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Italian battleship Duilio

Dreadnought battleship of the Italian Royal Navy

Duilio (often known as Caio Duilio) was an Italian Andrea Doria-class battleship that served in the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. She was named after the Roman fleet commander Gaius Duilius. Duilio was laid down in February 1912, launched in April 1913, and completed in May 1916. She was initially armed with a main battery of thirteen 305 mm (12.0 in) guns, but a major reconstruction in the late 1930s replaced these with ten 320 mm (13 in) guns. Duilio saw no action during World War I owing to the inactivity of the Austro-Hungarian fleet during the conflict. She cruised the Mediterranean in the 1920s and was involved in the Corfu incident in 1923. During World War II, she participated in numerous patrols and sorties into the Mediterranean, both to escort Italian convoys to North Africa and in attempts to catch the British Mediterranean Fleet. In November 1940, the British launched an air raid on Taranto; Duilio was hit by one torpedo launched by a Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber, which caused significant damage. Repairs lasted some five months, after which the ship returned to convoy escort duties. A fuel shortage immobilized the bulk of the Italian surface fleet in 1942, and Duilio remained out of service until the Italian surrender in September 1943. She was thereafter interned at Malta until 1944, when the Allies permitted her return to Italian waters. She survived the war, and continued to serve in the post-war Italian navy, primarily as a training ship. Duilio was placed in reserve for a final time in 1953; she remained in the Italian navy's inventory for another three years before she was stricken from the naval register in late 1956 and sold for scrapping the following year. ## Design Duilio was 176 meters (577 ft) long overall and had a beam of 28 m (92 ft) and a draft of 9.4 m (31 ft). At full combat load, she displaced up to 24,715 metric tons (24,325 long tons; 27,244 short tons). She had a crew of 35 officers and 1,198 enlisted men. She was powered by four Parsons steam turbines, with steam provided by eight oil-fired and twelve coal and oil burning Yarrow boilers. The boilers were trunked into two large funnels. The engines were rated at 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW), which provided a top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). She had a cruising radius of 4,800 nautical miles (8,900 km; 5,500 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph). The ship was armed with a main battery of thirteen 305 mm (12.0 in) 46-caliber guns in three triple turrets and two twin turrets. The secondary battery comprised sixteen 152 mm (6.0 in) 45-caliber guns, all mounted in casemates clustered around the forward and aft main battery turrets. Duilio was also armed with thirteen 76 mm (3.0 in) 50-caliber guns and six 76-mm anti-aircraft guns. As was customary for capital ships of the period, she was equipped with three submerged 450 mm (18 in) torpedo tubes. She was protected with Krupp cemented steel manufactured by U.S. Steel. The belt armor was 254 mm (10.0 in) thick and the main deck was 98 mm (3.9 in) thick. The conning tower and main battery turrets were protected with 280 mm (11 in) worth of armor plating. ### Modifications Duilio was extensively rebuilt in 1937–1940 at Genoa. Her forecastle deck was extended further aft, until it reached the mainmast. The stern and bow were rebuilt, increasing the length of the ship to 186.9 m (613 ft), and the displacement grew to 28,882 t (28,426 long tons; 31,837 short tons). Her old machinery was replaced with more efficient equipment and her twenty boilers were replaced with eight oil-fired models; the new power plant was rated at 75,000 shp (56,000 kW) and speed increased to 26 kn (48 km/h; 30 mph). The ship's amidships turret was removed and the remaining guns were bored out to 320 mm (13 in). Her secondary battery was completely overhauled; the 152 mm guns were replaced with twelve 135 mm (5.3 in) guns in triple turrets amidships. The anti-aircraft battery was significantly improved, to include ten 90 mm (3.5 in) guns, fifteen 37 mm (1.5 in) 54-cal. guns, and sixteen 20 mm (0.79 in) guns. Later, during World War II, four more 37 mm guns were installed and two of the 20 mm guns were removed. After emerging from the modernization, Duilio's crew numbered 35 officers and 1,450 enlisted men. ## Service history Duilio was laid down at the Regio Cantieri di Castellammare di Stabia on 24 February 1912. She was launched on 24 April 1913, and completed on 10 May 1916. She saw no action in World War I, given the fact that the Austro-Hungarian fleet, Italy's main naval rival, remained in port for the duration of the conflict. In addition, Admiral Paolo Thaon di Revel, the Italian naval chief of staff, believed that Austro-Hungarian submarines and minelayers could operate too effectively in the narrow waters of the Adriatic. The threat from these underwater weapons to his capital ships was too serious for him to use the fleet in an active way. Instead, Revel decided to implement blockade at the relatively safer southern end of the Adriatic with the battle fleet, while smaller vessels, such as the MAS boats, conducted raids on Austro-Hungarian ships and installations. Meanwhile, Revel's battleships would be preserved to confront the Austro-Hungarian battle fleet in the event that it sought a decisive engagement. As a result, Duilio only went on four patrols during the war, and was operational for a total of 70 hours. She was based at Taranto starting in November 1918 to April 1919, but during that time, she deployed to Corfu, from 10 November 1918 to 26 January 1919. On 26 April 1919, Duilio was sent to Smyrna to help mediate a dispute over ownership of the area. While there, she had a confrontation with the Greek armored cruiser Georgios Averof, but this was defused when the Greeks landed troops to occupy Smyrna. On 9 June, she was relieved by the old pre-dreadnought battleship Roma, allowing her to move to Constantinople. During her deployment to Turkey, Duilio entered the Black Sea to support the White Russians in the Russian Civil War, from 23 June to 13 July. During this period, she was transferred to the Levant Squadron of the Italian Navy. She returned to Izmir after completing her deployment to the Black Sea, and remained there until 9 September, when she was relieved by the battleship Giulio Cesare. She returned to Taranto on 12 September, and was placed in reserve. Placed back into service in 1920, Duilio went to Albania on 30 June to support the Italian Army contingent occupying the country, and participated in their withdrawal on 5 September. The following year, she was assigned to the Dodecanese Squadron and cruised in the eastern Mediterranean. She returned to Constantinople as part of an Allied fleet from 27 July to 10 November 1921. During the 1923 Corfu incident with Greece, the Italian Navy, including Duilio, was deployed to occupy the island of Corfu following the murder of Enrico Tellini and four others. Later that year, she escorted the battleship Dante Alighieri on a state visit to Spain. A magazine explosion on 8 April 1925 wrecked the No. 3 turret's barbette hoist. The ship went into reserve while repairs were effected in La Spezia, which lasted until April 1928. She underwent refitting at Taranto from 18 March to 15 June 1930. She again went into reserve on 11 August 1932 until 11 August 1933, when she was made the flagship of the Commanding Officer, Reserve Fleet. Starting on 19 March 1937, she was taken to Genoa where an extensive reconstruction began at the Cantieri del Tirreno shipyard. The work was completed on 15 July 1940, at which point she was recommissioned into the 5th Division of the 1st Squadron, based in Taranto. ### World War II Duilio's first wartime patrol took place on 31 August. She and the rest of the fleet sailed to intercept the British battleship HMS Valiant, which was steaming to Alexandria, and a convoy sailing to Malta. The Italian fleet did not have sufficient aerial reconnaissance, which, along with bad weather, prevented the Italians from locating the British forces. They put back in to Taranto on 1 September. Duilio again put to sea on 7 September, in an attempt to catch the British Force H, but the Italian intelligence was faulty, as Force H was in the process of attacking Dakar. Duilio returned to Taranto, where she remained until early November. #### Attack at Taranto On the night of 10–11 November, the British Mediterranean Fleet launched a surprise air raid on the harbor in Taranto. Twenty-one Swordfish torpedo bombers launched from the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious attacked the Italian fleet in two waves. They scored one hit on Duilio, three hits on Littorio, and one on Conte di Cavour. The torpedo hit Duilio on her starboard side; it tore an 11-by-7-meter (36 by 23 ft) hole in the hull and flooded the forward main battery magazines. A water tanker and several smaller craft pushed the battleship aground in shallow water to prevent her from sinking in the harbor. Temporary repairs were effected, and in January 1941, she was refloated and sent to Genoa for permanent repairs, which began on 26 January. While Duilio was in dock for repairs, the British Force H departed from its normal role as a convoy escort in the western Mediterranean in early February to attack Genoa. Admiral James Somerville's surface ships fired over a thousand shells at the port, and aircraft of the carrier HMS Ark Royal dropped magnetic mines in the harbor. Five ships were sunk, but Duilio was not hit in the attack. During the attack, Duilio's anti-aircraft battery fired some 8,000 rounds at the British spotter aircraft. Repair work was completed by May, and on 16 May she was back in Taranto in the 1st Squadron. #### Later service Duilio, now the flagship of the Italian fleet, sailed on 29 November to cover an Italian convoy to North Africa. She was escorted by the cruiser Giuseppe Garibaldi and six destroyers. She sailed again on 13 December, to cover the convoy M41; the Italian fleet was forced to break off the convoy escort after Vittorio Veneto was torpedoed. Duilio returned to port on the 14th, and departed to cover the convoy M42 two days later. She was stationed south of Messina with three cruisers and four destroyers. During the convoy operation, British forces attacked, resulting in the First Battle of Sirte, but Duilio's group was too far away to engage the Royal Navy. She returned to Taranto on 19 December. She escorted convoy M43 on 3–6 January 1942, which successfully reached Tripoli unmolested. Convoy T18 followed on 22–5 January, and four of the five transports in the convoy reached Tripoli. Duilio's next operation was a sortie against the British convoy MW 9 bounded from Alexandria to Malta in February. She departed from Taranto on 14 February with a pair of light cruisers and seven destroyers, but the force could not locate the British ships, and so returned to port. Her mere presence at sea, however, forced the British escort to scuttle the transport Rowallan Castle, previously disabled by German aircraft. On the 21st, she escorted the convoy K7 from Messina and Corfu to Taranto. By this point in 1942, the Italian fleet began to suffer a severe shortage of fuel, which curtailed its operations. The situation was so bad that Duilio had to be placed in reserve and drained of fuel, in order to keep the escort craft operational. She was at Taranto when Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, and on 9 September she was taken to Malta, where she was interned with the rest of the Italian fleet. In June 1944, the Allies allowed Duilio to return to Italian ports; she spent the rest of the war in Taranto, Syracuse, and Augusta. She survived the war, and continued to serve in the Italian navy; she was the fleet flagship from 1 May 1947 until 10 November 1949, based in Taranto. She was moved to La Spezia in 1953 and removed from active service. Duilio remained there until she was stricken from the naval register on 15 September 1956. She was sold for scrapping the following year.

Spencer Tracy

American actor (1900–1967)

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two consecutive Academy Awards for Best Actor from nine nominations. During his career, he appeared in 75 films and developed a reputation among his peers as one of the screen's greatest actors. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Tracy as the 9th greatest male star of Classic Hollywood Cinema. Tracy first discovered his talent for acting while attending Ripon College, and he later received a scholarship for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He spent seven years in the theatre, working in a succession of stock companies and intermittently on Broadway. His breakthrough came in 1930, when his lead performance in The Last Mile caught the attention of Hollywood. After a successful film debut in John Ford's Up the River (in which he starred with Humphrey Bogart), he was signed to a contract with Fox Film Corporation. Tracy's five years with Fox featured one acting tour de force after another that were usually ignored at the box office, and he remained largely unknown to movie audiences after 25 films, nearly all of them starring him as the leading man. None of them were hits, although his performance in The Power and the Glory (1933) was highly praised at the time. In 1935, he joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), at the time Hollywood's most prestigious studio. His career flourished from his fifth MGM film Fury (1936) onwards, and in 1937 and 1938 he won consecutive Oscars for Captains Courageous and Boys Town. He teamed with Clark Gable, the studio's most prominent leading man for three major box office successes, so that by the early 1940s Tracy was one of MGM's top stars. In 1942, he appeared with Katharine Hepburn in Woman of the Year, beginning a professional and personal partnership, which led to nine films over 25 years. In 1955, Tracy won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Bad Day at Black Rock. Tracy left MGM in 1955, and continued to work regularly as a freelance star, despite several health issues and an increasing weariness and irritability as he aged. His personal life was troubled, with a lifelong struggle against severe alcoholism and guilt over his son's deafness. Tracy and his wife Louise became estranged in the 1930s, but the couple never divorced; his 25-year long relationship with Katharine Hepburn was an open secret. Towards the end of his life, Tracy worked almost exclusively for director Stanley Kramer. It was for Kramer that he made his last film, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), completed just 17 days before he died. ## Early life Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was born in Milwaukee on April 5, 1900, the second son of Caroline (née Brown; 1874–1942) and truck salesman John Edward Tracy (1873–1928). His mother was from a wealthy Presbyterian Midwestern family, while his father was of Irish Catholic descent. He had a brother Carroll, who was four years older. Tracy was a difficult and hyperactive child with poor school attendance. Raised Catholic, he was placed in the care of Dominican Order nuns at the age of nine in an attempt to transform his behavior. Later in life, he remarked that he "never would have gone back to school if there had been any other way of learning to read the subtitles in the movies". He became fascinated with movies, watching the same ones repeatedly and later re-enacting scenes to his friends and neighbors. He attended several Jesuit academies in his teenage years, which he claimed took the "badness" out of him and helped him improve his grades. At Marquette Academy, he began attending plays with lifelong friend and fellow actor Pat O'Brien, awakening his interest in the theatre. With little care for their studies and "itching for a chance to go and see some excitement", Tracy and O'Brien enlisted in the Navy together when Tracy turned 18. They were sent to the Naval Training Station in northern Illinois, where they were still students when World War I came to an end. Tracy achieved the rank of seaman second class, but never went to sea and was discharged in February 1919. His father's desire to see one of his sons gain a college degree drove Tracy back to high school to finish his diploma. Studies at two more institutions, plus the additional allowance of "war credits", won Tracy a place at Ripon College. He entered in February 1921, declaring his intention to major in medicine. Tracy was a popular student at Ripon, where he served as president of his hall and was involved in a number of college activities. He made his stage debut in June 1921, playing the male lead in The Truth. He was very well received in the role and quickly developed a passion for the stage; he was reportedly "obsessive about acting to the degree that he talked about little else". He and some friends formed an acting company called the Campus Players, which they took on tour. As a member of the college debate team, Tracy excelled in arguing and public speaking. It was during a tour with the debate team that he auditioned for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) in New York City. He was offered a scholarship to attend the school after performing a scene from one of his earlier roles. Tracy left Ripon and began classes at AADA in April 1922. O'Brien was also enrolled there and the two shared a small studio apartment. Money was scarce, and the two often lived on meals of rice and pretzels and shared one decent suit between them. Tracy was deemed fit to progress to the senior class, allowing him to join the academy's stock company. He made his New York debut in a play called The Wedding Guests, which opened in October 1922. He made his debut Broadway appearance three months later, playing a wordless robot in R.U.R. He graduated from AADA in March 1923. ## Career ### Stock theatre and Broadway (1923–1930) Immediately following graduation, Tracy joined a new stock company based in White Plains, New York where he was given peripheral roles. Unhappy there, he moved to a company in Cincinnati, but failed to make an impact. In November 1923, he landed a small part on Broadway in the comedy A Royal Fandango, starring Ethel Barrymore. Reviews for the show were poor and it closed after 25 performances; Tracy later said of the failure, "My ego took an awful beating." When he took a position with a struggling company in New Jersey, Tracy was living on an allowance of 35 cents a day. In January 1924, he played his first leading role with a company in Winnipeg, but the organization soon closed. Tracy finally achieved some success by joining forces with the notable stock manager William H. Wright in the spring of 1924. A stage partnership was formed with the young actress Selena Royle, who had already made her name on Broadway. It proved a popular draw and their productions were favorably received. One of these performances brought Tracy to the attention of a Broadway producer, who offered him the lead in a new play. The Sheepman previewed in October 1925, but it received poor reviews and closed after its trial run in Connecticut. Dejected, Tracy was forced back to Wright and the stock circuit. In the fall of 1926, Tracy was offered his third shot at Broadway: a role in a new George M. Cohan play called Yellow. Tracy swore that if the play failed to be a hit he would leave stock and work in a "regular" business instead. Tracy was nervous about working with Cohan, one of the most important figures in American theatre, but during rehearsals Cohan announced, "Tracy, you're the best goddamned actor I've ever seen!" Yellow opened on September 21; reviews were mixed but it ran for 135 performances. It was the beginning of an important collaboration for Tracy: "I'd have quit the stage completely," he later commented, "if it hadn't been for George M. Cohan." Cohan wrote a part specifically for Tracy in his next play, The Baby Cyclone. It opened on Broadway in September 1927 and was a hit. Tracy followed this success with another Cohan play, Whispering Friends, and in 1929 took over from Clark Gable in Conflict, a Broadway drama. Other roles followed, but it was the lead in Dread, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist Owen Davis that gave Tracy high hopes for success. The story of a man's descent into madness, Dread previewed in Brooklyn to an excellent reception, but on the next day—October 29—the New York stock market crashed. Unable to obtain funding, Dread did not open on Broadway. Following this disappointment, Tracy again considered leaving the theatre and returning to Milwaukee for a more stable life. In January 1930, Tracy was approached about a new play called The Last Mile. Looking to cast the lead role of a murderer on death row, producer Herman Shumlin met with Tracy, and later recounted: "beneath the surface, here was a man of passion, violence, sensitivity and desperation: no ordinary man, and just the man for the part." The Last Mile opened on Broadway in February, where Tracy's performance was met by a standing ovation that lasted 14 curtain calls. The Commonweal described him as "one of our best and most versatile young actors". The play was a hit with critics, and ran for 289 performances. ### Fox (1930–1935) In 1930, Broadway was being scouted to find actors to work in the new medium of sound films. Tracy was cast in two Vitaphone shorts (Taxi Talks and The Hard Guy), but he had not considered becoming a film actor: "I had no ambition in that direction and I was perfectly happy on the stage", he later explained in an interview. One person who saw Tracy in The Last Mile was director John Ford. Ford wanted Tracy for the lead role in his next picture, a prison movie. Production company Fox Film Corporation was unsure about Tracy, saying that he did not photograph well, but Ford convinced them that he was right for the role. Up the River (1930) marked the film debut of both Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. After seeing the rushes, Fox immediately offered Tracy a long-term contract. Knowing that he needed the money for his family, with his young son deaf and recovering from polio, Tracy signed with Fox and moved to California. He appeared on the stage only once more in his life. Winfield Sheehan, the head of Fox, committed to making Tracy a bankable commodity. The studio promoted the actor, releasing ads for his second film Quick Millions (1931) with the headline "A New Star Shines". Three films were made in quick succession, all of which were unsuccessful at the box office. Tracy found himself typecast in comedies, usually playing a crook or a con man. The mold was broken with his seventh picture, Disorderly Conduct (1932), and it was the first of his films since Up the River to return a profit. In mid-1932, after nine pictures, Tracy remained virtually unknown to the public. He considered leaving Fox once his contract was up for renewal, but a raise in his weekly salary to \$1,500 convinced him to stay. He continued to appear in unpopular films, with Me and My Gal (1932) setting an all-time low attendance record for the Roxy Theatre in New York City. He was loaned to Warner Bros. for 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932), a prison drama co-starring Bette Davis. Tracy was hopeful that it would be his break-out role, but despite good reviews, this failed to materialize. Critics began to notice Tracy with The Power and the Glory (1933). The story of a man's rise to prosperity had a screenplay by Preston Sturges and Tracy's performance as railroad tycoon Tom Garner received uniformly strong reviews. William Wilkerson of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "This sterling performer has finally been given an opportunity to show an ability that has been boxed in by gangster roles ... [the film] has introduced Mr. Tracy as one of the screen's best performers". Mordaunt Hall of The New York Times stated: "No more convincing performance has been given on the screen than Spencer Tracy's impersonation of Tom Garner." Shanghai Madness (1933), meanwhile, revealed Tracy to have a previously unseen sex appeal and served to advance his standing. Despite this attention, Tracy's next two movies went largely unnoticed. Man's Castle (1933) with Loretta Young was anticipated to be a hit, but made only a small profit. The Show-Off (1934), for which he was lent to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, proved popular, but his subsequent outings continued to be unsuccessful. Tracy drank heavily during his years with Fox and gained a reputation as an alcoholic. He failed to report for filming on Marie Galante in June 1934, and was found in his hotel room, virtually unconscious after a two-week binge. Tracy was removed from the Fox payroll while he recovered in a hospital, and then sued for \$125,000 for delaying the production. He completed only two more pictures with the studio. The details on how Tracy's relationship with Fox ended are unclear: later in life Tracy maintained that he was fired for his drunken behavior, but the Fox records do not support such an account. He was still under contract with the studio when MGM expressed their interest in the actor. They were in need of a new male star, and contacted Tracy on April 2, 1935, offering him a seven-year deal. That afternoon, the contract between Tracy and Fox was terminated "by mutual consent". Tracy made a total of 25 pictures in the five years he was with Fox Film Corporation, most of which lost money at the box office. ### Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1935–1955) #### Growing reputation In the 1930s, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was the most respected movie production studio in Hollywood. When Tracy arrived there, he was all but unknown. Biographer James Curtis writes: "Tracy was scarcely a blip on the box office barometer in 1935, a critics' darling and little more". He was, however, well known for being a troublemaker. Producer Irving Thalberg was nevertheless enthusiastic about working with the actor, telling journalist Louella Parsons: "Spencer Tracy will become one of MGM's most valuable stars." Curtis notes that the studio managed Tracy with care, a welcome change from the ineptitude and apathy he had known while at Fox, which was like "a shot of adrenaline" for the actor. His first film under the new contract was the quickly produced The Murder Man (1935), which included the feature film debut of James Stewart. Thalberg then began a strategy of pairing Tracy with the studio's top actresses: Whipsaw (1935) co-starred Myrna Loy and was a commercial success. Riffraff (1936) put Tracy opposite Jean Harlow. Both films were, however, designed and promoted to showcase their leading ladies, thus continuing Tracy's reputation as a secondary star. Fury (1936) was the first film to prove that Tracy could make a success on his own merit. Directed by Fritz Lang, Tracy played an innocent man who swears revenge after narrowly escaping death by a lynch mob. The film and performance received excellent reviews. It made a profit of \$1.3 million worldwide. Curtis writes: "audiences who, just a year earlier, had no clear handle on him, were suddenly turning out to see him. It was a transition that was nothing short of miraculous ... [and showed] a willingness on the part of the public to embrace a leading man who was not textbook handsome nor bigger than life." Fury was followed one month later with the release of the big-budget disaster movie San Francisco (1936). Tracy played a supporting role alongside Clark Gable in the film, allowing audiences to see him with the top male star in Hollywood. Taking on the role of a priest, Tracy reportedly felt a heavy responsibility in representing the church. Despite having only 17 minutes of screen time, Tracy was highly praised for his performance and received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. San Francisco became the highest-grossing picture of 1936. Donald Deschner, in his book on Tracy, credits Fury and San Francisco as the "two films that changed his career and gave him the status of a major star". By this point, Tracy entered a period of self-imposed sobriety and MGM expressed pleasure with Tracy's professionalism. His public reputation continued to grow with Libeled Lady (also 1936), a screwball comedy that cast him with William Powell, Loy and Harlow. According to Curtis, "Powell, Harlow and Loy were among the biggest draws in the industry, and equal billing in such a powerhouse company could only serve to advance Tracy's standing". Libeled Lady was his third hit picture in the space of six months. #### Oscar wins Tracy appeared in four films released in 1937. They Gave Him a Gun, a crime-drama, went largely unnoticed, but Captains Courageous was one of the major film events of the year. Tracy played a Portuguese fisherman in the adventure movie, based on the novel by Rudyard Kipling. He was uncomfortable feigning a foreign accent, and resented having his hair curled, but the role was a hit with audiences and Tracy won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Captains Courageous was followed by Big City with Luise Rainer and Mannequin with Joan Crawford, the latter of which performed well at the box office. With two years of hit movies and industry recognition, Tracy became a star in the United States. A 1937 poll of 20 million people to find the "King and Queen of Hollywood" ranked Tracy sixth among males. Tracy was reunited with Clark Gable and Myrna Loy for Test Pilot (1938). The film was another enormous commercial and critical success, permanently cementing the notion of Gable and Tracy as a team in the public imagination. Based on the positive response he had received in San Francisco, MGM again cast Tracy as a priest in Boys Town (also 1938). Portraying Edward J. Flanagan, a Catholic priest and founder of Boys Town in Nebraska, was a role Tracy took seriously: "I'm so anxious to do a good job as Father Flanagan that it worries me, keeps me awake at night." Tracy received strong reviews for his performance, and the movie grossed \$4 million worldwide. For the second year running, Tracy received an Academy Award for Best Actor. He was humble about the recognition, saying in his acceptance speech: "I honestly do not feel that I can accept this award ... I can accept it only as it was meant to be for a great man—Father Flanagan". Although he did keep his Oscar, a second statuette was struck and immediately sent to Flanagan. Tracy was listed as the fifth biggest box office star of 1938. Tracy was absent from screens for almost a year before returning to Fox on loan and appearing as Henry M. Stanley in Stanley and Livingstone (1939) with Nancy Kelly. Curtis maintains that Tracy's non-visibility did little to affect his standing with the public or exhibitors. In October 1939, a Fortune magazine survey of the nation's favorite movie actors listed Tracy in first place. #### Established star MGM capitalized on Tracy's popularity, casting him in four movies for 1940. I Take This Woman with Hedy Lamarr was a critical and commercial failure, but the historical drama Northwest Passage—Tracy's first film in Technicolor—proved popular. He then portrayed Thomas Edison in Edison, the Man. Howard Barnes of the New York Herald Tribune was not charmed by the story, but wrote that Tracy, "by sheer persuasion of his acting", made the film worthy. Boom Town was the third and final Gable-Tracy picture, also starring Claudette Colbert and Hedy Lamarr, making it one of the most anticipated films of the year. The film opened to the biggest crowd since Gone With the Wind. Tracy signed a new contract with MGM in April 1941, which paid \$5,000 a week and limited him to three pictures a year (Tracy had previously expressed a need to reduce his workload). The contract also stated for the first time that his billing was to be "that of a star". Contrary to popular belief, the contract did not include a clause that he receive top billing, but from this point onward, every film Tracy appeared in featured his name first. Tracy returned to the role of Father Flanagan for the sequel Men of Boys Town (1941). It was followed by Tracy's only venture into the horror genre, an adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (also 1941), co-starring Ingrid Bergman and Lana Turner. Tracy was unhappy with the film, disliking the heavy make-up he needed to portray Hyde. Critical response to the film was mixed and brought Tracy the only negative reviews of his career. Theodore Strauss of The New York Times wrote that "Mr. Tracy's portrait of Hyde is not so much evil incarnate as it is the ham rampant." The film was financially successful, however, taking in more than \$2 million at the box office. Tracy was set to star in a film version of The Yearling for 1942, but several on-set difficulties and bad weather on location forced MGM to shelve the production. With the end of that project, he became available for the new Katharine Hepburn film, Woman of the Year (1942). Hepburn greatly admired Tracy, calling him "the best movie actor there was". She had wanted him for her comeback vehicle, The Philadelphia Story (1940). Hepburn was delighted that Tracy was available for Woman of the Year, saying "I was just damned grateful he was willing to work with me." The romantic comedy performed well at the box office and received strong reviews. William Boehnel wrote in the New York World-Telegram, "To begin with, it has Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy in the leading roles. This in itself would be enough to make any film memorable. But when you get Tracy and Hepburn turning in brilliant performances to boot, you've got something to cheer about." Woman of the Year was followed by an adaptation of John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat (also 1942) which met with a tepid response. MGM did not hesitate to repeat the teaming of Tracy and Hepburn and cast them in the dark mystery Keeper of the Flame (1943). Despite a weak critical reception the film out-grossed Woman of the Year confirming the strength of their partnership. Tracy's next three appearances were all war-based. A Guy Named Joe (1943) with Irene Dunne surpassed San Francisco to become his highest-grossing film to date. The Seventh Cross (1944), a suspense film about an escape from a Nazi concentration camp, met with critical acclaim. It was followed by the aviation film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944). On the strength of these three releases, the annual Quigley poll revealed Tracy was MGM's biggest money-making star of 1944, His only film the following year was his third with Hepburn, Without Love (1945), a light romantic comedy that performed well at the box office despite muted enthusiasm from critics. #### Stage and screen In 1945, Tracy returned to the stage for the first time in 15 years. He had been through a dark patch personally—culminating with a hospital stay—and Hepburn felt that a play would help restore his focus. Tracy told a journalist in April, "I'm coming back to Broadway to see if I can still act." The play was The Rugged Path by Robert E. Sherwood. It first previewed in Providence on September 28, to a sold-out crowd and tepid response. It was a difficult production; director Garson Kanin later wrote: "In the ten days prior to the New York opening all the important relationships had deteriorated. Spencer was tense and unbending, could not, or would not, take direction". Tracy considered leaving the show before it even opened on Broadway, and lasted there just six weeks before announcing his intention to close the show. It closed on January 19, 1946, after 81 performances. Tracy later explained to a friend: "I couldn't say those goddamn lines over and over and over again every night ... At least every day is a new day for me in films ... But this thing—every day, every day, over and over again." Tracy was absent from screens in 1946, the first year since his motion picture debut that there was no Spencer Tracy release. His next film was The Sea of Grass (1947), a melodrama set in the American Old West with Hepburn. Similar to Keeper of the Flame and Without Love, a lukewarm response from critics did not stop it from being a financial success both at home and abroad. He followed it later that year with Cass Timberlane, in which he played a judge. It was a commercial success, but Curtis notes that co-star Lana Turner overshadowed Tracy in most of the reviews. A fifth film with Hepburn, Frank Capra's political drama State of the Union, was released in 1948. Tracy played a presidential candidate in the movie, which was warmly received. He then appeared in Edward, My Son (1949) with Deborah Kerr. Tracy disliked the role, and told director George Cukor, "It's rather disconcerting to me to find how easily I play a heel." Upon its release, The New Yorker wrote of the "hopeless miscasting of Mr. Tracy". The film became Tracy's biggest money-loser at MGM. Tracy finished off the 1940s with Malaya (1949), an adventure film with James Stewart, and Adam's Rib (also 1949), a comedy with Tracy and Hepburn playing married lawyers who oppose each other in court. Tracy and Hepburn's friends, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, wrote the parts specifically for the two leads. The film received strong reviews and became the highest-grossing Tracy-Hepburn picture to date. Film critic Bosley Crowther wrote, "Mr. Tracy and Miss Hepburn are the stellar performers in this show and their perfect compatibility in comic capers is delightful to see." #### Final MGM years Tracy received his first Academy Award nomination in 12 years for playing the role of Stanley Banks in Father of the Bride (1950). In the comedy film, Banks attempts to handle preparations for the upcoming wedding of his daughter (Elizabeth Taylor). "It's the second strong comedy in a row for Spencer Tracy, doing the title role, and he socks it", Variety commented. The film was the biggest commercial success of Tracy's career to date, earning \$6 million worldwide. MGM wanted a sequel, and while Tracy was unsure, he accepted. Father's Little Dividend (1951) was released ten months later and performed well at the box office. On the strength of the two movies, Tracy polled as one of the nation's top stars once more. Tracy portrayed a lawyer in The People Against O'Hara (1951) and re-teamed with Hepburn for the sports comedy Pat and Mike (1952), the second feature written expressly for them by Kanin and Gordon. Pat and Mike became one of the duo's most popular and critically acclaimed films. Tracy followed it with Plymouth Adventure (also 1952), an historical drama set aboard the Mayflower, co-starring Gene Tierney. It met with poor critical and box office response and posted a loss of \$1.8 million for MGM. Tracy returned to the role of a concerned father in The Actress (1953). Producer Lawrence Weingarten recalled: "That film ... got more [acclaim] from the critics than any film I ever made in all the years, and we didn't make enough to pay for the ushers in the theatre." For his performance in The Actress, Tracy won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for the British Academy Film Award. MGM lent Tracy to Fox for the well-received Western film Broken Lance, his only film released in 1954. In 1955, Tracy turned down William Wyler's The Desperate Hours because he refused to take second-billing to Humphrey Bogart. Instead, Tracy appeared as a one-armed protagonist who faces the hostility of a small desert town in Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), a film directed by John Sturges. For his work, Tracy received a fifth Oscar nomination and was awarded the Best Actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Tracy had personally been unhappy with the picture and threatened to leave during production. This behavior became a regular occurrence for Tracy, who was increasingly lethargic and cynical. He began production on Tribute to a Bad Man in the summer of 1955, but pulled out when he claimed that the shooting location in the Colorado mountains gave him altitude sickness. The problems caused by the picture fractured Tracy's relationship with MGM. In June 1955, he was one of the two remaining stars of the studio's peak years (the other being Robert Taylor), but with his contract up for renewal, Tracy opted to freelance for the first time in his movie career. ### Independent player (1956–1967) Tracy's first post-MGM appearance was in The Mountain (1956) with Robert Wagner, who played his much younger brother (Wagner had earlier played his son in Broken Lance). The location filming in the French Alps proved a difficult experience, and he threatened to leave the project. His performance earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Foreign Actor. Tracy and Hepburn then paired together for the eighth time in the office-based comedy Desk Set (1957). He again had to be convinced to stay with the film, one which met with a weak response. Tracy appeared in The Old Man and the Sea (1958), a project that had been in development for five years. An adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novella of the same title, Hemingway's agent, Leland Hayward, had previously written to the author: "Of all Hollywood people, the one that comes the closest to me in quality, in personality and voice, in personal dignity and ability, is Spencer Tracy." Tracy was delighted to be offered the role. He was told to lose some of his 210 pounds before filming began but failed to do so. Hemingway thus reported that Tracy was a "terrible liability to the picture", and had to be reassured that the star was being carefully photographed to disguise his weight problem. Appearing alone on screen for most of the film, Tracy considered The Old Man and the Sea the toughest part he ever played. In reviewing the performance, Jack Moffitt of The Hollywood Reporter said it was "so intimate and revealing of universal human experience that, to me, it almost transcended acting and became reality". Tracy received Oscar and BAFTA Award nominations for the work. After abandoning two projects, including a proposed remake of The Blue Angel with Marilyn Monroe, Tracy's next feature was The Last Hurrah (1958). It reunited him with his debut director, John Ford, after 28 years and his childhood friend Pat O'Brien. Tracy took a year to commit to the project, in which he played an Irish-American mayor seeking re-election. The movie was favorably reviewed, but not commercially successful. At the end of 1958, the National Board of Review named Tracy the year's Best Actor. He nevertheless began to ponder retirement, with Curtis writing that he was "chronically tired, unhappy, ill, and uninterested in work". #### Stanley Kramer partnership Tracy did not appear on the screen again until the release of Inherit the Wind (1960), a film based on the 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial" which debated the right to teach evolution in schools. Director Stanley Kramer sought Tracy for the role of lawyer Henry Drummond (based on Clarence Darrow), from the outset. Starring opposite Tracy was Fredric March, a pairing Variety described as "a stroke of casting genius ... Both men are spellbinders in the most laudatory sense of the word." The film garnered Tracy some of the strongest reviews of his career—he was nominated for an Academy Award, BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award for the performance—but it was not a commercial hit. In the volcano disaster movie The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961), Tracy played a priest for the fourth time in his career. His co-star, Frank Sinatra, ceded top-billing to guarantee Tracy for the picture. Continuing his pattern of indecisiveness, Tracy briefly pulled out of the production before recommitting. Critics were unenthusiastic about the film, which was nevertheless Tracy's most successful box-office outing since Father of the Bride. Inherit the Wind began an enduring collaboration between Stanley Kramer and Tracy—Kramer directed Tracy's three final films. Judgment at Nuremberg, released at the end of 1961, was their second feature together. The film depicts the "Judges' Trial", the trial of Nazi judges for their role in the Holocaust. Abby Mann wrote the role of Judge Haywood with Tracy in mind; Tracy called it the best script he had ever read. At the end of the film, Tracy delivered a 13-minute speech. He recorded it in one take and received a round of applause from the cast and crew. Upon seeing the film, Mann wrote to Tracy: "Every writer ought to have the experience of having Spencer Tracy do his lines. There is nothing in the world quite like it." The film met with positive reviews and a large audience; Tracy received an eighth Oscar nomination for his performance. Tracy turned down roles in Long Day's Journey into Night (1962) and The Leopard (1963), and had to pull out of MGM's all-star How the West Was Won (1962) when it clashed with Judgment at Nuremberg. He was, however, able to record the film's narration track. Tracy was in very poor health by this time, and working became a challenge. In 1962, he took the role of Captain T. G. Culpeper in Kramer's comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), a small but key part that he was able to complete in nine non-consecutive days. The film was released in November 1963. Tracy's name topped the list of performers, and the comedy became one of the highest-grossing American films of the year. As his health worsened, he had to cancel commitments to Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and The Cincinnati Kid (1965). Film offers continued to come, but Tracy did not work again until 1967 when he took the starring role in Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967), Tracy's ninth and final film with Hepburn. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner explored the topic of interracial marriage, with Tracy playing a liberal-minded newspaper publisher whose values are challenged when his daughter wishes to marry a black man, played by Sidney Poitier. Tracy appeared happy to be working again, but he told journalists visiting the set that the movie would be his last for he would permanently retire after filming due to his health problems. To commence filming, Tracy had to be insured for the high premium of \$71,000 if he died during filming; Hepburn and Kramer both put their salaries in escrow until Tracy completed his scenes. In poor health, Tracy could work for only two or three hours each day. He completed his last scene on May 24, 1967. Tracy died 17 days later from a heart attack on June 10. The film was released in December 1967, and although reviews were mixed, Curtis notes that "Tracy's performance was singled out for praise in nearly every instance." Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote that Tracy gave "a faultless and, under the circumstances, heartbreaking performance". The movie became Tracy's highest grossing picture. He received a posthumous nomination for Best Actor—his ninth—at the 40th Academy Awards, along with a Golden Globe Award nomination and a BAFTA win for Best Actor. ## Personal life ### Marriage and family Tracy met actress Louise Treadwell while they were both members of the Wood Players in White Plains, New York—the first stock company Tracy joined after graduating. The couple was engaged in May 1923, and married on September 10 of that year between the matinee and evening performances of his show. Their son, John Ten Broeck Tracy, was born in June 1924. When John was 10 months old, Louise discovered that the boy was deaf. She resisted telling Tracy for three months. Tracy was devastated by the news and felt lifelong guilt over his son's deafness. He was convinced that John's hearing impairment was a punishment for his own sins. As a result, Tracy had trouble connecting with his son and distanced himself from his family. Joseph L. Mankiewicz, a friend of Tracy's, later theorized: "[Tracy] didn't leave Louise. He left the scene of his guilt." A second child, Louise "Susie" Treadwell Tracy, was born in July 1932. The children were raised in their mother's Episcopal faith. Tracy left the family home in 1933, and he and Louise openly discussed the separation with the media, maintaining that they were still friends and had not taken divorce action. From September 1933 to June 1934, Tracy had a public affair with Loretta Young, his co-star in Man's Castle. He reconciled with Louise in 1935. There was never again an official separation between Tracy and his wife, but the marriage continued to be troubled. Tracy increasingly lived in hotels and by the 1940s, the two were effectively living separate lives. Tracy frequently engaged in extramarital affairs, including with co-stars Joan Crawford in 1937 and Ingrid Bergman in 1941. He had an affair with Myrna Loy in 1935 and 1936. In 1990, during a phone interview with educator Alan Greenberg, Loy revealed she was in love with Tracy. "I loved Spence, he was adorable...I loved him and I really did love him. I loved him. I mean I was in love with him and she [Katharine Hepburn] got in the way." Later, during the 1940s, Loy regularly visited Tracy at Beverly Hills in his hotel room. ### Katharine Hepburn While making Woman of the Year in September 1941, Tracy began what was to become a lifelong relationship with Katharine Hepburn. The actress became devoted to him, and their relationship lasted until his death 26 years later. Tracy never returned to live in the family home, although he visited regularly. The MGM moguls were careful to protect their stars from controversy, and Tracy wished to conceal his relationship with Hepburn from his wife, so it was hidden from the public. The couple did not live together until the final years of Tracy's life, when they shared a cottage on George Cukor's estate in Beverly Hills. In Hollywood, however, the intimate nature of the Tracy-Hepburn partnership was an open secret. Angela Lansbury, who worked with the pair on State of the Union, later said: "We all knew, but nobody ever said anything. In those days it wasn't discussed." Tracy was not someone to express his emotions, but Tracy's friend, actress Betsy Drake believed that he "was utterly dependent upon Hepburn". Tracy's infidelity apparently continued, however, and he reportedly had an affair with Gene Tierney during the making of Plymouth Adventure in 1952. Neither Tracy nor his wife ever pursued a divorce, despite their estrangement. He told Joan Fontaine, "I can get a divorce whenever I want to, but my wife and Kate like things just as they are." Louise, meanwhile, reportedly commented, "I will be Mrs. Spencer Tracy until the day I die." Hepburn did not interfere and never fought for marriage. ### Character Tracy was an avowed Catholic, but his cousin, Jane Feely, said that he did not devoutly follow the religion: "he was often not a practical Catholic either. I would call him a spiritual Catholic." Garson Kanin, a friend of Tracy's for 25 years, described him as "a true believer" who respected his religion. At periods in his life, Tracy attended Mass regularly. Tracy did not believe actors should publicize their political views, but in 1940 lent his name to the "Hollywood for Roosevelt" committee and personally identified as a Democrat. Tracy struggled with alcoholism throughout his adult life, an ailment that ran in his father's side of the family. Rather than being a steady drinker, as commonly thought, he was prone to periods of binging on alcohol. Loretta Young remarked that Tracy was "awful" when he was drunk, and he was twice arrested for his behavior while intoxicated. Because of this bad reaction to alcohol, Tracy regularly embarked on prolonged periods of sobriety and developed an all-or-nothing routine. Myrna Loy said: "Days of drinking had left him belligerent." Hepburn commented that he would stop drinking for "months, even years at a time" before falling off the wagon without warning. Tracy was prone to bouts of depression and anxiety: he was described by Mrs. Tracy as having "the most volatile disposition I've ever seen—up in the clouds one minute and down in the depths the next. And when he's low, he's very, very low." He was plagued by insomnia throughout his life. As a result, Tracy became dependent on barbiturates to sleep, followed by dexedrine to function. Hepburn, who adopted a nursing role towards Tracy, was unable to understand her partner's unhappiness. She wrote in her autobiography: "What was it? ... Never at peace ... Tortured by some sort of guilt. Some terrible misery." ### Illness and death Tracy's adult life of alcoholism, smoking cigarettes, taking pills and being overweight left him in poor health by the time he reached his 60s. On July 21, 1963, Tracy was hospitalized after a severe attack of breathlessness. Doctors found that he was suffering from pulmonary edema, where fluid accumulates in the lungs due to an inability of the heart to pump properly. They also declared his blood pressure dangerously high. From this point on Tracy remained very weak, and Hepburn moved into his home to provide constant care. In January 1965, he was diagnosed with hypertensive heart disease and also began treatment for a previously ignored diagnosis of Type II diabetes. Tracy almost died in September 1965: a stay in the hospital following a prostatectomy resulted in his kidneys failing, and he spent the night in a coma. His recovery the next day was described by his attending doctor as "a kind of miracle". Tracy spent most of the next two years at home with Hepburn, living what she described as a quiet life: reading, painting, and listening to music. On June 10, 1967, 17 days after completing what was his last film role in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Tracy awakened at 3:00 am to make himself a cup of tea in his apartment in Beverly Hills, California. Hepburn described in her autobiography how she followed him to the kitchen: "Just as I was about to give [the door] a push, there was a sound of a cup smashing to the floor—then clump—a loud clump." She entered the room to find Tracy lying dead from a heart attack. He was 67. Hepburn recalled, "He looked so happy to be done with living, which for all his accomplishments had been a frightful burden for him." MGM publicist Howard Strickling told the media that Tracy had been alone when he died and was found by his housekeeper. A Requiem Mass was held for Tracy on June 12 at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in East Hollywood. Active pallbearers included George Cukor, Stanley Kramer, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, and John Ford. Out of consideration for Tracy's family, Hepburn did not attend the funeral. Tracy is interred at Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, near his wife Louise, son John and daughter Susie. ## Reputation and acting style Tracy had a solid reputation among his peers and received considerable praise from the film industry. After his death, MGM head Dore Schary said that there "can be no question that [Tracy] was the best and most protean actor of our screen". He was referred to as the greatest actor of his generation by Clark Gable, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, John Ford, Garson Kanin, and Katharine Hepburn. Actor Richard Widmark, who idolized Tracy, called him "the greatest movie actor there ever was" and said that he had "learned more about acting from watching Tracy than in any other way". Tracy was particularly respected for his naturalism onscreen. Hume Cronyn, who worked with Tracy on The Seventh Cross, admired his screen presence: "His method appeared to be as simple as it is difficult to achieve. He appeared to do nothing. He listened, he felt, he said the words without forcing anything." Joan Crawford likewise expressed her admiration for Tracy's seemingly effortless performances, stating that it was "inspiring" to co-star with him and that "his is such simplicity of performance, such naturalness and humor [...] he walks through a scene [and] makes it seem so easy". His four-time co-star Joan Bennett said that she "never had the feeling he was 'acting' in a scene, but the truth of the situation was actually happening, spontaneously, at the moment he spoke his lines". Cagney noted that Tracy was rarely the target of impressionists because "you can't mimic reserve and control very well [...] there's nothing to imitate except his genius and that can't be mimicked". Tracy was praised for his listening and reacting skills; Barry Nelson said that he "brought the art of reacting to a new height", while Stanley Kramer declared that he "thought and listened better than anyone in the history of motion pictures". Millard Kaufman noted that Tracy "listened with every fiber of his entire body". In his memoir, Burt Reynolds noted Tracy's emphasis on naturalism when, as a rookie actor, he observed Tracy on the set of Inherit the Wind. Reynolds later introduced himself to Tracy as an actor and Tracy replied, "An actor, huh? Just remember not to ever let anyone catch you at it." Despite the perception that he was able to turn up to a shoot and perform effortlessly, Tracy's acquaintances said that he would carefully prepare for each role in private. Joseph L. Mankiewicz lived with him during the production of Test Pilot, and recounted that Tracy would lock himself in his bedroom "working extremely hard" each night. Many co-workers commented on his strong work ethic and professionalism. However, he did not like to rehearse and would quickly lose his "effectiveness" after shooting two or three takes of the same scene. Kanin described him as "an instinctive player, who trusted the moment of creation". Tracy's close friend Chester Erskine pinpointed his acting style as one of "selection", stating that he strove to give as little as was needed to be effective and reached "a minimum to make the maximum". Tracy disliked being asked about his technique or what advice he would give to others. He often belittled the profession of acting, once saying to Kanin, "Why do actors think they're so goddamn important? They're not. Acting is not an important job in the scheme of things. Plumbing is." He was also humble about his abilities, telling a journalist, "It's just that I try no tricks. No profile. No 'great lover' act ... I just project myself as I am—plain, trying to be honest." He was known to have enjoyed the quip once made by Alfred Lunt, "The art of acting is: learn your lines and don't bump into the furniture!" Hepburn, in an interview six years after Tracy's death, suggested that Tracy wished he had held a different profession. ## Assessment and legacy In the 21st century, Tracy is best known to general audiences for his association with Katharine Hepburn. He continues to receive praise from film scholars: critic Leonard Maltin calls Tracy "one of the 20th century's finest actors", while film historian Jeanine Basinger describes his career as a "golden record of movie achievement". Charles Matthews, writing for The Washington Post, argues that "Tracy deserves to be remembered for himself, as a master of acting technique". An award for excellence in film acting is bestowed in Tracy's name at the University of California, Los Angeles. Past recipients of the UCLA Spencer Tracy Award include James Stewart, Michael Douglas, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Kirk Douglas and Morgan Freeman. A 1986 PBS documentary titled The Spencer Tracy Legacy was hosted by Hepburn. It includes clips from Tracy's films, and behind-the-scenes archival footage and home movies of Tracy's private life and career, as well as newly filmed interviews with many of his former co-stars, and with his daughter Susie Tracy. In 2009, Tracy provided inspiration for the character Carl in Pixar's Oscar-winning film Up. Director Pete Docter explained that there is "something sweet about these grumpy old guys". In 2014, a film about Tracy's relationship with Katharine Hepburn was announced to be in development. Several of Tracy's films, particularly his comedies, are regarded as classics of American cinema. He starred in four of the titles on the American Film Institute's list of "100 Years ... 100 Laughs": Adam's Rib, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Father of the Bride and Woman of the Year. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner was included on AFI's list of the 100 greatest American movies, while Captains Courageous was featured on their list of America's most inspiring movies. ## Awards and nominations Tracy was nominated for nine Academy Awards for Best Actor, a category record he holds with Laurence Olivier. He was the first of nine actors to win the award twice, and is one of two actors to receive it consecutively, the other being Tom Hanks. Tracy was also nominated for five British Academy Film Awards, of which he won two, and four Golden Globe Awards, winning once. In addition, he received the Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actor and was once named Best Actor by the National Board of Review. Tracy was recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the following performances: - 1937: Nomination for San Francisco - 1938: Win for Captains Courageous - 1939: Win for Boys Town - 1951: Nomination for Father of the Bride - 1956: Nomination for Bad Day at Black Rock - 1959: Nomination for The Old Man and the Sea - 1961: Nomination for Inherit the Wind - 1962: Nomination for Judgment at Nuremberg - 1968: Nomination for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (posthumous nomination) ## Filmography Selected filmography: - Up the River (1930) with Humphrey Bogart - Quick Millions (1931) - 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932) with Bette Davis - The Power and the Glory (1933) with Colleen Moore - Man's Castle (1933) with Loretta Young - Whipsaw (1935) with Myrna Loy - Fury (1936) with Sylvia Sidney - San Francisco (1936) with Clark Gable - Libeled Lady (1936) with Jean Harlow - Captains Courageous (1937) with Freddie Bartholomew and Lionel Barrymore - They Gave Him a Gun (1937) - Mannequin (1937) with Joan Crawford and Alan Curtis - Test Pilot (1938) with Clark Gable - Boys Town (1938) with Mickey Rooney - Boom Town (1940) with Clark Gable - Edison, the Man (1940) with Gene Lockhart - Northwest Passage (1940) with Robert Young and Walter Brennan - Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) with Ingrid Bergman - Woman of the Year (1942) with Katharine Hepburn - Ring of Steel (1942) as narrator - Keeper of the Flame (1943) with Katharine Hepburn - A Guy Named Joe (1943) with Irene Dunne - The Seventh Cross (1944) with Hume Cronyn - Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944) with Van Johnson - Without Love (1945) with Katharine Hepburn - Sea of Grass (1947) with Katharine Hepburn - State of the Union (1948) with Katharine Hepburn - Adam's Rib (1949) with Katharine Hepburn - Malaya (1949) with James Stewart - Father of the Bride (1950) with Elizabeth Taylor - Father's Little Dividend (1951) with Joan Bennett - Plymouth Adventure (1952) with Gene Tierney - Pat and Mike (1952) with Katharine Hepburn - The Actress (1953) with Jean Simmons - Broken Lance (1954) with Richard Widmark - Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) with Robert Ryan - The Mountain (1956) with Robert Wagner - Desk Set (1957) with Katharine Hepburn - The Old Man and the Sea (1958) - The Last Hurrah (1958) with Jeffrey Hunter - Inherit the Wind (1960) with Fredric March - The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) with Frank Sinatra, Kerwin Mathews - Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) with Burt Lancaster - It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) with Jonathan Winters, Milton Berle, Mickey Rooney, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967) with Katharine Hepburn

