prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: When did the Battle at Choo Hoey's birthplace end?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Battle of Puebla
The Battle of Puebla (Spanish: Batalla de Puebla; French: Bataille de Puebla), also known as the Battle of May 5th (Spanish: Batalla del 5 de Mayo) took place on 5 May, Cinco de Mayo, 1862, near Puebla de los Ángeles, during the Second French intervention in Mexico  French troops under the command of Charles de Lorencez repeatedly failed to storm the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe situated on top of the hills overlooking the city of Puebla, and eventually retreated to Orizaba in order to await reinforcements  Lorencez was dismissed from his command, and French troops under Élie Frédéric Forey would eventually take the city, but the Mexican victory at Puebla against a better equipped force provided patriotic inspiration to the Mexicans 
The anniversary of the victory is primarily celebrated in the Mexican state of Puebla, where the holiday is celebrated as El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (English: The Day of the Battle of Puebla)  There is some limited recognition of the holiday in other parts of the country  In the United States, Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a holiday celebration of Mexican heritage 

Background
The Tripartite Expedition
The French intervention in Mexico, initially supported by the United Kingdom and Spain, was a consequence of Mexican President Benito Juárez's imposition of a two-year moratorium of loan-interest payments from July 1861 to French, British, and Spanish creditors 
On December 14, 1861, a Spanish fleet sailed into and took possession of the port of Veracruz  The city was occupied on the 17th  French and English forces arrived on January 7, 1862  On January 10 a manifesto was issued by Spanish General Juan Prim disavowing rumors that the allies had come to conquer or to impose a new government  It was emphasized that the three powers merely wanted to open negotiations regarding their claims of damages On January 14, 1862, a bill of claims was presented to the government in Mexico City  Foreign Minister Manuel Doblado invited the commissioners to travel to Orizaba with two thousand of their own troops for a conference while requesting that the rest of the tripartite forces disembark from Veracruz  The proposal to disembark most of the troops was rejected, but negotiations then resulted in an agreement, ratified on January 23, to move the forces inland and hold a conference at Orizaba  The agreement also officially recognized the government of Juarez along with Mexican sovereignty 

The French invasion begins
On April 9, 1862, agreements at Orizaba between the allies broke down, as France made it increasingly clear that it intended to invade Mexico and interfere in its government in violation of previous treaties  The British informed the Mexican government that they now intended to exit the country, and an arrangement was made with the British government to settle its claims  Minister Doblado on April 11 made it known to the French government that its intentions would lead to war 
Certain Mexican officers had been sympathetic to the French since the beginning of the intervention  On April 16, 1862, the French issued a proclamation inviting Mexicans to join them in establishing a new government  On April 17, 1862, Mexican general Juan Almonte, who had been a foreign minister of the conservative government during the Reform War, and who was brought back to Mexico by the French, released his own manifesto, assuring the Mexican people of benevolent French intentions The French defeated a small Mexican force at Escamela, and then captured Orizaba  Mexican Generals Porfirio Diaz and Ignacio Zaragoza retreated to El Ingenio, and then headed towards Puebla General Charles de Lorencez led 6,000 French troops to attack Puebla de Los Angeles in May 1862, certain that the French would win the war in Mexico quickly  Juarez assembled a ragged group of faithful soldiers at his new base of operations in the north and dispatched them to Puebla  Britain and Spain bargained with Mexico before withdrawing, but Napoleon III's France opted to take advantage of the available space to create an empire based on Mexico  A well-armed French warship invaded Veracruz late in 1861, landing a sizable French army and forcing President Juarez and his administration into exile 
Almonte now attempted to consolidate the Mexican pro-French movement  The town of Orizaba joined him and so did the port of Veracruz and Isla del Carmen  Colonel Gonzales, Manuel Castellanos, Desiderio Samaniego, Padre Miranda, and Haro Tamariz, and General Antonio Taboada arrived in Orizaba to support Almonte  On April 28, 1862, French forces headed towards Puebla 

Prelude
On May 2 the French army and the Mexican troops under Antonio Taboada reached Amozoc, and on the 4th pitched their camp within the sight of Puebla  Lorencez intended on immediately taking the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe, whose possession would assure him control of the city  Juan Almonte and Antonio de Haro y Tamariz had advised Lorencez to attack an orchard of the Convento del Carmen opposite the fortified heights of Guadalupe and Loreto, which was not done  They had also previously advised Lorencez to simply bypass Puebla and march on to the capital  Mexican historian Francisco Bulnes remarked that Lorencez lacked the men to starve out the city, lacked the artillery to take it by intimidation, lacked the men and artillery to take it by gradual assaults, and could only attempt to storm it in a risky manner that could have scarcely hoped to succeed The Mexican Republican army arrived in Puebla on May 3  On the 4th Arteaga's division now under the command of General Miguel Negrete, occupied the Guadalupe and Loreto Forts  The remainder of the forces took up quarters in the city 

Battle
At half past eleven Lorencez arranged an attack column made up of two battalions of zouaves, one battery commanded by Captain Bernard, and four pieces of Captain Mallat's marine artillery 
  The regiment of marine infantry and marine riflemen formed the reserve along with a mountain gun  They were meant to protect the rear of the attack columns, which was threatened by the Mexican cavalry on the right  To contain a Mexican force which was threatening the left, he charged L’Heriller to protect with four battalions of marine infantry the convoy which he placed at a convenient location  Cavalry was assigned to place itself between the convoy and the attack columns, which now awaited orders to attack The two battalions of zouaves now set their backpacks on the foot of the hill and began their ascent marching in columns by division and between them carrying ten pieces of horse artillery  They headed to their right towards the Fort of Guadalupe  According to a report telegraphed by General Zaragoza to the central government, the fighting broke out at noon  The strategy of attacking the most difficult, fortified, and heavily armed point caught the attention of General Zaragoza, as it now seemed that the French had tossed aside the military maxim of achieving a victory with the least amount of losses possible in favor of bravado  Zaragoza upon noticing that the attack was going to come via a direct assault on the forts, and who had a large body of this troops on standby for attack now changed his strategy  He gave orders for the forts of Loreto and Guadalupe to be reinforced  The French division advanced and when opposite the Guadalupe fort, halted and planted its artillery to fire upon the Guadalupe and the Loreto forts  After shelling them for two hours, a strong column preceded by sharpshooters advanced upon Fort Guadalupe by the northern side  Felipe Berriozábal was then ordered to reinforce the two hills  A portion of the cavalry was divided into two bodies, one of which was placed under Colonel Alvarez and the other under Colonel Trujano  The rest were to be commanded by Colonel Felix Diaz France's army was extremely advanced compared to Mexico's during the time of the battle  French soldiers were equipped with long rifles that could easily outgun the Mexicans' antiquated muskets when they arrived at Puebla on May 4  At the onset of battle, French soldiers underestimated the defensive capacity of the Mexican positions, to the point that many didn't bother to properly assemble their weaponry  The French attempted to intimidate the civilian population on the morning of May 5 with loud bugle cries and complex bayonet drills  They were forced to retire, however, as a result of significant casualties, following a full day of warfare that included three miserably failed uphill attacks 
The French in their ascent towards Fort Guadalupe experienced little opposition and only a few casualties from the fort's guns  They had completed half of the ascent when they were met by two battalions of Mexican infantry, which after exchanging shots with French sharpshooters, returned to their position  The French troops continued their ascent while Mexican cavalry under the cover of a maguey field remained still  The Mexican infantry also under the same cover kept firing upon the French  The ascending column now turned diagonally towards the right, as if going between the two forts, and the two forts now took advantage of the opportunity to fire upon the French troops  Finding themselves assailed from all quarters by infantry and cavalry, the French retreated and were pursued by Mexican forces, but the pursuit was given up when another French column came to the support of the retreating troops The two French columns now pushed on together towards the Guadalupe and Resurrection chapel  The two columns combined and split into three  This second attack on the east and the north of the city was much more vigorous  The two columns which attempted an assault on the hill from the north again were completely routed  General Diaz with portions of his brigade and other troops and two pieces of artillery checked and drove away the French columns which were marching against the Mexican positions  The third French column which reached the east side just as the others were repulsed was also defeated  The Mexican cavalry then charged upon the remaining French and prevented their reorganization for further assaults The French and the Mexicans continue to face each other until seven in the evening when the French returned to their camp at Los Alamos and then to Orizaba on the 8th to await reinforcements which were on their way from France 

Aftermath
The Battle of Puebla was an inspirational event for Mexico during the war, and it proved a stunning revelation to the rest of the world which had largely expected a rapid victory for French arms  The victory filled the government of Benito Juarez with high hopes  Zaragoza received the thanks of congress, and was awarded a sword  The city name of Puebla de los Ángeles was changed to Puebla de Zaragoza  Honors and rewards were decreed to the officers and men who took part in the action  Zaragoza sent the government the medals and decorations taken on the battlefield as well of those from prisoners, but President Juarez returned them along with the French prisoners of war  General Zaragoza would not live long after the victory as he died four months later due to typhoid fever   By a decree issued by Benito Juárez and the holiday "5 de mayo" (cinco de mayo) is a major annual event here 
Only two days after the battle the Mexican General Taboada who had collaborated with the French during the battle wrote to his liberal friend, Tomás O'Horán, inviting him to join the French, arguing that they wished to establish a stable government and would bring order to the country 
O'Horan would reject the offer, even fighting against the ultimately triumphant Siege of Puebla that the French carried out the following year, but O'Horan eventually would defect to join the forces of the Second Mexican Empire 
Slowed by their loss at Puebla, the French forces retreated and regrouped, and the invasion continued after Napoleon III determinedly sent additional troops to Mexico and dismissed General Lorencez  The French were eventually victorious, winning the Second Battle of Puebla on 17 May 1863 and pushing on to Mexico City  When the capital fell, Juárez's government was forced into exile in the remote northern parts of Mexico 
With the backing of France, the Second Empire of Mexico was established, with the Habsburg Archduke Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico 
General Porfirio Diaz who had played a notable role during the battle would continue to distinguish himself as one of the most important liberal commanders throughout the Second French intervention, and even escaped after being captured by the French  After the end of the Intervention and the fall of the Empire, he would attempt to overthrow the government of Benito Juarez before eventually becoming the President of Mexico in 1876 
The political decision taken by President Franklin D  Roosevelt to implement the "Good Neighbor Policy," which was intended to promote links with Latin American nations and people, was one of the key factors in the popularization of "Cinco de Mayo" in the United States  As a result of the Roosevelt administration's promotion of the holiday, Cinco de Mayo gained popularity in the 1950s and 1960s and eventually became a recognized national holiday  While the original celebrations in the United States were localized among Mexican immigrants from the state of Puebla commemorating the battle, over time, the origins of the holiday have become less emphasized and the date has evolved into a general celebration of Mexican culture by immigrants and their descendants from all parts of Mexico  A comparable phenomenon can be found in the evolution of St  Patrick's Day from an ecclesiastical holiday marking the arrival of Christianity in Ireland to a largely secularized celebration of Irish-American culture 

Celebration
On 9 May 1862, President Juárez declared that the anniversary of the Battle of Puebla would be a national holiday, regarded as "Battle of Puebla Day" or "Battle of Cinco de Mayo" Cinco de Mayo is not the national day of Mexico, as is sometimes misunderstood  The most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico is Independence Day, on 16 September, commemorating the 1810 "Cry of Dolores" call-to-arms, that began the War of Independence  Mexico also observes the culmination of the war of Independence, which lasted 11 years, on 27 September 
Cinco de Mayo is day of celebration for the Hispanics is a tradition that takes place on May 5 to mark the date that Mexico defeated the Second French Empire in the Battle of Puebla in 1862, under the command of General Ignacio Zaragoza, a Texas native  The Mexicans' morale was boosted by their win over the bigger and better armed French army with a smaller, less well-equipped Mexican force, which included 500 other Tejanos  Since the 1930s, a re-enactment of the Battle of Puebla has been held each year at Peñón de los Baños, a rocky outcrop close to Mexico City International Airport What most do not realize is that the “Battle of Puebla” is celebrated just as much if not more in America than it is in Mexico, some say it is a way that Mexican Americans can show patriotism towards their roots and traditions, but it has also always been overshadowed by occasions like September 16 Independence Day, which marks the beginning of hostilities against Spanish control in 1810  Contrarily, Cinco de Mayo became popular in the United States in the 1960s when Chicano activists started seeking for a means to celebrate their heritage  The largest Cinco de Mayo festivities currently take place in American cities with sizable Hispanic populations, such Los Angeles, Houston, and San Antonio  It is a common misconception among non-Mexicans that Cinco de Mayo commemorates the declaration of Mexican independence, which occurred around 50 years before the Battle of Puebla  On Cinco de Mayo there are multiple different ways that they celebrate this event, some of these being parades, speeches, and recreations of the 1862 fight  In the middle of the 20th century, Mexican immigrants in the United States began to take pride in their Mexican ancestry by celebrating Cinco de Mayo  The main cause for rejoicing in Mexico is a win in war 
The American celebration of Cinco de Mayo is more about honoring Mexican culture in general  In 1863, Americans started celebrating as a show of support for Mexico against the French  Critics noted that many American celebrations tended to both perpetuate negative stereotypes of Mexicans and promote excessive drinking, and that enthusiasm for the holiday celebration did not catch on with a wider demographic until it was associated with the promotion of Mexican alcoholic beverages  Commercial interests from both Mexico and the United States have contributed to the promotion of the event with goods and services that highlight Mexican cruises, drinks, and celebrations, with music taking on a more prominent role  Since parades and concerts are held in many American towns the week before May 5, Cinco de Mayo has grown in popularity both north and south of the border and is now included in the calendars of more and more people 

See also
List of battles of the French intervention in Mexico
Monument for the 150th Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla
Passage 2:
Battle of Palembang
The Battle of Palembang was a battle of the Pacific theatre of World War II  It occurred near Palembang, on Sumatra, on 13–15 February 1942  The Royal Dutch Shell oil refineries at nearby Plaju (then Pladjoe) were the major objectives for the Empire of Japan in the Pacific War, because of an oil embargo imposed on Japan by the United States, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom after the Japanese invaded China and committed massive atrocities such as the rape of Nanking  With the area's abundant fuel supply and airfield, Palembang offered significant potential as a military base to both the Allies and the Japanese 

Prelude
In January, the American-British-Dutch-Australian Command (ABDACOM) decided to concentrate Allied air forces in Sumatra at two airfields near Palembang: Pangkalan Benteng, also known as "P1" and a secret air base at Prabumulih (then Praboemoelih), or "P2" 
The British Royal Air Force created No  225 (Bomber) Group at Palembang  It included two Royal Australian Air Force squadrons and a large number of Australians serving with British squadrons  The group could only muster 40 Bristol Blenheim light bombers and 35 Lockheed Hudson light bombers  The Blenheims had flown from the Middle East and Egypt, where they were considered too old to cope with newer German and Italian fighters  A handful of United States Far East Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers also operated out of Palembang briefly in January, but these were withdrawn to Java and Australia before the battle commenced 
No  226 (Fighter) Group  RAF also arrived at Palembang in early February: two squadrons of Hawker Hurricanes transported to Sumatra by the aircraft carrier HMS Indomitable  They were joined by the remnants of British, Australian and Royal New Zealand Air Force Hurricane and Brewster Buffalo squadrons, which had both inflicted and suffered heavy losses in intense air battles over the Malayan and Singapore campaigns 
The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) South Sumatra Island Territorial Command, its command in the Palembang area, consisted of about 2,000 troops under Lieutenant Colonel L  N  W  Vogelesang: the South Sumatra Garrison Battalion and a Stadswacht/Landstorm ("home guard/reserve") infantry company in Palembang, a Stadswacht/Landstorm infantry company in Jambi (Djambi), as well as various artillery and machine gun units  (KNIL units in other parts of Sumatra lacked mobility and played no part in the fighting ) The Royal Netherlands Navy was represented by the minelayer Pro Patria and the patrol boats P-38 and P-40 on the Musi river 

Battle
Airborne attack
While the Allied planes attacked the Japanese ships on 13 February, Kawasaki Ki-56 transport planes of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Chutai, Imperial Japanese Army Air Force (IJAAF), dropped Teishin Shudan (Raiding Group) paratroopers over Pangkalan Benteng airfield  At the same time Mitsubishi Ki-21 bombers from the 98th Sentai dropped supplies for paratroopers  The formation was escorted by a large force of Nakajima Ki-43 fighters from the 59th and 64th Sentai 
As many as 180 men from the Japanese Army 2nd Parachute Regiment, under Colonel Seiichi Kume, dropped between Palembang and Pangkalan Benteng, and more than 90 men came down west of the refineries at Pladjoe  Although the Japanese paratroopers failed to capture the Pangkalan Benteng airfield, they did manage to gain possession of the entire Pladjoe oil refinery complex undamaged  A makeshift counter-attack by Landstorm troops and anti-aircraft gunners from Praboemoelih managed to retake the complex but took heavy losses, due to Japanese soldiers entrenched in the refinery's air raid shelters  The planned demolition failed to do any serious damage to the refinery, but the oil stores were set ablaze  Two hours after the first drop, another 60 Japanese paratroopers were dropped near Pangkalan Benteng airfield 
On 14 February, the surviving Japanese paratroopers advanced to the Musi, Salang and Telang rivers, near Palembang 

Amphibious assault
The main Japanese invasion force, an amphibious assault fleet under Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), was on its way from Cam Ranh Bay in French Indochina  It was made up of the Imperial Japanese Army's 229th Infantry Regiment and one battalion from the 230th Infantry Regiment  A small advance party set out eight transports escorted by the light cruiser Sendai and four destroyers  The main force followed in 14 transports, escorted by the heavy cruiser Chokai and four destroyers  The covering force included the aircraft carrier Ryujo, four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser and three destroyers  Additional air cover was provided by land-based IJN planes and the IJAAF 3rd Air Division 
On the morning of 13 February, a river boat commandeered by the British Royal Navy, HMS Li Wo — under Lieutenant Thomas Wilkinson — ferrying personnel and equipment between Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, ran into the Japanese fleet  Although Li Wo was armed only with a 4-inch (100 mm) gun and two machineguns, its crew fired at the Japanese troop transport ships, setting one on fire and damaging several others, while under fire from the Japanese cruisers  This action continued for 90 minutes until the Li Wo ran out of ammunition  Wilkinson then ordered the ramming of the nearest transport, before his ship was destroyed by Japanese fire  Wilkinson received a posthumous Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the British Commonwealth, and the only VC awarded in the Dutch East Indies campaign 
On 15 February, an ABDA naval force of five cruisers, HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java and HNLMS Tromp, HMS Exeter, HMAS Hobart and 10 destroyers, under Admiral Karel Doorman, made an abortive attempt to intercept the Japanese force  Planes from Ryujo and land-based aircraft made a series of attacks on the Allied ships, forcing them to withdraw to the south of Sumatra 
As the Japanese landing force approached Sumatra, the remaining Allied aircraft attacked it, and the Japanese transport ship Otawa Maru was sunk  Hurricanes flew up the rivers, machine-gunning Japanese landing craft 

However, on the afternoon of 15 February, all Allied aircraft were ordered to Java, where a major Japanese attack was anticipated, and the Allied air units had withdrawn from southern Sumatra by the evening of 16 February 1942  Other personnel were evacuated via Oosthaven (now Bandar Lampung) by ships to Java or India 
Passage 3:
Giovanni Cifolelli
Giovanni Cifolelli was an Italian mandolin virtuoso and dramatic composer whose date and place of birth are unknown  In 1764 he made his appearance in Paris as a mandolin virtuoso and was highly esteemed, both as a performer and teacher  He published his Method for the mandolin while residing in Paris, which met with great success throughout France, being the most popular of its period 
His chief works were the operas L'Italienne and Pierre et Lucette, the former being an opera bouffe in one act (with the storyline or libretto by Nicolas-Étienne Framery)  These works were commissioned by the Comedie Italienne, Paris, and were produced at this theatre successfully, in 1770 and 1774  Several of the songs and duets in Pierre and Lucette were exceedingly popular in France, and they were republished in Paris in 1775 and 1780 

Works
L'Italienne  : comédie en 1 acte, mêlée d'ariettes (Paris, 1770)
Pierre et Lucette, comédie en deux actes et en prose mêlée d'ariettes (Paris, 1774)
Airs détachés de Perin et Lucette, comédie en deux actes, mêlées d'ariettes par M  Davesne (Paris, 1775)
Ariette nouvelle avec accompagnement de deux violons et basse
Non, laisse moi, laisse moi, Lucas  Duo (1775)
Passage 4:
Tex Beneke
Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( BEN-ə-kee; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader  His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller  His band is also associated with the careers of Eydie Gormé, Henry Mancini and Ronnie Deauville  Beneke also solos on the recording the Glenn Miller Orchestra made of their popular song "In The Mood" and sings on another popular Glenn Miller recording, "Chattanooga Choo Choo"  Jazz critic Will Friedwald considers Beneke to be one of the major blues singers who sang with the big bands of the early 1940s 

Early life
Beneke was born in Fort Worth, Texas  He started playing saxophone when he was nine, going from soprano to alto to tenor saxophones and staying with the latter  His first professional work was with bandleader Ben Young in 1935, but it was when he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra three years later that his career hit its stride  Beneke said: "It seems that Gene Krupa had left the Goodman band and was forming his own first band  He was flying all over the country looking for new talent and he stopped at our ballroom one night [to listen to the Ben Young band]  [   ] Gene wound up taking two or three of our boys with him back to New York  [Krupa] wanted to take [Beneke] but his sax section was already filled " Krupa knew that Glenn Miller was forming a band and recommended Beneke to Miller Whatever concerns Miller might have had about Beneke's playing were quickly dismissed; Miller immediately made Beneke his primary tenor sax soloist and Beneke played all but a few of the tenor solos on all of the records and personal appearances made by the Miller band until it disbanded in 1942  On the August 1, 1939, recording made of the Joe Garland composition "In The Mood", Beneke trades two-measure tenor solo exchanges with his fellow section-mate Al Klink  Miller's 1941 recording of "A String of Pearls" (composed by the band's arranger, Jerry Gray) also has Beneke and Klink trading two-measure tenor solo phrases  Beneke appears with Miller and his band in the films Sun Valley Serenade (1941) and Orchestra Wives (1942), both of which helped propel the singer/saxophonist to the top of the Metronome polls  Tex Beneke is listed in the personnel of the 1941 Metronome All-Star Band led by Benny Goodman  In 1942, Glenn Miller's orchestra won the first Gold Record ever awarded for "Chattanooga Choo Choo"; the song was written by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon as part of the score for the 1941 Twentieth Century Fox movie Sun Valley Serenade which was primarily made for the purpose of putting the Miller band in a motion picture  Tex Beneke was the featured singer in the movie and on the Victor/Bluebird recording that also featured band vocalist Paula Kelly and the Modernaires, a vocal group of four male singers, who were also regular members of the Miller entourage  "Chattanooga Choo Choo", catalogue number Bluebird 11230-B, was recorded by the Miller band at the Victor recording studios in Hollywood, May 7, 1941  Hoping to repeat the success of "Chattanooga" the following year, songwriters Warren and Gordon composed "I've Got a Gal in Kalamazoo" for the "Orchestra Wives" score  That arrangement also featured Beneke, the Modernaires and band vocalist Marion Hutton in a not-too-dissimilar fashion  Not surprisingly, "Kalamazoo" became another hit record for Miller, Beneke and the band though not to the extent that "Chattanooga" had been the year before  By then, the U S  was involved in World War II and "Kalamazoo's" success was also short-lived partially because Miller disbanded his group only three months after the record was made and four months following the filming of "Orchestra Wives" 
When Miller broke up the band in August 1942 to join the Army Air Force, Beneke played very briefly with Horace Heidt before joining the Navy himself, leading a Navy band in Oklahoma  While employed with Miller, Beneke was offered his own band, as Miller had done with colleagues and employees like Hal McIntyre, Claude Thornhill and Charlie Spivak  Beneke wanted to come back to Miller after the war and learn more about leading a band before being given his own band  Beneke led two bands in the navy and kept in touch with Glenn Miller while they were both serving in the military  By 1945, Beneke felt ready to lead his own orchestra 

Working with the Miller estate
Glenn Miller went missing on December 15, 1944, while flying to France from England  After World War II, the United States Army Air Force decommissioned the Glenn Miller-led Army Air Force band  The Miller estate authorized an official Glenn Miller "ghost band" in 1946  This band was led by Tex Beneke who as time went on had more prominence in the band's identity  It had a make up similar to Glenn Miller's Army Air Force Band, having a large string section  The orchestra's official public début was at the Capitol Theatre on Broadway where it opened for a three-week engagement on January 24, 1946  Henry Mancini was the band's pianist and one of the arrangers  Another arranger was Norman Leyden, who also previously arranged for the Glenn Miller Army Air Force Band  This ghost band played to very large audiences all across the United States, including a few dates at the Hollywood Palladium in 1947, where the original Miller band played in 1941  The movie short Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Band was released by RKO pictures in 1947 with Lillian Lane, Artie Malvin and The Crew Chiefs vocal group performing  In a slightly sarcastic article in Time magazine from June 2, 1947, the magazine notes that the Beneke-led Miller orchestra was playing at the same venue the original Miller band played in 1939, the Glen Island Casino  Beneke's quote about the big band business at the time closes the article, "I don't know whether Glenn figured that times would be as tough"  By 1949, economics dictated that the string section be dropped This band recorded for RCA Victor, just as the original Miller band did  Beneke believed that Miller had promised him his own band in the early 1940s, and this was his chance to have that promise fulfilled  Beneke wanted a band with Beneke's musical identity  Larry Bruff, an announcer for the earlier Glenn Miller radio shows says, "Beneke would even set wrong tempos so as not to sound too much like Glenn " The Miller estate wanted a band that was primarily associated with Glenn Miller, playing the Glenn Miller songs in the Glenn Miller style  By 1950, Beneke and the Miller estate parted ways 

