue for the Matthaean community, the crucial element marking them from their Jewish neighbors; while Mark begins with baptism and transfiguration, Matthew goes back further still, showing Jesus as the Son of God from his birth, the fulfillment of Old Testament messianic prophecies. The title Son of David identifies Jesus as the healing and miracle - working Messiah of Israel (it is used exclusively in relation to miracles), sent to Israel alone. As Son of Man he will return to judge the world, an expectation which his disciples recognise but of which his enemies are unaware. As Son of God he is God revealing himself through his son, and Jesus proving his sonship through his obedience and example. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist 's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. Prior to the Crucifixion the Jews are called Israelites, the honorific title of God 's chosen people; after it, they are called "Ioudaioi '', Jews, a sign that through their rejection of the Christ the "Kingdom of Heaven '' has been taken away from them and given instead to the church. The oldest relatively complete manuscripts of the Bible are the Codex Vaticanus and the Codex Sinaiticus, which date from the 4th century. Besides these, there exist manuscript fragments ranging from a few verses to whole chapters. P (\ displaystyle (\ mathfrak (P))) and P (\ displaystyle (\ mathfrak (P))) are notable fragments of Matthew. These are copies of copies. In the process of recopying, variations slipped in, different regional manuscript traditions emerged, and corrections and adjustments were made. Modern textual scholars collate all major surviving manuscripts, as well as citations in the works of the Church Fathers, in order to produce a text which most likely approximates to the lost autographs. The Gospel of Matthew is anonymous: the author is not named within the text, and the superscription "according to Matthew '' was added some time in the 2nd century. The tradition that the author was Matthew the Apostle begins with Papias of Hierapolis (c. AD 100 -- 140), an early bishop and Apostolic Father, who is cited by the Church historian Eusebius (AD 260 -- 340), as follows: "Matthew collected the oracles (logia: sayings of or about Jesus) in the Hebrew language (Hebraïdi dialektōi), and each one interpreted (hērmēneusen -- perhaps ' translated ') them as best he could. '' On the surface this could imply that Matthew 's gospel itself was written in Hebrew or Aramaic by the apostle Matthew and later translated into Greek, but nowhere does the author claim to have been an eyewitness to events, and Matthew 's Greek "reveals none of the telltale marks of a translation. '' Scholars have put forward several theories to explain Papias: perhaps Matthew wrote two gospels, one, now lost, in Hebrew, the other the surviving Greek version; or perhaps the logia were a collection of sayings rather than the gospel; or by dialektōi Papias may have meant that Matthew wrote in the Jewish style rather than in the Hebrew language. The consensus is that Papias does not describe the Gospel of Matthew as we know it, and it is generally accepted that Matthew was written in Greek, not in Aramaic or Hebrew. The majority view of modern scholars is that Mark was the first gospel to be composed and that Matthew (who includes some 600 of Mark 's 661 verses) and Luke both drew upon it as a major source for their works. The author of Matthew did not, however, simply copy Mark, but used it as a base, emphasising Jesus ' place in the Jewish tradition and including other details not covered in Mark. An additional 220 (approximately) verses, shared by Matthew and Luke but not found in Mark, from a second source, a hypothetical collection of sayings to which scholars give the name "Quelle '' ("source '' in the German language), or the Q source. This view, known as the Two - source hypothesis (Mark and Q), allows for a further body of tradition known as "Special Matthew '', or the M source, meaning material unique to Matthew; this may represent a separate source, or it may come from the author 's church, or he may have composed these verses himself. The author also had the Greek scriptures at his disposal, both as book - scrolls (Greek translations of Isaiah, the Psalms etc.) and in the form of "testimony collections '' (collections of excerpts), and, if Papias is correct, probably oral stories of his community. These sources were predominantly in Greek, but mostly not from any known version of the Septuagint; although a few scholars hold that some of them may have been Greek translations of older Hebrew or Aramaic sources. The majority view among scholars is that Matthew was a product of the last quarter of the 1st century. This makes it a work of the second generation of Christians, for whom the defining event was the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in AD 70 in the course of the First Jewish -- Roman War (AD 66 -- 73); from this point on, what had begun with Jesus of Nazareth as a Jewish messianic movement became an increasingly Gentile phenomenon evolving in time into a separate religion. The Christian community to which Matthew belonged, like many 1st - century Christians, were still part of the larger Jewish community: hence the designation Jewish Christian to describe them. The relationship of Matthew to this wider world of Judaism remains a subject of study and contention, the principal question being to what extent, if any, Matthew 's community had cut itself off from its Jewish roots. Certainly there was conflict between Matthew 's group and other Jewish groups, and it is generally agreed that the root of the conflict was the Matthew community 's belief in Jesus as the Messiah and authoritative interpreter of the law, as one risen from the dead and uniquely endowed with divine authority. The author of Matthew wrote for a community of Greek - speaking Jewish Christians located probably in Syria (Antioch, the largest city in Roman Syria and the third - largest in the empire, is often mentioned). Unlike Mark, he never bothers to explain Jewish customs, since his intended audience was a Jewish one; unlike Luke, who traces Jesus ' ancestry back to Adam, father of the human race, he traces it only to Abraham, father of the Jews; of his three presumed sources only "M '', the material from his own community, refers to a "church '' (ecclesia), an organised group with rules for keeping order; and the content of "M '' suggests that this community was strict in keeping the Jewish law, holding that they must exceed the scribes and the Pharisees in "righteousness '' (adherence to Jewish law). Writing from within a Jewish - Christian community growing increasingly distant from other Jews and becoming increasingly Gentile in its membership and outlook, Matthew put down in his gospel his vision "of an assembly or church in which both Jew and Gentile would flourish together ''. Matthew, alone among the gospels, alternates five blocks of narrative with five of discourse, marking each off with the phrase "When Jesus had finished... '' (see Five Discourses of Matthew). Some scholars see in this a deliberate plan to create a parallel to the first five books of the Old Testament; others see a three - part structure based around the idea of Jesus as Messiah; or a set of weekly readings spread out over the year; or no plan at all. Davies and Allison, in their widely used commentary, draw attention to the use of "triads '' (the gospel groups things in threes), and R.T. France, in another influential commentary, notes the geographic movement from Galilee to Jerusalem and back, with the post-resurrection appearances in Galilee as the culmination of the whole story. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the words "The Book of Genealogy (in Greek, "Genesis '') of Jesus Christ ", deliberately echoing the words of Genesis 2: 4 in the Old Testament in Greek. The genealogy tells of Jesus ' descent from Abraham and King David and the miraculous events surrounding his virgin birth, and the infancy narrative tells of the massacre of the innocents, the flight into Egypt, and eventual journey to Nazareth. The first narrative section begins. John baptizes Jesus, and the Holy Spirit descends upon him. Jesus prays and meditates in the wilderness for forty days, and is tempted by Satan. His early ministry by word and deed in Galilee meets with much success, and leads to the Sermon on the Mount, the first of the discourses. The sermon presents the ethics of the kingdom of God, introduced by the Beatitudes ("Blessed are... ''). It concludes with a reminder that the response to the kingdom will have eternal consequences, and the crowd 's amazed response leads into the next narrative block. From the authoritative words of Jesus the gospel turns to three sets of three miracles interwoven with two sets of two discipleship stories (the second narrative), followed by a discourse on mission and suffering. Jesus commissions the Twelve Disciples and sends them to preach to the Jews, perform miracles, and prophesy the imminent coming of the Kingdom, commanding them to travel lightly, without staff or sandals. Opposition to Jesus comes to a head with accusations that his deeds are done through the power of Satan; Jesus in turn accuses his opponents of blaspheming the Holy Spirit. The discourse is a set of parables emphasising the sovereignty of God, and concluding with a challenge to the disciples to understand the teachings as scribes of the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew avoids using the holy word God in the expression "Kingdom of God ''; instead he prefers the term "Kingdom of Heaven '', reflecting the Jewish tradition of not speaking the name of God). The fourth narrative section reveals that the increasing opposition to Jesus will result in his crucifixion in Jerusalem, and that his disciples must therefore prepare for his absence. The instructions for the post-crucifixion church emphasize responsibility and humility. (This section contains Matthew 16: 13 -- 19, in which Simon, newly renamed Peter, (πέτρος, petros, meaning "stone ''), calls Jesus "the Christ, the son of the living God '', and Jesus states that on this "bedrock '' (πέτρα, petra) he will build his church: this passage forms the foundation for the papacy 's claim of authority). Jesus travels toward Jerusalem, and the opposition intensifies: he is tested by Pharisees as soon as he begins to move towards the city, and when he arrives he is soon in conflict with the Temple 's traders and religious leaders. He teaches in the Temple, debating with the chief priests and religious leaders and speaking in parables about the Kingdom of God and the failings of the chief priests and the Pharisees. The Herodian caucus also become involved in a scheme to entangle Jesus (Matthew 22: 15 -- 16), but Jesus ' careful response to their enquiry, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar 's, and to God the things that are God 's '' (Matthew 22: 23), leaves them marveling at his words (Matthew 22: 24). The disciples ask about the future, and in his final discourse (the Olivet Discourse) Jesus speaks of the coming end. There will be false Messiahs, earthquakes, and persecutions, the sun, moon, and stars will fail, but "this generation '' will not pass away before all the prophecies are fulfilled. The disciples must steel themselves for ministry to all the nations. At the end of the discourse, Matthew notes that Jesus has finished all his words, and attention turns to the crucifixion. The events of Jesus ' last week occupy a third of the content of all four gospels. Jesus enters Jerusalem in triumph and drives the money changers from the temple, holds a last supper, prays to be spared the coming agony (but concludes "if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done ''), and is betrayed. He is tried by the Jewish leaders (the Sanhedrin) and before Pontius Pilate, and Pilate washes his hands to indicate that he does not assume responsibility. Jesus is crucified as king of the Jews, mocked by all. On his death there is an earthquake, the veil of the Temple is rent, and saints rise from their tombs. Mary Magdalene and another Mary discover the empty tomb, guarded by an angel, and Jesus himself tells them to tell the disciples to meet him in Galilee. After the resurrection the remaining disciples return to Galilee, "to the mountain that Jesus had appointed '', where he comes to them and tells them that he has been given "all authority in heaven and on Earth. '' He gives the Great Commission: "Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you ''. Jesus will be with them "to the very end of the age ''. Christology is the theological doctrine of Christ, "the affirmations and definitions of Christ 's humanity and deity ''. There is a variety of Christologies in the New Testament, albeit with a single centre -- Jesus is the figure in whom God has acted for mankind 's salvation. Matthew has taken over his key Christological texts from Mark, but sometimes he has changed the stories he found in Mark, giving evidence of his own concerns. The title Son of David identifies Jesus as the healing and miracle - working Messiah of Israel (it is used exclusively in relation to miracles), and the Jewish messiah is sent to Israel alone. As Son of Man he will return to judge the world, a fact his disciples recognise but of which his enemies are unaware. As Son of God he is named Immanuel (God with us) (Matthew 1: 23), God revealing himself through his son, and Jesus proving his sonship through his obedience and example. Matthew 's prime concern was that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church that was increasingly becoming gentile. This concern lies behind the frequent citations of Jewish scripture, the evocation of Jesus as the new Moses along with other events from Jewish history, and the concern to present Jesus as fulfilling, not destroying, the Law. Matthew must have been aware of the tendency to distort Paul 's teaching of the law no longer having power over the New Testament Christian into antinomianism, and addressed Christ 's fulfilling of what the Israelites expected from the "Law and the Prophets '' in an eschatological sense, in that he was all that the Old Testament had predicted in the Messiah. The gospel has been interpreted as reflecting the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist 's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees. Prior to the Crucifixion the Jews are called Israelites, the honorific title of God 's chosen people; after it, they are called "Ioudaioi '', Jews, a sign that through their rejection of the Christ the "Kingdom of Heaven '' has been taken away from them and given instead to the church. The divine nature of Jesus was a major issue for the community of Matthew, the crucial element marking them from their Jewish neighbors. Early understandings of this nature grew as the gospels were being written. Before the gospels, that understanding was focused on the revelation of Jesus as God in his resurrection, but the gospels reflect a broadened focus extended backwards in time. The gospel of Mark recounts prior revelations in Jesus ' lifetime on earth, at his baptism and transfiguration. Matthew and Luke go back further still, showing Jesus as the Son of God from his birth. Matthew more than all the other gospels identifies how his coming to earth was the fulfillment of many Old Testament prophecies. Finally John calls God the Word (Jesus) pre-existent before creation, and thus before all time. Matthew is a creative reinterpretation of Mark, stressing Jesus ' teachings as much as his acts, and making subtle changes in order to stress his divine nature -- Mark 's "young man '' who appears at Jesus ' tomb, for example, becomes a radiant angel in Matthew. The miracle stories in Mark do not demonstrate the divinity of Jesus, but rather confirm his status as an emissary of God (which was Mark 's understanding of the Messiah). There is a broad disagreement over chronology between Matthew, Mark and Luke on one hand and John on the other: all four agree that Jesus ' public ministry began with an encounter with John the Baptist, but Matthew, Mark and Luke follow this with an account of teaching and healing in Galilee, then a trip to Jerusalem where there is an incident in the Temple, climaxing with the crucifixion on the day of the Passover holiday. John, by contrast, puts the Temple incident very early in Jesus ' ministry, has several trips to Jerusalem, and puts the crucifixion immediately before the Passover holiday, on the day when the lambs for the Passover meal were being sacrificed in Temple.

when was the last time france was in the final of the world cup

France at the FIFA World Cup - wikipedia This is a record of France 's results at the FIFA World Cup. France was one of the four European teams that participated at the inaugural World Cup in 1930 and have appeared in 15 FIFA World Cups, tied for the sixth most of any country. The national team is one of eight to have won the FIFA World Cup title and one of only six to have done so more than once. The French team won its first World Cup title in 1998. The tournament was played on home soil and France defeated Brazil 3 -- 0 in the final match. The tournament was hosted in France once before in 1938, where France was eliminated by defending champions Italy in the quarter finals. In 2006, France finished as runners - up, losing on penalties (5 -- 3) to Italy after the game was tied 1 -- 1 after 120 minutes. The team has also finished in third place on two occasions, in 1958 and 1986, and in fourth place once, in 1982. In 2018 France won the World Cup for the second time 4 -- 2 against Croatia in Luzhniki Stadium, Russia. Head coach: Aimé Jacquet Assistant referees: Arnaldo Pinto (Brazil) Merere Gonzales (Trinidad and Tobago) Fourth official: Mario Sánchez Yanten (Chile) Assistant referees: Reynaldo Salinas (Honduras) Luis Torres Zúñiga (Costa Rica) Fourth official: Alberto Tejada Noriega (Peru) Assistant referees: Nimal Wickeramatunge (Sri Lanka) Emanuel Zammit (Malta) Fourth official: Vítor Melo Pereira (Portugal) Assistant referees: Nimal Wickeramatunge (Sri Lanka) Lencie Fred (Vanuatu) Fourth official: Esse Baharmast (United States) Assistant referees: Mark Warren (England) Nicolae Grigorescu (Romania) Fourth official: Said Belqola (Morocco) Assistant referees: Fernando Tresaco Gracia (Spain) Jorge Díaz Gálvez (Chile) Fourth official: Epifanio González Chávez (Paraguay) The 1998 final was held on 12 July at the Stade de France, Saint - Denis. France defeated holders Brazil 3 -- 0, with two goals from Zinedine Zidane and a stoppage time strike from Emmanuel Petit. The win gave France their first World Cup title, becoming the sixth national team after Uruguay, Italy, England, West Germany and Argentina to win the tournament on their home soil. They also inflicted the heaviest defeat on Brazil since 1930. The pre-match build up was dominated by the omission of Brazilian striker Ronaldo from the starting lineup only to be reinstated 45 minutes before kick - off. He managed to create the first open chance for Brazil in the 22nd minute, dribbling past defender Thuram before sending a cross out on the left side that goalkeeper Fabien Barthez struggled to hold onto. France however took the lead in the 27th minute after Brazilian defender Roberto Carlos conceded a corner which Zidane scored with a header from the right. Three minutes before half - time, Zidane scored his second goal of the match, similarly another header from a corner, this time from the left side. The tournament hosts went down to ten men in the 68th minute as Marcel Desailly was sent off for a second bookable offence. Brazil reacted to this by making an attacking substitution and although they applied pressure France sealed the win with a third goal: substitute Patrick Vieira set up his club teammate Petit in a counterattack to shoot low past goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel. French president Jacques Chirac was in attendance to congratulate and commiserate the winners and runners - up respectively after the match. Several days after the victory, winning manager Aimé Jacquet announced his resignation from the French team with immediate effect. Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez also shares the FIFA World Cup record for most matches without conceding a goal, which he achieved ten times. The only other player to have reached that number is England 's Peter Shilton. Just Fontaine scored all his 13 World Cup goals in 1958, where France reached third place. This makes him record holder for most goals scored in a single FIFA World Cup. At the time, it also made him the most successful World Cup scorer of all time until the record was broken by West Germany 's Gerd Müller in the World Cup final of 1974.

mystery writers award named after american writer and poet crossword

List of literary awards - Wikipedia This is a list of literary awards from around the world. This list is not intended to be complete, and is instead a list of those literary awards with Wikipedia articles.

who has the right of way at a three-way intersection

Three - way junction - wikipedia A 3 - way junction (or 3 - way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has 3 arms of equal size. A T junction (or T intersection) also has 3 arms, but one of the arms is generally a minor road connecting to larger road. Some T junctions are controlled by traffic lights, but others rely upon drivers to obey right - of - way rules, which vary from place to place. For example, in some jurisdictions, vehicles on the right always have the right - of - way (even at T junctions), while in other jurisdictions, vehicles travelling on the "through '' road of a T junction have the right - of - way, meaning that vehicles approaching the "major '' road must allow through traffic to pass before joining the flow of traffic. In the People 's Republic of China, going straight on red when approaching a T junction on the main road with the intersecting road on the left was permitted until the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People 's Republic of China took effect on 1 May 2004. In Taiwan (administered by the Republic of China), when at least two vehicles reach a T intersection without a working traffic light, the vehicle on the side road is to yield to any other vehicle straight on the main road. If two vehicles want to turn left, the vehicle on the left is to yield. When one road at a 3 - way junction has a higher traffic volume than the other (and particularly when the roads are perpendicular to each other), turns are characterized as "right - in '', "right - out '', "left - in '' and "left - out ''. A turn "in '' represents a turn from the major road into the minor road. A turn "out '' represents a turn out of the minor road onto the major road. A 3 - way junction allowing all four of these turns is characterized as "full - movement ''. These terms also apply to turns between roads and driveways. An experiment was done in Illinois, United States to allow going straight on red (like a right turn on red) when approaching a T junction on the main road, with the intersecting road on the left. It was a failure. However, at some T junctions where the main road includes at least two lanes on the side away from the intersecting road, the farthest (rightmost, in areas where traffic drives to the right) lane is given the right of way to proceed straight through the intersection at all times, denoted by a "green arrow '' signal if a traffic light is installed at the intersection. In such cases, often that lane is also specially delimited with pavement markings or other lane separation devices, to keep left - turning traffic on the intersecting road from colliding with traffic proceeding through the intersection on the main road. There are now safer variations of this, called continuous green - T (or seagull) intersections, that have a left turn lane off the main road either channelized or otherwise separated from traffic going straight, which allows for a traffic signal on only one side of the road. T Intersection Sign in Taiwan with no more road straight ahead T Intersection Sign in Taiwan with side road on the left T Intersection Sign in Taiwan with side road on the right Y Intersection Sign in Taiwan 3 - way Intersection Sign in Taiwan with side road on the right but not right angle 3 - way Intersection Sign in Taiwan with side road on the left but not right angle

how many ip addresses in a 8 block

List of Assigned / 8 IPv4 Address blocks - wikipedia Some large / 8 blocks of IPv4 addresses, the former Class A network blocks, are assigned in whole to single organizations or related groups of organizations, either by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), or a regional Internet registry. Each / 8 block contains 2 = 16,777,216 addresses. As IPv4 address exhaustion has advanced to its final stages, some organizations, such as Stanford University, formerly using 36.0. 0.0 / 8 (now to APNIC) have returned their allocated blocks to assist in the delay of the exhaustion date. See also Reserved IP addresses The Regional Internet Registries (RIR) allocate IPs within a particular region of the world. Note that this list may not include current assignments of / 8 blocks to all regional or national Internet registries. The original list of IPv4 address blocks can be found in RFC 790 (Postel, J., September 1981). In a previous version of the document, RFC 776 (Postel, J., January 1981), network numbers were 8 - bit numbers rather than the 32 - bit numbers used in IPv4. RFC 790 also added three networks not listed in RFC 776: 42. rrr. rrr. rrr, 43. rrr. rrr. rrr, and 44. rrr. rrr. rrr. The relevant portion of RFC 790 is reproduced here with minor changes:

what is the meaning of the name pascal

Pascal (given name) - wikipedia Pascal is a common masculine Francophone given name, cognate of Italian name Pasquale, Spanish name Pascual, Catalan name Pasqual. Pascal is common in French - speaking countries, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Derived feminine forms include Pascale, Pascalle or Pascalina. Pascal is also common as a surname in France, and in Italy (in Piedmont, Aosta Valley and, as De Pascal, in Friuli - Venezia Giulia). Pascal derives from the Latin paschalis or pashalis, which means "relating to Easter '', from the Latin term for "Easter '', pascha, Greek Πάσχα, from the Aramaic pasḥā (Hebrew pesach) "Passover '' (since the Hebrew holiday Passover coincides closely with the later Christian holiday of Easter, the Latin word came to be used for both occasions). The Christian given name is in origin from the meaning "one born on Easter day '', or "born on Pentecost '' (see below). Variations of the given name include: Paschal, Pasqual, Pasquale, Paskal, Pascoal, Pascale, Pascha, Paschalis, Pascual, Pascoe, and Pasco. The name arises in the early medieval period, in Latin spelled Paschalis. An early bearer is Antipope Paschal (fl. 687), and Pope Paschal I (d. 824). A variant Latin form of the name is Paschasius; this is the name of the 9th - century Frankish saint Paschasius Radbertus. Peter Pascual (Petrus Paschasius, d. 1299) was a bishop and martyr of medieval Andalusia. Saint Pascal (or San Pasqual) refers to Paschal Baylon (1540 -- 1592), a Spanish friar and mystic. Baylon was born on 24 May 1540 to Aragonese peasants. His parents named him Pasqual because he was born on the day of the feast of Pentecost (not Easter), because Pentecost in Spain was known as "the Pasch (or Passover) of the Holy Ghost '' at the time. After Pascual Baylon 's beatification (1618) and canonization (1690), it became common to give the name Pascal to children born on the feast day of Saint Pascal (17 May) rather than on Easter or Pentecost, or independently of the child 's date of birth.

countries you can visit without visa ghana passport

Visa requirements for Ghanaian citizens - wikipedia Visa requirements for Ghanaian citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of Ghana. As of February 2018, Ghanaian citizens had visa - free or visa on arrival access to 62 countries and territories, ranking the Ghanaian passport 76th in terms of travel freedom (tied with Dominican Republic and Sierra Leonean passport) according to the Henley Passport Index. British Overseas Territories. Open border with Schengen Area. Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The majority of its population (80 %) lives in European Russia, therefore Russia as a whole is included as a European country here. Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has part of its territory (3 %) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. Azerbaijan (Artsakh) and Georgia (Abkhazia; South Ossetia) are transcontinental countries. Both have part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus. Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country. Has part of its territories located west of the Ural River in Eastern Europe. Armenia and Cyprus (Northern Cyprus; Akrotiri and Dhekelia) are entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio - political connections with Europe. Egypt is a transcontinental country in North Africa and the Middle East. Has part of its territory in the Middle East called Sinai Peninsula. Part of the Realm of New Zealand. Partially recognized. Unincorporated territory of the United States. Part of Norway, not part of the Schengen Area, special open - border status under Svalbard Treaty British Overseas Territories. Open border with Schengen Area. Russia is a transcontinental country in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. The vast majority of its population (80 %) lives in European Russia. Turkey is a transcontinental country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Has a small part of its territory (3 %) in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and South Ossetia are often regarded as transcontinental countries. Both have a small part of their territories in the European part of the Caucasus. Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country. Has a small part of its territories located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe. Armenia, Artsakh, Cyprus, and Northern Cyprus are entirely in Southwest Asia but having socio - political connections with Europe. Egypt is a transcontinental country in North Africa and the Middle East. Has a small part of its territory in the Middle East called Sinai Peninsula. Partially recognized.