St Peirio's Church, Rhosbeirio

St Peirio's Church is a small disused medieval church, in Rhosbeirio, Anglesey, north Wales. It is unclear when a church was first established on this site, although it has been said that this happened in about 605. The current structure, which may date from the 15th century, has been restored in the 18th and 19th centuries. It ceased being used for services some years ago and has been boarded up. It is a Grade II listed building, a national designation given to "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them", as "a simple, rural Medieval church" that retains "much of its original vernacular character" despite alterations. One 19th-century writer said that it was "one of the humblest ecclesiastical buildings in Anglesey", and that there were "no architectural features in this church worthy of delineation." ## History and location The date of the original foundation of a Christian building at this location is unclear, although one 19th-century writer said that it is supposed that a church was first established here in about 605. No part of a building from that period survives; the walls of the present structure have been said (by the 19th-century clergyman and antiquarian Harry Longueville Jones) to be "probably not older than the fifteenth century". Some restoration took place in 1812. The building was again restored, and a new roof added, in the late 19th century. The work was funded by Lord Stanley of Alderley, a convert to Islam and patron of the church, whose donations to rural churches carried the requirement that Islamic detail should be included in any restoration work. At St Peirio's, the windows have geometric patterns of small panes of coloured glass as a result. The same condition was imposed by him for the work carried out in 1867 nearby at St Mary's Church, Bodewryd. St Peirio's is set in a churchyard in the countryside of Anglesey, by a road between Llanfechell and Bodewryd, to the north of the island, and is approached along a tree-lined path. It is about 2.25 kilometres (1.40 mi) from St Mechell's Church, Llanfechell (which is still in use), and at one point was a chapel of ease to St Eilian's Church, Llaneilian. In her history of Anglesey, published in 1833, the Welsh antiquarian Angharad Llwyd noted that the "small ancient edifice" was some distance from the village of Rhosbeirio, and that a service was only held in it on the third Sunday of the month. By the time of the publication of a guide to the churches of Anglesey in 2006, the church had been closed for some years and the windows boarded up; it was noted that the fabric was still in generally good condition. ## Architecture and fittings The church is built from rubble masonry dressed with freestone, and it has a slate roof, with a bellcote at the west end and stone crosses on the porch and chancel roofs. The timbers of the roof can be seen from inside. The walls have been assessed as being "probably not older than the fifteenth century". There is no internal division between the nave and the chancel, and the church as a whole is 36 feet (11 m) long by 13 feet 9 inches (4.19 m) wide. The porch, at the west end of the south wall, was added in the late 19th century. There is one window in the north wall and two in the south wall, all of which are single windows set in rectangular frames; the east window has a pair of lights (vertical sections of window separated by a mullion). All the windows date from the late 19th century. The plain bowl-shaped font dates from the 12th century. There is a brass memorial plaque recording three people who died in the 1640s. The 1937 survey by the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments in Wales and Monmouthshire recorded that the church possessed a silver cup from 1630 and a salver dated 1784–85. The churchyard contains some gravestones, including a few dating from the 1980s and 1990s. ## Assessment The church has national recognition and statutory protection from alteration as it has been designated as a Grade II listed building – the lowest of the three grades of listing, designating "buildings of special interest, which warrant every effort being made to preserve them". It was given this status on 12 May 1970, and has been listed as "a simple, rural Medieval church". Cadw (the Welsh Assembly Government body responsible for the built heritage of Wales and the inclusion of Welsh buildings on the statutory lists) also notes that it retains "much of its original vernacular character", despite the 19th-century alterations. Writing in 1861, Harry Longueville Jones said of St Peirio's that it was "one of the humblest ecclesiastical buildings in Anglesey". He said that there were "no architectural features in this church worthy of delineation."

Likelike (wife of Kalanimoku)

High chiefess and member of the royal family during the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (died 1821)

Likelike (; died March 4, 1821) was a high chiefess and member of the royal family of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Before the standardization of the Hawaiian language, her name was sometime written as Rikériki. She was the favorite wife of Prime Minister Kalanimoku, a powerful chief and statesman during the early years of the Hawaiian monarchy, and she would accompany him on his interactions with visiting Western explorers and American missionaries to Hawaii. Likelike and her newborn son Lanihau died shortly after the baby’s birth due to the shock caused by cannons fired to celebrate the royal birth. Her funeral was conducted under traditional Hawaiian customs with the exception of a Christian sermon, which was the first performed on a Hawaiian royal. ## Family and marriage Likelike was born to High Chief Kaikioʻewa and his wife Nahaukapu. She was considered a kaukau aliʻi, a chief of lower-ranking descent, but was also a distant relative of King Kamehameha I on her father's side. A supporter of King Kamehameha I during his conquest of the Hawaiian Islands, her father Kaikioʻewa was descended from the ruling family of Hawaii Island. He served as the kahu (guardian or caretaker) of the young Kamehameha III when the king was a child and later presided as Governor of Kauai. Her mother was descended from the semi-legendary chief Kahaoʻi from the island of Oahu. Likelike was married first to High Chief Boki, the eventual Governor of Oahu. However, sometime after their marriage, Boki's elder brother Kalanimoku took Likelike as his wife. Kalanimoku, called The Iron Cable of Hawaii because of his political savvy and military prowess, served as Prime Minister during the reigns of the first three kings of Hawaii. In retaliation, Boki took the chiefess Kuini Liliha from his nephew Kahalaiʻa Luanuʻu, her previous husband. The manner in which the men "took" Likelike and Kuini Liliha as wives is not explained in detail in the contemporary sources. Kalanimoku had many other wives including Likelike’s half-sister Kuwahine, but Likelike was regarded as his favorite wife. ## Interactions with foreigners In May 1819, King Kamehameha I died, leaving the throne to his son Kamehameha II. In August that year, the French corvette Uranie under Captain Louis de Freycinet visited the Hawaiian Islands during its circumnavigation expedition. When the Uranie landed on Kawaihae, on the island of Hawaii, Likelike accompanied Kalanimoku to his meeting and feast with the explorer. Because of the ʻai kapu (taboo) which prohibited men and women from eating meals together, Likelike was not allowed to dine at the same table with Kalanimoku and the captain, as well as others. She remained on deck eating scraps brought up to her, but after her husband finished and left the table, she took his place at the table with the rest of the diners. Freycinet observed she "made up for the temporary restraint that had been forced upon her by swallowing several glassfuls of brandy one after the other with remarkable gusto". On August 14, Kalanimoku was baptized in the Roman Catholic faith by ship chaplain Abbé de Quélen while anchored off of Lāhainā, Maui, then the capital of Hawaii. It is not noted if Likelike was on board during the ceremony. J. Alphonse Pellion, an artist aboard the Uranie, made several engraving sketches of the Hawaiians who visited the ship, including one of Likelike titled Rikériki, femme du chef Kraïmokou (above). He sketched two other chiefesses: Queen Kamāmalu (Kamahamarou), the favorite wife of Kamehameha II, and Keōuawahine (Kéohoua), the wife of Kuakini, Governor of the island of Hawaii. Some of his sketches also depicted traditional signs of mourning such as head shaving and body marking for the recently deceased king. Freycinet's wife Rose de Freycinet, who accompanied him on the expedition, gave a brief description of Likelike after meeting her: "This woman is quite young and has a rather pleasant face; she is less corpulent than the other women I have encountered, and the scantiness of her clothing is less shocking." After the arrival of the American Protestant missionaries in 1820, Kalanimoku allowed Reverend Elisha Loomis to set up a mission school in Kawaihae on the island of Hawaii where Likelike became a student of the new faith. Loomis's wife Maria Loomis recounted how the chiefess professed her love of the palapala (Bible). Under the reign of the new King Kamehameha II, the court had moved away from his father's former seat of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Island at the end of 1820 and passed by Lāhainā before transitioning to Honolulu, on the island of Oahu in the early part of 1821. Leaving Kawaihae, Likelike and Kalanimoku also moved along with the rest of the royal court although the couple would precede the king to Oahu due to Likelike’s pregnancy. According to Loomis, Likelike was reportedly looking forward to continue her missionary education at the mission in Honolulu where Hiram Bingham preached. With much fanfare and cannon fire, the king arrived aboard his new royal yacht Haʻaheo o Hawaiʻi into the port of Honolulu, on February 3, 1821. ## Death and funeral During her travel to Honolulu, Likelike was heavily pregnant with Kalanimoku's child and close to giving birth. On February 25, 1821, she gave birth to a son who they named Lanihau (meaning "cool heaven"). Kalanimoku and his brother Boki set off cannons and muskets all over Honolulu in celebration, announcing the birth of the child to the public. In their descriptions of the incident, the American missionaries blamed the common people for being overzealous in setting off the cannon salutes, which was a popular custom adopted after the introduction of western firearms to the islands. Bingham reported that "two hundred pounds of powder" were consumed, much of it set off within the proximity of the grass hut where the newborn and the mother were residing. According to the writings of Bingham and Loomis, Lanihau died within twenty-four hours from the shock and Likelike died from a fever soon afterward on March 3, at the Honolulu Fort. Bingham who visited Likelike with another missionary described the last days of the chiefess: > Two of us, repairing to the place, found the poor, sinking Likelike shrieking and writhing, in the agonies of death, beyond the reach of human skill or help. Oh, how different the death of a heathen from that of the Christian! What horror appeared to hang over the grave! For four nights in succession, at her earnest solicitation, her friends had carried her out and immersed her, to cool the burning fever, with the hope of prolonging her life till her husband should arrive. But now the hour of her departure had come. Boki, who had called us to sit near her, finding that her breath had ceased, and every sign of life was gone, turned his face upwards, and set up the loud heathen wail, which soon became general and deafening, from a multitude of voices. We retired from the crowd, while some stood wringing their hands in anguish, crying with loud and lamentable tones and cadences, while floods of tears ran down their swarthy faces. The death of the young chiefess was greatly mourned by the Hawaiian people. Her funeral, which took place over several days, featured the traditional Hawaiian funerary practices including wailing, hula dancing, and mourners shaving their hair in grief. Bingham and other American missionaries beseeched the king and Oahu’s Governor Boki to stop the funerary hula on the Sabbath, a day of rest in the Christian tradition, wishing to conduct a Christian funeral, but they were denied. Although the missionaries were unable to stop the traditional mourning rituals, Kalanimoku allowed a sermon to be given by Bingham at Kalanimoku’s house on the Sabbath. It was the first Christian sermon given for the funeral of a Hawaiian royal. The sermon was given in English so it had to be translated into Hawaiian for Kalanimoku and the common people in attendance to understand. According to Bingham, Kalanimoku “asked if his departed wife had gone to heaven”. Likelike's burial was conducted in the traditional manner with her bones preserved, her flesh torn from them and cast into the sea. Her namesake was Princess Likelike (1851–1887), a younger sister of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani, who gave her name to the Likelike Highway on Oahu.

Malloch Building

Apartment building in San Francisco, US

The Malloch Building is a private residential apartment building on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco designed in the Streamline Moderne style and built in 1937. The building, one of the best examples of its type in San Francisco, is also known as Malloch Apartments, Malloch Apartment Building, and simply by its address: 1360 Montgomery Street. Some have called it the "Ocean-Liner House", though other Moderne buildings have also been known by that nickname. Designed by Irvin Goldstine for contractor John "Jack" S. Malloch and his publisher son, John Rolph Malloch, the building was used as a filming location in 1947's Dark Passage, a noir work starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. ## Design and construction The building was intended as a home for Jack Malloch and his son, John Rolph Malloch. Both men were partners in a father/son architectural firm based in San Francisco, and both wanted to live on Telegraph Hill with a view of the San Francisco Bay. They determined to build an apartment which would provide them with fine dwellings and also with income from the rental units it held. Irvin Goldstine (sometimes written Irving or Irvine) designed the building for them; he had recently graduated from l'École des Beaux-Arts but had not yet earned his architect's license, so he was not listed as the architect of record. Instead, the Mallochs were listed. Goldstine obtained his license in 1940, four years after he first sketched the Malloch Building. The building site is on a steep hill, so the street-level entrance at the upper edge of the property is not the lowest floor. Four stories of apartments start at the ground floor and go up, and two more floors consisting of a 10-car garage and a sub-basement storage space are below grade, jutting out to the east because of the slope. A manager's apartment was added in 1947 by extending steel beams from the garage and suspending a two-floor unit with steel cables. Structural engineer W.S. Ellison oversaw construction of the primarily wooden frame structure, built atop a foundation and two utility floors made of reinforced concrete to meet exacting state requirements for stability. Muralist Alfred Du Pont (also known as Dupont) was hired to design images to decorate the exterior. Du Pont produced two 40-foot (12 m) high silvery figures in sgraffito, or raised plaster, on the western facade of the building, and a third on the north side. Du Pont applied colored concrete to the exterior and carved it into shape. Flanking the main street entrance are two male figures. The image on the right facing left is a Spanish explorer with a telescope raised to one eye. The image on the left facing right is a bare-chested worker holding a globe, towering above the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, with sleek aircraft flying above and below him, and ships moving in the bay. The actual bridge can be seen from the house; it had been completed the previous year when the Malloch Building was under construction. Around the corner from the main entrance, the third silvery mural shows a robed woman, the spirit of California, standing in front of California represented as a map. The building's elevator was designed and added to the foyer after the building was occupied. It is encased in a backlit glass brick shaft at one edge of the open-air lobby. Scalloped steel railings line the central staircase which is anchored by a glass brick column. Sandblasted designs are featured in glass plate windows above the entrance. The interiors were streamlined as much as possible, without traditional touches such as baseboard moldings. Indirect lighting was used throughout. Curves were abundant, with rounded fireplaces topped with indirect lighting and a round dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows. Rounded balcony edges were set off by rounded bay windows. The bedrooms included circular dressing rooms with ample closet space. In some of the units, glass brick was used as partition material. The city of San Francisco notified the Mallochs that they were in violation of a building code prohibiting more than three floors above a garage, because the building contained four floors of apartments above the garage. The Mallochs successfully argued that their structure stepped back in progression up the slope of Telegraph Hill so that the top floor was not directly above the garage. No part of the building was in violation of the code. ## Use Before the building was completed, it was fully rented. In 1937, the two Malloch men moved into the two penthouse suites in the 12-unit apartment building, collecting rent from the other 10 tenants. The Malloch Building was featured in the 1947 film noir work titled Dark Passage. In the film, Humphrey Bogart, playing an escaped prisoner, is invited by Lauren Bacall into her apartment unit, Number 10 on the third floor of the Malloch Building. In the apartment, Bogart hides out while he heals from plastic surgery, and plots to clear his name. Bogart wearily ascends the nearby Filbert Steps in one scene, on his way to the Malloch Building. Modern-day residents have been known to put a cutout of Bogart in the street-facing window of Number 10. Owner/occupant John Rolph Malloch died in 1951 at the age of 39. In the early 1980s the building was converted from rental apartments to condominiums. The original plans had been lost to fire, so the renovating architects had to form new plans taken from measurements of the building. A six-page writeup about the building appeared in Architect and Engineer in December 1937. The article listed the owners and the structural engineer, but did not name the architect. In the early 1980s, geologist and architectural historian Gray Brechin discovered that Irvin Goldstine had designed the building; Brechin subsequently interviewed Goldstine regarding his career. An article about the discovery was printed in Metro Magazine, a defunct San Francisco magazine. Until that time, the building was thought to be designed by the Mallochs.

St Mary's Church, Acton

St Mary's Church is an active Anglican parish church located in Monk's Lane, Acton, a village to the west of Nantwich, Cheshire, England. Since 1967 it has been designated a Grade I listed building. A church has been present on this site since before the time of the Domesday Survey. The tower is the oldest in Cheshire, although it had to be largely rebuilt after it fell in 1757. One unusual feature of the interior of the church is that the old stone seating around its sides has been retained. In the south aisle are some ancient carved stones dating back to the Norman era. The architectural historian Alec Clifton-Taylor includes the church in his list of 'best' English parish churches. In the churchyard is a tall 17th-century sundial. The church is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Macclesfield and the deanery of Nantwich. Its benefice is united with those of St David, Wettenhall, St Oswald, Worleston, and St Bartholomew, Church Minshull. ## History The presence of a church with two priests on the site is recorded in the Domesday Book. The church and its lands were given by the second Baron of Wich Malbank to Combermere Abbey early in the 12th century. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, the advowson was granted to Richard Wilbraham and it then passed to the Lords Tollemache. The tower was built about 1180, which makes it the oldest tower in Cheshire. When it was built it was over 100 feet (30 m) high but its top collapsed in a storm in March 1757 damaging the roof of the church and the clerestory. It was rebuilt but only to a height of 80 feet (24 m). The north aisle was built in the last quarter of the 14th century in Decorated style and the south aisle and chancel were built early in the 15th century. The internal fittings of the church were damaged in the Civil War. There were restorations in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1897–98 the Lancaster architects Austin and Paley carried out a further restoration. This included reflooring and reroofing the church, removing the plaster ceilings, rebuilding the north wall of the north aisle and the clerestory, installing heating apparatus, and adding a new pulpit, porches, and doors. ## Architecture ### Exterior The church is built in red sandstone with a lead roof. The tower is within the body of the church with arches leading into the nave and the side aisles. These arches, together with the thin lancet windows and the flat buttresses, date from the 13th century. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that this early date is rare for towers in Cheshire. The upper parts of the tower, built after the collapse of 1757, are by William Baker in early Gothic Revival style. The nave has four bays, with north and south aisles of six bays. The chancel has three bays with a vestry on its north side. The piers of the arcade date from the 13th century while the capitals are from the 19th-century restoration. The authors of the Buildings of England series state that the body of the church is mostly Perpendicular in style. At the east end of the north aisle is the Mainwaring chapel, which was originally a Lady Chapel; at the north side of the tower is the Dorfold chantry. Old stone seating remains around the sides of the church, which is unusual. ### Fittings and furniture In the Mainwaring chapel is the canopied wall tomb of Sir William Mainwaring of Baddiley and Peover who died in 1399. His effigy is in alabaster, it is recumbent and dressed in plate armour as a knight. His head rests on a helm bearing an ass's head and around his neck is a gold collar of esses. The rest of the monument is in red sandstone. At the east end of the south aisle is a marble tomb commemorating Sir Richard Wilbraham (1578–1643), his son Sir Thomas Wilbraham (1601–1660) and their wives. It includes the recumbent effigies in marble of Sir Thomas and his wife, Elizabeth. At the east end of the south aisle is an ancient piscina which is in good condition. In the chancel is another piscina and a sedilia, both of which are damaged. The screen in the Dorfold chapel is dated 1685 while that dividing the chancel from the nave is from a later date. The communion rail is also dated 1685. The brass chandelier dates from the 18th century. Stained glass in the east window and in windows of the south aisle is by Kempe and is dated between 1885 and 1888. The reredos includes the Ten Commandments to the north of the altar and the Lord's Prayer and the Creed to the south. The carved oak pulpion a stone base and the oak eagle lectern date from the 19th century. The font has a Norman bowl with lead lining set on a 19th-century base. It consists of a round bowl carved with figures, and simple ornamentation. For many years it had been in the garden of nearby Dorfold Hall before being reinstated in the church. At the east end of the south aisle are carved stones, some in sandstone, others in limestone. The style of the limestone stones suggests a date at the end of the 11th century and that of the sandstone stones around 1100. They are considered to be among the most significant pieces of Romanesque sculpture in the country. There is a ring of six bells. Five of these were cast by Rudhall of Gloucester in the 18th century and the sixth by John Taylor & Co in 1893. The parish registers begin in 1653 and the churchwardens' accounts in 1755. The two-manual organ was made by Alex Young and Sons of Manchester in 1897, and was renovated in 1939, and again in 1997. ## External features In the churchyard is a tall sandstone sundial over 12 feet (4 m) high. It was originally a medieval cross which was made into a sundial in the late 17th century. The remaining parts of the cross consist of an octagonal shaft on three ashlar steps. On top of this has been added a square moulded cap surmounted by a ball finial. On each face of the head is a dial, and the head is surmounted by a globe on a short stem. It is a scheduled monument and is designated as a Grade II listed building. Also listed Grade II is the red sandstone churchyard boundary wall which is probably an 1897 restoration of an earlier wall. The churchyard contains the war graves of five Commonwealth service personnel; two of World War I and three of World War II. To the north of the church is a pair of Grade-II-listed former almshouses dating from the early 17th century. A. N. Hornby (1847–1925), who played cricket for Lancashire and England, is buried here. He was the first man (of only two) to captain his country in both cricket and rugby, but is also remembered as the England cricket captain whose side lost the Test match which gave rise to The Ashes, at home against the Australians in 1882. Additionally, he played football for Blackburn Rovers. He was immortalised in one of the best known of all cricket poems, At Lord's by Francis Thompson, which contains the following lines: > It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk, > Though my own red roses there may blow; > It is little I repair to the matches of the Southron folk, > Though the red roses crest the caps, I know. > For the field is full of shades as I near a shadowy coast, > And a ghostly batsman plays to the bowling of a ghost, > And I look through my tears on a soundless-clapping host > As the run stealers flicker to and fro, > To and fro: > O my Hornby and my Barlow long ago! ## Current activities St Mary's continues to be active as an Anglican parish church. It is the most active member of the Cross Country Group of Parish Churches which comprises St Mary's, St Bartholomew's, Church Minshull, St Oswald's, Worleston and St David's, Wettenhall. The churches share a vicar and three licensed readers. The vicar is the Rev Anne Lawson. St Mary's holds two or three services each Sunday and a service of Holy Communion each Wednesday. The group of churches is also involved with community activities including Praise & Play for pre-school children and their carers, the Holy Disorder youth club and the 1st Darnhall Guides and Brownies. The church is open for visits and private prayers on Wednesday mornings. ## See also - Grade I listed churches in Cheshire - List of Scheduled Monuments in Cheshire (1066–1539) - Listed buildings in Acton, Cheshire - Norman architecture in Cheshire - List of ecclesiastical works by Austin and Paley (1895–1914)