After Miller
Beneke continued to perform under his own name with no official connection to Miller  He enjoyed less success in the early 1950s, partly because he was limited to smaller recording labels such as Coral Records and partly because of competition from other Miller alumni and imitators such as Jerry Gray, Ray Anthony and Ralph Flanagan  Eydie Gormé sang with the Beneke band in 1950  Beneke appeared on Cavalcade of Bands, a television show in 1950 on the DuMont Television Network In the latter part of that decade there was some revived interest in music of the swing era  Beneke joined a number of other leaders such as Larry Clinton and Glen Gray in making new high fidelity recordings of their earlier hits, often featuring many of the original musicians  Beneke and former Miller singers Ray Eberle, Paula Kelly, and The Modernaires first recorded the LP Reunion in Hi-Fi, a 1958 Coral Records album which contained recreations of original Miller material  This was followed by others featuring newer songs, some performed in the Miller style and others done in a more contemporary mode  Among the best-known is Christmas Serenade in the Glenn Miller Style (1965) on Columbia Records, which has been excerpted on a number of holiday compilations 
The singer/saxophonist continued working in the coming decades, appearing periodically at Disneyland  He also made the rounds of various talk shows that had musical connections, including those hosted by Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson  His appearances on The Tonight Show sometimes included duos with fellow Miller veteran Al Klink who was by then a key member of The Tonight Show Band  Ray Eberle recovered from his earlier illness and resumed performing with Beneke and the Modernaires for a period in the early 1970s  In 1972, Beneke agreed to re-record some of his Miller vocals for Time-Life Records' set of big band recreations, The Swing Era, produced and conducted by yet another Miller alumnus, Billy May 
During the 1970s and 1980s, Beneke had a new band playing a style that resembled the classic Miller sound but with as much newer material as older  In the late 1970s, he played at Knott's Berry Farms Cloud 9 Ballroom  At one point he also toured with former Jimmy Dorsey vocalists Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly  Beneke suffered a stroke in the mid-1990s and was forced to give up the saxophone but continued to conduct and sing  In 1991, Tex Beneke received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with funds collected by co-leader Gary Tole  He settled in Costa Mesa, California and remained active toward the end of that decade, mostly touring the U S  West Coast and still playing in something resembling the Miller style  In 1998 he launched yet another tour paying tribute to The Army Air Force Band 

Death
In 2000 Beneke died from respiratory failure at a nursing home in Costa Mesa, California, aged 86 and was buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth, Texas  He was survived by his wife, Sandra, of Santa Ana, California  His saxophone is currently used by the Arizona Opry 

See also
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Passage 5:
Choo Hoey
Choo Hoey (朱暉, born 20 October 1934, Palembang, Sumatra) is a Singaporean musician and conductor  Choo founded the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and was also its first resident conductor and music director  Choo was awarded Singapore's inaugural Cultural Medallion for music in 1979 

Early life and education
Choo was born on 20 October 1934 in Palembang, Sumatra, Indonesia to father, Choo Seng, a Chinese migrant from Chaojhou, Guangdong, China and his mother from Nanking, Jiangsu, China Choo's first encounter with classical music started from listening to his father's collection of records and was drawn to the violin  His father noticed his attraction and started his lessons in violin with a Teach Yourself book  After Choo Hoey's primary education in 1945, his family migrated to Singapore in 1946 and he continued his secondary education at The Chinese High School 
In 1947, Choo Hoey started his violin training under Goh Soon Tioe  Using only two years of study in Singapore, he obtained his Grade 8 with distinction from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music in London, England  Upon completing his secondary education in 1951, Choo Hoey went to the Royal Academy of Music in London to study the violin under David Martin, the French horn under Aubrey Brain, and conducting under Maurice Miles 
In 1954, Choo Hoey studied conducting under Igor Markevitch and the violin under André Gertler  In 1955, he graduated from the Royal Academy of Music, awarded with the Mann's Memorial Prize and the Earnest Read Prize for conducting  In 1957, he continued his violin training at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels in Belgium where he would later start his career in the Belgian National Orchestra 

Career
In 1958, Choo Hoey began his career in the Belgian National Orchestra where his debut performances with Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale met critical acclaim and prompted a series of guest performances and a later career as visiting conductor across Europe and South America  Choo Hoey had guest performed with over sixty orchestras throughout the world including the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du Conservatoire, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Oslo Philharmonic and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande  From 1968 till 1977, he was named principal conductor of the Greek National Opera and became a frequent guest conductor in the four major symphony orchestras of Greece holding numerous world premieres of contemporary Greek works, many of which were recorded with the Hellenic Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra 
In 1978, Choo Hoey was invited by the Singapore government to set up the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and become its first Music Director and Conductor from 1979 to 1996  Choo Hoey also proposed the creation of the Singapore Symphony Chorus and along with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, led them to their 1980 international debut in Scandinavia  Upon his retirement as Music Director and Conductor in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Choo Hoey was appointed Conductor Emeritus in honour of his contributions and service 

Honors
For his contribution to music in Singapore, Choo Hoey was awarded the Republic's inaugural Cultural Medallion (1979)  He was also conferred the Public Service Star in 1982, and was made an Honorary Doctor of Letters of the National University of Singapore in 1989  In 1997, Choo Hoey was knighted with the status of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres by the Government of France 

Personal life
Choo Hoey is married to Alexandra, a Greek archaeologist, and had two sons  He resides in Athens and London, where his sons live 
Passage 6:
Rue d'Austerlitz
The Rue d'Austerlitz is a street in the 4th arrondissement of Lyon, in La Croix-Rousse quarter  It begins on the rue du Mail, at the corner of Place de la Croix-Rousse, crosses the rue du Pavilion, the rue de Belfort and the rue Aimé Boussange, and ends on Place Bellevue  Its name refers to the Battle of Austerlitz, one of the greatest victories of Napoleon  There are metro and velo'v stations 

History
Nearby rue Dumenge, the rue d'Austerlitz was originally named rue des Fossés because it ran along the ditches dug at the base of the old wall  It was formed in 1812 during the creation of the "clos Dumenge" composed of buildings or workshops specially-designed for weavers (the canuts)  The Voraces had their headquarters in the cafe of the Mère Marshal in 1848, at the corner of the rue du Mail  The street was eventually named rue d'Austrelitz after deliberation of the Municipal Council on 4 August 1854, during the Second Empire  The upper part of the street was part of the town which was developed in front of the door of La Croix-Rousse from the 15th century  The No  4 was offered to the Hospices of Lyon on 7 March 1900 In the past, there were a military gymnasium, and a greenspace that still exists today in the street  In fact, there were five streets which were named after the victories of the battles of Napoleon Bonaparte: Marengo, Lodi, Jena, Eylau and Austerlitz  However, among them, only the rue Austerlitz has retained its name until today 

Architecture and events
The street starts with old one-floor houses, then with higher facades  After the rue de Belfast, there were buildings only on the eastern side : simple facades of 19th century canuts houses  The apartments are typical of the canuts architecture : particularly high, in the goal of installing the looms, and bright  The bottom of these buildings consisted of small shops, often businesses selling main foods  The rue d'Austerlitz, far more than its neighbor the rue Dumenge, has retained its commercial vocation  In front, there is the garden Deswarte  At Nos  21 and 23, two plaques pay tribute to painters E  Brouillard and G  N'Guyen who lived in the street The association of merchants on the street regularly organizes events, including a giant Advent calendar, some windows on the street are numbered and each day one of them opens, revealing a person who distributes sweets to passersby  Within the scoop of the 2008 Fête des Lumières, there were also a Tic Tac Toe using the windows of inhabitants and a Giant Tetris to which passersby played with a carpet underfoot 
Passage 7:
Battle of Aspromonte
The Battle of Aspromonte, also known as the Day of Aspromonte (Italian: Giornata dell'Aspromonte), was a minor engagement that took place on 29 August 1862, and was an inconclusive episode of the Italian unification process  It is named after the nearby mountain of Aspromonte in southern Italy  Giuseppe Garibaldi's army of volunteers was attacked by the Royal Italian Army while marching from Sicily towards Rome, capital of the Papal States, which it intended to annex into the newly created Kingdom of Italy  In the fighting, which took place a few kilometers from Gambarie, Garibaldi was wounded and taken prisoner 

Background
When Victor Emmanuel II became the King of Italy on 17 March 1861, the newly created Kingdom of Italy did not include Veneto and Rome  These "unredeemed" cities, as they would be called a few decades later, were a constant cause of friction in Italian politics  The dispute concerning Rome, specifically known as the "Roman Question", had arisen after the Italian Parliament had declared Rome capital of the kingdom on 27 March 1861  This conflicted with Pope Pius IX's intent to maintain his temporal control of the city 
Members of the government of the Kingdom of Italy had different perspectives on this issue, and the internal tensions that followed caused Prime Minister Bettino Ricasoli to resign in 1862  While his successor, Urbano Rattazzi, was known for his disrespectful attitude towards the Holy See, the Kingdom of Italy maintained a low profile on the Roman Question after Rattazzi's election 
Meanwhile, General Giuseppe Garibaldi reached Sicily and began to form an army, with the intent of marching on Rome  The intransigent reaction of France (which was, at the time, the most influential ally of Italy) and the Pope caused the Italian government to intervene  On 3 August, Victor Emmanuel II officially condemned Garibaldi's "guilty impatience", and Rattazzi sent the Royal Army, at the orders of general Enrico Cialdini, to stop Garibaldi 

The battle
Garibaldi was known and respected as a hero by most Italians, including most soldiers in the Royal Army and Navy  Several actions that occurred reveal that neither Garibaldi nor his opponents were willing to enter open combat, or cause too much damage to their opponent 
Although Garibaldi's ships had likely been detected by the Royal Navy while they were crossing the Strait of Messina to reach land in Calabria, the Royal Army only attacked when Garibaldi's army had actually reached land, possibly to keep losses to a minimum  Garibaldi himself did not immediately counter-attack the Royal Army, instead trying to circumvent it by crossing the Aspromonte mountains 
Garibaldi's army marched for three days; on 28 August 1862, the leading regiment, led by Garibaldi, camped near Gambarie, where the rest of his army was expected to arrive in a few days  On 29 August, before Garibaldi's army was reunited, Bersaglieri from the Royal Army reached Garibaldi's camp and attacked 
Garibaldi ordered his army not to open fire "on our brothers", and some Bersaglieri changed sides during the battle, joining Garibaldi's volunteers  However, despite Garibaldi's order, one wing of his regiment mounted a counter-attack against the Bersaglieri  During the altercation, two bullets hit Garibaldi's hip and malleolus  A cease-fire was declared shortly thereafter, and Garibaldi surrendered 

Aftermath
The battle lasted for about ten minutes and resulted in around 15 casualties  Garibaldi, now wounded, was immediately assisted by surgeons and taken prisoner; he was later sent to the jail at Varignano, near Porto Venere  Garibaldi and his volunteers received amnesty on 5 October 1862; Garibaldi officially retired to Caprera, where he remained for two years 
The Day of Aspromonte caused both national and international criticism towards the Italian government, and caused the debate in Italy to become even harsher  Giuseppe Mazzini's party declared that, after the events of Aspromonte, any silent agreement between the Monarchy and the Republicans had been factually broken; supporters of the Monarchy maintained that the Republicans' support for such rash initiatives as Garibaldi's expedition proved that they were too irresponsible to lead the nation  Commentators accused the government of betraying the Italian revolution and being more supportive of the Pope than of Italy itself 
In 1863, Rattazzi was replaced by Marco Minghetti, who leveraged on the facts of Aspromonte to negotiate a treaty with France (the September Convention), in which Italy would protect the frontiers of the Papal States against attacks, and France would withdraw its troops from Rome within two years 
Despite the September Convention, annexing Rome remained an implicit objective of Italy  Garibaldi tried to march on Rome again in 1867, but was stopped by French troops at the Battle of Mentana  Eventually, the Questione Romana was solved under Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza, when Rome was finally captured in 1870 

In popular culture
A popular Italian nursery rhyme, Garibaldi fu ferito ("Garibaldi was wounded"), set to the melody of Bersaglieri's anthem, refers to the Battle of Aspromonte  The battle is also sometimes mentioned in political debate, when someone accuses the Italian government of betraying the expectations of the Italian people, or acting against national interests 
Passage 8:
Battle of Savenay
The Battle of Savenay took place on 23 December 1793, and marks the end of the Virée de Galerne operational phase of the first war in the Vendée after the French Revolution   A Republican force of approximately 18,000 decisively defeated the Armée Catholique et Royale force of 6,000 at Savenay 

Prelude
After a crushing defeat at the battle of Le Mans on 12 December 1793, a few thousand Vendéens fled to Laval and then to Ancenis, hoping to cross the Loire back into Vendée   Without boats, crossing the river was impossible   Hence the Vendéens built small boats and approximately 4,000 people, including Henri de La Rochejaquelein and Jean-Nicolas Stofflet, managed to cross before the arrival of Republican ships  The Vendéen rear guard was stranded to the north of the Loire and tried another way around  They went to Blain, 35 km north of Nantes, but had to go back towards Savenay, 30 km west of Nantes 

The eve of the battle
Savenay was taken by the Vendéens early morning of 22 December, with practically no fighting  The 150 republican soldiers quickly pulled back after a small skirmish with the Vendéen first line and the town's population was evacuated  At 09:00, the royalists prepared the defenses of the town  The republicans under François-Joseph Westermann were the first to arrive, at 11:00   They attacked but were pushed back after a small skirmish  At noon, Jean-Baptiste Kléber and François-Séverin Marceau arrived with the greater part of the Republican army  Another skirmish was fought for control of the Touchelais woods, to the northeast of Savenay, which the Republicans won Those were the last skirmishes of the day because a fog rose during the afternoon; the Republicans kept their positions  At nightfall some représentants en mission, Pierre-Louis Prieur, Louis Marie Turreau, and Pierre Bourbotte, arrived at the Republican camp   Surprised at the troops' inaction, they ordered military engagement so as to not allow the enemy to rest; Westermann agreed  A war council was held at which Kléber insisted they had to wait for sunrise before attacking; Marceau sided with Kléber and managed to convince Pierre-Louis Prieur  The Republicans took advantage of the night to deploy  At 02:00, Tilly's division, which came from Vannes, arrived and deployed in time  Simon Canuel commanded the left flank, Kléber the middle-left, Marceau the middle-right, and Tilly the right  Apart from a few passages to the south of the town, the Vendéens were surrounded 

Battle
At sunrise, the battle started, but it was the Vendéens and Chouans who unexpectedly launched it, in order to take the Touchelais woods and not be surrounded  The attack was commanded by Lyrot de la Patouillère and saw success:  two cannons were captured along with 40 prisoners  Soon after, Kléber launched a counter-attack with his Gendarmes regiment, charging with bayonets and forcing the Vendéens to pull back to the gates of Savenay  In the center, Marceau, commanding the légion des Francs and Chasseurs de Kastel, encountered difficulties and was for a moment restrained by the Vendéen artillery On their respective fronts, Simon Canuel, Jacques Louis François Delaistre Tilly and Westermann also launched attacks, putting pressure on the Royalists on all sides  Soon, the Republicans entered the town despite the resistance of Gaspard de Bernard de Marigny's artillery  Street combat took place amid great confusion, house by house; numerous Vendéen families participated in the fighting  The Vendéen artillery deployed in front of the church and managed to hold their ground for a while  Jacques Nicolas Fleuriot de La Fleuriais tried an ultimate counter-attack, he picked 200 to 300 cavalrymen, commanded by Georges Cadoudal, with Pierre-Mathurin Mercier and a few infantrymen  They attacked and pierced Tilly's lines and tried to attack Republican lines along their flank, but the Republican reserves arrived and forced the cavalrymen to retreat During that time, on the church square, the Republicans took control of the cannon and turned it against the Vendéens  They fled, pursued by the Republicans, retreating out of Savenay and regrouping to the west of the town (the battle's commemorative cross marks that place)  The Vendéens took their last two remaining cannons, which Marigny had kept in reserve, and tried to cover the retreat of the wounded and non-combatants  During this engagement, Lyrot was killed  Marigny retreated again, west to the Blanche-Couronne woods, with his two cannons and what was left of his men  He held his position for an hour, then cheered with his men in the marsh, for he had managed to escape   To the northwest, a group of 600 Vendéens managed to hold at the Butte des Vignes and retreated later to the Blanche-Couronnes woods but they were encircled mid-way by a corps of the Armagnac regiment and were massacred Inside Savenay, the town was searched and hundreds of elders, women, and children were taken out of their houses and locked in the church before their trials  The wounded of both sides were brought to the Saint-Armel hospital and taken care of   By 14:00, the battle was over 

The flight and massacres
After the battle, Kléber marched in Nantes to celebrate the victory with most of the troops  Yet the republican cavalry under Marceau and Westermann chased the Vendéens, searching the neighboring villages and the countryside, killing or capturing those left behind During the search, the brigadier general Alexis Antoine Charlery attacked a position held by 500 Vendéens but failed to defeat them  He proposed that they surrender in exchange for the right to go home unimpeded, a proposition that they accepted and signed  The prisoners were sent to Nantes for ratification of the arrangement by a Représentant en mission, but he refused and had the prisoners shot and general Charlery arrested  He was later freed and reassigned 

The Bignon Commission which arrived during the day was given the task of judging the prisoners  The commission worked for 3 days and ordered the execution of all the Vendéen combatants caught bearing arms  The executions started that same evening and lasted eight days, but the number executed is unknown  According to official statistics, they numbered 662, but there are doubts as to whether or not this number only reflects those executed during the 3 first days  The représentant en mission Benaban wrote that more than 2,000 were shot  Similarly, General François Carpantier boasted that he had 1,500 people executed   The 1,679 women and children were sent to prisons in Nantes  Some officers, such as Kléber and Savary, asked Carrier to spare them, but Carrier refused to listen and had them all shot or drowned Other massacres took place in the countryside  Westermann and his hussards shot 500 to 700 prisoners, men, women, and children, at the Sem forest near Prinquiau   Westermann, nicknamed the "butcher of the Vendéens" supposedly wrote to the Committee of Public Safety:

There is no more Vendée, Republican citizens  It died beneath our free sword, with its women and its children  I have just buried it in the swamps and the woods of Savenay  Following the orders that you gave to me, I crushed the children beneath the horses' hooves, massacred the women who, those at least, will bear no more brigands  I do not have a single prisoner to reproach myself with  I have exterminated them all   Nonetheless, some Vendéens were lucky enough to manage to escape, helped by the local population  Jean Legland, a ferryman on the Loire, declared in 1834 that he helped 1,258 escapees pass in the days following the battle of Savenay  This was confirmed by written testimonies by the Abbé Bernier  In total, 2,500 people might have survived the battle 

Consequences
The battle marked the end of the Virée de Galerne, and definitively ended the threat of Vendée to the republic  Yet fighting continued in Vendée  General Marceau, outraged by his soldiers' behavior, asked to be transferred  Marceau was soon replaced by Kléber as general of the Army of the West, and thereafter by Louis Marie Turreau  Guerrilla fighting continued for some time between the Vendéens and the Republican infernal columns 

In popular culture
Jules Verne described the battle at the beginning of his historical novel Le Comte de Chanteleine (1862) 
Passage 9:
Battle of Manila Bay
The Battle of Manila Bay (Filipino: Labanan sa Look ng Maynila; Spanish: Batalla de Bahía de Manila), also known as the Battle of Cavite, took place on 1 May 1898, during the Spanish–American War  The American Asiatic Squadron under Commodore George Dewey engaged and destroyed the Spanish Pacific Squadron under Contraalmirante (Rear admiral) Patricio Montojo  The battle took place in Manila Bay in the Philippines, and was the first major engagement of the Spanish–American War  The battle was one of the most decisive naval battles in history and marked the end of the Spanish colonial period in Philippine history Tensions between Spain and the United States worsened over the Spanish conduct during their efforts to quell the Cuban War of Independence, with many Americans being agitated by largely falsified reports of Spanish atrocities against the Cuban population  In January 1898, fearing the fate of American interests in Cuba due to the war, the cruiser USS Maine was dispatched to protect them  Less than a month later, the cruiser exploded while lying at anchor in Havana harbor, killing 261 sailors onboard and inflaming American opinion 
Upon the outbreak of war, the Americans realized that defeating a significant Spanish squadron then stationed in the Philippines was important to ensuring victory in the war  The U S  Asiatic Squadron commanded by Dewey, a veteran of the American Civil War, was dispatched to ensure success  On 1 May, the American squadron steamed into Manila Bay to engage with the Spanish  The Spanish, aware that they were hopelessly outgunned, made a desperate defense against the Americans  The battle was not much of contest, with superior American naval gunnery and seamanship ensuring the entire Spanish fleet would be sunk with minimal casualties for the Americans, who suffered only ten casualties in all  Upon realising that the battle was hopeless, Montojo ordered his two protected cruisers to be scuttled to ensure that they did not fall into the hands of the Americans  The battle remains one of the most significant naval battles in American maritime history 

Prelude
Americans living on the West Coast of the United States feared a Spanish attack at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War  Only a few U S  Navy warships, led by the cruiser USS Olympia, stood between them and a powerful Spanish fleet  In practice however  Olympia was far superior to the Spanish colonial fleet, as the battle would show 
Admiral Montojo, a career Spanish naval officer who had been dispatched rapidly to the Philippines, was equipped with a variety of obsolete vessels  Efforts to strengthen his position amounted to little  The strategy adopted by the Spanish bureaucracy suggested they could not win a war and saw resistance as little more than a face-saving exercise : 59  Administration actions worked against the effort, sending explosives meant for naval mines to civilian construction companies while the Spanish fleet in Manila was seriously undermanned by inexperienced sailors who had not received any training for over a year  Reinforcements promised from Madrid resulted in only two poorly-armored scout cruisers being sent while at the same time the authorities transferred a squadron from the Manila fleet under Admiral Pascual Cervera to reinforce the Caribbean  Admiral Montojo had originally wanted to confront the Americans at Subic Bay, northwest of Manila Bay, but abandoned that idea when he learned the planned mines and coastal defensives were lacking and the cruiser Castilla started to leak : 69   Montojo compounded his difficulties by placing his ships outside the range of Spanish coastal artillery (which might have evened the odds) and choosing a relatively shallow anchorage  His intent seems to have been to spare Manila from bombardment and to allow any survivors of his fleet to swim to safety  The harbor was protected by six shore batteries and three forts whose fire during the battle proved to be ineffective  Only Fort San Antonio Abad had guns with enough range to reach the American fleet, but Dewey never came within their range during the battle The Spanish squadron consisted of seven ships: the cruisers Reina Cristina (flagship), Castilla, Don Juan de Austria, Don Antonio de Ulloa, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, and the gunboat Marques del Duero  The Spanish ships were of inferior quality to the American ships; the Castilla was unpowered and had to be towed by the transport ship Manila  On 25 April, the squadron left Manila Bay for the port of Subic, intending to mount a defense there  The squadron was relying on a shore battery which was to be installed on Isla Grande  On 28 April, before that installation could be completed, a cablegram from the Spanish Consul in Hong Kong arrived with the information that the American squadron had left Hong Kong bound for Subic for the purpose of destroying the Spanish squadron and intending to proceed from there to Manila  The Spanish Council of Commanders, with the exception of the Commander of Subic, felt that no defense of Subic was possible with the state of things, and that the squadron should transfer back to Manila, positioning in shallow water so that the ships could be run aground to save the lives of the crews as a final resort  The squadron departed Subic at 10:30 a m  on 29 April  Manila, towing Castilla, was last to arrive in Manila Bay, at midnight 