who said the following lines to whom mangal bhavan amangal hari

Ramcharitmanas - Wikipedia Ramcharitmanas (Devanāgarī: श्रीरामचरितमानस, IAST: ŚrīRāmacaritamānasa), is an epic poem in the language Awadhi, composed by the 16th - century Indian bhakti poet Goswami Tulsidas (c. 1532 -- 1623). Ramcharitmanas literally means "Lake of the deeds of Rama ''. Ramcharitmanas is considered as one of the greatest works of Hindi literature, Indian literature as well as of the world literature. The work has variously been acclaimed as "the living sum of Indian culture '', "the tallest tree in the magic garden of medieval Indian poetry '', "the greatest book of all devotional literature '' and "the best and most trustworthy guide to the popular living faith of the Indian people ''. Divisions Sama vedic Yajur vedic Atharva vedic Vaishnava puranas Shaiva puranas Tulsidas (the Sanskrit name of Tulsidas can be transliterated in two ways. Using the IAST transliteration scheme, the name is written as Tulasīdāsa, as pronounced in Sanskrit. Using the Hunterian transliteration scheme, it is written as Tulsidas or Tulsīdās, as pronounced in Hindi). Tulsidas was a great scholar of Sanskrit. However, he wanted the story of Rama to be accessible to the general masses and not just the Sanskrit - speaking elite. In order to make the story of Rama as accessible to the layman as to the scholar, Tulsidas chose to write in Awadhi, a local dialect of Hindi which was in vogue as the language of general parlance in large parts of north India during the composition of the work. Tradition has it that Tulsidas had to face a lot of criticism from the sanskrit scholars of Varanasi for being a bhasha (vernacular) poet. However, Tulsidas remained steadfast in his resolve for simplifying the knowledge contained in the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Puranas to the common people. Subsequently, his work was accepted by all. Ramcharitmanas, made available the story of Rama to the common man to sing, meditate and perform on. The writing of Ramcharitmanas also heralded many a cultural tradition, most significantly that of the tradition of Ramlila, the dramatic enactment of the text. Ramcharitmanas is considered by many as a work belonging to the Saguna school of the Bhakti movement in Hindi literature. Tulsidas began writing the Ramcharitmanas in Ayodhya in Vikram Samvat 1631 (1574 CE). The exact date is stated within the poem as being the ninth day of the month of Chaitra, which is the birthday of Rama, Rama Navami. Ramcharitmanas was composed at Ayodhya, Varanasi & Chitrakoot. India was under the reign of Mughal emperor Akbar (1556 - 1605 CE) during this period. This also makes Tulsidas a contemporary of William Shakespeare. The Ramcharitmanas is written in vernacular Awadhi language, The core of the work is considered by some to be a poetic retelling of the events of the Sanskrit epic Ramayana by Valmiki. The Valmiki Ramayana is centered on the narrative of Rama, the scion of the family tree of king Raghu of the Sun Dynasty. Rama was the crown prince of Ayodhya and is considered in Hindu tradition as the seventh Avatar of Vishnu. However, the Ramacharitmanas is by no means a word - to - word copy of the Valmiki Ramayana nor an abridged re-telling of the latter. Ramcaritmanas has elements from many other Ramayanas written earlier in Sanskrit and other Indian dialects as well as stories from Puranas. Tulsidas himself never writes Ramcharitmanas as being a retelling of Valmiki Ramayana. He calls the epic Ramcharitmanas as the story of Rama, that was stored in the mind (Mānasa) of Shiva before he narrated the same to His wife Parvati. Tulsidas claims to have received the story through his guru, Narharidas. Tulsidas was a naive (Acheta) child and the story was stored in his mind (Mānasa) for long before he wrote it down as Ramcharitmanas. Some understand this passage of the Ramcharitmanas to mean that Tulsidas at first could not grasp the story fully as he was a naïve young boy. His guru graciously repeated it again and again so that he could understand and remember it. Then he narrated the story and named it Ramcharitmanas as Shiva himself called it. The epic poem is, therefore, also referred to as Tulsikrit Ramayana (literally, The Ramayana composed by Tulsidas). The Ramcharitmanas is a masterpiece of vernacular literature. Some believe it to represent a challenge to the dominance of high - class Brahmanical Sanskrit, echoing the revolt of Buddha against Brahmanical elitism. However, this interpretation appears faulty as Tulsidas himself was a brahmin and often talks very highly of the Brahmins in Ramcharitmanas and other books written by him. It was the attempt of Tulsidas to reconcile the different stories of Rama and to bring the story within the reach of the common man. Ramcharitmanas consists of seven Kāndas (literally "books '' or "episodes '', cognate with cantos). Tulsidas compared the seven Kāndas of the epic to seven steps leading into the holy waters of Lake Manasarovar "which purifies the body and the soul at once ''. The first two parts, Bāl Kāṇḍ (Childhood Episode) and Ayodhyā Kāṇḍ (Ayodhya Episode), make up more than half of the work. The other parts are Araṇya Kāṇḍ (Forest Episode), Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ (Kishkindha Episode), Sundar Kāṇḍ (Pleasant Episode), Laṅkā Kāṇḍ (Lanka Episode), and Uttar Kāṇḍ (Later Episode). The work is primarily composed in the Chaupai metre (four - line quatrains), separated by the Doha metre (two - line couplets), with occasional Soratha and various Chhand metres. Every chapter of the Ramcharitmanas begins with an invocation or Mangalācharaņ. It is customary of the Indian tradition of writing that the author begins a new book with invocation to the Gods to ensure that the sankalpa is finished unhindered. The first three or four verses of each Kānd are typically in the form of invocations. Bāl Kāṇḍ begins with a hymn honouring the goddess Saraswati and the god Ganesha, the deities related to knowledge, wisdom, speech and auspiciousness. Ayodhyā Kāṇḍ begins with the famous verse dedicated to the god Shiva: May He in whose lap shines forth the Daughter of the mountain king, who carries the celestial stream on His head, on whose brow rests the crescent moon, whose throat holds poison and whose breast is support of a huge serpent, and who is adorned by the ashes on His body, may that chief of gods, the Lord of all, the Destroyer of the universe, the omnipresent Śhiva, the moon - like Śańkara, ever protect me. '' Araṇya Kāṇḍ 's first verse again extols Shiva: I reverence Bhagavan Śańkara, the progeny of Brahmā, the very root of the tree of piety, the beloved, devotee of King Śri Rama, the full moon that brings joy to the ocean of wisdom, the sun that opens the lotus of dispassion, the wind that disperses the clouds of ignorance, who dispels the thick darkness of sin and eradicates the threefold agony and who wipes off all calumny and obloquy. Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ commences with the following verse: Lovely as a jasmine and a blue lotus, of surpassing strength, repositories of wisdom, endowed with natural grace, excellent bowmen, hymned by the Vedas, and lovers of the cow and Brāhmaņas, who appeared in the form of mortal men through their own Māyā (deluding potency) as the two noble scions of Raghu, the armours of true dharma, friendly to all and journeying in quest for Sita, may they both grant us Devotion. Sundar Kāṇḍ begins with a hymn in the praise of Rama: I adore the Lord of the universe bearing the name of Rama, the chief of the Raghu 's line and the crest - jewel of kings, the mine of compassion, the dispeller of all sins, appearing in human form through His Māyā (deluding potency), the greatest of all gods, knowable through Vedānta (the Upanishads), constantly worshipped by Brahmā (the Creator), Śhambhu (Śivā), and Śeşa (the serpent - god), the one who bestows of supreme peace in the form of final beatitude, placid, eternal, beyond the ordinary means of cognition, sinless and all - pervading. Laṅkā Kāṇḍ begins with this hymn: I adore Śri Rama, the supreme Deity, the object of worship even by Śivā (the destroyer of Kāma, the God of Love), the Dispeller of the fear of rebirth, the lion to quell the mad elephant in the form of Death, the Master of Yogīs, attainable through immediate knowledge, the storehouse of good qualities, unconquerable, attributeless, immutable, beyond the realm of Māyā, the Lord of celestials, intent on killing the evil - doers, the only protector of the Brāhmaņas, beautiful as a cloud laden with moisture, who has lotus like eyes and appeared in the form of an earthly king. Uttar Kāṇḍ begins with the following hymn: I unceasingly extol Śri Ramā, the praiseworthy lord of Jānakī (Sītā, Janakā 's daughter and the wife of Rama), the chief of Raghu 's line, possessed of a form greenish blue, the color of the neck of a peacock and adorned with an insignia of Brahmā pada, the lotus - foot, which testifies to His being the greatest of all gods - rich in splendour, clad in yellow robes, lotus - eyed, ever - propitious, holding a bow and arrow in His hands, riding an aerial car named Puşpakā, accompanied by a host of monkeys and waited upon by His own brother Lakşmaņa. Tulsidas ends every chapter in a similar manner describing the ending in the Sanskrit language. Every Kānd is formally concluded by Goswami Tulsidas. The following is an example of the ending of Kiśkindhā Kāṇḍ: Translation: "Thus ends the fourth descent into the Mānasa lake of Sri Rama 's exploits, that eradicates all the impurities of the kali age. '' All the other Kāndas are concluded in the same way where the word caturthah is substituted, according to the Kānd being concluded. Ramcharitmanas is structured around three separate conversations. The conversations happen between Shiva and Parvati, Sages Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya and finally Kakbhushundi and the king of birds, Garuda. Some scholars are of the opinion that there is also an underlying personal conversation between Tulsidas and Lord Rama all through the text of Ramcharitmanas. The Child Episode Tulsidas begins the story with an invocation to various deities, his guru, and saints who have preceded him and those who will succeed him in the future. Homage is paid to Valmiki for bringing the Ramayana to the devotees of Rama. Next are introduced and praised the various characters of the epic beginning with the birthplace of Rama, the holy city of Ayodhya. Praises are bestowed on Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya and Rama 's father, and his queens Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra. Tulsidas then praises King Janaka, the father - in - law of Rama), and his family. He goes on to praise the brothers of Rama - Bharata, Lakshman & Shatrughna and sings the glories of Hanuman, the constant companion to Rama, Sugriva, the monkey king and Jambavan, the leader of bears. Next, the characters of Sita and Rama are introduced. The story of Ramcharitmanas is then underway. It begins with the meeting of two sages - Bharadwaj and Yajnavalkya. Bharadwaj asks Yajnavalkya to narrate in detail the story of Rama. Yajnavalkya begins with how Shiva came about retelling the story of Rama to his wife Parvati. (The great story of Sati 's self - immolation, the destruction of her father Daksha 's sacrifice, the rebirth of Sati as Parvati and her marriage to Shiva). Shiva explains five different reasons as to why Rama incarnated on earth in different ages Kalpa (aeon). Each of these stories is discussed in detail, with the primary message being that Rama incarnated on earth to protect the righteous who follow the path of Dharma. The story then moves to the birth of Ravana and his brothers. Post this point, the narration is done at different times by Shiva, Yajnavalkya, Kakbhushundi and Tulsidas. The story now moves to the abode of Brahma where Brahma and the other Hindu Devas are found mulling on the ways to rid the earth of Ravana and his excesses. Unable to find a solution, they pray to Shiva and ask him for his guidance on where to find the supreme God who will come to their rescue. Shiva tells them that they do n't need to go anywhere to find the Supreme God for He resides in the hearts of his devotees. All the Devas then Pray to the supreme Brahman to rid the earth of the demons wreaking havoc on men as well as Devas. Brahman shows compassion to all and announces in an Akashvani that He will be born in the Sun Dynasty to save the Devas and His devotees from the demons. The story then moves to Ayodhya. One fine day, Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, realizes that he has become old and still issueless... He conveys his distress to sage Vasistha, the family guru, and seeks the way forward. Vasistha comforts Dasharatha and tells him that he will have four sons. Vasistha requests Shringi Rishi to perform the Putrakām yajna (vedic yajna for the birth of sons). Tulsidas states that the birth of Rama and his brothers took place on the ninth day of the Chaitra month. It was the fortnight of the moon, known as the shukla period. The story then moves on and Rama and His brothers are now grown - up boys. The sage Vishvamitra arrives at Dashratha 's royal court where the King receives his eminent guest with great honour. Sage Vishvamitra lived in the forest and was performing great sacrifices. However, the demons Maricha and Subahu would always desecrate the ceremonial offerings. He knew that Rama had taken birth on earth to protect his devotees and so he decided to visit Dashratha to ask him a favour. The sage asks the king to let his sons accompany him to the forest. Reluctantly the king agrees. Rama knew before hand the intention of Vishvamitra in asking him to come along with him. He asures the sage that he would obey his commands. Lakshman kills Subahu and Rama kills Maricha, the dreaded demons. The story then moves to the deliverance of Ahalya. Rama, Lakshman and Vishvamitra venture on a journey and reach the beautiful kingdom of the Videhas, Mithila. The king of Mithila, Janaka, welcomes the great sage and asks him who are the two boys accompanying him... Janaka is overcome by great emotion as he is able to sense the true nature of their mission... The brothers then set out to discover the beautiful city and visit Janaka 's garden. This is an important section of the manās as it portrays the first meeting of Rama and Sita... In the meanwhile, King Janaka arranges a swayamvara ceremony for his daughter Sita. A swayamvara ceremony is a Vedic ritual in which a prospective bride selects her groom from among a group of suitors who attend the ceremony. Sita falls in love with Rama at first sight in Janaka 's garden and prays to Gauri that she may get Rama as her husband. King Janaka sends a messenger to invite Rama, Laksman and Sage Vishvamitra to attend the swayamvara. Janaka puts a condition to identify the right groom for Sita. The great bow of Shiva by the name of Pinaka was kept in the arena. Any suitor who would be able to string Pinaka would be married to Sita. Many princes try but fail to even nudge the mammoth bow. This causes great distress to Janaka who wonders aloud if the earth has become devoid of brave men. This statement of Janaka angers Lakshman who retorts that no one talks in this vein, when a gathering like this, has the presence of scions of the Sun Dynasty. Rama gently nudges him to keep calm as Vishwamitra asks him to break the bow and make Janaka happy once again... Rama steps in and effortlessly lifts and strings the divine bow. In a swift move, he breaks the bow. The breaking of Pinaka causes a great noise that disturbs the great sage Parashurama in his meditation and he storms into the swayamvara arena in great anger vowing to kill whoever had dared to break the bow of lord Shiva. Lakshman enters into an argument with Parashurama paying scant respect to the sage who was known for his bursts of anger and was known to slay whoever dared to oppose him. Ultimately, Rama brings him around. Parashurama comes to know the real nature of lord Rama as the ultimate Brahman, pays his respects and leaves for the forests for meditation. Sita places the wreath of victory around the neck of Rama in accordance with the rules of the swayamvara and is thus wedded to him. However, Sita being his beloved daughter, Janaka desires to conduct a grand marriage of Sita and Rama in accordance with both Vedic and laukik (traditional) customs. Janaka dispatches messengers to Ayodhya to inform Dashratha and his family about the marriage of Rama and Sita and invites them for the formal consummation of marriage ceremony. Dashratha starts with a great marriage procession, consisting of Rama 's family, friends and well wishers in addition to Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma and all Devas who take up human form and depart for Mithila. After a grand wedding, the kind of which had never been witnessed in the universe, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya where there was a great celebration and much rejoicing. The Ayodhya Episode Ayodhya was described as being like a heaven on earth ever since Rama and Sita came back from Mithila. As King Dasaratha was getting old, he wanted to install his son Rama as Prince regent... He took a decision to start the ceremonies for his crowning, the next day itself. The Devas however became very concerned at the prospect of Rama remaining in Ayodhya, and not pursuing the wicked Ravana, and vanquishing him... something had to happen if Rama were to embark on his mission to rid the world of Ravana. They approached Goddess Saraswati for help. King Dashratha has three wives. Queen Kaushalya is the principle queen and the mother of Rama. Queen Kaikeyi is the mother of Bharata and Queen Sumitra is the mother of Lakshman and Shatrughna. Saraswati decides to influence the mind of one of Queen Kaikeyi 's maid servants named Manthara. Manthara 's mind harbors evil intentions and she begins to talk to Queen Kaikeyi in harsh and conceited tones. She finds faults with Kaikeyi for being supportive of the king 's plan of installing Rama, as Prince Regent when her own mind tells her that Bharata would clearly be a greater king. At that time Bharata is in Kaikeya country visiting his uncle and so he is unaware of what is happening in Ayodhya. Slowly Queen Kaikeyi 's mind is poisoned. Manthara reminds Queen Kaikeyi of the two boons that the King had promised her. Kaikeyi enters the private room in the royal palace, where the King gives audience to his queens, and awaits Dashratha. Dashratha is greatly alarmed and concerned that Kaikeyi is sitting in the sulking chamber, while the entire population of Ayodhya is greatly happy and eagerly anticipating the coronation of Rama. Queen Kaikeyi speaks harshly to Dashratha, which surprises the king. She reminds him of the two boons he promised her and to his bewilderment, asks him to install her son Bharata as Prince Regent and send Rama into forest for 14 years. Queen Kaikeyi is unmoved by Dashratha 's lamentations and finally the king emotionally breaks down. The king 's assistant Sumantra sends for Rama with a request to meet his father. Queen Kaikeyi speaks to Rama and explains to him the boons that she had asked of His father. Rama is actually the Supreme Personality of Godhead incarnated on earth, yet He accepts His step mother 's request and decides to leave the kingdom as it serves his purpose as well... The people of Ayodhya remonstrate against Queen Kaikeyi who firmly believes that she is doing the right thing. Rama attempts to dissuade Lakshman and Sita from joining him but is unable to do so. The scene becomes very emotional as Rama, Sita and Lakshman greet their mothers before finally going to Dashratha to take leave of him. Dashratha attempts, in vain, to try to talk Sita out of joining Rama in the forest. The residents of Ayodhya ca n't spare the thought of being away from Rama and decide to join him in the forest. Rama, Sita, Lakshman and Sumantra go incognito and in the dead of the night leave the city and move into the forest. They leave for a place called Sringaverapur after which they meet Guha, the Nishad king. They arrive at Prayag, the holy city where the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and Saraswati meet. Rama meets with the Sage Bharadwaj at his ashram. Rama is overwhelmed with the reception and love shown by the people inhabiting the banks of the Yamuna. Rama then meets Sage Valmiki, the author of the Ramayan at Chitrakoot dham. Valmiki recognises the true opulence of Rama and sings His praises. At this point Tulsidas takes great care to describe the beauty of the land of Chitrakoot with some inspiring poetry. Rama asks Sumantra to return to Ayodhya which saddens Sumantra. He not only wants to stay with Rama, he is also afraid of going back only to face the anger and wrath of the citizens of Ayodhya. Rama persuades him to go back. On returning to Ayodhya, Sumantra meets Dashratha, who asks him the whereabouts of Rama. The pain of separation from Rama is too much for Dashratha who passes away crying Rama 's name. Sage Vashishtha knows that Rama will not return to the kingdom and so immediately sends an envoy to call Bharata and Shatrughna back to Ayodhya. Bharata learns of all that has happened and chastises his mother, Queen Kaikeyi. He is greatly pained and blames himself for Rama leaving Ayodhya. He accuses her of bringing ruin to the family. Shatrughna comes across Manthara and beats her in rage. They approach Queen Kaushalya and see her in a sorry state. Bharata begs for her forgiveness and loudly laments while the Queen attempts to pacify him. She asks him to carry out his duty and rule Ayodhya, but Bharata can not bear the thought of sitting on the throne with his father dead and his brothers in exile in the forest. The cremation of King Dashratha takes place. Bharata and Shatrughna decide to go into the forest and ask Rama to return to Ayodhya and take the throne. Many citizens as well as the royal family, who have been grieving ever since Rama had left them, decide to join the brothers. The Nishads see the approaching royal party and become suspicious. Guha approaches Bharata to understand his motive for bringing such a large party to the forest. He assumes that Bharata has some sinister motive. Bharata shows his love for Rama and Guha is moved to tears by his love for his brother. The royal procession then moves forward to Chitrakoot. Lakshman sees the huge army of people with Bharata and immediately begins to chastise Bharata. Rama counters this by praising the greatness of Bharata, leaving Lakshman feeling sorry for his harsh words. Bharata finally arrives at Chitrakoot where the brothers are all reunited once again. They collectively mourn the passing of their father and perform his Shraddha (obsequies) along with Sage Vashistha leading the ceremony. Despite all of Bharata 's convincing, Rama is true to the word given to his father and step mother Kaikeyi, and vows that he will fulfill her wish. Bharata says that he simply can not sit on the throne while Rama wanders in the forest. He asks Rama for his sandals, which he would place at the throne and would only act as Rama 's representative and not as a full - fledged king. With much sorrow and hurt, Bharata leaves Rama and returns to Ayodhya. He decides that he would not live in the kingdom while Rama is in exile and so lives like a hermit in a nearby town called Nandigram. The Forest Episode Rama, Sita and Lakshman wander in the forest and come across the hermitage of a sage called Atri. Atri sees them approaching and is overcome with great joy. Sita is embraced by Atri 's wife, Anasuya. Anusuya talks to Sita at length about the duties of a devoted wife. Rama, Sita and Lakshman venture further into the forest and encounter Viradha. Viradha attempts to capture Sita. Rama kills him by burying him in a ditch. They then visit the ashram of Sage Sarabhanga. Rama asks him of where he should go for shelter in the forest. He is advised to visit the sage Sutiksna. As Rama approaches Sutiksna, the latter comes out of his meditation. He tells Rama that he had been awaiting his arrival, and had even turned down the offer of entering the heavenly planets. Continuing on their journey through the forest, they meet with Sage Agastya where Rama pays his respect to the sage. Agastya gifts divine weapons to Rama and advises him to venture further into the forest and into the region of Dandaka. Rama meets with the eagle, Jatayu. Rama, Sita and Lakshman take up abode at Panchavati and build a beautiful ashram, as per the advice of Agastya. Laksman becomes nostalgic of the past and begins to talk harshly about Kaikeyi. Rama pacifies him and explains that it is sinful to speak of his mother in such a way. The story takes a new turn, as Rama, Sita and Lakshman are approached by the sister of the demon - king Ravana, called Surpanakha. She immediately takes a liking to Rama and falls in love with him. She disguises herself and talks to Rama in sweet tones. Rama rejects her advances explaining that he is already married and advises her to approach Laksman as he is unmarried. However, Laksman also rejects her advances. Surpanakha takes it as a great insult to be spurned like this, and attempts to hurt Sita. Laksman takes hold of his sword and lops off Surpanakha 's ear lobes and nose. Feeling humiliated, Surpanakha leaves the forest and goes to the abode of her brothers Khara, Dusana and Trisira. They are angry at the treatment meted out to their sister and leave with the intention of killing Rama. All three brothers are vanquished by Rama. Surpanakha is greatly upset and visits Ravana at his residence in Lanka. She explains all that has happened, after which Ravana calls for his old friend Maricha. Ravana hatches a plot and asks Maricha to disguise himself as a golden deer, so that Ravana may then kidnap Sita. Maricha has already felt the power of Rama (as mentioned in Bālakāṇḍa) and is apprehensive, however, he thinks that he is going to die either way since Ravana will kill him in rage for refusing him. Ravana and Marich immediately leave for Rama 's forest abode. Maricha takes his position and instantly Sita is attracted by his deer form. Rama knows that Ravana 's intentions and orders Sita to place her shadow (Maya Sita) in her place, while she would hide in the fire. She asks Rama time and time again to hunt for the deer and bring it to her. Rama runs after the deer and is soon quite a far distance away from the ashram. Rama releases an arrow and hits the deer. Impersonating Rama 's voice, Marich shouts out to Laksman to help him. Maya Sita (hereafter called simply Sita) hears the cry and orders Laksman to go help his brother. Ravana, while posing as a begging minstrel, uses this opportunity to forcibly kidnap Sita from the ashram. Jatayu, the eagle, sees Ravana 's sinful act and attempts to fight with him, but Ravana has too much power and cuts off Jatayu 's wings and leaves him for dead. Rama and Lakshman return to find the ashram empty. They anxiously set out to find Sita and find the severely wounded eagle. Jatayu dies in Rama 's lap and receives liberation. As they continue to look for Sita they come across the hermitage of Shabari. Tulsidas says that Shabari washes the feet of Ram with tears from her eyes and feeds him half eaten wild berries to ensure he gets only sweet ones. She is given liberation by Rama. The brothers then head towards the Pampasarovar lake. The Kiśkindhā Region Episode High up in the Rishyamuk mountains, Sugriva sees Rama and Laksman at the foothills. He consults Hanuman as to whether he thinks they have been sent by his brother Bali. Hanuman disguises himself as a Brahmin and approaches the brothers. Hanuman recognises the true nature of Rama as God - incarnation and surrenders himself to his Holy feet. He tells the brothers that his king, Sugriva, wishes to extend his friendship to Them and will help Them to find Sita. Rama asks Sugriva why he resides in the mountains instead of Kishkindha, where Sugriva tells of his feud with his brother Bali. Rama sympathises with Sugriva and decides to help Sugriva in return for the latter 's help in finding Sita. Ram kills Bali and installs Sugriva as king of Kishkindha and Angada, Bali 's son, as prince regent. Sugriva becomes too attached to his new regal lifestyle and forgets about his agreement with Rama, which fills Rama with great anger. Rama asks Laksman to bring Sugriva to him. Laksman enters the royal court and threatens to burn the entire city to ashes. Sugriva is gravely worried and asks Hanuman to pacify him. Laksman escorts Sugriva to Rama and upon seeing Him, Sugriva falls as His feet and begs forgiveness. Sugriva immediately orders the gathering of the region 's bear and monkey community. Armies of bears and monkeys are dispatched north, south east and west to search for Sita. Rama knew that only Hanuman was really capable of finding Sita. He asks Hanuman to narrate the agony of separation from her and then hands over his ring. Hanuman is joined by Angad, Nala, Kesari and Jambavan as well as many others as they head to the south. As the army approach the coast, Jambavan and Angad see a cave by the shore of the ocean. The cave is occupied by Sampati (who is actually Jatayu 's older brother). There is a conversation during which Angad explains that Jatayu died serving Rama and thereafter Sampati narrates his biography. He tells the monkeys that he is sure that Sita is captive in Ashok Vatika in Lanka. The island is 400 miles away and requires someone who is able to jump the distance. Jambavan deduces that Hanuman is the only one capable of the task. The Pleasant Episode Hanuman takes Jambavan 's suggestion and immediately takes off for Lanka. He climbs onto the mountain and using it as a pivot, launches himself into the air. He meets Surasa, the mother of serpents and passes her test. The ocean demoness tries to capture Hanuman, thinking of him as a bird. He quickly kills her and then lands on the shore of the ocean in Lanka. He sees beautiful lush gardens, groves, lakes and reservoirs. Hanuman takes a minute form and, remembering Rama, enters Lanka. He is accosted by the demon Lankini whom he hits with his fist and causes her to fall to the ground. Hanuman flies through the various palaces and gardens for his search of Sita, and amongst all the demonic activities going on in Lanka, Hanuman sees a palace where Sri Hari 's name is being chanted. He is drawn towards the palace and decides to visit the inhabitant. The palace belongs to Ravana 's brother, Vibhishan. Hanuman narrates Rama katha (story) and then introduces himself. Hanuman proceeds to Ashok Vatika where he finally sees Sita. He positions himself on a branch of a tree, under which Sita was sitting, and contemplates his next move. He sees Ravana walk towards Sita and beg her to glance at least once toward him. She simply looks at a blade of grass to insult him. Ravana threatens to behead Sita but is calmed down by his wife, Mandodari. Hanuman has to use all his powers of calm not to react to Ravana 's threats. When all is quiet again, Hanuman begins to sing the glory of Rama in sweet tones. He then approaches Sita and explains who he is. He presents the ring lord Rama had given him and Sita is overjoyed. She blesses Hanuman with many kind words and boons. Hanuman tells Sita that he is hungry and asks for her permission to eat fruits from the grove. He not only eats but manages to destroy large parts of it. He easily kills one of Ravana 's sons, prince Aksaya. Indrajit arrives in the grove and Hanuman allows himself to be captured. He is brought in front of the king of Lanka, Ravana. Ravana orders his death, however, Vibhishan reminds him that Hanuman is an envoy and can not be killed according to religious principle. Ravana decides to humiliate Hanuman by setting his tail on fire. Large amounts of clothes are tied to his tail and soaked in oil. Hanuman chants the name of Rama and his tail begins to get longer, and more cloth and oil is used. He changes from his small form into a gigantic form and decides to torch alight the whole of Lanka. He returns to the ocean to extinguish his tail and then goes to Sita to reassure her that the next time she sees him, it will be with Rama. He bids farewell to Sita and leaps back towards Angad and Jambavan. The monkey army then ventures back to where Sugriva, Rama and Lakshman are waiting. On arrival Hanuman explains all that happened and immediately an army is prepared to go south towards Lanka. Meanwhile, in Lanka, both Mandodari and Vibhishan ask Ravana to hand Sita back to Rama. Ravana takes great exception to this suggestion and begins to insult Vibhishan particularly. He tells him he has no need for a weakling like him and that he is no longer needed. Vibhishan decides to join Rama at Kishkindha. Vibhishan falls at Ram 's feet and asks him for protection. The army deliberate over how to cross the ocean to Lanka. The deity of the seas tells Rama of the boon obtained by the monkey brothers Nila and Nala, and that they have the power to build a bridge to link the seashore to Lanka. The Lanka Episode Jambavan asks the monkeys Nala and Nila to begin work on building the bridge across the sea. The Mānas states that entire mountain ranges were used by Nala and Nila to complete their objective. Rama remembers Lord Shiva and decides to install a shrine for Rameswaram. Upon completion, the army of Rama begins to cross the bridge and arrives at Lanka, taking camp on Mount Suvela. Ravana hears of the advances of Rama 's army and feels greatly agitated. Mandodari asks Ravana to return Sita to Rama as she fears for her husband 's life. Ravana is dismissive of Rama 's power and pacifies his wife. Next, Ravana 's son Prahasta attempts to reinforce his mothers sentiments, but all to no avail. Rama fires a warning shot from his retreat in Suvela. The arrow strikes Ravana 's crown and royal umbrella. Mandodari once again attempts to convince Ravana of handing Sita back to Rama. Meanwhile, Rama asks Jambavan what should be done. Jambavan suggests that they send Angada, as messenger, to give Ravana a chance to return Sita. On reaching Ravana 's court, Angada explains he is the ambassador of Rama, and tells Ravana that he still has time to save himself from destruction. Ravana insults Angada and his refusal to comply makes war inevitable. The war begins with great ferocity as Ravana loses half of his army on the first day. Indrajit, Ravan 's son, is required to enter the battle far earlier than he expected. He severely wounds Lakshman with his special weapon, the Saang. Hanumanji is ordered to fetch the doctor of Lanka called Sushena. Sushena tells Rama that there exists a herb called Sanjivani which can only be found in the Himalayan mountains. It is the only hope to save Lakshman. Hanuman immediately reassures Rama that he shall find this herb. As Hanuman is about to leave, Ravana orders the demon Kalanemi to impede him. However, Hanuman kills Kalanemi with ease. Hanuman reaches the mountain and ca n't find the herb. In his frustration he decides to take the entire mountain to Lanka. Hanuman makes good speed towards Lanka when suddenly he is shot by an arrow as he approaches Nandigram. Hanuman is mistaken to be a demon by Bharat. Hanuman falls to the ground together with the great hill. Hanuman regains consciousness and recognizes that Bharata is Rama 's brother. He continues on to Lanka where he delivers the Sanjivani herb and Sushena treats Lakshman. Rama embraces Hanuman with great pride and affection. Ravan takes the news of Lakshman 's recovery very badly and decides to awaken his brother Kumbhakarna. Kumbhakarna kills indiscriminantly and wreaks much havoc. Rama releases an arrow which kills him instantly. The death of his brother scares Ravan greatly. Indrajit hastily tries to arrange a ceremony to receive great boons and powers but is interrupted by Hanuman and Angada. Lakshman takes up arms against Indrajit and kills him. Rama throws numerous arrows at Ravana but is unable to kill him. He asks Vibhishan on how to kill his brother after which Rama finally kills Ravana. The war is over. Ravana 's funeral takes place and Vibhishan is crowned the king of Lanka. Hanuman carries the happy news to Sita in Ashok vatika. Finally Rama and Sita are reunited. Rama and the army prepare to depart Lanka and return towards Ayodhya. Rama, Sita, Lakshman and the senior monkeys travel back in Ravana 's flying vehicle, Pushpak Vimaan. The Epilogue It is now the day before Rama is to return to Ayodhya after serving his exile. Bharata is anxious that his brother still has n't arrived. The Mānas mentions that Bharata had passed his days shedding tears for fourteen years in Nandigram. Hanuman meets Bharata telling him of the arrival of Rama, Sita and Laksman. Bharata rushes to Ayodhya to tell the citizens of the great news. As the Pushpak Vimaan landed in Ayodhya the citizens shouted chants of ' Glory be to Ramchandra '. Rama, Sita and Laksman collectively touch the feet of the sage Vashishta on arriving in Ayodhya and thereafter greet all that have gathered in the assembly. Lastly Rama meets Bharata with great affection and love. Rama 's coronation takes place and he is finally crowned king of Ayodhya. Shiva arrives to glorify the festivities further and asks Rama of the boon that he may have firm and undeviating devotion of Rama 's feet. In conclusion to the tale, Rama has twin sons named Lava and Kusha. The other brothers each have two sons as well. It is mentioned that great sages like Nārad and Sanaka visit Ayodhya to meet with Rama and to see his great city. In the subsequent passages of Uttar Kānd the biography of Saint Kakbhushundi is given, followed by a description of what is to be expected in the current age of Kaliyuga. Shiva ends his narration of the Rama Katha to Parvati as does Kakbhushundi to Garuda. It is not mentioned whether Yajnavalkya finishes his recitation to Bharadwaj. Finally, Goswami Tulsidas concludes his retelling of the Shri Ramcharitmanas. The Rudrastakam in Sanskrit is a part of this Kanda. During the Bālakāṇḍa, it is mentioned that Shiva is retelling the story of Rama (Rama Katha) to his spouse Parvati. During this retelling, Shiva explains as many as five reasons why Rama incarnated on earth. The brothers Jay and Vijay are the two favoured gate keepers of Hari. Due to a curse, by the Brahmin Sanaka and his three brothers, Jay and Vijay were born in the species of the demons. One took the birth of Hiranyakashipu and the other was born as Hiranyaksha. The Supreme incarnated Himself as Varaha in order to kill Hiranyaksha, while incarnating as Narasimha to kill Hiranyakashipu. Even though these brothers are killed by Hari Himself, they do not attain liberation as the Brahman 's had cursed them to three births and so were reborn as the powerful demons Ravana and Kumbhakarna. Hari took a human incarnation, as Rama, to kill Ravana and Kumbhakarna. Nārad Muni was wandering in Himalayan mountains and begins to think about Vishnu. He instantly falls into a deep meditative trance. Seeing the sage 's state, Indra becomes apprehensive as he sees Nārad 's trance as a threat to his own position as the chief of demigods in heaven. Indra asks Kamadeva to disturb Nārad 's trance. He creates an illusion of fragrant flowers, delightful breezes and such. Heavenly damsels are called but all this has no effect on the sage. Kamadeva accepts defeat and falls at Nārad 's feet, addressing him with deep humility. He recalls all that happened to Shiva and becomes puffed up with pride of his defeating of Kamadeva. Shiva admonishes him not to repeat the story to Hari. Nārad visits Vishnu at his abode, and unable to control his pride, re-tells his episode with Kamadeva, ignoring all that Shiva had advised. Vishnu further fans Nārad 's pride by telling him that his steadfast vow of celibacy is so strong that he can never be smitten. Nārad then departs Vishnu 's abode. Hari tells Laksmi that he has a plan and sets his illusory powers (maya) into operation. As Nārad departs Vaikuntha, Vishnu creates a beautiful illusory city with illusionary inhabitants. The city is ruled by King Sheelanidhi, who has a beautiful daughter called Vishvamohini. Nārad is intrigued with the city and decides to visit the king. Nārad sees the king 's daughter and falls in love with her. The king explains that he wishes to marry his daughter to a suitable man. Nārad devises a plot to get the princess to choose him. Nārad approaches Hari and asks him for the gift of great beauty. Vishnu says that he will do only that which is beneficial to Nārad. The sage is glad at heart and thinks that with Vishnu 's favour, the princess will surely choose him. In reality the Hari had made Nārad look hideous. The entire royal court is aware of Nārad 's appearance, but says nothing. The princess filled with rage as soon as she sees Nārad 's ugly form and completely ignores him. He sees a reflection of his face in water and is consumed with rage. He instantly goes back to Vaikuntha and begins to speak to Hari in ugly tones. He curses Hari, "You made me look like a monkey; therefore You shall have monkeys for Your mates. And as You have grievously wronged me, so shall You suffer the pangs of separation from Your wife ''. Hari accepts Nārad 's curse and instantly withdraws his illusionary spell. Nārad realises that there is no city and there is no Visvamohini, and is dismayed at what he has done. He begs Vishnu to invalidate his curse. Hari explains that it was His will and advises Nārad to chant his name to absolve himself of any sin. Nārad returns to his abode chanting the praises of Ram. Svayambhuva Manu had Shatarupa as his wife. Manu ruled the earth for many years and carried out the Lord 's commandments. He longed to devotion to Hari and decides to give up rulership to his son so that he can retire to the forest with Satarupa and meditate upon the Lord. Manu and Satarupa settle at the banks of the Sarayu river and devoutly repeat the twelve - syllable Mantra, calling out to who is the source of many Brahmas, Vishnus and Shivas emanate. Some commentators indicate that the twelve - syllable mantra is the Vishnu mantra (Oṃ Namo Bhagavate Vāsudevāya). Rambhadracharya comments that the twelve - letter mantra is the coupled mantra for Sita and Rama. Manu and Shatarupa first sacrifice food and then water and are finally willing to sacrifice air. Brahma, Hari and Shiva call on Manu but Manu and Satarupa are resolute and do not swerve on their sacrifices. A great voice from the heavens tells Manu, in sweet tones, to ask for a boon. Rama and Sita approach Manu in a beautiful form, which leaves Manu overcome with emotion. Manu explains now that he and Satarupa have seen the Lord 's lotus feet, all their desires have been met. Manu has one longing but does n't know how to ask the Lord. Finally he asks, "O gracious Lord, I tell You my sincere wish: I would have a son like You. I have nothing to conceal from You. '' The Lord announces that it shall be, however, where would he find a son like Himself? The Lord tells Manu that He Himself would be a son to him. The Lord then asks Satarupa of her wish. She says that she greatly likes the boon received by her husband and wants the same. Bowing at the Lord 's feet, Manu then asks one more favour. He asks that he be dependent on which is granted. The Lord then commands the couple to dwell in Indra 's capital in heaven. The Lord explains that after some time Manu would be born as the king of Ayodhya, Dashrath and Satarupa as Kausalya. He would then manifest Himself in the royal household as their son. He reassured the couple that their desire would be accomplished. Prior to the birth of Rama, Muni Bharadwaja is told the story of King Pratapbhanu by Yajnavalkya. There is a kingdom called Kaikay where Satyaketu is king. He has two sons, Pratapbhanu and Arimardana and rules his kingdom with his prime minister Dharamaruchi. Satyaketu abdicates and hands the reign to Pratapbhanu, who becomes conqueror of the world. Once Pratapbhanu goes into the forest to hunt and sees a wild boar. The boar is actually the demon Kalaketu in disguise who runs away from the king. Pratapbhanu gives chase deeper into the forest. Pratapbhanu chases for many miles and becomes thirsty. He approaches a fake saints ashram, where the resident fake saint wants to hurt and insult Pratapbhanu due to a previous incident. Pratapbhanu does n't recognise the saint, who begins to sweet talk the king and says that by pure love, he wishes to impart boons onto the king. The king asks to be invicible and never ageing, which the fake saint grants, but with the condition that he needs to win favour of all Brahmans. The fake saint advises that the king arrange the cooking of holy food (prasadam) to feed the bramanas, who would surely be in his favour for such an act of kindness. The fake saint 's real intention is to trap the king and repay him for his old grievances. The fake saint asks the king to go rest, and that he would arrange the feast for the bramanas using his mystic powers. Pratapbhanu waits for three days for the fake saint. Kalaketu, now disguised as a priest, approaches the King in his court and says that he has been sent to cook the holy food. The entire brahmana community is invited. A heavenly voice from above warns the brahmanas that the food is unpure and they should run away immediately. They curse the king that he, his kingdom and entire family are wiped from the face of earth. They also curse that he be born a demon in his next life. The heavenly voice says that the brahmana 's curse is ill thought, as Pratapbhanu is not to blame. Since their curse can not be taken back, the voice says that it is the Brahmana community that will bare the brunt of the evil of his next life. Pratapbhanu is distraught and quickly goes to his kitchen to find Kalaketu. The king is pained and cries as he realises Kalaketu has vanished. The brahmanas feel sorry for Pratapbhanu and tell him that his evil next life will be ended by Supreme Vishnu himself. As per the curse, Pratapbhanu, Arimardam and Dharmaruchi are all killed as other neighbouring kings invade Kaikay. Pratapbhanu is reborn as Ravan, Arimardam is reborn as Kumbhkarna and Dharmaruchi as Vibhishan. All three take great penances and are approached by Brahma and Shiva and are asked for any boon. Ravan asks that no one should be able to kill me except the tribes of man and monkeys. Kumbhkarna asks for uninterrupted sleep for periods of six months. Vibhishan asks for unshakeable love for the feet of Vishnu. The story of how Shiva came about retelling Ramkatha to his consort Parvati is retold in great detail within the Bālakāṇḍa. This part of the story is narrated by Sant Yajnavalkya to Bharadvaj Muni. In the age of Treta, Shiva, accompanied by His consort Bhavani Sati, went to visit Rishi Agastya. The Rishi being pleased with Shiva 's visit, began to narrate the eternal story of Ram. Shiva listens with great pleasure and then they return towards Their abode. Around these exact days Ram had descended on earth and was wondering the Dandaka forest with Sita and Lakshman. Shiva ponders how he can catch sight of Ram. He finally sees Ram, who is frantically searching for Sita, and instantly joins his palms and prays "Glory to the Redeemer of the universe, who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss ''. Sati can not recognise Ram and wonders why her Supreme Shiva is praising a mortal. Shiva is the knower of all truth and instantly reads Sati 's thoughts. He advises her to not harbour such doubts and accept that she had seen Ram, whom Agastya had praised earlier. He finally says that if she is still not convinced then she should seek to verify this truth herself. Shiva observes as Sati takes the guise of Sita. Ram and Lakshman instantly see through Sati 's disguised and asks about Shiva 's whereabouts. Sati feels very uncomfortable and heads towards Shiva, thinking of how she is going to explain her folly of questioning His word. Shiva asks her to tell the truth of how she tested Ram. Sati is unable to tell the truth and says that she did not test Ram, but praised his as You had. Sati forgets that Shiva knows all that has happened and is disappointed that she was disguised as his Sita. He decides that Sati is too chaste to abandon and it is a sin to continue to be her Husband and so from then he has no connection with Sati in her current body. Sati concludes that Shiva has come to know everything and feels very foolish for having tried deceiving Him. Shiva sits under a banyan tree and enters into a long trance. Sati feel extremely sorry but accepts that providence is repaying her for her sins. Many years pass and Shiva finally ends his trance whilst praising Ram. Sati bows down at Shiva 's feet, after which he seats Sati opposite him and he begins to tell stories of Vishnu 's exploits. While Shiva is narrating the stories of Vishnu, the air is filled with celestial beings. Sati asks Shiva what the occasion is. Shiva explains that Her father Daksha has organised a great sacrifice where many demigods were invited. All except Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva were invited as Daksha had developed a hatred towards the Gods. Sati thinks of Her father and asks if She may visit him at this time. Shiva says that they have no formal invite and that all of Sati 's sisters are invited but because of his animosity towards Shiva, Her father has not invited us. Shiva tries to reason with Sati, that no good can come of Her attending, but Tulsidas explains that a daughters ties to her father are very strong. When she reaches her father 's abode, no one welcomes Her apart from Her mother. Daksha does not even acknowledge Her and actually burns with anger that She has turned up uninvited. Sati looks around and sees no oblations set apart for Shiva and the lack of respect of her father causes Her mind to rage with great anger. She faces Her father 's court and announces that Shiva is the father of the universe and the beneficent of all. It is the same Shiva that Her father vilifies. She burns Her body with the fires of Yoga. Her guards are beaten and thrashed. When Shiva came to know this, he sends Virabhadra, who wreaks havoc of the sacrifice and Daksha is slain. As Sati is about to die, She asks Lord Hari of the boon that she be devoted to Shiva 's feet in successive births. She is reborn as Parvati, the daughter of Himachal and Mena. Years after the birth of Parvati, Nārad Muni visits her parents Himachal and Mena. Himachal asks Nārad what the future holds for his daughter. Nārad says that Parvati will be adorned with good traits and win unfailing love of her husband. She will remain ever united with him and bring great glory upon her parents. The only drawback is that her husband will be an ascetic with matted hair who is naked and of hideous accoutrements. Himachal and Mena become disconsolate while Parvati is greatly pleased, as she senses from Nārad 's words that her boon from Vishnu is coming true. Nārad explains to Himachal that the only person who shows the virtues as described by him is Shiva. Parvati 's parents are immediately uplifted and as Nārad leaves, he asks Parvati to fix Her thoughts on Hari and practice austerity. The young Parvati enters the forest and performs great penances in order to obtain Shiva. Her body thins greatly due to her self - mortification after which Brahma declares that she should cease her severe penances as Shiva would soon be hers. History had produced many great sages, but none had performed such penances as this. Brahma instructs that her father would soon come for her and that she should return home with him. Ever since Sati had quit her body, Shiva had begun chanting Ram 's name and entered into a great trance. Through his mystic power, Ram asks Shiva to marry Parvati. Shiva says that this is not a justifiable request but the word of a master can not be set aside and must be obeyed. Shiva remains in his great trance. Around that time the demon Tāraka was causing distress and was in full flourish. Brahma declares that the son of Shiva will kill Tāraka, but for this to happen His wedding with Parvati needs to be arranged and for that to happen, Shiva 's trance has to be broken. It is decided that the God of Love should be sent to awaken Shiva. He fires five arrows of flowers at Shiva 's breast, the trance is broken and Shiva awakens. Shiva is enraged and, through his third eye, reduces Love to ashes. Love 's consort Rati faints as soon as she hears of her husband 's demise. Seeing the helpless woman, Shiva foretells that her husband will now be called bodiless and shall dominate all without a body form. When Krishna descends on earth, her husband would be born as His son Pradyumna. Thereafter Brahma and other gods approach Shiva and declare that they wish to witness His wedding with their own eyes. Remembering Vishnu 's early request, Shiva gladly agrees and Brahma proceeds to arrange the marriage. Shiva has no real family and so his attendants begin to adorn Him for His wedding to Parvati. His hair is formed into a crown with serpents forming a crest. Serpents form His earrings, bracelets and adorn his neck and He is smeared in ashes and has lion 's skin wrapped around His loins. He heads the wedding procession and Vishnu and Brahma, as well as a host of spirits, gandharavs and danavs follow behind. On the ninth day of the Chaitra month, the Manas describes that the Sun is at its meridian and the climate is neither cold nor hot. There is a cool, soft and fragrant breeze. The woods are full of blossom and the rivers or in full flow. Brahma deduces that the time for Ram 's birth is approaching and the heavenly beings all crowd over the skies to glimpse sight of the auspicious moment. The sky resounds of music and song as the heavenly beings offer their praises to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Here begins one of the most famous chhands from the Manas, the Ram Janam Stuti. The stuti begins with the appearance of Ram. Mother Kaushalya 's is filled with joy as she marvels over Ram 's dark complexion and his four armed form. He is adorned with jewels and a garland of Sylvan flowers and is described as being an ocean of beauty. Kaushalya joins her palms and prays. "O Infinite, How can I praise You! The Vedas and Puranas reveal you to be the repository of all virtues. You are the Lord of Laksmi and the lover of all of Your devotees and have appeared for my good. Every pore of Your body contains multitudes of universes and the thought that You stayed in my womb is truly staggering. '' Ram smiles and exhorts Kaushalya by telling her the charming account of her previous birth so that she can accept Him as her own child. Kaushalya asks Ram to give up His current superhuman form and to start to indulge in childish sports that are dear to a mother 's heart. Ram, described as the Lord of immortals, immediately becomes an infant and begins to cry. Tulsidas concludes that whoever sings this Stuti attains the abode of Lord Vishnu and never falls into the well of mundane existence. The Stuti has therefore been immortalised and it is a popular prayer sung on the occasion of Ram 's birthday. Ahalya, the wife of Rishi Gautam, was a beautiful woman. Indra, king of the gods, was tempted and decided to seduce her with trickery. Early morning Rishi Gautam when the dawn had arrived go down to the nearby Ganges for his usual morning bath. While the Rishi was bathing at the river, Indra assumed Gautam 's form and visited Ahalya, fooling her into thinking he was her husband. When Gautam returned, he encountered Indra, emerging from his hut in his (Gautam 's) form. Spiritually powerful, Gautam employed his divine vision to see the whole episode. Enraged, he cursed Indra with impotence. Losing his potency, Indra lost heaven to demons and sat prayerfully in a lotus flower for thousands of years in order to repent. Rishi Gautam, in a blind rage, also cursed his wife, Ahalya, to turn into a boulder. Innocent of any intentional wrongdoing, Ahalya begged for forgiveness. Gautam relented somewhat and said that when Ram is incarnated, he will bless her and break her curse. Ram, while going to Mithila for Sita Svayamvar along with Sage Vishwamitra and Laksman, stopped at the, then - uninhabited, hermitage of Rishi Gautam. Vishwamitra narrated Ahalya 's story to Ram, and asked him to free her. Ram touched the boulder with his foot and Ahalya was immediately released from the curse. She fell to Ram 's feet and washed his feet with her tears. She felt that her curse had become her fortune as she got the opportunity to seek Ram 's refuge in person. She then returned to her husband 's place. Many scholars have commented on the sudden ending to the Manas. Valmiki 's Uttar Kānd goes into great detail about Sita going into the forest, as a result of disapproving gossip of the citizens of Ayodhya, during the rule of Ram over Ayodhya. Sitaji asks mother Earth to receive her and Ram leaves His human form and returns to His celestial abode. Tulsidas decides not to mention these at all. The Katha Kar Morari Bapu has mentioned in many of his retellings of Ram Katha, that Tulsidasji did n't want to end the Manas in heartache for Sita. Tulsidas refers to Sita as his mother (as well as the mother of the entire universe) many times in the poem and so, on an emotional level, this becomes very understandable. She has endured enough pain throughout the Manas and so ends his retelling at a relatively happy moment. It is said that there are some Vaishnav devotees who will only recite the Bālakāṇḍa of the Manas, as this is seen as the happiest period of Ram and Sita 's lila on earth. However, Ramchritmans at few places do make reference of Sita 's abandonment, birth of lav - kush and Ram 's demise to his abode. These stories thus can be said to have mentioned in brief. An unpublished English poetic translation of Ramcharitmanas is provided by (Late) Binda Prasad Khattri of New Market, Banda, Uttar Pradesh. Apparently, the translation can be sung essentially in the same way and with the same rhythm as the original Hindi work. Frederick Growse translated the Ramcharitmanas into English under the title The Ramayan of Tulsidas during the nineteenth century. His translation remains in print. The English commentary by Morari Bapu, Mangal Ramayan, is an English composition of one of his orrated Ram Katha commentaries. The book contains all the translations of prayers, Doha, Chaupais, and Chandan sung by Bapu, as well as an in - depth disccusion behind the meanings of the poetry. Tulsi Manas Mandir Notes References Online sources Bibliography