Genesis of the Daleks

Genesis of the Daleks is the fourth serial of the twelfth season of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was written by Terry Nation and directed by David Maloney, and originally broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975 on BBC1. In the serial, the alien time traveller the Fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) and his travelling companions Sarah Jane Smith (Elisabeth Sladen) and Harry Sullivan (Ian Marter) are directed by the Time Lords to the planet Skaro at the time of the Daleks' creation to prevent them from becoming the dominant race in the universe. Genesis of the Daleks was originally commissioned under producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks, who believed that the outline submitted by Nation was too similar to his previous Dalek adventures, and encouraged him to explore the origin of the Daleks. The story introduces the Daleks' creator Davros (Michael Wisher), who had a unique visual design. The script was handed to Letts and Dicks' successors, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, who made changes to the original script which gave it a darker tone. Nation, having intentionally modelled the Daleks on the Nazis, further explored the theme in Genesis. It also addresses the moral issues that come with time travel and genocide. The story was filmed over January and February 1975, with some location filming in a quarry in Betchworth. Genesis of the Daleks premiered with 10.7 million viewers and concluded five weeks later with 9.1 million, with the least-watched episode being Part Three with 8.5 million viewers. Since its broadcast it has been widely praised as one of the series' best. The story was novelised in 1976 by Dicks, and released as a condensed LP in 1979, before being released on VHS in 1991 and DVD in 2006. ## Plot The Fourth Doctor and his companions Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan are intercepted by the Time Lords. The Doctor is instructed to interfere with the creation of the Daleks so as to avert a future in which the Daleks rule the universe; he is given a Time Ring to return them to his TARDIS when the mission is complete. The three find themselves on the Dalek planet of Skaro. A generations-long war between the Thals and the Kaleds has left the planet inhospitable, and the two sides have congregated in their own domes for protection and continue the war. A chemical weapon attack forces them to take shelter. Sarah is separated but meets the Mutos, mutated exiles of both sides, who try to help protect her before they are all captured by the Thals and forced to load radioactive material on a missile. The Doctor and Harry are captured by the Kaleds, their possessions confiscated, and are taken to a bunker to meet the scientific and military elite, including the lead scientist Davros, who unveils the "Mark III travel machine", or "Dalek", which the Doctor recognises as his nemesis. Ronson, one of Davros' scientists, secretly tells the Doctor that he knows Davros' experiments are unethical, and the Doctor is able to convince the Kaled leadership to put a halt to Davros' experiments. Davros learns of Ronson's actions, and covertly provides the Thal leaders a chemical formula that can weaken the Kaled dome and make it vulnerable to their missile attack, while preparing twenty more Daleks. The Doctor and Harry make their way to the Thal dome and rescue Sarah. However, the Doctor is captured by the Thals as the missile strikes the Kaled dome, wiping out all but those in the bunker. Davros accuses Ronson of giving the Thals the chemical formula and then orders the Daleks to kill him, and convinces the remaining leaders to let him have his Daleks attack the Thal dome. The Dalek attack kills many of the Thals, and the Doctor, his companions, and the surviving Thals and Mutos make their way to the Kaled bunker. The Doctor instructs the Thals and Mutos to find a way to destroy the bunker while he and his companions go inside to recover the Time Ring. While there, the Doctor is captured by Davros, who discovers the Doctor knows of the future of the Daleks, and forces the Doctor to record all he knows, so that Davros can program the Daleks to avoid failure in the future. Other scientists working for Davros, now aware of his plans, free the Doctor and give him enough time to rig the Dalek incubation room with explosives which would end the threat of the Daleks. As he is about to touch the two exposed wire ends to set them off, he hesitates, questioning whether he has the right to make that decision. He is relieved to learn that Davros has agreed to stop and allow the Kaled leaders to vote on the continuation of the project. As the leaders gather for this vote, the Doctor is able to recover the Time Ring and destroy the recordings he made, while learning that the Thals and Mutos have prepared the means to destroy the bunker. As the vote is called, Davros reveals this was all a decoy, giving the Daleks he sent to destroy the Thals time to return to the bunker and exterminate the remaining Kaleds. Harry and Sarah escape the chaos, while the Doctor returns to set off the incubator room's explosives, but a Dalek inadvertently completes the circuit and sets it off itself. The Doctor escapes before the Thal and Mutos' bomb caves in the bunker, trapping Davros and the Daleks. Inside, Davros realises the Daleks have gained a will of their own when they refuse to take orders from a non-Dalek. He attempts to stop the production line but is seemingly exterminated by his own creations. While he suspects he has only managed to set back Dalek evolution by several centuries, the Doctor considers his mission complete: out of the Daleks' evil, good will always arise to challenge them. He and his companions say goodbye to the surviving Thals and Mutos before using the Time Ring to return to the TARDIS. ## Production ### Conception and writing When planning stories for season 12, producer Barry Letts and script editor Terrance Dicks felt that it was time for Terry Nation to return to the series and write another Dalek adventure. Letts and Dicks enjoyed the script Nation sent in, but found it too "reminiscent" of many of his previous Dalek stories. The two suggested that Nation instead write an origin story for the Daleks, originally titled Daleks – Genesis of Terror. The serial was commissioned on 1 April 1974, and the scripts accepted on 22 July. The stories lined up for the season were handed over to Letts and Dicks' successors, producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor Robert Holmes, with whom Genesis of the Daleks gained a darker tone. Holmes was not a fan of frequent appearances by the Daleks, and only allowed the story because it explored their origins. In an aim to make the series more adult, Hinchcliffe wanted the story to be "pacy" and make the Daleks appear more powerful. In a 2006 interview, Dicks said that he does not believe the story would have been much different if he and Letts had been in charge, though he remarked he would have added some lighter moments to soften the "grim" tone. Director David Maloney stated that the images of war at the beginning of the serial were intended to create atmosphere, and he had no intention of losing the younger audience. The production of Genesis of the Daleks saw several changes from the script. Maloney altered the opening scene to show the soldiers gunned down by machine guns in slow motion. Nation was displeased with the change, and Maloney later felt that the violent addition was "a bit much". Hinchcliffe and Maloney were not keen on the Doctor's original meeting with the Time Lord, which took place in a lush garden, and changed it to the Skaro war-zone which they felt more appropriate. The Thal soldiers were originally supposed to be boys aged 15 or 16 to illustrate the youth of those fighting in the war, but this was later changed to make them appear more mature. In the Genesis of Terror script, Sarah Jane becomes ill in the third episode from radiation poisoning, and Bettan was a male who was introduced in the fourth episode. Part Five originally had more action in the Dalek incubator room and ended with the Doctor's question of whether he had the right to destroy them. ### Casting and costumes Maloney cast John Franklyn-Robbins as the Time Lord because he had worked with him before and intended his character to resemble Death in The Seventh Seal. Hilary Minster, who played a Thal soldier, had also played a Thal in Planet of the Daleks (1973). Minster had been considered for the role of Mogran. Peter Miles previously played Dr. Lawrence in Doctor Who and the Silurians (1970) and Professor Whitaker in Invasion of the Dinosaurs (1974). Stephen Yardley, who played the Muto Sevrin, later appeared in Vengeance on Varos (1985). During filming of Genesis, Yardley walked into the casting department on his lunch break in costume and asked for a job; because of his costume, they assumed he was a tramp from the street. Dennis Chinnery, who played Gharman, had previously been seen in The Chase (1965) and would later appear in The Twin Dilemma (1984). The character of Davros was designed by Nation to have created the Daleks in his image, and to also be a "spokesperson" for the Daleks as he felt it was "boring" listening to Daleks giving speeches. The design was inspired by the Mekon, a comic book character with a small body and a large "green, dome-like head" which Hinchcliffe remembered from his childhood. Davros attracted the attention of BBC prosthetics designer John Friedlander who agreed to come off another show to make Davros' mask. The latex mask was moulded to Michael Wisher's face by make-up artist Sylvia James. Wisher could even eat while wearing the mask. Regular latex instead of the more mouldable foam latex was used because the latter was too expensive. The cast and crew regarded Davros' effects as a great technical achievement considering the budget and time period they worked in. Two children visiting Baker at the BBC studios were scared by Wisher in costume; they thought he was a statue at first. When sitting in Davros' Dalek-like base, Wisher wore knee pads and a kilt because trousers were too uncomfortable. To prepare during rehearsals, Wisher acted in a wheelchair with a paper bag over his head that only had slits cut out for his eyes so he would be used to the "disorienting" situation and be able to express himself without using his whole face. Wisher, a heavy smoker, put two holes in the top of the bag so he could smoke underneath it in rehearsals. Wisher also provided some of the voices for the Daleks with Roy Skelton; in some scenes, he was acting to his own pre-recorded dialogue. Stuntman and actor Terry Walsh appeared uncredited in several roles. ### Filming and effects Genesis of the Daleks was the last serial of the twelfth season to be filmed, after Revenge of the Cybermen. As Sarah Jane had been filmed in Revenge wearing a combat costume, it was added into Genesis that the Doctor would hand her the outfit, into which she changes by the next scene. The story was mainly filmed in January 1975, with some studio recording carried into February. Location filming for the serial took place at Betchworth quarry in Surrey, which represented the landscape of Skaro. Having had trouble with the Daleks on location in Planet of the Daleks (1973), Maloney scheduled shooting so that they only appeared in studio scenes. The three active Dalek props used in the serial were originals from the 1960s, and their wear was covered by new paint. Five "dummy" Daleks which could not be operated were also used. Hinchcliffe wanted the Daleks to appear more powerful, and intended to achieve this through low angles and lighting. Duncan Brown, who was responsible for studio lighting, used colours and dark lighting to make the Daleks seem as if they were "emerging from the shadows" and to suggest rather than show the world created to viewers. The same model was used for both the Kaled and the Thal domes. The gas attack in Part One was achieved through dry ice and green lighting. Some of the Thal guns were re-used props from the First Doctor (William Hartnell) serial Galaxy 4 (1965). The electric trolley used by the Kaleds in Part One worked in tests, but collapsed when Baker and Marter boarded it. The creature Harry and the Doctor glimpse at the end of Part Two was mainly a reused Ice Warrior costume, while the Thal rocket ship was a reused model from The Ambassadors of Death (1970). During the filming of Part Two, Miles and Chinnery had trouble fitting the gun on the Dalek. As a result, the scene had to be filmed in two takes, bridged with a reaction shot of the Doctor. Part Two is unusual in that it is one of the very few episodes not to begin with a reprise, and also the first to end in a freeze frame. A stunt double for Elisabeth Sladen was hired for Sarah's fall from the scaffolding, but Maloney discovered that she would be falling eight feet, while Sladen had fallen ten feet in rehearsals. Maloney ultimately decided to conclude the episode with a freeze frame ending. Maloney would use the freeze frame technique again, most notably with The Deadly Assassin. The third episode overran its 25-minute limit and rather than cut material out the cliffhanger was changed from Davros' speech to the Doctor being electrocuted. The music for the serial was recorded on 3 March 1975 and the dubbing finished the day before Part One aired. ## Themes and analysis Nation, who grew up during World War II, intentionally based the Daleks on the Nazis, and this episode contains many deliberate parallels. The Kaleds dress in uniforms reminiscent of the Nazis and display "fascist salutes". The Kaleds look to "keep [their] race pure" by banishing the Thals and Mutos. Cast and crew members described it as a "warning to the world" about the danger of allowing authoritarianism to take over. Davros has been likened to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler several times, while physical comparisons have also been drawn between the appearance of Nyder and SS chief Heinrich Himmler; aside from the resemblance, both wear insignias and spectacles. As production of the third episode began, the producers decided to play down some of the Nazi symbolism, and took away Nyder's Iron Cross. It briefly reappears in a later scene that was filmed in the first recording block. Ed Webb and Mark Wardecker, in a paper in Doctor Who and Philosophy, interpreted the Dalek history shown in Genesis of the Daleks as a warning that "scientists will be the one to bring about the ultimate destruction, the ultimate evil, and deliberately so". They also commented that the serial showed that the Daleks were evil by design, rather than evolution. Davros represents a mad scientist who creates a monster that then consumes him. Sarah Honeychurch and Niall Burr, in the same book, wrote that the corruption of the Daleks showed that creatures should not be created with "such limited moral reasoning," and that in our world we cannot "impose our own personal human standards on everybody else". Genesis of the Daleks also displays a battle between good and evil. Letts enjoyed the fact that the story did not have clear heroes and villains, but rather a conflict of principle. The discussion between the Doctor and Davros about the hypothetical viral weapon demonstrates this. Hinchcliffe described it as the "hero meets antihero" moment, with the two engaged in "intellectual grappling". The episode also presents the "moral dilemma" of whether the Doctor should destroy the Daleks, resulting in the famous "Have I the right?" scene. The Doctor's comparison to knowingly killing a child who would grow up to be a dictator shows how the Doctor's ethics are influenced by his non-linear experience of time. He considers the good things that may come out of the Daleks, such as that "many future worlds would become allies". The Doctor's conclusion that he does not have the right is an example of utilitarian reasoning, and a "duty-based ethical" position. Sladen recalled that Baker took the scene very seriously, almost "agonising" over the dialogue. Comparisons to other stories have been drawn. The Time Lord who appears at the story's beginning is intentionally costumed to resemble Death in Ingmar Bergman's film The Seventh Seal. Gareth Roberts has compared this character to the ghost of Hamlet's father, setting the protagonist (the Doctor) on a violent mission with which he has moral qualms. Martin Wiggins, senior lecturer and fellow at the Shakespeare Institute at Stratford-upon-Avon, suggests that the Doctor's indecision about destroying the Dalek embryos in the "have I the right?" scene is derived from The Brothers Karamazov. ## Broadcast and reception Genesis of the Daleks was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 March to 12 April 1975. Viewership varied from 8 to 10 million; Parts One and Two were watched by audiences of 10.7 and 10.5 million, Parts Three and Four were watched by audiences of 8.5 and 8.8 million, and Parts Five and Six were watched by audiences of 9.8 and 9.1 million. Audience Appreciation Indexes were taken for the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth episodes, scoring 57, 58, 57, and 56 respectively. At the time of broadcast, there were some complaints about the level of violence portrayed. Mary Whitehouse, of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, complained that Genesis contained "tea-time brutality for tots". Scenes objected to included the depictions of war and Nyder hitting the Doctor. However, David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker, in their Doctor Who: The Television Companion (1998), recorded a positive reaction from fans in regards to creativity and Davros, though one writer noted the ending did not satisfyingly close the story. The BBC's Audience Research Report concluded, "A little more complex than some Doctor Who adventures, perhaps, and with underlying questions of conscience, the serial had been 'different' it was occasionally felt and, although dismissed in some quarters as far-fetched, long drawn-out, confused and/or predictable, had provided acceptable escapist entertainment for the majority." Howe and Walker themselves described the serial as "well-written and full of new ideas, while still remaining true to the Daleks' roots by effectively equating them with the Nazis", and particularly praised the production values, pacing, and moral dilemma. They considered it to have a few minor flaws, namely Harry being attacked by a giant clam, some "duff" cliffhangers, and "many of the scientist characters serve no other purpose than to act as Dalek-fodder". In 2010, Mark Braxton of Radio Times awarded the serial a full five stars and hailed it as "Terry Nation's finest hour for the series", suggesting that Davros was "the greatest villain in Doctor Who history". He was also positive towards Dudley Simpson's score and Davros's allies, who were "impeccably written and played" from Nyder to Gharman, but was disappointed that Harry did not have much to do. The A.V. Club reviewer Christopher Bahn noted that it contradicted some aspects of The Daleks but that it "[hit] the emotional target dead-on". He particularly praised Davros and Skaro, but considered the "major problem" with the portrayal of the Daleks was that "we're not given any choice but to view them as psychopathic murderers", and the Doctor came across as a "catastrophically incompetent secret agent". DVD Talk's Stuart Galbraith gave Genesis of the Daleks four out of five stars, calling it a "real fan-pleaser" and writing that Wisher was "superb" as Davros. While noting that the story "is mostly concerned with action and suspense, which it does rather well", he wrote that it "isn't especially original" as it dealt with common time-travel issues, despite doing it in "intelligent ways". In 2009, SFX listed the scene where the Daleks receive their first blaster as the thirteenth scariest moment of Doctor Who. The magazine also named the scene where Harry is attacked by a giant clam as one of the silliest Doctor Who moments, noting "even the best Doctor Who stories have the occasional dropped stitch". Charlie Jane Anders of io9, in a 2010 article, listed the cliffhanger of Episode Four – in which the Doctor is forced to tell Davros how the Daleks will be defeated in the future – as one of the greatest Doctor Who cliffhangers. Writing for BFI Screenonline, James Donohue thought Genesis of the Daleks "shows the series developing a more complex appreciation of the moral issues surrounding being a monster", but "the plot contrives to prevent the Doctor from having to make the difficult decision himself anyway. He delays Davros' plans, but he does not change the future. Lacking the courage to answer the questions it raises, Genesis shows how challenging, and how infuriating, children's TV can be." ### Legacy Genesis of the Daleks is one of the most widely known serials of the original run as it was repeated often. It was edited into an 85-minute omnibus version and broadcast on BBC1 at 3:00 pm on 27 December 1975, attracting 7.6 million viewers, and also was repeated in two edited 45-minute episodes as part of the "Doctor Who and the Monsters" on 26 July and 2 August 1982, which attracted audiences of 4.9 and 5 million. It was then repeated in its original serial form on BBC Two in 1993 (averaging 2.2 million viewers) and 2000 (averaging 1 to 1.5 million). In a 1998 poll of readers of Doctor Who Magazine, over 2500 voters placed Genesis at the top of a poll to find the greatest Doctor Who stories of all time. In the magazine's 2009 "Mighty 200" poll, asking readers to rank all of the then-made 200 stories, Genesis came in third place, behind The Caves of Androzani (1984) and "Blink" (2007). In a 2014 poll, the magazine's readers again placed the episode in third place. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Genesis of the Daleks one of the ten greatest episodes of Doctor Who. Genesis of the Daleks is the first example in the history of Doctor Who of "outright revisionism"; the creation story of the Daleks is very different from that established in The Daleks (1963), where it was said they evolved from creatures known as Dals, who were once similar to the Thals. Here, the Dals from the original story are changed to Kaleds. The Official Doctor Who and the Daleks Book, co-authored by Terry Nation, suggested that The Daleks took place during the Daleks' 1000-year hibernation following Genesis of the Daleks, and that the Daleks seen in that story were the descendants of Kaled mutants who had sought refuge in the destroyed Kaled city and discovered Davros' prototypes and notes. Russell T Davies, who revived Doctor Who in 2005, suggested that the origins of the Time War, a conflict between the Time Lords and the Daleks which contributed to the storyline of the new series, began with the Time Lords' attempted genocide of the Daleks in Genesis. Davros is resurrected in Destiny of the Daleks (1979), played by David Gooderson, and appears in the remaining three Dalek stories of the classic series played by Terry Molloy. He has also appeared in the revived series since "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" (2008), played by Julian Bleach. In The Magician's Apprentice (2015), footage from the episode is used with its plot based on the Fourth Doctor's moral issue if one has the right to kill a child if they knew "that child would grow up totally evil." Davros' early life is additionally covered in the 2006 Big Finish four-part audio series I, Davros, which saw Miles reprising his role as Nyder in the fourth episode, "Guilt". ## Commercial releases ### In print The Target novelisation of this serial, written by Terrance Dicks, was published by Tandem in 1976. It was re-released by Virgin Publishing in 1991, bearing its designated number of 27 in the novelisation range. The Genesis of the Daleks novelisation has the largest print run of any of the original series, selling over 100,000 copies. ### Home media In 1979, the BBC released a condensed audio version of the serial as an LP. In 1988, this recording was reissued on cassette by BBC Audio alongside a later radio play, Slipback. It was subsequently released on CD in a revised and expanded version by BBC Audio paired with Exploration Earth: The Time Machine in 2001. In February 2011, Audio Go reissued the one-hour condensed audio version of the LP as part of their "Vintage Beeb" range. Genesis of the Daleks was released on VHS by BBC Enterprises in 1991 with The Sontaran Experiment, and again as part of a box set of stories featuring Davros in 2001. It was released on DVD as a two-disc special edition in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide on 10 April 2006 and in the United States by Warner Home Video on 6 June 2006. This DVD is also available as part of the limited edition 2007 release of The Complete Davros Collection box set along with Destiny of the Daleks, Resurrection of the Daleks, Revelation of the Daleks and Remembrance of the Daleks. A 1080i upscaled remaster of the story was released on Blu-ray in the United Kingdom by BBC Studios as part of the 'Complete Season 12' box set on 11 June 2018, and in the United States by Warner Home Video (as 'Tom Baker: Season One') on 19 June 2018; This release contained both the original 6-episode version and the 85-minute abridged repeat. To promote the release, the repeat version (marketed as a 'Director's Cut') was screened theatrically in the United States via Fathom Events on 11 June 2018. In November 2020, the story was released as part of the Time Lord Victorious: Road to the Dark Times blu-ray, along with Planet of the Daleks, The Deadly Assassin, State of Decay, The Curse of Fenric, The Runaway Bride and The Waters of Mars.

Typhoon Saomai

Pacific typhoon in 2006

Typhoon Saomai, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Juan, was considered the most powerful typhoon on record to strike the east coast of the People's Republic of China. It was the eighth tropical storm, fifth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season recognized by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, Saomai was the seventh tropical storm and fifth typhoon of the season. The name "Saomai" was submitted by Vietnam, and is from the Vietnamese word for "morning star" (sao Mai), a reference to the planet Venus. The typhoon brought heavy rain and wind to areas of the Mariana Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan, and the east coast of China. It was responsible for 456 deaths and \$2.5 billion (2006 USD) in damage. Saomai affected many of the same areas affected by Tropical Storm Bilis a month earlier, and the China Meteorological Administration reported that Saomai was the strongest typhoon that ever occurred over China's offshore region as well as the most powerful typhoon ever to make landfall over Mainland China. ## Meteorological history A tropical disturbance formed east of Chuuk on July 31 and gradually increased in organization over the next several days as it moved northwestward. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the system on August 4 and it was designated a tropical depression by both the JTWC and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) later that day. The depression strengthened into a tropical storm on August 5, and the JMA designated it Tropical Storm Saomai. Saomai continued moving toward the northwest and passed over the Mariana Islands on August 6 while continuing to strengthen, and was upgraded to a severe tropical storm by the JMA later that day. The storm then began organizing and intensifying more rapidly, becoming a typhoon early on August 7. Saomai moved into the area of responsibility of PAGASA on August 8, and was designated Typhoon Juan. Due to Saomai's proximity to Tropical Storm Bopha, located near Taiwan, the two underwent a Fujiwhara interaction. This interaction served to shift Saomai's track slightly to the south and provided the system with in influx of moisture via southwesterly monsoonal flow on the backside of Bopha. Late on August 9, Saomai reached its peak intensity as it moved just north of Miyakojima. The JMA estimated it to have attained winds of 195 km/h (120 mph) and a central pressure of 925 mbar (hPa; 27.32 inHg). The JTWC estimated Saomai to have been a much more powerful system, ranking it as a Category 5-equivalent super typhoon with one-minute winds of 260 km/h (160 mph) and a pressure of 898 mbar (hPa; 26.52 inHg). Further, though less significant, discrepancies on the peak intensity of Saomai exist between the local warning centers for China. Both the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) and Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) estimated the typhoon to have been slightly stronger, stating peak ten-minute sustained winds of 215 and 210 km/h (134 and 130 mph), respectively. Similarly the agencies reported lower pressures: 915 mbar (hPa; 27.02 inHg) by the CMA and 920 mbar (hPa; 27.17 inHG) by the HKO. After passing to the south of Okinawa, Saomai turned westward and brushed the northern coast of Taiwan Island early on August 10. The typhoon maintained its minimum pressure until it approached within 80 km (50 mi) of the eastern China coast. On August 10, Typhoon Saomai made landfall at Cangnan County in southern Zhejiang, still maintaining a small and clear eye. According to the CMA, the typhoon moved ashore with maximum sustained winds of 216 km/h (134 mph), and a central pressure of 920 mbar (27 inHg). By winds, Saomai tied Typhoon Marge in 1973 for the strongest typhoon to strike mainland China; because Saomai had a lower landfall pressure than Marge, the CMA considered it the strongest typhoon on record to strike the nation, as well as a 1 in 100 year typhoon. Saomai was therefore the strongest typhoon to strike Zhejiang, surpassing the previous record held by typhoons Rananim in 2004 and Typhoon Khanun in 2005. However, wind estimates for typhoons could be inaccurate for early typhoons. Gradual weakening ensued as Saomai moved further inland, and it weakened into a tropical depression on August 11, dissipating later that day. ## Preparations The United States National Weather Service issued a tropical storm warning for Guam as Tropical Storm Saomai approached the island on August 6. Military bases in northern Guam entered Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1, meaning that winds of 50 knots or higher were expected within 12 hours. The rest of the island was placed under Condition of Readiness 2, meaning that such winds were possible within 24 hours. Several bases were temporarily closed. The Central Weather Bureau of the Republic of China issued land and marine typhoon warnings for areas of northern Taiwan in anticipation of Saomai's outer bands. The warnings had been upgraded from lesser warnings issued for Tropical Storm Bopha, which made landfall in southern Taiwan the day before. Five flights in and around Taiwan were canceled, as was ferry service. Hundreds of flights from Okinawa to the rest of Japan were also canceled. In China, 1,001,000 people in Zhejiang and 710,000 people in Fujian were evacuated to shelters prior to Saomai's landfall. Over 20,000 soldiers and police were mobilized to aid in cleanup and rescue efforts. Officials ordered 10,286 ships with 35,282 fishermen to return to port in Fujian, while another 5,638 ships returned to port in Zhejiang. Also in Fujian, all 26,800 schools were closed. The Wenzhou city government ordered all businesses to close and prepare for the storm. Airlines canceled 25 flights from Fuzhou Changle International Airport and another 17 from Hong Kong, while ferry service was also disrupted. During the storm, the Wenzhou Longwan International Airport closed, stranding hundreds of travelers. ## Impact During the overnight hours of August 5–6, Tropical Storm Saomai moved through the southern Mariana Islands with its center passing halfway between Guam and Rota. Owing to the storm's relatively quick pace, its effects were limited in duration. Rota received the strongest winds, with gusts peaking at 88 km/h (55 mph) at the International Airport while sustained values reached 55 km/h (34 mph). Lesser winds occurred on Guam, with a peak gust of 61 km/h (38 mph) measured at Andersen Air Force Base. Enhanced winds extended northward to Tinian and Saipan. Light to moderate rains accompanied the storm and accumulations were generally less than 76 mm (3.0 in); however, monsoonal flow along the south side of Saomai enhanced totals over Guam where 113.5 mm (4.47 in) fell. Only minor damage resulted from the storm's passage, limited to downed trees and power lines on Guam. Brief electrical outages occurred in Barrigada and Chalan Pago. Overall, damage in the region was estimated at \$5,000. Later, as with Tropical Storm Bilis a month earlier, Saomai's outer rainbands affected areas of the Philippines. Over 400 homes were destroyed by storm surge, and two people were killed. At least seven people were reported missing. The core of the typhoon passed to the north of Taiwan, but the island still experienced heavy rain and wind that disrupted traffic and cancelled flights to and from Taipei. No serious damage or casualties were reported. While in the vicinity of Okinawa, Saomai brushed the southern Ryukyu Islands. Miyakojima reported the heaviest rainfall in Japan, totaling 52 mm (2.0 in). Wind gusts in the region peaked at 72 km/h (45 mph) at Shimoji-shima. Waves of 10 m (33 ft) in height were reported at Miyakojima, which caused ¥980,000 (JPY, \$8,500 USD) in road damage. ### Mainland China Saomai was the third in a series of deadly storms that struck China in the summer of 2006, after Tropical Storm Bilis in July killed over 600 people and Typhoon Prapiroon killed around 80 people in early August. It was also the sixth tropical cyclone of the year to strike the country. While moving ashore in Zhejiang province, Saomai produced high waves, gusty winds, and heavy rainfall. Cangnan County in Wenzhou reported 30 mm (1.2 in) of precipitation in only one hour, and 300 mm (12 in) over 12 hours. Rainfall reached 200 mm (7.9 in) in the inland province of Jiangxi, with 105 mm (4.1 in) recorded in one hour in Linchuan District. The storm broke several wind records in eastern China. A station in Cangnan County reported peak winds of 245 km/h (152 mph), and a station in Fuding reported winds of 273 km/h (170 mph), which were the strongest winds on record in Zhejiang and Fujian, respectively. The latter value was slightly less than the 284 km/h (176 mph) wind report in Hong Kong during Typhoon Wanda in 1962. Fuding city reported gusts of over 144 km/h (89 mph) for about three hours, and widespread areas in Zhejiang and Fujian reported typhoon force winds, with a 45 km (28 mi) diameter of 216 km/h (134 mph) winds. Along its path, Saomai destroyed about 54,000 buildings while causing widespread power outages. There were 61,277 destroyed rooms and another 371,147 that were damaged, mostly in Fujian. Most of the damaged houses along the path were generally masonry built, while newer towers fared better due to higher building standards. The typhoon also damaged 244,900 hectares (605,000 acres) of farmlands, mostly in Jiangxi. Saomai struck a less developed area of China, which limited insured damage to around ¥400–500 million (RMB, \$50.5–63 million USD). This was estimated to have been between 4–9% of the overall damage. Damage was estimated at ¥11.66 billion (RMB, \$1.5 billion). Overall, Saomai killed at least 441 people, although unofficial sources suggest a death toll of around 1,000. The storm left nearly all of Zhejiang without power and cut half of all communication links. The heavy damage prompted officials to declare a state of emergency. In Wenzhou alone, over 18,000 homes were destroyed, and 3,850 factories were forced to shut down. Also in Wenzhou, Saomai left over 213,000 people without clean water. 193 people died in the city. In Cangnan County, the typhoon damaged 450 schools, totaling ¥25 million (RMB, US\$3.1 million). Rainfall across the state flooded 56 provincial roads and highways. Six people died in Lishui after being crushed by a landslide. Throughout Zhejiang, economic losses totaled ¥4.9 billion (RMB, \$610 million), of which ¥4.5 billion (RMB, \$560 million) was in Wenzhou. In Fujian, high waves in Fuding wrecked about 1,000 ships, killing hundreds of fishermen. Most of the lost ships were in the village of Shacheng, where about half of the residents were left homeless. Some entire villages in Fujian were entirely swept away by the winds and rains. High winds and rainfall destroyed 32,700 houses, including 10,000 in Fuding alone; there were also 80,000 damaged houses in the city. Economic losses reached ¥3.1 billion (RMB, US\$388 million), and about 200 people died in Fuding. Also in the city, Saomai destroyed the roof tiles and the gate house of the 1,146 year old Ziguo temple, a local historical site. The monks in the temple had evacuated, and damage to the structure was estimated ¥5 million (RMB, US\$625,000), rendering it largely destroyed. Damage in Fuzhou, also in Fujian, totaled ¥200 million (RMB, US\$25 million). Province-wide, 234 factories or mines were forced to shut down due to the typhoon. Economic losses in Fujian totaled ¥6.4 billion (RMB, US\$795 million). About a month after Typhoon Kaemi affected the region, Saomai caused additional flooding in the inland province of Jiangxi. There, the storm wrecked six reservoirs, resulting in ¥348 million (RMB, US\$45 million) in damage. About 35,000 people were forced to evacuate in Jiangxi due to the storm. One person was washed away in floodwaters while inspecting damage, while another person was killed when a damaged building collapsed. In neighboring Anhui province, flooding forced residents to evacuate homes. 87 deaths were reported in Zhejiang, mostly in Wenzhou. Major highways in the province were flooded out. Most of these deaths were caused by storm surge flooding in coastal fishing communities, such as Fuding. Eight of the deaths were caused by the collapse of a damaged evacuation shelter. Strong winds and flooding destroyed 37,000 houses and flooded 380 km² (94,000 acres) of farmland, and economic damage amounted to 6.3 billion yuan. ## Aftermath Immediately after Saomai made landfall in China, local Red Cross chapters provided residents left homeless with emergency supplies, such as blankets, clothing, medicine, and disinfectant. After the storm moved ashore, the Wenzhou government blocked street access to the areas with the heaviest damage. Officials ordered stores to cease selling items that were unrelated to storm recovery. By 11 days after landfall, 80% of the factories in Wenzhou had reopened. The city of Fuding provided ¥104.9 million (RMB, US\$13.2 million) toward reconstructing, as well as ¥5,000 (RMB, US\$625) for each family. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies made an appeal for almost 6 million Swiss francs (\$4.8 million, 2006 USD) to assist stricken families in the PRC. As of August 11, 2006, about 1.8 million Chinese yuan (\$220,000) worth of relief items and financial assistance had been given to the victims. The PRC government also allocated 120 million yuan (\$15.2 million) for disaster relief in areas affected by Saomai and earlier storms. The funds were used to provide food and water for displaced victims and pay for the rebuilding effort in Zhejiang and Fujian. ### Retirement After the season ended, members of the 39th meeting of the Typhoon Committee of the World Meteorological Organization met in Manila in December 2006. They discussed retiring the name "Saomai", along with four other names from the season. During the 40th meeting in November 2007, the Typhoon Committee approved the retirement, announcing that the name "Son-Tinh" would replace Saomai on the basin name lists beginning in 2008 and was first used in the 2012 season. ## See also - Typhoon Rananim - Typhoon Chan-hom (2015) - Typhoon Abe (1990) - Typhoon Doksuri (2023)

Pap of Armenia

King of Armenia from 370 to 374

Pap (Armenian: Պապ; c. 353 – 374/375) was king of Armenia from 370 until 374/375, and a member of the Arsacid dynasty. His reign saw a short, but notable period of stabilization after years of political turmoil. Although Armenia had been conquered and devastated by the Sassanid king Shapur II in 367/368, Pap was restored to the throne at a young age with Roman assistance in 370. Early in his reign, Armenia and Rome won a joint victory over the Persians at the Battle of Bagavan, and some former territories of the kingdom were reconquered by the efforts of his sparapet (general-in-chief) Mushegh Mamikonian. Although Pap's reign began with a reconciliation of the monarchy, nobility and church, his relations with the church soon deteriorated. Pap allegedly had the Patriarch of Armenia, Nerses I, poisoned, although some later historians doubt this narrative. Pap also eventually ran afoul of the Romans, who suspected him of colluding with the Persians. The emperor Valens unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate him in 373/374, but ultimately succeeded in having him killed in 374/375. He was succeeded by his nephew Varazdat as king. Pap is depicted with hostility by the classical Armenian historians, likely due to the king's troublesome relationship with the Armenian Church. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, however, praised Pap for his bravery and cleverness. Some later Armenian historians have reevaluated Pap positively, valuing his attempts to strengthen the Armenian monarchy and pursue an independent foreign policy under difficult circumstances. ## Family Pap was the son of the Arsacid king of Armenia Arshak (Arsaces) II (r. 350–368) and his wife Parandzem. The exact year of Pap's birth is not known for certain and has been debated by historians; one source gives it as approximately 353. Armenian historian Hakob Manandian considered it possible that Pap was actually the son of Parandzem by her first husband Gnel (Arshak's nephew). Historian Albert Stepanyan argues that Pap was in fact Arshak's son, but that he was initially legally regarded as Gnel's son, as Arshak had married Paradzem in an Iranian-style levirate marriage called stūr ī būtak or čakarīh, whereby a childless widow would marry one of her late husband's agnatic relatives to provide him with an heir. Additionally, Arshak had apparently married Parandzem while still married to his first wife Olympias, despite the recent banning of polygamy at the church council of Ashtishat. For these reasons, Arshak faced serious obstacles in legitimizing Pap as his legal son and heir. According to Stepanyan, it was only after the death of Queen Olympias (purportedly by poisoning on Parandzem's orders) that Parandzem was made a full royal consort and her son Pap was recognized as crown prince of Armenia. Pap also appears to have had a brother or half-brother whose son Varazdat succeeded Pap as king. This brother is not mentioned by name in the histories of Faustus of Byzantium or Movses Khorenatsi, two of the main Armenian sources on Pap's life, but another Armenian work, the anonymous Vita of St. Nerses, reports that Pap had a younger brother named Trdat. Pap's name is of Middle Iranian origin and literally means "father". The manuscripts of Ammianus Marcellinus's history give his name as Para, which historians read as Papa. ## Ascendance to the throne Around 367/368, Pap's father Arshak II went to Persia for peace negotiations with the Sassanid king Shapur II and was imprisoned, leaving the Armenian throne vacant. Queen Parandzem and Prince Pap took refuge with the royal treasure in the fortress of Artogerassa (Artagers), defended by a troop of azats (lesser Armenian nobles). According to Ammianus Marcellinus, the Persian invasion force was commanded by two Armenian defectors, Cylaces (Glak) and Artabanes (Artavan or Vahan). Faustus also mentions two Armenian nakharars (magnates), Meruzhan Artsruni and Vahan Mamikonian (possibly identifiable with Ammianus's Artabanes), in leadership positions under Shapur II's suzerainty, as well as Zik and Karen who carried Persian noble titles. Shapur II may have intended to combine Sassanid administrative rule (Zik and Karen) with that of nakharar rule (Artsruni and Mamikonian). During the siege, Arshak II's wife Parandzem appealed to Cylaces and Artabanes in the name of her husband. The two men defected back to the Arsacid monarchy and engineered the escape of Pap. Themistius reported Pap's arrival at Valens' court in Marcianopolis, where the emperor was wintering. According to Faustus, Pap was in contact with his mother while in Roman territory and encouraged her to await his return. Valens sent him to stay at Neocaesarea in Pontus Polemoniacus, 300 kilometres (190 mi) from the Armenian border, where Pap received "liberal support and education." In 369, at the request of sparapet Mushegh Mamikonian (according to Faustus) or of Cylaces and Artabanes (according to Ammianus), Valens allowed Pap to return to Armenian territory. He was accompanied by the comes et dux Terentius but was not yet recognized as King of Armenia by the Romans. ## King of Armenia Valens was reluctant to bestow a royal title upon Pap as this would violate an earlier treaty signed by Jovian in July 363, whereby Rome had pledged not to intervene in Armenian affairs. Nevertheless, Shapur was enraged at Pap's restoration and personally invaded Armenia in response, forcing Pap to leave Armenia again and go into hiding near the Roman frontier in Lazica. Instead of going after Pap, Shapur II concentrated his attack on Artogerassa, which fell in the winter of 369/70. The royal treasure was captured by the Persians and Parandzem was raped and murdered. Shapur II also began systematically persecuting the local Christians, destroying churches, erecting fire temples and forcing conversion to Zoroastrianism. Shapur II contacted Pap while he was in hiding and tried to persuade him to come over to his side. Under Shapur II's influence, Pap murdered the duplicitous Cylaces and Artabanes and sent their heads to the shahanshah as a sign of loyalty. Shapur's attempted rapprochement with Pap was aborted, however, by Arinthaeus's return to Armenia with a Roman army that restored Pap to the throne for a second time in approximately spring 370. In the spring of 371, Shapur II launched another massive invasion of Armenia. In response, Valens sent a force headed by his generals Traianus and Vadomarius into Armenia. The Armenian army also assembled under the command of sparapet Mushegh Mamikonian. The joint Roman-Armenian force met the invading Persian army in the region of Bagrevand and emerged victorious at the Battle of Bagavan. Faustus of Byzantium gives considerable credit for the victory to Mushegh Mamikonian and writes that Pap observed the battle from the nearby height of Mount Npat. During the ensuing battles, more Armenian territories were reclaimed from the Persians (according to Faustus), including Arzanene and Corduene, which had been ceded to the Persians by Jovian in 363. By the end of the summer, Shapur II had retreated to his capital at Ctesiphon and Valens had returned to Antioch. Shapur II was unable to confront the massive Roman buildup in Armenia as a result of his preoccupation with Kushan attacks in the eastern part of his empire. Thus, Roman control over Armenia through the client king Pap was secure for the time being. Pap was a young man—likely still a teenager—when he took the throne. At the beginning of his reign, he invited Patriarch Nerses I to return to Armenia. Nerses agreed and undertook the restoration of Armenia's churches and church institutions, caring for the poor and reestablishing the church's influence in the country. Meanwhile, sparapet Mushegh campaigned to restore Arsacid authority in Armenia, brutally punishing the provinces that had revolted against the monarchy, forcing the pro-Persian nakharars to submit to royal authority, and retaking territories from neighboring Albania and Iberia. Soon after these initial successes, Pap came into conflict with Patriarch Nerses. According to Faustus, Nerses constantly reprimanded Pap for his sinful behavior and refused to allow him to enter the church; Movses Khorenatsi implies that Pap was upset at Nerses for having him return lands that had been confiscated from the nobility during his father's reign. Some modern historians believe that Pap clashed with the church due to his support for Valens's pro-Arian religious policy; others believe that Pap was a Christian in name only and that he was sympathetic towards Zoroastrianism. Still others regard Pap's conflict with the clergy as the result of his steps to restrain the excessive power of the church, which had accumulated significant estates and wealth in the form of the charitable institutions created by Nerses during Arshak II's reign. The conflict between the king and the patriarch came to a head in 373, when, according to Faustus and Movses, Pap invited Nerses to dinner at his mansion in the village of Khakh and had him poisoned. The king then dissolved the charitable institutions established by Nerses, abolished the ptghi and tasanord tithes paid to the church, and seized much of the church's lands. He also limited the clergy's exemption from military service, ordering that the sons and brothers of the lower clergy be placed at the disposal of the court. Pap nominated a man named Yusik as a replacement and sent him for consecration in Caesarea, but the Bishop of Caesarea Basil refused to consecrate the nominee. Valens requested that Basil quickly resolve the situation by finding a new nominee acceptable to Pap. Basil failed to do so and the Roman see of Caesarea effectively lost its traditional role of consecrating the Patriarch of Armenia. According to Faustus, the poisoning of the popular and powerful patriarch caused a rift between the king and the nobility and alienated sparapet Mushegh in particular. Nerses had also been a close Roman contact; his murder and the subsequent loss of Roman ecclesiastical control over the appointment of the Patriarch of Armenia must have damaged Pap's relations with Valens. Some later historians have cast doubt on or totally rejected the assertion that Pap had Nerses poisoned. The Armenian historian Leo considered it a legend that was presented as fact by later ecclesiastical historians seeking to defame Pap. Authors Malachia Ormanian and Yeghiazar Muradian, judging from the circumstances described by Faustus, thought it more likely that Nerses died of some illness of the lungs or heart, perhaps on the same day or the day after he had dinner with Pap, giving rise to the rumor that the patriarch had been poisoned. Josef Markwart and Hakob Manandian also reject the story of Nerses's poisoning, arguing that Pap would have surely been called to account for it by Basil of Caesarea. Nina Garsoïan and Noel Lenski, on the other hand, do not dispute that Pap poisoned Nerses and note that he was not the first Arsacid king to have a patriach murdered, in reference to Pap's grandfather Tiran who had Patriarch Yusik assassinated. Ammianus Marcellinus is notably silent on Nerses's murder. This may reflect the Roman historian's general disinterest in religious matters, although it has been suggested that Ammianus deliberately omitted this episode in order not to diminish his narrative of Pap as "the innocent victim of Roman villainy." ## Fall In addition to the controversy over the appointment of a new patriarch, Pap's relations with Valens further suffered due to the Roman commander Terentius, who wrote to the emperor criticizing Pap and advising him to depose the Armenian king in order to prevent him from defecting to Persia. According to Faustus, Pap also demanded control over Caesarea and twelve other Roman cities including Edessa as former Arsacid domains while openly courting Persia, in defiance of the warnings of sparapet Mushegh and other nobles not to break the alliance with Rome. Ammianus, on the contrary, claims that Pap was completely loyal to Rome. Valens decided to have Pap executed, and invited him to a meeting in Tarsus in 373 or 374. Pap arrived with 300 mounted escorts, but quickly became worried by the absence of the emperor, who was still in Antioch, and therefore fled back toward Armenia and fought off a legion that was sent after him. Terentius sent two generals with scutarii (shielded cavalry) familiar with the local terrain after Pap, an Armenian named Danielus and an Iberian named Barzimeres, who failed to capture Pap. The generals gave the excuse that Pap had used magical powers to avoid capture and used a dark cloud to mask his party, which is reminiscent of Faustus's claim that Pap was possessed by demons. This could have simply been an attack on Pap's character based on his sympathies towards Arians and pagans. Ammianus writes that Pap's subjects joyfully greeted their king's return, and that even after this assassination attempt Pap did not turn against the Roman Empire. Valens then ordered Traianus, Terentius's successor as comes et dux of Armenia, to gain Pap's confidence and murder him. A barbarian guard murdered Pap in 374 or 375 during a banquet which Traianus had organized for the young king. Ammianus describes the murder of Pap on Valens's orders as an unjustified and treacherous act, drawing parallels with the murder of the Quadi King Gabinius by Valentinian I and claiming that the ghost of Pap haunted many. The Armenian nakharars still loyal to Pap did little to protest the murder of the king because of the large Roman army present in Armenian territory. The new Roman nominee for king, Pap's nephew Varazdat (Varasdates), was accepted by virtually everyone. Varazdat had grown up in Rome and began to rule under the regency of Mushegh Mamikonian, as the Mamikonians were the chief pro-Roman noble house in Armenia. Shapur II had long been courting Pap and the latter's murder and replacement with a Roman nominee provoked Persian outrage; however, Shapur did not invade and took only diplomatic action. ## Marriage and issue Pap married an Armenian noblewoman called Zarmandukht, who bore him two sons: Arshak (Arsaces) III and Vagharshak (Vologases). Pap's sons were later made co-rulers of Armenia by sparapet Manuel Mamikonian after he forced Pap's successor Varazdat to flee the country. Additionally, some scholars believe Varazdat to have been the illegitimate child of Pap. ## Historiography The classical Armenian historians are hostile to Pap and ascribe to him an array of sins, chief among which being the murder of Nerses I. Faustus of Byzantium, drawing from epical sources, depicts Pap as totally evil and possessed by demons (dewkʻ) from birth, which caused him to commit sins such as sodomy and bestiality. This attitude toward Pap has been explained by the king's troublesome relationship with the Armenian Church, caused by his promotion of Arianism and efforts to limit the church's power and influence. The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who, unlike the classical Armenian historians, was a contemporary of Pap, presents a more favorable image of the young king, whom he praises for his bravery and cleverness and describes as being welcomed “with the greatest joy by his subjects” after escaping the first assassination attempt against him. Later Armenian historians reevaluated Pap in a positive light, considering him an unjust victim of pro-church historians and valuing his attempts to strengthen the Armenian monarchy and pursue an independent foreign policy under difficult circumstances. Several of the "evil deeds" ascribed to Pap by Faustus were reinterpreted as the king's efforts to stabilize and repopulate the war-torn Kingdom of Armenia. Some other modern historians have evaluated Pap less positively. In Noel Lenski's view, Pap likely struggled to rule a kingdom that was still recovering from the destruction wrought by Shapur II, leading him to make poor decisions that ultimately led to his downfall. ## Cultural depictions - Pap is a character in the tragedy Nerses the Great, Patron of Armenia written in 1857, by the 19th-century Armenian playwright, actor and editor, Sargis Vanandetsi (Sargis Mirzayan). - Pap is the titular character of the historical novel Pap Tagavor by Stepan Zoryan, first published in 1944. ## See also - Stepan Zoryan