Battle
At 7 p m  on 30 April, Montojo was informed that Dewey's ships had been seen in Subic Bay that afternoon  As Manila Bay was considered unnavigable at night by foreigners, Montojo expected an attack the following morning  However, Oscar F  Williams, the United States Consul in Manila, had provided Dewey with detailed information on the state of the Spanish defenses and the lack of preparedness of the Spanish fleet  Based in part upon this intelligence, Dewey—embarked aboard Olympia—led his squadron into Manila Bay at midnight on 30 April Passing the entrance, two Spanish mines exploded but were ineffective as they were well below the draft of any of the ships due to the depth of the water  Inside the bay, ships normally used the north channel between Corregidor Island and the northern coast, and this was the only channel mined  Dewey instead used the unmined south channel between El Fraile and Caballo Islands  The El Fraile battery fired a few rounds but the range was too great  The McCulloch, Nanshan and Zafiro were then detached from the line and took no further part in the fighting  At 5:15 a m  on 1 May, the squadron was off Manila and the Cavite battery fired ranging shots  The shore batteries and Spanish fleet then opened fire but all the shells fell short as the fleet was still out of range  At 5:41 with the now famous phrase, "You may fire when ready, Gridley", the Olympia's captain was instructed to begin the destruction of the Spanish flotilla The U S  squadron swung in front of the Spanish ships and forts in line ahead, firing their port guns  They then turned and passed back, firing their starboard guns  This process was repeated five times, each time closing the range from 5,000 yards to 2,000 yards  The Spanish forces had been alerted, and most were ready for action, but they were heavily outgunned  Eight Spanish ships, the land batteries, and the forts returned fire for two and a half hours although the range was too great for the guns on shore  Five other small Spanish ships were not engaged 
Montojo accepted that his cause was hopeless and ordered his ships to ram the enemy if possible  He then slipped the Cristina's cables and charged  Much of the American fleet's fire was then directed at her and she was shot to pieces  Of the crew of 400, more than 200, including Montojo, were casualties and only two men remained who were able to man her guns  The ship managed to return to shore and Montojo ordered it to be scuttled  The Castilla, which only had guns on the port side, had her forward cable shot away, causing her to swing about, presenting her weaponless starboard side  The captain then ordered her sunk and abandoned  The Ulloa was hit by a shell at the waterline that killed her captain and disabled half the crew  The Luzon had three guns out of action but was otherwise unharmed  The Duero lost an engine and had only one gun left able to fire At 7:45 a m , after Captain Gridley messaged Dewey that only 15 rounds of 5" ammunition remained per gun, Dewey ordered an immediate withdrawal  To preserve morale, he informed the crews that the halt in the battle was to allow the crews to have breakfast  According to an observer on the Olympia, "At least three of his (Spanish) ships had broken into flames but so had one of ours  These fires had all been put out without apparent injury to the ships  Generally speaking, nothing of great importance had occurred to show that we had seriously injured any Spanish vessel " Montojo took the opportunity to now move his remaining ships into Bacoor Bay where they were ordered to resist for as long as possible A captains' conference on the Olympia revealed little damage and no men killed  It was discovered that the original ammunition message had been garbled—instead of only 15 rounds of ammunition per gun remaining, the message had meant to say only 15 rounds of ammunition per gun had been expended  Reports arrived during the conference that sounds of exploding ammunition had been heard and fires sighted on the Cristina and Castilla  At 10:40 a m  action was resumed but the Spanish offered little resistance, and Montojo issued orders for the remaining ships to be scuttled and the breechblocks of their guns taken ashore  The Olympia, Baltimore and Boston then fired on the Sangley Point battery putting it out of action and followed up by sinking the Ulloa  The Concord fired on the transport Mindanao, whose crew immediately abandoned ship  The Petrel fired on the government offices next to the arsenal and a white flag was raised over the building after which all firing ceased  The Spanish colors were struck at 12:40 p m 
Dewey won the battle with seven men slightly wounded, a total of nine injured, and only a single fatality among his crew: Francis B  Randall, Chief Engineer on the McCulloch, from a heart attack  On the other hand, the Spanish naval historian Agustín Ramón Rodríguez González suggests that Dewey suffered heavier losses, though still much lower than those of the Spanish squadron  Rodríguez notes that Spanish officials estimated the American casualties at 13 crewmen killed and more than 30 wounded based on reliable information collected by the Spanish consulate in Hong Kong  According to Rodríguez, Dewey may have concealed the deaths and injuries by including the numbers among the 155 men who reportedly deserted during the campaign 

Subsequent action
A Spanish attempt to attack Dewey with the naval task force known as Camara's Flying Relief Column came to naught, and the naval war in the Philippines devolved into a series of torpedo boat hit-and-run attacks for the rest of the campaign  While the Spanish scored several hits, there were no American fatalities directly attributable to Spanish gunfire 
On 2 May, Dewey landed a force of Marines at Cavite  They completed the destruction of the Spanish fleet and batteries and established a guard for the protection of the Spanish hospitals  The resistance of the forts was weak  The Olympia turned a few guns on the Cavite arsenal, detonating its magazine, and ending the fire from the Spanish batteries 
Dewey cabled Washington, stating that although he controlled Manila Bay, he needed 5,000 additional men to seize Manila itself 

Aftermath
In recognition of George Dewey's leadership during the Battle of Manila Bay, a special medal known as the Dewey Medal was presented to the officers and sailors under Admiral Dewey's command   Dewey was later honored with promotion to the special rank of Admiral of the Navy  Building on his popularity, Dewey briefly ran for president in 1900, but withdrew and endorsed William McKinley, the incumbent, who won  The same year Dewey was appointed President of the General Board of the United States Navy, where he would play a key role in the growth of the U S  Navy until his death in January 1917 
Dewey Square in Boston is named after Admiral Dewey, as is Dewey Beach, Delaware  Union Square, San Francisco features a 97 ft (30 m) tall monument to Admiral Dewey's victory at the Battle of Manila Bay 

Order of battle
Vessels engaged in actual combat during the Battle of Manila Bay ranged in size from 5,870 tons (Olympia) to 492 tons (Marques del Duero) 

United States
Engaged Vessels:

USS Olympia, flagship, protected cruiser of 5,870 tons, with four 8-inch guns mounted in pairs on two turrets, plus ten 5-inch guns and six torpedo tubes  Top speed 20 knots   She is now a museum ship at the Independence Seaport Museum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 
USS Baltimore, protected cruiser of 4,600 tons, with four 8-inch guns on single mounts, plus six 6-inch guns  Top speed 20 knots 
USS Raleigh, protected cruiser of 3,200 tons, with one 6-inch and ten 5-inch guns  Top speed 19 knots 
USS Boston, protected cruiser of 3,200 tons, with two 8-inch and six 6-inch guns  Top speed 13 knots 
USS Concord, gunboat of 1,710 tons with six 6-inch guns  Top speed 17 knots 
USS Petrel, gunboat of 867 tons with four 6-inch guns  Top speed 12 knots Despite the superiority of the American artillery, the success rate of their guns was minimal, a total of 5,859 shells were expended during the battle  Excluding shells fired at land targets and the unengaged vessels, only 145 hit the seven Spanish engaged vessels  The Reina Cristina and Castilla suffered 81 hits between them, the Don Antonio de Ulloa was hit 33 times, the Don Juan de Austria 13, the Marques del Duero 10, the Isla de Cuba five and the Isla de Luzón was hit three times Unengaged vessels:

The Revenue Cutter McCulloch, the collier Nanshan and the steamer Zafiro (a supply vessel) were directed to keep out of the main action because of their light armament and lack of armor  The McCulloch's chief engineer, Francis B  Randall, died of a heart attack 

Spain
Engaged Vessels:

Reina Cristina, flagship, unprotected cruiser of 3,042 tons, with six 6 4-inch guns  The fastest Spanish vessel with a top speed of 16 knots 
Castilla, unprotected cruiser of 3,289 tons, with four 5 9-inch and two 4 7-inch guns  The vessel's 8-inch guns had been removed to equip the shore batteries  The ship was used as a floating battery as the temporary repair of the leaks had immobilized her propeller shaft 
Don Antonio de Ulloa, unprotected cruiser of 1,152 tons, with two 4 7-inch guns on the starboard side   Under repair with her engines ashore  Her entire port side armament had been removed to equip the shore batteries 
Don Juan de Austria, unprotected cruiser of 1,152 tons, with four 4 7-inch guns  Top speed 13 knots 
Isla de Cuba, protected cruiser of 1,030 tons, with six 4 7-inch guns  Top speed 14 knots 
Isla de Luzon, protected cruiser of 1,030 tons, with six 4 7-inch guns  Top speed 14 knots 
Marques del Duero, gunboat of 492 tons, with one 6 4-inch and two 4 7-inch guns  Top speed 10 knots Unengaged Vessels:

Mindanao, transport ship of 1,900 tons, with 2 secondary rapid fire guns  77 men 
Velasco, unprotected cruiser of 1,152 tons   Her boilers were ashore being repaired  All her guns were apparently removed to the Caballo Island Battery  145 men 
El Coreo, gunboat of 560 tons, with three 4 7-inch guns, three secondary rapid-fire guns, and 1 torpedo tube  115 men 
General Lezo, gunboat of 520 tons, with two 4 7-inch guns which were apparently removed to El Fraile Island, 2 secondary rapid-fire guns, and 1 torpedo tube  115 men 
Argos, gunboat of 508 tons, with one 3 5-inch gun   87 men The Spanish vessels had 19 torpedo tubes between them but no serviceable torpedoes 
Shore Defenses

Fort San Antonio Abad:  Built 1584  Located in Manila  Various guns with only the 9 4-inch having enough range to reach Dewey's ships at their closest approach 
Fort San Felipe:  Built 1609  A small castle built on a sandbar protected by a breakwater and separated from Cavite City by a moat 
Cavite Fort:  Fortified naval base and shipyard in Cavite City located adjacent to Fort San Felipe 
Corregidor battery:  Entrance to Manila Bay  Did not fire 
Caballo battery: Entrance to Manila Bay  Did not fire 
El Fraile battery: Entrance to Manila Bay  Fired three rounds before Raleigh silenced it after hitting the battery with a single shell 
Cañacao battery: Located in the town of Cañacao  Armed with a single 4 7-inch gun  Did not fire 
Sangley Point battery: Located at the Sangley Point Naval Base  Armed with three 64-lb muzzleloading cannon and two 5 9-inch guns (which were the only ones to fire )
Malate battery: Located in the Manila district of Malate  Did not fire The batteries were supplemented with the guns removed from Montojo's fleet  The Corregidor, Caballo and El Fraile batteries had a combined total of 17 guns 

Gallery
The United States Navy ships:

		
		
		
		
		
The destroyed Spanish ships after the battle:

See also
Battle of Manila (disambiguation)
Battles of the Spanish–American War
Philippine–American War
List of naval battles

Notes
Context 2: Passage 1:
457 visa
In Australia, the 457 visa was the most common visa for Australian or overseas employers to sponsor skilled overseas workers to work temporarily in Australia  It was abolished on 18 March 2018 by the Turnbull government and replaced by another visa category  The full title of this subclass of visa was Temporary Business (Long Stay) and was introduced soon after John Howard became Prime Minister in 1996  The title of the visa was changed to Temporary Work (Skilled) (Subclass 457) visa on 24 November 2012   Applications were processed by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)  On 18 April 2017, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that the 457 visas will be replaced with two new visa categories 

Requirements
Holders of a 457 visa may be employed for a period of up to four years and may bring any eligible family members, including same-sex partners, who have unrestricted work and study rights in Australia  "If your sponsor is a start-up business or has traded in Australia for less than 12 months, then the visa will be granted for 18 months " Holders of the subclass 457 visa have no limit on the number of times they travel in and out of Australia Employers must be approved by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection as an approved sponsor  Primary subclass 457 visa holders are restricted to working for their sponsor and may not work (or volunteer) for any other organisation (other than associated entities as defined by the Corporations Act)  In order to change employer and sponsor, the "new employer" must be or become an approved 457 sponsor and then lodge a 457 nomination  Once the nomination is approved, the employer obligations will shift to the new employer and the visa applicant is restricted to working for it  There is no need to apply for a new 457 visa within the validity of the visa 
Employees must also meet minimum levels of skill and English language requirements, in addition to character and health requirements  Some trades occupations and passport holders from certain countries may be required to do a skills assessment (see the TRA website) 
It is common for 457 visa holders to apply for a permanent Australia residents visa with a view to permanently settle in Australia and become Australian citizens 

Restrictions on the 457 visa
A 457 visa holder can only work in a nominated occupation for the sponsor employer  Medical practitioners and general managers must work in their nominated occupation but they can work for employers other than their sponsor or an associated entity of their sponsor  The specific occupations to which this rule applies are listed in Exemption from the requirement to work directly for the sponsor  The worker must also not have ceased employment for more than 60 consecutive days 

457 visa update
The Australian Government reviewed the 457 skilled immigrant visa and made some provisions to quicken the transition to permanent residency starting on 1 July 2012   From that date, non-resident workers on the 457 skilled immigration visa are able to transition to permanent residency if they have two years with the employer who has sponsored them and if the employer provides a full-time position in the 457 visa holder's nominated occupation 
Furthermore, the Australian government has recognised that 457 visas deserve priority in review as they are highly responsive to the needs of the market  Overseas workers will be able to work in Australia on a six-month short term work visa before they apply for a 457 visa 
As at 30 June 2016, the size of the subclass 457 programme was 94,890 Primary visa holders in Australia 

Criticisms
An audit by the Fair Work Ombudsman conducted between September 2013 and June 2014 found that 40% of 457 visa holders were no longer employed by a sponsor or were being paid well below the statutory minimum wage of $53,900 In October 2014, the Abbott government announced that it would make it easier for businesses to apply for 457 visa workers by relaxing rules for English language competency to broaden the pool of potential workers from overseas With the commencement of the Japan free trade agreement in 2015, employers no longer need to offer jobs to locals or to prove that none could fill vacancies before Japanese nationals eligible for 457 visas are employed In December 2014, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection released recommendations to relax 457 visa requirements  The recommendations include extending the six-month short term work visa to 12 months with no obligation to apply for a 457 visa  The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has criticized this change on the grounds that it avoids the 457 visa's requirement for English language and skills tests and employers would not be required to demonstrate they had first tried to fill job vacancies with Australian workers 

Replacement
On 18 April 2017, Malcolm Turnbull announced his intention to replace the 457 visas with 2 new categories (short term and medium term) of visas One of the replacements was the Temporary Skill Shortage visa, known as a 482 Visa  It allows immigration It requires candidates to obtain an IELTS (English Language) exam band score of 5 or higher, or other method of showing the English level 

See also
Visa documentation
Working holiday visa
Working Holidays in Australia
Passage 2:
M  King Hubbert
Marion King Hubbert (October 5, 1903 – October 11, 1989) was an American geologist and geophysicist  He worked at the Shell research lab in Houston, Texas   He made several important contributions to geology, geophysics, and petroleum geology, most notably the Hubbert curve and Hubbert peak theory (a basic component of peak oil), with important political ramifications   He was often referred to as "M  King Hubbert" or "King Hubbert" 

Biography
Hubbert was born in San Saba, Texas  He attended the University of Chicago, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1926, a Master of Science in 1928, and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1937, studying geology, mathematics, and physics   He worked as an assistant geologist for the Amerada Petroleum Company for two years while pursuing the PhD, additionally teaching geophysics at Columbia University  He also served as a senior analyst at the Board of Economic Warfare  He joined the Shell Oil Company in 1943, retiring from that firm in 1964  After he retired from Shell, he became a senior research geophysicist for the United States Geological Survey until his retirement in 1976   He also held positions as a professor of geology and geophysics at Stanford University from 1963 to 1968, and as a professor at UC Berkeley from 1973 to 1976 Hubbert was an avid technocrat  He co-founded Technocracy Incorporated with Howard Scott  Hubbert wrote a study course that was published without attribution called the Technocracy Study Course, which advocates a non-market economics form of energy accounting, in contrast to the current price system method Hubbert was a member of the board of governors, and served as secretary of education in that organization  Hubert died on October 11, 1988 at the age of 86 while receiving treatment for pulmonary embolism 

Research
Hubbert made several contributions to geophysics, including a mathematical demonstration that rock in the earth's crust, because it is under immense pressure in large areas, should exhibit plasticity, similar to clay   This demonstration explained the observed results that the earth's crust deforms over time   He also studied the flow of underground fluids 
Based on theoretical arguments, Hubbert (1940) proposed a constitutive equation 
  
    
      
        
          K
          
            a
            b
            s
          
        
        =
        N
        
          D
          
            2
          
        
      
    
    {\displaystyle K_{abs}=ND^{2}}
   for absolute permeability 
  
    
      
        
          K
          
            a
            b
            s
          
        
      
    
    {\displaystyle K_{abs}}
   of an underground water or oil reservoir where 
  
    
      
        D
      
    
    {\displaystyle D}
   is the average grain diameter and 
  
    
      
        N
      
    
    {\displaystyle N}
   is a dimensionless proportionality constant  However, Kozeny (1927) proposed a constitutive equation for absolute permeability which contains Hubbert's proposal as a factor  Hubbert (1940, 1956) also presented a force potential, denoted 
  
    
      
        Φ
      
    
    {\displaystyle \Phi }
   or 
  
    
      
        
          Φ
          
            h
          
        
      
    
    {\displaystyle \Phi _{h}}
  , that bears his name:

  
    
      
        Φ
        =
        
          ∫
          
            P
            r
            e
            f
          
          
            P
          
        
        
          
            
              d
              P
            
            
              ρ
              (
              P
              )
            
          
        
        −
        g
        z
        
        ⟹
        
        ∇
        
          Φ
          
            h
          
        
        =
        
          
            1
            ρ
          
        
        ∇
        P
        −
        g
        ∇
        z
      
    
    {\displaystyle \Phi =\int _{Pref}^{P}{\frac {dP}{\rho (P)}}-gz\implies \nabla \Phi _{h}={\frac {1}{\rho }}\nabla P-g\nabla z}
  Some years later Hubbert (1956) showed that Darcy's law can be derived from the Navier-Stokes equation of motion of a viscous fluid 
Hubbert is best known for his studies on the size of oil fields and natural gas reserves, and the limits these impose on rates of oil and gas production  He predicted that for any oil-producing area, whether a province, a nation, or the planet as a whole, the rate of petroleum production of the reserve over time would resemble a bell curve  Based on his theory, he presented a paper to the 1956 meeting of the American Petroleum Institute in San Antonio, Texas, which predicted that overall petroleum production would peak in the United States between 1965, which he considered most likely, and 1970, which he considered an upper bound  At first his prediction received much criticism, for the most part because many other predictions of oil capacity had been made over the preceding half century, but these had usually been based on the reserves-to-production ratio, had not taken into account future discoveries, and had proven false   Hubbert became famous when U S  oil production peaked in 1970 and began to decline, as he had predicted 
In 1974, Hubbert projected that global oil production would peak in 1995 "if current trends continue"  Various subsequent predictions have been made by others as trends have fluctuated in the intervening years 
Hubbert believed that solar power would be a practical renewable energy replacement for fossil fuels, and that nuclear energy in breeder reactors would be able to sustain humanity for centuries  He also states that "provided world population can somehow be brought under control, we may at last have found an energy supply (uranium) adequate for our needs for at least the next few centuries of the 'foreseeable future' "

Contributions
Hubbert's contributions to science have been summarized as follows:

Mathematical demonstration that rock in the earth's crust is plastic, and that the earth's crust deforms over time 
Prediction of migration paths of hydrocarbons 
Predictions of peak rates of oil and gas production, based on a consistent mathematical model which ties reserves, discovery rates, and production rates  His model remains highly influential, and has been widely applied to other finite resources 

Renewable resources
Fisheries: At least one researcher has attempted to perform Hubbert linearization (Hubbert curve) on the whaling industry, as well as charting the transparently dependent price of caviar on sturgeon depletion  The Atlantic northwest cod fishery was a renewable resource, but the numbers of fish taken exceeded the fish's rate of recovery  The end of the cod fishery matches the exponential drop of the Hubbert bell curve  The comparison of the cases of fisheries and of mineral extraction tells us that the human pressure on the environment is causing a wide range of resources to go through a depletion cycle which mirrors the Hubbert curve 

Accolades
Hubbert was a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences   He was long affiliated with the Geological Society of America, receiving their Arthur L  Day Medal in 1954, being elected President of the Society in 1962, and receiving the Society's Penrose Medal in 1973   He received the Vetlesen Prize from the G  Unger Vetlesen Foundation and Columbia University in 1981   He also received the Elliott Cresson Medal in 1981 

Hubbert on peak oil
Hubbert explaining some aspects of worldwide peak oil  1976 video clip of M King Hubbert speaking about fossil fuel depletion on YouTube 

See also
Bioeconomics (biology)
Fred Meissner

Notes
External links
 Media related to Marion King Hubbert at Wikimedia Commons
 Quotations related to M  King Hubbert at Wikiquote
M  King Hubbert Bibliography Archived 2019-08-01 at the Wayback Machine
M  King Hubbert papers at the University of Wyoming - American Heritage Center
Passage 3:
Royal Dutch Shell
Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England  Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange  A core component of Big Oil, Shell is the second largest investor-owned oil and gas company in the world by revenue (after ExxonMobil), and among the world's largest companies out of any industry  Measured by both its own emissions, and the emissions of all the fossil fuels it sells, Shell was the ninth-largest corporate producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the period 1988–2015 Shell was formed in 1907 through the merger of Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom  The combined company rapidly became the leading competitor of the American Standard Oil and by 1920 Shell was the largest producer of oil in the world  Shell first entered the chemicals industry in 1929  Shell was one of the "Seven Sisters" which dominated the global petroleum industry from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s  In 1964, Shell was a partner in the world's first commercial sea transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG)  In 1970, Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it subsequently sold in 1994 and now forms part of BHP  In recent decades gas has become an increasingly important part of Shell's business and Shell acquired BG Group in 2016 Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration, production, refining, transport, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation, and trading  Shell has operations in over 99 countries, produces around 3 7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has around 44,000 service stations worldwide  As of 31 December 2019, Shell had total proved reserves of 11 1 billion barrels (1 76×109 m3) of oil equivalent  Shell USA, its principal subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses  Shell holds 44% of Raízen, a publicly-listed joint venture with Cosan, which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company  In addition to the main Shell brand, the company also owns the Jiffy Lube, Pennzoil and Quaker State brands 
Shell is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and had a market capitalisation of US$199 billion on 15 September 2022, the largest of any company listed on the LSE and the 44th-largest of any company in the world  By 2021 revenues, Shell is the second-largest investor-owned oil company in the world (after ExxonMobil), the largest company headquartered in the United Kingdom, the second-largest company headquartered in Europe (after Volkswagen), and the 15th largest company in the world  Until its unification in 2005 as Royal Dutch Shell plc, the firm operated as a dual-listed company, whereby the British and Dutch companies maintained their legal existence and separate listings but operated as a single-unit partnership  From 2005 to 2022, the company had its headquarters in The Hague, its registered office in London and had two types of shares (A and B)  In January 2022, the firm merged the A and B shares, moved its headquarters to London, and changed its legal name to Shell plc 

History
Origins
The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in April 1907 through the amalgamation of two rival companies: the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Petroleum Maatschappij) of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company Limited of the United Kingdom  It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil  The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was a Dutch company founded in 1890 to develop an oilfield in Pangkalan Brandan, North Sumatra, and initially led by August Kessler, Hugo Loudon, and Henri Deterding  The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company (the quotation marks were part of the legal name) was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel  Their father had owned an antique company in Houndsditch, London, which expanded in 1833 to import and sell seashells, after which the company "Shell" took its name For various reasons, the new firm operated as a dual-listed company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence but operated as a single-unit partnership for business purposes  The terms of the merger gave 60 percent stock ownership of the new group to Royal Dutch, and 40 percent to Shell  Both became holding companies for Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, containing the production and refining assets, and Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company, containing the transport and storage assets  National patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies  The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production and manufacture  The British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products In 1912, Royal Dutch Shell purchased the Rothschilds' Russian oil assets in a stock deal  The Group's production portfolio then consisted of 53 percent from the East Indies, 29 percent from the Russian Empire, and 17 percent from Romania 

20th century
During the First World War, Shell was the main supplier of fuel to the British Expeditionary Force  It was also the sole supplier of aviation fuel and supplied 80 percent of the British Army's TNT  It also volunteered all of its shipping to the British Admiralty The German invasion of Romania in 1916 saw 17% of the group's worldwide production destroyed In 1919, Shell took control of the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company and in 1921 formed Shell-Mex Limited, which marketed products under the "Shell" and "Eagle" brands in the United Kingdom  During the Genoa Conference of 1922 Royal Dutch Shell was in negotiations for a monopoly over Soviet oilfields in Baku and Grosny, although the leak of a draft treaty led to breakdown of the talks  In 1929, Shell Chemicals was founded  By the end of the 1920s, Shell was the world's leading oil company, producing 11 percent of the world's crude oil supply and owning 10 percent of its tanker tonnage Shell Mex House was completed in 1931, and was the head office for Shell's marketing activity worldwide  In 1932, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the Great Depression, Shell-Mex merged its UK marketing operations with those of BP to create Shell-Mex & BP, a company that traded until the brands separated in 1975  Royal Dutch Company ranked 79th among United States corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts 
The 1930s saw Shell's Mexican assets seized by the local government  After the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany in 1940, the head office of the Dutch companies was moved to Curaçao  In 1945 Shell's Danish headquarters in Copenhagen, at the time being used by the Gestapo, was bombed by Royal Air Force De Havilland Mosquitoes in Operation Carthage In 1937, Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), 23 75 percent owned by Royal Dutch Shell plc, signed an oil concession agreement with the Sultan of Muscat  In 1952, IPC offered financial support to raise an armed force that would assist the Sultan in occupying the interior region of Oman, an area that geologists believed to be rich in oil  This led to the 1954 outbreak of Jebel Akhdar War in Oman that lasted for more than 5 years Around 1952, Shell was the first company to purchase and use a computer in the Netherlands  The computer, a Ferranti Mark 1*, was assembled and used at the Shell laboratory in Amsterdam  In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it subsequently sold in 1994 In the 1990s, protesters criticised the company's environmental record, particularly the possible pollution caused by the proposed disposal of the Brent Spar platform into the North Sea  Despite support from the UK government, Shell reversed the decision under public pressure but maintained that sinking the platform would have been environmentally better  Shell subsequently published an unequivocal commitment to sustainable development, supported by executive speeches reinforcing this commitment  Shell was subsequently criticised by the European Commission and five European Union members after deciding to leave part of its decommissioned oil rigs standing in the North Sea  Shell argued that removing them would be too costly and risky  Germany said that the estimated 11,000 tonnes of raw oil and toxins remaining in the rigs would eventually seep into the sea, and called it a 'ticking timebomb' On 15 January 1999, off the Argentinian town of Magdalena, Buenos Aires, the Shell tanker Estrella pampeana collided with a German cargo ship, emptying its contents into the lake, polluting the environment, drinkable water, plants and animals  Over a decade after the spill, a referendum held in Magdalena determined the acceptance of a US$9 5 million compensatory payout from Shell  Shell denied responsibility for the spill, but an Argentine court ruled in 2002 that the corporation was responsible 