where did the name jack spade come from

Kate Spade New York - Wikipedia Kate Spade New York is an American fashion design house founded in January 1993 by Kate Spade and Andy Spade. Jack Spade is the brand 's line for men. Kate Spade New York competes with Michael Kors. The company was recently purchased by, and is now part of, Coach. Katherine Noel Brosnahan (later known as Kate Spade) was born on December 4, 1962 in Kansas City, Missouri. She grew up in Kansas City and went to an all - girls Catholic high school. She moved to Arizona, where she attended Arizona State University and graduated in 1985. It is there that she met her future husband, Andy Spade. Katherine majored in journalism, while Andy majored in architecture. After they completed their education, the couple had moved to New York City by 1986. It was in New York that Katherine worked as a style editor for Mademoiselle, but left in 1991 (with the title of senior editor / head of accessories) to start her own handbag line. To get inspiration, Kate browsed local flea markets and secondhand stores. She also researched the styles, fabrics, and potential production costs of making her own handbags. The team slowly worked their way up the social ladder until they were able to create a company that would be noticed by the public. Kate Spade New York was founded in 1993 by Katherine Noel Brosnahan and her husband / business partner Andy Spade. Kate Spade New York started after a suggestion from Andy when Katherine was n't sure about her next career move after logging six years at Mademoiselle. Originally, the business started out with the Sam handbag and was only making colorful lively bags for consumers. Eventually, Andy withdrew $35,000 from his 401K account to fund the production of Kate 's handbags. Her debut line infused classic shapes, colors and fabrics into a now iconic square bag with a little black label sewn to the outside of the bag that said "Kate Spade New York. '' Their main target market at this time was the upper middle class. In 1996, Spade 's company opened its first shop in New York City 's SoHo. Kate Spade rose in eight months after a journalist at Cleveland Research Co. recommended buying the shares because of the brand 's growth potential. Everywhere people went in New York from about 1997 - 2000, it would have been impossible to avoid seeing women carrying that simple nylon bag. The business was one of the first of its time to go digital, by using iPads, cell phones, and computers, as a part of the daily routine when working at one of its stores. The company started from nothing, and after 1998 it started to expand, with sales totally $27 million. By 2006, revenue was reportedly near $99 million. In 1999, Neiman Marcus Group paid $34 million for 56 % stake of the company. And in 2006, Neiman Marcus Group acquired the remaining 44 % stake in Kate Spade. In 2004, Kate Spade operated only 13 stores in the United States, and did not ship out of the country (Cohen 198). The company initially sold handbags, but eventually extended to include stationery, personal organizers, address books, shoes, beauty products, perfume, raincoats, pajamas, and eyewear clothing. It now has a full women 's clothing line. The business ' clothing and handbag lines are featured in retail stores all across America. Products are easily and continuously shipped around the world. Control operation was given to Liz Claiborne in 2007, however Andy Spade was initially in charge of the company 's operations. By 2004, Kate Spade & Co. was worth $2.5 billion, not including the complimentary company Jack Spade. Kate Spade has over 180 stores around the world, and is sold in more than 400 stores worldwide (Cohen 198). Kate and Andy went from taking "the nothing black bag '' to a creative personalized purse, now they create merchandise from the simple tote to home decor and bedding. In November 2006, apparel giant Liz Claiborne Inc. bought Kate Spade for about $124 million from Neiman Marcus Group. Kate Spade expanded their retail stores to include Kate Spade New York Outlets. The brand has over 47 outlet locations across the United States (Outlet Sheet). The outlets offer Kate Spade New York handbags, clothing, jewelry, and accessories at a discounted price. Kate Spade New York Products are also sold in major department stores including Nordstrom, Macy 's, and Dillard 's. Kate Spade New York handbags, clothing, jewelry, accessories, and home products can be found in these major department stores. Kate Spade Home products are also sold at Bed, Bath and Beyond. As of January 2017, Kate Spade New York also debuted an exclusive collection with Williams - Sonoma including dinnerware, glassware, and flatware. (Williams - Sonoma, INC). Kate Spade 's first handbag was sold in January 1993. Shortly after the initial products were released new collections came out containing glasses, jewelry, and other small accessories (winter 36). In 2007, "kate spade at home '' was launched as a home collection brand. It features bedding, bath items, china, and various items for the home and wallpaper. In April 2013, Kate Spade New York launched a new fragrance called Live Colorfully. Previous perfumes of the house include Kate Spade from 2003 and Twirl from 2010. Live Colorfully is a fragrance made in - house that marks the 20th anniversary of the brand. Each of Spade 's products sold are packaged, and each one has a card that gives a description of Kate and Andy 's journey to the top. Every product purchased also has its own protective carrying / travelling case, no matter the item. Even large tote bags come with a case. Jack Spade, a fictional name, is the men 's complement to the Kate Spade brand. The style of Jack Spade reflects different aspects than the Kate Spade New York Company does, and not only because it is a male line. While Kate Spade is a clean cut line that represents a sleek, upper east side, preppy style, Jack Spade is more of a rugged style. The styles are completely different because they are based on what trends that specific gender is wearing in the upper east side. Jack Spade is composed more of darker colors rather than bright lively colors (Winters 36). Its founder and principal designer was Andy Spade. In recent years, Kate Spade has been featuring designs and special editions by guest designers and is no longer the sole artistic vision of the husband and wife team. All the Jack Spade stores were permanently closed in January 2015, but the brand continued to sell online and at Nordstrom.