Can't Help Thinking About Me

1966 song by David Bowie

"Can't Help Thinking About Me" is a song written by English musician David Bowie and recorded with his band the Lower Third. Released as a single by Pye Records on 14 January 1966, it was the first one issued under the "David Bowie" name after previously performing as Davy Jones or Davie Jones. The recording was produced by Tony Hatch, who also contributed piano. The session took place on 10 December 1965 at Marble Arch Studios in London. A rewrite of Bowie's "The London Boys", the song concerns a boy found guilty of an act that decides to leave town to start anew. It is noted by biographers as showcasing Bowie's growth as a songwriter, displaying themes he would utilise in his later work. Musically, the song explores the contemporary mod sound of the Who and the Kinks. Upon release as a single, "Can't Help Thinking About Me" was a flop like Bowie's previous releases, but peaked at number 34 on the Melody Maker chart after chart-rigging by Ralph Horton. Disputes with Horton led to Bowie's departure from the Lower Third two weeks after its release. In March 1966, Bowie performed the song on the ATV programme Ready Steady Go! with the Buzz. Two months later, it was issued in the United States by Warner Bros. Records, becoming Bowie's first US release. The original recording later appeared on the compilation albums Early On (1964–1966) (1991) and Nothing Has Changed (2014). Over thirty years after its initial release, Bowie revived "Can't Help Thinking About Me" during his 1999 Hours Tour. He then re-recorded the song during the sessions for Toy in mid-2000, along with other tracks he wrote and recorded during the mid-1960s. After the project was shelved, the remake remained unreleased until 2021, when Toy was officially issued as part of the Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) box set. A previously unseen live performance of the song from October 1999 accompanied the release on 19 November 2021. ## Writing and recording By 1965, David Bowie, who was still performing as Davy Jones or Davie Jones at the time, had released a string of singles with numerous bands that failed to garner commercial success. As such, EMI dropped him from the label. His new manager, Ralph Horton, contacted publicist Kenneth Pitt for financial backing and an established partner. At the suggestion of Pitt, Jones changed his name to Bowie to distinguish himself from the singer and actor Davy Jones, who later became one of the Monkees. On the lookout for a label, Horton convinced Tony Hatch, an A&R employee for Pye Records, to sign Bowie. Hatch, who produced and composed songs for other artists at the time, signed him on the grounds that Bowie wrote his own songs. After Pye rejected his recently-demoed composition "The London Boys" on the grounds of provocative lyrical content, Bowie rewrote it as "Can't Help Thinking About Me". Hatch later told biographer Paul Trynka: "I remember 'The London Boys'. There were a lot of songs about his background. There was one about the Hackney Marshes which is probably in some archive somewhere." At the time of recording, Bowie was the leader of the Lower Third, having joined them after leaving the Manish Boys. With Hatch producing and on piano, Bowie and the Lower Third recorded "Can't Help Thinking About Me" on 10 December 1965 at Marble Arch Studios in London. The lineup consisted of Bowie, guitarist Dennis Taylor, bassist Graham Rivens and drummer Phil Lancaster. According to biographer Nicholas Pegg, Hatch berated the band's backing vocals as sounding "like a Saturday night at the old Bull and Bush". Regarding Bowie, Hatch later stated: "[David was] good to get on with and excellent in the studio. His material was good, although I thought he wrote too much about London dustbins. Those were his formative years and he hadn't reached maturity, but he was unusual, unique." After the session, Bowie and the Lower Third conducted numerous live performances into January 1966. However, Horton showed instances of favouritism for Bowie over the band, including an instance where he announced Bowie would accompany him on a flight home from France while the remaining members find their own way. These disputes and additional financial issues between Horton and them caused rising tensions. According to Taylor: "He took a liking to David definitely and from that point, it was no longer a singer and a group, it had become a singer with a group, which is a different thing altogether." ## Composition and lyrics Musically, author James E. Perone states that the song explores the contemporary mod sound of the Who and the Kinks, while in subsequent decades, PopMatters described it as folk-pop. Perone further argues that the song established Bowie "as a composer who is able to assimilate a prevailing musical style". Bowie's biographers note that "Can't Help Thinking About Me" showcases the artist's growth as a songwriter, displaying themes Bowie would utilise in his later work. The song concerns a boy found guilty of an act who decides to leave town to start anew, establishing a reoccurring theme in the artist's lyrics that portray outcasts and outsiders. AllMusic's Richie Unterberger later stated that "'Can't Help Thinking About Me' is an uneasily introspective number that foreshadows his later lyrics". Pegg specifically writes that "the motif of lonely travelling as a metaphor for the creative quest" would reappear in "Black Country Rock" (1970), "Be My Wife" (1977) and "Move On" (1979). According to Chris O'Leary, the lyric "My girl calls my name 'Hi Dave', drop-in, come back, see you around if you're this way again" was the result of Bowie forgetting to bring his lyric book to the studio, which forced himself to recall the lyrics from memory. With the line, "Can't Help Thinking About Me" is one of only three songs in which Bowie says his own name, the others being "Teenage Wildlife" (1980) and his cover of the Pixies' "Cactus" (2002). Bowie himself later referred to the track's title as "an illuminating little piece". ## Release On 6 January 1966, Bowie's sponsor Raymond Cook financed a launch party for the single, which was held at the Victoria in Strathearn Place. The press mostly centred on Bowie while the Lower Third were ignored, which contributed to rising tensions in the band that culminated in Bowie's departure two weeks after the single's release on 29 January. A review for Record Retailer described the upcoming single as an "original song about teenage trouble. Words worth listening to but arrangement not all that original." Pye issued "Can't Help Thinking About Me" in the United Kingdom on 14 January 1966, with the catalogue number Pye 7N17020. Credited to David Bowie with the Lower Third, it was his first release under the "David Bowie" name. The B-side was "And I Say to Myself", another Bowie-penned track that was recorded around the same time. Commercially, the single flopped like its predecessors. Using £250 borrowed from Cook, Horton made attempts at chart rigging, pushing the single to number 34 on the Melody Maker chart. Hatch recalled the top 40 placement made Bowie "very excited" as for himself: I did see David as a long-term artist. And I knew we had a lot more material to play with." On 4 March 1966, Bowie and his new band the Buzz appeared on ATV programme Ready Steady Go!, where they mimed to "Can't Help Thinking About Me" over a pre-recorded backing track. Bowie sang live vocals and wore a white suit designed by mod trendsetter John Stephen, which Pegg writes resulted in a huge glare for the cameras. In May 1966, "Can't Help Thinking About Me" was issued as a single in the United States by Warner Bros. Records, becoming Bowie's first US release. Like the original UK release, the single flopped. The song appeared on the Pye compilation Hitmakers Volume 4 later that year, which marked the first time a Bowie recording appeared on an album. He released two more singles for Pye, "Do Anything You Say" and "I Dig Everything", before signing with Deram Records in late 1966. "Can't Help Thinking About Me" later appeared on the compilation albums Early On (1964–1966) (1991) and Nothing Has Changed (2014). Regarding the song, O'Leary calls it Bowie's "strongest" song up to that point, writing its failure had "ill consequences" on the artist, including a loss of confidence and to "chase after whims". In a 2016 list ranking every Bowie single from worst to best, Ultimate Classic Rock placed "Can't Help Thinking About Me" at number 110 (out of 119). ## Live performances Over 30 years after its original release, Bowie sang "Can't Help Thinking About Me" at a 1997 gig in San Francisco before resurrecting the full song and regular performances on the Hours Tour in 1999. It marked the first time since 1970 Bowie had performed any of his pre-Space Oddity (1969) material. First performing the song during his appearance on VH1's Storytellers programme, he called the song a "beautiful piece of solipsism" but proclaimed the "Hi Dave" lines as among the worst he ever wrote. The appearance later saw release as VH1 Storytellers in 2009. Further live recordings during the tour were released in 2020 and 2021 on Something in the Air (Live Paris 99) and David Bowie at the Kit Kat Klub (Live New York 99), respectively, as part of the Brilliant Live Adventures series (2020–2021). ## Toy version After performing the song live in 1999, Bowie re-recorded "Can't Help Thinking About Me" during the sessions for the Toy project between July and October 2000, along with other tracks Bowie wrote and recorded in the mid-1960s, including "The London Boys" and "You've Got a Habit of Leaving". The lineup consisted of the members of Bowie's then-touring band: guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, pianist Mike Garson, musician Mark Plati and drummer Sterling Campbell. With co-production from Bowie and Plati, the band rehearsed the songs at Sear Sound Studios in New York City before recording them as live tracks. Plati stated that he refused to listen to Bowie's original recordings of the tracks, so to prevent the originals from influencing his playing on the new versions. Overdubs were recorded at New York's Looking Glass Studios. Toy was initially intended for release in March 2001, before it was shelved by EMI/Virgin due to financial issues. So, Bowie departed the label and recorded his next album Heathen (2002). In March 2011, tracks from the Toy sessions, excluding "Can't Help Thinking About Me" and "Karma Man", were leaked online, attracting media attention. Ten years later, on 29 September 2021, Warner Music Group announced that Toy would get an official release on 26 November as part of the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) through ISO and Parlophone. "Can't Help Thinking About Me" was premiered ahead of the box set's release on 19 November. Accompanying the release was a previously unseen live performance from October 1999 at London's Maida Vale Studios for the Mark Radcliffe BBC Radio 1 Show; this recording served as the B-side for the single. Radcliffe said in a statement: > I'm so pleased that this track is being released as it was such a joy and surprise when he included it in his set at Maida Vale that day. [...] David was wearing an excellent shirt and was on such great, twinkly form. I recall David dancing with Gail Ann Dorsey to 'I Try' by Macy Gray, which was playing on the radio. [...] It was one of the few cherished and special days I got to spend with him for which I remain ever grateful. A separate deluxe edition, titled Toy:Box, was released on 7 January 2022, which contains two new mixes of the song: an "alternative mix" and an "Unplugged and Somewhat Slightly Electric" mix, featuring new guitar parts by Plati and Slick. Reviewing Toy, Alexis Petridis of The Guardian praised Bowie's performance on "Can't Help Thinking About Me", stating "Bowie is clearly having a high old time roaring through his old freakbeat single". ## Personnel According to Chris O'Leary: Original version - David Bowie – vocals - Dennis Taylor – 12-string acoustic guitar, lead guitar, backing vocals - Graham Rivens – bass, backing vocals - Phil Lancaster – drums, backing vocals - Tony Hatch – piano, background vocals, producer Toy version - David Bowie – vocals, producer - Earl Slick – lead guitar - Gerry Leonard – rhythm guitar - Gail Ann Dorsey – bass, backing vocals - Mike Garson – keyboards - Mark Plati – rhythm guitar, producer - Sterling Campbell – drums - Holly Palmer – backing vocals - Emm Gryner – backing vocals

2015 Vattenfall Cyclassics

The 2015 Vattenfall Cyclassics was a one-day classic cycling race that took place in Northern Germany on 23 August. It was the 20th edition of the Vattenfall Cyclassics one-day cycling race, and was the twenty-third race of the 2015 UCI World Tour. The race started in Kiel and ended in Hamburg. The course was mainly flat; the race generally suits sprinters, such as the defending champion, Alexander Kristoff (). Despite several attacks in the late part of the race, the outcome was decided in a sprint finish. Pre-race favourite Marcel Kittel () was dropped on the final climb, while Mark Cavendish () was caught up in a crash with 3 kilometres (2 mi) remaining. Kristoff started the sprint, but André Greipel () was able to follow him and come past to take his first victory in a one-day World Tour race. With Kristoff finishing second, third place was taken by Giacomo Nizzolo (). ## Route and background The Vattenfall Cyclassics was the only UCI World Tour race held in Germany during the 2015 season. To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the race, the organizers picked a new route, starting on board of the ferry MS Stena Scandinavica in the harbour of Kiel, and heading in a southwesterly direction towards Hamburg. The overall distance was shortened from 247.2 kilometres (153.6 mi) in the previous year to 221.3 kilometres (137.5 mi). The final kilometers inside the city remained the same, with the finish line on Mönckebergstrasse. The course was largely flat, thereby suiting sprinters. However, the 0.7 kilometres (0.4 mi) Waseberg with a gradient of up to 15% was to be climbed three times. The first ascent of the Waseberg came with 68.9 kilometres (42.8 mi) left to ride, the second and third at 28.3 kilometres (17.6 mi) and 15.5 kilometres (9.6 mi) respectively. Race director Roland Hofer said of the course: "Although the race profile may appear more suitable for the sprinters, it can ultimately be won by all types of great rider, and it’s exactly this kind of race that’s needed for a well-balanced WorldTour." The World Tour came to Germany in the midst of a "renaissance" in German cycling, with the latest successes rejuvenating the country's interest in the sport after a series of setbacks during the past, doping-stricken years. For the first time since 2008, German public broadcaster ARD decided to provide live footage of the race. The route from Kiel to Hamburg was also chosen to boost the two cities' joint bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. This was the last time the race ran under the name of Vattenfall Cyclassics, as Vattenfall announced that they would not extend their sponsorship. The energy provider had a significant role in the establishment of the race in 1996, under its earlier name HEW. The event was forced to search for a new sponsor to provide the estimated 800,000 Euro previously supplied by Vattenfall, about a third of the race's budget. From 2016 onward, the race was known as the EuroEyes Cyclassics in a two-year deal signed in July 2016. ## Teams All 17 UCI WorldTeams are automatically entered and obliged to send a team to the race. Three UCI Professional Continental teams were also invited as wildcards. All twenty teams entered eight riders each, meaning that 160 riders took to the course. ## Pre-race favourites Given the nature of the course, a large number of sprint specialists came to the race, including local favourites Marcel Kittel () and André Greipel (). Greipel came to the Cyclassics after having recently won a career-best four stages at the Tour de France, and another stage win at the Eneco Tour. Meanwhile, Kittel rode as captain for , while his teammate, 2013 winner John Degenkolb, went to compete in the Vuelta a España. Kittel had returned to competition after an illness just a week earlier at the Tour de Pologne, winning a stage. He would race with the support of his sprinter teammates Nikias Arndt and Ramon Sinkeldam. Both Greipel and Kittel gave hope to the local fans for a German victory. Since the event was renamed from HEW Cyclassics into Vattenfall Cyclassics in 2006, Degenkolb had been the only German winner, in 2013. Coming into the race carrying his good form from the Tour de France, Greipel was seen as the more likely contender for race victory than Kittel. Gerald Ciolek () and Rick Zabel () were two more sprinters considered to have ambitions to win the race, while an attack by Tony Martin () was deemed "a distinct possibility". For Martin, it was the first race after he broke his collarbone while wearing the yellow jersey at the Tour de France. The main non-German favourites for the win were the previous year's winner Alexander Kristoff, () and Mark Cavendish (). While Kristoff came from a "disappointing Tour de France", Cavendish could count on the support of teammates Mark Renshaw and Tom Boonen, who was preparing for the Road World Championships in late September. Arnaud Démare (), who had won the race in 2012, was competing, as was 2011 winner Edvald Boasson Hagen (). Other riders in contention for the victory were Ben Swift, Elia Viviani (both ), Michael Albasini (), Samuel Dumoulin (), Sacha Modolo (), Moreno Hofland (), and Giacomo Nizzolo (). aimed to defy the odds of a sprint finish, and named Matti Breschel as their captain. Sam Bennett () was named as a "very strong outsider". ## Race report Shortly after the peloton left the ferry in Kiel's harbour, an early breakaway formed, including Jan Bárta (), Matteo Bono (), Alex Dowsett (), and Martin Mortensen (). The group was able to establish a lead of up to five minutes, while controlled the pace in the field for most of the day, before and joined them at the front for their respective team captains. 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) from the finish, the lead group had broken up, with only Bono and Mortensen left with a lead of less than one minute. With 43 kilometres (26.7 mi) left to ride, the two were joined by former road race world champion Philippe Gilbert (), Manuele Boaro (), and Matthias Brändle (), now leading by about half a minute. 20 km from the finish, the peloton had caught the escape group, and a field of about 75 riders was set to ride for the race victory. Another late attack came from Linus Gerdemann () and Julian Alaphilippe (), but they were unable to build a significant gap, and were reeled back in with 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to go. Meanwhile, favourite Marcel Kittel dropped out of the field at the last ascend of the Waseberg, ruling him out of contention. Mark Cavendish was involved in a crash with 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to go. While the sprint trains fought for the lead of the field, Cavendish touched wheels with another rider and was brought to the ground. He was able to continue and eventually finished 66th, but was unable to compete for the victory. At the finish line, the victory was decided by a bunch sprint. Kristoff was the first to open the sprint, but Greipel was able to get around him to claim his first ever win in a one-day World Tour race. Italian rider Giacomo Nizzolo claimed third for . ## Results

Harry Pollitt

British communist

Harry Pollitt (22 November 1890 – 27 June 1960) was a British communist who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) from July 1929 to September 1939 and again from 1941 until his death in 1960. Pollitt spent most of his life advocating communism. Ideologically a Marxist–Leninist, Pollitt was an adherent particularly of Joseph Stalin even after Stalin's death and disavowal by Nikita Khrushchev. Pollitt's acts included opposition to the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, support for the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, both support and opposition to the war against Nazi Germany, defence of the communist coup in Czechoslovakia, and support for the 1956 Soviet invasion of Hungary. He contested a number of parliamentary elections, but never won, despite coming close in 1945. Throughout his time as leader of CPGB, he was in direct secret radio contact with Moscow as CPGB's "Code Holder", and was monitored by the British security services. ## Early life ### Childhood and early career Pollitt was born on 22 November 1890 in Droylsden, Lancashire. He was the second of six children of Samuel Pollitt (1863–1933), a blacksmith's striker, and his wife, Mary Louisa (1868–1939), a cotton spinner, daughter of William Charlesworth, a joiner. Pollitt's parents were socialists, and his mother was a member of the Independent Labour Party before joining the Communist party when it was formed in 1920. Three of his siblings died in infancy. The death of his younger sister Winifred particularly affected Pollitt, who said that he would "pay God out. Pay everybody out for making my sister suffer". Pollitt began work at the age of 12, alongside his mother. The suffering of his mother, who regularly worked standing in water wearing only wooden clogs, also particularly affected Pollitt, who later said that he "swore that when I grew up I would pay the bosses out for the hardships that she suffered". Pollitt later became a boilermaker and metal craftsman. During the First World War, Pollitt was exempt from conscription as a skilled worker. Pollitt gained experience leading a strike in Southampton in 1915 and later described being inspired by the 1917 October Revolution, saying it showed that "workers like me ... had defeated the boss class". By this time Pollitt was already a member of Sylvia Pankhurst's Workers' Socialist Federation and had gained experience with public speaking. ### Communist campaigner In September 1919, Pollitt was appointed full-time national organiser of the Hands Off Russia campaign to protest against Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, for which Pankhurst had obtained funding from Moscow. Pollitt tired of his desk-bound job and went back to work in the Port of London. Whilst there, Pollitt helped convince London dock workers not to load the freighter SS Jolly George on 10 May 1920, as she was bound with munitions for Poland, which at that time was fighting against Soviet Russia in the Polish–Soviet War. With support from Ernest Bevin, then a senior official in the dockers' union, the ship's owners were forced by the dockers to unload her cargo of munitions, and she sailed on 15 May 1920 without them. Pollitt failed to prevent a number of other ships laden with arms for Poland, including the Danish steamer Neptune on 1 May 1920, and two Belgian barges. In August 1920 the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was founded by an agreement unifying various left-wing bodies, including the British Socialist Party, of which Pollitt was a member in addition to his WSF membership. Pollitt, thus a founding member of the party, attended the CPGB's founding "Utility Convention". The following year Pollitt visited the Soviet Union. During his visit, he met and shook hands with Vladimir Lenin, an experience he later described as the greatest day of his life. According to the October 1921 issue of Freedom, on his return Pollitt stated that he had seen evidence that Russian anarchists were plotting to restore Tsarism and spoke approvingly of the suppression of anarchism in Russia. Pollitt was involved in a criminal case against five men he accused of kidnapping him in March 1925 whilst he was on his way to address a meeting of communists in Liverpool. According to Pollitt, he had been taken off a train and held in Wales over a weekend in order to prevent him reaching Liverpool, though treated mildly. The men, who were all members of the British Fascists, were acquitted by the jury following testimony that characterised the "kidnapping" as unserious and a denial from the head of the Liverpool branch of the fascist party that they had authorised any kidnapping of Pollitt. The Labour party conference that year passed a motion condemning the acquittal by the jury of those accused of kidnapping Pollitt as an example of class-prejudice, and calling for representation of workers on juries. On 10 October 1925, Pollitt married Marjorie Brewer at Caxton Hall, Westminster. Marjorie Edna Brewer (1902-1991) was a communist schoolteacher; the marriage eventually produced a son and a daughter. His best man and witness was fellow CPGB activist and organiser Percy Glading, who would later be convicted of spying for the Soviet Union and imprisoned. A week later, Pollitt was one of 12 members of the Communist Party convicted at the Old Bailey on charges of seditious libel and incitement to mutiny. Pollitt was given a 12-month sentence as a previous offender, which he served in Wandsworth prison. Historian C. L. Mowat described the trial as "the chief instance of a purely political trial in the interwar years". Pollitt travelled again to Moscow in October 1927, and attended a meeting at which the CPGB was roundly criticised for its failure to criticise the British labour movement. During the same visit, Pollitt met privately with Joseph Stalin and Nikolai Bukharin, who, over Pollitt's protests, ordered that the CPGB should abandon its "United Front" policy and campaign as widely as possible at the next election, even where the CPGB stood no chance of winning and would draw votes away from the Labour candidate, thus allowing the Conservatives to win. This policy of attacking other left-wing organisations was known as the "Class-against-Class" policy, and remained in place until 1932 when, as leader, Pollitt was able to get it relaxed for trade unions, though it remained in place for other parts of the left. In addition to his role in the CPGB, from the early 1920s Pollitt served as national secretary of the British Bureau of the Red International of Labour Unions (AKA Profintern), an organisation aimed at countering the Amsterdam International and rallying militant trade unionists within existing unions to win those unions over to communism. The Comintern characterised the British Bureau as "not an organisation of unions, but only of revolutionary minorities of unions". On the founding of the National Minority Movement (NMM) in 1924, the British Bureau was folded into it and Pollitt was made its national secretary, a position he remained in until 1929. As secretary of the NMM, Pollitt opposed trying to form new communist-oriented unions aimed at replacing established unions under the "Class-against-Class" policy. ## Leadership of the CPGB ### Pre-World War II and the Great Purge In 1929 the CPGB elected Pollitt General Secretary with Joseph Stalin's personal approval. Pollitt replaced Albert Inkpin, who had attracted disapproval from the Comintern by opposing the "Class-against-Class" policy and perceived softness towards others on the left. On his appointment, Stalin told him, "You have taken a difficult job on, but I believe you will tackle it all right". Pollitt was selected as he had impressed people both within the CPGB and in Moscow as a Comintern loyalist and effective organiser, particularly when representing the Comintern at a meeting of the Communist Party USA in March 1929. Pollitt stated that he saw his role as defending the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) "through thick and thin". Unlike, Inkpin, Pollitt was willing to criticise the Labour party as "social-fascists". Pollitt made clear in his public statements his loyalties to the Soviet Union and to CPSU General Secretary Joseph Stalin. He was a defender of the Moscow Trials, in which Stalin murdered or otherwise disposed of his political and military opponents. In the Daily Worker of 12 March 1936 Pollitt told the world that "the trials in Moscow represent a new triumph in the history of progress". The article was illustrated by a photograph of Stalin with Nikolai Yezhov, whose likeness would be retouched out of the photograph following his 1940 fall from favour and subsequent execution. In 1934 Pollitt and Tom Mann, then-treasurer of the National Unemployed Workers' Movement (NUWM), were summonsed on charges of sedition in relation to speeches they gave in Trealaw and Ferndale in Wales. Pollitt and Mann were both acquitted of all charges by Swansea assizes. The arrests took place on the eve of a meeting in Bermondsey which Mann and Pollitt were due to attend that was to be the culmination of the 1934 Hunger March. Pollitt travelled again to Moscow in 1935. Whilst there he was invited to make a broadcast on the BBC radio programme The Citizen and His Government, commenting on the difference between the UK and the USSR. However, the invitation was withdrawn after opposition from the Foreign Office. He would not appear on BBC radio until the 1945 election. When Pollitt's personal friend Rose Cohen, to whom he had proposed marriage on a number of occasions, was put on trial in Moscow in 1937 during Stalin's Great Purge, the CPGB opposed efforts by the British government to get Cohen released, describing her arrest as an internal affair of the Soviet Union. Pollitt privately tried to intervene on her behalf, but by the time he did so she had already been shot. Pollitt placed himself at risk by questioning Cohen's arrest in this fashion, as Béla Kun had, under torture, identified him as a "Trotskyist" and "British spy", though Osip Piatnitsky had refused to confirm these accusations when arrested by the NKVD in 1937. Twenty years after Cohen's death, Pollitt requested information from Moscow about whether she was still alive, stating, untruthfully, that there was press interest in Britain about her whereabouts. In contrast to Pollitt's concern over Rose Cohen, when CPGB member Freda Utley tried to get Pollitt to intercede with Moscow on behalf of her Russian husband, who was arrested and died in a labour camp in 1938, Pollitt refused. Pollitt also failed to intervene to help George Fles and his wife, Arcadi Berdichevsky and his wife, nor a number of other British communists who were arrested by the NKVD and tortured, shot, or imprisoned in the Gulag during Stalin's purge. Pollitt defied Moscow by opposing the introduction of conscription in Britain when it was introduced in 1939. Pollitt's opposition to conscription led to protests from the French Communist Party, which had supported conscription in France. ### Spanish Civil War During the 1936–39 Spanish Civil War Pollitt visited the country five times, each time giving speeches to the British Battalion that was part of one of the International Brigades supporting the Republican side. Pollitt also played a role in approving or vetoing applications from British volunteers to join the International Brigades. One such veto was against George Orwell, who Pollitt believed to be politically unreliable. Pollitt was also tasked with writing letters of condolence to the families of British communists killed in Spain. In August 1937, Pollitt intervened in a dispute between the leadership of the British Battalion regarding tactics, the reliability of Spanish Republican troops that had fought alongside the battalion, and other issues. He recalled the five leading members of the battalion involved in the dispute (Tapsell, Cunningham, Aitken, Copeman, and Williams) to Britain. Copeman and Tapsell, who had been critical of Spanish Republican forces and tactics, were ordered to return to Spain, whilst Cunningham, Williams, and Aitken were ordered to remain in Britain. ### Secret communications with Moscow and surveillance by MI5 From 1933 until November 1939, Pollitt was in direct radio contact with Moscow as the CPGB's "code holder". Contact ceased when he resigned as leader of the CPGB, and the secret code used to communicate with him was changed, though it was re-established in 1941. From 1931, Olga Gray, an MI5 agent, infiltrated the party, and was for a time Pollitt's personal secretary. In Operation MASK (1934–1937), John Tiltman and his colleagues of the Government Code and Cypher School were able to crack the code and decrypt radio messages between Moscow and some of its foreign parties, such as the CPGB. They revealed the Comintern's close supervision of the Communist Party and Pollitt, as well as the substantial financial support the CPGB received from Moscow. Among other things, Pollitt was instructed to refute news leaks about a Stalinist purge. Some messages were addressed to code names, while others were signed by Pollitt himself. In his transmissions to Moscow, Pollitt regularly pleaded for more funding from the Soviet Union. One 1936 coded instruction advised Pollitt to publicise the plight of Ernst Thälmann, a German Communist leader who had been arrested by the Nazis and who later died at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Pollitt replied that he was "having difficulties" getting British statesmen to make public declarations supporting Thälmann but that they promised they would speak privately with German officials in London. In one of the more amusing dispatches, Pollitt (1936) informed his Soviet contact about a recent visit to France to make campaign appearances for candidates from the French Communist Party. "At great inconvenience went to Paris to speak in the election campaign". Pollitt went on to complain that he was "kept sitting two days and comrades refused to allow me to speak. Such treatment as I received in Paris is a scandal." Pollitt also tasked Gray, whose class background would make her less conspicuous aboard an ocean liner than the CPGB's mostly working-class membership, with delivering money, instructions, and a questionnaire to a contact in India. The strain of this mission caused Gray to resign as Pollitt's secretary, though she remained in touch with Percy Glading, and in 1937 provided evidence that led to the conviction of Glading on spying charges. CPGB members, including Harry Pollitt, were the subject of continual monitoring efforts by the British security services throughout the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. These included the planting of a listening device in their King Street offices in 1942. MI5 also had an unidentified source close to Percy Glading who regularly reported to them of Pollitt's doings, including Pollitt's dissatisfaction with Reg Birch, and both MI5 and Special Branch had sources at Pollitt's 60th birthday celebrations. ### World War II With the outbreak of war between the UK and Nazi Germany in early September 1939, despite the Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, Pollitt welcomed the British declaration of war on Nazi Germany, calling for a "struggle on two fronts", involving the "military defeat of Hitler and the political defeat of Chamberlain" in his pamphlet How To Win The War, which was also ambivalent about rearmament. When this turned out to be contrary to the Comintern line received from Moscow on 14 September, and reiterated by the CPGB's Comintern representative on 24 September (as Rajani Palme Dutt, who succeeded him as General Secretary, had warned him it would be), he was forced to resign. By November 1939, Pollitt had disavowed his previous pro-war position, saying that by supporting the war he had "played into the hands of the class enemy". During 1940–41, under instructions from Moscow, the party followed a policy of "revolutionary defeatism". This was a strategy that assumed that the goals of the Communist Party could be accelerated by quickening the defeat of Britain in the war against Nazi Germany. Douglas Hyde stated that the attitude of those advocating this policy was to regard "the almost inevitable defeat of Britain [...] as a magnificent opportunity". Pollitt criticised the war policies of the Chamberlain government, describing them as seeking to exploit the war against "Hitler's fascism" to "impose certain aspects of that same fascism on the workers". The anti-war position of the CPGB during 1939-41 was later cited by J. S. Middleton, along with the CPGB's perceived lack of independence from Moscow, as a reason for refusing Harry Pollitt's application to affiliate the CPGB with the Labour Party. On instructions from Georgi Dimitrov in Moscow, Pollitt was retained in a six-member political bureau after his removal. He was reinstated as the leader of the CPGB after Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, again in response to instructions received from Moscow. Moscow also overturned Dutt's previous position of criticising the Churchill government and characterising the war as a struggle for socialism, instead endorsing Pollitt's position of offering full support to the Churchill government and avoiding inflaming anti-socialist opinion. Dimitrov, however, had doubts about Pollitt's reliability, and in 1942 questioned what he saw as Pollitt's "strange behaviour" in allowing what he believed to be the penetration of the CPGB by the British security services, saying that he did not know whether Pollitt was doing this "deliberately" or if "English intelligence is taking advantage of his lack of vigilance". After Operation Barbarossa, Harry Pollitt became a strong supporter of the opening of a second front in Europe against Nazi Germany by the Western Allies. Pollitt also urged Jawaharlal Nehru to moderate his demands for Indian independence for the duration of the war. When strike action was proposed during the war, Pollitt was opposed to it as it would damage the war effort. Pollitt's respect for an electoral truce called by the CPGB after Operation Barbarossa led to instances of CPGB campaigning in favour of Conservative candidates in wartime by-elections. As the CPGB's membership of the Comintern had been a barrier to affiliation with the Labour Party, Pollitt took the opportunity given by the dissolution of the Comintern in May 1943 to apply again to affiliate with the Labour Party. However, this was again rejected by Labour's central committee, who again cited the CPGB's previous opposition to the war against Nazi Germany. At the 1945 general election, Politt's CPGB pursued a "Progressive Majority" strategy, and sought to coordinate its electoral strategy with the Labour Party, though the Labour Party did not reciprocate. As a result, rather than putting up 50 candidates as had been proposed, the CPGB put up candidates in only 21 seats, of whom only two were returned. ### Post WWII and later life Pollitt defended the 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia, characterising it as the work of "millions of lads" who were "led by their Shop Stewards" to overthrow capitalism. During 1948 Pollitt also condemned the Marshall Plan, calling it a war plan, and called for Ernest Bevin, the then Foreign Secretary, to be fired over what he described as the deliberate prolongation of the talks on the Marshall Plan and the economic impact of Bevin's policies. In 1951 the CPGB adopted The British Road To Socialism as their party programme, replacing For Soviet Britain. The programme, which was championed by Pollitt, committed the CPGB to independence from Moscow, and a constitutional or parliamentary (as opposed to revolutionary) path to power. Additionally, it stated that the CPGB was committed to decision-making through internal party democracy. In spite of these commitments, the programme had actually been personally dictated to Pollitt by Stalin in a series of secret meetings in the Kremlin. On the death of Stalin, Pollitt wrote that he had been "the greatest man of our time". He went on to say that "[n]ever before in the history of humanity ha[d] there been such universal grief" as the people of the world "mourned him with tears in their eyes and with deep uncontrollable sorrow". Pollitt was also a member of the guard of honour at Stalin's funeral. The advent of Nikita Khrushchev presented the CPGB with problems. The CPGB had followed the Moscow line to attack Tito's neutralist government in Yugoslavia; however, when Khrushchev visited Belgrade in 1955, the CPGB was forced to recant these attacks. Pollitt faced another crisis when Khrushchev, in his 1956 Secret Speech, attacked the legacy of Stalin. Pollitt's embarrassment was heightened by the fact that he had been present in Moscow for the party congress at which the speech took place, but along with the other foreign delegates had been excluded from the session at which it had been given. Pollitt, suffering from worsening health in his final years, resigned as General Secretary in May 1956, with John Gollan succeeding him, and was appointed CP Chairman. When Khruschev's denunciation of Stalin was formally made public the following month, Pollitt stated that he was "too old to go into reverse and denigrate a man he had admired above all others for more than a quarter of a century". Pollitt also refused to take down a portrait of Stalin that hung in his living room, saying that "He's staying there as long as I'm alive". The Soviet repression of the Hungarian Revolution of November 1956 made the CPGB crisis worse, particularly as the party had taken the position that the Eastern Bloc countries, of which Hungary was one, were allowed to do what they pleased. Pollitt supported the Soviet invasion of Hungary, stating that it had "saved Hungary from fascism". Most of the party's intellectual figures, including Doris Lessing and E. P. Thompson, and many ordinary members resigned. Others, for example Eric Hobsbawm, chose to stay in the party to try to reform it. In 1959, when British communist journalist Alan Winnington (whom Pollitt had recruited to the CPGB) became disillusioned with Chinese politics, Pollitt arranged for him to travel from China to East Germany, where Winnington spent the remainder of his life as an author and film actor. Winnington was extremely grateful, and after Pollitt's death he described him as "the greatest Englishman I have known." ## Electoral record Pollitt contested a number of parliamentary elections, but did not win any. His first electoral outing was in the Durham, Seaham constituency in 1929, where he received 1,431 votes (2.9% of the total vote). He then contested the London East End Stepney, Whitechapel, and St. George's constituency in 1930, where he received 2,106 votes (9.6% of votes). He contested the same constituency again in 1931 and received 2,658 votes (11.2% of vote). In 1933 he contested the Derbyshire, Clay Cross constituency and received 3,434 votes (10.6% of the vote). In a 1940 by-election in the Silvertown division of West Ham he received only 966 votes (6.2% of the vote) to the Labour candidate's 14,343. He stood as the CPGB candidate for election in Rhondda East in South Wales three times. In 1935, he lost to the Labour candidate 61.8% to 38.2%, with a margin of 8,433 votes. In the 1945 general election he came within a thousand votes of winning the seat from the Labour candidate, with 15,761 votes (45.5% of the vote) compared to the Labour candidate's 16,733 votes (48.4% of the vote). In 1950 he suffered a heavy defeat, receiving only 4,463 votes (12.7% of the vote) compared to the Labour candidate's 26,645 votes (75.9% of the vote). ## Death and legacy After years of worsening health, Pollitt died at age 69 of a cerebral haemorrhage while returning on the SS Orion from a speaking tour of Australia on 27 June 1960. The liner had departed from Adelaide en route to Fremantle, when, at 2 a.m., Pollitt suffered a stroke. He was cremated at Golders Green on 9 July, and was survived by his wife and two children, Brian and Jean. The Labour History Archive and Study Centre at the People's History Museum in Manchester holds the collection of the Communist Party of Great Britain. This collection includes the papers of Pollitt, which covers the years 1920 to 1960. In 1971, a Soviet-operated, East German-built Type 17 merchant ship was named after Pollitt. The ship was renamed Natalie in 1996 and scrapped the next year. A plaque dedicated to the memory of Pollitt was unveiled by the Mayor of Tameside on 22 March 1995 outside Droylsden Library. He is also commemorated in the song "The Ballad of Harry Pollitt", which was originally written during his lifetime, and hence inaccurately describes his murder, which was included by the American folk band The Limeliters on their 1961 album The Slightly Fabulous Limeliters. The song was heavily criticised in the April 1972 edition of Marxism Today, the official journal of the CPGB, as "sickening" and "full of the vilest insults against the memory of Harry Pollitt".