21st century
In 2002, Shell acquired Pennzoil-Quaker State through its American division for $22 USD per share, or about $1 8 billion USD  Through its acquisition of Pennzoil, Shell became a descendant of Standard Oil  With its acquisition, Shell inherited multiple auto part brands including Jiffy Lube, Rain-X, and Fix-a-Flat  The company was notably late in its acquisition as seen by journalists, with Shell seen as streamlining its assets around the same time of other major mergers and acquisitions in the industry, such as BP's purchase of Amoco and the merger of Exxon and Mobil In 2004, Shell overstated its oil reserves, resulting in loss of confidence in the group, a £17 million fine by the Financial Services Authority and the departure of the chairman Philip Watts  A lawsuit resulted in the payment of $450 million to non-American shareholders in 2007 As a result of the scandal, the corporate structure was simplified  Two classes of ordinary shares, A (code RDSA) and B (code RDSB), identical but for the tax treatment of dividends, were issued for the company In November 2004, following a period of turmoil caused by the revelation that Shell had been overstating its oil reserves, it was announced that the Shell Group would move to a single capital structure, creating a new parent company to be named Royal Dutch Shell plc, with its primary listing on the LSE, a secondary listing on Euronext Amsterdam, its headquarters and tax residency in The Hague, Netherlands and its registered office in London  The company was already incorporated in 2002 as Forthdeal Limited, a shelf corporation incorporated by Swift Incorporations Limited and Instant Companies Limited, both based in Bristol  The unification was completed on 20 July 2005 and the original owners delisted their companies from the respective exchanges  On 20 July 2005, the Shell Transport & Trading Company plc was delisted from the LSE, whereas, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company from the New York Stock Exchange on 18 November 2005  The shares of the company were issued at a 60/40 advantage for the shareholders of Royal Dutch in line with the original ownership of the Shell Group During the 2009 Iraqi oil services contracts tender, a consortium led by Shell (45%) and which included Petronas (30%) was awarded a production contract for the "Majnoon field" in the south of Iraq, which contains an estimated 12 6 billion barrels (2 00×109 m3) of oil  The "West Qurna 1 field" production contract was awarded to a consortium led by ExxonMobil (60%) and included Shell (15%) In February 2010, Shell and Cosan formed a 50:50 joint-venture, Raízen, comprising all of Cosan's Brazilian ethanol, energy generation, fuel distribution and sugar activities, and all of Shell's Brazilian retail fuel and aviation distribution businesses  In March 2010, Shell announced the sale of some of its assets, including its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) business, to meet the cost of a planned $28bn capital spending programme  Shell invited buyers to submit indicative bids, due by 22 March, with a plan to raise $2–3bn from the sale  In June 2010, Shell agreed to acquire all the business of East Resources for a cash consideration of $4 7 billion  The transaction included East Resources' tight gas fields Over the course of 2013, the corporation began the sale of its US shale gas assets and canceled a US$20 billion gas project that was to be constructed in the US state of Louisiana  A new CEO Ben van Beurden was appointed in January 2014, prior to the announcement that the corporation's overall performance in 2013 was 38 percent lower than in 2012—the value of Shell's shares fell by 3 percent as a result  Following the sale of the majority of its Australian assets in February 2014, the corporation plans to sell a further US$15 billion worth of assets in the period leading up to 2015, with deals announced in Australia, Brazil and Italy Shell announced on 8 April 2015 it had agreed to buy BG Group for £47 billion (US$70 billion), subject to shareholder and regulatory approval  The acquisition was completed in February 2016, resulting in Shell surpassing Chevron Corporation and becoming the world's second largest non-state oil company On 7 June 2016, Shell announced that it would build an ethane cracker plant near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, after spending several years doing an environmental cleanup of the proposed plant's site In January 2017, Shell agreed to sell £2 46bn worth of North Sea assets to oil exploration firm Chrysaor  In 2017, Shell sold its oil sands assets to Canadian Natural Resources in exchange of approximately 8 8% stake in that company  In May 2017, it was reported that Shell plans to sell its shares in Canadian Natural Resources fully exiting the oil sands business On 5 November 2017, the Paradise Papers, a set of confidential electronic documents relating to offshore investment, revealed that Argentine Energy Minister Juan José Aranguren was revealed to have managed the offshore companies 'Shell Western Supply and Trading Limited' and 'Sol Antilles y Guianas Limited', both subsidiaries of Shell  One is the main bidder for the purchase of diesel oil by the government through the state owned CAMMESA (Compañía Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Eléctrico) On 30 April 2020, Shell announced that it would cut its dividend for the first time since the Second World War, due to the oil price collapse following the reduction in oil demand during the COVID-19 pandemic  Shell stated that their net income adjusted for the cost of supply dropped to US$2 9 billion in three months to 31 March  This compared with US$5 3 billion in the same period the previous year  On 30 September 2020, the company said that it would cut up to 9,000 jobs as a result of the economic effects caused by the pandemic and announced a "broad restructuring"  In December 2020, Shell forecast another write-down of $3 5-4 5 billion for the fourth quarter due to lower oil prices, following $16 8 billion of impairment in the second quarter In February 2021, Shell announced a loss of $21 7 billion in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite reducing its operating expenses by 12%, or $4 5 billion, according to a Morningstar analysis cited by Barron's In November 2021, Shell announced that it is planning to relocate their headquarters to London, abandon its dual share structure, and change its name from Royal Dutch Shell plc to Shell plc  The company's name change was registered in the Companies House on 21 January 2022 In December 2021, Shell pulled out of the Cambo oil field, off the Shetland Islands, claiming that "the economic case for investment in this project is not strong enough at this time, as well as having the potential for delays"  The proposed oilfield had been the subject of intense campaigning by environmentalists in the run-up to the COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021 On 4 March 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the midst of the growing boycott of Russian economy and related divestments, Shell bought a cargo of discounted Russian crude oil  The next day, following criticism from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Shell defended the purchase as a short term necessity, but also announced that it intended to reduce such purchases, and it would put profits from any Russian oil it purchases into a fund that would go towards humanitarian aid to Ukraine  On 8 March, Shell announced that it would stop buying Russian oil and gas and close its service stations in the country In 2022, the major oil and gas companies, including Shell, reported sharp rises in interim revenues and profits  In fact, this rise in profit for Shell was so sharp, that 2022 was the company's best year, as Shell recorded double the profits from 2021, and the highest profit in its entire history 

Corporate affairs
Management
On 4 August 2005, the board of directors announced the appointment of Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of Nokia at the time, to succeed Aad Jacobs as the company's non-executive chairman on 1 June 2006  Ollila is the first Shell chairman to be neither Dutch nor British  Other non-executive directors include Maarten van den Bergh, Wim Kok, Nina Henderson, Lord Kerr, Adelbert van Roxe, and Christine Morin-Postel Since 3 January 2014, Ben van Beurden has been CEO of Shell  His predecessor was Peter Voser who became CEO of Shell on 1 July 2009 Following a career at the corporation, in locations such as Australia and Africa, Ann Pickard was appointed as the executive vice president of the Arctic at Royal Dutch Shell, a role that was publicized in an interview with McKinsey & Company in June 2014 In January 2023, Wael Sawan succeeded Ben van Beurden as CEO 

Board of directors
As of 25 January 2023, the Shell board members are:
Andrew Mackenzie (chair), former CEO of BHP Billiton
Euleen Goh, former CEO of Standard Chartered Singapore
Wael Sawan, CEO of Shell plc
Sinead Gorman, CFO of Shell plc
Dick Boer, former president and CEO of Ahold Delhaize
Neil Carson, former CEO of Johnson Matthey
Ann Godbehere, former CFO of Swiss Re and Northern Rock
Catherine J  Hughes, former executive at Nexen, Husky Oil, and Schlumberger
Jane Holl Lute, former president and CEO of SICPA North America
Martina Hund-Mejean, former CFO of Mastercard
Abraham Schot, former CEO of Audi AG
Caroline Omloo, company secretary

Historical leadership
Name and logo
The name Shell is linked to The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company  In 1833, the founder's father, Marcus Samuel Sr , founded an import business to sell seashells to London collectors  When collecting seashell specimens in the Caspian Sea area in 1892, the younger Samuel realised there was potential in exporting lamp oil from the region and commissioned the world's first purpose-built oil tanker, the Murex (Latin for a type of snail shell), to enter this market; by 1907 the company had a fleet  Although for several decades the company had a refinery at Shell Haven on the Thames, there is no evidence of this having provided the name The Shell logo is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world  This logo is known as the "pecten" after the sea shell Pecten maximus (the giant scallop), on which its design is based  The yellow and red colours used are thought to relate to the colours of the flag of Spain, as Shell built early service stations in California, previously a Spanish colony  The current revision of the logo was designed by Raymond Loewy in 1971 The slash was removed from the name "Royal Dutch/Shell" in 2005, concurrent with moves to merge the two legally separate companies (Royal Dutch and Shell) to the single legal entity which exists today On 15 November 2021, Royal Dutch Shell plc announced plans to change its name to Shell plc 

Logo evolution
Operations
Business groupings
Shell is organised into four major business groupings:
Upstream – manages the upstream business  It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to the market  Its activities are organised primarily within geographic units, although there are some activities that are managed across the business or provided through support units 
Integrated Gas and New Energies – manages to liquefy natural gas, converting gas to liquids and low-carbon opportunities 
Downstream – manages Shell's manufacturing, distribution, and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals  Manufacturing and supply include refinery, supply, and shipping of crude oil 
Projects and technology – manages the delivery of Shell's major projects, provides technical services and technology capability covering both upstream and downstream activities  It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement 

Oil and gas activities
Shell's primary business is the management of a vertically integrated oil company  The development of technical and commercial expertise in all stages of this vertical integration, from the initial search for oil (exploration) through its harvesting (production), transportation, refining and finally trading and marketing established the core competencies on which the company was founded  Similar competencies were required for natural gas, which has become one of the most important businesses in which Shell is involved, and which contributes a significant proportion of the company's profits  While the vertically integrated business model provided significant economies of scale and barriers to entry, each business now seeks to be a self-supporting unit without subsidies from other parts of the company Traditionally, Shell was a heavily decentralised business worldwide (especially in the downstream) with companies in over 100 countries, each of which operated with a high degree of independence  The upstream tended to be far more centralised with much of the technical and financial direction coming from the central offices in The Hague  The upstream oil sector is also commonly known as the "exploration and production" sector Downstream operations, which now also includes the chemicals business, generate the majority of Shell's profits worldwide and is known for its global network of more than 40,000 petrol stations and its various oil refineries  The downstream business, which in some countries also included oil refining, generally included a retail petrol station network, lubricants manufacture and marketing, industrial fuel and lubricants sales, and a host of other product/market sectors such as LPG and bitumen  The practice in Shell was that these businesses were essentially local and that they were best managed by local "operating companies" – often with middle and senior management reinforced by expatriates 

Sponsorships
Shell has a long history of motorsport sponsorship, most notably Scuderia Ferrari (1951–1964, 1966–1973 and 1996-present), BRM (1962–1966 and 1968–1972), Scuderia Toro Rosso (2007–2013 and 2016), McLaren (1967–1968 and 1984–1994), Lotus (1968–1971), Ducati Corse (since 1999), Team Penske (2011–present), Hyundai Motorsport (since 2005), AF Corse, Risi Competizione, BMW Motorsport (2015–present with also Pennzoil) and Dick Johnson Racing (1987-2004 and 2017–present) Starting in 2023, Shell will become the official fuel for IndyCar Series, supplying E100 race fuel for all teams 

Operations by region
Arctic
Kulluk oil rig
Following the purchase of an offshore lease in 2005, Shell initiated its US$4 5 billion Arctic drilling program in 2006, after the corporation purchased the "Kulluk" oil rig and leased the Noble Discoverer drillship  At inception, the project was led by Pete Slaiby, a Shell executive who had previously worked in the North Sea  However, after the purchase of a second offshore lease in 2008, Shell only commenced drilling work in 2012, due to the refurbishment of rigs, permit delays from the relevant authorities and lawsuits  The plans to drill in the Arctic led to protests from environmental groups, particularly Greenpeace; furthermore, analysts in the energy field, as well as related industries, also expressed skepticism due to perceptions that drilling in the region is "too dangerous because of harsh conditions and remote locations" Further problems hampered the Arctic project after the commencement of drilling in 2012, as Shell dealt with a series of issues that involved air permits, Coast Guard certification of a marine vessel, and severe damage to essential oil-spill equipment  Additionally, difficult weather conditions resulted in the delay of drilling during mid-2012 and the already dire situation was exacerbated by the "Kulluk" incident at the end of the year  Shell had invested nearly US$5 billion by this stage of the project As the Kulluk oil rig was being towed to the American state of Washington to be serviced in preparation for the 2013 drilling season, a winter storm on 27 December 2012 caused the towing crews, as well as the rescue service, to lose control of the rig  As of 1 January 2013, the Kulluk was grounded off the coast Sitkalidak Island, near the eastern end of Kodiak Island  Following the accident, a Fortune magazine contacted Larry McKinney, the executive director at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M, and he explained that "A two-month delay in the Arctic is not a two-month delay     A two-month delay could wipe out the entire drilling season "It was unclear if Shell would recommence drilling in mid-2013, following the "Kulluk" incident, and, in February 2013, the corporation stated that it would "pause" its closely watched drilling project off the Alaskan coast in 2013, and will instead prepare for future exploration  In January 2014, the corporation announced the extension of the suspension of its drilling program in the Arctic, with chief executive van Beurden explaining that the project is "under review" due to both market and internal issues A June 2014 interview with Pickard indicated that, following a forensic analysis of the problems encountered in 2012, Shell will continue with the project and Pickard stated that she perceives the future of the corporation activity in the Arctic region as a long-term "marathon"  Pickard stated that the forensic "look back" revealed "there was an on/off switch" and further explained:

In other words, don't spend the money unless you're sure you're going to have the legal environment to go forward  Don't spend the money unless you're sure you're going to have the permit  No, I can't tell you that I'm going to have that permit until June, but we need to plan like we're going to have that permit in June  And so probably the biggest lesson is to make sure we could smooth out the on/off switches wherever we could and take control of our own destiny 
Based upon the interview with Pickard, Shell is approaching the project as an investment that will reap energy resources with a lifespan of around 30 years According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management report in 2015 the chances of a major spill in a deep-sea Arctic drilling is 75% before century's end 

Kodiak Island
In 2010, Greenpeace activists painted "No Arctic Drilling" using spilled BP oil on the side of a ship in the Gulf of Mexico that was en route to explore for Arctic oil for Shell  At the protest, Phil Radford of Greenpeace called for "President Obama [to] ban all offshore oil drilling and call for an end to the use of oil in our cars by 2030 "On 16 March 2012, 52 Greenpeace activists from five different countries boarded Fennica and Nordica, multipurpose icebreakers chartered to support Shell's drilling rigs near Alaska  Around the same time period, a reporter for Fortune magazine spoke with Edward Itta, an Inupiat leader and the former mayor of the North Slope Borough, who expressed that he was conflicted about Shell's plans in the Arctic, as he was concerned that an oil spill could destroy the Inupiat peoples hunting-and-fishing culture, but his borough also received major tax revenue from oil and gas production; additionally, further revenue from energy activity was considered crucial to the future of the living standard in Itta's community In July 2012, Greenpeace activists shut down 53 Shell petrol stations in Edinburgh and London in a protest against the company's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic  Greenpeace's "Save the Arctic" campaign aims to prevent oil drilling and industrial fishing in the Arctic by declaring the uninhabited area around the North Pole a global sanctuary A review was announced after the Kulluk oil rig ran aground near Kodiak Island in December 2012 In response, Shell filed lawsuits to seek injunctions from possible protests, and Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP and Radford argued that the legal action was "trampling Americans' rights " According to Greenpeace, Shell lodged a request with Google to take down video footage of a Greenpeace protest action that occurred at the Shell-sponsored Formula One (F1) Belgian Grand Prix on 25 August 2013, in which "SaveTheArctic org" banners appear at the winners' podium ceremony  In the video, the banners rise up automatically—activists controlled their appearance with the use of four radio car antennas—revealing the website URL, alongside an image that consists of half of a polar bear's head and half of the Shell logo Shell then announced a "pause" in the timeline of the project in early 2013 and, in September 2015, the corporation announced the extension of the suspension of its drilling program in the Arctic 

Polar Pioneer rig
A June 2014 interview with the corporation's new executive vice president of the Arctic indicated that Shell will continue with its activity in the region In Seattle protests began in May 2015 in response to the news that the Port of Seattle made an agreement with Shell to berth rigs at the Port's Terminal 5 during the off-season of oil exploration in Alaskan waters  The arrival of Shell's new Arctic drilling vessel, Polar Pioneer (IMO number: 8754140), a semi-submersible offshore drilling rig, was greeted by large numbers of environmental protesters paddling kayaks in Elliott Bay On 6 May 2015, it was reported that during a coast guard inspection of Polar Pioneer, a piece of anti-pollution gear failed, resulting in fines and delay of the operation  Oil executives from Total and Eni interviewed by the New York Times, expressed scepticism about Shell's new ambitions for offshore drilling in the Arctic, and cited economic and environmental hurdles  ConocoPhillips and Equinor (formerly Statoil) suspended Arctic drilling earlier, after Shell's failed attempt in 2012 

Australia
On 20 May 2011, Shell's final investment decision for the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility was finalized following the discovery of the remote offshore Prelude field—located off Australia's northwestern coast and estimated to contain about 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent reserves—in 2007  FLNG technology is based on liquefied natural gas (LNG) developments that were pioneered in the mid-20th century and facilitates the exploitation of untapped natural gas reserves located in remote areas, often too small to extract any other way The floating vessel to be used for the Prelude field, known as Prelude FLNG, is promoted as the longest floating structure in the world and will take in the equivalent of 110,000 barrels of oil per day in natural gas—at a location 200 km (125 miles) off the coast of Western Australia—and cool it into liquefied natural gas for transport and sale in Asia  The Prelude is expected to start producing LNG in 2017—analysts estimated the total cost of construction at more than US$12 billion Following the decision by the Shell fuel corporation to close its Geelong Oil Refinery in Australia in April 2013, a third consecutive annual loss was recorded for Shell's Australian refining and fuel marketing assets  Revealed in June 2013, the writedown is worth A$203 million and was preceded by a A$638m writedown in 2012 and a A$407m writedown in 2011, after the closure of the Clyde Refinery in Sydney, Australia In February 2014, Shell sold its Australian refinery and petrol stations for US$2 6 billion (A$2 9 billion) to Swiss company Vitol At the time of the downstream sale to Vitol, Shell was expected to continue investment into Australian upstream projects, with projects that involve Chevron Corp , Woodside Petroleum and Prelude  In June 2014, Shell sold 9 5% of its 23 1% stake in Woodside Petroleum and advised that it had reached an agreement for Woodside to buy back 9 5% of its shares at a later stage  Shell became a major shareholder in Woodside after a 2001 takeover attempt was blocked by then federal Treasurer Peter Costello and the corporation has been open about its intention to sell its stake in Woodside as part of its target to shed assets  At a general body meeting, held on 1 August 2014, 72 percent of shareholders voted to approve the buy-back, short of the 75 percent vote that was required for approval  A statement from Shell read: "Royal Dutch Shell acknowledges the outcome of Woodside Petroleum Limited's shareholders' negative vote on the selective buy-back proposal  Shell is reviewing its options in relation to its remaining 13 6 percent holding "

Brunei
Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) is a joint venture between the Government of Brunei and Shell  The British Malayan Petroleum Company (BMPC), owned by Royal Dutch Shell, first found commercial amounts of oil in 1929  It currently produces 350,000 barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day  BSP is the largest oil and gas company in Brunei, a sector which contributes 90% of government revenue  In 1954, the BMPC in Seria had a total of 1,277 European and Asian staff 

China
The company has upstream operations in unconventional oil and gas in China  Shell has a joint venture with PetroChina at the Changbei tight gas field in Shaanxi, which has produced natural gas since 2008  The company has also invested in exploring for shale oil in Sichuan  The other unconventional resource which Shell invested in in China was shale  The company was an early entrant in shale oil exploration in China but scaled down operations in 2014 due to difficulties with geology and population density  It has a joint venture to explore for oil shale in Jilin through a joint venture with Jilin Guangzheng Mineral Development Company Limited 

Hong Kong
Shell has been active in Hong Kong for a century, providing Retail, LPG, Commercial Fuel, Lubricants, Bitumen, Aviation, Marine and Chemicals services, and products  Shell also sponsored the first Hong Kong-built aircraft, Inspiration, for its around-the-world trip 

India
Shell India has inaugurated its new lubricants laboratory at its Technology Centre in Bangalore 

Ireland
Shell first started trading in Ireland in 1902  Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) (previously Enterprise Energy Ireland) is an Irish exploration and production subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell  Its headquarters are on Leeson Street in Dublin  It was acquired in May 2002  Its main project is the Corrib gas project, a large gas field off the northwest coast, for which Shell has encountered controversy and protests in relation to the onshore pipeline and licence terms In 2005, Shell disposed of its entire retail and commercial fuels business in Ireland to Topaz Energy Group  This included depots, company-owned petrol stations and supply agreements stations throughout the island of Ireland  The retail outlets were re-branded as Topaz in 2008/9 The Topaz fuel network was subsequently acquired in 2015 by Couchetard and these stations began re-branding to Circle K in 2018 

Malaysia
Shell discovered the first oil well in Malaysia in 1910, in Miri, Sarawak  Today the oil well is a state monument known as the Grand Old Lady  In 1914, following this discovery, Shell built Malaysia's first oil refinery and laid a submarine pipeline in Miri 

Nigeria
Shell began production in Nigeria in 1958  In Nigeria, Shell told US diplomats that it had placed staff in all the main ministries of the government  Shell continues however upstream activities/extracting crude oil in the oil-rich Niger Delta as well as downstream/commercial activities in South Africa  In June 2013, the company announced a strategic review of its operations in Nigeria, hinting that assets could be divested  In August 2014, the company disclosed it was in the process of finalizing the sale of its interests in four Nigerian oil fields  On 29 January 2021 a Dutch court ruled that Shell was responsible for multiple oil leaks in Nigeria The actions of companies like Shell has led to extreme environmental issues in the Niger Delta  Many pipelines in the Niger Delta owned by Shell are old and corroded  Shell has acknowledged its responsibility for keeping the pipelines new but has also denied responsibility for environmental causes  The heavy contamination of the air, ground and water with toxic pollutants by the oil industry in the Niger Delta is often used as an example of ecocide  This has led to mass protests from the Niger Delta inhabitants, Amnesty International, and Friends of the Earth the Netherlands against Shell  It has also led to action plans to boycott Shell by environmental and human rights groups  In January 2013, a Dutch court rejected four out of five allegations brought against the firm over oil pollution in the Niger Delta but found a subsidiary guilty of one case of pollution, ordering compensation to be paid to a Nigerian farmer 

Nordic countries
On 27 August 2007, Shell and Reitan Group, the owner of the 7-Eleven brand in Scandinavia, announced an agreement to re-brand some 269 service stations across Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals under the different competition laws in each country  In April 2010 Shell announced that the corporation is in process of trying to find a potential buyer for all of its operations in Finland and is doing similar market research concerning Swedish operations  In October 2010 Shell's gas stations and the heavy vehicle fuel supply networks in Finland and Sweden, along with a refinery located in Gothenburg, Sweden were sold to St1, a Finnish energy company, more precisely to its major shareholding parent company Keele Oy 

North America
Through most of Shell's early history, Shell USA business in the United States was substantially independent  Its stock was traded on the NYSE, and the group's central office had little direct involvement in running the operation  However, in 1984, Shell made a bid to purchase those shares of Shell Oil Company it did not own (around 30%) and, despite opposition from some minority shareholders which led to a court case, Shell completed the buyout for a sum of $5 7 billion 

Philippines
Royal Dutch Shell operates in the Philippines under its subsidiary, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation  Its headquarters is in Makati and it has facilities in the Pandacan oil depot and other key locations In January 2010, the Bureau of Customs claimed 7 34 billion pesos worth of unpaid excise taxes against Pilipinas Shell for importing Catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG) and light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG) stating that those imports are bound for tariff charges In August 2016, Pilipinas Shell filed an application to sell US$629 million worth of primary and secondary shares to the investing public (registration statement) with the SEC  This was a prelude to filing its IPO listing application with the Philippine Stock Exchange  On 3 November 2016 the Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation was officially listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SHLPH after they held its initial public offering on 19 to 25 October of the same year Due to the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the global, regional and local economies, continually low refining margins, and competition with imported refined products, the management of Pilipinas Shell announced in August 2020 that the 110,000 bbl/d refinery in Tabangao, Batangas, which started operations in 1962, will be shutting down permanently and turned into an import terminal instead 

Russia
In February 2022, Shell exited all its joint ventures with Gazprom because of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and, in March 2022, Shell announced that it would stop buying oil from Russia and close all its service stations there  In April 2022, it emerged that Shell was to book up to $5 billion in impairment charges from exiting its interests in Russia 