when is defenders season 2 coming out on netflix

List of Marvel Cinematic Universe television series - wikipedia The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series are American superhero television shows based on characters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics. The shows have been in production since 2013, and in that time Marvel Television and ABC Studios, along with its production division ABC Signature Studios, have premiered 10 series, with at least four more in various stages of development, across broadcast, streaming, and cable television on ABC, Netflix and Hulu, and Freeform, respectively. The ABC series have averaged around 4 -- 8 million viewers a season, with many of the MCU series receiving strong critical responses. The first series in the universe, Marvel 's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., began airing on ABC during the 2013 -- 14 television season, and was joined by Marvel 's Agent Carter in the 2014 -- 15 television season. Marvel formed a unique partnership with IMAX Corporation to premiere Marvel 's Inhumans in IMAX theaters in September 2017 before airing on ABC during the 2017 -- 18 television season; a put pilot for another ABC series, Marvel 's Damage Control, has also been ordered. Netflix 's Marvel series began in 2015 with Marvel 's Daredevil and Marvel 's Jessica Jones, followed by Marvel 's Luke Cage in 2016. Marvel 's Iron Fist, the crossover miniseries Marvel 's The Defenders, and Marvel 's The Punisher released in 2017. Additionally, the MCU expanded to Hulu with Marvel 's Runaways in 2017, and will also expand to Freeform with Marvel 's Cloak & Dagger in 2018. Marvel 's New Warriors is also scheduled to air in 2018, despite not having a broadcaster. Starring in the series are Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, in Agent Carter, both reprising their roles from MCU films, while Anson Mount headlines Inhumans as Black Bolt. Daredevil introduces Charlie Cox in the title role of Matt Murdock / Daredevil as well as Jon Bernthal as the Punisher in its second season, who reprises his role as the star of The Punisher. Jessica Jones introduces Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones and Mike Colter as Luke Cage, with the latter also headlining Luke Cage. Finn Jones stars as Danny Rand / Iron Fist in Iron Fist, and joins Cox, Ritter, and Colter for The Defenders. The Runaways cast consists of the titular group, including Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder, and their parents, including Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder. Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph star in Cloak & Dagger as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak, respectively, while Milana Vayntrub and Derek Theler lead New Warriors as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl and Craig Hollis / Mister Immortal, respectively. Agent Phil Coulson assembles a small team of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) agents to handle strange new cases. After discovering that Project Centipede and their leader, "The Clairvoyant '', were affiliated with Hydra, a terrorist organization, Coulson and his team must deal with Hydra members still at large following Hydra 's infiltration of, and the destruction of, S.H.I.E.L.D., while also looking to restore trust from the government and public. In the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D. 's wars with Hydra and the Inhumans, a race of superhumans, Coulson begins a secret mission to protect the world from new threats. After the defeat of the Inhuman Hive and with Hydra destroyed, S.H.I.E.L.D. is made a legitimate organization once again, with Coulson returning to being a field agent, and is tasked with tracking down more enhanced people -- including Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider -- while Agent Leo Fitz and Dr. Holden Radcliffe complete their work on Life Model Decoys. Coulson and members of his team are eventually abducted to deep space, where they must try and save humanity while figuring out how to get home. In August 2012, ABC ordered a pilot for a show called S.H.I.E.L.D., to be written by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, and directed by Joss Whedon. On April 6, 2013, ABC announced that the show would be titled Marvel 's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and it was officially ordered to series on May 10, 2013. Jed Whedon, Tancharoen and Jeffrey Bell act as the series ' showrunners, while Clark Gregg reprises his role from the films as Phil Coulson. The series was renewed for a second season on May 8, 2014, a third on May 7, 2015, a fourth on March 3, 2016, a fifth on May 11, 2017, and a sixth season on May 14, 2018, consisting of 13 episodes. The first season, which premiered on September 24, 2013, aired episodes that directly relate to events in the films Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The revelation in Captain America: The Winter Soldier that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been infiltrated by Hydra had a huge impact on the series. Regarding the synergy the show had with addressing events from the film, Loeb said, "It 's an extremely unique experience that does n't exist anywhere else out there in the entertainment business. '' The second season, which premiered on September 23, 2014, introduces Inhumans to the MCU, ahead of their own television series. Additionally, a recurring plot point in the first two seasons involved the body of a member of the Kree race, who play a significant role in Guardians of the Galaxy. The third season, which premiered on September 29, 2015, introduces the concept of the Secret Warriors, with new Inhuman characters inspired by the comic of the same name, as well as Life Model Decoys. The fourth season, which premiered on September 20, 2016, sees Robbie Reyes / Ghost Rider introduced to the MCU, and ties to the second season of Agent Carter and Doctor Strange. The last four episodes of the fifth season, which premiered on December 1, 2017, coincides with the events of Avengers: Infinity War. In the first season, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Maximiliano Hernández, Titus Welliver and Jaimie Alexander all reprise their roles as Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Jasper Sitwell, Felix Blake, and Sif, respectively, from previous MCU films and One - Shots. In the second season, Alexander and Smulders return, while Hayley Atwell, Neal McDonough, Kenneth Choi, and Henry Goodman also reprise their roles as Peggy Carter, Timothy "Dum Dum '' Dugan, Jim Morita, and List, respectively, from previous MCU films. In the third season, William Sadler reprises his role as Matthew Ellis from the MCU films, and Powers Boothe recurs as his previously unnamed The Avengers character, Gideon Malick. In 1946, Peggy Carter must balance the routine office work she does for the Strategic Scientific Reserve while secretly assisting Howard Stark, who finds himself framed for supplying deadly weapons to enemies of the United States. Carter is assisted by Stark 's butler, Edwin Jarvis, to find those responsible and dispose of the weapons. Carter eventually moves from New York City to Los Angeles to deal with the threats of the new atomic age in the wake of World War II, gaining new friends, a new home and potential new love. By September 2013, Marvel was developing a series inspired by the Agent Carter One - Shot, featuring Peggy Carter, and in January 2014, the series was confirmed to be in development, with the script for a potential pilot to be written by Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier writers Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely. On May 8, 2014, ABC officially ordered Marvel 's Agent Carter to series. Tara Butters, Michele Fazekas and Chris Dingess act as showrunners on the series, while Hayley Atwell reprises her role from the films as Peggy Carter. The series was renewed for a second season on May 7, 2015, and was officially canceled by ABC on May 12, 2016. The first season, which premiered on January 6, 2015, introduces the origins of the Black Widow and Winter Soldier programs, which both appear in several MCU films. The second season, which premiered on January 19, 2016, features the Darkforce, which ties to the character Marcus Daniels in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Doctor Strange. In the first season, Dominic Cooper reprise his role of Howard Stark from Captain America: The First Avenger. James D'Arcy portrays Edwin Jarvis, Stark 's butler in the series who eventually serves as inspiration for Tony Stark 's artificial intelligence J.A.R.V.I.S. Costa Ronin portrays a young Anton Vanko, the co-creator of the arc reactor with Stark. Chris Evans appears as Steve Rogers / Captain America via archive footage from The First Avenger. McDonough and Toby Jones reprise their roles as Dugan and Arnim Zola, respectively. In the second season, Cooper returns to reprise his role. After a military coup, the Inhuman Royal Family, led by Black Bolt, escape to Hawaii where they must save themselves and the world. In November 2016, Marvel Television and IMAX Corporation announced Marvel 's Inhumans, to be produced in conjunction with ABC Studios. The series ' first two episodes were filmed entirely on IMAX digital cameras, and premiered on IMAX screens on September 1, 2017, for two weeks. ABC then broadcast the series weekly starting with the first two episodes on September 29, 2017, with the network airing of the first two episodes featuring exclusive content, outside of the versions screened on IMAX. Select action sequences in the rest of the series were also shot on IMAX. The series was neither intended to be a reworking of the planned film from Marvel Studios, nor a spin - off from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ben Sherwood, president of Disney -- ABC Television Group, added that "We 've worked very carefully with our friends at Marvel Studios -- and this is a critical point -- to make sure that calendar-wise and content-wise we are only enhancing '' the MCU; the theatrical debut of the series was timed to not interfere with the release of any Marvel Studios films. In December 2016, Scott Buck was announced as showrunner and executive producer for the series. In February 2017, Anson Mount was cast as Black Bolt. Filming began in March 2017 in Hawaii, and concluded in June. ABC officially canceled the series on May 11, 2018. By October 2013, Marvel was preparing four drama series and a miniseries to present to video on demand services and cable providers, with Netflix, Amazon, and WGN America expressing interest. That November, it was announced that Disney would provide Netflix with live - action series based on Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders. Lawyer - by - day Matt Murdock uses his heightened senses from being blinded as a young boy to fight crime at night on the streets of Hell 's Kitchen as Daredevil, juxtaposed with the rise of crime lord Wilson Fisk. Murdock eventually crosses paths with Frank Castle / Punisher, a vigilante with far deadlier methods, and sees the return of his old girlfriend, Elektra Natchios. In December 2013, Marvel confirmed that Drew Goddard would be the executive producer and showrunner for Daredevil, and would write and direct the first episode, though at the end of May 2014, it was announced that Goddard would no longer be the showrunner for the series, being replaced by Steven S. DeKnight. Goddard, who wrote the first two episodes, remained with the show as an executive producer. It was also revealed that the series would be titled Marvel 's Daredevil. A few days later, Charlie Cox was cast as Daredevil. A second season was ordered on April 21, 2015, with Doug Petrie and Marco Ramirez taking over as showrunners from DeKnight, who could not return to the series due to a prior commitment. A third season was ordered in July 2016, with Erik Oleson announced as the new showrunner of the series in October 2017. The first season, which debuted in its entirety on April 10, 2015, features references to The Avengers and the Battle of New York, as well as mentioning Carl "Crusher '' Creel, who appears on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The insignia for the Iron Fist antagonist Steel Serpent is also seen in the season. The second season, which premiered on March 18, 2016, features the motorcycle gang Dogs of Hell, who appeared on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., along with numerous references to the events of the first season of Jessica Jones. The third season is slated to be released in 2018. In the second season, Jon Bernthal was cast in a leading role as Frank Castle / Punisher, before headlining his own series, while Michelle Hurd and Carrie - Anne Moss reprise their roles of Samantha Reyes and Jeri Hogarth from Jessica Jones. Former superhero Jessica Jones suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, so she opens her own detective agency to help people. She begins to put her life back together after her encounter with Kilgrave, taking on a new case that makes her reluctantly confront her past. In November 2013, Melissa Rosenberg was announced as the writer and executive producer of the series, and the following March, Loeb stated that filming would begin after Daredevil. In December 2014, Krysten Ritter was cast as Jessica Jones in the series, officially titled Marvel 's Jessica Jones. A second season was ordered on January 17, 2016, and a third on April 12, 2018. The first season, which debuted in its entirety on November 20, 2015, features references to the events and characters of The Avengers. In the first season, Mike Colter was cast as Luke Cage, a recurring role in the series before headlining his own series. Rosario Dawson reprises her Daredevil role of Claire Temple, as does Royce Johnson in his role of Brett Mahoney. The second season, which was released on March 8, 2018, sees Elden Henson reprise his role of Franklin "Foggy '' Nelson, as well as Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett and Tijuana Ricks as Thembi Wallace. When a sabotaged experiment gives him super strength and unbreakable skin, Luke Cage becomes a fugitive attempting to rebuild his life in Harlem, and must soon confront his past and fight a battle for the heart of his city. After clearing his name, Cage becomes a hero and celebrity in Harlem, only to encounter a new threat that makes him confront the line between hero and villain. Colter reprises his role as Carl Lucas / Luke Cage in his own series, titled Marvel 's Luke Cage. In March 2014, Loeb stated that the series would begin filming after Iron Fist, being the fourth of the individual series. By March 2015, it was instead slated to be the third of the individual series, beginning production after Jessica Jones. The series was switched with Iron Fist after the positive reception Luke Cage received on Jessica Jones, becoming that series ' breakout star and Marvel wanting to "follow the momentum ''. Also in March, Cheo Hodari Coker was announced as showrunner and executive producer of the series. A second season was ordered on December 3, 2016. The first season, which premiered on September 30, 2016, features references to The Avengers, the second season of Daredevil, the first season of Jessica Jones, and a flier for Colleen Wing 's martial arts class, and mentions Justin Hammer, Wilson Fisk and Frank Castle. Dawson, Morgan, Rachel Taylor, Stephen Rider, Parisa Fitz - Henley, and Danny Johnson reprise their roles as Claire Temple, Turk Barrett, Trish Walker, Blake Tower, Reva Connors and Ben Donovan in the series, respectively. The second season is scheduled to be released on June 22, 2018. Finn Jones will reprise his role as Danny Rand in the season. Danny Rand returns to New York City, after being missing for fifteen years, to reclaim his family company. However, when a threat emerges, Rand must choose between his family 's legacy and his duties as the Iron Fist. In March 2014, Loeb initially stated that the series would begin filming after Jessica Jones as the third of the individual series. By March 2015, it was expected to be the fourth of the individual series, entering production following Luke Cage. The series was switched with Luke Cage after the positive reception Luke Cage received on Jessica Jones, becoming that series ' breakout star and Marvel wanting to "follow the momentum ''. In April 2015, the title of the series was revealed to be Marvel 's Iron Fist. In December 2015, Marvel announced that Scott Buck would serve as showrunner and executive producer of the series. In February 2016, Finn Jones was cast as Rand. A second season was revealed to be in development in July 2017, with Raven Metzner announced as the new showrunner for the season, replacing Buck. The first season, which premiered on March 17, 2017, makes references to the events of The Avengers, the Hulk, Stark Industries, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Seagate Prison, and mentions the Dogs of Hell biker gang, New York Bulletin editor - in - chief Mitchell Ellison and reporter Karen Page, Roxxon Oil and Midland Circle. Events from the second season of Daredevil are also noted throughout. Moss, Dawson, Wai Ching Ho, Marquis Rodriguez, Tijuana Ricks, and Suzanne H. Smart reprise their roles as Jeri Hogarth, Claire Temple, Gao, Darryl, Thembi Wallace, and Shirley Benson, respectively, in the series. The second season will see Simone Missick reprise her role as Misty Knight. The superheroes Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist team - up in New York City. The Defenders sees Cox, Ritter, Colter, and Jones reprise their roles as Matt Murdock / Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Danny Rand / Iron Fist, respectively, from the previous television series. In March 2014, Loeb stated that the miniseries, officially titled Marvel 's The Defenders, would begin filming after Iron Fist. In April 2016, Marvel announced that Douglas Petrie and Marco Ramirez would act as showrunners for The Defenders. However, by the start of filming in New York City in October 2016, Petrie had left the series as co-showrunner. Filming concluded in March 2017. The eight - episode event premiered on August 18, 2017. The miniseries also sees many supporting characters from the individual series reprise their roles, including, Deborah Ann Woll, Henson, Scott Glenn, Élodie Yung, Eka Darville, Moss, Taylor, Simone Missick, Jessica Henwick, Dawson, Ho, Ramón Rodríguez, Peter McRobbie, Morgan, Amy Rutberg, Susan Varon, and Nichole Yannetty as Karen Page, Foggy Nelson, Stick, Elektra Natchios, Malcolm Ducasse, Jeri Hogarth, Trish Walker, Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Claire Temple, Gao, Bakuto, Lantom, Turk Barrett, Marci Stahl, Josie and Nicole, respectively. Midland Circle, which was referenced in previous Netflix series, is revealed to be an operation of the Hand, who bought the building to search for the life substance hidden beneath the property. The miniseries also references the events of The Avengers. Frank Castle is haunted and hunted after the murder of his family and becomes a vigilante known in the criminal underworld as "the Punisher '', who aims to fight crime by any means necessary. By January 2016, ahead of the debut of Bernthal as armed vigilante Frank Castle / Punisher in the second season of Daredevil, Netflix was in "very early development '' on a spin - off series titled The Punisher, and was looking for a showrunner. The series would be centered on Bernthal as Castle, and was described as a stand - alone series, outside of the series leading up to The Defenders. Loeb implied that Marvel Television had not instigated the development of the spin - off and were focusing on making "the best 13 episodes of Daredevil season two '' at the time, but did say, "I 'm never going to discourage a network from looking at one of our characters and encouraging us to do more... If we are lucky enough that through the writing, through the direction, through the actor that people want to see more of that person, terrific. '' In April 2016, Marvel and Netflix ordered The Punisher, along with confirming Bernthal 's involvement and naming Steve Lightfoot as showrunner. Filming began in Brooklyn, New York in October 2016, and concluded in April 2017. A second season was ordered on December 12, 2017. In the first season, which was released on November 17, 2017, Woll and Morgan reprise their roles as Karen Page and Turk Barrett, respectively. When six teenagers discover their parents are villains, they reluctantly unite to go against them. In August 2016, Marvel announced Marvel 's Runaways had received a pilot order, along with additional scripts, from the streaming service Hulu, based on the team of the same name. The pilot is written by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, who also serve as executive producers and showrunners of the series. In February 2017, Marvel announced the cast of the Runaways, with Rhenzy Feliz as Alex Wilder, Lyrica Okano as Nico Minoru, Virginia Gardner as Karolina Dean, Ariela Barer as Gert Yorkes, Gregg Sulkin as Chase Stein, and Allegra Acosta as Molly Hernandez. Shortly after, they announced the cast of the Pride, the parents of the Runaways, with Ryan Sands as Geoffrey Wilder, Angel Parker as Catherine Wilder, Brittany Ishibashi as Tina Minoru, James Yaegashi as Robert Minoru, Kevin Weisman as Dale Yorkes, Brigid Brannagh as Stacey Yorkes, Annie Wersching as Leslie Dean, Kip Pardue as Frank Dean, James Marsters as Victor Stein, and Ever Carradine as Janet Stein. Hulu ordered the series in May 2017. Filming began in Los Angeles in February 2017, and concluded in October 2017. The first season, consisting of 10 episodes, premiered on November 21, 2017. Hulu renewed the series for a second season on January 8, 2018. Tina Minoru previously appeared in Doctor Strange, in a minor role as a Master of the Mystic Arts portrayed by Linda Louise Duan. Tandy Bowen and Tyrone Johnson, two teenagers from different backgrounds, acquire superpowers while forming a romantic relationship. They soon realize that their powers work better when they are together, "but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging. '' In April 2016, the ABC - owned network Freeform announced a straight - to - series order for Marvel 's Cloak & Dagger, based on the characters of the same name, calling it their "first venture into the Marvel Cinematic Universe '', and describing the show as a "superhero love story ''. In January 2017, Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph were cast as Tandy Bowen / Dagger and Tyrone Johnson / Cloak, respectively. Joe Pokaski serves as showrunner for the series. Filming began in New Orleans in February 2017, and concluded in November 2017. The first season, consisting of 10 episodes, is set premiere on June 7, 2018. Roxxon Oil is seen in the series, as is the Darkforce, which fuels Cloak 's powers and was previously established in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Carter. Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl, Craig Hollis / Mister Immortal, Dwayne Taylor / Night Thrasher, Robbie Baldwin / Speedball, Zach Smith / Microbe, and Deborah Fields / Debrii, are superpowered young people with abilities very different from the Avengers, who want to make a positive impact in the world even if they are not quite ready to be heroes. By the end of August 2016, Marvel Television and ABC Studios were developing a half - hour comedy series based on the New Warriors featuring Squirrel Girl, with the series being offered to cable networks and streaming outlets. In April 2017, Freeform announced a straight - to - series order for Marvel 's New Warriors, with Kevin Biegel serving as the series ' showrunner and writing the first script. In July 2017, the cast was revealed with Milana Vayntrub starring as Doreen Green / Squirrel Girl and Derek Theler as Craig Hollis / Mister Immortal. In November 2017, it was announced that the series would no longer air on Freeform and was being shopped to other networks, with Marvel intent on airing the series in 2018. The first season, consisting of 10 episodes, is set to air in 2018, with Biegel serving as showrunner for the series. List indicator (s) List indicator (s) With the release of the second season of Daredevil, Brian Lowery of Variety felt the Netflix series "have already leapfrogged ABC 's forays into the Marvel universe in terms of their appeal, in part by tapping into the avid fan base that supports pay models and does n't need to be spoon - fed plot points. In the process, they have demonstrated that it 's possible to deliver a credible superhero show without a lot of pyrotechnics ''. After the release of the first season of Luke Cage, The Atlantic 's David Sims wrote on the pacing issue of Marvel 's Netflix series, a common complaint to that point, stating, "After two seasons of Daredevil, one of Jessica Jones, and now one of Luke Cage, the Netflix model feels fundamentally flawed, encouraging the kind of molasses - slow plotting comic books are designed to eschew. The problem is n't that these shows are bad, necessarily... But they all take far too long to get going, by which point many viewers will have already tuned out. '' He felt one of the problems was the fact that Netflix does not rely on viewers tuning into a particular series as broadcast series do each week, but rather subscribers who, if they lose interest, "can take as long as they want to catch up... as long as they keep paying their subscription fee every month. '' The Netflix series are also afforded the opportunity to explore elements in more detail, with Sims noting "A lot of this detail (is) good, but it could have been considerably compressed -- none of the Marvel Netflix series, so far, would have lost much by being squeezed into 10 episodes, or even 8. If Netflix shaved the 60 - minute running time down quite a bit, it would likely inspire more economical -- and better -- storytelling from its shows. '' Sims concluded by saying, "What 's most frustrating of all is that Netflix is n't getting rid of this approach anytime soon. Daredevil season three, Jessica Jones season two, Iron Fist, and The Punisher are all on their way, and each will follow the same 13 - episode structure... The only respite may come in the form of The Defenders, a planned crossover series... over the course of just eight episodes. Who knows? The show might even surprise viewers and explain its villain 's motivations within the first hour. Until then, fans will be stuck needlessly giving over entire days to these series, while others are deterred from watching at all. '' In her review for the first season of Iron Fist, Allison Keene of Collider spoke more on the pacing of Marvel 's Netflix series, stating, "By focusing so intently on making these series... much more grounded in a gritty real world than what we typically expect from a superhero show (like DC 's candy - colored (Arrowverse) on The CW), the problem is that they miss out on the key element: this should be fantastical entertainment. '' With The Defenders, Jeff Jansen of Entertainment Weekly felt many improvements were made to the general complaints the previous seasons received. He said, "The Defenders is far from perfect. But it 's an enjoyable superhero adventure distinguished by improvements and innovations that I hope Marvel will carry forward. Shorter seasons. More team - ups. Fewer shows. Start the consolidation by letting go of Iron Fist. If Danny Rand must persist, add him to the other shows and let the stronger players carry him. '' The show follows the overworked, underpaid, clean up crew of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who specialize in dealing with the aftermath of superhero conflicts, rescheduling events because of the conflicts, and retrieving lost items. In October 2015, ABC ordered a put pilot for a half - hour live - action comedy series Marvel 's Damage Control, based on the comics construction company of the same name. The series is being developed by Ben Karlin for ABC Studios and Marvel Television, with Karlin also writing the script for the project and serving as executive producer. In January 2016, ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee said Damage Control was "going to be coming out this season, '' seemingly implying it would air in the 2016 -- 17 television season. Marvel has been working with screenwriter John Ridley since mid-April 2015 to craft a new television series, "reinventing '' an existing Marvel character or property. In January 2016, Ridley confirmed that the project was "still in development ''. He stated that he was looking to "bring some of the socially conscious nature '' of Jessica Jones and his series American Crime to the show, while also creating something that is "straight entertainment ''. A year later, Channing Dungey revealed that Ridley 's project was still progressing, with Ridley working on a rewrite of his script. Ridley added that the rewrite was not because "anything did n't work the first time around '', but rather trying to make sure the series does something viewers have not necessarily seen before in a superhero television series, hoping it would occupy "a space that is not currently being filled '' by Marvel. He also stated that he hoped to create the series "in the near term. '' By August 2017, Dungey was "not sure '' if Ridley was still working on the project. In January 2016, Lee announced that ABC Studios was developing a second comedy series with Marvel in hope it would air on ABC, while Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos stated that "all the characters in the universe could also spin out '' into their own series at some point. That May, Dungey said that there were "a handful of projects in development '', after passing on Most Wanted and canceling Agent Carter, and that Marvel and ABC were looking "at series that would be beneficial to both brands. '' By November 2017, Disney was developing a Marvel series specifically for release on its new streaming service, which it planned to launch before the end of 2019. In January 2018, Dungey noted Marvel and ABC "tried a few things that have n't worked out as well as we would 've liked. We developed a couple things this season that we do n't think are going to end up going forward, so we 're going to look really carefully about what we do next, because the idea for us is to come up with something that works very well for both Marvel and ABC, so we 're going to continue to try there. '' By April 2015, Marvel was developing a spinoff series of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The series, which was being developed by Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. executive producer Jeffrey Bell and writer Paul Zbyszewski, would be based on storylines occurring at the end of the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and would receive its own pilot rather than a backdoor pilot. Adrianne Palicki and Nick Blood entered into discussions to headline the potential new series as their characters Bobbi Morse and Lance Hunter, respectively. By May 7, 2015, when ABC announced their series renewals and cancellations, and new series pickups, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff was passed on. In August 2015, the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spinoff series received new life as a reworked series, titled Marvel 's Most Wanted, with a pilot order. Bell and Zbyszewski once again developed the series, while also serving as co-writers of the pilot, executive producers, and showrunners, with Jeph Loeb also attached as executive producer. The series would still focus on Morse and Hunter, with Palicki and Blood both attached, and was described as "a new take focusing on the same duo and their continuing adventures. '' In May 2016, the series was passed on by ABC once again.