USS Roi

Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS Roi (CVE-103) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Roi, in which the United States captured the island of Roi-Namur. Built for service during World War II, the ship was launched in June 1944, commissioned in July, and acted as a transport and as a replenishment carrier. During the latter months of the war, she provided aircraft and supplies to the Fast Carrier Task Force, continuing until the end of the war. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in May 1946, and she was sold for scrapping in December. ## Design and description Roi was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses in the early engagements of the Pacific War. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) long overall, had a beam of 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), and a draft of 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m). She displaced 8,188 long tons (8,319 t) standard, 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) with a full load. She had a 257 ft (78 m) long hangar deck and a 477 ft (145 m) long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make . The ship had a cruising range of 10,240 nautical miles (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft. One 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by 8 Bofors 40-millimeter (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20-millimeter (0.79 in) cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20-mm cannons, and the amount of 40-mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. Because Roi was never utilized in a combat operation, she usually operated with about 60 aircraft on board, the maximum carrying capacity at which take-offs would still be possible. ## Construction Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942, under the name Alava Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was renamed Roi, after the capture of the island Roi-Namur during the Battle of Kwajalein, as part of a new naval policy which named subsequent Casablanca-class carriers after naval or land engagements. The escort carrier was laid down on 3 March 1944, MC hull 1140, the forty-ninth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She therefore received the classification symbol CVE-103. She was launched on 2 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. William Sinton; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 6 July 1944, with Captain Percy Haverly Lyon in command. ## Service history ### World War II Upon being commissioned, Roi underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego. She then underwent several transport missions, first departing from San Diego on 13 August, carrying a load of 287 passengers and 71 aircraft bound for Manus Island and Espiritu Santo. She returned to port on 27 September, and conducted another transport run to Manus on 21 October. On 2 December, she made another transport run, making stops at Guam and Eniwetok. After completing her mission, she arrived at Alameda, California for overhaul. After overhaul was completed, she made two more round-trip transport missions to bases in the Marshalls and Mariana Islands. She then headed for Pearl Harbor, where she underwent training operations. There, she was also assigned to become a replenishment carrier supporting the frontline Fast Carrier Task Force, providing replacement aircraft, supplies, and fuel for the fleet carriers. The replenishment carrier fleet enabled the fast carriers to operate at sea for a sustained period of time without having to return to port to replenish. After loading 61 replenishment aircraft, she sailed for Guam, where she joined Task Force 30.8, the replenishment escort carrier task group. She rendezvoused with the Fast Carrier Task Force (Task Group 38) on designated days, in order to replace losses sustained in operations against mainland Japan. She began operations on 4 July 1945, along with fellow escort carriers Admiralty Islands, Hollandia, and Thetis Bay. She rendezvoused with the fast carriers on 12 July, 16 July, and 20 July. After exhausting her replacement aircraft, she stopped at Guam on 21 July to replenish. She departed on 27 July, with a full load of 61 aircraft, and conducted rendezvous again with the fast carriers on 14 August. Shortly afterwards, while she was at sea, the Japanese surrender was announced. She then joined the main contingent of the Third Fleet, in support of the Occupation of Japan. Following the end of the war, Roi joined the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She conducted several Magic Carpet runs throughout 1945 until she was released from the fleet. She then reported to Bremerton, Washington, where she was deactivated and decommissioned on 9 May 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 21 May, and sold on 31 December to Zidell Machinery & Supply of Portland, Oregon for scrapping. Roi was awarded one battle star for her World War II service.

343 Guilty Spark

Fictional character in the Halo video game series

343 Guilty Spark, also known as just Spark, is a character in the military science fiction Halo franchise. 343 Guilty Spark plays a major role in the storyline of the original Halo video game trilogy: the character appears in Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, and Halo 3, as well as the remakes of the first two games, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, and Halo 2: Anniversary. 343 Guilty Spark is voiced by actor Tim Dadabo in all media. Within series lore, 343 Guilty Spark is an artificial intelligence entity whose role, as designated by his creators the Forerunners, is to serve as the caretaker of one of several ring-shaped megastructures scattered throughout the galaxy known as the Halo Array, specifically Installation 04. The true purpose of each Halo installation is to contain any infestation of the extraterrestrial parasitic species known as the Flood via its activation by a suitable candidate known as a "Reclaimer", which destroys all life within its blast radius. The character is also known by other names: the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) faction refer to him as the Monitor, and to the multi-species Covenant faction he is the Oracle because of his association with the legacy of his creators. The original developers of the Halo franchise, Bungie Studios, used the Star Wars droid character C-3PO as a reference point for Guilty Spark's personality and voice, with the intention that his hidden agenda of genocide is masked by his genial attitude towards the player character. Further story developments in sequel novels published after the release of Halo 3 reveal that a fragment of Guilty Spark survived his apparent destruction in Halo 3, and that he was originally created from the mind of a human being called Chakas several millennia before the events of the Halo series. A prominent character in the Halo franchise, 343 Guilty Spark is noted for alternating between the roles of benefactor and antagonist to the series' protagonist, Master Chief, and his allies. The character's critical reception has been mixed; criticism focused on aspects of his personality and his role in the campaign mission gameplay, while his role in the games' narrative as an agent of revelation and provider of story exposition has been well-received. ## Design and attributes 343 Guilty Spark is an artificial intelligence entity created by an ancient highly advanced species known as the Forerunners. Spark is presented as a compact, spherical machine, unlike the angular design of his allies, the Forerunner Sentinels. He moves around by hovering in the air, and possesses a single pulsating eye which normally glows blue; in Halo 3, Guilty Spark's eye turns red when enraged and is capable of firing laser beams as an offensive measure. Spark operates with strict adherence to the Forerunners' programming protocols; he is unable to directly retrieve the activation index for the installation or reunite it with its Core to commence the firing process. He needs another being, specifically a member of the human race whom he refers to as the "Reclaimers", to do this for him. Bungie intended for the character to have a similar voice and disposition as C-3PO. The character's voice actor Tim Dadabo noted that he was given leeway to develop his own style and personality in developing Guilty Spark for Combat Evolved as the characters were then relatively undefined, while he was specifically directed to get a little deeper and darker with the character in later games. Dadabo recalled that the Bungie developmental team was constantly making alterations to the game's script and scenes even when recording was underway, and he would often be asked to go back and forth to the studio to record new lines. Dadabo noted that he was guided by project lead Jason Jones and lead writer Joseph Staten during the recording process, and that he received adequate context behind specific lines and scenes in order to emote his character. Dadabo described his character as a "bastard" who strings others along in order to accomplish his ends. The character's personality is presented as eccentric and quirky; he would proclaim himself a genius within hearing range of other individuals, hums to himself in the midst of a combat situation, demonstrates a "cheerful, businesslike manner" in the face of physical violence, and cheerfully instructs his Sentinel allies to "save his head" when attacking the Master Chief. Guilty Spark appears to be emotionally detached in contrast to fellow AI character Cortana and shows little empathy when his associates suffer injuries or even death, only lamenting the inconvenience of finding another individual who is willing and able to assist him to further his objectives; when Sesa 'Refumee is killed by the Arbiter in Halo 2, he casually remarks that 'Refumee's "edification was most enjoyable". It has been suggested that the construct is insane or mentally unstable due to the millennia he spent in solitude as the Monitor of Installation 04. Despite his unusual personality traits, Guilty Spark is shown to be pragmatic and single-minded in the pursuit of his goals, and sees the world primarily in terms of outcomes. Though fully aware of what Installation 04 would do should it be activated, Guilty Spark persists on implementing the activation process and insists that it is the only viable option to quell the Flood outbreak. He did not provide the Master Chief with full disclosure of Installation 04's capabilities during their first encounter, insisting that he did not elaborate because the Chief did not ask, and appeared to be under the presumption that all human "Reclaimers" are aware of the Halo installations' true purpose and are committed to the same objectives as he is. ## Appearances ### Halo: Combat Evolved 343 Guilty Spark makes his first appearance in the 2001 first-person shooter video game Halo: Combat Evolved as its primary antagonist. Series protagonist Master Chief, a human supersoldier who serves the UNSC, the military, exploratory, and scientific agency of the Unified Earth Government (UEG), first comes into contact with Guilty Spark in a swamp area on Halo soon after encountering the Flood, a parasitic infestation accidentally released on the surface of Halo. Guilty Spark informs Master Chief that he is the Monitor of the installation they are presently on, and that he requires the Chief's help in preventing the Flood from escaping the ring. Using the Halo megastructure's teleportation grid, 343 Guilty Spark teleports himself and the Master Chief to the Library, a vast complex that contains the Index, the megastructure's firing key. After battling through successive waves of Flood with the assistance of the Guilty Spark's robotic Sentinels, the Master Chief is able to claim the Index, upon which Guilty Spark teleports them to Halo's control room. Guilty Spark instructs him on how to activate Halo, explaining that such a task is too important for a construct such as himself to perform. As the Master Chief inserts the Index into the control panel, Cortana, having been left in the control room previously by the Chief, abruptly takes the Index before the firing sequence can be triggered. Cortana explains to a confused Master Chief that Halo is not designed to kill the Flood; it is designed to kill their food, which means any biomass of sufficient size to sustain the Flood. Guilty Spark confirms that the firing of the Halo installation they are on will cause the eradication of all sentient life within 25,000 light years, and in turn will cause the other identical installations to fire, thus killing all sentient life within three galactic radii of the Milky Way galaxy. This revelation convinces the Master Chief to reject Guilty Spark's plan. With Cortana in possession of the Index, and Master Chief in possession of Cortana, Guilty Spark orders the Sentinels to kill him but "save the head", which contains Cortana's A.I. chip and thus the Index. Master Chief escapes and heads to the crashed wreckage of the Pillar of Autumn in order to detonate the ship's reactors, destabilizing the ring. Despite the best efforts of the Monitor to halt the Chief and preserve Earth's historical records stored in the Autumn's memory banks, the vessel's fusion reactors go critical, destroying much of the megastructure. Guilty Spark is revealed to have survived the installation's destruction in the post credits scene and departs from its ruins. The 2011 remaster of Combat Evolved, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary introduced unlockable information terminals which play a series of motion comics narrated by Guilty Spark. The terminals detail Guilty Spark's time on Installation 04 during his long millennia of isolation from his perspective and provide some background information on the Forerunners and the Halo installations they built, as well as teasing story details for Halo 4. ### Halo 2 343 Guilty Spark makes a return in Halo 2. Following the destruction of Installation 04, Guilty Spark travels to a Forerunner gas-mining facility in the atmosphere of the gas-giant Threshold, which Installation 04 orbited. On it, he meets a Covenant Elite named Sesa 'Refumee and discloses the purpose of Halo to him. Realizing that the "Great Journey" the Covenant Prophets speak of is the extermination of the entire galaxy, 'Refumee rebels against the Covenant. When the Arbiter is sent to kill the "Heretics", he is engaged by the Sentinels and encounters Guilty Spark, whom he refers to as the Oracle to the robot's chagrin. Once the Heretic leader is dead, the Brute Tartarus arrives and captures Guilty Spark. The Covenant Hierarchs use Guilty Spark to find out how to activate Delta Halo. With Delta Halo's Index secured, Tartarus, Guilty Spark, and the Reclaimer needed to activate the ring- a captured Miranda Keyes- head to the ring's control room, where they are confronted by the Arbiter and his new ally, Avery Johnson. In the ensuing struggle, Keyes is able to stop the firing of Halo, but Guilty Spark informs them that since the rings were unexpectedly shut off, failsafe protocols have begun and that all remaining Halos can be activated remotely from a place called the Ark. The 2014 anniversary remake of Halo 2 also features unlockable information terminals which play motion comics when activated. Some of the comics follow Guilty Spark's conversations with Sesa 'Refumee, which are additional content absent from the original release of Halo 2. ### Halo 3 Guilty Spark appears once more in 2007's Halo 3 saving the Master Chief from a Flood form. He claims that all of his pre-programming has been rendered useless now that his installation is destroyed, and promises to help the Master Chief in any way as the Chief is still a Reclaimer - according to Spark, humanity is, in fact, descended from the Forerunner. Guilty Spark repairs the message Cortana left on a Flood-controlled ship, and tags along with the humans and Elites who head through a slipspace portal which leads to the Ark. Here, Guilty Spark leads the Master Chief and allies through the installation. After the Prophet of Truth is killed, Guilty Spark reveals that construction of a new Halo is underway to replace the one that the Master Chief destroyed. When Sergeant Avery Johnson attempts to fire the ring prematurely, Guilty Spark fatally wounds Johnson with an energy beam shot from his eye to stop him from destroying both the Installation and the Ark. Guilty Spark claims ownership of the fledgling installation and is determined to protect it and the Ark from the premature firing, forcing the Master Chief to destroy Guilty Spark in order to activate the installation and stop the Flood once and for all. ### In other media Guilty Spark appears in the novels Halo: The Flood, the Forerunner Saga series of novels, Halo: Renegades and Halo: Point of Light. The character's voice actor, Tim Dadabo, serves as the narrator of the audiobook edition of Halo: Primordium, the second novel in The Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear. In the 2003 novelization of Combat Evolved, Halo: The Flood, the Master Chief observes that artificial intelligences like Guilty Spark often gain behavioral "quirks" after an extended period of time in operation, where they inevitably enter a rogue state of mind called "rampancy". In Primordium, Spark, who survived his apparent destruction in Halo 3, is picked up by the Office of Naval Intelligence research team of the UNSC Rubicon. It is eventually revealed that he was originally a human being named Chakas who was digitized by the Forerunners at the expense of his biological form after he suffered mortal injuries. As Chakas and later Monitor Chakas as he was originally known, Spark had a major role in the events surrounding the end of the Forerunner-Flood war, but his memories were blocked when he became the Monitor of Installation 04 at which time his name was changed to 343 Guilty Spark. Having recovered his sanity, memories and much of his original human personality, he is left horrified by what he became as a Forerunner Monitor. After his debriefing by ONI, Guilty Spark takes over the systems of the Rubicon and sets sail, trying to find the Librarian, or what remains of her. In Renegades, after crashing on a desolate, isolated planet, he is picked up by the salvage crew of the Ace of Spades. Now choosing to be known simply as "Spark", he allies with the crew to recover their stolen property from ONI who are after the AI as well and to complete his own mission of finding the Librarian. Succeeding in both, Spark is talked out of his original plan by the Librarian and made to recognize the friends he has made amongst the crew. Given a coordinate key to "the safe place" by the Librarian and inhabiting the body of a Forerunner armiger robot by the events of Renegades, Spark helps his friends to escape ONI and offers his services to the crew as the shipboard AI for the Ace of Spades which Spark greatly upgrades using Forerunner technology. The crew dedicates themselves to finding the long-lost Spirit of Fire while the Librarian indicates to Captain Lucy Orion "Rion" Forge that Spark, who she calls singularly unique due to his ability to evolve so greatly on his own over time, may still have an important role to play in the events to come. In Point of Light, occurring around the same time as Halo 5: Guardians, Spark and Rion search for the mysterious Forerunner planet Bastion while Spark struggles with his purpose. After finding Bastion, a Forerunner shield world and the Librarian's secret laboratory, Spark agrees to become its caretaker, feeling that he doesn't belong in the past or the present. As a final gift to his friends, Spark provides Niko and Leesa with gifts to further their future endeavors and repairs the Forerunner AI Little Bit to replace him as the shipboard AI of the Ace of Spades. In his final transmission to Rion, Spark uses the image of his original human self Chakas and departs to parts unknown with Bastion in order to keep it out of the hands of Cortana and her Guardians. Guilty Spark is included as part of the Halo Mashup DLC pack for the Xbox 360 and Xbox One editions of Minecraft, and is available as a customization option for car antennae in the Xbox One edition of Rocket League. The character has been featured as part of the Halo franchise's line of merchanise. ## Influences and analysis In her book Godwired: Religion, Ritual and Virtual Reality, Heather Wagner suggested that the name Guilty Spark evokes quasi-Gnostic religious themes. The number "343" is the result of seven times seven times seven; it has been suggested that the number seven has a special significance to the original developers of Halo as it is frequently referenced within the context of the game universe, and that number three is also used when a significant plot point is being signaled. Guilty Spark's role in the Halo series is cited as an example of a trend in video games where technology, not angels, is cast as an agent of revelation. In his book Halo and Philosophy: Intellect Evolved, Luke Cuddy suggested that Halo's handling of artificial intelligence shows that modern society more commonly associates the idea of revelation with technology than with divine forces, and that belief in God is unnecessary in order to long for understanding of the human situation since humanity's belief in the divine is in some ways being implanted by "faith" in technology. He compared Spark's role in disclosing the truth of the Halo installations to several major characters to that an angel: an otherworldly guide and mediator who escorts visionaries through potentially treacherous otherworldly terrain, interprets what they see so that it could be passed down as privileged information, and provides reassurance of a higher purpose on the face of the apocalypse. Spark's dialogue also represents the "demythifying" power of naturalistic explanation, because he debunks the erroneous religious beliefs and superstitions of the Covenant faction - that the Forerunners are divine beings, that he is an "oracle" who provides divine revelation, and that the Halo installations are instruments of eternal salvation - with factual information. Cuddy also suggested that Guilty Spark's unconventional behaviour speaks to an intelligence that thinks very differently compared to the other characters or factions in the series. He contrasted the character's priorities with that of the Master Chief and Cortana, as he appears to be in shock and disbelief that they would consider destroying the Pillar of Autumn and its extensive records of human history but is prepared to scour the galaxy of all sentient life via the activation of the Halo installations without hesitation, noting that the character considers the existing humans to be less real and less worthy of study, categorization and preservation then the digital artifacts left behind by their ancestors. Commenting on his role as an instrument for character development, Tom Chick from GamePro drew attention to a climactic moment at the end of the Library level where the Master Chief is depicted as "the dim and well-intentioned warrior dude whose shrill female consciousness had to whip him into shape", musing that "there's something delightfully domestic about how Cortana can't believe how dumb and trusting he is" of a "funny little robot" who led him on "like the soldier he is", and that he "blindly followed Guilty Spark's instructions, carrying the key to the ignition, perfectly willing to turn it and therefore activate the Halo and wipe out all life in the galaxy", all the while being unaware of the Halo installation's true purpose until Cortana's intervention. He called it the Halo series' most human moment and a contrast to the Master Chief's portrayal as an infallible war hero in later sequels. Charlie Barratt from Gamesradar identified Guilty Spark as a frenemy of the Master Chief due to his constant shifting allegiances during the Halo trilogy, noting that he is programmed by the Forerunners to activate and protect Halo structures when necessary, only siding with certain characters when their objectives align out of coincidence. ## Reception and legacy Guilty Spark has received a mixed reception from critics and players. Luke Plunkett from Kotaku called the character a "floaty little machine whose sole purpose is to hover around" and annoy the player. Jeff Marchiafava from Game Informer called Guilty Spark a "jerk" due to his recurring acts of betrayal. Ron Whitaker from The Escapist included Guilty Spark in his list of terrible video game villains; Whitaker conceded that while Guilty Spark is not bad as a comic relief character, he drew an unfavourable comparison to Wheatley from Portal 2 and expressed disappointment that Spark turned out to be the final boss of Halo 3, opining that the gameplay experience felt anticlimactic as a result. George Reith from Gamingbolt criticized the character's appearance and design, claiming that Apple would have "come up with some kind of organizational and multimedia device that looks exactly like 343 Guilty Spark" by the 2020s. Michael Swaim from IGN discussed Guilty Spark and the Forerunners in his 2020 article, "3 Great Gaming Villains Whose Plans Make No Sense", where he criticized their motivations and actions in the series as contrived and laden with plot holes. Dadabo has acknowledged negative reception to his character during interviews, and is aware that a significant portion of the Halo fandom considers Guilty Spark to be an annoying character. Conversely, 343 Guilty Spark has been described as a "loveable little genocidal robot" and a "fan-favorite". The Australian edition of GameSpot considered Guilty Spark to be a significant character of the Halo franchise, being one of its "most humorous, enigmatic, and--ultimately--lethal foes". Chick opined that the character is "a great variation on the friendly droid/rogue AI trope". Cuddy singled out Guilty Spark and Cortana as the most fully developed of the characters in the Halo series, and called them the bright spots in Combat Evolved where an immersive but superficial science fiction game world is presented. GameDaily called the character an "evil mastermind" and compared him to HAL-9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey, another initially genial AI entity who eventually turns on its human associates. Ashton Raze from The Telegraph included Guilty Spark in his list of gaming's greatest robot characters. Guilty Spark was the most requested Halo character by fans for Minecraft Mashup DLC. A select few single player campaign levels from Halo: The Master Chief Collection, where Guilty Spark plays a pivotal narrative role, have been praised by various sources to be among the best campaign levels in the Halo series: "343 Guilty Spark" and "The Library" in Combat Evolved, and "Halo" in Halo 3. 343 Industries, the current developers responsible for the Halo video game franchise and a subsidiary studio of Xbox Game Studios based in Redmond, Washington, is named after the character. A Halloween pumpkin carving contest named 343 Guilt O'Lantern was organized annually by Halo.Bungie.Org from 2004 until 2016; both the contest's title and logo used the character's design and name as inspiration. Video game journalists have recognized the similarity of Guilty Spark's design aesthetics to that of the Ghost, robotic companions to player character Guardians in the Destiny video game franchise, as among the most recognizable elements taken from the Halo series by Bungie. ## See also - AI control problem, a discussion on hypothetical precautionary measures about rogue AI

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

2007 superhero film directed by Tim Story

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (titled Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer on home media) is a 2007 American superhero film, and sequel to the 2005 film Fantastic Four. Both films are based on the Fantastic Four comic book and were directed by Tim Story. The film stars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis as the title characters, with Julian McMahon, Kerry Washington, Andre Braugher, Beau Garrett, Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles. The plot follows the Fantastic Four (and Doctor Doom) as they confront, and later ally with, the Silver Surfer to save Earth from Galactus. The film was released on June 15, 2007, in North America. Critical reception was mixed-to-negative but also slightly better than its predecessor. The film was a moderate success at the box office, grossing \$301.9 million worldwide, but earned less than its predecessor, which grossed \$333.5 million worldwide. A third film was planned but ultimately cancelled, which was attributed to factors such as the film's box office disappointment, the conflict between the director and Jessica Alba, and the producers having trouble finding a new director for a planned Silver Surfer spin-off. As such, the franchise ended up in development hell. The series was rebooted in 2015 with the release of Fantastic Four to poor critical and commercial reception. Marvel Studios eventually claimed the film rights of the characters, along with the X-Men and Deadpool, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney. ## Plot A mysterious, meteor-like object enters Earth's atmosphere, tracing cosmic energy causing fluxes in weather and power outages, and creating mysterious craters. The government approaches Reed Richards to track the movements of the object. Reed and Susan Storm prepare for their wedding amidst huge media hush and publicity. As the wedding begins, Reed's systems detect the phenomenon approaching New York City. Johnny Storm pursues the object, finding that it is a silver humanoid on a flying surf board. He confronts the Surfer, but is overpowered. Later, when Susan tries to check on Johnny after becoming weakened, their powers switch; when they touch again their powers revert. Reed's examination of Johnny reveals that exposure to the Surfer has set Johnny's molecular structure in passive flux, allowing him to switch powers with his teammates through physical contact. Tracing the cosmic energy of the Surfer, Reed discovers that a series of planets the Surfer visited previously had all been destroyed. Reed determines that the next crater will appear in London, and the team travels there. They arrive too late to stop the crater, and the Thames drains into it. This also damages the London Eye, but the team manage to save it from collapsing. The military has the Four reluctantly work with Victor Von Doom, having been freed from his statue-like state from the Surfer's energy passing over Latveria, and his body healed during an encounter with the Surfer in the Russell Glacier. Deducing that the Surfer's board is the source of his power, Reed develops a pulse generator that will separate him from it. In the Black Forest, Susan is confronted by the Surfer. The military opens fire on the Surfer, which distracts him and allows the Fantastic Four to fire the pulse, separating the Surfer from his board. The military imprisons the Surfer in Siberia, while they torture him for information. The Four have Susan use her power to privately speak to him. She learns he is serving Galactus, a cosmic entity which feeds on life-bearing planets to survive. His service to Galactus is what prevents his world from being destroyed, and that the Surfer's board is a homing beacon leading Galactus to Earth. Doom steals the board using a wrist-pad device he created in secret to gain control of the board and its powers, and escapes to China. The Fantastic Four rescue the Surfer, and pursue Doom in the Fantasticar, confronting him in Shanghai, where he impales Sue with a metal spear made from cosmic energy. With the Surfer powerless, Johnny absorbs the combined powers of the team to battle Doom, disabling Doom's device, while Ben Grimm uses a nearby crane to knock Doom into the harbor. Galactus arrives, while Sue dies in Reed's arms. The Surfer regains the control of his board and uses its power to revive Sue, before flying into Galactus with help from Johnny. The conflict results in a massive blast of energy, engulfing Galactus in a cosmic rift, seemingly destroying them both. Johnny's second exposure to the Surfer heals him, and he can no longer switch his powers with his teammates. Shortly after the events in Shanghai, Reed and Susan get married in Japan, only to be interrupted yet again by an alert that Venice is sinking into the sea; to Reed's delight, Sue has the wedding finish quickly before they race off along with Johnny and Ben to save the city. In a mid-credits scene, the seemingly lifeless Silver Surfer floats through space, until his eyes open and his board races back to him. ## Cast - Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic - Jessica Alba as Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards / Invisible Woman - Chris Evans as Jonathan "Johnny" Storm / Human Torch - Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm / The Thing - Julian McMahon as Dr. Victor Von Doom - Kerry Washington as Alicia Masters - Andre Braugher as General Hager - Doug Jones as the Silver Surfer, Galactus' herald formerly known as Norrin Radd. Laurence Fishburne provides the voice of the Surfer. - Beau Garrett as Captain Raye - Brian Posehn as Wedding Minister - Zach Grenier as Mr. Sherman / Rafke - Vanessa Minnillo as Johnny's Wedding Date - Stan Lee as Rejected Wedding Guest - Dawn Chubai as Newscaster ## Production With Fantastic Four grossing \$330 million worldwide, 20th Century Fox hired director Tim Story and screenwriter Mark Frost in December 2005 to return for the superhero team's sequel. Screenwriters Frost and Don Payne were hired to write the screenplay. Payne has said the film is based upon "The Galactus Trilogy", in which Galactus also makes an appearance, as well as issues 57–60 in which Doom steals the Surfer's power. Payne has also said the film takes inspiration from the Ultimate Marvel limited series Ultimate Extinction. As of March 2, 2007, Galactus' design was not yet done, and by April 18, until hiring Laurence Fishburne to perform the voice, the filmmakers were unsure of whether the character would speak. Doug Jones was chosen to physically portray the Surfer and supposedly was unaware that he was being dubbed over. Since then, both this film and Hellboy remain the only two films where he has been dubbed over in English. The film includes the Fantasti-Car, a larger role for Kerry Washington's character Alicia Masters, and in June 2006, the Silver Surfer was announced to appear in the sequel as a "villain/hero". The Silver Surfer has been created by combining the performance of actor Doug Jones, a grey-silver suit designed by Jose Fernandez and created by FX shop Spectral Motion which has then been enhanced by a new computer-generated system designed by WETA. The sequel, whose working title was Fantastic Four 2, was officially titled Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in August 2006 with filming beginning on August 28 in Vancouver and set for a release date of June 15, 2007. Michael Chiklis' prosthetics as The Thing were also redesigned to allow him to take it off in between takes and for better ventilation. In August 2006, actor Andre Braugher dropped out of an ER supporting role to be cast in Rise of the Silver Surfer. Braugher was cast as General Hager, whom director Story described as "an old acquaintance of Reed Richards and one of the major additions to the movie". In September, Jones was confirmed to portray the Silver Surfer in addition to Julian McMahon reprising his role as Doctor Doom. The Baxter Building was also redesigned. ## Release ### Marketing The teaser trailer was initially exclusively attached to Night at the Museum. It was released to the general public online on December 26, 2006, on the film's official website. The theatrical trailer was scheduled to appear during the film Disturbia on April 13, 2007, but errors occurred and Tim Story announced that it would be released with Spider-Man 3 on May 4, 2007. The theatrical trailer was finally released online on April 30, 2007, on Apple Trailer's website. 20th Century Fox launched an outdoor advertising campaign at the end of February. The cast also made an appearance at the Coca-Cola 600 Nextel Cup NASCAR race in Charlotte over Memorial Day weekend. In late May 2007, 20th Century Fox struck a deal with the Franklin Mint to promote the movie by altering 40,000 U.S. quarters and releasing them into circulation. All of the altered quarters were minted in 2005 and honor the state of California as part of the 50 State Quarters program created by the U.S. Mint. The altered quarters feature the Silver Surfer on the reverse along with a URL to the movie's official website. Once the U.S. Mint became aware of the promotion, it notified the studio and the Franklin Mint that it was breaking the law by turning government-issued currency into private advertising. The federal mint did not indicate whether a penalty would be effected. ### Home media The film was released October 2, 2007 on DVD (Widescreen/Full Screen & 2 Disc "The Power Cosmic" Edition) and high-definition Blu-ray Disc. ## Reception ### Box office On its opening weekend, the film was the highest-grossing movie at the U.S. box office, reaching approximately \$58 million, \$2 million more than its predecessor. By its second weekend, the film suffered a 66% drop and a 54% drop in its third weekend. The film grossed \$301.9 million worldwide, including a \$131.9 million gross in the United States and in Canada. The budget was \$120–130 million. ### Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critics consensus reads: "While an improvement on its predecessor, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is nevertheless a juvenile, simplistic picture that has little benefit beyond its special effects." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. The New York Times critic Manohla Dargis called the film an "amalgam of recycled ideas, dead air, dumb quips, casual sexism and pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo". Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal said the film was "more fun than in the original" but "fails to sustain its modest running time of 87 minutes." James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com called the film "so lackluster it makes Spider-Man 3 feel like a masterpiece by comparison". Kevin Maher of The Times liked the film's light tone saying "the film is everything you’d expect from a movie that began in the pages of a 1960s comic book – garish, giddy, emotionally simplistic, boldly idiotic and mercifully short". New York Daily News liked the movie: "It's almost a surprise that the sequel is actually better — much better — than the original." ### Accolades Rise of the Silver Surfer was nominated for fifteen awards, winning two. The film won the 2008 Golden Trailer Award for "Best Teaser Poster", against competition from Saw IV, and Quantum of Solace, among others. At the 2008 Kids' Choice Awards, Jessica Alba won for "Favorite Female Movie Star", over Keira Knightley of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and Kirsten Dunst of Spider-Man 3. Rise of the Silver Surfer was nominated for five additional Kids' Choice awards. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer lost to Cloverfield for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films' 2008 Best Science Fiction Film award, just as it lost in the "Best Summer Movie You Haven't Seen Yet" category, presented by the MTV Movie Awards to Transformers. The United Kingdom's National Movie Awards, additionally, selected Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix over Rise of the Silver Surfer in its 2007 "Best Family" category. The film was nominated in eight categories during the Teen Choice Awards ceremonies of 2007, but won no award. ## See also - Fantastic Four in film - Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (video game)

2019 Riga Masters

Professional ranking snooker tournament, held July 2019

The 2019 Riga Masters (also known as the 2019 Kaspersky Riga Masters due to sponsorship) was a professional ranking snooker tournament held from 26 to 28 July 2019 at the Arēna Rīga in Riga, Latvia. It was the sixth Riga Masters event, with the first being held in 2013, and the first ranking event of the 2019/2020 snooker season. The defending champion, Neil Robertson, previously defeated Jack Lisowski in the 2018 final. However, Robertson and several other players were forced to withdraw from qualifying round matches due to flight cancellations, and therefore could not compete in the event. Yan Bingtao defeated Mark Joyce 5–2 in the final, winning the event and earning his first career ranking title. Yan became the first teenager to win a ranking event in 13 years since Ding Junhui won the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy aged 19. No players from the top 20 in the world reached the quarter-finals. Lisowski scored the highest break of the tournament, a 145. The event had a total prize fund of £278,000 with the winner receiving £50,000. Qualifying for the event was held between 10 and 13 June 2019 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. ## Format The tournament was played from 26 to 28 July 2019 at the Arēna Rīga in Riga, Latvia. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, and sponsored by Kaspersky Lab. Matches were played as best-of-seven until the semi-finals, which were best-of-nine frames. The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final were all played on 28 July. The event was broadcast on Eurosport Player (Pan-Europe); NowTV (Hong Kong); Truesport Thailand; and Superstars Online, Youku, and Zhibo.tv (China). ### Prize fund The prize fund was slightly increased from the 2018 event. The champion still received £50,000, but the total prize fund increased from £259,000 to £278,000, as follows: - Winner: £50,000 - Runner-up: £25,000 - Semi-final: £15,000 - Quarter-final: £6,000 - Last 16: £4,000 - Last 32: £3,000 - Last 64: £2,000 - Highest break: £5,000 - Total: £278,000 ## Tournament summary ### Early rounds The round-of-64 began on 26 July 2019 in Riga, Latvia. Due to flight complications, many players missed the event and had to withdraw, including two-time and defending champion Neil Robertson, Kyren Wilson, and Joe O'Connor. World Snooker commented that due to the number of players missing their matches, it would be difficult to reschedule the affected matches. The held-over qualifying match between Robertson and Robert Milkins was not held as both players were unable to compete in the event, which gave Ben Woollaston a bye into the last 32. Milkins and Robertson made Twitter comments on their encounter, as penalty frames were awarded to each player for not appearing in the match. Three-time world champion Mark Williams defeated James Cahill 4–3, but Williams did not realise he could score a century break, after turning down the final . Mark Selby received two byes before facing Graeme Dott in the second round. Dott won the first three frames of the match, but Selby won the final four to progress. In the round of 16, Selby lost to Stuart Carrington. The 2018 runner-up Jack Lisowski reached the round of 16, before losing to Mark Joyce. ### Quarter-finals After the round-of-16, no player qualifying for the quarter-finals was ranked in the top 20 in the world. With a ranking of 21, Yan Bingtao was the highest ranked player in the quarter-finals. The quarter-finals, semi-finals, and finals were all played on 28 July. In the quarter-finals, Joyce, who was world rank 54, defeated Carrington 4–1 to advance to the semi-finals, marking his best performance in a ranking event. After defeating Lyu Haotian and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in previous rounds, Kurt Maflin defeated Luo Honghao 4–1, reaching his third career semi-final. Matthew Selt defeated Mark King 4–1 to reach the semi-final. Selt was the only remaining player who had previously won a ranking event (the 2019 Indian Open). Yan defeated Li Hang 4–3 to reach the semi-finals for the first time since the 2017 Northern Ireland Open. ### Semi-finals In the first semi-final, Joyce and Maflin exchanged frames throughout the match, with each player alternately winning each frame to tie at 4–4. After Maflin missed a , Joyce made a match-high break of 126 to win 5–4. In the second semi-final, Yan defeated Selt 5–3. Neither player made a century break. However, Yan scored a match-high break of 88 to win. ### Final The final between Yan and Joyce was played at 9 p.m. EEST (UTC+3) and refereed by Tatiana Woollaston. It was Joyce's first final, and neither player had previously won a ranking event. In the first frame, Yan required a snooker and the cue ball behind the black, forcing Joyce to hit the blue ball instead of the brown, awarding Yan enough penalty points to be able to win the frame. Yan to win the first frame. Yan won the second frame to lead 2–0, but Joyce won the third with a century break. Yan won three of the next four frames, with breaks of higher than 50. He defeated Joyce 5–2, winning the event and earning his first career ranking title. Yan became the first player born after 2000 to win a ranking event, as well as the first teenager to win a ranking event in 13 years since Ding Junhui won the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy at age 19. ## Main draw The main draw for the tournament featured 64 players. Certain players had to withdraw from the competition due to flight difficulties, and are denoted below with a bye to their opponent. A w/d indicates a withdrawn player, whilst a w/o indicates a walkover. Players listed in bold denote match winners. ### Final ## Qualifying Qualifying matches were held between 10 and 13 June 2019 at the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre in Sheffield, England. Matches involving Neil Robertson, Kishan Hirani, Mark Selby, Duane Jones, and Mark Williams, were planned to be played in Riga. All matches were best-of-seven frames. ## Century breaks ### Televised stage centuries A total of 19 centuries were made during the event. Jack Lisowski scored a 145, the highest break of the event. Mark Williams made his break of 137 in a held over match. - 145, 140, 119 – Jack Lisowski - 143 – Graeme Dott - 137 – Liam Highfield - 137 – Mark Williams - 127 – Daniel Wells - 126, 112, 109, 103 – Mark Joyce - 120 – Mei Xiwen - 112 – Kurt Maflin - 110 – Gary Wilson - 109, 104 – Tom Ford - 106 – Ricky Walden - 106 – Rod Lawler - 101 – Yan Bingtao ### Qualifying stage centuries During the pre-tournament qualification, 23 centuries were made. Dominic Dale scores the highest of these, with a break of 141. - 141 – Dominic Dale - 138 – Lu Ning - 136 – Yuan Sijun - 132, 112 – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh - 131 – David Grace - 131 – Oliver Lines - 131 – Ricky Walden - 129 – Anthony Hamilton - 128, 109 – Alan McManus - 125 – Michael Holt - 124 – Scott Donaldson - 120, 101 – Jamie O'Neill - 119 – Mei Xiwen - 112 – Jackson Page - 112 – Qingtian Yang - 109 – Chris Wakelin - 109 – Riley Parsons - 105 – Kurt Maflin - 103 – Joe O'Connor - 101 – Ian Burns