Singapore
Singapore is the main centre for Shell's petrochemical operations in the Asia Pacific region  Shell Eastern Petroleum limited (SEPL) have their refinery located in Singapore's Pulau Bukom island  They also operate as Shell Chemicals Seraya in Jurong Island  In November 2020, Shell announced that, as part of efforts to curtail pollution emissions, it will cut its oil-processing capacity in Singapore 

United Kingdom
In the UK sector of the North Sea Shell employs around 4,500 staff in Scotland as well as an additional 1,000 service contractors: however in August 2014 it announced it was laying off 250 of them, mainly in Aberdeen  Shell paid no UK taxes on its North Sea operations over the period 2018 to 2021 

Alternative energy
In the early 2000s Shell moved into alternative energy and there is now an embryonic "Renewables" business that has made investments in solar power, wind power, hydrogen, and forestry  The forestry business went the way of nuclear, coal, metals and electricity generation, and was disposed of in 2003  In 2006 Shell paid SolarWorld to take over its entire solar business and in 2008, the company withdrew from the London Array which when built was the world's largest offshore wind farm Shell also is involved in large-scale hydrogen projects  HydrogenForecast com describes Shell's approach thus far as consisting of "baby steps", but with an underlying message of "extreme optimism"  In 2015, the company announced plans to install hydrogen fuel pumps across Germany, planning on having 400 locations in operation by 2023 Shell holds 44% of Raízen, a joint venture with Brazilian sugarcane producer Cosan which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues and a major producer of ethanol  In 2015, the company partnered with Brazilian start-up company Insolar to install solar panels in Rio de Janeiro to deliver electricity to the Santa Marta neighbourhood Shell is the operator and major shareholder of The Shell Canada Quest Energy project, based within the Athabasca Oil Sands Project, located near Fort McMurray, Alberta  It holds a 60% share, alongside Chevron Canada Limited, which holds 20%, and Marathon Canadian Oil Sands Holding Limited, which holds the final 20%  Commercial operations launched in November 2015  It was the world's first commercial-scale oil and sand carbon capture storage (CCS) project  It is expected to reduce CO2 emissions in Canada by 1 08 million tonnes per year In December 2016, Shell won the auction for the 700 MW Borssele III & IV offshore wind farms at a price of 5 45 c/kWh, beating 6 other consortia  In June 2018, it was announced that the company and its co-investor Partners Group had secured $1 5bn for the project, which also involves Eneco, Van Oord, and Mitsubishi/DGE In October 2017, it bought Europe's biggest vehicle charging network, "NewMotion "In November 2017, Shell's CEO Ben van Beurden announced Shell's plan to cut half of its carbon emissions by 2050, and 20 percent by 2035  In this regard, Shell promised to spend $2 billion annually on renewable energy sources  Shell began to develop its wind energy segment in 2001, the company now operates six wind farms in the United States and is part of a plan to build two offshore wind farms in the Netherlands In December 2017, the company announced plans to buy UK household energy and broadband provider First Utility  In March 2019 it rebranded to Shell Energy and announced that all electricity would be supplied from renewable sources In December 2018, the company announced that it had partnered with SkyNRG to begin supplying sustainable aviation fuel to airlines operating out of San Francisco Airport (SFO), including KLM, SAS, and Finnair  In the same month, the company announced plans to double its renewable energy budget to investment in low-carbon energy to $4 billion US each year, with an aim to spend up to $2 billion US on renewable energy by 2021 In January 2018, the company acquired a 44% interest in Silicon Ranch, a solar energy company run by Matt Kisber, as part of its global New Energies project  The company took over from Partners Group, paying up to an estimated $217 million for the minority interest In February 2019, the company acquired German solar battery company Sonnen  It first invested in the company in May 2018 as part of its New Energies project  As of late 2021, the company had 800 employees and has installed 70 000 home battery systems On 27 February 2019, the company acquired British VPP operator Limejump for an undisclosed amount In July 2019, Shell installed their first 150 kW electric car chargers at its London petrol stations with payments handled via SMOOV  They also plan to provide 350 kW chargers in Europe by entering into an agreement with IONITY On 26 January 2021, Shell said it would buy 100 per cent of Ubitricity, owner of the largest public charging network for electric vehicles in the United Kingdom, as the company expands its presence along the power supply chain On 25 February 2021, Shell announced the acquisition of German Virtual Power Plant (VPP) company Next Kraftwerke for an undisclosed amount  Next Kraftwerke connects renewable electricity generation- and storage projects to optimize the usage of those assets  The company mostly operates in Europe In November 2022, it was announced Shell's wholly-owned subsidiary, Shell Petroleum NV, had acquired the Odense-headquartered renewable natural gas producer, Nature Energy Biogas A/S for nearly $2 billion USD 

Controversies
General issues
Shell's public rhetoric and pledges emphasize that the company is shifting towards climate-friendly, low-carbon and transition strategies  However, a 2022 study found that the company's spending on clean energy was insignificant and opaque, with little to suggest that the company's discourse matched its actions In 1989, Shell redesigned a $3-billion natural gas platform in the North Sea, raising its height one to two meters, to accommodate an anticipated sea level rise due to global warming  In 2013, Royal Dutch Shell PLC reported CO2 emissions of 81 million metric tonnes In 2017, Shell sold non-compliant foreign fuel to consumers In 2020, the Northern Lights CCS project was announced, which is a joint project between Equinor, Shell and Total, operating in the European Union (Norway) and aiming to store liquid CO2 beneath the seabed Environmentalists have expressed concern that Shell is processing oil from the Amazon region of South America  In the United States, the Martinez refinery (CA) and the Puget Sound Refinery (WA) carry Amazonian oil  In 2015, 14% of the Martinez refinery's gross, at 19,570 barrels per day, came from the Amazon In 2021, Shell was ranked as the 10th most environmentally responsible company out of 120 oil, gas, and mining companies involved in resource extraction north of the Arctic Circle in the Arctic Environmental Responsibility Index (AERI) In December 2021, Royal Dutch Shell decided to move ahead with seismic tests to explore for oil in humpback whale breeding grounds along South Africa's eastern coastline  On 3 December 2021, a South African high court struck down an urgent application brought by environmentalists to stop the project, which will involve a vessel regularly firing an air gun that produces a very powerful shock wave underwater to help map subsea geology  According to Greenpeace Africa and the South African Deep Sea Angling Association, this could cause "irreparable harm" to the marine environment, especially to migrating humpback whales in the area 

Climate change
In 2017, a public information film ("Climate of Concern") unseen for years resurfaced and showed Shell had clear grasp of global warming 26 years earlier but has not acted accordingly since, said critics The burning of the fossil fuels produced by Shell are responsible for 1 67% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions from 1988 to 2015  In April 2020, Shell announced plans to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner  However, internal documents from the company released by the Democratic-led House committee reveal a private 2020 communication saying Shell does not have any plans to bring emissions to zero for next 10–20 years 

Climate case
On 5 April 2019, Milieudefensie (Dutch for "environmental defense"), together with six NGOs and more than 17,000 citizens, sued Shell, accusing the company of harming the climate despite knowing about global warming since 1986  In May 2021, the district court of The Hague ruled that Shell must reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030 (compared to 2019 levels) 

Oil spills
Shell was responsible for around 21,000 gallons of oil spilled near Tracy, California, in May 2016 due to a pipeline crack 
Shell was responsible for an 88,200-gallon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in May 2016 
Two ruptures in a Shell Oil Co  pipeline in Altamont, California – one in September 2015 and another in May 2016 – led to questions on whether the Office of the State Fire Marshal, charged with overseeing the pipeline, was doing an adequate job 
On 29 January 2021, a Dutch court ordered Royal Dutch Shell plc's Nigerian unit to compensate for oil spills in two villages over 13 years ago  Shell Nigeria is liable for damages from pipeline leaks in the villages of Oruma and Goi, the Hague Court of Appeals said in a ruling  Shell said that it should not be liable, as the spills were the result of sabotage 

Accusations of greenwashing
On 2 September 2002, Shell Chairman Philip Watts accepted the "Greenwash Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Greenwash Academy's Oscar Green, near the World Summit on Sustainable Development In 2007, British ASA ruled against a Shell ad involving chimneys spewing flowers, which depicted Shell's waste management policies, claiming it was misleading the public about Shell's environmental impact In 2008, the British ASA ruled that Shell had misled the public in an advertisement when it claimed that a $10 billion oil sands project in Alberta, Canada, was a "sustainable energy source" In 2021, Netherlands officials told Shell to stop running a campaign which claimed customers could turn their fuel "carbon neutral" by buying offsets, as it was concluded that this claim was devoid of evidence In December 2022, U S  House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney and U S  House Oversight Environment Subcommittee Chair Ro Khanna sent a memorandum to all House Oversight and Reform Committee members summarizing additional findings from the Committee's investigation into the fossil fuel industry disinformation campaign to obscure the role of fossil fuels in causing global warming, and that upon reviewing internal company documents, accused Shell  along with BP, Chevron Corporation, and ExxonMobil of greenwashing their Paris Agreement carbon neutrality pledges while continuing long-term investment in fossil fuel production and sales, for engaging in a campaign to promote the use of natural gas as a clean energy source and bridge fuel to renewable energy, and of intimidating journalists reporting about the companies' climate actions and of obstructing the Committee's investigation, which ExxonMobil, Shell, and the American Petroleum Institute denied 

Health and safety
A number of incidents over the years led to criticism of Shell's health and safety record, including repeated warnings by the UK Health and Safety Executive about the poor state of the company's North Sea platforms 

Reaction to the War in Ukraine
Shell already had previous experience exiting markets that were subject to sanctions pressure from NATO or EU member states  In particular, in 2013, Shell announced that it was suspending its operations in Syria  On 8 March 2022, Shell announced its intention to phase out all Russian hydrocarbon production and acquisition projects, including crude oil, petroleum products, natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG)   In early 2022 the company criticized by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine for its slow response to the war in Ukraine  As of April 2023, Shell still had shares in Russian companies, such as 27 5% in Sakhalin Energy Investment Company (SEIC), a joint venture with Gazprom (50%), Mitsui (12 5%) and Mitsubishi (10%) 

royaldutchshellplc com
This domain name was first registered by a former marketing manager for Royal Dutch Shell plc, Alfred Donovan, and has been used as a "gripe site"  It avoids being an illegal cybersquatter as long as it is non-commercial, active, and no attempt is made to sell the domain name, as determined by WIPO proceedings  In 2005, Donovan said he would relinquish the site to Shell after it "gets rid of all the management he deems responsible for its various recent woes " The site has been recognized by several media outlets for its role as an Internet leak  In 2008 the Financial Times published an article based on a letter published by royaldutchshellplc com, which Reuters and The Times also covered shortly thereafter  On 18 October 2006, the site published an article stating that Shell had for some time been supplying information to the Russian government relating to Sakhalin II  The Russian energy company Gazprom subsequently obtained a 50% stake in the Sakhalin-II project  Other instances where the site has acted as an Internet leak include a 2007 IT outsourcing plan, as well as a 2008 internal memo where CEO Jeroen van der Veer expressed disappointment in the company's share-price performance The gripe site has also been recognized as a source of information regarding Shell by several news sources  In the 2006 Fortune Global 500 rankings, in which Royal Dutch Shell placed third, royaldutchshellplc com was listed alongside shell com as a source of information  In 2007 the site was described as "a hub for activists and disgruntled former employees " A 2009 article called royaldutchshellplc com "the world's most effective adversarial Web site " The site has been described as "an open wound for Shell "

See also
Notes
Passage 4:
Jack Hubbert
Jack Hubbert (19 March 1916 – 5 August 1990) was an Australian rules footballer who played with Essendon in the Victorian Football League (VFL) 

Notes
External links
Jack Hubbert's playing statistics from AFL Tables
Jack Hubbert at AustralianFootball com
Passage 5:
San Ardo, California
San Ardo, formerly known as San Bernardo (Spanish for "St  Bernard"), is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Monterey County, California, United States  San Ardo is located 18 miles (29 km) southeast of King City at an elevation of 449 feet (137 m)  The population was 392 at the 2020 census, down from 517 in 2010 

History
The owner of the San Bernardo land grant, M J  Brandenstein, laid out the town when the railroad reached his land in 1887  The San Bernardo post office opened in 1886, and changed its name to San Ardo in 1887  The former name of San Bernardo was changed to avoid confusion with San Bernardino, California 

Geography
San Ardo is near the point where the broad Salinas Valley has its southeastern terminus and pinches out within the converging portions of the California Coast Ranges, including the Santa Lucia Mountains on the west and the Cholame Hills and the Diablo Range on the east  U S  Route 101 passes west of the town, leading northwest to 18 miles (29 km) to King City and 66 miles (106 km) to Salinas, the Monterey county seat, while to the southeast it leads 33 miles (53 km) to Paso Robles 
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0 4 square miles (1 0 km2), all of it land  The Salinas River flows northward along the west side of the community 

Climate
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71 6 °F   According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, San Ardo has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps 

Economy
The huge San Ardo Oil Field is about 5 miles (8 km) south of town   Much of the local economy is based on agriculture (including farming and ranching), and servicing the oil field 

Demographics
2010
At the 2010 census San Ardo had a population of 517  The population density was 1,150 7 inhabitants per square mile (444 3/km2)  The racial makeup of San Ardo was 252 (48 7%) White, 1 (0 2%) African American, 3 (0 6%) Native American, 5 (1 0%) Asian, 0 (0 0%) Pacific Islander, 245 (47 4%) from other races, and 11 (2 1%) from two or more races   Hispanic or Latino of any race were 363 people (70 2%) The whole population lived in households, no one lived in non-institutionalized group quarters and no one was institutionalized 
There were 140 households, 76 (54 3%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 82 (58 6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 16 (11 4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 13 (9 3%) had a male householder with no wife present   There were 6 (4 3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0 7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships  22 households (15 7%) were one person and 9 (6 4%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older  The average household size was 3 69   There were 111 families (79 3% of households); the average family size was 4 13 
The age distribution was 185 people (35 8%) under the age of 18, 66 people (12 8%) aged 18 to 24, 139 people (26 9%) aged 25 to 44, 83 people (16 1%) aged 45 to 64, and 44 people (8 5%) who were 65 or older   The median age was 26 6 years  For every 100 females, there were 112 8 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 129 0 males 
There were 158 housing units at an average density of 351 7 per square mile, of the occupied units 47 (33 6%) were owner-occupied and 93 (66 4%) were rented  The homeowner vacancy rate was 4 1%; the rental vacancy rate was 9 6%   145 people (28 0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 372 people (72 0%) lived in rental housing units 

2000
At the 2000 census there were 501 people, 157 households, and 110 families in the CDP   The population density was 1,114 6 inhabitants per square mile (430 3/km2)   There were 167 housing units at an average density of 371 5 per square mile (143 4/km2)   The racial makeup of the CDP was 47 90% White, 0 40% African American, 2 40% Native American, 0 40% Asian, 46 91% from other races, and 2 00% from two or more races  Hispanic or Latino of any race were 65 67% Of the 157 households 41 4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47 1% were married couples living together, 10 2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29 3% were non-families  24 2% of households were one person and 7 6% were one person aged 65 or older   The average household size was 3 19 and the average family size was 3 82 
The age distribution was 35 3% under the age of 18, 11 8% from 18 to 24, 27 7% from 25 to 44, 15 8% from 45 to 64, and 9 4% 65 or older   The median age was 27 years  For every 100 females, there were 106 2 males   For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114 6 males 
The median household income was $25,208 and the median family income  was $31,500  Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $14,375 for females  The per capita income for the CDP was $11,379   About 15 4% of families and 24 0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32 5% of those under age 18 and 13 5% of those age 65 or over 



ground_truth: 15 February 1942

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: What did M. King Hubbert's employer announce it was in the process of doing in April 2010?

The following are given passages.
Context 3: Passage 1:
Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)
"Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)" is a song written by Neil Thrasher and Jim Janosky, and recorded by American country music artist Jeff Carson   It released in May 2001 as the third single from his third album, Real Life   The song was written by Neil Thrasher and Jim Janosky  It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 2001 Christian Country Music Awards 

Music video
The music video was directed by David Abbott and premiered in September 2001 

Chart performance
"Real Life (I Never Was the Same Again)" debuted at number 54 on the U S  Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for the week of May 26, 2001 

Year-end charts
Passage 2:
One Nil
One Nil, released in 2001, is the second solo album by New Zealand singer-songwriter, Neil Finn   When released in the United States the following year, the album had a slightly different track listing and was issued under the name One All 

Overview
Following the release of his debut solo effort Try Whistling This in 1998, singer-songwriter Neil Finn followed up by releasing the less adventurous album One Nil in 2001  The album features guest musicians Sheryl Crow, Lisa Germano and Crowded House's album producer Mitchell Froom  The album was released in the United States fourteen months after its initial New Zealand, United Kingdom and Australian release with the altered title One All and also contained an altered track listing, featuring four remixed songs and added the songs "Lullaby Requiem" and "Human Kindness", replacing "Elastic Heart" and "Don't Ask Why" 

Track listings
All songs were written by Neil Finn, except where noted 

One Nil
"The Climber" – 4:13
"Rest of the Day Off" (Finn, Wendy Melvoin, Tchad Blake) – 3:49
"Hole in the Ice" (Finn, Lisa Coleman) – 4:11
"Wherever You Are" – 4:46
"Last to Know" (Finn, Melvoin) – 3:02
"Don't Ask Why" (Finn, Melvoin) – 3:54
"Secret God" (Finn, Melvoin) – 5:27
"Turn and Run" – 3:46
"Elastic Heart" – 4:00
"Anytime" – 3:24
"Driving Me Mad" – 3:58
"Into the Sunset" – 4:12

One All
Tracks 1 and 9 ("The Climber" and "Turn and Run") contained an alternative mix to the One Nil version  Tracks 2 and 3 ("Driving Me Mad" and "Hole in the Ice") were remixed by Bob Clearmountain 
"The Climber" (New mix) – 4:15
"Driving Me Mad" (Bob Clearmountain mix) – 3:56
"Hole in the Ice" (Bob Clearmountain mix) – 4:06
"Last to Know" – 2:59
"Wherever You Are" – 4:42
"Secret God" – 5:24
"Lullaby Requiem" – 3:44
"Human Kindness" – 4:41
"Turn and Run" (New mix) – 3:41
"Anytime" – 3:23
"Rest of the Day Off" – 3:57
"Into the Sunset" – 4:12

Personnel
Neil Finn – guitar, vocals, high bass, piano, guitar synthesiser, orchestra bells, Wurlitzer electric piano, vibes, harmonium, bass, Chamberlin strings
Wendy Melvoin – E-Bow fuzz guitar, chorus on "The Climber", drums, low bass, guitar, bass, percussion, backing vocals, shaker
Jim Moginie – ukulele, guitar, fuzz guitar
Lisa Germano – chorus on "The Climber", violin
Suzanna Melvoin – chorus on "The Climber"
Doyle – chorus on "The Climber"
Tchad Blake – Groove box
Mitchell Froom – Penny owsley, keyboards, Hammond organ, Chamberlin, Wurlitzer electric piano, piano, celeste
Lisa Coleman – keyboards, backing vocals
JJ Johnson – drums
Liam Finn – backing vocals
Sharon Finn – backing vocals
Jim Keltner – drums
Edmund McWilliams – backing vocals
Sheryl Crow – vocals, accordion
Sam Gibson – drum programming, programming

Charts
Certifications


== Notes ==
Passage 3:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii  Originally planned for release exclusively on the GameCube in November 2005, Twilight Princess was delayed by Nintendo to allow its developers to refine the game, add more content, and port it to the Wii  The Wii version was a launch game in North America in November 2006, and in Japan, Europe, and Australia the following month  The GameCube version was also released in December 2006 as the final first-party game for the console The story focuses on series protagonist Link, who tries to prevent Hyrule from being engulfed by a corrupted parallel dimension known as the Twilight Realm  To do so, he takes the form of both a Hylian and a wolf, and he is assisted by a mysterious imp named Midna  The game takes place over a century after Ocarina of Time, in an alternate timeline from The Wind Waker Twilight Princess was critically acclaimed upon its release, received numerous game of the year awards, and has been called one of the greatest games of all time  By 2015, it had sold 8 85 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Zelda game until being overtaken by Breath of the Wild in April 2018  In 2011, the Wii version was rereleased under the Nintendo Selects label  A high-definition remaster based on the GameCube version for the Wii U, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, was released in March 2016 

Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure game focused on combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving  It uses the basic control scheme introduced in Ocarina of Time, including context-sensitive action buttons and L-targeting (Z-targeting on the Wii), a system that allows the player to keep Link's view focused on an enemy or important object while moving and attacking  Link can walk, run, and attack, and he will automatically jump when running off of or reaching for a ledge  Link uses a sword and shield in combat, complemented with secondary weapons and items, including a bow and arrows, a boomerang, and bombs  While L-targeting, projectile-based weapons can be fired at a target without the need for manual aiming The context-sensitive button mechanic allows one button to serve a variety of functions, such as talking, opening doors, and pushing, pulling, and throwing objects  The on-screen display shows what action, if any, the button will trigger, determined by the situation  For example, if Link is holding a rock, the context-sensitive button will cause Link to throw the rock if he is moving or targeting an object or enemy or place the rock on the ground if he is standing still The GameCube and Wii versions feature several minor differences in their controls  The Wii version of the game makes use of the motion sensors and built-in speaker of the Wii Remote  The speaker emits the sounds of a bowstring when shooting an arrow, Midna's laugh when she gives advice to Link, and the series' trademark "chime" when discovering secrets  The player controls Link's sword by swinging the Wii Remote  Other attacks are triggered using similar gestures with the Nunchuk  Unique to the GameCube version is the ability for the player to control the camera freely, without entering a special "lookaround" mode required by the Wii; however, in the GameCube version, only two of Link's secondary weapons can be equipped at a time, as opposed to four in the Wii version The game features nine dungeons—large, contained areas where Link battles enemies, collects items, and solves puzzles  Link navigates these dungeons and fights a boss at the end in order to obtain an item or otherwise advance the plot  The dungeons are connected by a large overworld, across which Link can travel on foot; on his horse, Epona; or by teleporting with Midna's assistance When Link enters the Twilight Realm, the void that corrupts parts of Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf  He is eventually able to transform between his Hylian and wolf forms at will  As a wolf, Link loses the ability to use his sword, shield, or any secondary items; he instead attacks by biting and defends primarily by dodging attacks  "Wolf Link" gains several key advantages in return—he moves faster than he does as a human (though riding Epona is still faster), digs holes to create new passages and uncover buried items, and has improved senses, including the ability to follow scent trails  On his back, he also carries Midna, a small imp-like creature who gives him hints, uses an energy field to attack enemies, helps him jump long distances, and eventually allows him to "warp" to any of several preset locations throughout the overworld  Using Link's wolf senses, the player can see and listen to the wandering spirits of those affected by the Twilight, as well as hunt for enemy ghosts named Poes The artificial intelligence (AI) of enemies in Twilight Princess is more advanced than that of enemies in The Wind Waker  Enemies react to defeated companions and to arrows or slingshot pellets that pass by, and they can detect Link from a greater distance than was possible in previous games 

Plot
The game begins with a teenage boy named Link, who works as a ranch hand in Ordon Village  One day, Bulblins take away the village's children  Link pursues and encounters a wall of Twilight  A Twilight monster pulls him beyond the wall into the Twilight-shrouded forest, where he is transformed into a wolf and imprisoned  Link is soon freed by a creature named Midna, who offers to help him if he obeys her unconditionally  She guides him to Princess Zelda, who explains that Zant, the Sorcerer/Usurper King of the Twili, invaded Hyrule Castle and forced her to surrender  The kingdom became enveloped in Twilight, turning all its inhabitants besides Link and Zelda into invisible spirits  To save Hyrule, Link, aided by Midna, must first revive the Light Spirits by entering the Twilight-covered regions and recovering the Spirits' light from the Twilight beings that had stolen it  Once revitalized, each Spirit returns Link to his Hylian form and informs Link and Midna of the hidden location of a Fused Shadow; one of the fragments of a powerful relic that will have to be used to match Zant's power to defeat him  During this time, the ghost of a departed swordsman, the Hero's Shade, also appears to provide swordsmanship training he had failed to pass on before his untimely death, as well as information regarding Link's destiny in Hyrule 
During his journey, Link also finds Ordon Village's children and assists the monkeys of Faron, the Gorons of Eldin, and the Zoras of Lanayru  After restoring the Light Spirits and obtaining the Fused Shadows, Link and Midna are ambushed by Zant, who takes away the fragments  Midna calls him out for abusing his tribe's magic, but Zant reveals that his power comes from another source, and he uses it to trap Link in his wolf state  Failing to persuade Midna into joining forces with him, Zant attempts to dispose of her by exposing her to the light of Lanayru's light spirit  Bringing a dying Midna to Zelda, Link learns from her that he needs the Master Sword to remove Zant's curse and she proceeds to sacrifice herself to heal Midna, vanishing mysteriously  Moved by Zelda's act of selflessness, Midna starts to care more about Link and the fate of his world After gaining the Master Sword, Link is cleansed of the curse that kept him in wolf form  Deep within the Gerudo Desert, Link and Midna search for the Mirror of Twilight, the only known gateway between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, but discover that it is broken  The Sages there explain that Zant tried to destroy it, but only managed to shatter it into fragments; only the true ruler of the Twili can completely destroy the mirror  They also relate that they once used it to banish Ganondorf, the Gerudo leader who attempted to steal the Triforce, to the Twilight Realm after failing to execute him  Link and Midna set out to retrieve the missing shards of the mirror  Once it has been fully restored, the Sages reveal to Link that Midna is actually the true ruler of the Twili, usurped and cursed into her current form by Zant  Confronting Zant, Link and Midna learn that he forged a pact with Ganondorf, who asked for his assistance in subjugating Hyrule  After Link defeats Zant, Midna recovers the Fused Shadows and destroys Zant after learning that only Ganondorf's defeat can release her from her curse 
Returning to Hyrule, Link and Midna find Ganondorf in Hyrule Castle, with a lifeless Zelda suspended above him  Ganondorf fights Link by possessing Zelda and then transforming into a gigantic boar-like beast, but Link defeats him by using his wolf form, and the power Midna received from Zelda is able to resuscitate her  Ganondorf revives, and Midna teleports Link and Zelda outside the castle so she can hold him off with the Fused Shadows  However, as Hyrule Castle collapses, Ganondorf emerges from it victorious, crushing the Fused Shadow piece that Midna wore on her head, and pursues Link on horseback  Assisted by Zelda and the Light Spirits, Link eventually knocks Ganondorf off his horse and duels him on foot before finishing him off with the Master Sword  With Ganondorf defeated, the Light Spirits revive Midna and restore her to her true form  After bidding farewell to Link and Zelda, Midna returns home and destroys the Mirror of Twilight, ultimately severing the link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm  As Hyrule Castle is rebuilt, Link leaves Ordon Village, heading to parts unknown 