what is the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer

Somatic cell nuclear transfer - wikipedia In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists of taking an enucleated oocyte (egg cell) and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic (body) cell. It is used in both therapeutic and reproductive cloning. Dolly the Sheep became famous for being the first successful case of the reproductive cloning of a mammal. In January 2018, a team of scientists in Shanghai announced the successful cloning of two female crab - eating macaques (named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua) from fetal nuclei. "Therapeutic cloning '' refers to the potential use of SCNT in regenerative medicine; this approach has been championed as an answer to the many issues concerning embryonic stem cells (ESC) and the destruction of viable embryos for medical use, though questions remain on how homologous the two cell types truly are. It is a technique for cloning in which the nucleus of a somatic cell is transferred to the cytoplasm of an enucleated egg. When this is done, the cytoplasmic factors affect the nucleus to become a zygote. The blastocyst stage is developed by the egg which helps to create embryonic stem cells from the inner cell mass of the blastocyst. The first animal that was developed by this technique was Dolly, the sheep, in 1996. The process of somatic cell nuclear transplant involves two different cells. The first being a female gamete, known as the ovum (egg / oocyte). In human SCNT (Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer) experiments, these eggs are obtained through consenting donors, utilizing ovarian stimulation. The second being a somatic cell, referring to the cells of the human body. Skin cells, fat cells, and liver cells are only a few examples. The nucleus of the donor egg cell is removed and discarded, leaving it ' deprogrammed. ' What is left is a somatic cell and an denucleated egg cell. These are then fused by inserting the somatic cell into the ' empty ' ovum. After being inserted into the egg, the somatic cell nucleus is reprogrammed by its host egg cell. The ovum, now containing the somatic cell 's nucleus, is stimulated with a shock and will begin to divide. The egg is now viable and capable of producing an adult organism containing all the necessary genetic information from just one parent. Development will ensue normally and after many mitotic divisions, this single cell forms a blastocyst (an early stage embryo with about 100 cells) with an identical genome to the original organism (i.e. a clone). Stem cells can then be obtained by the destruction of this clone embryo for use in therapeutic cloning or in the case of reproductive cloning the clone embryo is implanted into a host mother for further development and brought to term. Somatic cell nuclear transplantation has become a focus of study in stem cell research. The aim of carrying out this procedure is to obtain pluripotent cells from a cloned embryo. These cells genetically matched the donor organism from which they came. This gives them the ability to create patient specific pluripotent cells, which could then be used in therapies or disease research. Embryonic stem cells are undifferentiated cells of an embryo. These cells are deemed to have a pluripotent potential because they have the ability to give rise to all of the tissues found in an adult organism. This ability allows stem cells to create any cell type, which could then be transplanted to replace damaged or destroyed cells. Controversy surrounds human ESC work due to the destruction of viable human embryos. Leading scientists to seek an alternative method of obtaining stem cells, SCNT is one such method. A potential use of stem cells genetically matched to a patient would be to create cell lines that have genes linked to a patient 's particular disease. By doing so, an in vitro model could be created, would be useful for studying that particular disease, potentially discovering its pathophysiology, and discovering therapies. For example, if a person with Parkinson 's disease donated his or her somatic cells, the stem cells resulting from SCNT would have genes that contribute to Parkinson 's disease. The disease specific stem cell lines could then be studied in order to better understand the condition. Another application of SCNT stem cell research is using the patient specific stem cell lines to generate tissues or even organs for transplant into the specific patient. The resulting cells would be genetically identical to the somatic cell donor, thus avoiding any complications from immune system rejection. Only a handful of the labs in the world are currently using SCNT techniques in human stem cell research. In the United States, scientists at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, the University of California San Francisco, the Oregon Health & Science University, Stemagen (La Jolla, CA) and possibly Advanced Cell Technology are currently researching a technique to use somatic cell nuclear transfer to produce embryonic stem cells. In the United Kingdom, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has granted permission to research groups at the Roslin Institute and the Newcastle Centre for Life. SCNT may also be occurring in China. In 2005, a South Korean research team led by Professor Hwang Woo - suk, published claims to have derived stem cell lines via SCNT, but supported those claims with fabricated data. Recent evidence has proved that he in fact created a stem cell line from a parthenote. Though there has been numerous successes with cloning animals, questions remain concerning the mechanisms of reprogramming in the ovum. Despite many attempts, success in creating human nuclear transfer embryonic stem cells has been limited. There lies a problem in the human cell 's ability to form a blastocyst; the cells fail to progress past the eight cell stage of development. This is thought to be a result from the somatic cell nucleus being unable to turn on embryonic genes crucial for proper development. These earlier experiments used procedures developed in non-primate animals with little success. A research group from the Oregon Health & Science University demonstrated SCNT procedures developed for primates successfully using skin cells. The key to their success was utilizing oocytes in metaphase II (MII) of the cell cycle. Egg cells in MII contain special factors in the cytoplasm that have a special ability in reprogramming implanted somatic cell nuclei into cells with pluripotent states. When the ovum 's nucleus is removed, the cell loses its genetic information. This has been blamed for why enucleated eggs are hampered in their reprogramming ability. It is theorized the critical embryonic genes are physically linked to oocyte chromosomes, enucleation negatively affects these factors. Another possibility is removing the egg nucleus or inserting the somatic nucleus causes damage to the cytoplast, affecting reprogramming ability. Taking this into account the research group applied their new technique in an attempt to produce human SCNT stem cells. In May 2013, the Oregon group reported the successful derivation of human embryonic stem cell lines derived through SCNT, using fetal and infant donor cells. Using MII oocytes from volunteers and their improved SCNT procedure, human clone embryos were successfully produced. These embryos were of poor quality, lacking a substantial inner cell mass and poorly constructed trophectoderm. The imperfect embryos prevented the acquisition of human ESC. The addition of caffeine during the removal of the ovum 's nucleus and injection of the somatic nucleus improved blastocyst formation and ESC isolation. The ESC obtain were found to be capable of producing teratomas, expressed pluripotent transcription factors, and expressed a normal 46XX karyotype, indicating these SCNT were in fact ESC - like. This was the first instance of successfully using SCNT to reprogram human somatic cells. This study used fetal and infantile somatic cells to produce their ESC. In April 2014, an international research team expanded on this break through. There remained the question of whether the same success could be accomplished using adult somatic cells. Epigenetic and age related changes were thought to possibly hinder an adult somatic cells ability to be reprogrammed. Implementing the procedure pioneered by the Oregon research group they indeed were able to grow stem cells generated by SCNT using adult cells from two donors, aged 35 and 75. Indicating age does not impede a cells ability to be reprogrammed Late April 2014, the New York Stem Cell Foundation was successful in creating SCNT stem cells derived from adult somatic cells. One of these lines of stem cells was derived from the donor cells of a type 1 diabetic. The group was then able to successfully culture these stem cells and induce differentiation. When injected into mice, cells of all three of the germ layers successfully formed. The most significant of these cells, were those who expressed insulin and were capable of secreting the hormone. These insulin producing cells could be used for replacement therapy in diabetics, demonstrating real SCNT stem cell therapeutic potential. The impetus for SCNT - based stem cell research has been decreased by the development and improvement of alternative methods of generating stem cells. Methods to reprogram normal body cells into pluripotent stem cells were developed in humans in 2007. The following year, this method achieved a key goal of SCNT - based stem cell research: the derivation of pluripotent stem cell lines that have all genes linked to various diseases. Some scientists working on SCNT - based stem cell research have recently moved to the new methods of induced pluripotent stem cells. Though recent studies have put in question how similar iPS cells are to embryonic stem cells. Epigenetic memory in iPS affects the cell lineage it can differentiate into. For instance, an iPS cell derived from a blood cell will be more efficient at differentiating into blood cells, while it will be less efficient at creating a neuron. This raises the question of how well iPS cells can mimic the gold standard ESC in experiments, as stem cells are defined as having the ability to differentiate into any cell type. SCNT stem cells do not pose such a problem and continue to remain relevant in stem cell studies. This technique is currently the basis for cloning animals (such as the famous Dolly the sheep), and has been theoretically proposed as a possible way to clone humans. Using SCNT in reproductive cloning has proven difficult with limited success. High fetal and neonatal death make the process very inefficient. Resulting cloned offspring are also plagued with development and imprinting disorders in non-human species. For these reasons, along with moral and ethical objections, reproductive cloning in humans is proscribed in more than 30 countries. Most researchers believe that in the foreseeable future it will not be possible to use the current cloning technique to produce a human clone that will develop to term. It remains a possibility, though critical adjustments will be required to overcome current limitations during early embryonic development in human SCNT. There is also the potential for treating diseases associated with mutations in mitochondrial DNA. Recent studies show SCNT of the nucleus of a body cell afflicted with one of these diseases into a healthy oocyte prevents the inheritance of the mitochondrial disease. This treatment does not involve cloning but would produce a child with three genetic parents. A father providing a sperm cell, one mother providing the egg nucleus and another mother providing the enucleated egg cell. In 2018, the first successful cloning of primates using somatic cell nuclear transfer, the same method as Dolly the sheep, with the birth of two live female clones (crab - eating macaques named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua) was reported. Interspecies nuclear transfer (iSCNT) is a means of somatic cell nuclear transfer used to facilitate the rescue of endangered species, or even to restore species after their extinction. The technique is similar to SCNT cloning which typically is between domestic animals and rodents, or where there is a ready supply of oocytes and surrogate animals. However, the cloning of highly endangered or extinct species requires the use of an alternative method of cloning. Interspecies nuclear transfer utilizes a host and a donor of two different organisms that are closely related species and within the same genus. In 2000, Robert Lanza was able to produce a cloned fetus of a gaur, Bos gaurus, combining it successfully with a domestic cow, Bos taurus. Interspecies nuclear transfer provides evidence of the universality of the triggering mechanism of the cell nucleus reprogramming. For example, Gupta et al., explored the possibility of producing transgenic cloned embryos by interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) of cattle, mice, and chicken donor cells into enucleated pig oocytes. Moreover, NCSU23 medium, which was designed for in vitro culture of pig embryos, was able to support the in vitro development of cattle, mice, and chicken iSCNT embryos up to the blastocyst stage. Furthermore, ovine oocyte cytoplast may be used for remodeling and reprogramming of human somatic cells back to the embryonic stage. SCNT can be inefficient. Stresses placed on both the egg cell and the introduced nucleus in early research were enormous, resulting in a low percentage of successfully reprogrammed cells. For example, in 1996 Dolly the sheep was born after 277 eggs were used for SCNT, which created 29 viable embryos. Only three of these embryos survived until birth, and only one survived to adulthood. As the procedure was not automated, but had to be performed manually under a microscope, SCNT was very resource intensive. The biochemistry involved in reprogramming the differentiated somatic cell nucleus and activating the recipient egg was also far from understood. However, by 2014, researchers were reporting success rates of 70 - 80 % with cloning pigs and in 2016 a Korean company, Sooam Biotech, was reported to be producing 500 cloned embryos a day. In SCNT, not all of the donor cell 's genetic information is transferred, as the donor cell 's mitochondria that contain their own mitochondrial DNA are left behind. The resulting hybrid cells retain those mitochondrial structures which originally belonged to the egg. As a consequence, clones such as Dolly that are born from SCNT are not perfect copies of the donor of the nucleus. This fact may also hamper the potential benefits of SCNT derived tissues / organs for therapy, as there may be an immunoresponse to the non-self mtDNA after transplant. Proposals to use nucleus transfer techniques in human stem cell research raise a set of concerns beyond the moral status of any created embryo. These have led to some individuals and organizations who are not opposed to human embryonic stem cell research to be concerned about, or opposed to, SCNT research. One concern is that blastula creation in SCNT - based human stem cell research will lead to the reproductive cloning of humans. Both processes use the same first step: the creation of a nuclear transferred embryo, most likely via SCNT. Those who hold this concern often advocate for strong regulation of SCNT to preclude implantation of any derived products for the intention of human reproduction, or its prohibition. A second important concern is the appropriate source of the eggs that are needed. SCNT requires human eggs, which can only be obtained from women. The most common source of these eggs today are eggs that are produced and in excess of the clinical need during IVF treatment. This is a minimally invasive procedure, but it does carry some health risks, such as ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. One vision for successful stem cell therapies is to create custom stem cell lines for patients. Each custom stem cell line would consist of a collection of identical stem cells each carrying the patient 's own DNA, thus reducing or eliminating any problems with rejection when the stem cells were transplanted for treatment. For example, to treat a man with Parkinson 's disease, a cell nucleus from one of his cells would be transplanted by SCNT into an egg cell from an egg donor, creating a unique lineage of stem cells almost identical to the patient 's own cells. (There would be differences. For example, the mitochondrial DNA would be the same as that of the egg donor. In comparison, his own cells would carry the mitochondrial DNA of his mother.) Potentially millions of patients could benefit from stem cell therapy, and each patient would require a large number of donated eggs in order to successfully create a single custom therapeutic stem cell line. Such large numbers of donated eggs would exceed the number of eggs currently left over and available from couples trying to have children through assisted reproductive technology. Therefore, healthy young women would need to be induced to sell eggs to be used in the creation of custom stem cell lines that could then be purchased by the medical industry and sold to patients. It is so far unclear where all these eggs would come from. Stem cell experts consider it unlikely that such large numbers of human egg donations would occur in a developed country because of the unknown long - term public health effects of treating large numbers of healthy young women with heavy doses of hormones in order to induce hyperovulation (ovulating several eggs at once). Although such treatments have been performed for several decades now, the long - term effects have not been studied or declared safe to use on a large scale on otherwise healthy women. Longer - term treatments with much lower doses of hormones are known to increase the rate of cancer decades later. Whether hormone treatments to induce hyperovulation could have similar effects is unknown. There are also ethical questions surrounding paying for eggs. In general, marketing body parts is considered unethical and is banned in most countries. Human eggs have been a notable exception to this rule for some time. To address the problem of creating a human egg market, some stem cell researchers are investigating the possibility of creating artificial eggs. If successful, human egg donations would not be needed to create custom stem cell lines. However, this technology may be a long way off. SCNT involving human cells is currently legal for research purposes in the United Kingdom, having been incorporated into the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Permission must be obtained from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in order to perform or attempt SCNT. In the United States, the practice remains legal, as it has not been addressed by federal law. However, in 2002, a moratorium on United States federal funding for SCNT prohibits funding the practice for the purposes of research. Thus, though legal, SCNT can not be federally funded. American scholars have recently argued that because the product of SCNT is a clone embryo, rather than a human embryo, these policies are morally wrong and should be revised. In 2003, the United Nations adopted a proposal submitted by Costa Rica, calling on member states to "prohibit all forms of human cloning in as much as they are incompatible with human dignity and the protection of human life. '' This phrase may include SCNT, depending on interpretation. The Council of Europe 's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine and its Additional Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the Application of Biology and Medicine, on the Prohibition of Cloning Human Being appear to ban SCNT of human beings. Of the Council 's 45 member states, the Convention has been signed by 31 and ratified by 18. The Additional Protocol has been signed by 29 member nations and ratified by 14.

why have hindu communities outside of india developed

Hindu - Wikipedia Hindu (pronunciation (help info)) refers to any person who regards themselves as culturally, ethnically, or religiously adhering to aspects of Hinduism. It has historically been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people indigenous to South Asia. The historical meaning of the term Hindu has evolved with time. Starting with the Persian and Greek references to the land of the Indus in the 1st millennium BCE through the texts of the medieval era, the term Hindu implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent around or beyond the Sindhu (Indus) river. By the 16th century, the term began to refer to residents of the subcontinent who were not Turkic or Muslims. The historical development of Hindu self - identity within the local South Asian population, in a religious or cultural sense, is unclear. Competing theories state that Hindu identity developed in the British colonial era, or that it developed post-8th century CE after the Islamic invasion and medieval Hindu - Muslim wars. A sense of Hindu identity and the term Hindu appears in some texts dated between the 13th and 18th century in Sanskrit and regional languages. The 14th - and 18th - century Indian poets such as Vidyapati, Kabir and Eknath used the phrase Hindu dharma (Hinduism) and contrasted it with Turaka dharma (Islam). The Christian friar Sebastiao Manrique used the term ' Hindu ' in religious context in 1649. In the 18th century, the European merchants and colonists began to refer to the followers of Indian religions collectively as Hindus, in contrast to Mohamedans for Mughals and Arabs following Islam. By the mid-19th century, colonial orientalist texts further distinguished Hindus from Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains, but the colonial laws continued to consider all of them to be within the scope of the term Hindu until about mid-20th century. Scholars state that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomenon. Hindoo is an archaic spelling variant, whose use today may be considered derogatory. At more than 1.03 billion, Hindus are the world 's third largest group after Christians and Muslims. The vast majority of Hindus, approximately 966 million, live in India, according to India 's 2011 census. After India, the next 9 countries with the largest Hindu populations are, in decreasing order: Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom and Myanmar. These together accounted for 99 % of the world 's Hindu population, and the remaining nations of the world together had about 6 million Hindus in 2010. The word Hindu is derived from the Indo - Aryan and Sanskrit word Sindhu, which means "a large body of water '', covering "river, ocean ''. It was used as the name of the Indus river and also referred to its tributaries. The actual term ' hindu ' first occurs, states Gavin Flood, as "a Persian geographical term for the people who lived beyond the river Indus (Sanskrit: Sindhu) '', more specifically in the 6th - century BCE inscription of Darius I. The Punjab region, called Sapta Sindhava in the Vedas, is called Hapta Hindu in Zend Avesta. The 6th - century BCE inscription of Darius I mentions the province of Hi (n) dush, referring to northwestern India. The people of India were referred to as Hinduvān (Hindus) and hindavī was used as the adjective for Indian in the 8th century text Chachnama. The term ' Hindu ' in these ancient records is an ethno - geographical term and did not refer to a religion. The Arabic equivalent Al - Hind likewise referred to the country of India. Among the earliest known records of ' Hindu ' with connotations of religion may be in the 7th - century CE Chinese text Record of the Western Regions by the Buddhist scholar Xuanzang. Xuanzang uses the transliterated term In - tu whose "connotation overflows in the religious '' according to Arvind Sharma. While Xuanzang suggested that the term refers to the country named after the moon, another Buddhist scholar I - tsing contradicted the conclusion saying that In - tu was not a common name for the country. Al - Biruni 's 11th - century text Tarikh Al - Hind, and the texts of the Delhi Sultanate period use the term ' Hindu ', where it includes all non-Islamic people such as Buddhists, and retains the ambiguity of being "a region or a religion ''. The ' Hindu ' community occurs as the amorphous ' Other ' of the Muslim community in the court chronicles, according to Romila Thapar. Wilfred Cantwell Smith notes that ' Hindu ' retained its geographical reference initially: ' Indian ', ' indigenous, local ', virtually ' native '. Slowly, the Indian groups themselves started using the term, differentiating themselves and their "traditional ways '' from those of the invaders. The text Prithviraj Raso, by Chanda Baradai, about the 1192 CE defeat of Prithviraj Chauhan at the hands of Muhammad Ghori, is full of references to "Hindus '' and "Turks '', and at one stage, says "both the religions have drawn their curved swords; '' however, the date of this text is unclear and considered by most scholars to be more recent. In Islamic literature, ' Abd al - Malik Isami 's Persian work, Futuhu 's - salatin, composed in the Deccan in 1350, uses the word ' hindi ' to mean Indian in the ethno - geographical sense and the word ' hindu ' to mean ' Hindu ' in the sense of a follower of the Hindu religion ". The poet Vidyapati 's poem Kirtilata contrasts the cultures of Hindus and Turks (Muslims) in a city and concludes "The Hindus and the Turks live close together; Each makes fun of the other 's religion (dhamme). '' One of the earliest uses of word ' Hindu ' in religious context in a European language (Spanish), was the publication in 1649 by Sebastiao Manrique. Other prominent mentions of ' Hindu ' include the epigraphical inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh kingdoms who battled military expansion of Muslim dynasties in the 14th century, where the word ' Hindu ' partly implies a religious identity in contrast to ' Turks ' or Islamic religious identity. The term Hindu was later used occasionally in some Sanskrit texts such as the later Rajataranginis of Kashmir (Hinduka, c. 1450) and some 16th - to 18th - century Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava texts, including Chaitanya Charitamrita and Chaitanya Bhagavata. These texts used it to contrast Hindus from Muslims who are called Yavanas (foreigners) or Mlecchas (barbarians), with the 16th - century Chaitanya Charitamrita text and the 17th - century Bhakta Mala text using the phrase "Hindu dharma ''. One of the earliest but ambiguous uses of the word Hindu is, states Arvind Sharma, in the ' Brahmanabad settlement ' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term ' Hindu ' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region. In the 11th - century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists '' to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold a diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views. In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of Ibn Battuta 's explanation of the name "Hindu Kush '' for a mountain range in Afghanistan. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of snow cold, as they were marched across that mountain range. The term Hindu there is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion. In the texts from the Mughal Empire era, the term Hindu appears to refer to the people of India who had not converted to Islam. Pashaura Singh states, "in Persian writings, Sikhs were regarded as Hindu in the sense of non-Muslim Indians ''. Jahangir, for example, called the Sikh Guru Arjan a Hindu, who pretends to be a saint: There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple - minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. They called him Guru... When Khusraw stopped at his residence, (Arjan) came out and had an interview with (Khusraw). Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam. In early colonial era Anglo - Hindu laws and British India court system, the term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions and two non-Indian religions: The colonial project was itself undermined by its own constitutive contradictions since many of these laws were no more intrinsic to Indian society than the proposed meld of English and Indian systems. (...) The application of laws derived from Sanskrit classical texts leveled the community of Hindus to include all those who were not Muslims or Christians, and it absorbed under the category of "Hindu '' both outcastes and members of religions as diverse as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism. The 20th - century colonial laws of British India segregated people 's rights by their religion, evolving to provide Muslims with Sharia law, Christians, Jews and Parsis of British India with their own religious laws. The British government created a compendium of religious laws for Hindus, and the term ' Hindu ' in these colonial ' Hindu laws ', decades before India 's independence, applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. Beyond the stipulations of British law, colonial orientalists and particularly the influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called The Asiatic Society, initially identified just two religions in India -- Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century. These texts called followers of Islam as Mohamedans, and all others as Hindus. The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of the various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were Seeks and their College (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), Boudhism (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term Jainism received notice. According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict '', and Hindu was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India '', states Pennington. Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two - dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th - century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities. These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about the Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia '', and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus. In contemporary era, the term Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of Hinduism, whether they are practising or non-practicing or Laissez - faire. The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as Sarnaism. The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with a fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism. One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states Julius Lipner, to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu. Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, no prophet (s) nor any binding holy book; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist. Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult. The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it ''. A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu. In 1995, Chief Justice P.B. Gajendragadkar was quoted in an Indian Supreme Court ruling: Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to dharma, karma, kama, artha, moksha and samsara, even if each subscribes to a diversity of views. Hindus also have shared texts such as the Vedas with embedded Upanishads, and common ritual grammar (Sanskara (rite of passage)) such as rituals during a wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals. Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of bhakti or puja, celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for guru and family, and other cultural traditions. A Hindu could: In the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu '' has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism. This however has been challenged by the Sikhs and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus. According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under ' Hindu ', but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion. The Republic of India is in the peculiar situation that the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism '' because the Constitution of India, while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen '' on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language ''. As a consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority ''. Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether Jainism is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006. In the 2006 verdict, the Supreme Court found that the "Jain Religion is indisputably not a part of the Hindu Religion ''. Starting after the 10th century and particularly after the 12th century Islamic invasion, states Sheldon Pollock, the political response fused with the Indic religious culture and doctrines. Temples dedicated to deity Rama were built from north to south India, and textual records as well as hagiographic inscriptions began comparing the Hindu epic of Ramayana to regional kings and their response to Islamic attacks. The Yadava king of Devagiri named Ramacandra, for example states Pollock, is described in a 13th - century record as, "How is this Rama to be described... who freed Varanasi from the mleccha (barbarian, Turk Muslim) horde, and built there a golden temple of Sarngadhara ''. Pollock notes that the Yadava king Ramacandra is described as a devotee of deity Shiva (Shaivism), yet his political achievements and temple construction sponsorship in Varanasi, far from his kingdom 's location in the Deccan region, is described in the historical records in Vaishnavism terms of Rama, a deity Vishnu avatar. Pollock presents many such examples and suggests an emerging Hindu political identity that was grounded in the Hindu religious text of Ramayana, one that has continued into the modern times, and suggests that this historic process began with the arrival of Islam in India. Brajadulal Chattopadhyaya has questioned the Pollock theory and presented textual and inscriptional evidence. According to Chattopadhyaya, the Hindu identity and religious response to Islamic invasion and wars developed in different kingdoms, such as wars between Islamic Sultanates and the Vijayanagara kingdom (Karnataka), and Islamic raids on the kingdoms in Tamil Nadu. These wars were described not just using the mythical story of Rama from Ramayana, states Chattopadhyaya, the medieval records used a wide range of religious symbolism and myths that are now considered as part of Hindu literature. This emergence of religious with political terminology began with the first Muslim invasion of Sindh in the 8th century CE, and intensified 13th century onwards. The 14th - century Sanskrit text, Madhuravijayam, a memoir written by Gangadevi, the wife of Vijayanagara prince, for example describes the consequences of war using religious terms, I very much lament for what happened to the groves in Madhura, The coconut trees have all been cut and in their place are to be seen, rows of iron spikes with human skulls dangling at the points, In the highways which were once charming with anklets sound of beautiful women, are now heard ear - piercing noises of Brahmins being dragged, bound in iron - fetters, The waters of Tambraparni, which were once white with sandal paste, are now flowing red with the blood of cows slaughtered by miscreants, Earth is no longer the producer of wealth, nor does Indra give timely rains, The God of death takes his undue toll of what are left lives if undestroyed by the Yavanas (Muslims), The Kali age now deserves deepest congratulations for being at the zenith of its power, gone is the sacred learning, hidden is refinement, hushed is the voice of Dharma. The historiographic writings in Telugu language from the 13th - and 14th - century Kakatiya dynasty period presents a similar "alien other (Turk) '' and "self - identity (Hindu) '' contrast. Chattopadhyaya, and other scholars, state that the military and political campaign during the medieval era wars in Deccan peninsula of India, and in the north India, were no longer a quest for sovereignty, they embodied a political and religious animosity against the "otherness of Islam '', and this began the historical process of Hindu identity formation. Andrew Nicholson, in his review of scholarship on Hindu identity history, states that the vernacular literature of Bhakti movement sants from 15th to 17th century, such as Kabir, Anantadas, Eknath, Vidyapati, suggests that distinct religious identities, between Hindus and Turks (Muslims), had formed during these centuries. The poetry of this period contrasts Hindu and Islamic identities, states Nicholson, and the literature vilifies the Muslims coupled with a "distinct sense of a Hindu religious identity ''. Scholars state that Hindu, Buddhist and Jain identities are retrospectively - introduced modern constructions. Inscriptional evidence from the 8th century onwards, in regions such as South India suggests that medieval era India, at both elite and folk religious practices level, likely had a "shared religious culture '', and their collective identities were "multiple, layered and fuzzy ''. Even among Hinduism denominations such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism, the Hindu identities, states Leslie Orr, lacked "firm definitions and clear boundaries ''. Overlaps in Jain - Hindu identities have included Jains worshipping Hindu deities, intermarriages between Jains and Hindus, and medieval era Jain temples featuring Hindu religious icons and sculpture. Beyond India, on Java island of Indonesia, historical records attest to marriages between Hindus and Buddhists, medieval era temple architecture and sculptures that simultaneously incorporate Hindu and Buddhist themes, where Hinduism and Buddhism merged and functioned as "two separate paths within one overall system '', according to Ann Kenney and other scholars. Similarly, there is an organic relation of Sikhs to Hindus, states Zaehner, both in religious thought and their communities, and virtually all Sikhs ' ancestors were Hindus. Marriages between Sikhs and Hindus, particularly among Khatris, were frequent. Some Hindu families brought up a son as a Sikh, and some Hindus view Sikhism as a tradition within Hinduism, even though the Sikh faith is a distinct religion. Julius Lipner states that the custom of distinguishing between Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs is a modern phenomena, but one that is a convenient abstraction. Distinguishing Indian traditions is a fairly recent practice, states Lipner, and is the result of "not only Western preconceptions about the nature of religion in general and of religion in India in particular, but also with the political awareness that has arisen in India '' in its people and a result of Western influence during its colonial history. Scholars such as Fleming and Eck state that the post-Epic era literature from the 1st millennium CE amply demonstrate that there was a historic concept of the Indian subcontinent as a sacred geography, where the sacredness was a shared set religious ideas. For example, the twelve Jyotirlingas of Shaivism and fifty - one Shaktipithas of Shaktism are described in the early medieval era Puranas as pilgrimage sites around a theme. This sacred geography and Shaiva temples with same iconography, shared themes, motifs and embedded legends are found across India, from the Himalayas to hills of South India, from Ellora Caves to Varanasi by about the middle of 1st millennium. Shakti temples, dated to a few centuries later, are verifiable across the subcontinent. Varanasi as a sacred pilgrimage site is documented in the Varanasimahatmya text embedded inside the Skanda Purana, and the oldest versions of this text are dated to 6th to 8th - century CE. The idea of twelve sacred sites in Shiva Hindu tradition spread across the Indian subcontinent appears not only in the medieval era temples but also in copper plate inscriptions and temple seals discovered in different sites. According to Bhardwaj, non-Hindu texts such as the memoirs of Chinese Buddhist and Persian Muslim travellers attest to the existence and significance of the pilgrimage to sacred geography among Hindus by later 1st millennium CE. According to Fleming, those who question whether the term Hindu and Hinduism are a modern construction in a religious context present their arguments based on some texts that have survived into the modern era, either of Islamic courts or of literature published by Western missionaries or colonial - era Indologists aiming for a reasonable construction of history. However, the existence of non-textual evidence such as cave temples separated by thousands of kilometers, as well as lists of medieval era pilgrimage sites is evidence of a shared sacred geography and existence of a community that was self - aware of shared religious premises and landscape. Further, it is a norm in evolving cultures that there is a gap between the "lived and historical realities '' of a religious tradition and the emergence of related "textual authorities ''. The tradition and temples likely existed well before the medieval era Hindu manuscripts appeared that describe them and the sacred geography. This, states Fleming, is apparent given the sophistication of the architecture and the sacred sites along with the variance in the versions of the Puranic literature. According to Diana L. Eck and other Indologists such as André Wink, Muslim invaders were aware of Hindu sacred geography such as Mathura, Ujjain, and Varanasi by the 11th - century. These sites became a target of their serial attacks in the centuries that followed. The Hindus have been persecuted during the medieval and modern era. The medieval persecution included waves of plunder, killing, destruction of temples and enslavement by Turk - Mongol Muslim armies from central Asia. This is documented in Islamic literature such as those relating to 8th century Muhammad bin - Qasim, 11th century Mahmud of Ghazni, the Persian traveler Al Biruni, the 14th century Islamic army invasion led by Timur, and various Sunni Islamic rulers of the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. There were occasional exceptions such as Akbar who stopped the persecution of Hindus, and occasional severe persecution such as under Aurangzeb who destroyed temples, forcibly converted non-muslims to Islam and banned the celebration of Hindu festivals such as Holi and Diwali. Other recorded persecution of Hindus include those under the reign of 18th century Tipu Sultan in south India, and during the colonial era. In the modern era, religious persecution of Hindus have been reported outside India. Christophe Jaffrelot states that modern Hindu nationalism was born in Maharashtra, in the 1920s, as a reaction to the Islamic Khilafat Movement wherein Indian Muslims championed and took the cause of the Turkish Ottoman sultan as the Caliph of all Muslims, at the end of the World War I. Hindus viewed this development as one of divided loyalties of Indian Muslim population, of pan-Islamic hegemony, and questioned whether Indian Muslims were a part of an inclusive anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The Hindu nationalism ideology that emerged, states Jeffrelot, was codified by Savarkar while he was a political prisoner of the British colonial empire. Chris Bayly traces the roots of Hindu nationalism to the Hindu identity and political independence achieved by the Maratha confederacy, that overthrew the Islamic Mughal empire in large parts of India, allowing Hindus the freedom to pursue any of their diverse religious beliefs and restored Hindu holy places such as Varanasi. A few scholars view Hindu mobilisation and consequent nationalism to have emerged in the 19th century as a response to British colonialism by Indian nationalists and neo-Hinduism gurus. Jaffrelot states that the efforts of Christian missionaries and Islamic proselytizers, during the British colonial era, each of whom tried to gain new converts to their own religion, by stereotyping and stigmatising Hindus to an identity of being inferior and superstitious, contributed to Hindus re-asserting their spiritual heritage and counter cross examining Islam and Christianity, forming organisations such as the Hindu Sabhas (Hindu associations), and ultimately a Hindu - identity driven nationalism in the 1920s. The colonial era Hindu revivalism and mobilisation, along with Hindu nationalism, states Peter van der Veer, was primarily a reaction to and competition with Muslim separatism and Muslim nationalism. The successes of each side fed the fears of the other, leading to the growth of Hindu nationalism and Muslim nationalism in the Indian subcontinent. In the 20th century, the sense of religious nationalism grew in India, states van der Veer, but only Muslim nationalism succeeded with the formation of the West and East Pakistan (later split into Pakistan and Bangladesh), as "an Islamic state '' upon independence. Religious riots and social trauma followed as millions of Hindus, Jains, Buddhists and Sikhs moved out of the newly created Islamic states and resettled into the Hindu - majority post-British India. After the separation of India and Pakistan in 1947, the Hindu nationalism movement developed the concept of Hindutva in second half of the 20th century. The Hindu nationalism movement has sought to reform Indian laws, that critics say attempts to impose Hindu values on India 's Islamic minority. Gerald Larson states, for example, that Hindu nationalists have sought a uniform civil code, where all citizens are subject to the same laws, everyone has equal civil rights, and individual rights do not depend on the individual 's religion. In contrast, opponents of Hindu nationalists remark that eliminating religious law from India poses a threat to the cultural identity and religious rights of Muslims, and people of Islamic faith have a constitutional right to Islamic shariah - based personal laws. A specific law, contentious between Hindu nationalists and their opponents in India, relates to the legal age of marriage for girls. Hindu nationalists seek that the legal age for marriage be eighteen that is universally applied to all girls regardless of their religion and that marriages be registered with local government to verify the age of marriage. Muslim clerics consider this proposal as unacceptable because under the shariah - derived personal law, a Muslim girl can be married at any age after she reaches puberty. Hindu nationalism in India, states Katharine Adeney, is a controversial political subject, with no consensus about what it means or implies in terms of the form of government and religious rights of the minorities. According to Pew Research, there are over 1 billion Hindus worldwide (15 % of world 's population). Along with Christians (31.5 %), Muslims (23.2 %) and Buddhists (7.1 %), Hindus are one of the four major religious groups of the world. Most Hindus are found in Asian countries. The countries with most Hindu residents and citizens include (in decreasing order) are India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, United States, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Myanmar, Canada, Mauritius, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Guyana, Suriname. The fertility rate, that is children per woman, for Hindus is 2.4, which is less than the world average of 2.5. Pew Research projects that there will be 1.161 billion Hindus by 2020. In more ancient times, Hindu kingdoms arose and spread the religion and traditions across Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand, Nepal, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, and what is now central Vietnam. Over 3 million Hindus are found in Bali Indonesia, a culture whose origins trace back to ideas brought by Tamil Hindu traders to Indonesian islands in the 1st millennium CE. Their sacred texts are also the Vedas and the Upanishads. The Puranas and the Itihasa (mainly Ramayana and the Mahabharata) are enduring traditions among Indonesian Hindus, expressed in community dances and shadow puppet (wayang) performances. As in India, Indonesian Hindus recognises four paths of spirituality, calling it Catur Marga. Similarly, like Hindus in India, Balinese Hindu believe that there are four proper goals of human life, calling it Catur Purusartha - dharma (pursuit of moral and ethical living), artha (pursuit of wealth and creative activity), kama (pursuit of joy and love) and moksha (pursuit of self - knowledge and liberation).