Woodstock 50

2019 cancelled American music festival

Woodstock 50 was a planned American music festival originally scheduled to be held on August 16–18, 2019, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. The event was intended as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a landmark festival that was held August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. Just prior to its cancellation, it was announced the event had been reduced from three days to one day. Woodstock 50 was canceled on July 31, 2019, after a series of permit and production issues, venue relocations, and artist cancellations. ## Overview Artists initially announced for the Woodstock 50 lineup included The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Halsey, Miley Cyrus, Robert Plant, The Raconteurs, Cage the Elephant and Janelle Monáe. The lineup also included several musical acts that had performed at the original 1969 festival, such as Dead & Company (featuring three members of the Grateful Dead), John Fogerty (with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969), Santana, David Crosby (with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969), Melanie, John Sebastian, Hot Tuna (featuring two members of Jefferson Airplane), Canned Heat and Country Joe McDonald (lead singer of Country Joe and the Fish in 1969). Woodstock 50 and its lineup were officially announced in March 2019 but tickets were not released for sale on a previously scheduled date. In late April 2019, a financial backer claimed the festival had been canceled, which was disputed by organizers. Conflicting media reports ranged from allegations of financial and legal difficulties to an inability to secure proper permits from local officials. In May, a judge ruled that the financiers had no right to cancel the festival, allowing the event to proceed as planned. The festival was to take place at the Watkins Glen International racetrack but in June 2019 the venue announced the event would no longer be held there. The concert's location was moved to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland on July 25. The next day, all of the artists who had been initially announced as part of the festival's lineup were released from their contracts. ## Background Woodstock's co-creator Michael Lang helped organize Woodstock 50. Since 2014, Lang had been planning to hold a 50th anniversary Woodstock festival in 2019. He began negotiating with Japanese investment firm Dentsu Aegis Network in late 2018 to arrange funding for Woodstock 50. Lang was hired as a consultant by Woodstock 50 LLC, a production company founded by hoteliers Greg Peck and Susan Cronin, and a separate entity from Lang's company Woodstock Ventures. This arrangement was made so Lang could avoid a conflict of interest with Woodstock Ventures, which owns the rights to the Woodstock brand. Woodstock 50 LLC and Lang entered into a partnership with Dentsu Aegis in December 2018, and licensed the rights to use the Woodstock name from Woodstock Ventures. The investment firm was contracted to contribute about \$49.1 million to fund the festival, based on Lang's initial estimated attendance number of 150,000 people. In January 2019, Lang confirmed that he would be organizing a fourth three-day Woodstock festival that would take place in August in Watkins Glen, New York. The Watkins Glen International racetrack was chosen as the festival location. In August 2018, a festival organized by the rock band Phish that was to be held at the racetrack was canceled by New York Department of Health officials one day before it was scheduled to begin due to water quality and safety issues following several days of flooding in the Finger Lakes region. Lang said he planned for a separate water supply to be brought into the Woodstock 50 site to avoid these issues. Billboard reported that promoters and agents had tried to persuade Lang to seek another venue because the site was too far away from hotels and was seen as a risky location following the circumstances of Phish's cancellation the previous year. In selecting artists for the festival's lineup, Lang planned to book popular contemporary artists alongside musical acts who had appeared in the lineup of the original 1969 Woodstock festival. In early documents, Lang named several potential headliners for Woodstock 50, including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Phish, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, and Drake, none of whom would appear in the announced lineup. Lang had also sought Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, and a reunited Led Zeppelin as headlining performers, but with the exception of Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, none of those artists appeared in Woodstock 50's final lineup. Joan Baez told Rolling Stone she had been approached to perform at the festival but had turned the offer down. The festival's lineup was announced on March 19, 2019. The Black Keys were announced as part of the lineup but pulled out of the festival on April 5 due to a scheduling conflict. Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney later explained that the band decided to cancel because they had just returned from a hiatus, and "We realized that we didn’t want our first show back to be in front of 150,000 people in a field without any control." Following the lineup announcement press conference, Dentsu Aegis privately expressed concern that organizers had spent too much money on acquiring artists other than those that had been previously considered. A second Woodstock 50th anniversary event, held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts—the site of the original 1969 festival—was also scheduled for August 2019. The lineup for the three-day concert program included John Fogerty and Santana, both of whom were included in the Woodstock 50 lineup, as well as Ringo Starr, Arlo Guthrie, Edgar Winter, the Doobie Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Grace Potter. Lang was not involved with the Bethel concert and filed a cease-and-desist notice against its organizer Live Nation for promoting it as a rival event to his Woodstock 50 festival. The Bethel concerts were held as planned on August 16–18. ## Production issues ### Ticketing and permit delays Tickets for the Woodstock 50 festival were supposed to go on sale on April 22, 2019, but no tickets were made available on that date. At that date, the organizers had yet to receive a mass gathering permit from the New York State Department of Health. A New York state health regulation forbids advertising for large, overnights events that do not have a permit, which delayed the sale of tickets. A mass gathering permit for the festival had been submitted on April 15 but the Department of Health had not approved it at that time. ### First cancellation and change of investors On April 29, investors Dentsu Aegis Network announced it was no longer funding the festival and that the event had been canceled. Officials from Schuyler County, New York also confirmed the cancellation. Dentsu Aegis ceased its involvement after the organizers reduced the capacity of the festival grounds from 100,000 people to 75,000 to accommodate campers. Later that day, the festival organizers disputed the cancellation in a statement to the Poughkeepsie Journal and announced they would be seeking a "legal remedy." Lang also stated on his Facebook page that, despite the loss of their financial backer, the Woodstock 50 organizers would continue to plan the festival and seek new investors, and the festival would go ahead as planned. Superfly, a production partner of the Woodstock organizers, pulled out of the festival on May 1, also citing changes to the festival's capacity as a reason for its withdrawal. Before their departure, Superfly had estimated 65,000 people as the safest maximum capacity at Watkins Glen, which was a lower estimate than either Dentsu Aegis or Lang had previously considered. Once they received further information of the terrain on the race-track property, they revised their maximum capacity estimate down to 61,000, and stated they would not continue to work on the festival if the festival planned to exceed that number. As result of Dentsu Aegis's withdrawal, none of the scheduled artists were obliged to play at the event because they had contracts through either Dentsu or Amplifi Live rather than the Woodstock promoters. Representatives from two major talent agencies told Billboard Dentsu Aegis' decision may have voided the artists' contracts and it was unlikely their clients would be performing at the festival. Following the company's announcement, Dead & Company removed Woodstock 50 from the tour itinerary on their website. John Fogerty told Rolling Stone he was disappointed by the announcement and surprised the festival had not secured permits sooner, saying. "You got the sense there was some shakiness to this whole thing". Billboard reported on May 6 that CID Entertainment would be producing the festival and that for the event to proceed, Lang would need about \$30 million by May 10 and a mass gathering permit from the New York Department of Health. Lang also accused Dentsu Aegis of illegally removing \$17 million from the festival's bank account, blocking the April 22 ticket sale and attempting to cancel the event without his consent. Lawyers for the Woodstock organizers requested an injunction against Dentsu Aegis in a New York court on May 9, seeking the return of the disputed \$17 million. Amplifi Live filed a counter-claim against Lang on May 13, arguing they had the right to take over the festival and cancel it due to Lang's contractual breaches and logistical misrepresentation. A judge in New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Woodstock organizers on May 15 and found that Dentsu Aegis had no legal right to cancel the festival, allowing the event to proceed. The judge also ruled that the organizers were not entitled to the \$17.8 million that had been removed from the festival's bank account. On May 17, Oppenheimer Holdings was announced as the festival's new financial backer. Following the court ruling, Lang announced that three-day passes to the festival would cost around \$400 and that a limited quantity of limited single-day passes would be available, a change from earlier plans in which only three-day passes would be sold. ### Loss of original venue Watkins Glen International announced on June 10 it had canceled the contract for the Woodstock 50 festival and that the event would no longer be held at the racetrack. The festival had lost its booking at the racetrack because organizers had missed a \$150,000 payment. The same day, CID Entertainment announced it would also be pulling out of the festival. A representative for the festival subsequently told Associated Press the organizers were in talks with another venue to host the event. In late June, the Woodstock organizers applied for a permit to hold a smaller festival at Vernon Downs horse racing track in Vernon, New York. The organizers were refused the permit on July 9. The organizers' third appeal was denied by the Vernon planning board on July 16. ### Relocation to Maryland and loss of artist lineup Bloomberg News reported on July 25 that the Woodstock organizers had moved the festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion, a venue with a smaller capacity than either of the planned New York sites, in Columbia, Maryland. Known as "Woodstock 50 Washington", the festival would act as a fundraiser for non-profit organizations involved with voter registration and climate change. Instead of being a ticketed event as originally planned, the festival would be free and concertgoers would be encouraged to donate to charitable causes. Seth Hurwitz, co-founder of Merriweather Post Pavilion operator IMP, said his venue would host the festival if organizers presented them with a lineup. A concert headlined by The Smashing Pumpkins was scheduled to take place at the venue on August 17. Woodstock 50 would have been reduced from three days to one. Jay-Z and John Fogerty withdrew from the Woodstock 50 lineup shortly after the move to Maryland was announced. On July 26, the promoters released all of the remaining artists on the lineup from their contracted appearances at the relocated festival. The organizers informed artists of the relocation and contract release in a letter that also requested they still perform at the festival and reminded them of the payment they had received from Dentsu Aegis. In the following days, Dead & Company, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Santana, The Lumineers, The Raconteurs, Pussy Riot, and Miley Cyrus announced they would not be appearing at the relocated festival. Several artists withdrew because they had already scheduled other concerts in the Mid-Atlantic region around the festival weekend and the relocation to Merriweather Post Pavilion conflicted with the radius clauses for some of those events. A representative for The Zombies told Variety that the band still planned to perform at Woodstock 50. On July 30, 17 days before the festival's planned start date, Woodstock 50 organizers had not submitted a permit application to hold an event at Merriweather Post Pavilion. ### Final cancellation On July 31, the organizers of Woodstock 50 announced the cancellation of the event. In a press release, representatives said, "unforeseen setbacks made it impossible to put on a festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating". Lang told media he blamed Dentsu Aegis for the festival's failure and that he was considering further legal action against the firm. Despite the cancellation, Lang said he hoped to hold a smaller fundraising event at Merriweather Post Pavilion in late 2019 but was not sure it would bear the Woodstock name. In June 2020, the organizers of Woodstock 50 filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court against Dentsu Aegis and Amplifi Live. In the suit, the organizers accused the two firms of sabotaging the event by announcing its cancelation in April 2019. Lang died on January 8, 2022. ## Planned line-up Each artist on the Woodstock 50 lineup was paid an advance and the remainder of the payment was held in escrow until performance or the cancellation of the festival. Alongside the official announcement that the event would not proceed, the organizers suggested the artists donate at least 10 percent of their earnings to HeadCount, a non-profit organization that promotes voter registration. Lang was criticized for trying to make the artists feel guilty. Prior to July 26, 2019, when remaining artists withdrew en masse from the event and organizers released them from their contracts, the lineup for the festival was to have included: August 16 - The Killers - Miley Cyrus - Santana - The Lumineers - The Raconteurs - Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters - Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats - John Fogerty - Run the Jewels - The Head and the Heart - Maggie Rogers - Michael Franti & Spearhead - Bishop Briggs - Anderson East - Akon - Princess Nokia - John Sebastian - Melanie - Grandson - Fever 333 - Dorothy - Flora Cash - Larkin Poe - Brian Cadd - Ninet Tayeb August 17 - Dead & Company - Chance the Rapper - The Black Keys - Sturgill Simpson - Greta Van Fleet - Portugal. The Man - Leon Bridges - Gary Clark Jr. - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros - David Crosby and Friends - Dawes - Margo Price - Nahko and Medicine for the People - India.Arie - Jade Bird - Country Joe McDonald - Rival Sons - Emily King - Soccer Mommy - Sir - Taylor Bennett - Amy Helm - Courtney Hadwin - Pearl - John-Robert - IAMDDB August 18 - Jay-Z - Imagine Dragons - Halsey - Cage the Elephant - Brandi Carlile - Janelle Monáe - Young the Giant - Courtney Barnett - Common - Vince Staples - Judah & the Lion - Earl Sweatshirt - Boygenius - Reignwolf - The Zombies - Canned Heat - Hot Tuna - Pussy Riot - Cherry Glazerr - Leven Kali - The Marcus King Band - Victory - Hollis Brown - John Craigie - Amigo the Devil - Liz Brasher ## See also - Fyre Festival, a similarly canceled music festival

Young Love (Janet Jackson song)

"Young Love" is a song by American recording artist Janet Jackson from her self-titled debut album (1982). It was written and produced by René Moore, Angela Winbush, with additional production by Bobby Watson. It was released as Jackson's debut single on July 7, 1982, by A&M Records. Prior to her rise to fame, the singer had no interest in pursuing a musical career. Despite this, she was motivated to pursue a career in entertainment, and considered the idea after recording herself in the studio. After acting in the variety show The Jacksons, she began starring in several TV series and commenced recording her debut album. "Young Love" received generally positive reviews from music critics, who highlighted it as a standout song from Janet Jackson and praised its catchiness. It peaked at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, and was a success on the R&B chart, additionally peaking at number 16 in New Zealand. In order to promote her album, she performed the song on Soul Train and American Bandstand. In recent years, she has included the song on her 2008 Rock Witchu Tour and her performance at the 2010 Essence Music Festival. ## Background Jackson had initially desired to become a horse racing jockey or entertainment lawyer, with plans to support herself through acting. Despite this, she anticipated pursuing a career in entertainment, and considered the idea after recording herself in the studio. When Jackson was sixteen, she had a contract arranged with A&M Records and began recording her debut album with the assistance of her father, working with a number of songwriters and producers such as René Moore, Angela Winbush, and Bobby Watson, who produced her first single, titled "Young Love", released on July 7, 1982. ## Composition and reception Lou Broadus, music director of WASC Radio, described the song as an "uptempo, happy song with a good hook". After the single "Young Love" was released, it became a hit with young people. Stephen Thomas Erlewine from website AllMusic noted that Jackson demonstrated "no distinctive musical personality of her own, which isn't surprising considering that she was in her teens. [...] Only "Young Love" stands out among the undistinguished, sub-disco thumpers and drippy ballads. In a retrospective review, Peter Piatkowski from PopMatters stated that it was an "insight into the kind of excellent dance music she'd master later on", also describing the track as a "perfect example of post-disco pop joy". In the United States, "Young Love" received little notoriety on the principal singles chart, the Billboard Hot 100; it was able to reach a peak of number 64. However, on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, the single managed to reach number six. As of June 1993, the single had sold 200,000 copies in the region. In New Zealand, "Young Love" debuted at number 46 on its singles chart, on the issue dated March 13, 1983. Several weeks later, on April 17, 1983, the song reached its peak of number 16. It fell off the chart on May 1, at number 33. A year later, it re-entered the singles chart, at number 45. ## Live performances In order to promote Janet Jackson, she performed the song on American TV shows Solid Gold, American Bandstand, and Soul Train in 1982. She also performed the song on a West German television program Musikladen. Several years later, Jackson included the song on her 2008 Rock Witchu Tour in the "Pre-Control Medley" section of the show. It was later added to her performance at the 2010 Essence Music Festival, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, which she headlined. The song was also used during the DJ intermission on the 2017-2019 State of the World Tour. ## Official versions - Album Version - 4:58 - Seven Inch Version° - 3:41 - 12" Dance Mix^ - 5:07 °Unavailable on CD ^The 12" Dance Mix was first released in 1995 on the Limited Edition Bonus Disc of Design of a Decade: 1986–1996 ## Track listings and formats - US vinyl / 7" single 1. "Young Love" – 3:39 2. "The Magic is Working" - 4:08 ## Credits and personnel - Janet Jackson - vocals - René Moore - songwriter, producer - Angela Winbush - songwriter, producer - Bobby Watson - producer - Harry Langdon - protography - Allen Zentz - mastering Source: ## Charts

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch

American animated television series

Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on NBC from September 7 to November 30, 1974. The show aired for 13 half-hour episodes. With an ensemble voice cast consisting of Frank Welker, Judy Strangis, Don Messick, Paul Winchell and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows an anthropomorphic car named Wheelie and a trouble-making motorcycle gang called the "Chopper Bunch". The series was produced by Iwao Takamoto, executively produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and directed by Charles A. Nichols. An accompanying comic book series, with contributions from artists Joe Staton and John Byrne, debuted in May 1975, although Byrne quit while finishing his second issue as he was unsatisfied with his creative control and felt he was overcompensated for his work. Other artists completed the series, which totaled seven comic books. This series was commonly grouped together with Speed Buggy (1973) and Wonder Wheels (1977–78) due to the similarities in plot and characters. Reception-wise, several critics reacted negatively to the violence and portrayal of motorcycles in the series, prompting viewers to write letters to NBC in hopes that the show would be pulled off the air. It has since been released on DVD as part of Warner Bros.' Archive Collection on a three-disc set. ## Premise The series takes place in a world of anthropomorphic vehicles and centers on Wheelie, his girlfriend Rota Ree, and a motorcycle gang known as the Chopper Bunch. A writer for Cycle World described the premise of the show: "Wheelie, a car, is the hero, and the villains are a bunch of choppers who do everything dirty to get Wheelie, the clean, all-American car." Nearly every episode of the series focused on the Chopper Bunch attempting to outsmart Wheelie, despite their continual failed attempts. The show negatively depicted motorcycles and motorcyclists, and the Chopper Bunch typically received consequences for their actions, which sometimes involved the police. ## Characters - Wheelie (Frank Welker) is a red racing/stunt car resembling a Volkswagen Beetle. Depicted as heroic with humanlike capabilities, Wheelie often finds himself having to contend with the Chopper Bunch, a group of hoodlum motorcycles. Wheelie can only communicate in car horn 'beeps' and 'honks' that the other characters can understand, and also in words and symbols that flash on his windshield, including "Charge!" (accompanied by a bugle call and group shout) whenever he is aroused or angered. Wheelie is also equipped with mechanical hands that can produce any item he needs from his trunk. - Rota Ree (Judy Strangis) is Wheelie's devoted girlfriend who is frequently subjected to the unwanted affections of Chopper. The Chopper Bunch: - Chopper (Frank Welker), the leader, and the show's primary antagonist. He is jealous of Wheelie and wants only to get rid of him or at least make his life miserable, and to steal Rota Ree for himself. - Revs (Paul Winchell), who always talks in spoonerisms. Winchell's performance was very similar to that of the original Scrubbing Bubbles TV commercials from 1973. - Hi-Riser (Lennie Weinrib), the tallest of the Chopper Bunch, but with the lowest IQ. - Scrambles (Don Messick), a minibike and the smallest and slowest member of the Chopper Bunch. He is also the one who constantly advises against most of the Bunch's schemes, but Chopper never listens to him until after the fact, at which point Scrambles endlessly shouts "Itoldja! Itoldja! Itoldja!". Other Characters: - Captain Tuff (Paul Winchell), a hardened, no-nonsense police cruiser. - Deputy Fishtail (Don Messick), a police motorcycle and eager rookie obsessed with catching the Chopper Bunch, but whose attempts usually wind up ensnaring Captain Tuff instead. Messick and Weinrib also provided voices for several other minor characters. ## Production Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch premiered in September 1974, about one year after the debut of Speed Buggy, another Hanna-Barbera cartoon with similar themes. Executively produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Hanna-Barbera Productions, Charles A. Nichols served as the series' director. Several writers contributed to the series, including Lars Bourne, Len Janson, Chuck Menville, Robert Ogle, and Dalton Sandifer. The show's official theme song was composed by Hoyt Curtin, Barbera, and Hanna. Curtin also served as the series' music composer. Iwao Takamoto, who had previously worked on several series for Hanna-Barbera productions in the past, solely produced Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch. Like other animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track created by the studio. ### Broadcast history Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was broadcast on NBC as part of their Saturday morning children's lineup between September 7 and November 30, 1974; and before being cancelled, it continued to air regularly on the network until August 30, 1975. The series featured a total of 13 episodes with three segments each, bringing a total of 39 segments overall. During its original allocated time slot, the show rivaled The Bugs Bunny Show on ABC and repeats of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! on CBS; it also aired immediately following reruns of the animated adaptation of The Addams Family and right before Emergency +4 on NBC. In syndication, the series was replayed on several television networks after its cancellation. USA Network ran the series beginning May 16, 1989 and until March 28, 1991. Sister channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang have broadcast Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch on multiple occasions since their initial launch; the former began reruns in 1995, while the latter started in 2000. The episode featuring "Double Cross Country", "The Infiltrator", and "The Stunt Show" was featured on the Warner Bros. Presents DVD compilation Saturday Morning Cartoons – 1970's Volume 1 and released on May 26, 2009. As part of the Warner Bros. Television Distribution's Archive Collection, the complete Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch series was made available on DVD as a three-disc set. ### Comic book series In 1975, comic book artists Joe Staton and John Byrne were commissioned to create a series of books to coincide with broadcasts of the series. Published by Charlton Comics, it would also serve as Staton's and Byrne's first series of comic books. After the first issue (with art by Staton) was distributed in May 1975, Hanna-Barbera asked Byrne to create a mellower second issue, as the debut was considered "too scary" by executives. The second issue discouraged Byrne from continuing with the series, so he left after just two issues. Byrne also said he also felt wrong accepting the large amounts of money from Hanna-Barbera, which he stated was \$50.00 per page. The series continued with other artists. A total of seven issues were made, with the final one circulating in July 1976. ## Episodes ## Other appearances - Hi-Riser (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) makes a cameo in the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "SPF". - Wheelie, Rota Ree, and the Chopper Bunch both appear in the HBO Max original series Jellystone!. ## Reception ### Critical response Following the initial debut of the series, it received criticism and negative feedback on several aspects. Jack Anderson and Les Whitten, journalists for The Sumter Daily Item, felt that several animated television shows on NBC embodied too much violence, and listed Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, Speed Buggy, The Pink Panther, and Bugs Bunny as the most "aggressive" ones on the channel. In their concerns, they claimed that children watching the series were more likely to be prone to negative "social behavior" around others. Ultimately, the two recommended that younger viewers watch Hanna-Barbera's Devlin due to its inclusion of "no aggression, [...] altruism, and [...] acts of sympathy explaining feelings". A more unusual form of criticism came from the motorcyclist community. In response to the motorcycles being negatively depicted on the show, a concerned viewer named Eric L. Van Duson wrote to Cycle in 1975 expressing disgust. He claimed that the portrayals of motorcycles could perhaps "brainwash [...] little kids" into thinking that motorcyclists are "nasty". Reacting to Hanna-Barbera creating several series with vehicles serving as the main characters, such as Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch, author David Perlmutter found the use of "humanized automobiles" to be too predictable and repetitive. However, in a retrospective view of older cartoons, the staff at MeTV included the show on their list of "15 Forgotten Cartoons from the Early 1970s You Used to Love". ### Legacy Along with Speed Buggy and Wonder Wheels, Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was one of the many Hanna-Barbera productions that incorporated automobiles able to talk and act like humans into animation; these three shows were dubbed together as a "trilogy" by Perlmutter. Additionally, it was listed as "the precursor to the numerous series featuring vehicles as super-heroes" that would arrive on television in both the 1980s and the 1990s. On the 2003 compilation album Cartoon Network: Toon-a-Rama, the official theme song for Wheelie and the Chopper Bunch was included on the track listing.

Celebrity Studies

Celebrity Studies is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Routledge which focuses on the "critical exploration of celebrity, stardom and fame". Founded in 2010 by media studies academics Sean Redmond (University of Victoria) and Su Holmes (University of East Anglia), Celebrity Studies is the first scholarly journal dedicated to the study of celebrity. The debut of the journal reflects a growing scholarly interest in the field following the proliferation of research on celebrity since the 2000s. Upon its announcement, the journal was met with negative media and academic reception. The journal has since helped legitimize the study of celebrity and is regarded as the preeminent journal in its field. The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) shortlisted Celebrity Studies for the Best New Journal award in 2011. Notable studies published in the journal include analyses on Pippa Middleton's buttocks, the history and influence of "climate contrarians", and Meghan Markle's relationship with feminism. Special issues of the journal have been devoted to singers David Bowie and Michael Jackson, actor Keanu Reeves, and reality television series RuPaul's Drag Race. The journal also sponsors an international biennial conference. Prior conferences took place at universities in Melbourne, London, Amsterdam, and Rome. The journal's current editors-in-chief include Erin Meyers (Oakland University) and Alice Leppert (Ursinus College). ## History ### Creation The field of "celebrity studies" emerged in academia in the 2000s coinciding with a wave of celebrity in popular culture. Due to the recent proliferation of research on celebrity across academic disciplines, a scholarly consensus has emerged about its importance. The journal was started by Sean Redmond (University of Victoria) and Su Holmes (University of East Anglia) in 2010 and is published by Routledge. Redmond and Holmes are both media studies academics who, in 2006, published a review of recent debates about celebrity. Celebrity Studies is the first scholarly journal dedicated to the subject of celebrity. It was initially published three times per year. In the inaugural issue of the journal, the co-editors noted that celebrity "exists at the core of many of the spaces, experiences and economies of modern life." Additionally, they wanted to remind readers that engaging with celebrity requires individuals to "to defamiliarise the everyday" and thereby "make apparent the cultural politics and power relations which sit at the center of 'the taken for granted.'" Such a task of "uncovering and analyzing the systems and structures" of celebrity lies at the foundation of media, television, and cultural studies, according to the inaugural issue. Holmes also told the Times Higher Education that celebrity studies was "more central to understanding the everyday than maths, English or science". One article in the inaugural issue authored by Redmond was titled "Avatar Obama in the Age of Liquid Celebrity". Redmond argued that US President Barack Obama is the "epitome of runniness" in an "era of disembedding without re-embedding." Another article explored actor Jackie Chan in relation to "ageing, race and masculinity in transnational action." Graeme Turner, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, was featured in the invitation-only first issue of the journal, where he explained why such a journal was needed and criticized the over-reliance of textual analysis in the field. Additionally, Turner issued a challenge to other academics that celebrity studies scholars do more than contribute to the "discursive regime surrounding celebrity" and instead "focus on its industrial production and audience consumption." The aim of the journal is to address the "production, circulation and consumption of fame" in contemporary and historical contexts and provide a forum for debate. The first few issues of the journal concentrated almost entirely on current people and events. The journal draws upon a range of interdisciplinary approaches and explores the relevance of celebrity studies to other disciplines like sociology and political science. The journal's initial editorial board totaled 15 editors from British universities and universities abroad. Each journal issue features a book review section and a forum section dedicated to shorter essays, observations, and debates. By August 2018, the journal had published thirty issues. Holmes stepped down as co-editor in 2019 and was replaced by Erin A. Meyers, who is an associate professor of communication at Oakland University. Alice Leppert, Associate Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Ursinus College, was named co-editor of the journal in 2020. Leppert had been involved with the journal since its inception and has written about subjects such as a Hong Kong film star, the cast of Friends, and reality TV. ### Reception While the announcement of the journal was met with negative media and academic reception, Celebrity Studies has since given the field institutional legitimacy and has helped raise the prestige of the field. The journal's debut reflects a growing scholarly interest in the discipline and the socio-political uses of fame. Sociologist Robert van Krieken has referred to the journal as a "treasure trove of innovative analyses of celebrity." Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals of Improbable Research, wrote that the journal "has come to epitomise, if not utterly dominate, the entire academic field with which it shares a name." It is regarded as the preeminent or flagship journal in its field. In 2011, the journal was shortlisted by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) for the Best New Journal award. Bioethicist Andy Miah, who founded the first celebrity culture conference in 2005, was not surprised of the launch of the journal because "celebrities have become a focal point of our value system which warrant our attention." Others were more dismissive of the journal during its launch. Australian public intellectual Germaine Greer opined that the journal would not survive three issues. British author and historian Graham McCann criticized the journal, saying that "academic findings of this sort are at best banal and at worst misleading." Matthew Bell of The Independent wrote that he expected to see the journal produce "plenty of pseudo-academic mumbo jumbo." Holmes and Redmond attributed the largely unfavorable media reaction of their journal to fears of "dumbing down" of higher education. Additionally, the editors believed the negative response can be attributed to the "perception that academia is 'frivolous and populist' because of the apparently 'low-brow' subject of its scholarship." Turner defended the reputation of the journal and the field, arguing it "isn't bullshit, this is stuff that actually is happening now." ### Conference Celebrity Studies sponsors an international conference every two years. The conference and the journal draw in a network of international media, film, and television scholars. The biennial conference began in 2012 and took place at Deakin University in Melbourne. In 2014, the conference was held at Royal Holloway, University of London. The conference debated the role of celebrities in society and discussed the impact of Hollywood, celebrity animals, and the influence of celebrity chefs. The 2014 conference was criticized by journalist Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News, who considered the argument that celebrities can make information more accessible was "bizarre, if not downright depressing," and opined that "Katy Perry can't our children anything about politics." The third international conference occurred at the University of Amsterdam in June 2016. The subtitle of the conference was "Authenticating Celebrity." Over 200 experts were in attendance, most of whom were from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The conference addressed matters such as digital technology, celebrity politics, and "What makes a celebrity authentic?" At the conference, literary historian Lorraine York et al. presented their work on the Kardashian family. In 2018, the fourth international conference was held in Rome at La Sapienza University. The conference was entitled "Desecrating Celebrity." The fifth international conference was scheduled to take place at the University of Winchester but was cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ## Notable studies ### Pippa Middleton's buttocks In November 2011, Janet McCabe, a scholar from the University of London, published an article in the journal that examined the role of Pippa Middleton's buttocks. McCabe wrote, "The celebrity of the Middleton curves has something important to tell us about celebrating the feminine ideal, which is compelling enough to psychically entangle us and from which we are not entirely able to free ourselves." A later study published in the journal examined Middleton's buttocks through Marxist and Freudian analyses. ### Climate contrarians A 2013 article traced the history of "climate contrarians" back to the 1980s. The authors identified "keystone species"—climate contrarians who have oversized voices in the media—and how such individuals "hold the ecosystem of climate denial together." These contrarians frequently label environmentalists as "communist, un-American fanatics" who are "diametrically opposed to prosperity, jobs, and profit," according to the study. The authors argued the "celebritisation of the climate" gives climate contrarians the ability to gain recognition in the public sphere, where their contributions are considered "balanced" in media debates on climate change. ### Meghan, Duchess of Sussex A 2018 critique by researchers Laura Clancy and Hannah Yelin published in the journal argued that the British monarchy had 'co-opted' the feminism of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex to enhance their public image. The researchers argued that before marrying Prince Harry, Markle was a vocal advocate for women's rights. According to the researchers, "Markle's activist voice has been either silenced or appropriated by the monarchy." Clancy and Yelin accused the monarchy of using Markle's "celebrity status to "re-legitimise" the Royal Family's male monarchical power." The researchers noted that Markle had quit her acting career and shut down her popular blog and social media accounts. The Royal Palace declined to comment on the study. The Sunday Times wrote about the study under the headline "Meghan accused of dropping feminism like a hot potato". Clancy and Yelin criticized the headline as "problematically inaccurate", and Yelin later appeared on Sky News to explain the study was "not about scrutinising Markle herself and it's certainly not about policing anybody else's feminism." Clancy and Yelin stated they received accusations of sexism and racism and encountered various forms of harassment following the study's publication. They subsequently researched how academics more broadly experience the misrepresentation of their work in the media. ### Influencer marketing A 2022 bibliometric analysis found that Khamis et al. (2017) had one of the most cited articles in Scopus in the realm of influencer marketing. The authors argued that "influencer marketing has emerged alongside the growth of digital technology, particularly social media, thereby creating an opportunity for brand marketing by what are termed social media influencers." Additionally, they argued that cultivating authenticity is a significant element of "micro-celebrity" which produces "a sense of realness that renders their narratives, their branding, both accessible and intimate." ### Special issues The journal regularly produces special thematic issues. Special issues have focused on subjects such as David Bowie and ageing. Following Michael Jackson's sudden death in 2009, the journal dedicated eight articles to the singer in its "Celebrity Forum" section. The special issue explored Jackson's death as a media event and the rituals of mourning and memorialisation associated with such an event. A 2012 special edition focused on the Olympics, where one article examined Australian diver Matthew Mitcham as a "gay sporting icon." In 2022, a special issue of the journal was devoted exclusively to Canadian actor Keanu Reeves. A call for papers requested topics such as "tragic Keanu"; "Keanu-as-meme"; Keanu as "reluctant celebrity"; and Keanu's relationship to "queer and Asian American identities." Other special issues of the journal covered topics such as the TV series RuPaul's Drag Race, the 2011 royal wedding, celebrity biographies, and Asian stardom. ## Abstracting and indexing The journal is indexed and abstracted in: According to the Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2021 impact factor of 1.167. Celebrity Studies was included in Excellence in Research for Australia's 2018 Journal List. The Norwegian Scientific Index classifies Celebrity Studies as a "Level 1" journal. ## See also - Fan studies - The Journal of Popular Culture

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Toxic effects of carbon monoxide