Development
Inception as a GameCube game
In 2003, Nintendo announced a new The Legend of Zelda game for the GameCube by the same team that had created the cel-shaded The Wind Waker  At the following year's Game Developers Conference, director Eiji Aonuma unintentionally revealed that the game's sequel was in development under the working title The Wind Waker 2; it was set to use a similar graphical style to that of its predecessor  Nintendo of America told Aonuma that North American sales of The Wind Waker were sluggish because its cartoon appearance created the impression that the game was designed for a young audience  Concerned that the sequel would have the same problem, Aonuma expressed to producer Shigeru Miyamoto that he wanted to create a realistic Zelda game that would appeal to the North American market and meet Miyamoto's original vision of realism for the series  Miyamoto, hesitant about solely changing the game's presentation, suggested the team's focus should instead be on coming up with gameplay innovations  He advised that Aonuma should start by doing what could not be done in Ocarina of Time, particularly horseback combat  Early development of what would become Twilight Princess began and special care was taken to improve the realism of the horseriding, with lead character designer Keisuke Nishimori riding a horse for himself to feel what it was like Just as the original Legend of Zelda game was inspired by J  R  R  Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels, the aesthetic of Twilight Princess was inspired by the Lord of the Rings films as they had just come out and were very popular at the time  The game was developed with having a large convincing world in mind, one with a vast scale to meet the expectation for fantasy worlds that audiences had become accustomed to with the Lord of the Rings In four months, Aonuma's team managed to present realistic horseback riding, which Nintendo later revealed to the public with a trailer at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2004 and was met with enormous praise  The game was scheduled to be released the next year and was no longer a follow-up to The Wind Waker; a true sequel to it was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, in the form of Phantom Hourglass  Miyamoto explained in interviews that the graphical style was chosen to satisfy demand and that it better fit the theme of an older incarnation of Link  The game runs on a modified The Wind Waker engine Prior Zelda games have employed a theme of two separate, yet connected, worlds  In A Link to the Past, Link travels between a "Light World" and a "Dark World"; in Ocarina of Time, as well as in Oracle of Ages, Link travels between two different time periods  The Zelda team sought to reuse this motif in the series' latest installment  It was suggested that Link transform into a wolf, much like he metamorphoses into a rabbit in the Dark World of A Link to the Past  The concept for Link to transform into a wolf and its surrounding narrative elements came from a dream that Aonuma had while overseas on a business trip  He dreamt that he was a wolf, locked inside a cage, and, after he woke up, he was confused and disoriented and it took a while for him to remember where he was  The story of the game was created by Aonuma, and it later underwent several changes by scenario writers Mitsuhiro Takano and Aya Kyogoku  Takano created the script for the story scenes, while Kyogoku and Takayuki Ikkaku handled the actual in-game script  Originally, Link was planned to be a wolf from the game's start to bluntly contrast the Ocarina of Time formula, but this was changed so that new players could be eased into Zelda's traditional gameplay and narrative formula  The narrative premise in the story regarding the children of Ordon village getting kidnapped was an example of the game featuring darker story elements than any past iteration From a gameplay perspective, the "twilight world" portions of the game were vaguely inspired by the fact that prior Zelda games had always distinctively separated its dungeons from its overworld  It was wondered what the result would be if the players took a traditional Zelda dungeon and put it inside the open world instead  This resulted in the hunt for tears of light the player partakes in when in the twilight covered world  Regarding the atmosphere of the Twilight covered Hyrule, as well as the Twilight Realm dungeon later in the game, the intent was to make players feel uncomfortable  Special care was taken, however, to ensure that this was balanced right, so that it did not make the player so uncomfortable that they did not want to progress further or could not enjoy the experience Aonuma left his team working on the new idea while he produced The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance  When he returned, he found the Twilight Princess team struggling  Emphasis on the parallel worlds and the wolf transformation had made Link's character unbelievable  Aonuma also felt the gameplay lacked the caliber of innovation found in Phantom Hourglass, which was being developed with touch controls for the Nintendo DS  At the same time, the Wii was under development with the code name "Revolution"  Miyamoto thought that the Revolution's pointing device, the Wii Remote, was well suited for aiming arrows in Zelda, and he suggested that Aonuma consider using it 

Transition to the Wii
Aonuma had anticipated creating a Zelda game for what would later be for the Wii but had assumed that he would need to complete Twilight Princess first  His team began work developing a pointing-based interface for the bow and arrow, and Aonuma found that aiming directly at the screen gave the game a new feel, just like the DS control scheme for Phantom Hourglass  Aonuma felt confident this was the only way to proceed, but worried about consumers who had been anticipating a GameCube release  Developing two versions would mean delaying the previously announced 2005 release, still disappointing the consumer  Satoru Iwata felt that having both versions would satisfy users in the end, even though they would have to wait for the finished product  Aonuma then started working on both versions in parallel Transferring GameCube development to the Wii was relatively simple, since the Wii was being created to be compatible with the GameCube  At E3 2005, Nintendo released a small number of Nintendo DS game cards containing a preview trailer for Twilight Princess  They also announced that Zelda would appear on the Wii (then codenamed "Revolution"), but was not clear to the media if this meant Twilight Princess or a different game The team worked on a Wii control scheme, adapting camera control and the fighting mechanics to the new interface  A prototype was created that used a swinging gesture to control the sword from a first-person viewpoint but was unable to show the variety of Link's movements  When the third-person view was restored, Aonuma thought it felt strange to swing the Wii Remote with the right hand to control the sword in Link's left hand, so the entire Wii version map was mirrored  Details about Wii controls began to surface in December 2005 when British publication NGC Magazine claimed that when a GameCube copy of Twilight Princess was played on the Revolution, it would give the player the option of using the Revolution controller  Miyamoto confirmed the Revolution controller-functionality in an interview with Nintendo of Europe and Time reported this soon after  However, support for the Wii controller did not make it into the GameCube release  At E3 2006, Nintendo confirmed that both versions would be available at the Wii launch, and had a playable version of Twilight Princess for the Wii  Later, the GameCube release was pushed back to a month after the launch of the Wii Nintendo staff members reported that demo users complained about the difficulty of the control scheme  Aonuma realized that his team had implemented Wii controls under the mindset of "forcing" users to adapt, instead of making the system intuitive and easy to use  He began rethinking the controls with Miyamoto to focus on comfort and ease  The camera movement was reworked and item controls were changed to avoid accidental button presses  In addition, the new item system required use of the button that had previously been used for the sword  To solve this, sword controls were transferred back to gestures—something E3 attendees had commented they would like to see  This reintroduced the problem of using a right-handed swing to control a left-handed sword attack  The team did not have enough time before release to rework Link's character model, so they instead flipped the entire game—everything was made a mirror image  Link was now right-handed, and references to "east" and "west" were reversed  The GameCube version, however, was left with the original orientation  The Twilight Princess player's guide focuses on the Wii version, but has a section in the back with mirror-image maps for GameCube users 

Music and sound
The game's score was composed by Toru Minegishi and Asuka Ohta, with series regular Koji Kondo serving as the sound supervisor  Minegishi took charge of composition and sound design in Twilight Princess, providing all field and dungeon music  For the trailers, three pieces were written by different composers, two of which were created by Mahito Yokota and Kondo  Michiru Ōshima created orchestral arrangements for the three compositions, later to be performed by an ensemble conducted by Taizo Takemoto  Kondo's piece was chosen as music for the E3 2005 trailer and for the demo movie after the title screen  Midna has the most voice acting—her on-screen dialogue is often accompanied by a babble of pseudo-speech, which was produced by scrambling English phrases sampled by Japanese voice actress Akiko Kōmoto Media requests at the trade show prompted Kondo to consider using orchestral music for the other tracks in the game as well, a notion reinforced by his preference for live instruments  He originally envisioned a full 50-person orchestra for action sequences and a string quartet for more "lyrical moments", though the final product used sequenced music instead  Kondo later cited the lack of interactivity that comes with orchestral music as one of the main reasons for the decision  Both six- and seven-track versions of the game's soundtrack were released on November 19, 2006, as part of a Nintendo Power promotion and bundled with replicas of the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield 

Technical vulnerability
Following the discovery of a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, an exploit known as the "Twilight Hack" was developed, allowing the execution of custom code from a Secure Digital (SD) card on the console  A specifically designed save file would cause the game to load unsigned code, which could include Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) programs and homebrew Wii applications  Versions 3 3 and 3 4 of the Wii Menu prevented copying exploited save files onto the console until circumvention methods were discovered, and version 4 0 of the Wii Menu patched the vulnerability 

Wii U version
A high-definition remaster of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, was developed by Tantalus Media for the Wii U  Announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation in November 2015, it features enhanced graphics and Amiibo functionality  The game was released worldwide in March 2016 The idea for a high-definition version of Twilight Princess first originated during the production of Breath of the Wild  Nintendo experimented with an HD version of Twilight Princess running on Wii U development kits when trying to settle on a graphical style for the new game  This ultimately led to the production of The Wind Waker HD, whose success encouraged the Zelda team to pursue other high-definition remasters  After its release, which was developed internally at Nintendo in only six months, the Zelda team settled on an HD remaster of Twilight Princess  At the time, most of the Zelda team was preoccupied with Breath of the Wild, so Nintendo sought a partnership with an external development studio, the Australia-based Tantalus Media, to work on Twilight Princess HD According to Eiji Aonuma, who directed the original release and produced Twilight Princess HD, ensuring the remaster would take advantage of the Wii U GamePad was a point of focus early in the title's development  The control scheme used in the GameCube version was adapted for the remaster due to similarities between the button layouts of the two consoles' controllers  Aonuma considered underwater gameplay in the remaster significantly improved  Other enhancements include speeding up a handful of cutscenes that seemed overly long by modern standards and reducing repetitive gameplay elements, such as collecting Tears of Light while in the Twilight Realm  A commitment to "preserving the feel of the original" inspired several design decisions, such as keeping the frame rate at 30 frames per second  Tomomi Sano, the assistant director of the Wii U version, noted the degree of refinement the graphics would receive required much consideration: "When we created more precise models of objects to go with the higher resolution, we found that everything was too clear and we lost that soft and delicate atmosphere that you get in particular at twilight or with the light in a forest" Certain bundles of the game contain a Wolf Link Amiibo figurine, which unlocks a Wii U-exclusive dungeon called the "Cave of Shadows" and can carry data over to Breath of the Wild  In the Cave of Shadows, Link fights waves of enemies while restricted to his wolf form  Comparable to the optional "Cave of Ordeals" present in the original release, opportunities to recover health during the trial are sparse  Other Zelda-related Amiibo figurines have distinct functions: Link and Toon Link replenish arrows, Zelda and Sheik restore Link's health, and Ganondorf causes Link to take twice as much damage  A CD containing 20 musical selections from the game was available as a GameStop preorder bonus in North America; it is included with the limited-edition bundle in other regions  A three-disc original soundtrack consisting of 108 pieces from the game was released in Japan in July 2016 

Reception
Reviews
Twilight Princess was released to critical acclaim and commercial success  It received perfect scores from major publications such as 1UP com, Computer and Video Games, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar and GameSpy  On the review aggregator Metacritic, Twilight Princess holds scores of 95/100 for the Wii version and 96/100 for the GameCube version, indicating "universal acclaim"  It is the highest-rated game of 2006 on Metacritic  GameTrailers in their review called it one of the greatest games ever created On release, Twilight Princess was considered to be the greatest Zelda game ever made by many critics including writers for 1UP com, Computer and Video Games, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar, IGN and The Washington Post  Game Informer called it "so creative that it rivals the best that Hollywood has to offer"  GamesRadar praised Twilight Princess as "a game that deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation"  Cubed3 hailed Twilight Princess as "the single greatest videogame experience"  Twilight Princess' graphics were praised for the art style and animation, although the game was designed for the GameCube, which is technically lacking compared to the next generation consoles  Both IGN and GameSpy pointed out the existence of blurry textures and low-resolution characters  Despite these complaints, Computer and Video Games felt the game's atmosphere was superior to that of any previous Zelda game and regarded Twilight Princess' Hyrule as the best version ever created  PALGN praised the game's cinematics, noting that "the cutscenes are the best ever in Zelda games"  Regarding the Wii version, GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann said the Wii controls felt "tacked-on", although 1UP com said the remote-swinging sword attacks were "the most impressive in the entire series"  Gaming Nexus considered Twilight Princess' soundtrack to be the best of this generation, though IGN criticized its MIDI-formatted songs for lacking "the punch and crispness" of their orchestrated counterparts 

Wii U version
Twilight Princess HD holds a score of 86/100 at the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reviews  The title received the Nintendo Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards in November 2016 

Awards
Twilight Princess received the awards for Best Artistic Design, Best Original Score, and Best Use of Sound from IGN for its GameCube version  Both IGN and Nintendo Power gave Twilight Princess the awards for Best Graphics and Best Story  It also received the 2007 award for "Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences  Twilight Princess received Game of the Year awards from GameTrailers, 1UP com, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar, GameSpy, Spacey Awards, X-Play and Nintendo Power  It was also given awards for Best Adventure Game from the Game Critics Awards, X-Play, IGN, GameTrailers, 1UP com, and Nintendo Power  The game was considered the Best Console Game by the Game Critics Awards and GameSpy  The game placed 16th in Official Nintendo Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Nintendo Games of All Time  IGN ranked the game as the 4th-best Wii game  Nintendo Power ranked the game as the third-best game to be released on a Nintendo system in the 2000s decade 

Sales
In North America, the game was sold with three of every four Wii purchases during its first week  The Wii version sold 412,000 copies in the United States during November 2006, representing 87% of Wii launch sales that month, the highest attach rate for a launch game since Super Mario 64 launched with the Nintendo 64 in 1996  It went on to become America's fifth best-selling game of 2006 with 1 5 million copies sold for the Wii and GameCube in the US that year  In the United Kingdom, the Wii version received a Platinum sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the UK The game had sold 5 82 million copies on the Wii as of March 2011, and 1 32 million on the GameCube as of March 2007  As of September 2015, the game had sold 8 85 million copies worldwide across both platforms, making it the best-selling single title in the series until it was surpassed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) 

Wii U version
The remaster sold 52,282 copies during its first week of release in Japan, which placed it at second place in the video game sales charts  The following week, it came in at number 9 on the charts, selling an additional 7,705 copies  By comparison, 30,264 copies of The Wind Waker HD were sold in its first week in Japan  In the first week of Twilight Princess HD's United Kingdom release, the remaster was the second best-selling game and the best-selling game released for a single platform in the country  Twilight Princess HD's sales dropped 84% in its second week in the U K , making it the ninth best-selling game in the country  In the United States, it was the third best-selling game sold in brick-and-mortar retailers throughout March 2016, according to market-research firm The NPD Group  As of December 2020, the game has sold 1 15 million copies worldwide 

Legacy
An 11-volume manga series based on Twilight Princess, penned and illustrated by Akira Himekawa, was first released in Japan on February 8, 2016 and ran until January 30, 2022  The series is available solely via publisher Shogakukan's MangaOne mobile application  While the manga adaptation began almost ten years after the initial release of the game on which it is based, it launched only a month before the release of the high-definition remake  Viz Media began releasing an English localization of the series in 2017 To commemorate the launch of the My Nintendo loyalty program in March 2016, Nintendo released My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Picross puzzle game developed by Jupiter for download to the Nintendo 3DS Midna, in both her imp and Twili forms, Zant, and NPC character Agitha, all appeared as playable warriors in the Zelda crossover title Hyrule Warriors and its various iterations  Since the release of Hyrule Warriors, Agitha has been recognised as a "main character" of Twilight Princess 

See also
Link's Crossbow Training, a 2007 shooting video game created for the Wii Zapper, using the world and assets of Twilight Princess

Notes
Passage 4:
The Legend of Neil
The Legend of Neil is a comedy web series distributed by Comedy Central's partner Atom com and is a parody of the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda  Sandeep Parikh of The Guild fame directs the series  Tony Janning writes for the series, and acts as the title character Neil  Felicia Day and Mike Rose, who have worked with Parikh on the set of The Guild, appear as recurring characters 
The series follows Neil, who is sucked into the world of The Legend of Zelda while playing the game  As he travels Hyrule he is mistaken for the hero of the game, Link  The series is "full of self degrading, foul humor", such as when Neil is being sucked into the game he is masturbating and strangled himself with his NES controller 
The series began as a four-minute YouTube video posted in 2007  The video went viral, receiving several million views  Its popularity led to Atom com financing a web series based around the video 
The first season was released in 2008  According to Fox Business before the premiere of the second season, "With nearly one million plays, the hit Web series by creator Sandeep Parikh built one of the Web's most enthusiastic fan bases in 2008 " In the run-up to the August 2009 premiere of the second season, MTV2 planned to air the complete first season  The series was also nominated for multiple Streamys at the 1st Streamy Awards in 2009 Season 3 began on July 25, 2010  Each episode of season 3 features a remix of the original theme song performed by a different musical guest 
A DVD was released on December 4, 2012 
On January 7, 2019, The YouTube channel EffinFunny began re-releasing the Episodes, starting with the first two  As of January 31, 2019, the whole series, gag reels, and minisodes are available on the EffinFunny YouTube channel 

Characters and cast
Neil (Link) – after getting fired from a gas station by his brother, a drunken Neil was transported into the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda  He then unwillingly plays the role of the game's main character, a forest elf named Link  Neil as Link contrasts with many of the characters' views of Link, while Link is honest and brave, Neil is lazy and will use any tricks he can find to get out of the game  He is so much the opposite of Link that he tends to befriend the monsters whose sole purpose is to kill him  Neil is portrayed by co-writer of the series, Tony Janning 
Old Man – Link's in-game mentor, loosely based on the old man in the first Zelda video game who gives the player a wooden sword before the first level  Old Man is portrayed by Mike Rose  Old Man has a twin brother O-old Man (pronounced with a change in emphasis) who is left-handed, a better potion maker, and has Tourette syndrome  Usually only one of the twins speaks to Link, but on occasion—such as in Season 2, Episode 3—they appear simultaneously  Both of the Old Men are generally helpful to Neil, often in a sarcastic or condescending manner 
Fairy – a fairy who replenishes Link's health  In the series she does so by having sex with Link, and she becomes emotionally and sexually obsessed with him  Fairy also seems to be emotionally unstable, often taking Neil's compliments as insults and vice versa  In the series, the fairies are hunted for their dust, which is used as a drug, a fate which befalls Fairy in Season 2, Episode 1  In the first episode of the third season it is revealed that the fairy is pregnant  Fairy is portrayed by Felicia Day of Dr  Horrible and The Guild fame 
Princess Zelda – the title character from the video game  Zelda's parents were killed by Ganon and she herself was captured and imprisoned  She appears to Neil in visions, alternately pleading and enticing him to continue to rescue her  Neil was initially surprised by her ethnic appearance, expecting a lighter-skinned princess from the video game graphics (In "The Legend of Neil" she's black)  Zelda is portrayed by Angie Hill  Dr  Horrible co-creator Maurissa Tancharoen Whedon provides Zelda's singing voice in the musical episode 
Ganon – the leading antagonist of the game and series  Ganon is played as an incompetent authority figure, impervious to the suggestions of his advisor Wizzrobe  Ganon never seems to leave his shadowed throne until the end of season two  He seems to enjoy singing and is a patron of stand-up comedy  Ganon's ineptitude extends to his attempts to woo Princess Zelda at a "romantic" dinner  In the Season 2 finale he reveals to Zelda that his parents are trapped in some "vortex"  It is implied that Ganon is a Moblin  When his face is finally shown, there are similarities, and he comments that he possesses three penises, a trait previously attributed to the Moblins  Ganon is portrayed by Scott Chernoff 
Wizzrobe – Ganon's sidekick  He first appears after Neil has met Fairy and steals Neil's clothing to lure him to the Level 1 dungeon  He frequently observes logical inconsistencies within the game that are recognizable to fans, such as the maps and keys that are left in the dungeon for Link to find  Whenever he suggests changing the policy to Ganon, he is abused for his presumption, forcing him into the role of a fawning toady  Wizzrobe applies Ganon's makeup before his 'big date' with the captive Princess Zelda, prompting Ganon to insinuate that Wizzrobe is infatuated with him, prompting unconvincing denial  Wizzrobe is actually gay and is seen in the finale smooching with the Male Fairy  Wizzrobe is portrayed by Eric Acosta 
Dark Nut – A powerful dark knight (nonsensically renamed by Ganon to conform to The Legend of Zelda terminology) introduced by Wizzrobe as an invincible opponent to Neil  The other Dark Nuts are seemingly unfazed by Neil's sword blasts, and the Dark Nut was able to knock him unconscious with a single blow  But in the second episode of the third season it is revealed that, due to budget cuts, the Dark Nuts' armor doesn't cover their butts  This is their only weakness and eventually they are killed by Neil  Darknut has a brother who appears in "The Gloffice" and is seen crying over his dead brothers as Wizzrobe comforts him  In the finale, this Dark Nut is (like Wizzrobe) gay and is seen making out with a Stalfos  Dark Nut is portrayed by Jeff Winkler 
Octorok – In Season 1, Neil is often plagued by the Octorok creatures  In the show they are depicted as thin men wearing loin cloths and red masks  They announce their presence with an odd ululation, and throw rocks at Neil  They occasionally speak to Neil, usually to threaten him in their scary voice, try to trick him in their squeaky voice, or to plead in their normal voice when one of them is killed by Neil, but generally stick to the ululation  In Season 2 "A Link to the Past" he kills three of them  In "Gettin' High in Hyrule", one of them is used as a dartboard and feels no pain  And in "The Gloffice", one of them works there 
Moblin – Moblins are strong creatures with three penises who seem to want nothing but to destroy and sodomize Link  The most notable Moblins are Blight of Ganon's "The Gloffice" and the secret moblin, Pippi who helps Link even against his "primal" urges  Moblins are depicted as humanoid because of the low budget of the series  The Moblins (except Pippi) attack Neil but with some help from the bow, sex with Fairy and sword beams, he kills them all 
Stalfos – Three Stalfos made only two appearances—in "The Skeletons in Link's Closet" and "Restart of the King"  They are portrayed as gay skeletons with German accents that mock Neil into killing them  They tease Neil by insulting him and making up some stupid deals causing him to stab two of them and laser the last one  The first one has a key in its ribs and a bandana, the second one has a belt, and the third one has a mustache  One of them is seen in the finale, making out with a Dark Nut 
Keese – Keeses appear in "The Skeletons in Link's Closet", "A Date with Destiny" and "The Gloffice"  They look like models on strings because of the low budget of the series  After Neil puts on the Hero's Clothes, a bat takes a dump on him and they attack him by swarming around him like bees  After Neil escapes and kills the Stalfos, the Keeses attack him again  In Season 1 "Map Questing", the Keeses are revealed by Wizzrobe telling Ganon that Neil has killed all the Keeses  Neil kills them in Season 2 in "A Date with Destiny" and one Keese appears in "The Gloffice" talking to Ganon in the introduction 
Goriya – Three Goriyas make their one appearance in Season 1 in "Map Questing"  They are portrayed as goblins with Australian accents, carrying boomerangs  They say to Neil that they're powerful and they've got boomerangs  Neil zaps the three Goriyas with his sword beams  One Goriya appears in a picture in Season 2 "Gettin' High in Hyrule" that says, "Missing  Last seen playing with boomerangs "
Gibdo – Gibdos appear in three episodes: "Les Neilérables", in which Neil sings after killing them; "A Date with Destiny", in which Neil kills them while they make out and give birth to a baby Gibdo, which Neil kicks away; and "The Gloffice", in which one of them works there 