where is the most densely populated urban area in the world

List of cities by Population density - wikipedia This is a list of the cities worldwide by population density. The population, population density and land area for the cities listed are based on the entire city proper, the defined boundary or border of a city or the city limits of the city. The population density of the cities listed is based on the average number of people living per square mile or per square kilometre. This list does not refer to the population, population density or land area of the greater metropolitan area or urban area, nor particular districts in any of the cities listed. The Philippines, the 12th most populous country in the world, holds the most number of cities (at 9 entries) in the table below.

congress can override a presidential veto of legislation

Veto - wikipedia A veto -- Latin for "I forbid '' -- is the power (used by an officer of the state, for example) to unilaterally stop an official action, especially the enactment of legislation. A veto can be absolute, as for instance in the United Nations Security Council, whose permanent members (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and the United States of America) can block any resolution, or it can be limited, as in the legislative process of the United States, where a two - thirds vote in both the House and Senate may override a Presidential veto of legislation. A veto may give power only to stop changes (thus allowing its holder to protect the status quo), like the US legislative veto mentioned before, or to also adopt them (an "amendatory veto ''), like the legislative veto of the Indian President, which allows him to propose amendments to bills returned to the Parliament for reconsideration. The concept of a veto body originated with the Roman consuls and tribunes. Either of the two consuls holding office in a given year could block a military or civil decision by the other; any tribune had the power to unilaterally block legislation passed by the Roman Senate. The people have the right to veto, which is commonly referred to as the people 's veto. In the context of modern constitutional and legal transformations, the people 's veto should also be seen as the constitutional and legal form of citizens ' influence on the adoption of normative legal acts, where the key role is not so much the conduct of a rejecting referendum on a particular legal act, although it is also important, how much awareness of the representative body of public authority of reality cancels his decision within the constitutional procedure. The institution of the veto, known to the Romans as the intercessio, was adopted by the Roman Republic in the 6th century BC to enable the tribunes to protect the mandamus interests of the plebs (common citizenry) from the encroachments of the patricians, who dominated the Senate. A tribune 's veto did not prevent the senate from passing a bill, but meant that it was denied the force of law. The tribunes could also use the veto to prevent a bill from being brought before the plebeian assembly. The consuls also had the power of veto, as decision - making generally required the assent of both consuls. If one disagreed, either could invoke the intercessio to block the action of the other. The veto was an essential component of the Roman conception of power being wielded not only to manage state affairs but to moderate and restrict the power of the state 's high officials and institutions. In Westminster systems and most constitutional monarchies, the power to veto legislation by withholding the Royal Assent is a rarely used reserve power of the monarch. In practice, the Crown follows the convention of exercising its prerogative on the advice of its chief advisor, the prime minister. Since the Statute of Westminster (1931), the United Kingdom Parliament may not repeal any Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia on the grounds that is repugnant to the laws and interests of the United Kingdom. Other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations (not to be confused with the Commonwealth of Australia), such as Canada and New Zealand, are likewise affected. However, according to the Australian Constitution (sec. 59), the Queen may veto a bill that has been given royal assent by the Governor - General within one year of the legislation being assented to. This power has never been used. The Australian Governor - General himself or herself has, in theory, power to veto, or more technically, withhold assent to, a bill passed by both houses of the Australian Parliament, and contrary to the advice of the prime minister. This may be done without consulting the sovereign as per Section 58 of the constitution: When a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament is presented to the Governor - General for the Queen 's assent, he shall declare, according to his discretion, but subject to this Constitution, that he assents in the Queen 's name, or that he withholds assent, or that he reserves the law for the Queen 's pleasure. The Governor - General may return to the house in which it originated any proposed law so presented to him, and may transmit therewith any amendments which he may recommend, and the Houses may deal with the recommendation. This reserve power is however, constitutionally arguable, and it is difficult to foresee an occasion when such a power would need to be exercised. It is possible that a Governor - general might so act if a bill passed by the Parliament was in violation of the Constitution. One might argue, however, that a government would be hardly likely to present a bill which is so open to rejection. Many of the viceregal reserve powers are untested, because of the brief constitutional history of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the observance of the convention that the head of state acts upon the advice of his or her chief minister. The power may also be used in a situation where the parliament, usually a hung parliament, passes a bill without the blessing of the executive. The governor general on the advice of the executive could withhold consent from the bill thereby preventing its passage into law. With regard to the six governors of the states which are federated under the Australian Commonwealth, a somewhat different situation exists. Until the Australia Act 1986, each state was constitutionally dependent upon the British Crown directly. Since 1986, however, they are fully independent entities, although the Queen still appoints governors on the advice of the state head of government, the premier. So the Crown may not veto (nor the UK Parliament overturn) any act of a state governor or state legislature. Paradoxically, the states are more independent of the Crown than the federal government and legislature. State constitutions determine what role a governor plays. In general the governor exercises the powers the sovereign would have, including the power to withhold the Royal Assent. According to the Constitution Act, 1867, the Queen in Counsel (in practice the Cabinet of the United Kingdom) may instruct the Governor General to withhold the Queen 's assent, allowing the sovereign two years to disallow the bill, thereby vetoing the law in question. This was last used in 1873, and the power was effectively nullified by the Balfour Declaration of 1926. Provincial viceroys, called "Lieutenant Governors '' (plural) are able to reserve Royal Assent to provincial bills for consideration and possible disallowance by the Federal Cabinet; this clause was last invoked in 1961 by the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan. In India, the president has three veto powers i.e. absolute, suspension & pocket. The president can send the bill back to parliament for changes, which constitutes a limited veto that can be overridden by a simple majority. But the Bill reconsidered by the parliament becomes a law with or without the assents of President after 14 days. The president can also take no action indefinitely on a bill, sometimes referred to as a pocket veto. The president can refuse to assent, which constitutes an absolute veto. In Spain, Section 91 of the Constitution provides that the King shall give his assent to laws passed by the General Courts within 15 days after their final passing by them. The absence of the royal assent, although not constitutionally provided, would mean the bill did not become a part of the law. Section 90 of the Constitution states that "Within two months after receiving the text, the Senate may, by a message stating the reasons for it, adopt a veto or approve amendments thereto. The veto must be adopted by overall majority. '' In the United Kingdom, the royal veto ("withholding Royal Assent '') was last exercised in 1708 by Queen Anne with the Scottish Militia Bill 1708. The House of Lords used to have an effective power of veto by refusing to concur in bills adopted by the House of Commons. However, reform first by a Liberal government and then by a Labour government has limited its powers. The Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949 reduced its powers: they can now only amend and delay legislation. They can delay legislation for up to one year. Under the 1911 Act, money bills (those concerning finance) can not be delayed, and under the Salisbury Convention, the Lords, by convention, can not delay any bills set out in the governing party 's manifesto. All legislation passed by both houses of Congress must be presented to the President. This presentation is in the President 's capacity as Head of Government. If the President approves of the legislation, then the President signs it into law. According to Article 1. Section 7 of the Constitution, when the President chooses not to sign or does not approve of the bill, the President must return the bill, unsigned, within ten days, excluding Sundays, to the house of the United States Congress in which it originated, while the Congress is in session. The President is constitutionally required to state any objections to the bill in writing, and the Congress is constitutionally required to consider them, and to reconsider the legislation. This action, in effect, is a veto. If the Congress overrides the veto by a two - thirds vote in each house, it becomes law without the President 's signature. Otherwise, the bill fails to become law unless it is presented to the President again and the President chooses to sign it. Historically, the Congress overrides the Presidential veto 7 % of the time. A bill can also become law without the President 's signature if, after its presentment, the President simply fails to sign it within the ten days noted. If there are fewer than ten days left in the session before Congress adjourns, and if Congress does so adjourn before the ten days have expired in which the President might sign the bill, then the bill fails to become law. This procedure, when used as a formal device, is called a pocket veto. In 1983, the Supreme Court had struck down the one - house legislative veto, on separation of powers grounds and on grounds that the action by one house of Congress violated the Constitutional requirement of bicameralism. The case was INS v. Chadha, concerning a foreign exchange student in Ohio who had been born in Kenya but whose parents were from India. Because he was not born in India, he was not an Indian citizen. Because his parents were not Kenyan citizens, he was not Kenyan. Thus, he had nowhere to go when his student visa expired because neither country would take him, so he overstayed his visa and was ordered to show cause why he should not be deported from the United States. The Immigration and Nationality Act was one of many acts of Congress passed since the 1930s, which contained a provision allowing either house of that legislature to nullify decisions of agencies in the executive branch simply by passing a resolution. In this case, Chadha 's deportation was suspended and the House of Representatives passed a resolution overturning the suspension, so that the deportation proceedings would continue. This, the Court held, amounted to the House of Representatives passing legislation without the concurrence of the Senate, and without presenting the legislation to the President for consideration and approval (or veto). Thus, the Constitutional principle of bicameralism and the separation of powers doctrine were disregarded in this case, and this legislative veto of executive decisions was struck down. In 1996, the United States Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, the Line Item Veto Act of 1996. This act allowed the President to veto individual items of budgeted expenditures from appropriations bills instead of vetoing the entire bill and sending it back to the Congress. However, this line - item veto was immediately challenged by members of Congress who disagreed with it. In 1998, the Supreme Court declared the line - item veto unconstitutional. The Court found the language of the Constitution required each bill presented to the President to be either approved or rejected as a whole. An action by which the President might pick and choose which parts of the bill to approve or not approve amounted to the President acting as a legislator instead of an executive and head of state -- and particularly as a single legislator acting in place of the entire Congress -- thereby violating the separation of powers doctrine. (See Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998).) In 2006, Senator Bill Frist introduced the Legislative Line Item Veto Act of 2006 in the United States Senate. Rather than provide for an actual legislative veto, however, the procedure created by the Act provides that, if the President should recommend rescission of a budgetary line item from a budget bill he previously signed into law -- a power he already possesses pursuant to U.S. Const. Art. II -- the Congress must vote on his request within ten days. Because the legislation that is the subject of the President 's request (or "Special Message '', in the language of the bill) was already enacted and signed into law, the vote by the Congress would be ordinary legislative action, not any kind of veto -- whether line - item, legislative or any other sort. The House passed this measure, but the Senate never considered it, so the bill expired and never became law. During the Constitutional Convention, the veto was routinely referred to as a ' revisionary power '. The Veto was constructed not as an absolute veto, but rather with limits, such as that Congress can override a veto, and that the President 's objections must be stated in writing. These limits would have been important in the minds of the Founders, given that in Britain the monarch retained an absolute veto (though by this time the power had become a formality). Further, as Elbridge Gerry explained in the final days of the Convention: "The primary object of the revisionary check of the President is not to protect the general interest, but to defend his own department. '' During the Constitutional Convention the framers overwhelmingly rejected three proposals for an absolute veto. The Presidents of the Continental Congress (1774 -- 81) did not have the power of veto. The President could not veto an act of Congress under the Articles of Confederation (1781 -- 89), but he possessed certain recess and reserve powers that were not necessarily available to the predecessor President of the Continental Congress. It was only with the enactment of the United States Constitution (drafted 1787; ratified 1788; fully effective since 4 March 1789) that veto power was conferred upon the person titled "President of the United States ''. The presidential veto power was first exercised on 5 April 1792 when President George Washington vetoed a bill outlining a new apportionment formula. Apportionment described how Congress divides seats in the House of Representatives among the states based on the US census figures. President Washington thought the bill gave an unfair advantage to the northern states. The Congress first overrode a presidential veto (passed a bill into law notwithstanding the President 's objections) on 3 March 1845. All U.S. states also have a provision by which legislative decisions can be vetoed by the governor. In addition to the ability to veto an entire bill as a "package, '' many states allow the governor to exercise specialty veto authority to strike or revise portions of a bill without striking the whole bill. Many European republics allow some form of presidential veto on legislation, which may vary, according to their constitutional form or by convention. These include France, Italy, Portugal, the Republic of Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Hungary. The President of Austria has no veto power, but signs bills into law. The President of Iceland may refuse to sign a bill, which is then put to referendum. This right was not exercised until 2004, by President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who has since refused to sign two other bills. The first bill was withdrawn, but the latter two resulted in referenda. The President of France has only a very limited form of suspensive veto: when presented with a law, he or she can request another reading of it by the Assembly, but only once per law. Aside from it, the President can only refer bills to the Constitutional Council. The President of Hungary has two options to veto a bill: submit it to the Constitutional Court if he suspects that it violates the constitution or send it back to the Parliament and ask for a second debate and vote on the bill. If the Court rules that the bill is constitutional or it is passed by the Parliament again, respectively, the President must sign it. The President of Ireland may refuse to grant assent to a bill that he or she considers to be unconstitutional, after consulting the Council of State; in this case, the bill is referred to the Supreme Court, which finally determines the matter. This is the most widely used reserve power. The President may also, on request of a majority of Seanad Éireann (the upper house of parliament) and a third of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of parliament), after consulting the Council of State, decline to sign a bill "of such national importance that the will of the people thereon ought to be ascertained '' in an ordinary referendum or a new Dáil reassembling after a general election held within eighteen months. This latter power has never been used because the government of the day almost always commands a majority of the Seanad, preventing the third of the Dáil that usually makes up the opposition from combining with it. The President of Italy may request a second deliberation of a bill passed by Parliament before it is promulgated. This is a very weak form of veto as the Parliament can override the veto by an ordinary majority. The same provision exists in France and Latvia. While such a limited veto can not thwart the will of a determined parliamentary majority, it may have a delaying effect and may cause the parliamentary majority to reconsider the matter. The President of Republic can also call a new election for parliament. He can also veto minister nominations, as happened in 2018. The President of Estonia may effectively veto a law adopted by Estonian parliament by refusing to proclaim it and demanding a new debate and decision. The parliament, in its turn, may override this veto by passing the law unamended for the second time (a simple majority is enough). In this case the President is obliged to proclaim the law or to request the Supreme Court of Estonia to declare the law unconstitutional. If the Supreme Court rules that the law does not violate the Constitution, the President may not object any more and is obliged to finally proclaim the law. The President of Latvia may suspend a bill for a period of two months, during which it may be referred to the people in a referendum if a certain number of signatures are gathered. This is potentially a much stronger form of veto, as it enables the President to appeal to the people against the wishes of the Parliament and Government. The President of Poland may submit a bill to the Constitutional Tribunal if he suspects that bill is unconstitutional or send it back to the Sejm for a second voting. If the Tribunal says that the bill is constitutional or if Sejm passes it by at least three - fifths of the votes, the President must sign the bill. The President of Portugal may refuse to sign a bill or refer it, or parts of it, to the Constitutional Court. If the President refuses to sign bill without it being declared unconstitutional, the Assembly of the Republic (parliament) may pass it again, in which case it becomes law. The President of Ukraine may refuse to sign a bill and return it to Parliament with his proposals. If the parliament agrees on his proposals, the President must sign the bill. Parliament may overturn a veto by a two - thirds majority. If Parliament overturns his veto, the President must sign the bill within 10 days. In the constitution Poland or the Polish -- Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 17th and 18th centuries, there was an institution called the liberum veto. All bills had to pass the Sejm or "Seimas '' (Parliament) by unanimous consent, and if any legislator voted nay on anything, this not only vetoed that bill but also dissolved that legislative session itself. The concept originated in the idea of "Polish democracy '' as any Pole of noble extraction was considered as good as any other, no matter how low or high his material condition might be. It was never exercised, however, under the rule of the strong Polish royal dynasties, which came to an end in the mid-17th century. These were followed by an elective kingship. As might be expected, the more and more frequent use of this veto power paralyzed the power of the legislature and, combined with a string of weak figurehead kings, led ultimately to the partitioning and the dissolution of the Polish state in the late 18th century. The President of the Philippines may refuse to sign a bill, sending the bill back to the house where it originated along with his objections. Congress can override the veto via a two - thirds vote with both houses voting separately, after which the bill becomes law. The president may also veto specific provisions on money bills without affecting other provisions on the same bill. The president can not veto a bill due to inaction; once the bill has been received by the president, the chief executive has thirty days to veto the bill. Once the thirty - day period expires, the bill becomes law as if the president had signed it.