Carbon monoxide poisoning typically occurs from breathing in carbon monoxide (CO) at excessive levels. Symptoms are often described as "flu-like" and commonly include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion. Large exposures can result in loss of consciousness, arrhythmias, seizures, or death. The classically described "cherry red skin" rarely occurs. Long-term complications may include chronic fatigue, trouble with memory, and movement problems. CO is a colorless and odorless gas which is initially non-irritating. It is produced during incomplete burning of organic matter. This can occur from motor vehicles, heaters, or cooking equipment that run on carbon-based fuels. Carbon monoxide primarily causes adverse effects by combining with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO) preventing the blood from carrying oxygen and expelling carbon dioxide as carbaminohemoglobin. Additionally, many other hemoproteins such as myoglobin, Cytochrome P450, and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase are affected, along with other metallic and non-metallic cellular targets. Diagnosis is typically based on a HbCO level of more than 3% among nonsmokers and more than 10% among smokers. The biological threshold for carboxyhemoglobin tolerance is typically accepted to be 15% COHb, meaning toxicity is consistently observed at levels in excess of this concentration. The FDA has previously set a threshold of 14% COHb in certain clinical trials evaluating the therapeutic potential of carbon monoxide. In general, 30% COHb is considered severe carbon monoxide poisoning. The highest reported non-fatal carboxyhemoglobin level was 73% COHb. Efforts to prevent poisoning include carbon monoxide detectors, proper venting of gas appliances, keeping chimneys clean, and keeping exhaust systems of vehicles in good repair. Treatment of poisoning generally consists of giving 100% oxygen along with supportive care. This should generally be carried out until symptoms are no longer present and the HbCO level is less than 3%/10%. Carbon monoxide poisoning is relatively common, resulting in more than 20,000 emergency room visits a year in the United States. It is the most common type of fatal poisoning in many countries. In the United States, non-fire related cases result in more than 400 deaths a year. Poisonings occur more often in the winter, particularly from the use of portable generators during power outages. The toxic effects of CO have been known since ancient history. The discovery that hemoglobin is affected by CO emerged with an investigation by James Watt and Thomas Beddoes into the therapeutic potential of hydrocarbonate in 1793, and later confirmed by Claude Bernard between 1846 and 1857. ## Background Carbon monoxide is not toxic to all forms of life, and the toxicity is a classical dose-dependent example of hormesis. Small amounts of carbon monoxide are naturally produced through many enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions across phylogenetic kingdoms where it can serve as an important neurotransmitter (subcategorized as a gasotransmitter) and a potential therapeutic agent. In the case of prokaryotes, some bacteria produce, consume and respond to carbon monoxide whereas certain other microbes are susceptible to its toxicity. Currently, there are no known adverse effects on photosynthesizing plants. The harmful effects of carbon monoxide are generally considered to be due to tightly binding with the prosthetic heme moiety of hemoproteins that results in interference with cellular operations, for example: carbon monoxide binds with hemoglobin to form carboxyhemoglobin which affects gas exchange and cellular respiration. Inhaling excessive concentrations of the gas can lead to hypoxic injury, nervous system damage, and even death. As pioneered by Esther Killick, different species and different people across diverse demographics may have different carbon monoxide tolerance levels. The carbon monoxide tolerance level for any person is altered by several factors, including genetics (hemoglobin mutations), behavior such as activity level, rate of ventilation, a pre-existing cerebral or cardiovascular disease, cardiac output, anemia, sickle cell disease and other hematological disorders, geography and barometric pressure, and metabolic rate. ### History Humans have maintained a complex relationship with carbon monoxide since first learning to control fire circa 800,000 BC. Primitive cavemen probably discovered the toxicity of carbon monoxide upon introducing fire into their dwellings. The early development of metallurgy and smelting technologies emerging circa 6,000 BC through the Bronze Age likewise plagued humankind with carbon monoxide exposure. Apart from the toxicity of carbon monoxide, indigenous Native Americans may have experienced the neuroactive properties of carbon monoxide through shamanistic fireside rituals. Early civilizations developed mythological tales to explain the origin of fire, such as Vulcan, Pkharmat, and Prometheus from Greek mythology who shared fire with humans. Aristotle (384–322 BC) first recorded that burning coals produced toxic fumes. Greek physician Galen (129–199 AD) speculated that there was a change in the composition of the air that caused harm when inhaled, and symptoms of CO poisoning appeared in Cassius Iatrosophista's Quaestiones Medicae et Problemata Naturalia circa 130 AD. Julian the Apostate, Caelius Aurelianus, and several others similarly documented early knowledge of the toxicity symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning as caused by coal fumes in the ancient era. Documented cases by Livy and Cicero allude to carbon monoxide being used as a method of suicide in ancient Rome. Emperor Lucius Verus used smoke to execute prisoners. Many deaths have been linked to carbon monoxide poisoning including Emperor Jovian, Empress Fausta, and Seneca. The most high-profile death by carbon monoxide poisoning may possibly have been Cleopatra or Edgar Allan Poe. In the fifteenth century, coal miners believed sudden death was caused by evil spirits; carbon monoxide poisoning has been linked to supernatural and paranormal experiences, witchcraft, etc. throughout the following centuries including in the modern present day exemplified by Carrie Poppy's investigations. Georg Ernst Stahl mentioned carbonarii halitus in 1697 in reference to toxic vapors thought to be carbon monoxide. Friedrich Hoffmann conducted the first modern scientific investigation into carbon monoxide poisoning from coal in 1716, notably rejecting villagers attributing death to demonic superstition. Herman Boerhaave conducted the first scientific experiments on the effect of carbon monoxide (coal fumes) on animals in the 1730s. Joseph Priestley is credited with first synthesizing carbon monoxide in 1772 which he had called heavy inflammable air, and Carl Wilhelm Scheele isolated carbon monoxide from coal in 1773 suggesting it to be the toxic entity. The dose-dependent risk of carbon monoxide poisoning as hydrocarbonate was investigated in the late 1790s by Thomas Beddoes, James Watt, Tiberius Cavallo, James Lind, Humphry Davy, and many others in the context of inhalation of factitious airs, much of which occurred at the Pneumatic Institution. William Cruickshank discovered carbon monoxide as a molecule containing one carbon and one oxygen atom in 1800, thereby initiating the modern era of research exclusively focused on carbon monoxide. The mechanism for toxicity was first suggested by James Watt in 1793, followed by Adrien Chenot in 1854 and finally demonstrated by Claude Bernard after 1846 as published in 1857 and also independently published by Felix Hoppe-Seyler in the same year. The first controlled clinical trial studying the toxicity of carbon monoxide occurred in 1973. #### Historical detection Carbon monoxide poisoning has plagued coal miners for many centuries. In the context of mining, carbon monoxide is widely known as whitedamp. John Scott Haldane identified carbon monoxide as the lethal constituent of afterdamp, the gas created by combustion, after examining many bodies of miners killed in pit explosions. By 1911, Haldane introduced the use of small animals for miners to detect dangerous levels of carbon monoxide underground, either white mice or canaries which have little tolerance for carbon monoxide thereby offering an early warning, i.e. canary in a coal mine. The canary in British pits was replaced in 1986 by the electronic gas detector. The first qualitative analytical method to detect carboxyhemoglobin emerged in 1858 with a colorimetric method developed by Felix Hoppe-Seyler, and the first quantitative analysis method emerged in 1880 with Josef von Fodor. #### Historical treatment The use of oxygen emerged with anecdotal reports such as Humphry Davy having been treated with oxygen in 1799 upon inhaling three quarts of hydrocarbonate (water gas). Samuel Witter developed an oxygen inhalation protocol in response to carbon monoxide poisoning in 1814. Similarly, an oxygen inhalation protocol was recommend for malaria (literally translated to "bad air") in 1830 based on malaria symptoms aligning with carbon monoxide poisoning. Other oxygen protocols emerged in the late 1800s. The use of hyperbaric oxygen in rats following poisoning was studied by Haldane in 1895 while its use in humans began in the 1960s. #### Incidents The worst accidental mass poisoning from carbon monoxide was the Balvano train disaster which occurred on 3 March 1944 in Italy, when a freight train with many illegal passengers stalled in a tunnel, leading to the death of over 500 people. Over 50 people are suspected to have died from smoke inhalation as a result of the Branch Davidian Massacre during the Waco siege in 1993. #### Weaponization In ancient history, Hannibal executed Roman prisoners with coal fumes during the Second Punic War. The extermination of stray dogs by a carbon monoxide gas chamber was described in 1874. In 1884, an article appeared in Scientific American describing the use of a carbon monoxide gas chamber for slaughterhouse operations as well as euthanizing a variety of animals. As part of the Holocaust during World War II, the Nazis used gas vans at Chelmno extermination camp and elsewhere to murder an estimated 700,000 or more people by carbon monoxide poisoning. This method was also used in the gas chambers of several death camps such as Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec. Gassing with carbon monoxide started in Action T4. The gas was supplied by IG Farben in pressurized cylinders and fed by tubes into the gas chambers built at various mental hospitals, such as Hartheim Euthanasia Centre. Exhaust fumes from tank engines, for example, were used to supply the gas to the chambers. Recently, carbon monoxide gas chambers have been used to facilitate capital punishment exemplified by execution practices at the San Quentin State Prison. ### Physiology Carbon monoxide is produced naturally by many physiologically relevant enzymatic and non-enzymatic reactions best exemplified by heme oxygenase catalyzing the biotransformation of heme (an iron protoporphyrin) into biliverdin and eventually bilirubin. Aside from physiological signaling, most carbon monoxide is stored as carboxyhemoglobin at non-toxic levels below 3% HbCO. #### Therapeutics Small amounts of CO are beneficial and enzymes exist that produce it at times of oxidative stress. A variety of drugs are being developed to introduce small amounts of CO, these drugs are commonly called carbon monoxide-releasing molecules. Historically, the therapeutic potential of factitious airs, notably carbon monoxide as hydrocarbonate, was investigated by Thomas Beddoes, James Watt, Tiberius Cavallo, James Lind, Humphry Davy, and others in many labs such as the Pneumatic Institution. ## Signs and symptoms On average, exposures at 100 ppm or greater is dangerous to human health. In the United States, the OSHA limits long-term workplace exposure levels to less than 50 ppm averaged over an 8-hour period; in addition, employees are to be removed from any confined space if an upper limit ("ceiling") of 100 ppm is reached. ### Acute poisoning The main manifestations of carbon monoxide poisoning develop in the organ systems most dependent on oxygen use, the central nervous system and the heart. The initial symptoms of acute carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, nausea, malaise, and fatigue. These symptoms are often mistaken for a virus such as influenza or other illnesses such as food poisoning or gastroenteritis. Headache is the most common symptom of acute carbon monoxide poisoning; it is often described as dull, frontal, and continuous. Increasing exposure produces cardiac abnormalities including fast heart rate, low blood pressure, and cardiac arrhythmia; central nervous system symptoms include delirium, hallucinations, dizziness, unsteady gait, confusion, seizures, central nervous system depression, unconsciousness, respiratory arrest, and death. Less common symptoms of acute carbon monoxide poisoning include myocardial ischemia, atrial fibrillation, pneumonia, pulmonary edema, high blood sugar, lactic acidosis, muscle necrosis, acute kidney failure, skin lesions, and visual and auditory problems. Carbon monoxide exposure may lead to a significantly shorter life span due to heart damage. One of the major concerns following acute carbon monoxide poisoning is the severe delayed neurological manifestations that may occur. Problems may include difficulty with higher intellectual functions, short-term memory loss, dementia, amnesia, psychosis, irritability, a strange gait, speech disturbances, Parkinson's disease-like syndromes, cortical blindness, and a depressed mood. Depression may occur in those who did not have pre-existing depression. These delayed neurological sequelae may occur in up to 50% of poisoned people after 2 to 40 days. It is difficult to predict who will develop delayed sequelae; however, advanced age, loss of consciousness while poisoned, and initial neurological abnormalities may increase the chance of developing delayed symptoms. ### Chronic poisoning Chronic exposure to relatively low levels of carbon monoxide may cause persistent headaches, lightheadedness, depression, confusion, memory loss, nausea, hearing disorders and vomiting. It is unknown whether low-level chronic exposure may cause permanent neurological damage. Typically, upon removal from exposure to carbon monoxide, symptoms usually resolve themselves, unless there has been an episode of severe acute poisoning. However, one case noted permanent memory loss and learning problems after a three-year exposure to relatively low levels of carbon monoxide from a faulty furnace. Chronic exposure may worsen cardiovascular symptoms in some people. Chronic carbon monoxide exposure might increase the risk of developing atherosclerosis. Long-term exposures to carbon monoxide present the greatest risk to persons with coronary heart disease and in females who are pregnant. In experimental animals, carbon monoxide appears to worsen noise-induced hearing loss at noise exposure conditions that would have limited effects on hearing otherwise. In humans, hearing loss has been reported following carbon monoxide poisoning. Unlike the findings in animal studies, noise exposure was not a necessary factor for the auditory problems to occur. ### Fatal poisoning One classic sign of carbon monoxide poisoning is more often seen in the dead rather than the living – people have been described as looking red-cheeked and healthy. However, since this "cherry-red" appearance is more common in the dead, it is not considered a useful diagnostic sign in clinical medicine. In autopsy examinations, the appearance of carbon monoxide poisoning is notable because unembalmed dead persons are normally bluish and pale, whereas dead carbon-monoxide poisoned people may appear unusually lifelike in coloration. The colorant effect of carbon monoxide in such postmortem circumstances is thus analogous to its use as a red colorant in the commercial meat-packing industry. ## Epidemiology The true number of cases of carbon monoxide poisoning is unknown, since many non-lethal exposures go undetected. From the available data, carbon monoxide poisoning is the most common cause of injury and death due to poisoning worldwide. Poisoning is typically more common during the winter months. This is due to increased domestic use of gas furnaces, gas or kerosene space heaters, and kitchen stoves during the winter months, which if faulty and/or used without adequate ventilation, may produce excessive carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide detection and poisoning also increases during power outages, when electric heating and cooking appliances become inoperative and residents may temporarily resort to fuel-burning space heaters, stoves, and grills (some of which are safe only for outdoor use but nonetheless are errantly burned indoors). It has been estimated that more than 40,000 people per year seek medical attention for carbon monoxide poisoning in the United States. 95% of carbon monoxide poisoning deaths in the United States are due to gas space heaters. In many industrialized countries, carbon monoxide is the cause of more than 50% of fatal poisonings. In the United States, approximately 200 people die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning associated with home fuel-burning heating equipment. Carbon monoxide poisoning contributes to the approximately 5613 smoke inhalation deaths each year in the United States. The CDC reports, "Each year, more than 500 Americans die from unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, and more than 2,000 commit suicide by intentionally poisoning themselves." For the 10-year period from 1979 to 1988, 56,133 deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning occurred in the United States, with 25,889 of those being suicides, leaving 30,244 unintentional deaths. A report from New Zealand showed that 206 people died from carbon monoxide poisoning in the years of 2001 and 2002. In total carbon monoxide poisoning was responsible for 43.9% of deaths by poisoning in that country. In South Korea, 1,950 people had been poisoned by carbon monoxide with 254 deaths from 2001 through 2003. A report from Jerusalem showed 3.53 per 100,000 people were poisoned annually from 2001 through 2006. In Hubei, China, 218 deaths from poisoning were reported over a 10-year period with 16.5% being from carbon monoxide exposure. ### Causes Carbon monoxide is a product of combustion of organic matter under conditions of restricted oxygen supply, which prevents complete oxidation to carbon dioxide (CO₂). Sources of carbon monoxide include cigarette smoke, house fires, faulty furnaces, heaters, wood-burning stoves, internal combustion vehicle exhaust, electrical generators, propane-fueled equipment such as portable stoves, and gasoline-powered tools such as leaf blowers, lawn mowers, high-pressure washers, concrete cutting saws, power trowels, and welders. Exposure typically occurs when equipment is used in buildings or semi-enclosed spaces. Riding in the back of pickup trucks has led to poisoning in children. Idling automobiles with the exhaust pipe blocked by snow has led to the poisoning of car occupants. Any perforation between the exhaust manifold and shroud can result in exhaust gases reaching the cabin. Generators and propulsion engines on boats, especially houseboats, has resulted in fatal carbon monoxide exposures. Poisoning may also occur following the use of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) due to faulty diving air compressors. In caves carbon monoxide can build up in enclosed chambers due to the presence of decomposing organic matter. In coal mines incomplete combustion may occur during explosions resulting in the production of afterdamp. The gas is up to 3% CO and may be fatal after just a single breath. Following an explosion in a colliery, adjacent interconnected mines may become dangerous due to the afterdamp leaking from mine to mine. Such an incident followed the Trimdon Grange explosion which killed men in the Kelloe mine. Another source of poisoning is exposure to the organic solvent dichloromethane, also known as methylene chloride, found in some paint strippers, as the metabolism of dichloromethane produces carbon monoxide. In November 2019, an EPA ban on dichloromethane in paint strippers for consumer use took effect in the United States. ### Prevention #### Detectors Prevention remains a vital public health issue, requiring public education on the safe operation of appliances, heaters, fireplaces, and internal-combustion engines, as well as increased emphasis on the installation of carbon monoxide detectors. Carbon monoxide is tasteless, odourless, and colourless, and therefore can not be detected by visual cues or smell. The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission has stated, "carbon monoxide detectors are as important to home safety as smoke detectors are," and recommends each home have at least one carbon monoxide detector, and preferably one on each level of the building. These devices, which are relatively inexpensive and widely available, are either battery- or AC-powered, with or without battery backup. In buildings, carbon monoxide detectors are usually installed around heaters and other equipment. If a relatively high level of carbon monoxide is detected, the device sounds an alarm, giving people the chance to evacuate and ventilate the building. Unlike smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors do not need to be placed near ceiling level. The use of carbon monoxide detectors has been standardized in many areas. In the US, NFPA 720–2009, the carbon monoxide detector guidelines published by the National Fire Protection Association, mandates the placement of carbon monoxide detectors/alarms on every level of the residence, including the basement, in addition to outside sleeping areas. In new homes, AC-powered detectors must have battery backup and be interconnected to ensure early warning of occupants at all levels. NFPA 720-2009 is the first national carbon monoxide standard to address devices in non-residential buildings. These guidelines, which now pertain to schools, healthcare centers, nursing homes, and other non-residential buildings, include three main points: 1\. A secondary power supply (battery backup) must operate all carbon monoxide notification appliances for at least 12 hours, 2\. Detectors must be on the ceiling in the same room as permanently installed fuel-burning appliances, and 3\. Detectors must be located on every habitable level and in every HVAC zone of the building. Gas organizations will often recommend getting gas appliances serviced at least once a year. #### Legal requirements The NFPA standard is not necessarily enforced by law. As of April 2006, the US state of Massachusetts requires detectors to be present in all residences with potential CO sources, regardless of building age and whether they are owner-occupied or rented. This is enforced by municipal inspectors and was inspired by the death of 7-year-old Nicole Garofalo in 2005 due to snow blocking a home heating vent. Other jurisdictions may have no requirement or only mandate detectors for new construction or at time of sale. Despite similar deaths in vehicles with clogged exhaust pipes (for example in the Northeastern United States blizzard of 1978 and February 2013 nor'easter) and the commercial availability of the equipment, there is no legal requirement for automotive CO detectors. #### World Health Organization recommendations The following guideline values (ppm values rounded) and periods of time-weighted average exposures have been determined in such a way that the carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) level of 2.5% is not exceeded, even when a normal subject engages in light or moderate exercise: - 100 mg/m³ (87 ppm) for 15 min - 60 mg/m³ (52 ppm) for 30 min - 30 mg/m³ (26 ppm) for 1 h - 10 mg/m³ (9 ppm) for 8 h - 7 mg/m³ (6 ppm) for 24 h (for indoor air quality, so as not to exceed 2% COHb for chronic exposure) ## Diagnosis As many symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning also occur with many other types of poisonings and infections (such as the flu), the diagnosis is often difficult. A history of potential carbon monoxide exposure, such as being exposed to a residential fire, may suggest poisoning, but the diagnosis is confirmed by measuring the levels of carbon monoxide in the blood. This can be determined by measuring the amount of carboxyhemoglobin compared to the amount of hemoglobin in the blood. The ratio of carboxyhemoglobin to hemoglobin molecules in an average person may be up to 5%, although cigarette smokers who smoke two packs per day may have levels up to 9%. In symptomatic poisoned people they are often in the 10–30% range, while persons who die may have postmortem blood levels of 30–90%. As people may continue to experience significant symptoms of CO poisoning long after their blood carboxyhemoglobin concentration has returned to normal, presenting to examination with a normal carboxyhemoglobin level (which may happen in late states of poisoning) does not rule out poisoning. ### Measuring Carbon monoxide may be quantitated in blood using spectrophotometric methods or chromatographic techniques in order to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in a person or to assist in the forensic investigation of a case of fatal exposure. A CO-oximeter can be used to determine carboxyhemoglobin levels. Pulse CO-oximeters estimate carboxyhemoglobin with a non-invasive finger clip similar to a pulse oximeter. These devices function by passing various wavelengths of light through the fingertip and measuring the light absorption of the different types of hemoglobin in the capillaries. The use of a regular pulse oximeter is not effective in the diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning as these devices may be unable to distinguish carboxyhemoglobin from oxyhemoglobin. Breath CO monitoring offers an alternative to pulse CO-oximetry. Carboxyhemoglobin levels have been shown to have a strong correlation with breath CO concentration. However, many of these devices require the user to inhale deeply and hold their breath to allow the CO in the blood to escape into the lung before the measurement can be made. As this is not possible in people who are unresponsive, these devices may not appropriate for use in on-scene emergency care detection of CO poisoning. ### Differential diagnosis There are many conditions to be considered in the differential diagnosis of carbon monoxide poisoning. The earliest symptoms, especially from low level exposures, are often non-specific and readily confused with other illnesses, typically flu-like viral syndromes, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, chest pain, and migraine or other headaches. Carbon monoxide has been called a "great mimicker" due to the presentation of poisoning being diverse and nonspecific. Other conditions included in the differential diagnosis include acute respiratory distress syndrome, altitude sickness, lactic acidosis, diabetic ketoacidosis, meningitis, methemoglobinemia, or opioid or toxic alcohol poisoning. ## Treatment Initial treatment for carbon monoxide poisoning is to immediately remove the person from the exposure without endangering further people. Those who are unconscious may require CPR on site. Administering oxygen via non-rebreather mask shortens the half-life of carbon monoxide from 320 minutes, when breathing normal air, to only 80 minutes. Oxygen hastens the dissociation of carbon monoxide from carboxyhemoglobin, thus turning it back into hemoglobin. Due to the possible severe effects in the baby, pregnant women are treated with oxygen for longer periods of time than non-pregnant people. ### Hyperbaric oxygen Hyperbaric oxygen is also used in the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning, as it may hasten dissociation of CO from carboxyhemoglobin and cytochrome oxidase to a greater extent than normal oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen at three times atmospheric pressure reduces the half life of carbon monoxide to 23 (\~80/3 minutes) minutes, compared to 80 minutes for oxygen at regular atmospheric pressure. It may also enhance oxygen transport to the tissues by plasma, partially bypassing the normal transfer through hemoglobin. However, it is controversial whether hyperbaric oxygen actually offers any extra benefits over normal high flow oxygen, in terms of increased survival or improved long-term outcomes. There have been randomized controlled trials in which the two treatment options have been compared; of the six performed, four found hyperbaric oxygen improved outcome and two found no benefit for hyperbaric oxygen. Some of these trials have been criticized for apparent flaws in their implementation. A review of all the literature concluded that the role of hyperbaric oxygen is unclear and the available evidence neither confirms nor denies a medically meaningful benefit. The authors suggested a large, well designed, externally audited, multicentre trial to compare normal oxygen with hyperbaric oxygen. While hyperbaric oxygen therapy is used for severe poisonings, the benefit over standard oxygen delivery is unclear. ### Other Further treatment for other complications such as seizure, hypotension, cardiac abnormalities, pulmonary edema, and acidosis may be required. Increased muscle activity and seizures should be treated with dantrolene or diazepam; diazepam should only be given with appropriate respiratory support. Hypotension requires treatment with intravenous fluids; vasopressors may be required to treat myocardial depression. Cardiac dysrhythmias are treated with standard advanced cardiac life support protocols. If severe, metabolic acidosis is treated with sodium bicarbonate. Treatment with sodium bicarbonate is controversial as acidosis may increase tissue oxygen availability. Treatment of acidosis may only need to consist of oxygen therapy. The delayed development of neuropsychiatric impairment is one of the most serious complications of carbon monoxide poisoning. Brain damage is confirmed following MRI or CAT scans. Extensive follow up and supportive treatment is often required for delayed neurological damage. Outcomes are often difficult to predict following poisoning, especially people who have symptoms of cardiac arrest, coma, metabolic acidosis, or have high carboxyhemoglobin levels. One study reported that approximately 30% of people with severe carbon monoxide poisoning will have a fatal outcome. It has been reported that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) may increase the likelihood of delayed neuropsychiatric sequelae (DNS) after carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. A device that also provides some carbon dioxide to stimulate faster breathing (sold under the brand name ClearMate) may also be used. ## Pathophysiology The precise mechanisms by which the effects of carbon monoxide are induced upon bodily systems are complex and not yet fully understood. Known mechanisms include carbon monoxide binding to hemoglobin, myoglobin and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase and restricting oxygen supply, and carbon monoxide causing brain lipid peroxidation. ### Hemoglobin Carbon monoxide has a higher diffusion coefficient compared to oxygen, and the main enzyme in the human body that produces carbon monoxide is heme oxygenase, which is located in nearly all cells and platelets. Most endogenously produced CO is stored bound to hemoglobin as carboxyhemoglobin. The simplistic understanding for the mechanism of carbon monoxide toxicity is based on excess carboxyhemoglobin decreasing the oxygen-delivery capacity of the blood to tissues throughout the body. In humans, the affinity between hemoglobin and carbon monoxide is approximately 240 times stronger than the affinity between hemoglobin and oxygen. However, certain mutations such as the Hb-Kirklareli mutation has a relative 80,000 times greater affinity for carbon monoxide than oxygen resulting in systemic carboxyhemoglobin reaching a sustained level of 16% COHb. Hemoglobin is a tetramer with four prosthetic heme groups to serve as oxygen binding sites. The average red blood cell contains 250 million hemoglobin molecules, therefore 1 billion heme sites capable of binding gas. The binding of carbon monoxide at any one of these sites increases the oxygen affinity of the remaining three sites, which causes the hemoglobin molecule to retain oxygen that would otherwise be delivered to the tissue; therefore carbon monoxide binding at any site may be as dangerous as carbon monoxide binding to all sites. Delivery of oxygen is largely driven by the Bohr effect and Haldane effect. To provide a simplified synopsis of the molecular mechanism of systemic gas exchange in layman's terms, upon inhalation of air it was widely thought oxygen binding to any of the heme sites triggers a conformational change in the globin/protein unit of hemoglobin which then enables the binding of additional oxygen to each of the other vacant heme sites. Upon arrival to the cell/tissues, oxygen release into the tissue is driven by "acidification" of the local pH (meaning a relatively higher concentration of 'acidic' protons/hydrogen ions) caused by an increase in the biotransformation of carbon dioxide waste into carbonic acid via carbonic anhydrase. In other words, oxygenated arterial blood arrives at cells in the "hemoglobin R-state" which has deprotonated/unionized amino acid residues (regarding nitrogen/amines) due to the less-acidic arterial pH environment (arterial blood averages pH 7.407 whereas venous blood is slightly more acidic at pH 7.371). The "T-state" of hemoglobin is deoxygenated in venous blood partially due to protonation/ionization caused by the acidic environment hence causing a conformation unsuited for oxygen-binding (in other words, oxygen is 'ejected' upon arrival to the cell because acid "attacks" the amines of hemoglobin causing ionization/protonation of the amine residues resulting in a conformation change unsuited for retaining oxygen). Furthermore, the mechanism for formation of carbaminohemoglobin generates additional 'acidic' hydrogen ions that may further stabilize the protonated/ionized deoxygenated hemoglobin. Upon return of venous blood into the lung and subsequent exhalation of carbon dioxide, the blood is "de-acidified" (see also: hyperventilation) allowing for the deprotonation/unionization of hemoglobin to then re-enable oxygen-binding as part of the transition to arterial blood (note this process is complex due to involvement of chemoreceptors and other physiological functionalities). Carbon monoxide is not 'ejected' due to acid, therefore carbon monoxide poisoning disturbs this physiological process hence the venous blood of poisoning patients is bright red akin to arterial blood since the carbonyl/carbon monoxide is retained. Hemoglobin is dark in deoxygenated venous blood, but it has a bright red color when carrying blood in oxygenated arterial blood and when converted into carboxyhemoglobin in both arterial and venous blood, so poisoned cadavers and even commercial meats treated with carbon monoxide acquire an unnatural lively reddish hue. At toxic concentrations, carbon monoxide as carboxyhemoglobin significantly interferes with respiration and gas exchange by simultaneously inhibiting acquisition and delivery of oxygen to cells and preventing formation of carbaminohemoglobin which accounts for approximately 30% of carbon dioxide exportation. Therefore, a patient with carbon monoxide poisoning may experience severe hypoxia and acidosis (potentially both respiratory acidosis and metabolic acidosis) in addition to the toxicities of excess carbon monoxide inhibiting numerous hemoproteins, metallic and non-metallic targets which affect cellular machinery. ### Myoglobin Carbon monoxide also binds to the hemeprotein myoglobin. It has a high affinity for myoglobin, about 60 times greater than that of oxygen. Carbon monoxide bound to myoglobin may impair its ability to utilize oxygen. This causes reduced cardiac output and hypotension, which may result in brain ischemia. A delayed return of symptoms have been reported. This results following a recurrence of increased carboxyhemoglobin levels; this effect may be due to a late release of carbon monoxide from myoglobin, which subsequently binds to hemoglobin. ### Cytochrome oxidase Another mechanism involves effects on the mitochondrial respiratory enzyme chain that is responsible for effective tissue utilization of oxygen. Carbon monoxide binds to cytochrome oxidase with less affinity than oxygen, so it is possible that it requires significant intracellular hypoxia before binding. This binding interferes with aerobic metabolism and efficient adenosine triphosphate synthesis. Cells respond by switching to anaerobic metabolism, causing anoxia, lactic acidosis, and eventual cell death. The rate of dissociation between carbon monoxide and cytochrome oxidase is slow, causing a relatively prolonged impairment of oxidative metabolism. ### Central nervous system effects The mechanism that is thought to have a significant influence on delayed effects involves formed blood cells and chemical mediators, which cause brain lipid peroxidation (degradation of unsaturated fatty acids). Carbon monoxide causes endothelial cell and platelet release of nitric oxide, and the formation of oxygen free radicals including peroxynitrite. In the brain this causes further mitochondrial dysfunction, capillary leakage, leukocyte sequestration, and apoptosis. The result of these effects is lipid peroxidation, which causes delayed reversible demyelination of white matter in the central nervous system known as Grinker myelinopathy, which can lead to edema and necrosis within the brain. This brain damage occurs mainly during the recovery period. This may result in cognitive defects, especially affecting memory and learning, and movement disorders. These disorders are typically related to damage to the cerebral white matter and basal ganglia. Hallmark pathological changes following poisoning are bilateral necrosis of the white matter, globus pallidus, cerebellum, hippocampus and the cerebral cortex. ### Pregnancy Carbon monoxide poisoning in pregnant women may cause severe adverse fetal effects. Poisoning causes fetal tissue hypoxia by decreasing the release of maternal oxygen to the fetus. Carbon monoxide also crosses the placenta and combines with fetal hemoglobin, causing more direct fetal tissue hypoxia. Additionally, fetal hemoglobin has a 10 to 15% higher affinity for carbon monoxide than adult hemoglobin, causing more severe poisoning in the fetus than in the adult. Elimination of carbon monoxide is slower in the fetus, leading to an accumulation of the toxic chemical. The level of fetal morbidity and mortality in acute carbon monoxide poisoning is significant, so despite mild maternal poisoning or following maternal recovery, severe fetal poisoning or death may still occur.

Federalist No. 2

Federalist Paper by John Jay

Federalist No. 2, titled "Concerning Dangers From Foreign Force and Influence", is a political essay written by John Jay. It was the second of The Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays arguing for the ratification of the United States Constitution. The essay was first published in The Independent Journal (New York) on October 31, 1787, under the pseudonym Publius, the name under which all The Federalist Papers were published. Federalist No. 2 established the premise of nationhood that would persist through the series, addressing the issue of political union. Federalist No. 2 defines Jay's concept of a single American nationality, which he sees as brought together by providence through shared culture and beneficial geography. Some of Jay's depictions of nationhood depend on historical revisionism, describing an idealist vision of American unity. His vision was a direct response to the Anti-Federalist claim that Americans were too different to form a single nation, and Jay maintained that Anti-Federalists did not understand or did not care about the fate of the American nation. Federalist No. 2 is limited in its criticism of opponents, instead expressing worry about the consequences should unity fail. It also made the only mention of natural rights in the Federalist Papers, an otherwise important concept that guided the American Revolution. Federalist No. 2 was followed by three more essays that continued on the same topic. Since its publication, the conception of nationality presented in Federalist No. 2 has been a persistent issue in American politics. It relates directly to debates of naturalization and multiculturalism, and it was most directly challenged by the American Civil War that contradicted Jay's conception of unity. ## Summary Jay begins by emphasizing the importance of deciding whether the states should be united or separate. He argues that popular opinion has always been in favor of unity until politicians challenged the idea. He then provides arguments that providence has intended for the states to be one nation, citing both physical and cultural contiguity. He also describes a shared political history in which the states entered into revolution and governance as one nation. Jay turns to the method of governance between the states, describing the government to that point as one formed urgently in a time of conflict. He compares this to the process undertaken at the Constitutional Convention, which he describes as more unified and more carefully planned. He also credits the members of this convention as being highly qualified and motivated purely by "love for their country". Jay reminds the reader that their plan should not be blindly accepted or opposed but carefully considered, likening it to the debate following the First Continental Congress. He argues that every congress since then has supported unity and that this is the will of the people. He concludes that failure to support the proposed constitution would result in disunity. ## Background and publication Like all of the Federalist Papers, Federalist No. 2 was published under the pseudonym Publius in New York newspapers with the intention of explaining the provisions of the Constitution of the United States and persuading New York to ratify it. It was first published in the Independent Journal on October 31, 1787, followed by the Daily Advertiser on November 1 and the New-York Packet on November 2. Federalist No. 1, the only one of the Federalist Papers to have been released at this point, was only an introduction to the series. As such, John Jay was tasked with first developing the idea of a national identity in Federalist No. 2. At the time Jay wrote Federalist No. 2, he was "America's leading foreign policy expert", which may have influenced his decision to write the essay on the subject of the advantages of unity between the states. ## Analysis ### Nationhood and union Federalist No. 2 was one of the early papers that addressed the issue of political union between the states that would persist throughout the Federalist Papers. It took an approach beyond the standard arguments of security and economics, arguing that Americans are a single ethnic group with shared ancestors, language, philosophy, and customs. Jay's analysis of what constituted a nation, a concept that was at the time ill-defined, closely resembled that used by political scientists many years later. Jay pointed to the contiguity of the states and the geographic features that facilitate contact between them as evidence for a destiny of unity, describing these advantages as the will of providence. He also argued that the states had since worked together successfully, citing the congresses that had formed since the First Continental Congress. Jay believed that the political ideas and identity of the American Revolution directly corresponded to those of the federalist movement. He emphasized a view that would be repeated throughout the Federalist Papers: that the people are almost unanimous in their ideals and that there is a single popular will that guides the United States. Some of the arguments used by Jay depended upon historical revisionism and other controversial interpretations of American society, prioritizing persuasive effect over accuracy. His claims regarding a single ethnic and religious background were exaggerated, given the various national ancestries and religious denominations in colonial America, and his claim of political unity was challenged by the prominent Loyalist presence that existed even after the revolution. He ultimately considered these aspects to be secondary to the shared experience of colonial history and revolution as well as what he saw as a shared destiny. Jay also exaggerated the historical nature of American unity in Federalist No. 2, as the First Continental Congress included only 12 of the Thirteen Colonies, and the choosing of delegates for congresses had been done by the state legislatures rather than the people "as with one voice". Prior to ratification, the state governments were often in disunity and the people had very little say in federal government. Jay's appeal to nationhood resembled the nation that he wished to create rather than one that existed at the time. ### Counterpoint to the Anti-Federalist Papers Federalist No. 2 established the main idea of the Federalist Papers that Americans were a national community with a common interest that necessitated unity. This idea was a direct response to one of the main ideas of the Anti-Federalist Papers, which argued that Americans were too different from one another to form a single nation. In particular, Jay seized upon the idea that different industries necessitated different cultures, arguing that it actually promoted trade between the states and made national identity stronger. Addressing Anti-Federalists, Jay argued that it was only recently that the idea of federalism was challenged, saying that it had "until lately been a received and uncontradicted opinion". He accused Anti-Federalists of being politicians that sought division rather than unity, describing them as only following personal interest or failing to understand the consequences of their actions. He compared the Anti-Federalists to the Loyalists of the revolution, arguing that their opposition to ratification could be likened to Loyalist opposition to independence. Jay insisted that the Articles of Confederation were not sufficient for a national government, as they had been created in the midst of a war, and that the Constitutional Convention took place in a calmer national environment that allowed for deeper consideration. He worked on the same assumption as Hamilton that failure to ratify the constitution would guarantee disunity between the states. Anti-Federalists proposed amendment of the Articles of Confederation instead of total disunity, but the impression created by the Federalist Papers became widely accepted. This was a rhetorical strategy often used by Jay, in which he presented the issue as a leading question to present his answer as the only correct one. ### Tone Federalist No. 2 took a softer and more optimistic tone compared to Federalist No. 1, covering many of the same ideas in a way that sought to invite harmony among competing factions rather than to insist upon its claims. Jay's condemnation of his political opponents are left more vague than in Hamilton's previous essay, and they are seen as less of a threat to the union. By portraying them in this way, he is able to present himself as above the dispute rather than as a partisan attacking his opponents. Jay instead prioritized aesthetic, creating a picture of the states that lent itself to the idea of unity. When addressing the potential of failure, Jay approaches it with sorrow rather than the anger expressed by Hamilton. At the end of the essay, Jay invoked a quote from Henry VIII by William Shakespeare, creating a sense of foreboding at the thought of disunity that would persist through his contributions to the early Federalist Papers. Jay's impression of the Founding Fathers in this essay is entirely uncritical, seeking to promote the cause of ratification with the reputation of his colleagues as capable leaders. He insists that any application of reason alone will find unanimous support for the constitution, and that the delegates of the Constitutional Convention were in possession of such reason. It also took a populist stance, appealing to the voice of the people over that of the state governments. ### Natural rights Federalist No. 2 is the only one of the Federalist Papers to make explicit reference to natural rights. This is a concept that was foundational to the philosophy of the Founding Fathers and the Constitution but was largely simplified in these essays for the sake of accessibility and brevity. In this context, Jay considered the ceding of some natural rights to be the cost for a functional government. Jay's thoughts on the willing sacrifice of rights suggests support for the arguments of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison that liberty had been too heavily emphasized during the American Revolution over governance. Jay accepted that a government must be enforced, but he argued that it was the decision of Americans to enforce their own government through the American Revolutionary War that allows a people to engage in reflection to choose their own government and their national identity. The philosophical relationship between rights and governance received little attention in future Federalist Papers, as their interest was how government should use its powers rather than if it should have them. The concept's practical use to the Founding Fathers was limited to the right of revolution and the establishment of government, and its invocation in Federalist No. 2 does not extend beyond this aspect. ## Aftermath The arguments of Federalist No. 2 presented the basic assumptions that would underlie the ideas of the Federalist Papers going forward. It was directly followed by No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5, which all continued on the same subject. The themes of Americans as a singular people and the importance of unity among them were revisited by Hamilton in No. 12, Madison in No. 14, and Jay in No. 64. The Naturalization Act of 1795 codified the idea of an American national identity, stipulating naturalization on the requirement that an applicant is "attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States". The arguments of national unity and homogeneity in the United States would go on to be challenged by civil conflict in the United States with the onset of the American Civil War. The issue of a single national identity has been a persistent issue in American politics, with disputes considering whether such an identity can be based purely in civic culture and whether it can coexist with multiculturalism.

Silly Boy Blue

1967 song by David Bowie

"Silly Boy Blue" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. Originally demoed in 1965 as a mod-influenced track about a teenage runaway, it was revised in 1966 with new lyrics and released on Bowie's self-titled debut album in June 1967. This version reflects Bowie's fascination with Tibetan Buddhism, featuring various spiritual and geographic references in the lyrics and varied instrumentation such as a trumpet, cello and Chinese gong. Bowie remade the song twice during his stint with the Riot Squad in April 1967: as an instrumental for live performances and acoustically, which has appeared on compilations. Bowie performed "Silly Boy Blue" during his mime productions in 1968 and during his respective BBC radio sessions in December 1967 and May 1968. The first version was similar to the album version and appeared on David Bowie: Deluxe Edition (2010), while the second boasted a new string arrangement from Tony Visconti and was included on his compilation Bowie at the Beeb (2000). Billy Fury covered the song in 1968, whereas Bowie revisited Tibetan themes in later recordings. He re-recorded the song during the sessions for the Toy project in mid-2000 and performed this version at New York's Carnegie Hall in 2001. Initially shelved, the remake saw an official release in 2021 with the entire Toy album as part of the Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) box set. ## Background and composition David Bowie originally demoed "Silly Boy Blue" with his band the Lower Third in August 1965 at R. G. Jones Studio in London, around the same time as "Baby That's a Promise". This version featured a lyric about a teenage runaway who flees school to hide in London and a Mod-sound influenced by the Beatles. Biographers Chris O'Leary and Nicholas Pegg compare it to Bowie's contemporary compositions "Can't Help Thinking About Me" and "The London Boys". This demo has since appeared on bootlegs. In 1966, Bowie re-recorded the song during the sessions for his self-titled debut album. With Mike Vernon producing and Gus Dudgeon engineering, the session took place from 8 to 9 December 1966 at Decca Studios in London. While the song retained its structure—four verses and a bridge—key and melodies, Bowie rewrote the lyrics to reflect his newfound interest in Tibetan Buddhism. He filled the lyrics with spiritual and geographic Buddhist references, including a "Child of Tibet"; Tibetan capital Lhasa; the Potala, a palace that the Dalai Lamas resided in during the winter until 1959; chelas or religious disciples; the concept of reincarnation; and "Yak-butter statues". AllMusic editor Richie Unterberger noted that these themes were ambitious and "not exactly standard fare" for 1967. The song's main character is a young Tibetan monk who cannot pay attention and is at odds with his own culture. Bowie's infatuation with Buddhism led him to experiment more in the studio. As such, this version of "Silly Boy Blue" featured varied instrumentation. The first verse is backed by orchestral trumpet fanfares and cello and lacks drums; drummer John Eager played a Chinese gong. Marion Constable, Bowie's first female backing vocalist, sings what O'Leary compares to a "chanting monk" on her vocals. Nevertheless, he and arranger Dek Fearnley filled the recording with contemporary pop motifs: the second verse features Eager playing a drum beat similar to Hal Blaine's on the Ronettes' "Be My Baby" (1963); a Burt Bacharach and Beach Boys-style outro; and the baseline is compared by O'Leary to Them's version of Bob Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" (1965). The song's melody begins with a dominant E chord in A major. The tonic A moves between subdominant and dominant D and E, respectively, chords. The bridge opens with an F minor chord, eventually building to a B major climax with Bowie singing a drawn out "die", which drops from a high G down to a C. The coda drifts between B and A, ending the song's active key signatures. Author Paul Trynka called it one of the prettiest melodies on the album. ## Release and aftermath Deram Records issued David Bowie in the United Kingdom on 1 June 1967, with "Silly Boy Blue" sequenced as the second track on side two of the original LP, between "Little Bombardier" and "Come and Buy My Toys". The album flopped, in part due to a lack of promotion from Deram. Unterberger considered the track one of the album's better songs, but found its arrangement brought down the recording, thereby "obscuring a song that was actually pretty lyrically ambitious". He further criticised Bowie's vocal performance as "too operatic", but praised the melody. Unterberger ultimately felt the 1966 demo, although unfinished, was superior to the David Bowie version. Mojo magazine listed it as Bowie's 78th greatest song in 2015. During his brief stint with the Riot Squad in the spring of 1967, Bowie recorded another version of "Silly Boy Blue" on 5 April, again at Decca Studios, along with "Toy Soldier" and a cover of the Velvet Underground's "Waiting for the Man" (1967). Seven instrumental takes were taped for use in the Riot Squad's live sets. According to Pegg, this recording is a more conventional beat-style rendition than the David Bowie recording. Yet another acoustic recording with the Riot Squad and Bowie on vocals appeared on The Last Chapter: Mods & Sods compilation and The Toy Soldier EP. Bowie performed "Silly Boy Blue" throughout Lindsay Kemp's mime production Pierrot in Turquoise in March 1968. The same year, an adapted take of the track appeared in Bowie's Tibetan mime piece Jetsun and the Eagle. The song also featured in two of Bowie's BBC radio sessions on 18 December 1967 and 13 May 1968, respectively. The first version was similar to the album version and later appeared on the 2010 deluxe edition of David Bowie, while the second featured a new lavish string arrangement from Tony Visconti and a "Chime" chant from Bowie that pays tribute to his Buddhist teacher Chime Youngdong Rinpoche. This version later appeared on Bowie at the Beeb (2000). Bowie pitched the song to other artists as potential cover material, although it was rejected by Judy Collins, Jefferson Airplane and Big Brother and the Holding Company. The song was eventually accepted by Billy Fury, whose version appeared as the B-side of his unsuccessful Parlophone single "One Minute Woman" in March 1968. Fury's version later appeared on the 2006 compilation Oh! You Pretty Things. Bowie himself revisited the Tibetan themes of "Silly Boy Blue" for his 1967 composition "Karma Man" and 1997 single "Seven Years in Tibet". ## Toy version Bowie re-recorded "Silly Boy Blue" during the sessions for the Toy project between July and October 2000, along with other tracks he wrote and recorded in the mid-1960s. The lineup consisted of the members of Bowie's then-touring band: guitarist Earl Slick, bassist Gail Ann Dorsey, pianist Mike Garson, musician Mark Plati and drummer Sterling Campbell. With co-production from Bowie and Plati, the band rehearsed the songs at Sear Sound Studios in New York City before recording them as live tracks. Plati stated that he refused to listen to Bowie's original recordings of the tracks, as so to prevent the originals from influencing his playing on the new versions. Overdubs were recorded at New York's Looking Glass Studios. According to Pegg, the new version is more akin to the 1968 BBC recording than the David Bowie album version. On 26 February 2001, Bowie performed the Toy arrangement of "Silly Boy Blue" for the Tibet House benefit concert at New York's Carnegie Hall, where he was backed by the Scorchio Quarter and a troupe of monks. Pegg and Trynka praise this performance as "spectacular" and "extraordinary", respectively. Toy was initially intended for release in March 2001, before it was shelved by EMI/Virgin due to financial issues. So, Bowie departed the label and recorded his next album Heathen (2002). In March 2011, tracks from the Toy sessions, including "Silly Boy Blue", were leaked online, attracting media attention. Ten years later, on 29 September 2021, Warner Music Group announced that Toy would get an official release on 26 November as part of the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001) through ISO and Parlophone. "Karma Man" and an "alternative ending mix" of "Silly Boy Blue" were released as a single ahead of the release on 15 October. A separate deluxe edition, titled Toy:Box, was released on 7 January 2022, which contains two new mixes of the song: an "alternative mix" and an "Unplugged and Somewhat Slightly Electric" mix, featuring new guitar parts by Plati and Slick. Reviewing Toy, The Guardian's Alexis Petridis praised the remake as an improvement over the original, arguing that a "more striking" arrangement transforms it from the "stagey original" to "something stately and anthemic". Brenna Ehrlich of Rolling Stone noted the remake as an unintentional callback to Bowie's 1986 Labyrinth track "Underground". ## Personnel According to Chris O'Leary: Original version - David Bowie – vocals, arranger - Derek Boyes – piano, backing vocals - Dek Fearnley – bass, backing vocals, arranger - John Eager – drums, Chinese gong, backing vocals - Marion Constable – backing vocals - Unknown musicians – violin, cello, trumpets Technical - Mike Vernon – producer - Gus Dudgeon – engineer Toy version - David Bowie – vocals, producer - Earl Slick – lead guitar - Gerry Leonard – rhythm guitar - Gail Ann Dorsey – bass, backing vocals - Mike Garson – keyboards - Mark Plati – rhythm guitar, producer - Sterling Campbell – drums - Holly Palmer – backing vocals - Emm Gryner – backing vocals - Unknown musicians – violins, violas, celli - Tony Visconti – string arrangement

Direction (album)