Plot
Season 1 (2007, 2008)
Season 2 (2009)
Season 3 (2010)
Regular episodes
Minisodes
External links
"Official website of The Legend of Neil"  Archived from the original on July 4, 2014  Retrieved September 30, 2015 {{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
The Legend of Neil on Effinfunny com 
Passage 5:
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube and Wii  Originally planned for release exclusively on the GameCube in November 2005, Twilight Princess was delayed by Nintendo to allow its developers to refine the game, add more content, and port it to the Wii  The Wii version was a launch game in North America in November 2006, and in Japan, Europe, and Australia the following month  The GameCube version was also released in December 2006 as the final first-party game for the console The story focuses on series protagonist Link, who tries to prevent Hyrule from being engulfed by a corrupted parallel dimension known as the Twilight Realm  To do so, he takes the form of both a Hylian and a wolf, and he is assisted by a mysterious imp named Midna  The game takes place over a century after Ocarina of Time, in an alternate timeline from The Wind Waker Twilight Princess was critically acclaimed upon its release, received numerous game of the year awards, and has been called one of the greatest games of all time  By 2015, it had sold 8 85 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling Zelda game until being overtaken by Breath of the Wild in April 2018  In 2011, the Wii version was rereleased under the Nintendo Selects label  A high-definition remaster based on the GameCube version for the Wii U, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, was released in March 2016 

Gameplay
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an action-adventure game focused on combat, exploration, and puzzle-solving  It uses the basic control scheme introduced in Ocarina of Time, including context-sensitive action buttons and L-targeting (Z-targeting on the Wii), a system that allows the player to keep Link's view focused on an enemy or important object while moving and attacking  Link can walk, run, and attack, and he will automatically jump when running off of or reaching for a ledge  Link uses a sword and shield in combat, complemented with secondary weapons and items, including a bow and arrows, a boomerang, and bombs  While L-targeting, projectile-based weapons can be fired at a target without the need for manual aiming The context-sensitive button mechanic allows one button to serve a variety of functions, such as talking, opening doors, and pushing, pulling, and throwing objects  The on-screen display shows what action, if any, the button will trigger, determined by the situation  For example, if Link is holding a rock, the context-sensitive button will cause Link to throw the rock if he is moving or targeting an object or enemy or place the rock on the ground if he is standing still The GameCube and Wii versions feature several minor differences in their controls  The Wii version of the game makes use of the motion sensors and built-in speaker of the Wii Remote  The speaker emits the sounds of a bowstring when shooting an arrow, Midna's laugh when she gives advice to Link, and the series' trademark "chime" when discovering secrets  The player controls Link's sword by swinging the Wii Remote  Other attacks are triggered using similar gestures with the Nunchuk  Unique to the GameCube version is the ability for the player to control the camera freely, without entering a special "lookaround" mode required by the Wii; however, in the GameCube version, only two of Link's secondary weapons can be equipped at a time, as opposed to four in the Wii version The game features nine dungeons—large, contained areas where Link battles enemies, collects items, and solves puzzles  Link navigates these dungeons and fights a boss at the end in order to obtain an item or otherwise advance the plot  The dungeons are connected by a large overworld, across which Link can travel on foot; on his horse, Epona; or by teleporting with Midna's assistance When Link enters the Twilight Realm, the void that corrupts parts of Hyrule, he transforms into a wolf  He is eventually able to transform between his Hylian and wolf forms at will  As a wolf, Link loses the ability to use his sword, shield, or any secondary items; he instead attacks by biting and defends primarily by dodging attacks  "Wolf Link" gains several key advantages in return—he moves faster than he does as a human (though riding Epona is still faster), digs holes to create new passages and uncover buried items, and has improved senses, including the ability to follow scent trails  On his back, he also carries Midna, a small imp-like creature who gives him hints, uses an energy field to attack enemies, helps him jump long distances, and eventually allows him to "warp" to any of several preset locations throughout the overworld  Using Link's wolf senses, the player can see and listen to the wandering spirits of those affected by the Twilight, as well as hunt for enemy ghosts named Poes The artificial intelligence (AI) of enemies in Twilight Princess is more advanced than that of enemies in The Wind Waker  Enemies react to defeated companions and to arrows or slingshot pellets that pass by, and they can detect Link from a greater distance than was possible in previous games 

Plot
The game begins with a teenage boy named Link, who works as a ranch hand in Ordon Village  One day, Bulblins take away the village's children  Link pursues and encounters a wall of Twilight  A Twilight monster pulls him beyond the wall into the Twilight-shrouded forest, where he is transformed into a wolf and imprisoned  Link is soon freed by a creature named Midna, who offers to help him if he obeys her unconditionally  She guides him to Princess Zelda, who explains that Zant, the Sorcerer/Usurper King of the Twili, invaded Hyrule Castle and forced her to surrender  The kingdom became enveloped in Twilight, turning all its inhabitants besides Link and Zelda into invisible spirits  To save Hyrule, Link, aided by Midna, must first revive the Light Spirits by entering the Twilight-covered regions and recovering the Spirits' light from the Twilight beings that had stolen it  Once revitalized, each Spirit returns Link to his Hylian form and informs Link and Midna of the hidden location of a Fused Shadow; one of the fragments of a powerful relic that will have to be used to match Zant's power to defeat him  During this time, the ghost of a departed swordsman, the Hero's Shade, also appears to provide swordsmanship training he had failed to pass on before his untimely death, as well as information regarding Link's destiny in Hyrule 
During his journey, Link also finds Ordon Village's children and assists the monkeys of Faron, the Gorons of Eldin, and the Zoras of Lanayru  After restoring the Light Spirits and obtaining the Fused Shadows, Link and Midna are ambushed by Zant, who takes away the fragments  Midna calls him out for abusing his tribe's magic, but Zant reveals that his power comes from another source, and he uses it to trap Link in his wolf state  Failing to persuade Midna into joining forces with him, Zant attempts to dispose of her by exposing her to the light of Lanayru's light spirit  Bringing a dying Midna to Zelda, Link learns from her that he needs the Master Sword to remove Zant's curse and she proceeds to sacrifice herself to heal Midna, vanishing mysteriously  Moved by Zelda's act of selflessness, Midna starts to care more about Link and the fate of his world After gaining the Master Sword, Link is cleansed of the curse that kept him in wolf form  Deep within the Gerudo Desert, Link and Midna search for the Mirror of Twilight, the only known gateway between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, but discover that it is broken  The Sages there explain that Zant tried to destroy it, but only managed to shatter it into fragments; only the true ruler of the Twili can completely destroy the mirror  They also relate that they once used it to banish Ganondorf, the Gerudo leader who attempted to steal the Triforce, to the Twilight Realm after failing to execute him  Link and Midna set out to retrieve the missing shards of the mirror  Once it has been fully restored, the Sages reveal to Link that Midna is actually the true ruler of the Twili, usurped and cursed into her current form by Zant  Confronting Zant, Link and Midna learn that he forged a pact with Ganondorf, who asked for his assistance in subjugating Hyrule  After Link defeats Zant, Midna recovers the Fused Shadows and destroys Zant after learning that only Ganondorf's defeat can release her from her curse 
Returning to Hyrule, Link and Midna find Ganondorf in Hyrule Castle, with a lifeless Zelda suspended above him  Ganondorf fights Link by possessing Zelda and then transforming into a gigantic boar-like beast, but Link defeats him by using his wolf form, and the power Midna received from Zelda is able to resuscitate her  Ganondorf revives, and Midna teleports Link and Zelda outside the castle so she can hold him off with the Fused Shadows  However, as Hyrule Castle collapses, Ganondorf emerges from it victorious, crushing the Fused Shadow piece that Midna wore on her head, and pursues Link on horseback  Assisted by Zelda and the Light Spirits, Link eventually knocks Ganondorf off his horse and duels him on foot before finishing him off with the Master Sword  With Ganondorf defeated, the Light Spirits revive Midna and restore her to her true form  After bidding farewell to Link and Zelda, Midna returns home and destroys the Mirror of Twilight, ultimately severing the link between Hyrule and the Twilight Realm  As Hyrule Castle is rebuilt, Link leaves Ordon Village, heading to parts unknown 

Development
Inception as a GameCube game
In 2003, Nintendo announced a new The Legend of Zelda game for the GameCube by the same team that had created the cel-shaded The Wind Waker  At the following year's Game Developers Conference, director Eiji Aonuma unintentionally revealed that the game's sequel was in development under the working title The Wind Waker 2; it was set to use a similar graphical style to that of its predecessor  Nintendo of America told Aonuma that North American sales of The Wind Waker were sluggish because its cartoon appearance created the impression that the game was designed for a young audience  Concerned that the sequel would have the same problem, Aonuma expressed to producer Shigeru Miyamoto that he wanted to create a realistic Zelda game that would appeal to the North American market and meet Miyamoto's original vision of realism for the series  Miyamoto, hesitant about solely changing the game's presentation, suggested the team's focus should instead be on coming up with gameplay innovations  He advised that Aonuma should start by doing what could not be done in Ocarina of Time, particularly horseback combat  Early development of what would become Twilight Princess began and special care was taken to improve the realism of the horseriding, with lead character designer Keisuke Nishimori riding a horse for himself to feel what it was like Just as the original Legend of Zelda game was inspired by J  R  R  Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels, the aesthetic of Twilight Princess was inspired by the Lord of the Rings films as they had just come out and were very popular at the time  The game was developed with having a large convincing world in mind, one with a vast scale to meet the expectation for fantasy worlds that audiences had become accustomed to with the Lord of the Rings In four months, Aonuma's team managed to present realistic horseback riding, which Nintendo later revealed to the public with a trailer at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2004 and was met with enormous praise  The game was scheduled to be released the next year and was no longer a follow-up to The Wind Waker; a true sequel to it was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007, in the form of Phantom Hourglass  Miyamoto explained in interviews that the graphical style was chosen to satisfy demand and that it better fit the theme of an older incarnation of Link  The game runs on a modified The Wind Waker engine Prior Zelda games have employed a theme of two separate, yet connected, worlds  In A Link to the Past, Link travels between a "Light World" and a "Dark World"; in Ocarina of Time, as well as in Oracle of Ages, Link travels between two different time periods  The Zelda team sought to reuse this motif in the series' latest installment  It was suggested that Link transform into a wolf, much like he metamorphoses into a rabbit in the Dark World of A Link to the Past  The concept for Link to transform into a wolf and its surrounding narrative elements came from a dream that Aonuma had while overseas on a business trip  He dreamt that he was a wolf, locked inside a cage, and, after he woke up, he was confused and disoriented and it took a while for him to remember where he was  The story of the game was created by Aonuma, and it later underwent several changes by scenario writers Mitsuhiro Takano and Aya Kyogoku  Takano created the script for the story scenes, while Kyogoku and Takayuki Ikkaku handled the actual in-game script  Originally, Link was planned to be a wolf from the game's start to bluntly contrast the Ocarina of Time formula, but this was changed so that new players could be eased into Zelda's traditional gameplay and narrative formula  The narrative premise in the story regarding the children of Ordon village getting kidnapped was an example of the game featuring darker story elements than any past iteration From a gameplay perspective, the "twilight world" portions of the game were vaguely inspired by the fact that prior Zelda games had always distinctively separated its dungeons from its overworld  It was wondered what the result would be if the players took a traditional Zelda dungeon and put it inside the open world instead  This resulted in the hunt for tears of light the player partakes in when in the twilight covered world  Regarding the atmosphere of the Twilight covered Hyrule, as well as the Twilight Realm dungeon later in the game, the intent was to make players feel uncomfortable  Special care was taken, however, to ensure that this was balanced right, so that it did not make the player so uncomfortable that they did not want to progress further or could not enjoy the experience Aonuma left his team working on the new idea while he produced The Minish Cap for the Game Boy Advance  When he returned, he found the Twilight Princess team struggling  Emphasis on the parallel worlds and the wolf transformation had made Link's character unbelievable  Aonuma also felt the gameplay lacked the caliber of innovation found in Phantom Hourglass, which was being developed with touch controls for the Nintendo DS  At the same time, the Wii was under development with the code name "Revolution"  Miyamoto thought that the Revolution's pointing device, the Wii Remote, was well suited for aiming arrows in Zelda, and he suggested that Aonuma consider using it 

Transition to the Wii
Aonuma had anticipated creating a Zelda game for what would later be for the Wii but had assumed that he would need to complete Twilight Princess first  His team began work developing a pointing-based interface for the bow and arrow, and Aonuma found that aiming directly at the screen gave the game a new feel, just like the DS control scheme for Phantom Hourglass  Aonuma felt confident this was the only way to proceed, but worried about consumers who had been anticipating a GameCube release  Developing two versions would mean delaying the previously announced 2005 release, still disappointing the consumer  Satoru Iwata felt that having both versions would satisfy users in the end, even though they would have to wait for the finished product  Aonuma then started working on both versions in parallel Transferring GameCube development to the Wii was relatively simple, since the Wii was being created to be compatible with the GameCube  At E3 2005, Nintendo released a small number of Nintendo DS game cards containing a preview trailer for Twilight Princess  They also announced that Zelda would appear on the Wii (then codenamed "Revolution"), but was not clear to the media if this meant Twilight Princess or a different game The team worked on a Wii control scheme, adapting camera control and the fighting mechanics to the new interface  A prototype was created that used a swinging gesture to control the sword from a first-person viewpoint but was unable to show the variety of Link's movements  When the third-person view was restored, Aonuma thought it felt strange to swing the Wii Remote with the right hand to control the sword in Link's left hand, so the entire Wii version map was mirrored  Details about Wii controls began to surface in December 2005 when British publication NGC Magazine claimed that when a GameCube copy of Twilight Princess was played on the Revolution, it would give the player the option of using the Revolution controller  Miyamoto confirmed the Revolution controller-functionality in an interview with Nintendo of Europe and Time reported this soon after  However, support for the Wii controller did not make it into the GameCube release  At E3 2006, Nintendo confirmed that both versions would be available at the Wii launch, and had a playable version of Twilight Princess for the Wii  Later, the GameCube release was pushed back to a month after the launch of the Wii Nintendo staff members reported that demo users complained about the difficulty of the control scheme  Aonuma realized that his team had implemented Wii controls under the mindset of "forcing" users to adapt, instead of making the system intuitive and easy to use  He began rethinking the controls with Miyamoto to focus on comfort and ease  The camera movement was reworked and item controls were changed to avoid accidental button presses  In addition, the new item system required use of the button that had previously been used for the sword  To solve this, sword controls were transferred back to gestures—something E3 attendees had commented they would like to see  This reintroduced the problem of using a right-handed swing to control a left-handed sword attack  The team did not have enough time before release to rework Link's character model, so they instead flipped the entire game—everything was made a mirror image  Link was now right-handed, and references to "east" and "west" were reversed  The GameCube version, however, was left with the original orientation  The Twilight Princess player's guide focuses on the Wii version, but has a section in the back with mirror-image maps for GameCube users 

Music and sound
The game's score was composed by Toru Minegishi and Asuka Ohta, with series regular Koji Kondo serving as the sound supervisor  Minegishi took charge of composition and sound design in Twilight Princess, providing all field and dungeon music  For the trailers, three pieces were written by different composers, two of which were created by Mahito Yokota and Kondo  Michiru Ōshima created orchestral arrangements for the three compositions, later to be performed by an ensemble conducted by Taizo Takemoto  Kondo's piece was chosen as music for the E3 2005 trailer and for the demo movie after the title screen  Midna has the most voice acting—her on-screen dialogue is often accompanied by a babble of pseudo-speech, which was produced by scrambling English phrases sampled by Japanese voice actress Akiko Kōmoto Media requests at the trade show prompted Kondo to consider using orchestral music for the other tracks in the game as well, a notion reinforced by his preference for live instruments  He originally envisioned a full 50-person orchestra for action sequences and a string quartet for more "lyrical moments", though the final product used sequenced music instead  Kondo later cited the lack of interactivity that comes with orchestral music as one of the main reasons for the decision  Both six- and seven-track versions of the game's soundtrack were released on November 19, 2006, as part of a Nintendo Power promotion and bundled with replicas of the Master Sword and the Hylian Shield 

Technical vulnerability
Following the discovery of a buffer overflow vulnerability in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, an exploit known as the "Twilight Hack" was developed, allowing the execution of custom code from a Secure Digital (SD) card on the console  A specifically designed save file would cause the game to load unsigned code, which could include Executable and Linkable Format (ELF) programs and homebrew Wii applications  Versions 3 3 and 3 4 of the Wii Menu prevented copying exploited save files onto the console until circumvention methods were discovered, and version 4 0 of the Wii Menu patched the vulnerability 

Wii U version
A high-definition remaster of the game, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD, was developed by Tantalus Media for the Wii U  Announced during a Nintendo Direct presentation in November 2015, it features enhanced graphics and Amiibo functionality  The game was released worldwide in March 2016 The idea for a high-definition version of Twilight Princess first originated during the production of Breath of the Wild  Nintendo experimented with an HD version of Twilight Princess running on Wii U development kits when trying to settle on a graphical style for the new game  This ultimately led to the production of The Wind Waker HD, whose success encouraged the Zelda team to pursue other high-definition remasters  After its release, which was developed internally at Nintendo in only six months, the Zelda team settled on an HD remaster of Twilight Princess  At the time, most of the Zelda team was preoccupied with Breath of the Wild, so Nintendo sought a partnership with an external development studio, the Australia-based Tantalus Media, to work on Twilight Princess HD According to Eiji Aonuma, who directed the original release and produced Twilight Princess HD, ensuring the remaster would take advantage of the Wii U GamePad was a point of focus early in the title's development  The control scheme used in the GameCube version was adapted for the remaster due to similarities between the button layouts of the two consoles' controllers  Aonuma considered underwater gameplay in the remaster significantly improved  Other enhancements include speeding up a handful of cutscenes that seemed overly long by modern standards and reducing repetitive gameplay elements, such as collecting Tears of Light while in the Twilight Realm  A commitment to "preserving the feel of the original" inspired several design decisions, such as keeping the frame rate at 30 frames per second  Tomomi Sano, the assistant director of the Wii U version, noted the degree of refinement the graphics would receive required much consideration: "When we created more precise models of objects to go with the higher resolution, we found that everything was too clear and we lost that soft and delicate atmosphere that you get in particular at twilight or with the light in a forest" Certain bundles of the game contain a Wolf Link Amiibo figurine, which unlocks a Wii U-exclusive dungeon called the "Cave of Shadows" and can carry data over to Breath of the Wild  In the Cave of Shadows, Link fights waves of enemies while restricted to his wolf form  Comparable to the optional "Cave of Ordeals" present in the original release, opportunities to recover health during the trial are sparse  Other Zelda-related Amiibo figurines have distinct functions: Link and Toon Link replenish arrows, Zelda and Sheik restore Link's health, and Ganondorf causes Link to take twice as much damage  A CD containing 20 musical selections from the game was available as a GameStop preorder bonus in North America; it is included with the limited-edition bundle in other regions  A three-disc original soundtrack consisting of 108 pieces from the game was released in Japan in July 2016 

Reception
Reviews
Twilight Princess was released to critical acclaim and commercial success  It received perfect scores from major publications such as 1UP com, Computer and Video Games, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar and GameSpy  On the review aggregator Metacritic, Twilight Princess holds scores of 95/100 for the Wii version and 96/100 for the GameCube version, indicating "universal acclaim"  It is the highest-rated game of 2006 on Metacritic  GameTrailers in their review called it one of the greatest games ever created On release, Twilight Princess was considered to be the greatest Zelda game ever made by many critics including writers for 1UP com, Computer and Video Games, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar, IGN and The Washington Post  Game Informer called it "so creative that it rivals the best that Hollywood has to offer"  GamesRadar praised Twilight Princess as "a game that deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation"  Cubed3 hailed Twilight Princess as "the single greatest videogame experience"  Twilight Princess' graphics were praised for the art style and animation, although the game was designed for the GameCube, which is technically lacking compared to the next generation consoles  Both IGN and GameSpy pointed out the existence of blurry textures and low-resolution characters  Despite these complaints, Computer and Video Games felt the game's atmosphere was superior to that of any previous Zelda game and regarded Twilight Princess' Hyrule as the best version ever created  PALGN praised the game's cinematics, noting that "the cutscenes are the best ever in Zelda games"  Regarding the Wii version, GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann said the Wii controls felt "tacked-on", although 1UP com said the remote-swinging sword attacks were "the most impressive in the entire series"  Gaming Nexus considered Twilight Princess' soundtrack to be the best of this generation, though IGN criticized its MIDI-formatted songs for lacking "the punch and crispness" of their orchestrated counterparts 

Wii U version
Twilight Princess HD holds a score of 86/100 at the review aggregator Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable" reviews  The title received the Nintendo Game of the Year award at the Golden Joystick Awards in November 2016 

Awards
Twilight Princess received the awards for Best Artistic Design, Best Original Score, and Best Use of Sound from IGN for its GameCube version  Both IGN and Nintendo Power gave Twilight Princess the awards for Best Graphics and Best Story  It also received the 2007 award for "Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences  Twilight Princess received Game of the Year awards from GameTrailers, 1UP com, Electronic Gaming Monthly, Game Informer, GamesRadar, GameSpy, Spacey Awards, X-Play and Nintendo Power  It was also given awards for Best Adventure Game from the Game Critics Awards, X-Play, IGN, GameTrailers, 1UP com, and Nintendo Power  The game was considered the Best Console Game by the Game Critics Awards and GameSpy  The game placed 16th in Official Nintendo Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Nintendo Games of All Time  IGN ranked the game as the 4th-best Wii game  Nintendo Power ranked the game as the third-best game to be released on a Nintendo system in the 2000s decade 

Sales
In North America, the game was sold with three of every four Wii purchases during its first week  The Wii version sold 412,000 copies in the United States during November 2006, representing 87% of Wii launch sales that month, the highest attach rate for a launch game since Super Mario 64 launched with the Nintendo 64 in 1996  It went on to become America's fifth best-selling game of 2006 with 1 5 million copies sold for the Wii and GameCube in the US that year  In the United Kingdom, the Wii version received a Platinum sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the UK The game had sold 5 82 million copies on the Wii as of March 2011, and 1 32 million on the GameCube as of March 2007  As of September 2015, the game had sold 8 85 million copies worldwide across both platforms, making it the best-selling single title in the series until it was surpassed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) 

Wii U version
The remaster sold 52,282 copies during its first week of release in Japan, which placed it at second place in the video game sales charts  The following week, it came in at number 9 on the charts, selling an additional 7,705 copies  By comparison, 30,264 copies of The Wind Waker HD were sold in its first week in Japan  In the first week of Twilight Princess HD's United Kingdom release, the remaster was the second best-selling game and the best-selling game released for a single platform in the country  Twilight Princess HD's sales dropped 84% in its second week in the U K , making it the ninth best-selling game in the country  In the United States, it was the third best-selling game sold in brick-and-mortar retailers throughout March 2016, according to market-research firm The NPD Group  As of December 2020, the game has sold 1 15 million copies worldwide 

Legacy
An 11-volume manga series based on Twilight Princess, penned and illustrated by Akira Himekawa, was first released in Japan on February 8, 2016 and ran until January 30, 2022  The series is available solely via publisher Shogakukan's MangaOne mobile application  While the manga adaptation began almost ten years after the initial release of the game on which it is based, it launched only a month before the release of the high-definition remake  Viz Media began releasing an English localization of the series in 2017 To commemorate the launch of the My Nintendo loyalty program in March 2016, Nintendo released My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a Picross puzzle game developed by Jupiter for download to the Nintendo 3DS Midna, in both her imp and Twili forms, Zant, and NPC character Agitha, all appeared as playable warriors in the Zelda crossover title Hyrule Warriors and its various iterations  Since the release of Hyrule Warriors, Agitha has been recognised as a "main character" of Twilight Princess 

See also
Link's Crossbow Training, a 2007 shooting video game created for the Wii Zapper, using the world and assets of Twilight Princess

Notes
Passage 6:
Judgement of God
Judgement of God (French: Le Jugement de Dieu), is a French drama film from 1952, directed by Raymond Bernard, written by Pierre Montazel, and starring by Andrée Debar and Louis de Funès  The screenplay was based on the German legend from the 15th century  The German title is Agnes Bernauer 

Cast
Andrée Debar : Agnes Bernauer
Jean-Claude Pascal : Albert III, Duke of Bavaria
Pierre Renoir : Ernest, Duke of Bavaria
Gabrielle Dorziat : Josepha, Prince Albert's aunt
Jean Barrère : Count Törring
Olivier Hussenot : Mr Bernauer, the father of Agnès and Marie (the barber)
Louis Seigner : the burgomaster (mayor)
André Wasley : the captain
Jacques Dynam : a soldier
Max Dalban : a butcher
Jean Clarieux : the leader of the outlaws
Marcel Raine : the minister
Louis de Funès : the burgomaster's emissary
Georges Douking : Enrique (the monk)



ground_truth: trying to find a potential buyer for all of its operations in Finland

FIN

fi

Finland

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: In what year was Twilight Princess from the game series on which The Legend of Neil was based originally planned for release?