who played pete in pete's dragon 1977

Pete 's Dragon (1977 film) - wikipedia Pete 's Dragon is a 1977 American live - action animated musical fantasy comedy film directed by Don Chaffey, produced by Jerome Courtland and Ron Miller, and written by Malcolm Marmorstein. It is based on an unpublished short story of the same name, written by classical Hollywood writer Seton I. Miller. It stars Helen Reddy, Jim Dale, Mickey Rooney, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Charlie Callas. It revolves around an orphaned boy raised by an abusive hillbilly family who is friends with a dragon named Elliott. Upon release, the film was a moderate success, grossing $39 million over a $10 million budget. Its reviews were mixed. The song "Candle on the Water '' received an Academy Award nomination, but lost to "You Light Up My Life '' from the film of the same name. Reddy 's recording (with a different arrangement than the one her character sings in the film) was released as a single by Capitol Records, reaching # 27 on the Adult Contemporary charts. Pete 's Dragon also received a nomination for Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score, losing to A Little Night Music. In the early 1900s, Pete flees his abusive hillbilly foster family, the Gogans, with help from Elliott who can make himself invisible. Pete and Elliott visit Passamaquoddy, where the unseen Elliott 's clumsiness causes Pete to be labeled a source of ill luck. Lampie stumbles out of a tavern and encounters Pete. Elliott makes himself visible and a terrified Lampie runs into the saloon to warn the townsfolk. In a seaside cave, Pete scolds Elliott for causing trouble. Just as they make up, Nora appears saying due to the ongoing tides from the sea, it is unsafe for Pete to stay, then offers him food and shelter at the lighthouse, which Pete accepts. Pete tells Nora of the abuse he suffers at the hands of the Gogans and, as Nora offers to let him stay the night at the lighthouse, they strike up a friendship. Pete learns the story of Paul, whose ship was reported lost at sea the previous year. Pete promises to ask Elliott about Paul, and Nora accepts, believing Elliott to be an imaginary friend. The next morning, Dr. Terminus and Hoagy arrive and win over the gullible townspeople who are initially angered by their return. The day after that, the local fishermen complain about the scarcity of fish and believe Pete is the cause. Nora tells them the fishing grounds shift and Pete should be welcomed in town. Nora takes him to school, where he is punished unfairly by Miss Taylor as a result of Elliott 's antics. An enraged Elliott smashes into the schoolhouse, leaving his shape in the wall, as Pete runs off. Dr. Terminus makes Pete an offer for Elliott, which he refuses. Believing he needs to stop running from the Gogans, Nora and Lampie offer to let Pete live with them permanently, which he accepts. When the Gogans arrive in town and demand Pete back, Nora refuses to hand him over. As the Gogans attempt to chase them in a small boat, Elliott "torpedoes '' their boat, saving Pete. Dr. Terminus teams up with the Gogans to capture both Pete and Elliott. Terminus also convinces the superstitious locals helping him capture the dragon will solve their problems. That evening, a storm begins to blow. At sea, a sailing ship is approaching Passamaquoddy with Paul on board. Dr. Terminus lures Pete to the boathouse, while Hoagy does the same to Elliott. Once there, the invisible Elliott is caught in a net, but frees himself and saves Pete, then confronts the Gogans. Lena Gogan yells at Elliott, claiming Pete is their property and waves her Bill of Sale at Elliott, who torches it. Now completely defenseless, the Gogans flee after Elliott frightens them away. Just as Pete and Elliot laugh, Dr. Terminus makes one more effort to harpoon Elliott, but his leg is caught in the rope and he is sent catapulting through the ceiling and screams as he goes through the roof, ending up dangling upside down near a utility pole. In a last - ditch effort, the helpless Dr. Terminus tries to offer buying Elliott 's "spare parts '', to which he declines and proceeds to destroy Dr. Terminus ' traveling wagon, ending his scamming business. Elliott then saves the Mayor, Miss Taylor, and the members of the Town Board from a falling utility pole, revealing himself to the grateful townsfolk. Back at the lighthouse, the lamp has been extinguished by a storm - driven rogue wave. Elliott returns and tries to light it with his own fire. As he does, Nora sees that he is real. The light is ignited and the ship is saved. The next morning, the Mayor and the townsfolk praise Elliott for his help, and Nora reunites with Paul, who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck at Cape Hatteras and suffered amnesia. Now that Pete has a loving family, Elliott tells him he must move on to help another kid in trouble, and is sad the two must part. Pete comforts Elliott by telling him if anyone can help that kid, then he can. Elliott flies away as Pete and his new family wave good - bye to him. The film ends with Pete reminding Elliott once again he is supposed to be invisible. Al Checco, Henry Slate, and Jack Collins appear in the film as local fishermen. Robert Easton plays a store proprietor in Passamaquoddy, and Roger Price is seen as a man with a visor. Robert Foulk plays an old sea captain. Ben Wrigley is the egg vendor that Elliott accidentally knocks into the Mayor and Joe Ross plays the cement man whose cement was stepped in by Elliott. Dinah Anne Rogers has an uncredited role as one of the townspeople, as does Dennis Stewart, who plays a fisherman, and Debbie Fresh is also uncredited as a "Child / Dancer / Singer ''. The film was based on an unpublished short story by Hollywood Golden Age writer Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field. The Disney studio acquired the rights to the story in the 1950s with the intent of using it on the Disneyland anthology program. In the 1970s, it was adapted as a full feature film by writer Malcolm Marmorstein. This remains his biggest undertaking to date. The production was directed by British filmmaker Don Chaffey, who had made two smaller films for Disney in the early 1960s between directing larger fantasy adventures (Jason and the Argonauts, One Million Years B.C.) for others. The lighthouse for the film was built on Point Buchon Trail located south of Los Osos, California, substituting for Maine. It was equipped with such a large beacon that Disney had to get special permission from the Coast Guard to operate it, since doing so during filming would have confused passing ships. Pacific Gas and Electric opened the Point Buchon Trail and allows hikers access to where filming took place. The animators of the film opted to make Elliott look more like an oriental, rather than occidental, dragon because oriental dragons are usually associated with good. The film is the first involving animation in which none of the Nine Old Men -- Disney 's original team of animators -- were involved. One technique used in the movie involved compositing with a yellowscreen that was originally used in Mary Poppins and similar to today 's greenscreen compositing, whereby up to three scenes might be overlaid together -- for example, a live foreground, a live background, and an animated middle ground containing Elliott. Ken Anderson, who created Elliott, explained that he thought it would be appropriate to make Elliott "a little paunchy '' and not always particularly graceful when it comes to flying. Don Hahn, who was assistant director to Don Bluth on this film, gained some experience working with a combination of live - action and animation before later going on to work on Who Framed Roger Rabbit. In 1978, the film was ranked at seventeen on Variety 's hit list. Thomas J. Harris, in Children 's Live - Action Musical Films: A Critical Survey and Filmography, heavily criticizes the story as well as the compositing of the animated Elliott; he also found the "Mary Poppinsish ending '' to be "thoroughly unmotivated '', because Pete 's life before meeting Elliott is never fleshed out. In 2006, Elliott was ranked no. 5 on a top 10 list of movie dragons by Karl Heitmueller for MTV Movie News. Critic Leonard Maltin observed that Disney made several attempts to recreate the appeal and success of Mary Poppins (1964), and that Pete 's Dragon did not come close on that score. However, he added that it might please children, and that "the animated title character is so endearing that it almost compensates for the live actors ' tiresome mugging. '' On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 50 % approval score based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8 / 10. The site 's consensus states: "Boring and slow, this is a lesser Disney work, though the animation is n't without its charms. '' The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: The film was nominated for four Saturn Awards: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association nominated the film for one Golden Globe Award: Pete 's Dragon was released on VHS in early 1980. It was re-released on VHS on October 28, 1994 as a part of Masterpiece Collection. The film was going to be released for the first time on DVD in a Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection line - up on December 5, 2000, but it was pushed back to January 16, 2001. Some bonus features includes two animated shorts Lighthouse Keeping and Man, Monsters and Mysteries, two vintage excerpt episodes "Ken Anderson '' from Disney Family Album and "The Plausible Impossible '' from Disneyland, and both theatrical trailers for the film. It was re-released in a "High - Flying Edition '' DVD on August 18, 2009. This includes the original concept song "Boo Bop Bop Bop Bop (I Love You, Too) ''. It was released on the 35th - anniversary edition Blu - ray on October 16, 2012. In March 2013, Disney announced a reboot of the film, written by David Lowery and Toby Halbrooks, the director / writer and co-producer (respectively) of the Sundance hit Ai n't Them Bodies Saints (2013). It re-imagines a venerable Disney family and is presented as a straightforward drama as opposed to a musical. Principal photography commenced in January 2015 in New Zealand, with Lowery directing. It was released on 12 August 2016.

what is peer to peer lending in india

Peer - to - peer lending - wikipedia Peer - to - peer lending, also abbreviated as P2P lending, is the practice of lending money to individuals or businesses through online services that match lenders with borrowers. Since peer - to - peer lending companies offering these services generally operate online, they can run with lower overhead and provide the service more cheaply than traditional financial institutions. As a result, lenders can earn higher returns compared to savings and investment products offered by banks, while borrowers can borrow money at lower interest rates, even after the P2P lending company has taken a fee for providing the match - making platform and credit checking the borrower. There is the risk of the borrower defaulting on the loans taken out from peer - lending websites. Also known as crowdlending, many peer - to - peer loans are unsecured personal loans, though some of the largest amounts are lent to businesses. Secured loans are sometimes offered by using luxury assets such as jewelry, watches, vintage cars, fine art, buildings, aircraft and other business assets as collateral. They are made to an individual, company or charity. Other forms of peer - to - peer lending include student loans, commercial and real estate loans, payday loans, as well as secured business loans, leasing, and factoring. The interest rates can be set by lenders who compete for the lowest rate on the reverse auction model or fixed by the intermediary company on the basis of an analysis of the borrower 's credit. The lender 's investment in the loan is not normally protected by any government guarantee. On some services, lenders mitigate the risk of bad debt by choosing which borrowers to lend to, and mitigate total risk by diversifying their investments among different borrowers. Other models involve the P2P lending company maintaining a separate, ringfenced fund, such as RateSetter 's Provision Fund, which pays lenders back in the event the borrower defaults, but the value of such provision funds for lenders is subject to debate. The lending intermediaries are for - profit businesses; they generate revenue by collecting a one - time fee on funded loans from borrowers and by assessing a loan servicing fee to investors (tax - disadvantaged in the UK vs charging borrowers) or borrowers (either a fixed amount annually or a percentage of the loan amount). Compared to stock markets, peer - to - peer lending tends to have both less volatility and less liquidity. Peer - to - peer lending does not fit cleanly into any of the three traditional types of financial institutions -- deposit takers, investors, insurers -- and is sometimes categorized as an alternative financial service. Typical characteristics of peer - to - peer lending are: Early peer - to - peer lending was also characterized by disintermediation and reliance on social networks but these features have started to disappear. While it is still true that the emergence of internet and e-commerce makes it possible to do away with traditional financial intermediaries and that people may be less likely to default to the members of their own social communities, the emergence of new intermediaries has proven to be time and cost saving. Extending crowdsourcing to unfamiliar lenders and borrowers opens up new opportunities. Most peer - to - peer intermediaries provide the following services: The first company to offer peer - to - peer loans in the world was Zopa. Since its founding in February 2005, it has issued over £ 1.99 billion in loans. Funding Circle became the first significant peer - to - business lender launching in August 2010 and offering small businesses loans from investors via the platform. Funding Circle has lent over £ 1.93 billion as of January 2017. Both Zopa and Funding Circle are members of the Peer 2 Peer Finance Association (P2PFA). In 2011, Quakle, a UK peer - to - peer lender founded in 2010, closed down with a near 100 % default rate after attempting to measure a borrower 's creditworthiness according to a group score, similar to the feedback scores on eBay; the model failed to encourage repayment. By June 2012, the top three peer - to - peer companies in the UK - RateSetter, Zopa, and FundingCircle - had issued over £ 250 million of loans. In 2014 alone, they issued over £ 700 million. In 2012, the UK government invested £ 20 million into British businesses via peer to peer lenders. A second investment of £ 40 million was announced in 2014. The intention was to bypass the high street banks, which were reluctant to lend to smaller companies. This action was criticised for creating unfair competition in the UK, by concentrating financial support in the largest platforms. Investments have qualified for tax advantages through the Innovative Finance Individual Savings Account (IFISA) since April 2016. In 2016, £ 80bn was invested in ISAs, creating a significant opportunity for P2P platforms. By January 2017, 17 P2P providers were approved to offer the product. Many more peer - to - peer companies have also set up in the UK. At one stage there were over 100 individual platforms applying for FCA authorisation, although many have now withdrawn their applications. Since April 2014, the peer - to - peer lending industry has been regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority to increase accountability with standard reporting and facilitate the growth of the sector. Peer - to - peer investments do not qualify for protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which provides security up to £ 75,000 per bank, for each saver, but regulations mandate the companies to implement arrangements to ensure the servicing of the loans even if the platform goes bust. In 2015, UK peer - to - peer lenders collectively lent over £ 3bn to consumers and businesses although on an annual equivalent basis the value of the loan book figure was £ 2.3 bn in 2015 which increased to £ 3.2 bn in 2016. According to the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (Entrenching Innovation Report), £ 3.55 B was attributed to Peer to Peer alternative finance models, the largest growth area being property showing a rise of 88 % from 2015 to 2016. The peer - to - peer lending industry in the US started in February 2006 with the launch of Prosper, followed by Lending Club and other lending platforms soon thereafter. Both Prosper and Lending Club are located in San Francisco, California. Early peer - to - peer platforms had few restrictions on borrower eligibility, which resulted in adverse selection problems and high borrower default rates. In addition, some investors viewed the lack of liquidity for these loans, most of which have a minimum three - year term, as undesirable. In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) required that peer - to - peer companies register their offerings as securities, pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933. The registration process was an arduous one; Prosper and Lending Club had to temporarily suspend offering new loans, while others, such as the U.K. - based Zopa Ltd., exited the U.S. market entirely. Both Lending Club and Prosper gained approval from the SEC to offer investors notes backed by payments received on the loans. Prosper amended its filing to allow banks to sell previously funded loans on the Prosper platform. Both Lending Club and Prosper formed partnerships with FOLIO Investing to create a secondary market for their notes, providing liquidity to investors. Lending Club had a voluntary registration at this time, whereas Prosper had mandatory registration for all members. This addressed the liquidity problem and, in contrast to traditional securitization markets, resulted in making the loan requests of peer - to - peer companies more transparent for the lenders and secondary buyers who can access the detailed information concerning each individual loan (without knowing the actual identities of borrowers) before deciding which loans to fund. The peer - to - peer companies are also required to detail their offerings in a regularly updated prospectus. The SEC makes the reports available to the public via their EDGAR (Electronic Data - Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) system. More people turned to peer - to - peer companies for lending and borrowing following the financial crisis of late 2000 - s because banks refused to increase their loan portfolios. On the other hand, the peer - to - peer market also faced increased investor scrutiny because borrowers ' defaults became more frequent and investors were unwilling to take on unnecessary risk. As of June 2012, Lending Club is the largest peer - to - peer lender in US based upon issued loan volume and revenue, followed by Prosper. Lending Club is currently also the world 's largest peer - to - peer lending platform. The two largest companies have collectively serviced over 180,000 loans with $2 billion in total: as of March 22, 2012, Lending Club has issued 117,412 loans for $1,512,560,075 while Prosper Marketplace has issued 63,023 loans for $433,570,651. With greater than 100 % year over year growth, peer - to - peer lending is one of the fastest growing investments. The interest rates range from 5.6 % - 35.8 %, depending on the loan term and borrower rating. The default rates vary from about 1.5 % to 10 % for the more risky borrowers. Executives from traditional financial institutions are joining the peer - to - peer companies as board members, lenders and investors, indicating that the new financing model is establishing itself in the mainstream. In recent years a very large number of micro loan companies have emerged to serve the 40 million SMEs, many of which receive inadequate financing from state - owned banks, creating an entire industry that runs alongside big banks. As the Internet and ecommerce took off in the country in the 2000s, many P2P lenders sprung into existence with various target customers and business models. The first P2PL in Hong Kong is WeLab, which has backing from American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and Li Ka - Shing 's TOM Group. Ezubao, a website launched by Yucheng Group in July 2014 purporting to offer P2P services, was shut down in February 2016 by authorities who described it as a Ponzi scheme. As 900,000 customers had invested 50 billion renminbi in Ezubao, its closure might undermine confidence in P2P in China. In China, in 2016 there were more than 4000 P2P lending platform in total, but 2000 of them had already suspended operations. As of August 2016, cash flow on all P2P lending platform have already exceeded 191 billion Chinese Yuan (29 billion USD) in the month. Lender 's return rate across all P2P lending platform in China is about 10 % per annum on average, with a few of them offering more than 24 % return rate. A colloquial term for P2P lending in Chinese translates as "grey market '', but is not to be confused with grey markets for goods or an underground economy. In June and July 2018, scores of Chinese online P2P lending platforms fell into financial or legal troubles because of tightened regulation and liquidity. According to WDZJ.com, a P2P industry information provider, 23 P2P platforms were reported to be in financial distress or under investigation in the first 10 days of July. That follows 63 such cases in June, a higher number than in any month in the previous year. In late June, Shanghai police detained four senior executives of Tangxiaoseng, an online lending platform controlled by Zibang Financial Service Internet Technology Co. Ltd. and told investors onJune 28, 2018 that that Zibang Financial was suspected of "illegally raising funds from the public. '' On July 20, 2018, iqianbang.com, a Beijng - based P2P lending platform announced to close down, citing "deteriorating online lending environment and drying up liquidity. '' People 's Bank of China announced in early July 2018 said that regulators will extend a two - year - old nationwide campaign to clean up fraud and violations in the online financial market, targeting P2P and other online lending and financial activities. More than 5,000 operations have been shut down since the campaign began in 2016. In 2012 Australia 's first peer to peer lending platform, SocietyOne, was launched. As of June 2016 the Australian Government has been encouraging the development of FinTech and peer to peer lending startups through its ' regulatory sandbox ' program. In New Zealand, peer - to - peer lending became practicable on April 1, 2014, when the relevant provisions of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 came into force. The Act enables peer - to - peer lending services to be licensed. The Financial Markets Authority issued the first peer - to - peer lending service licence on July 8, 2014, to Harmoney. Harmoney officially launched its service on October 10, 2014. Squirrel Money followed about a year later, launching in November 2015. In India, peer - to - peer lending is currently unregulated. The Reserve Bank of India, India 's Central Bank, has published a consultation paper on regulation of P2P lending and the final guidelines are expected soon. The RBI has regulated that all the registered NBFC - P2P must have a net owned fund of not less than 2 crores and the management and directors of the P2P platform need to fulfill the ' Fit and Proper ' criteria as laid out by RBI. This is necessary for the encouragement of the credibility of the industry. There were over 30 peer - to - peer - lending platforms in India in 2016. Even with first - mover advantage many sites were not able to capture market share and grow their user base, arguably because of the reserved nature of Indian investors or lack of awareness of this type of debt financing. However, peer - to - peer lending platforms in India are helping a huge section of borrowers who have previously been rejected or have failed to qualify for a loan from banks. Peer to peer lending has helped consumers with no or poor credit scores get loans in categories such as consumer lending, small business lending and property lending. After regulation by the Reserve Bank of India begins, the peer to peer lending industry in India is expected to grow. PaisaDukan became the first new entrant in Peer to Peer Lending market to get certificate of registration (CoR) from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in Indian history. Peer - to - peer - lending in Sweden is regulated by Finansinspektionen. Launched in 2007, the company Trustbuddy AB was first out on the Swedish market for peer - to - peer - lending, providing a platform for high risk personal loans between 500SEK and 10,000 SEK. Trustbuddy filed for bankruptcy by October 2015, a new board cited abuses by outgoing leadership. Several peer - to - peer lending services initiated operation and loan origination during 2014, Following the economic uprising of 2011, and public opinion regarding these platforms is positive. The maximum interest rate in Israeli P2P Arenas is limited by the "Extra-Banking Lending Regulations ''. Peer - to - Peer P2P Lending for both real estate - secured and non-real estate - secured transactions by either investors or borrowers, is a mature industry in Canada. Peer - to - Peer P2P lending in real estate - secured transactions is regulated by members of the Mortgage Broker Regulators ' Council of Canada (MBRCC), including: the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) and the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia (FICOM BC). Starting as early as April 9, 2005 PrivateLender.org: Canada 's Private Lending Network ® is incontestably (the word "incontestable '' is legislatively defined, pursuant to Canada 's Federal Trade - marks Act R.S.C., 1985, c. T - 13)) recognized by Canadian federal government public records as Canada 's first network devoted to peer - to - peer P2P lending in both regulated mortgages (real - estate secured) and non-regulated loans (non-real - estate secured). Proof of federal recognition, registration and "date of first use as April 09, 2005 '' is found at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO). Since inception, member individuals and organizations who use the PrivateLender.org: Canada 's Private Lending Network ® platform are continuously registered with Canadian federal or provincial mortgage securities regulators including (but not limited to): the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO), the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) and the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia (FICOM BC). PrivateLender.org: Canada 's Private Lending Network ® has the further distinction of being the world 's first and only peer - to - peer P2P network with continuous registration to ISO 9001: 2015 since May 9, 2008. ISO 9001: 2015 is published by the International Organization for Standardization and is the National Standard for Quality Management Systems in 119 countries and registration thereto provides legislators, regulators, customers, prospective customers and other interested parties with at - a-glance "confidence that their products are safe, reliable and of good quality. ''. Canadian Capital Markets Securities Regulators (members of the Canadian Securities Administrators) are recent entrants to Canadian Peer - to - Peer P2P lending and are only issuing interim approvals "... in order to test their products, services and applications throughout the Canadian market on a time limited basis., through "Regulatory Sandbox '' programs including the CSA Regulatory Sandbox and the Ontario Securities Commission Sandbox, branded as "OSC Launchpad ''. Since April 2018, Brazilian p2p lending companies may operate directly without the intermediation of a bank or other financial institution. By means of the Resolution 4656 / 2018, the Central Bank of Brazil created a new type of institution called SEP (personal lending society) that aims to provide a platform for direct negotiation of loans between individuals and companies. A SEP can not lend using its own resources but only operate as an intermediary. The borrower must be Brazilian individual or company, but there is n't a restriction regarding lenders nationality. Latvian P2P lending market is developing very rapidly. In Q2 2018 Latvian P2P platforms lent Eur 271.8 million and Eur 1.7 Billion cumulatively. Currently, the most active investors in Latvia 's peer - to - peer lending platforms are residents of Germany, Great Britain, and Estonia. Biggest players are Mintos and Twino taking over 60 % and 20 % of market share respectively. Around 9 companies that qualify as p2p investment platform currently operate in Latvia. Mintos was founded in 2015 and it is the biggest p2p platform in Latvia. In September 2018 the total amount of loans funded through Mintos have surpassed Eur 1 billion. Most of the loans funded through Mintos are personal loans with car loans coming second. In 2016 Mintos has raised Eur 2 million in funding from Latvian based Venture Capital Skillion Ventures. Twino investment platform was launched in 2015, although the company has been operating since 2009 as a loan originator. Since the inception in 2009 TWINO has lent more than Eur 500 million in loans. More than 90 % of all loans that are on TWINO platform are short maturity from 1 to 3 months. Grupeer p2p platform was founded in 2017 and is rapidly developing since inception Eur 12 Million has been invested through the platform. Grupeer offers to invest in several products secured loans and real estate development projects. The yield for investors is also one of the highest in the p2p market -- over 14 %. Viainvest is one of the oldest platforms in Latvia. Since 2008 the company has helped to fund Eur 96 million with 6 % default rate. The highest return offered on Viainvest is 12 % Dofinance was established in 2015 and offers several products, that offer annual interest rate up to 9 % and helped to finance over Eur 16 Million worth of loans. Peerberry was founded in 2017 and offers to invest in consumer loans originated by non-banking lenders from across Europe, most of the loans are coming from Aventus group. The average interest rate is 12 %. Swaper is a p2p platform offering to invest in loans originated by its parent company Wandoo Finance Group and offers interest rates up to 12 %. Robocash offers to invest in consumer loans in Spain, Russia, and Kazakhstan. Lenndy offers to invest in loans previously issued with an average interest rate over 12.4 % and total loans issued so far just over Eur 14 Million. In 2015, the Ministry of Finance of Latvia initiated development of a new regulation on the peer - to - peer lending in Latvia to establish regulatory requirements, such as rules for management compliance, AML requirements and other prudential measures. Ireland 's first and largest P2P lending platform is Linked Finance. Launched in 2013, the online marketplace connects Irish businesses who need loans with Ireland 's largest online lending community. In 2016, Linked Finance was also authorised to operate in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority. In 2017, Linked Finance completed its 1000th loan and appointed a new Chairman, former Ryanair Deputy CEO, Michael Cawley. Following this, the company also raised € 2 million in equity investment to support its plans for expansion. Other platforms in Ireland include Grid Finance and Flender. Grid Finance launched in 2014 and Flender launched in 2017, both focused on raising funding for SMEs. Flender made headlines when they crowdfunded € 573,000 for a 10 % stake in the company. Flender has also been authorised for operations in the UK market by the FCA. Linked Finance publishes key marketplace metrics on its site and, as of February 2018, was the only Irish platform listed on the P2P-Banking.com International P2P Lending Volumes report In Indonesia, P2P lending is growing fast in recent years and is regulated under OJK since 2016. As of Dec 2017, there are 22 P2P platforms registered in OJK. P2P platforms provide loans in particular targeting into unbanked population, which is estimated around 100 + million in Indonesia. There is no specific Peer - to - Peer lending regulation in Bulgaria. Currently, Klear Lending is the only Bulgarian platform. It was launched in 2016 and provides personal loans to prime customers. The Peer - to - Peer lending platform is operated by Klear Lending AD, a financial institution registered in the Register per art. 3a of the Credit Institutions Act maintained by the Bulgarian National Bank. In Korea, Money Auction and Pop Funding are the very first peer to peer lending companies founded in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Korean P2P lending industry did not attract much public attention until late 2014 and early 2015, during which period a number of new fintech companies were founded underpinned by the global fintech wave with the emergence of Lending Club as the mainstream P2P lending player in the US. New P2P lending companies launched in Korea during this period include 8 Percent, Terafunding, Lendit, Honest Fund and Funda. At the beginning, 8 Percent, Lendit and Honest Fund focused on personal loan origination and Terafunding was the only P2P platform dedicated to the real estate backed loan origination, founded by ex-real estate broker and investor, Tae Young Yang. There was a brief period of regulatory uncertainty on the P2P business model as the P2P lending model was not officially legalized under the then regulatory regime. 8 percent was briefly shut down by the regulator in Feb 2015 and was reopened again. Korean P2P industry saw an explosive growth in a year. According to the regulator, cumulative P2P lending platform loan origination increased to KRW 311,800,000,000 as of December in 2016 from KRW 72,400,000,000 in March and there was a debate as to whether the industry was getting overheated, with questions on whether the industry offered appropriate investor protection. To respond to these concerns, as of February 2017, Korean regulator imposed an annual investment limit of KRW 10,000,000 for a retail investor on these lending platforms, and KRW 40,000,000 for certain qualified investors. As of April 2017, there are 148 P2P lending companies in Korea. However, only 40 companies are official members of the Korea P2P Finance Association. These members include Lendit, Roof Funding, Midrate, HF Honest Fund, Villy, 8 Percent, Terafunding, Together Funding and People Funding. According to the Korea P2P Finance Association, cumulative loan lent by its member P2P companies stands at c. KRW 2.3 TRN as of March 2018. By origination category, real estate project financing origination constitutes c. KRW 768,500,000,000, real estate asset backed origination is KRW 611,500,000,000, other asset backed KRW 472,400,000,000 and personal loan origination stands at KRW 443,200,000,000. Average interest yield offered by the member companies is 14.32 %. In Korea, Terafunding is a market leader by volume with KRW 323Bn cumulative loan originated up to March 2018 and Terafunding is the first peer to peer lending platform to launch retail P2P linked fund in partnership with Korean retail banks, Industrial Bank of Korea and Kyongnam Bank. P2P Companies Cumulative Loan Origination Amount as of March 2018, according to the Korea P2P Finance Association In many countries, soliciting investments from the general public is considered illegal. Crowd sourcing arrangements in which people are asked to contribute money in exchange for potential profits based on the work of others are considered to be securities. Dealing with financial securities is connected to the problem about ownership: in case of person - to - person loans, the problem of who owns the loans (notes) and how that ownership is transferred between the originator of the loan (the person - to - person lending company) and the individual lender (s). This question arises especially when a peer - to - peer lending company does not merely connect lenders and borrowers but also borrows money from users and then lends it out again. Such activity is interpreted as a sale of securities, and a broker - dealer license and the registration of the person - to - person investment contract is required for the process to be legal. The license and registration can be obtained at a securities regulatory agency such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S., the Ontario Securities Commission in Ontario, Canada, the Autorité des marchés financiers in France and Québec, Canada, or the Financial Services Authority in the UK. Securities offered by the U.S. peer - to - peer lenders are registered with and regulated by the SEC. A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office explored the potential for additional regulatory oversight by Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, though neither organization has proposed direct oversight of peer - to - peer lending at this time. In 2016, New York state sent "warning letters '' threatening to require 28 peer - to - peer lenders to obtain a license to operate unless they "immediately '' complied with responses to demands to disclose their lending practices and products available in the state. In the UK, the emergence of multiple competing lending companies and problems with subprime loans has resulted in calls for additional legislative measures that institute minimum capital standards and checks on risk controls to preclude lending to riskier borrowers, using unscrupulous lenders or misleading consumers about lending terms. One of the main advantages of person - to - person lending for borrowers can sometimes be better rates than traditional bank rates can offer. The advantages for lenders can be higher returns than obtainable from a savings account or other investments, but subject to risk of loss, unlike a savings account. Interest rates and the methodology for calculating those rates varies among peer - to - peer lending platforms. The interest rates may also have a lower volatility than other investment types. For investors interested in socially conscious investing, peer - to - peer lending offers the possibility of supporting the attempts of individuals to break free from high - rate debt, assist persons engaged in occupations or activities that are deemed moral and positive to the community, and avoid investment in persons employed in industries deemed immoral or detrimental to community. Peer - to - peer lending also attracts borrowers who, because of their credit status or the lack thereof, are unqualified for traditional bank loans. Because past behavior is frequently indicative of future performance and low credit scores correlate with high likelihood of default, peer - to - peer intermediaries have started to decline a large number of applicants and charge higher interest rates to riskier borrowers that are approved. Some broker companies are also instituting funds into which each borrower makes a contribution and from which lenders are recompensed if a borrower is unable to pay back the loan. It seemed initially that one of the appealing characteristics of peer - to - peer lending for investors was low default rates, e.g. Prosper 's default rate was quoted to be only at about 2.7 percent in 2007. The actual default rates for the loans originated by Prosper in 2007 were in fact higher than projected. Prosper 's aggregate return (across all credit grades and as measured by LendStats.com, based upon actual Prosper marketplace data) for the 2007 vintage was (6.44) %, for the 2008 vintage (2.44) %, and for the 2009 vintage 8.10 %. Independent projections for the 2010 vintage are of an aggregate return of 9.87. During the period from 2006 through October 2008 (referred to as ' Prosper 1.0 '), Prosper issued 28,936 loans, all of which have since matured. 18,480 of the loans fully paid off and 10,456 loans defaulted, a default rate of 36.1 %. $46,671,123 of the $178,560,222 loaned out during this period was written off by investors, a loss rate of 26.1 %. Since inception, Lending Club 's default rate ranges from 1.4 % for top - rated three - year loans to 9.8 % for the riskiest loans. The UK peer - to - peer lenders quote the ratio of bad loans at 0.84 % for Zopa of the £ 200m during its first seven years of lending history. As of November 2013, Funding Circle 's current bad debt level was 1.5 %, with an average 5.8 % return after all bad debt and fees. This is comparable to the 3 - 5 % ratio of mainstream banks and the result of modern credit models and efficient risk management technologies used by P2P companies. At the other end of the range are places such as Bondora that do lending to less credit - worthy customers, with default rates varying up to as high as 70 + % for loans made to Slovak borrowers on that platform, well above those of its original Estonian market. Because, unlike depositors in banks, peer - to - peer lenders can choose themselves whether to lend their money to safer borrowers with lower interest rates or to riskier borrowers with higher returns, in the US peer - to - peer lending is treated legally as investment and the repayment in case of borrower defaulting is not guaranteed by the federal government (U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) the way bank deposits are. A class action lawsuit, Hellum v. Prosper Marketplace, Inc. was held in Superior Court of California on behalf of all investors who purchased a note on the Prosper platform between January 1, 2006 and October 14, 2008. The plaintiffs alleged that Prosper offered and sold unqualified and unregistered securities, in violation of California and federal securities laws during that period. Plaintiffs further allege that Prosper acted as an unlicensed broker / dealer in California. The Plaintiffs were seeking rescission of the loan notes, rescissory damages, damages, and attorneys ' fees and expenses. On July 19, 2013 the class action lawsuit was settled. Under the settlement terms Prosper will pay $10 million to the class action members. Peer - to - peer lending sponsors are organizations that handle loan administration on behalf of others including individual lenders and lending agencies, but do not loan their own money.

which blues singer is best remembered for her recording of stormy weather

Ethel Waters - wikipedia Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 -- September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, big band, and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, but she began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Waters notable recordings include "Dinah '', "Stormy Weather '', "Taking a Chance on Love '', "Heat Wave '', "Supper Time '', "Am I Blue? '', "Cabin in the Sky '', "I 'm Coming Virginia '', and her version of the spiritual "His Eye Is on the Sparrow ''. Waters was the second African American, after Hattie McDaniel, to be nominated for an Academy Award. She was also the first African - American woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award, in 1962. Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, on October 31, 1896, as a result of the rape of her teenaged mother, Louise Anderson (believed to have been 13 years old at the time, although some sources indicate she may have been slightly older), by John Waters, a pianist and family acquaintance from a mixed - race middle - class background. He played no role in raising Ethel. Soon after she was born, her mother married Norman Howard, a railroad worker. Ethel used the surname Howard as a child, before reverting to her father 's name. She was raised in poverty by her grandmother, Sally Anderson, who worked as a housemaid, along with two of her aunts and an uncle. Waters never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. She said of her difficult childhood, "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family. '' Waters grew tall, standing 5 ' 91⁄2 '' in her teens. According to the jazz historian and archivist Rosetta Reitz, Waters 's birth in the North and her peripatetic life exposed her to many cultures. Waters married at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel, working for $4.75 per week. On her 17th birthday, she attended a costume party at a nightclub on Juniper Street. She was persuaded to sing two songs and impressed the audience so much that she was offered professional work at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. She later recalled that she earned the rich sum of ten dollars a week, but her managers cheated her out of the tips her admirers threw on the stage. After her start in Baltimore, Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit. As she described it later, "I used to work from nine until unconscious. '' Despite her early success, she fell on hard times and joined a carnival, traveling in freight cars along the carnival circuit and eventually reaching Chicago. Waters enjoyed her time with the carnival and recalled, "the roustabouts and the concessionaires were the kind of people I 'd grown up with, rough, tough, full of larceny towards strangers, but sentimental and loyal to their friends and co-workers. '' She did not last long with them, though, and soon headed south to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club with Bessie Smith. Smith demanded that Waters not compete in singing blues opposite her. Waters conceded and sang ballads and popular songs. Around 1919, Waters moved to Harlem and there became a celebrity performer in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. Her first Harlem job was at Edmond 's Cellar, a club with a black patronage, where she specialized in popular ballads. She acted in a blackface comedy, Hello 1919. The jazz historian Rosetta Reitz pointed out that by the time Waters returned to Harlem in 1921, women blues singers were among the most powerful entertainers in the country. In 1921, Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record, for the tiny Cardinal Records. She later joined Black Swan Records, where Fletcher Henderson was her accompanist. Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she preferred, often lacking "the damn - it - to - hell bass. '' She recorded with Black Swan from 1921 through 1923. In early 1924, Paramount bought the Black Swan label, and she stayed with Paramount through that year. She first recorded for Columbia Records in 1925, achieving a hit with "Dinah '', which was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. (From her start at Columbia, the label split her records initially with the more bluesey songs issued on their 14000 - D race series and her versions of popular songs on their regular popular series.) Soon after, she started working with Pearl Wright, and together they toured in the South. In 1924, Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. With Earl Dancer, she joined what was called the "white time '' Keith Vaudeville Circuit, a vaudeville circuit performing for white audiences and combined with screenings of silent movies. They received rave reviews in Chicago and earned the unheard - of salary of US $1,250 in 1928. In September 1926, Waters recorded "I 'm Coming Virginia '', composed by Donald Heywood with lyrics by Will Marion Cook. She is often wrongly attributed as the author. The following year, Waters first sang it in a production of Africana at Broadway 's Daly 's Sixty - Third Street Theatre. In 1929, Waters and Pearl Wright arranged the unreleased Harry Akst song "Am I Blue? '', which then was used in the movie On with the Show and became a hit and her signature song. Although she was considered a blues singer during the pre-1925 period, Waters sang in the vaudeville style of Mamie Smith, Viola McCoy, and Lucille Hegamin. While with Columbia, she introduced many popular standards, including "Dinah '', "Heebie Jeebies '', "Sweet Georgia Brown '', "Someday, Sweetheart '', "Am I Blue? '' and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue '' on the popular series, while she continued to sing blues ("West End Blues, '' "Organ Grinder Blues, '' etc.) on Columbia 's 14000 race series. During the 1920s, Waters performed and was recorded with the ensembles of Will Marion Cook and Lovie Austin. As her career continued, she evolved toward being a blues and Broadway singer, performing with artists such as Duke Ellington. She remained with Columbia through 1931. She signed with Brunswick Records in 1932 and remained until 1933, when she went back to Columbia. She signed with Decca Records in late 1934 for only two sessions, and later a single session in early 1938. She recorded for the specialty label Liberty Music Shop Records in 1935 and again in 1940. In 1933, Waters appeared a satirical all - black film, Rufus Jones for President, which featured the child performer Sammy Davis Jr. as Rufus Jones. She went on to star at the Cotton Club, where, according to her autobiography, she "sang ' Stormy Weather ' from the depths of the private hell in which I was being crushed and suffocated. '' In 1933, she had a featured role in the wildly successful Irving Berlin Broadway musical revue As Thousands Cheer, with Clifton Webb, Marilyn Miller, and Helen Broderick, in which she was the first black woman to integrate the Great White Way. She had three gigs at this point; in addition to the show, she was a singer for Jack Denny & His Orchestra on a national radio program and continued to work in nightclubs. She was the highest - paid performer of any race on Broadway at that time. Reprising her stage role of 1940, she starred as Petunia in the successful 1942 film Cabin in the Sky, an all - black musical directed by Vincente Minnelli, for which MGM cast Lena Horne as the ingenue. In this same period, she became the first African American to star in her own television show in 1939, contrary to popular belief, decades before Nat King Cole appeared on the small screen in 1956. The Ethel Waters Show, a variety special, appeared on NBC on June 4, 1939; it included a dramatic performance of her self - produced Broadway play Mamba 's Daughters, based in the Gullah community of South Carolina. The play was based on a book of the same name by DuBose Heyward. She began to work with Fletcher Henderson again in the late 1940s. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film Pinky (1949), under the direction of Elia Kazan, after the original director, John Ford, quit over disagreements with Waters. According to producer Darryl F. Zanuck, Ford "hated that old... woman (Waters). '' Ford, Kazan stated, "did n't know how to reach Ethel Waters. '' Kazan later referred to Waters 's "truly odd combination of old - time religiosity and free - flowing hatred. ''. In 1950, she won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for her performance opposite Julie Harris in the play The Member of the Wedding. Waters and Harris reprised their roles in the 1952 film version, Member of the Wedding. In 1950, Waters was the first African American actress to star in the television series Beulah. It was first nationally broadcast weekly television series starring an African - American in the leading role appearing on ABC television from 1950 to 1953. Waters quit after complaining that the portrayal of blacks was "degrading '' and was replaced by Louise Beavers in its third season. She later guest - starred in 1957 and 1959 on NBC 's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. In the 1957 episode, she sang "Cabin in the Sky ''. Despite these successes, her brilliant career was fading. She lost tens of thousands in jewelry and cash in a robbery, and she had difficulties with the IRS. Her health suffered, and she worked only sporadically in the following years. In 1950 -- 51 she wrote her autobiography His Eye Is on the Sparrow with Charles Samuels, in which she wrote candidly about her life. She explained why her age had often been misstated: her friends had to sign a paper claiming Waters was four years younger than she was to get a group insurance deal; she stated that she was born in 1900. His Eye Is on the Sparrow was adapted for a stage production in which she was portrayed by Ernestine Jackson. In her second autobiography, To Me, It 's Wonderful, Waters stated that she was born in 1896. In her later years, Waters often toured with the preacher Billy Graham on his "crusades ''. Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in Chatsworth, California. She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale). Waters was the great - aunt of the singer - songwriter Crystal Waters. Three recordings by Waters were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy Award established in 1973 to honor recordings that are at least twenty - five years old and have "qualitative or historical significance. '' Waters ' recording of "Stormy Weather '' (1933) was listed in the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress in 2003. Waters was approved for a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004. However, as of 2014, the star has not been funded, and public fundraising efforts continue. In 2015, a historical marker memorializing Waters was unveiled along Route 291 in Chester, Pennsylvania to recognize her life and talents in the city of her birth.

where does pain information cross over in the somatosensory pathway

Spinothalamic tract - wikipedia The spinothalamic tract (also known as anterolateral system or the ventrolateral system) is a sensory pathway from the skin to the thalamus. From the ventral posterolateral nucleus in the thalamus, sensory information is relayed upward to the somatosensory cortex of the postcentral gyrus. The spinothalamic tract consists of two adjacent pathways: anterior and lateral. The anterior spinothalamic tract carries information about crude touch. The lateral spinothalamic tract conveys pain and temperature. In the spinal cord, the spinothalamic tract has somatotopic organization. This is the segmental organization of its cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacral components, which is arranged from most medial to most lateral respectively. The pathway decussates at the level of the spinal cord, rather than in the brainstem like the posterior column - medial lemniscus pathway and lateral corticospinal tract. There are two main parts of the spinothalamic tract (STT): The spinothalamic tract, like the dorsal column - medial lemniscus tract, uses three neurons to convey sensory information from the periphery to conscious level at the cerebral cortex. Pseudounipolar neurons in the dorsal root ganglion have axons that lead from the skin into the dorsal spinal cord where they ascend or descend one or two vertebral levels via Lissauer 's tract and then synapse with secondary neurons in either the substantia gelatinosa of Rolando or the nucleus proprius. These secondary neurons are called tract cells. The axons of the tract cells cross over (decussate) to the other side of the spinal cord via the anterior white commissure, and to the anterolateral corner of the spinal cord (hence the spinothalamic tract being part of the anterolateral system). Decussation usually occurs 1 - 2 spinal nerve segments above the point of entry. The axons travel up the length of the spinal cord into the brainstem, specifically the rostral ventromedial medulla. Traveling up the brainstem, the tract moves dorsally. The neurons ultimately synapse with third - order neurons in several nuclei of the thalamus -- including the medial dorsal, ventral posterior lateral, and ventral posterior medial nuclei. From there, signals go to the cingulate cortex, the primary somatosensory cortex, and insular cortex respectively. The types of sensory information transmitted via the spinothalamic tract are described as affective sensation. This means that the sensation is accompanied by a compulsion to act. For instance, an itch is accompanied by a need to scratch, and a painful stimulus makes us want to withdraw from the pain. There are two sub-systems identified: In the nervous system, the anterolateral system is an ascending pathway that conveys pain, temperature (protopathic sensation), and crude touch from the periphery to the brain. It comprises three main pathways: In contrast to the axons of second - order neurons in posterior column - medial lemniscus pathway, the axons of second - order neurons in the spinothalamic tracts cross at every segmental level in the spinal cord. This fact aids in determining whether a lesion is in the brain or the spinal cord. With lesions in the brain stem or higher, deficits of pain perception, touch sensation, and proprioception are all contralateral to the lesion. With spinal cord lesions, however, the deficit in pain perception is contralateral to the lesion, whereas the other deficits are ipsilateral. See Brown - Séquard syndrome. Unilateral lesions usually cause contralateral anaesthesia (loss of pain and temperature). Anaesthesia will normally begin 1 - 2 segments below the level of lesion, due to the sensory fibers being carried by dorsal - lateral tract of Lissauer up several levels upon entry into the spinal cord, and will affect all caudal body areas. This is clinically tested by using pin pricks. 2 ° (Spinomesencephalic tract → Superior colliculus of Midbrain tectum)

how much money does the mexican president make

President of Mexico - wikipedia The President of the United Mexican States (Spanish: Presidente de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), commonly shortened to President of Mexico, is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces. The current President is Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office on December 1, 2012. Currently, the office of the President is considered to be revolutionary, in that the powers of office are derived from the Revolutionary Constitution of 1917. Another legacy of the Revolution is its ban on re-election. Mexican presidents are limited to a single six - year term, called a sexenio. No one who has held the post, even on a caretaker basis, is allowed to run or serve again. The constitution and the office of the President closely follow the presidential system of government. Chapter III of Title III of the Constitution deals with the executive branch of government and sets forth the powers of the president, as well as the qualifications for the office. He is vested with the "supreme executive power of the Union ''. To be eligible to serve as president, Article 82 of the Constitution specifies that the following requirements must be met: The ban on any sort of presidential re-election dates back to the aftermath of the Porfiriato and the end of the Mexican Revolution. It is so entrenched in Mexican politics that it has remained in place even as it was relaxed for other offices. In 2014, the constitution was amended to allow Deputies and Senators to run for a second consecutive term. Previously, Deputies and Senators were barred from successive re-election. However, the president remained barred from re-election, even if it is nonsuccessive. The presidential term was set at four years from 1821 to 1934, and has been set at six years since 1934. The president is elected by direct, popular, universal suffrage. Whoever wins a simple plurality of the national vote is elected; there is no runoff election. The most recent former President, Felipe Calderón, won with 36.38 % of the votes in the 2006 general election, finishing only 0.56 percent above his nearest rival, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (who contested the official results). Former President Vicente Fox was elected with a plurality of 43 % of the popular vote, Ernesto Zedillo won 48 % of the vote, and his predecessor Carlos Salinas won with a majority of 50 %. The current president, Enrique Peña Nieto won 38 % of the popular vote. The history of Mexico has not been a peaceful one. After the fall of dictator Porfirio Díaz in 1910 because of the Mexican Revolution, there was no stable government until 1929, when all the revolutionary leaders united in one political party: the National Revolutionary Party, which later changed its name to the Party of the Mexican Revolution, and is now the Institutional Revolutionary Party (Spanish: Partido Revolucionario Institucional). From then until 1988, the PRI ruled Mexico as a virtual one - party state. Toward the end of his term, the incumbent president in consultation with party leaders, selected the PRI 's candidate in the next election in a procedure known as "the tap of the finger '' (Spanish: el dedazo). Until 1988, the PRI 's candidate was virtually assured of election, winning by margins well over 70 percent of the vote -- results that were usually obtained by massive electoral fraud. In 1988, however, the PRI ruptured and the dissidents formed the National Democratic Front with rival center - left parties (now the PRD). Discontent with the PRI, and the popularity of the Front 's candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas led to worries that PRI candidate Carlos Salinas de Gortari would not come close to a majority, and might actually be defeated. While the votes were being counted, the tabulation system mysteriously shut down. The government declared Salinas the winner, leading to stronger than ever allegations of electoral fraud. The PRI enacted a strict internal discipline and government presence in the country, and electoral fraud became common. After the country regained its peace, this pattern of fraud continued, with the opposition losing every election until the later part of the 20th century. The first presidential election broadly considered legitimate was the one held in 1994, when the PRI 's Ernesto Zedillo took office, and in his term several reforms were enacted to ensure fairness and transparency in elections. Partly as a consequence of these reforms, the 1997 federal congressional election saw the first opposition Chamber of Deputies ever, and the 2000 elections saw Vicente Fox of a PAN / PVEM alliance become the first opposition candidate to win an election since 1911. This historical defeat was accepted on election night by the PRI in the voice of President Zedillo; while this calmed fears of violence, it also fueled questions about the role of the president in the electoral process and to whom the responsibility of conceding defeat should fall in a democratic election. The role of unions in the new balance of power and future elections is documented in works like historian Enrique Krauze 's Analysis of the Corporative System. After the presidential election, political parties may issue challenges to the election. These challenges are heard by the Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judicial Power; after it has heard and ruled on them, the Tribunal must either declare the election invalid, or certify the results of the elections in accordance to their rulings. Once the Tribunal declares the election valid, it issues a "Certificate of Majority '' (Constancia de Mayoría) to the candidate who obtained a plurality. That candidate then becomes President - elect. The final decision is made in September, two months after the election is carried out. The 1917 Constitution borrowed heavily from the Constitution of the United States, providing for a clear separation of powers while giving the president wider powers than his American counterpart. However, this has only recently become the case in practice. For the first 71 years after the enactment of the 1917 Constitution, the president exercised nearly absolute control over the country. Much of this power came from the de facto monopoly status of the PRI. As mentioned above, he effectively chose his successor as president by personally nominating the PRI 's candidate in the next election. In addition, the unwritten rules of the PRI allowed him to designate party officials and candidates all the way down to the local level. He thus had an important (but not exclusive) influence over the political life of the country (part of his power had to be shared with unions and other groups, but as an individual he had no peers). This, and his constitutional powers, made some political commentators describe the president as a six - year dictator, and to call this system an "imperial presidency ''. The situation remained largely unchanged until the early 1980s, when a grave economic crisis created discomfort both in the population and inside the party, and the president 's power was no longer absolute but still impressive. An important characteristic of this system is that the new president was effectively chosen by the old one (since the PRI candidate was assured of election) but once he assumed power, the old one lost all power and influence ("no reelection '' is a cornerstone of Mexican politics). In fact, tradition called for the incumbent president to fade into the background during the campaign to elect his successor. This renewed command helped maintain party discipline and avoided the stagnation associated with a single man holding power for decades, prompting Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa to call Mexico 's political system "the perfect dictatorship '', since the president 's powers were cloaked by democratic practice. With the democratic reforms of recent years and fairer elections, the president 's powers have been limited in fact as well as in name. Vargas Llosa, during the Fox administration, called this new system "The Imperfect Democracy ''. The current rights and powers of the president of Mexico are established, limited and enumerated by Article 89 of the Constitution which include the following: A decree is a legislative instrument that has an expiration date and that is issued by one of the three branches of government. Congress may issue decrees, and the President may issue decrees as well. However, they have all the power of laws, but can not be changed except by the power that issued them. Decrees are very limited in their extent. One such decree is the federal budget, which is issued by congress. The president 's office may suggest a budget, but at the end of the day, it is congress that decrees how to collect taxes and how to spend them. A Supreme Court ruling on Vicente Fox 's veto of the 2004 budget suggests that the President may have the right to veto decrees from Congress. Since 1997, the Congress has been plural, usually with opposition parties having a majority. Major reforms (tax, energy) have to pass by Congress, and the ruling President usually found his efforts blocked: the PRI 's Zedillo by opposing PAN / PRD congressmen, and later the PAN 's Fox by the PRI and PRD. The PAN would push the reforms it denied to the PRI and vice versa. This situation, novel in a country where Congress was + 90 % dominated by the president 's party for most of the century, has led to a legal analysis of the president 's power. Formerly almost a dictator (because of PRI 's party discipline), the current times show the president 's power as somewhat limited. In 2004, President Fox threatened to veto the budget approved by Congress, claiming the budget overstepped his authority to lead the country, only to learn no branch of government had the power to veto a decree issued by another branch of government (although a different, non jurisprudence - setting ruling stated he could return the budget with observations). Upon taking office, the President raises his / her right arm to shoulder - level and takes the following oath: Protesto guardar y hacer guardar la Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos y las leyes que de ella emanen, y desempeñar leal y patrióticamente el cargo de Presidente de la República que el pueblo me ha conferido, mirando en todo por el bien y prosperidad de la Unión; y si así no lo hiciere que la Nación me lo demande. Translation: I affirm to follow and uphold the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States and the laws that emanate from it, and to perform the office of President of the Republic which the people have conferred upon me with loyalty and patriotism, in all actions looking after the good and prosperity of the Union; and if I do not fulfill these obligations, may the Nation demand it of me. The Mexican Presidential sash has the colors of the Mexican flag in three bands of equal width, with red on top, white in the center, and green on the bottom, worn from right shoulder to left waist; it also includes the National Seal, in gold thread, to be worn chest - high. During the swearing - in ceremony of a newly elected President, the outgoing President turns in the sash to the current President of Congress, who in turn gives it to the new President after the latter has sworn the oath of office. The sash is the symbol of the Executive Federal Power, and may only be worn by the current President. According to Article 35 of the Law on the National Arms, Flag, and Anthem, the President must wear the sash at the swearing - in ceremony, when he makes his annual State of the Union report to Congress, during the commemoration of the Grito de Dolores on September 15 of each year, and when he receives the diplomatic credentials of accredited foreign ambassadors and ministers. He is also expected to wear it "in those official ceremonies of greatest solemnity ''. The sash is worn from right shoulder to left hip, and should be worn underneath the coat except during the swearing - in ceremony, when both the out - going and incoming president wear it over their coat (Article 36). In addition to the Presidential Sash, each president receives a Presidential Flag; the flag has imprinted the words Estados Unidos Mexicanos in golden letters and the national coat of arms also in gold. The President 's official residence and main workplace is Los Pinos, located inside the Bosque de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Park). The President has the right to use this residence for the six - year term of office. The National Palace, a building facing the Mexico City Zócalo, is officially the seat of the Executive Power, but is used only for ceremonies or national holidays such as Independence Day or Revolution Day. Some areas of the historic building are open to the public, and others hold some government offices. The President also has the use of Chapultepec Castle, formerly an Imperial palace of the Second Mexican Empire, and afterwards the official residence of Mexican Presidents until the Presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas. Article 84 of the Mexican Constitution states that "in case of absolute absence of a President '' the following should happen: No person who has already served as President, whether elected, Provisional, Interim, or Substitute, can be designated as Provisional, Interim, or Substitute President. The designation of the Secretary of the Interior as the immediate successor dates to August 2012, when the changes to the Constitution were published in the Official Diary. The succession provisions have come into play only twice since the current constitution was enacted. In 1928, after the assassination of president - elect Álvaro Obregón, Congress appointed Emilio Portes Gil as Interim President; Portes Gil served in the position for 14 months while new elections were called. Pascual Ortiz Rubio was elected President in the special elections that followed in 1930, but he resigned in 1932. Abelardo L. Rodríguez was then appointed Interim President to fill out the remainder of Ortiz Rubio 's term (under current law Rodríguez would be Substitute President, but at the time there was no distinction between Interim, Substitute, and Provisional Presidents). There are five living former presidents. The most recent former president to die was Miguel de la Madrid (1982 -- 1988), on 1 April 2012. Former presidents of Mexico continue to carry the title "President '' until death but are rarely referred by it; they are commonly called ex-Presidents. They are also given protection by the Estado Mayor Presidencial. Former presidents are also given a lifelong pension, which they can refuse, as in the case of Ernesto Zedillo. Contrary to what happens in many other countries, former presidents of Mexico do not continue to be important national figures once out of office, and usually lead a discreet life. This is partly because they do not want to interfere with the government of the new president and partly because they may not have a good public image. This tradition can be traced back to the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas. Former president Plutarco Elías Calles had personally selected Cárdenas as his successor, and had hoped to control things from behind the scenes as he had for the last five years. However, when Cárdenas showed he was going to rule in fact as well as in name, Calles publicly criticized him, prompting Cárdenas to have Calles escorted out of the country by military police. Cárdenas himself remained silent on the policies of his successor Manuel Ávila Camacho, establishing a tradition that former presidents do not interfere with their successors. For example, Ernesto Zedillo holds important offices in the United Nations and in the private sector, but outside of Mexico. It is speculated he lives in a self - imposed exile to avoid the hatred of some of his fellow members of the PRI for having acknowledged the PRI 's defeat in the 2000 presidential election. Carlos Salinas also lived in a self - imposed exile in Ireland, but returned to Mexico. He campaigned intensely to have his brother, Raúl Salinas, freed after he was jailed in the early days of Zedillo 's term, accused of drug trafficking and planning the assassination of José Francisco Ruiz Massieu. Carlos Salinas also wrote a book on neo-liberal Mexico, secured a position with the Dow Jones Company in the United States, and worked as a professor at several prestigious universities in that country. Felipe Calderón was given a contract to work as a professor for Harvard University in 2013, but he returned to Mexico in 2014. It was rumored that he would look after the then newly created Humanist Party; this fact was eventually denied by his wife. Along with Felipe Calderón, two other surviving former presidents, Luis Echeverría and Vicente Fox, still live in Mexico. On June 30, 2006, Echeverría was placed under house arrest under charges of genocide for his role as Secretary of the Interior during the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. The house arrest was lifted in 2009.