The following are given passages.
Context 4: The King's Speech won the People's Choice Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, Best British Independent Film at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards, and the 2011 Goya Award for Best European Film from the Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España (Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science) 

See also
Bertie & Elizabeth (2002), a television film which also addresses the stammering of the king (played by James Wilby)  It was a co-production of PBS (Masterpiece Theatre) and Carlton Television 
Passage 3:
Gunhilde
Gunhilde (or Gunnhild) (died 13 November 1002) is said to have been the sister of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, and the daughter of Harald Bluetooth  She was married to Pallig, a Dane who served the King of England, Æthelred the Unready, as ealdorman of Devonshire She is supposed to have been a hostage in England when she was killed in the St  Brice's Day massacre, ordered by Æthelred  Pallig is reported alternatively to have been killed in the massacre or to have provoked the massacre by deserting Æthelred's service Historians are divided about the strength of the evidence that she was Sweyn Forkbeard's sister  Ryan Lavelle is sceptical of the reliability of the later medieval sources, such as the Chronicle of John of Wallingford, which mention her  However, Frank Stenton described the claim as a "well recorded tradition", and considered that a desire to avenge her death was probably a principal motive for Sweyn's invasion of England in 1003, leading to the eventual conquest of England by his son Cnut 
Passage 4:
George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952  He was also the last Emperor of India from 1936 until the British Raj was dissolved in August 1947, and the first Head of the Commonwealth following the London Declaration of 1949 
The future George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort, and was known as "Bertie" to his family and close friends  His father ascended the throne as George V in 1910  As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne  He spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince Edward, the heir apparent  Albert attended naval college as a teenager and served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War  In 1920, he was made Duke of York  He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923, and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret  In the mid-1920s, he engaged speech therapist Lionel Logue to treat his stutter, which he learned to manage to some degree  His elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but Edward abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson  As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert thereby became the third monarch of the House of Windsor, taking the regnal name George VI 
In September 1939, the British Empire and most Commonwealth countries—but not Ireland—declared war on Nazi Germany  War with the Kingdom of Italy and the Empire of Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively  George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared  Buckingham Palace was bombed during the Blitz while the King and Queen were there, and his younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed on active service  George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war  Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, but the British Empire declined  Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947  George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth  He was beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign and died at Sandringham House, aged 56, of a coronary thrombosis in 1952  He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II 

Early life
Albert was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria  His father was Prince George, Duke of York (later King George V), the second and only surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra)  His mother, the Duchess of York (later Queen Mary), was the eldest child and only daughter of Francis, Duke of Teck, and Princess Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck  His birthday, 14 December 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort  Uncertain of how the Prince Consort's widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been "rather distressed"  Two days later, he wrote again: "I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her "The Queen was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, and wrote to the Duchess of York: "I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me, especially as he will be called by that dear name which is a byword for all that is great and good " Consequently, he was baptised "Albert Frederick Arthur George" at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham on 17 February 1896  Formally he was His Highness Prince Albert of York; within the royal family he was known informally as "Bertie"  The Duchess of Teck did not like the first name her grandson had been given, and she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name "may supplant the less favoured one"  Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather, father and elder brother, Edward 
Albert was ill often and was described as "easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears"  His parents were generally removed from their children's day-to-day upbringing, as was the norm in aristocratic families of that era  He had a stutter that lasted for many years  Although naturally left-handed, he was forced to write with his right hand, as was common practice at the time  He had chronic stomach problems as well as knock knees, for which he was forced to wear painful corrective splints Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, and the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII  Prince Albert moved up to third in line to the throne, after his father and elder brother 

Military career and education
Beginning in 1909, Albert attended the Royal Naval College, Osborne, as a naval cadet  In 1911 he came bottom of the class in the final examination, but despite this he progressed to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth  When his grandfather Edward VII died in 1910, his father became King George V  Prince Edward became Prince of Wales, with Albert second in line to the throne Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the training ship HMS Cumberland in the West Indies and on the east coast of Canada  He was rated as a midshipman aboard HMS Collingwood on 15 September 1913  He spent three months in the Mediterranean, but never overcame his seasickness  Three weeks after the outbreak of World War I he was medically evacuated from the ship to Aberdeen, where his appendix was removed by Sir John Marnoch  He was mentioned in dispatches for his actions as a turret officer aboard Collingwood in the Battle of Jutland (31 May – 1 June 1916), the great naval battle of the war  He did not see further combat, largely because of ill health caused by a duodenal ulcer, for which he had an operation in November 1917 In February 1918 Albert was appointed Officer in Charge of Boys at the Royal Naval Air Service's training establishment at Cranwell  With the establishment of the Royal Air Force Albert transferred from the Royal Navy to the Royal Air Force  He served as Officer Commanding Number 4 Squadron of the Boys' Wing at Cranwell until August 1918, before reporting for duty on the staff of the RAF's Cadet Brigade at St Leonards-on-Sea and then at Shorncliffe  He completed a fortnight's training and took command of a squadron on the Cadet Wing  He was the first member of the British royal family to be certified as a fully qualified pilot Albert wanted to serve on the Continent while the war was still in progress and welcomed a posting to General Trenchard's staff in France  On 23 October, he flew across the Channel to Autigny  For the closing weeks of the war, he served on the staff of the RAF's Independent Air Force at its headquarters in Nancy, France  Following the disbanding of the Independent Air Force in November 1918, he remained on the Continent for two months as an RAF staff officer until posted back to Britain  He accompanied King Albert I of Belgium on his triumphal re-entry into Brussels on 22 November  Prince Albert qualified as an RAF pilot on 31 July 1919 and was promoted to squadron leader the following day In October 1919, Albert went up to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied history, economics and civics for a year, with the historian R  V  Laurence as his "official mentor"  On 4 June 1920 his father created him Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killarney  He began to take on more royal duties  He represented his father and toured coal mines, factories, and railyards  Through such visits he acquired the nickname of the "Industrial Prince"  His stutter, and his embarrassment over it, together with a tendency to shyness, caused him to appear less confident in public than his older brother, Edward  However, he was physically active and enjoyed playing tennis  He played at Wimbledon in the Men's Doubles with Louis Greig in 1926, losing in the first round  He developed an interest in working conditions, and was president of the Industrial Welfare Society  His series of annual summer camps for boys between 1921 and 1939 brought together boys from different social backgrounds 

Marriage
In a time when royalty were expected to marry fellow royalty, it was unusual that Albert had a great deal of freedom in choosing a prospective wife  An infatuation with the already-married Australian socialite Lady Loughborough came to an end in April 1920 when the King, with the promise of the dukedom of York, persuaded Albert to stop seeing her  That year, he met for the first time since childhood Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the youngest daughter of the Earl and Countess of Strathmore  He became determined to marry her  Elizabeth rejected his proposal twice, in 1921 and 1922, reportedly because she was reluctant to make the sacrifices necessary to become a member of the royal family  In the words of Lady Strathmore, Albert would be "made or marred" by his choice of wife  After a protracted courtship, Elizabeth agreed to marry him Albert and Elizabeth were married on 26 April 1923 in Westminster Abbey  Albert's marriage to someone not of royal birth was considered a modernising gesture  The newly formed British Broadcasting Company wished to record and broadcast the event on radio, but the Abbey Chapter vetoed the idea (although the Dean, Herbert Edward Ryle, was in favour) 

From December 1924 to April 1925, the Duke and Duchess toured Kenya, Uganda, and the Sudan, travelling via the Suez Canal and Aden  During the trip, they both went big-game hunting Because of his stutter, Albert dreaded public speaking  After his closing speech at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley on 31 October 1925, one which was an ordeal for both him and his listeners, he began to see Lionel Logue, an Australian-born speech therapist  The Duke and Logue practised breathing exercises, and the Duchess rehearsed with him patiently  Subsequently, he was able to speak with less hesitation  With his delivery improved, Albert opened the new Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, during a tour of the empire with the Duchess in 1927  Their journey by sea to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji took them via Jamaica, where Albert played doubles tennis partnered with a black man, Bertrand Clark, which was unusual at the time and taken locally as a display of equality between races The Duke and Duchess had two children: Elizabeth (called "Lilibet" by the family, and the future Elizabeth II) who was born in 1926, and Margaret who was born in 1930  The close family lived at White Lodge, Richmond Park, and then at 145 Piccadilly, rather than one of the royal palaces  In 1931, the Canadian prime minister, R  B  Bennett, considered Albert for Governor General of Canada—a proposal that King George V rejected on the advice of the Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, J  H  Thomas 

Reign
Reluctant king
King George V had severe reservations about Prince Edward, saying "After I am dead, the boy will ruin himself in twelve months" and "I pray God that my eldest son will never marry and that nothing will come between Bertie and Lilibet and the throne " On 20 January 1936, George V died and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII  In the Vigil of the Princes, Prince Albert and his three brothers (the new king, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Prince George, Duke of Kent) took a shift standing guard over their father's body as it lay in state, in a closed casket, in Westminster Hall 
As Edward was unmarried and had no children, Albert was the heir presumptive to the throne  Less than a year later, on 11 December 1936, Edward abdicated in order to marry Wallis Simpson, who was divorced from her first husband and divorcing her second  Edward had been advised by British prime minister Stanley Baldwin that he could not remain king and marry a divorced woman with two living ex-husbands  He abdicated and Albert, though he had been reluctant to accept the throne, became king  The day before the abdication, Albert went to London to see his mother, Queen Mary  He wrote in his diary, "When I told her what had happened, I broke down and sobbed like a child "On the day of Edward's abdication, the Oireachtas, the parliament of the Irish Free State, removed all direct mention of the monarch from the Irish constitution  The next day, it passed the External Relations Act, which gave the monarch limited authority (strictly on the advice of the government) to appoint diplomatic representatives for Ireland and to be involved in the making of foreign treaties  The two acts made the Irish Free State a republic in essence without removing its links to the Commonwealth Across Britain, gossip spread that Albert was physically and psychologically incapable of being king  No evidence has been found to support the contemporaneous rumour that the government considered bypassing him, his children and his brother Prince Henry, in favour of their younger brother Prince George, Duke of Kent  This seems to have been suggested on the grounds that Prince George was at that time the only brother with a son 

Early reign
Albert assumed the regnal name "George VI" to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy  The beginning of George VI's reign was taken up by questions surrounding his predecessor and brother, whose titles, style and position were uncertain  He had been introduced as "His Royal Highness Prince Edward" for the abdication broadcast, but George VI felt that by abdicating and renouncing the succession, Edward had lost the right to bear royal titles, including "Royal Highness"  In settling the issue, George's first act as king was to confer upon his brother the title "Duke of Windsor" with the style "Royal Highness", but the letters patent creating the dukedom prevented any wife or children from bearing royal styles  George VI was forced to buy from Edward the royal residences of Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House, as these were private properties and did not pass to him automatically  Three days after his accession, on his 41st birthday, he invested his wife, the new queen consort, with the Order of the Garter 

George VI's coronation at Westminster Abbey took place on 12 May 1937, the date previously intended for Edward's coronation  In a break with tradition, his mother Queen Mary attended the ceremony in a show of support for her son  There was no Durbar held in Delhi for George VI, as had occurred for his father, as the cost would have been a burden to the Government of India  Rising Indian nationalism made the welcome that the royal party would have received likely to be muted at best, and a prolonged absence from Britain would have been undesirable in the tense period before the Second World War  Two overseas tours were undertaken, to France and to North America, both of which promised greater strategic advantages in the event of war The growing likelihood of war in Europe dominated the early reign of George VI  The King was constitutionally bound to support British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler  When the King and Queen greeted Chamberlain on his return from negotiating the Munich Agreement in 1938, they invited him to appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with them  This public association of the monarchy with a politician was exceptional, as balcony appearances were traditionally restricted to the royal family  While broadly popular among the general public, Chamberlain's policy towards Hitler was the subject of some opposition in the House of Commons, which led historian John Grigg to describe George's behaviour in associating himself so prominently with a politician as "the most unconstitutional act by a British sovereign in the present century" 

In May and June 1939, the King and Queen toured Canada and the United States; it was the first visit of a reigning British monarch to North America, although George had been to Canada prior to his accession  From Ottawa, George and Elizabeth were accompanied by Canadian prime minister Mackenzie King, to present themselves in North America as King and Queen of Canada  Both Mackenzie King and the Canadian governor general, Lord Tweedsmuir, hoped that George's presence in Canada would demonstrate the principles of the Statute of Westminster 1931, which gave full sovereignty to the British Dominions  On 19 May, George personally accepted and approved the Letter of Credence of the new U S  ambassador to Canada, Daniel Calhoun Roper; gave royal assent to nine parliamentary bills; and ratified two   international treaties with the Great Seal of Canada  The official royal tour historian, Gustave Lanctot, wrote "the Statute of Westminster had assumed full reality" and George gave a speech emphasising "the free and equal association of the nations of the Commonwealth" The trip was intended to soften the strong isolationist tendencies among the North American public with regard to the developing tensions in Europe  Although the aim of the tour was mainly political, to shore up Atlantic support for the United Kingdom in any future war, the King and Queen were enthusiastically received by the public  The fear that George would be compared unfavourably to his predecessor was dispelled  They visited the 1939 New York World's Fair and stayed with President Franklin D  Roosevelt at the White House and at his private estate at Hyde Park, New York  A strong bond of friendship was forged between Roosevelt and the royal couple during the tour, which had major significance in the relations between the United States and the United Kingdom through the ensuing war years 

Second World War
Following the German invasion of Poland in September 1939, the United Kingdom and the self-governing Dominions other than Ireland declared war on Nazi Germany  The King and Queen resolved to stay in London, despite German bombing raids  They officially stayed in Buckingham Palace throughout the war, although they usually spent nights at Windsor Castle  The first night of the Blitz on London, on 7 September 1940, killed about one thousand civilians, mostly in the East End  On 13 September, the couple narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were there  In defiance, Elizabeth declared: "I am glad we have been bombed  It makes me feel we can look the East End in the face " The royal family were portrayed as sharing the same dangers and deprivations as the rest of the country  They were subject to British rationing restrictions, and U S  First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt remarked on the rationed food served and the limited bathwater that was permitted during a stay at the unheated and boarded-up Palace  In August 1942, the King's brother, the Duke of Kent, was killed on active service 

In 1940, Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, though personally George would have preferred to appoint Lord Halifax  After the King's initial dismay over Churchill's appointment of Lord Beaverbrook to the Cabinet, he and Churchill developed "the closest personal relationship in modern British history between a monarch and a Prime Minister"  Every Tuesday for four and a half years from September 1940, the two men met privately for lunch to discuss the war in secret and with frankness  George related much of what the two discussed in his diary, which is the only extant first-hand account of these conversations Throughout the war, George and Elizabeth provided morale-boosting visits throughout the United Kingdom, visiting bomb sites, munitions factories, and troops  George visited military forces abroad in France in December 1939, North Africa and Malta in June 1943, Normandy in June 1944, southern Italy in July 1944, and the Low Countries in October 1944  Their high public profile and apparently indefatigable determination secured their place as symbols of national resistance  At a social function in 1944, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Field Marshal Alan Brooke, revealed that every time he met Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, he thought Montgomery was after his job  George replied: "You should worry, when I meet him, I always think he's after mine!"In 1945, crowds shouted "We want the King!" in front of Buckingham Palace during the Victory in Europe Day celebrations  In an echo of Chamberlain's appearance, the King invited Churchill to appear with the royal family on the balcony to public acclaim  In January 1946, George addressed the United Nations at its first assembly, which was held in London, and reaffirmed "our faith in the equal rights of men and women and of nations great and small" 

Empire to Commonwealth
George VI's reign saw the acceleration of the dissolution of the British Empire  The Statute of Westminster 1931 had already acknowledged the evolution of the Dominions into separate sovereign states  The process of transformation from an empire to a voluntary association of independent states, known as the Commonwealth, gathered pace after the Second World War  During the ministry of Clement Attlee, British India became the two independent Dominions of India and Pakistan in August 1947  George relinquished the title of Emperor of India, and became King of India and King of Pakistan instead  In late April 1949, the Commonwealth leaders issued the London Declaration, which laid the foundation of the modern Commonwealth and recognised George as Head of the Commonwealth  In January 1950, he ceased to be King of India when it became a republic  He remained King of Pakistan until his death  Other countries left the Commonwealth, such as Burma in January 1948, Palestine (divided between Israel and the Arab states) in May 1948 and the Republic of Ireland in 1949 In 1947, George and his family toured southern Africa  The prime minister of the Union of South Africa, Jan Smuts, was facing an election and hoped to make political capital out of the visit  George was appalled, however, when instructed by the South African government to shake hands only with whites, and referred to his South African bodyguards as "the Gestapo"  Despite the tour, Smuts lost the election the following year, and the new government instituted a strict policy of racial segregation 

Illness and death
The stress of the war had taken its toll on George's health, made worse by his heavy smoking, and subsequent development of lung cancer among other ailments, including arteriosclerosis and Buerger's disease  A planned tour of Australia and New Zealand was postponed after George developed an arterial blockage in his right leg, which threatened the loss of the leg and was treated with a right lumbar sympathectomy in March 1949  His elder daughter and heir presumptive, Elizabeth, took on more royal duties as her father's health deteriorated  The delayed tour was re-organised, with Princess Elizabeth and her husband, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, taking the place of the King and Queen 
George was well enough to open the Festival of Britain in May 1951, but on 4 June it was announced that he would need immediate and complete rest for the next four weeks, despite the arrival of Haakon VII of Norway the following afternoon for an official visit  On 23 September 1951, he underwent a surgical operation where his entire left lung was removed by Clement Price Thomas after a malignant tumour was found  In October 1951, Elizabeth and Philip went on a month-long tour of Canada; the trip had been delayed for a week due to George's illness  At the State Opening of Parliament in November, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Simonds, read the King's speech from the throne  The King's Christmas broadcast of 1951 was recorded in sections, and then edited together On 31 January 1952, despite advice from those close to him, George went to London Airport to see Elizabeth and Philip off on their tour to Australia via Kenya  It was his last public appearance  Six days later, at 07:30 GMT on the morning of 6 February, he was found dead in bed at Sandringham House in Norfolk  He had died in the night from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 56  His daughter flew back to Britain from Kenya as Queen Elizabeth II From 9 February George's coffin rested in St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham, before lying in state at Westminster Hall from 11 February  His funeral took place at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on the 15th  He was interred initially in the Royal Vault until he was transferred to the King George VI Memorial Chapel inside St George's on 26 March 1969  In 2002, fifty years after his death, the remains of his widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the ashes of his younger daughter, Princess Margaret, who both died that year, were interred in the chapel alongside him  In 2022, the remains of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, were also interred in the chapel 

Legacy
In the words of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) George Hardie, the abdication crisis of 1936 did "more for republicanism than fifty years of propaganda"  George VI wrote to his brother Edward that in the aftermath of the abdication he had reluctantly assumed "a rocking throne" and tried "to make it steady again"  He became king at a point when public faith in the monarchy was at a low ebb  During his reign, his people endured the hardships of war, and imperial power was eroded  However, as a dutiful family man and by showing personal courage, he succeeded in restoring the popularity of the monarchy The George Cross and the George Medal were founded at the King's suggestion during the Second World War to recognise acts of exceptional civilian bravery  He bestowed the George Cross on the entire "island fortress of Malta" in 1943  He was posthumously awarded the Order of Liberation by the French government in 1960, one of only two people (the other being Churchill in 1958) to be awarded the medal after 1946 Colin Firth won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as George VI in the 2010 film The King's Speech 

Titles, honours and arms
As Duke of York, Albert bore the royal arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing an anchor azure—a difference earlier awarded to his father, George V, when he was Duke of York, and then later awarded to his grandson Prince Andrew, Duke of York  As king, he bore the royal arms undifferenced 

Issue
Ancestry
Notes
Passage 5:
Raymond Márquez
Raymond Márquez (born 1930), a k a  "Spanish Raymond", is an American criminal  He was the "king" of the illegal numbers racket in Harlem from the 1950s until his retirement in 2001 

Early years
Márquez's parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York City in the late 1920s and settled in the Harlem section of Manhattan  He was born and raised in Harlem; there he also received his primary and secondary education  His father was able to establish a grocery store; however, the family economic situation was not a good one and when Márquez graduated from Textile High School in 1947, at the age of 17, his parents were unable to send him to college 

Harlem numbers racket and legal battles
In 1947, Márquez looked upon people who were prosperous, well dressed and involved in numbers activities as his role models  He began his career in the Harlem numbers racket as a pickup boy  As a pick up boy, he would go around Harlem, gathering the betting slips from the runners  The runners are those who solicited the wagers from the betting customers  Márquez would then turn in the slips to a regional controller and eventually the listed slips would end up at the headquarters of the gambling organization, known as a bank  Márquez branched out for himself within a year and gained a reputation for paying winning customers promptly Márquez had few legal scrapes during his early years  By 1958, law enforcement authorities publicly identified him as an underworld kingpin  and that is when an investigator from the New York Police Department (NYPD), nicknamed him "Spanish Raymond", a moniker which has stood since then  Also in 1958, Márquez was accused in a killing related to his gambling activities  A grand jury failed to indict him for the murder  Márquez acknowledged bribing the police in the 1950s and 1960s to prevent raids on his illicit network  Márquez also was believed to have paid a percentage of his profits to Mafia boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno  Márquez denied that he did business with the Mafia, and said that while he was friends with Salerno he was not a business partner 

First conviction
In 1969, Márquez was arrested by the FBI on Federal gambling and extortion charges  He was convicted and sentenced to concurrent terms of three and five years imprisonment  He served a total of five years from 1970 to 1975  In 1975  he was released and continued in his former activities  This was during the post Knapp Commission era in which the NYPD was the focus of a scandal arising from pervasive corruption and the crackdown on the numbers racket was sidelined due to a moratorium on numbers gambling resulting from concerns that systemic corruption of the NYPD would continue to flourish  Protection payoffs to the police were no longer necessary Two years after his release from prison, in 1977, Márquez was briefly kidnapped, and was freed after payment of $8,100 in jewelry as ransom by his wife  He was found in the trunk of his car in Flushing, Queens  Márquez was identified in The New York Times as allegedly running a $25 million a year numbers racket Márquez received attention in the late 1970s, when a New York State Supreme Court justice, Andrew Tyler, was convicted of perjury for allegedly lying about a meeting with Márquez in 1975  The conviction was overturned in 1978 

Controversial investments
In April 1994, he was arrested on state gambling charges  Prosecutors claimed that he had amassed a small fortune by illegal means and that therefore said fortune should be confiscated  The indictment led to a legal battle over attempts by city authorities to seize $6 5 million from him in unpaid taxes from wealth that they say was generated by illegal activities from 1990 to 1993  The prosecutors contended that Márquez and his organization handled about $30 million a year in wagers that were made at 41 parlors and that his organization faxed the reported earnings to his wife's yacht  His wife, Alice, also pleaded guilty to a gambling charge Márquez claimed that his wife had accumulated a fortune, including three motels, a 63-foot yacht and a home in Great Neck, New York, through legitimate investments  It was later shown that the home, the yacht and motels had all been acquired prior to 1990 In 1995, Márquez was indicted on 221 counts of running a criminal enterprise  The charges were reduced to two counts, a "C" felony for attempted enterprise corruption and "E" felony for promoting gambling 

Dramatic arrests
On January 13, 1995, 500 NYPD police officers raided 69 locations, including nearly a dozen money banks, which were allegedly under the Márquez family's control  Police arrested 75 employees on felony gambling charges, confiscated over $100,000 in cash, and seized over a dozen keys to safety deposit boxes According to a law enforcement official, the operation was managed by his two nephews, Peter and Robert Márquez Jr , grossed between $25 and $30 million per year, and was headquartered in a row of four contiguous buildings on St  Nicholas Avenue and 113th Street which were connected by a series of doors, tunnels and trapdoors  Robert and Peter Márquez were arrested, along with their sister, Christine, and father Fernando 

An ill-advised plea bargain
In April 1996, Márquez pleaded guilty after making an agreement with the District Attorney's office to forfeit $1 million and to serve a 90-day jail sentence with four years and nine months of probation However, it was discovered by the Appeals Bureau at the D A 's office that a split sentence with a "C" felony was reserved only for those with a narcotics conviction, thus making the deal invalid  Márquez's lawyer sought to withdraw the guilty plea, which was denied by the court  Márquez was sentenced to five years' probation and a $1 million fine In 1998, Márquez and three associates were indicted on 52 counts and charged with running a criminal organization, in the culmination of a year-long NYPD investigation  The prosecution built a case on circumstantial evidence consisting of recordings of Márquez's cell-phone conversations and numerous surveillance videos and photographs of him driving by reputed gambling parlors  Márquez, who was represented by his son, claimed that he was doing research on his autobiography and that was the reason that he showed up on the surveillance tapes  He and three co-defendants were all acquitted after a three-month trial 

Lawsuit against New York City
In 2001, Márquez sued the City of New York for $15 million, claiming that he contracted bladder cancer caused by the secondhand cigarette smoke he inhaled at Rikers Island and the Tombs while confined there for 29 months in the 1990s  Márquez admitted he smoked for three decades before quitting in the 1970s  His son and lawyer, David Márquez, maintained that he had not inhaled deeply when he smoked, that the ventilation system at Rikers Island was inadequate, and that by the time he went to Rikers he hadn't smoked in 23 years  In 2008, a jury rejected the claim after a trial in New York State Supreme Court 

Retirement
Márquez announced his retirement in 2001, saying that he was fed up of being targeted by the office of Manhattan's District Attorney Robert M  Morgenthau  In an interview with the New York Daily News, Márquez described the numbers game as "a source of entertainment to the people" and professed his innocence to the various criminal charges that had been leveled against him over the years  Prosecutors responded that Márquez's "saint act doesn't ring true" and that numbers rackets enforce their control through violence Márquez runs and manages hotels in Commack, Long Island, and Fort Lauderdale, Florida  In 2011, Márquez was targeted by New York City authorities for owing $1 6 million in unincorporated business taxes, making him one of the city's top scofflaws  His son said Márquez would never pay it, saying that Márquez was judgement-proof 

See also
List of Puerto Ricans

Further reading
Gangsters of Harlem by Ron Chepesiuk; Publisher: Barricade Books; ISBN 1-56980-318-8; ISBN 978-1-56980-318-9



ground_truth: 2005