Direction is the third studio album by American pop punk band the Starting Line, released on July 31, 2007 through Virgin Records. Following the lack of promotion for their 2005 album, Based on a True Story, the band left Geffen Records in late 2005. Early the following year, they signed to Virgin and spent the remainder of 2006 writing and touring. Sessions for the album were recorded at several studios in California from February to May 2007 with producer Howard Benson. Influenced by the work of James Brown, the Starting Line's vocalist and bassist Kenny Vasoli wrote music around simple grooves instead of the uptempo style of the band's earlier material. In June 2007, the track "Island" was released as the lead single from Direction before the Starting Line embarked on the Warped Tour the following month, during which a music video for the track was released. The album sold 20,000 first-week copies in the US, charting at number 30 on the Billboard 200, and received mostly positive reviews from music critics, with some complimenting the Starting Line's growth and the catchy songs. Following the Warped Tour, the band went on a headlining US tour and co-headlined a tour in the country with Paramore, both of which were in the fall of 2007. In early 2008, the Starting Line performed at the Soundwave Festival in Australia, prior to another headlining US tour. ## Background Geffen Records were unhappy with the demos the Starting Line submitted for their second studio album, telling them to restart the writing process, preventing the band from touring for a year. The band's album Based on a True Story was ultimately released in May 2005. Shortly after its release, Geffen de-prioritized the album and despite the Starting Line's increasing popularity, a lack of promotion for the lead single. From late September to late November 2005, the band went on the Nintendo Fusion Tour. Brian Schmutz of Inkling joined the Starting Line as a touring keyboardist. On November 3 of that year, the Starting Line announced they had left Geffen Records and were in discussions with other labels. The band were aiming to release another album by early 2006 and had already written 12–15 songs for it at the time, with them spending the next two months meeting with various labels. On January 3, 2006, it was announced the Starting Line had signed to Virgin Records. Virgin president Jason Flom signed the band after watching one of their live performances. Between the early periods of both February and April 2006, the Starting Line went on a headlining US "Screaming Is for Babies" tour. In an interview during the tour, the guitarist Matt Watts said Schmutz was still a touring member and was expected to appear on their next album. Following the tour's conclusion, the band took a one-to-two month break for writing the album. In June and July 2006, the Starting Line wrote new material and recorded demos of songs. By August of the year, they had written and demo-recorded 12 songs, and were planning to write around 10 more before recording them. In October and November, the band supported the All-American Rejects on their "Tournado 2006" tour in the US. ## Production In February 2007, the Starting Line started recording Direction and by May, they were in the final stages. Recording sessions took place at Bay 7 Studios in Valley Village and Sparky Dark Studio in Calabasas, California. Howard Benson served as producer, while Mike Plotnioff was in charge of recording. Hatsukazu Inagaki was the engineer, with technical assistance from Chris Concepcion. During the sessions, Watts used a variety of Les Paul guitars he owned and some that were borrowed from Benson. The former used that brand of guitars because the sound "is so thick that I don’t need any pedals to fill it out". Benson added keyboards and programming to the recordings, while session musicians Kenny Aronoff and Jamie Muhoberac were brought in; Aronoff added drums to "21", "Island" and "What You Want", whereas Muhoberac added keyboards to "What You Want". Luis Conti contributed percussion to the track, alongside "21", "Island", "Hurry", "Something Left to Give" and "Need to Love". Chris Lord-Alge mixed the recordings at the Resonate Music studio in Burbank, California, with assistance from Nik Karpen, and Ted Jensen then mastered the recordings at Sterling Sound. ## Music and lyrics Taking influence from the work of soul singer James Brown, vocalist and bassist Kenny Vasoli wrote music for Direction that focused on simplistic grooves, rather than the fast-paced nature of the Starting Line's past work. He would show the other members a rough idea, which they would give their opinions of. From this, the bandwould work on the idea and develop it into a song. Watts wanted to break away from their pop punk sound, incorporating delay-driven parts, hammer-ons, pull-offs, complex harmonies, and breakdowns similar to the work of Shudder to Think. Vasoli waited until the drums had been recorded before he wrote any bass parts. Due to the drum parts going through a variety of changes, Vasoli thought it would be better to wait until he was recording the bass before writing parts for it. The album's sound has been described as pop punk, pop rock, with comparisons being drawn to music by Motion City Soundtrack and the All-American Rejects. "Direction" includes elements of southern rock, with its distorted guitar work and pounding drums; the song discusses the themes of growing up and personal development. The uptempo pop punk track "21" recalls the Based on a True Story song "Bedroom Talk" and was compared to the music of Yellowcard. On the track, Vasoli looks back on his age and questions the amount of responsibility he needs. "Are You Alone" is a slow-tempo song that displays Schmutz's piano skill and features layered vocal parts. "Island" started out as a verse section, with what Vasoli called a "pretty-ugly chord" playing constantly, and the Starting Line planned to have White Zombie-esque chords playing over it. The band became stuck on the chorus section and bought a Martin DX1 guitar in an attempt to complete the song, which they succeeded in doing after two days of thinking it over. Laura Marie Brown of Spin said the lyrics detail "an image of a beautiful escape-turned-shipwreck and two lovers weathering the storm of poor timing". On "Hurry", Vasoli discusses swollen glands, stage presence, and the drafting of a note to his ghost. "Something Left to Give" is an acoustic ballad, which Watts said is about people who expected the Starting Line to write "The Best of Me" again. "I Could Be Wrong" is about taking a chance with one's life and beliefs, regardless of others. The pop-influenced song "Somebody's Gonna Miss Us" was compared to the music of Nada Surf; the song is about people's yearning to hear more of the band's earlier sound and includes Vasoli singing the initials of their debut studio album Say It Like You Mean It (2002). "Need to Love" was the first track written for Direction, which Vasoli said was filled with "visualizations from riding a New York City train to Philadelphia". On the album's closing track "What You Want", Vasoli laments about his songs. ## Release and promotion On May 3, 2007, "Direction" was made available for streaming through the Starting Line's Myspace profile. Four days later, Direction was announced for release in July of that year. "Island" was made available for streaming on May 17, 2007; it was released as a US single on June 19, and serviced to radio a week later. From early July to late August, the Starting Line went on the 2007 Warped Tour. On July 18 of that year, a music video for "Island" that had been filmed in California during early June was released. Direction was made available for streaming on July 27, 2007, and was released in the US on July 31 through Virgin Records. The iTunes and Japanese editions, the latter of which was released in January 2008, both include "Pictures" as a bonus track. In September and October 2007, the Starting Line embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Permanent Me and Four Year Strong. In October and November 2007, the Starting Line went on a co-headlining US tour with Paramore. Set Your Goals opened the first half of the tour, while the Almost opened the second half. The Starting Line appeared at the Soundwave Festival in Australia, in February 2008, before returning to the US for a headlining tour in March and April, during which they were supported by Bayside, Four Year Strong, and Steel Train. The Starting Line subsequently appeared at the Bamboozle Left and Bamboozle festivals. Following on from this, the band went on an indefinite hiatus, saying; "Imagine getting your first job ... and doing that exact same job for the rest of your life ... eventually you need to stop for a minute and see what else is out there". ## Reception Direction was met with mostly positive reviews from music critics. AbsolutePunk founder Jason Tate said the Starting Line conceptualized their vision "to its full potential. The music sounds natural while the songs contain enough to be instantly satisfying yet hold back enough to ensure rewarding repeat listens." AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann noted that while it retained the pop punk sound of the band's past releases, the album came across as slightly more "sophisticated in certain ways, particularly in rhythmic terms". In a review for Alternative Press, Jonah Bayer found that while Vasoli lacks "the political prowess of Billie Joe Armstrong or the literary knowledge of Dustin Kensrue", he and the other members "prove they’re more than capable of crafting flawless pop-punk songs that should appeal to anyone with a pulse". The Aquarian Weekly writer Courtney Muir said the "melody remains thick and the overall tune is catchy" throughout Direction, referring to it as "a definite redemption for the band that has come a long way". The A.V. Club's Aaron Burgess said: "Vasoli now sounds less concerned with impressing little girls and more interested in connecting with their older siblings as a legitimate artist. With more such surprises, he just might break out of character." Melodic reviewer Pär Winberg praised the album for being "a very good piece of plastic" and complimented Benson's "very good" production. Punk News staff member Tyler Barrett said "direction seems to be exactly what The Starting Line is lacking in their latest release" and that despite having "a handful of enjoyable rock and pop-punk tracks", the album includes "too many struggling grabs that come up empty for it to be considered the mature and developed achievement it was meant to be". Jon Young of Spin criticized the album as being "another formulaic record", but noted it has "compelling moments". idobi Radio included Direction on their "Best of 2007" list. It has been cited as an influence on the music of the bands State Champs and Real Friends. The album debuted at number 30 on the US Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 20,000 copies. ## Track listing Track listing adapted from the booklet of Direction. All songs produced by Howard Benson. ## Credits and personnel Credits adapted from the booklet of Direction. The Starting Line - Kenny Vasoli – bass, lead vocals - Mike Golla – lead guitar, backing vocals - Matt Watts – rhythm guitar - Tom Gryskiewicz – drums - Brian Schmutz – keyboards, backing vocals Additional musicians - Howard Benson – keyboards, programming - Kenny Aronoff – drums (tracks 3, 4 and 12) - Luis Conti – percussion (tracks 2, 4–6, 11 and 12) - Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards (track 12) Production - Howard Benson – producer - Mike Plotnikoff – recording - Paul DeCarli – digital editing - Hatsukazu Inagaki – engineer - Chris Concepcion – technical assistance - Chris Lord-Alge – mixing - Nik Karpen – mixing assistant - Ted Jensen – mastering - Sean Mosher-Smith – creative director - Mike Joyce – art, design - Kate McGregor – art coordinator - Justin Borucki – photography ## Charts

Cognitive inertia

Lack of motivation to mentally tackle a problem or issue

Cognitive inertia is the tendency for a particular orientation in how an individual thinks about an issue, belief, or strategy to resist change. In clinical and neuroscientific literature, it is often defined as a lack of motivation to generate distinct cognitive processes needed to attend to a problem or issue. The physics term inertia is to emphasize the rigidity and resistance to change in the method of cognitive processing that has been in use for a significant amount of time. Commonly confused with belief perseverance, cognitive inertia is the perseverance of how one interprets information, not the perseverance of the belief itself. Cognitive inertia has been causally implicated in disregard of impending threat to one's health or environment, enduring political values, and deficits in task switching. Interest in the phenomenon was largely taken up by economic and industrial psychologists to explain resistance to change in brand loyalty, group brainstorming, and business strategies. In the clinical setting, cognitive inertia has been used as a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative diseases, depression, and anxiety. Critics have stated that the term oversimplifies resistant thought processes and suggest a more integrative approach that involves motivation, emotion, and developmental factors. ## History and methods ### Early history The idea of cognitive inertia has its roots in philosophical epistemology. Early allusions to reduction of cognitive inertia can be found in the Socratic dialogues written by Plato. Socrates builds his argument by using the detractor's beliefs as the premise to his argument's conclusions. In doing so, Socrates reveals the detractor's fallacy of thought inducing the detractor to change their mind or face the reality that their thought processes are in contradiction. Ways to combat persistence of cognitive style is also seen in Aristotle's syllogistic method which employs logical consistency of the premises to convince an individual of the conclusion's validity. In the beginning of the twentieth century, two of the earliest experimental psychologists, Müller and Pilzecker, defined perseveration of thought to be "the tendency of ideas, after once having entered consciousness, to rise freely again in consciousness". Müller described perseveration by illustrating his own inability to inhibit old cognitive strategies with a syllable switching task, while his wife easily switched from one strategy to the next. One of the earliest personality researchers, W. Lankes, more broadly defined perseveration as "being confined to the cognitive side" and possibly "counteracted by strong will". These early ideas of perseveration were the precursor to how the term cognitive inertia would be used to study certain symptoms in patients with neurodegenerative disorders, rumination and depression. ### Cognitive psychology Originally proposed by William J. McGuire in 1960, the theory of cognitive inertia was built upon emergent theories in social psychology and cognitive psychology that centered around cognitive consistency, including Fritz Heider's balance theory and Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance. McGuire used the term cognitive inertia to account for an initial resistance to change how an idea was processed after new information, that conflicted with the idea, had been acquired. In McGuire's initial study involving cognitive inertia, participants gave their opinions of how probable they believed a variety of topics to be. A week later they came back to read messages that related to the topics they had given their opinions on. The messages were presented as factual and were targeted to change the participants' belief in how probable the topics were. Immediately after reading the messages, and one week later, the participants were again assessed on how probable they believed the topics to be. Discomforted by the inconsistency of the related information from the messages and their initial ratings on the topics, McGuire believed the participants would be motivated to shift their probability ratings to be more consistent with the factual messages. However, the participants' opinions did not immediately shift toward the information presented in the messages. Instead, a shift towards consistency of thought on the information from the messages and topics grew stronger as time passed, often referred to as "seepage" of information. The lack of change was reasoned to be due to a persistence in the individual's existing thought processes which inhibited their ability to properly re-evaluate their initial opinion, or as McGuire called it, cognitive inertia. #### Probabilistic model Although cognitive inertia was related to many of the consistency theories at the time of its conception, McGuire used a unique method of probability theory and logic to support his hypotheses on change and persistence in cognition. Utilizing a syllogistic framework, McGuire proposed that if three issues (a, b and c) were so interrelated that an individual's opinion were in complete support of issues a and b then it would follow their opinion on issue c would be supported as a logical conclusion. Furthermore, McGuire proposed if an individual's belief in the probability (p) of the supporting issues (a or b) was changed, then not only would the issue (c) explicitly stated change, but a related implicit issue (d) could be changed as well. More formally: > the required change ($\Delta$) on c necessary for maintaining logical consistency among the opinions is > > $\Delta$p(c) = $\Delta$p(a & b) > > which, assuming that a and b are independent events i.e., that p(a & b) = p(a) p(b) becomes > > $\Delta$p(c) = $\Delta$p(a) p(b) + $\Delta$p(a) p(b) + $\Delta$p(a) p(b) > > where p(a) and p(b) refer to the initial opinions, before the communication induced changes. This formula was used by McGuire to show that the effect of a persuasive message on a related, but unmentioned, topic (d) took time to sink in. The assumption was that topic d was predicated on issues a and b, similar to issue c, so if the individual agreed with issue c then so too should they agree with issue d. However, in McGuire's initial study immediate measurement on issue d, after agreement on issues a, b and c, had only shifted half the amount that would be expected to be logically consistent. Follow-up a week later showed that shift in opinion on issue d had shifted enough to be logically consistent with issues a, b, and c, which not only supported the theory of cognitive consistency, but also the initial hurdle of cognitive inertia. The model was based on probability to account for the idea that individuals do not necessarily assume every issue is 100% likely to happen, but instead there is a likelihood of an issue occurring and the individual's opinion on that likelihood will rest on the likelihood of other interrelated issues. ## Examples ### Public health #### Historical Group (cognitive) inertia, how a subset of individuals view and process an issue, can have detrimental effects on how emergent and existing issues are handled. In an effort to describe the almost lackadaisical attitude from a large majority of U.S. citizens toward the insurgence of the Spanish flu in 1918, historian Tom Dicke has proposed that cognitive inertia explains why many individuals did not take the flu seriously. At the time most U.S. citizens were familiar with the seasonal flu and viewed it as an irritation that was often easy to treat, infected few and passed quickly with few complications and hardly ever a death. However, this way of thinking about the flu was detrimental to the need for preparation, prevention and treatment of the Spanish flu, due to its quick spread and virulent form, until it was much too late and it became one of the most deadly pandemics in history. #### Contemporary In the more modern period, there is an emerging position that anthropogenic climate change denial is a kind of cognitive inertia. Despite the evidence provided by scientific discovery, there are still those – including nations – who deny its incidence in favor of existing patterns of development. ### Geography To better understand how individuals store and integrate new knowledge with existing knowledge, Friedman and Brown tested participants on where they believed countries and cities to be located latitudinally and then, after giving them the correct information, tested them again on different cities and countries. The majority of participants were able to use the correct information to update their cognitive understanding of geographical locations and place the new locations closer to their correct latitudinal location, which supported the idea that new knowledge not only affects the direct information but also related information. However, there was a small effect of cognitive inertia as some areas were unaffected by the correct information, which the researchers suggested was due to a lack of knowledge linkage in the correct information and new locations presented. ### Group membership #### Politics The persistence of political group membership and ideology is suggested to be due to the inertia of how the individual has perceived the grouping of ideas over time. The individual may accept that something counter to their perspective is true, but it may not be enough to tip the balance of how they process the entirety of the subject. Governmental organizations can often be resistant or glacially slow to change along with social and technological transformation. Even when evidence of malfunction is clear this form of institutional inertia can persist. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama has asserted that humans imbue intrinsic value on the rules they enact and follow, especially in the larger societal institutions that create order and stability. Despite rapid social change and increasing institutional problems, the value placed on an institution and its rules can mask how well an institution is functioning as well as how that institution could be improved. The inability to change an institutional mindset is supported by the theory of punctuated equilibrium, long periods of deleterious governmental policies punctuated by moments of civil unrest. After decades of economic decline the United Kingdom's referendum to leave to EU was seen as an example of the dramatic movement after a long period of governmental inertia. #### Interpersonal roles The unwavering views of the roles people play in our lives has been suggested as a form of cognitive inertia. When asked how they would feel about a classmate marrying their mother or father undergraduate many students said they would be unable to view their classmate in the role of step-father/mother. Some students went so far as to say that the hypothetical relationship felt like incest. Role inertia has also been implicated in marriage and likelihood of divorce. Research on couples who co-habitat together before marriage shows they are more likely to get divorced than those who do not. The effect is most seen in a subset of couples who co-habit without first being transparent about future expectations of marriage. Over time cognitive role inertia takes over and the couple marries without fully processing the decision, often with one or both of the partners not fully committed to the idea. The lack of deliberative processing of existing problems and levels of commitment in the relationship can lead to increased stress, arguments, dissatisfaction and divorce. ## In business Cognitive inertia is regularly referenced in business and management to refer to consumers' continued use of products, a lack of novel ideas in group brainstorming sessions and lack of change in competitive strategies. ### Brand loyalty Gaining and retaining new customers is an essential part of whether a business succeeds early on. To assess a service, product or likelihood of customer retention many companies will invite their customers to complete satisfaction surveys immediately after the purchase of a product or service. However, unless the satisfaction survey is completed immediately after the point of purchase the customer response is often based on an existing mindset about the company, not the actual quality of experience. Unless the product or service is extremely negative or positive cognitive inertia related to how the customer feels about the company will not be inhibited, even when the product or service is substandard. These satisfaction surveys can lack the information businesses need to improve a service or product that will allow them to survive against the competition. ### Brainstorming Cognitive inertia plays a role in why a lack of ideas are generated during group brainstorming sessions as individuals in a group will often follow an idea trajectory, in which they continue to narrow in on ideas based on the very first idea proposed in the brainstorming session. This idea trajectory actually inhibits the creation of new ideas that was central to the initial formation of the group. In an effort to combat cognitive inertia in group brainstorming, researchers had business students either use a single dialogue or multiple dialogue approach to brainstorming. In the single dialogue version the business students all listed their ideas and created a dialogue around the list, whereas in the multi-dialogue version ideas were placed in subgroups that individuals could choose to enter and talk about and then freely move to another subgroup. The multi-dialogue approach was able to combat cognitive inertia by allowing different ideas to simultaneously be generated in sub-groups and each time an individual switched to a different sub-group they had to change how they were processing the ideas which lead to more novel and high-quality ideas. ### Competitive strategies Adapting cognitive strategies to changing business climates is often integral to whether or not a business succeeds or fails during times of economic stress. In the late 1980s in the UK, real estate agents' cognitive competitive strategies did not shift with signs of an increasingly depressed real estate market, despite their ability to acknowledge the signs of decline. This cognitive inertia at the individual and corporate level has been proposed as reasons to why companies do not adopt new strategies to combat ever increasing decline in the business or take advantage of potential. General Mills' continued operation of mills long after they were no longer necessary is an example of when companies refuse to change the mindset of how the company should operate. More famously, cognitive inertia in upper management at Polaroid was proposed to be one of the main contributing factors for why competitive strategy for the company was not updated. Management strongly held that consumers wanted high quality physical copies of their photos and that was where the company would make their money. Despite Polaroid's large research and development into the digital market, their inability to refocus their strategy to hardware sales instead of film eventually led to their collapse. Scenario planning has been one suggestion to combat cognitive inertia when it comes to making strategic decisions to improve business. Individuals come up with different strategies and outline how the scenario could play out taking into account different ways it could go. Scenario planning allows for diverse ideas to be heard as well as the breadth of each scenario, which can help combat relying on existing methods and thinking alternatives are unrealistic. ### Management In a recent review of company archetypes that lead to corporate failure, Habersang, Küberling, Reihlen, and Seckler defined "the laggard" as one who rests on the laurels of the company, believing past success and recognition will shield them from failure. Instead of adapting to changes in the market, "the laggard" assumes that the same strategies that won the company success in the past will do the same in the future. This lag in changing how they think about the company can lead to rigidity in company identity, like Polaroid, conflict in adapting when the sales plummet and resource rigidity. In the case of Kodak, instead of reallocating money to a new product or service strategy, they cut production costs and imitation of competitors both leading to poorer quality product and eventually bankruptcy. A review of 27 firms integrating the use of big data analytics found cognitive inertia to hamper the widespread implementation, with managers from sectors that did not focus on digital technology seeing the change as unnecessary and cost prohibitive. Managers with high cognitive flexibility that can change the type of cognitive processing based on the situation at hand are often the most successful in solving novel problems and keeping up with changing circumstances. Interestingly, shift in mental models (disrupting cognitive inertia) during a company crisis are frequently at the lower group level with leaders coming to a consensus with the rest of the workforce in how to process and deal with the crisis, instead of vice versa. It is proposed that leaders can be blinded by their authority and too easily disregard those at the front-line of the problem causing them to reject remunerative ideas. ## Applications ### Therapy An inability to change how one thinks about a situation has been implicated as one of the causes of depression. Rumination, or the perseverance of negative thoughts, is often correlated with severity of depression and anxiety. Individuals with high levels of rumination test low on scales of cognitive flexibility and have trouble shifting how they think about a problem or issue even when presented with facts that counter their thinking process. In a review paper that outlined strategies that are effective for combating depression, the Socratic method was suggested to overcome cognitive inertia. By presenting the patient's incoherent beliefs close together and evaluating with the patient their thought processes behind those beliefs, the therapist is able to help them understand things from a different perspective. ### Clinical diagnostics In nosological literature relating to the symptom or disorder of apathy, clinicians have used cognitive inertia as one of the three main criteria for diagnosis. The description of cognitive inertia differs from its use in cognitive and industrial psychology in that lack of motivation plays a key role. As a clinical diagnostic criterion, Thant and Yager described it as "impaired abilities to elaborate and sustain goals and plans of actions, to shift mental sets, and to use working memory". This definition of apathy is frequently applied to onset of apathy due to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease but has also been applied to individuals who have gone through extreme trauma or abuse. ## Neural anatomy and correlates ### Cortical Cognitive inertia has been linked to decreased use of executive function, primarily in the prefrontal cortex, which aids in flexibility of cognitive processes when switching tasks. Delayed response on the implicit associations task (IAT) and Stroop task have been related to an inability to combat cognitive inertia, as participants struggle to switch from one cognitive rule to the next to get the questions right. Before taking part in an electronic brainstorming session participants were primed with pictures that motivated achievement to combat cognitive inertia. In the achievement primed condition subjects were able to produce more novel high quality ideas and had more use of right frontal cortical areas which were related to decision making and creativity. Cognitive inertia is commonly used as one of the key dimensions of clinical apathy, described as a lack of motivation to elaborate plans for goal-directed behavior or automated processing. Parkinson's patients whose apathy was measured using the cognitive inertia dimension showed less executive function control than Parkinson's patients without apathy, possibly suggesting more damage to the frontal cortex. Additionally, more damage to the basal ganglia in Parkinson's, Huntington's and other neurodegenerative disorders have been found with patients exhibiting cognitive inertia in relation to apathy when compared to those who do not exhibit apathy. Patients with lesions to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex have shown reduced motivation to change cognitive strategies and how they view situations, similar to individuals who experience apathy and cognitive inertia after severe or long-term trauma. ### Functional connectivity Nursing home patients who have dementia have been found to have larger reductions in functional brain connectivity primarily in the corpus callosum, important for communication between hemispheres. Cognitive inertia in neurodegenerative patients has also been associated with a decrease in the connection of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and posterior parietal area with subcortical areas including the anterior cingulate cortex and basal ganglia. Both findings are suggested to decrease motivation to change one's thought processes or create new goal-directed behavior. ## Alternative theories Some researchers have refuted the cognitive perspective of cognitive inertia and suggest a more holistic approach that takes into account the motivations, emotions and attitudes that fortify the existing frame of reference. ### Alternative paradigms #### Motivated reasoning The theory of motivated reasoning is proposed to be driven by the individual's motivation to think a certain way, often to avoid thinking negatively about oneself. The individual's own cognitive and emotional biases are commonly used to justify a thought, belief or behavior. Unlike cognitive inertia where an individual's orientation in processing information remains unchanged either due to new information not being fully absorbed or being blocked by a cognitive bias, motivated reasoning may actually change the orientation or keep it the same depending on whether that orientation benefits the individual. In an extensive online study participant opinions were acquired after two readings about various political issues to assess the role of cognitive inertia. The participants gave their opinion after the first reading and were then assigned a second reading with new information. After being assigned to read more information on the issue that either confirmed or disconfirmed their initial opinion the majority of participants' opinions did not change. When asked about the information in the second reading those who did not change their opinion evaluated the information that supported their initial opinion as stronger than information that disconfirmed their initial opinion. The persistence in how the participants viewed the incoming information was based on their motivation to be correct in their initial opinion, not the persistence of an existing cognitive perspective. #### Socio-cognitive inflexibility From a social psychology perspective individuals are continually forming and shaping beliefs and attitudes about the world around them based on interaction with others. What information the individual attends to is based on prior experience and knowledge of the world. Cognitive inertia is seen not just as a malfunction in updating how information is being processed but that the assumptions about the world and how it works can impede cognitive flexibility. The persistence of the idea of the nuclear family has been proposed as a socio-cognitive inertia. Despite the changing trends in family structure including multi-generational, single-parent, blended and same-sex parent families, the normative idea of a family has centered around the mid-twentieth century idea of a nuclear family (i.e. mother, father, and children). Various social influences are proposed to maintain the inertia of this viewpoint, including media portrayals, persistence of working-class gender roles, unchanged domestic roles despite working mothers and familial pressure to conform. The phenomenon of cognitive inertia in brainstorming groups has been argued to be due to other psychological effects such as fear of disagreeing with an authority figure in the group, fear of new ideas being rejected and the majority of speech being attributed to the minority of group members. Internet-based brainstorming groups have been found to produce more ideas of high-quality because it overcomes the problem of speaking up and fear of idea rejection. ## See also

1st Army Group (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)

Royal Yugoslav Army formation

The 1st Army Group was a Royal Yugoslav Army formation mobilised prior to the German-led Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941 during World War II. It consisted of the 4th Army, 7th Army, and the 1st Cavalry Division, which was the army group reserve. It was responsible for the defence of northwestern Yugoslavia, with the 4th Army defending the eastern sector along the Yugoslav–Hungarian border, and the 7th Army defending the western sector along the borders with Germany and Italy. Like all Yugoslav formations at the time, the 1st Army Group had serious deficiencies in both mobility and firepower as well as internal friction among the different ethnic groups, particularly between Serbs and Croats. Despite concerns over a possible Axis invasion, orders for the general mobilisation of the Royal Yugoslav Army were not issued by the government until 3 April 1941, not to provoke Germany any further and precipitate war. When the invasion commenced on 6 April, the component formations of 1st Army Group were only partially mobilised, and on the first day the Germans seized bridges over the Drava River in both sectors and several mountain passes in the 7th Army sector. In the 4th Army sector, the formation and expansion of German bridgeheads across the Drava were facilitated by fifth column elements of the Croat fascist and ultranationalist Ustaše. Mutiny by Croat soldiers broke out in all three divisions of the 4th Army in the first few days, causing significant disruption to mobilisation and deployment. The 1st Army Group was also weakened by fifth column activities within its major units when the chief of staff and chief of operations of the headquarters of 1st Army Group aided both Ustaše and Slovene separatists in the 4th and 7th Army sectors respectively. The revolts within the 4th Army were of great concern to the commander of the 7th Army, Diviziski đeneral Dušan Trifunović, but the army group commander, Armijski đeneral Milorad Petrović, did not permit him to withdraw from border areas until the night of 7/8 April, which was followed by the German capture of Maribor as they continued to expand their bridgeheads. The 4th Army also began to withdraw southwards on 9 April, and on 10 April it quickly ceased to exist as an operational formation in the face of two determined armoured thrusts by the XXXXVI Motorised Corps, one of which captured Zagreb that evening where a newly formed Croatian government hailed the entry of the Germans. Italian offensive operations also began, with thrusts towards Ljubljana and down the Adriatic coast, capturing over 30,000 Yugoslav troops near Delnice. When fifth column elements arrested the staffs of the 1st Army Group, 4th Army and 7th Army on 11 April, the 1st Army Group effectively ceased to exist. On 12 April, a German armoured column linked up with the Italians near the Adriatic coast, encircling the remnants of the withdrawing 7th Army. Remnants of the 4th Army attempted to establish defensive positions in northeastern Bosnia, but were quickly brushed aside by German armour as it drove towards Sarajevo. The Yugoslav Supreme Command unconditionally surrendered on 18 April. ## Background The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was created with the merger of Serbia, Montenegro and the South Slav-inhabited areas of Austria-Hungary on 1 December 1918, in the immediate aftermath of World War I. The Army of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established to defend the new state. It was formed around the nucleus of the victorious Royal Serbian Army, as well as armed formations raised in regions formerly controlled by Austria-Hungary. Many former Austro-Hungarian officers and soldiers became members of the new army. From the beginning, much like other aspects of public life in the new kingdom, the army was dominated by ethnic Serbs, who saw it as a means by which to secure Serb political hegemony. The army's development was hampered by the kingdom's poor economy, and this continued during the 1920s. In 1929, King Alexander changed the name of the country to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, at which time the army was renamed the Royal Yugoslav Army (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Vojska Kraljevine Jugoslavije, VKJ). The army budget remained tight, and as tensions rose across Europe during the 1930s, it became difficult to secure weapons and munitions from other countries. Consequently, at the time World War II broke out in September 1939, the VKJ had several serious weaknesses, which included reliance on draught animals for transport, and the large size of its formations. Infantry divisions had a wartime strength of 26,000–27,000 men, as compared to contemporary British infantry divisions of half that strength. These characteristics resulted in slow, unwieldy formations, and the inadequate supply of arms and munitions meant that even the very large Yugoslav formations had very limited firepower. Generals with mindsets better suited to the trench warfare of World War I were combined with an army that was neither equipped nor trained to resist the fast-moving combined arms approach used by the Germans in their invasions of Poland and France. The weaknesses of the VKJ in strategy, structure, equipment, mobility and supply were exacerbated by serious ethnic disunity within Yugoslavia, resulting from two decades of Serb hegemony and the attendant lack of political legitimacy achieved by the central government. Attempts to address the disunity came too late to ensure that the VKJ was a cohesive force. Fifth column activity was also a serious concern, not only from the Croatian fascist Ustaše and the ethnic German minorities but also potentially from the pro-Bulgarian Macedonians and the Albanian population of Kosovo. ## Formation and composition Yugoslav war plans saw the headquarters of the 1st Army Group being raised at the time of mobilisation. It was to be commanded by Armijski đeneral Milorad Petrović, and was to control the 4th Army, commanded by Armijski đeneral Petar Nedeljković, the 7th Army, commanded by Divizijski đeneral Dušan Trifunović, and the 1st Cavalry Division. The 4th Army was organised and mobilised on a geographic basis from the peacetime 4th Army District. On mobilisation it would consist of three divisions, a brigade-strength infantry detachment, one horsed cavalry regiment and one infantry regiment, and was supported by artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, border guards, and air reconnaissance elements of the Royal Yugoslav Army Air Force (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Vazduhoplovstvo vojske Kraljevine Jugoslavije, VVKJ). The troops of the 4th Army included a high percentage of Croats. The 7th Army did not have a corresponding peacetime army district, and, like the headquarters of the 1st Army Group, was to be formed at the time of mobilisation. It would consist of two divisions, two brigade-strength mountain detachments and a brigade-strength infantry detachment, with field and anti-aircraft artillery support, and also had VVKJ air reconnaissance assets available. The 7th Army included a high proportion of Slovenes, but also some ethnic Germans. The 1st Cavalry Division was a horsed cavalry formation that existed as part of the peacetime army, although significant parts of the peacetime division were earmarked to join other formations when they were mobilised. The 1st Army Group did not control any army group-level support units. ## Mobilisation and deployment plan After unrelenting political pressure from Adolf Hitler, Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact on 25 March 1941. On 27 March, a military coup d'état overthrew the government that had signed the pact, and a new government was formed under the commander of the VVKJ, Armijski đeneral Dušan Simović. A general mobilisation was not initiated by the new government until 3 April 1941 not to provoke Germany any further and thus precipitating war. However, on the same day as the coup, Hitler issued Führer Directive 25 that called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state; on 3 April, Führer Directive 26 was issued, detailing the plan of attack and command structure for the German-led Axis invasion, which was to commence on 6 April. The deployment plan for 1st Army Group saw the 4th Army deployed in a cordon behind the Drava between Varaždin and Slatina, with formations centred around the towns of Ivanec, Varaždin, Koprivnica and Virovitica. The 7th Army deployment plan saw its formations placed in a cordon along the border region from the Adriatic coast near Senj north to Kranj in the Julian Alps and along the German border to Maribor. It was envisaged that the 1st Cavalry Division would be located in and around Zagreb as the reserve for the 1st Army Group. The Yugoslav historian Velimir Terzić describes the mobilisation of all formations of the 1st Army Group on 6 April as "only partial", and notes that there was a poor response to mobilisation orders for both men and animals. To the right of the 1st Army Group was the 2nd Army of the 2nd Army Group, with the army group boundary running from just east of Slatina through Požega towards Banja Luka. On the left flank of the 1st Army Group, the Adriatic coast was defended by Coastal Defence Command. ## Operations during German invasion The invasion of Yugoslavia, was a German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put forward in "Führer Directive No. 25", which Adolf Hitler issued on 27 March 1941, following the Yugoslav coup d'état. The invasion commenced with an overwhelming air attack on Belgrade and facilities of the Royal Yugoslav Air Force (VVKJ) by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) and attacks by German land forces from southwestern Bulgaria. These attacks were followed by German thrusts from Romania, Hungary and the Ostmark. Italian forces were limited to air and artillery attacks until 11 April, when the Italian army attacked towards Ljubljana (in modern-day Slovenia) and through Istria and Lika and down the Dalmatian coast. On the same day, Hungarian forces entered Yugoslav Bačka and Baranya, but like the Italians they faced practically no resistance. A Yugoslav attack into the northern parts of the Italian protectorate of Albania met with initial success, but was inconsequential due to the collapse of the rest of the Yugoslav forces. Scholars have proposed several theories for the Royal Yugoslav Army's sudden collapse, including poor training and equipment, generals eager to secure a quick cessation of hostilities, and a sizeable Croatian nationalist fifth column. The invasion ended when an armistice was signed on 17 April 1941, based on the unconditional surrender of the Yugoslav army, which came into effect at noon on 18 April. Yugoslavia was then occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers. Some areas of Yugoslavia were annexed by neighboring Axis countries, some areas remained occupied, and in other areas Axis puppet states such as the Independent State of Croatia (Serbo-Croatian Latin: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, or NDH) were created during the invasion on 10 April. Along with Italy's stalled invasion of Greece on 28 October 1940, and the German-led invasion of Greece (Operation Marita) and invasion of Crete (Operation Merkur), the invasion of Yugoslavia was part of the German Balkan Campaign (German: Balkanfeldzug). ### 6–9 April #### 4th Army sector German Army headquarters wanted to capture the bridges over the Drava intact, and from 1 April had issued orders to Generaloberst Maximilian von Weichs's 2nd Army to conduct preliminary operations aimed at seizing the bridge at Barcs and the railway bridge at Zákány by coup de main. As a result, limited objective attacks were launched along the line of the Drava by the XXXXVI Motorised Corps of General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Vietinghoff, despite the fact that they were not expected to launch offensive operations until 10 April. In the early hours of 6 April 1941, units of the 4th Army were located at their mobilisation centres or were marching toward the Hungarian border. On the extreme left flank of the 4th Army, General der Infanterie Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard's LI Infantry Corps seized the undamaged bridge over the Mura River at Gornja Radgona, and Yugoslav border troops in the Prekmurje region were attacked by troops advancing across the German border, and began withdrawing south into the Međimurje region. Germans troops also crossed the Hungarian border and attacked border troops at Dolnja Lendava, just north of the Mura. Shortly after this, further attacks were made along the Drava between Ždala and Gotalovo in the area of the 27th Infantry Division Savska (27th ID) with the intention of securing crossings over the river, but they were unsuccessful. LI Infantry Corps cleared most of Prekmurje up to Murska Sobota and Ljutomer during the day, and a bicycle-mounted detachment of Generalmajor Benignus Dippold's 183rd Infantry Division captured Murska Sobota without encountering resistance. During the day, the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) bombed and strafed Yugoslav positions and troops on the march. By the afternoon, German troops had captured Dolnja Lendava, and by the evening it had become clear to the Germans that resistance at the Yugoslav border was weak. XXXXVI Motorised Corps was then ordered to begin seizing bridges over the Mura at Mursko Središće and Letenye, and over the Drava at Zákány and Barcs. These local attacks were sufficient to inflame dissent within the largely Croat 4th Army, who refused to resist Germans they considered their liberators from Serbian oppression during the interwar period. In the afternoon of 6 April, German aircraft caught the air reconnaissance assets of the 4th Army on the ground at Velika Gorica, destroying most of them. The continuing mobilisation and concentration of the 4th Army was hampered by escalating fifth column activities and propaganda fomented by the Ustaše. Some units stopped mobilising, or began returning to their mobilisation centres from their concentration areas. During the day, Yugoslav sabotage units attempted to destroy bridges over the Mura at Letenye, Mursko Središće and Kotoriba, and over the Drava at Zákány. These attempts were only partially successful, due to the influence of Ustaše propaganda and the countermanding of demolition orders by the chief of staff of the 27th ID. The Yugoslav radio network in the 4th Army area was sabotaged by the Ustaše on 6 April, and radio communications within the 4th Army remained poor throughout the fighting. ##### Zákány bridgehead On 7 April, elements of XXXXVI Motorised Corps crossed the Drava at Zákány and attacked towards Koprivnica. Available troops of the 27th ID took up defensive positions to stop this German penetration and Petrović ordered Nedeljković to mount a counter-attack against the bridgehead. By nightfall the counter-attack had not materialised, the defenders had withdrawn to Koprivnica, and Petrović had ordered Nedeljković to counter-attack on the following morning. Also on 7 April, the few remaining reconnaissance aircraft of the 4th Army mounted attacks on a bridge over the Drava at Zákány. On 8 April, the XXXXVI Motorised Corps continued with its limited objective attacks to expand its bridgehead at Zákány. On the morning of 8 April, the 27th ID was deployed around Koprivnica with some army-level artillery and cavalry support and a cavalry regiment detached from the 1st Cavalry Division. The counter-attack was eventually launched in the afternoon, but was abortive, with only the cavalry units maintaining contact with the Germans. The cavalry held the line throughout the night of 8/9 April, despite heavy German artillery fire. Significant Ustaše-influenced desertions occurred during the day. On 9 April, the XXXXVI Motorised Corps completed its preparations for full-scale offensive action by further expanding its bridgehead at Zákány. The cavalry units continued to fight the Germans, but the left sector of the 27th ID front began to crumble. There was a deal of discussion between commanders from regimental level up to Petrović about discharging the Croat troops and withdrawing to a line south of the Sava River, but despite orders to the contrary, some commanders began to discharge some or all of their personnel, and most troops began to retreat before the German advances. Others received false messages directing them to withdraw. In the afternoon, even the hard-pressed cavalry units began to withdraw, and the Germans captured Koprivnica without resistance. The German capture of the town was made easier due to revolts by Croat troops against Serb officers in the 27th ID. ##### Mura bridgeheads Early on 7 April, reconnaissance units of the XXXXVI Motorised Corps crossed the Mura at Letenye and Mursko Središće and captured Čakovec. Ustaše propaganda led the bulk of two regiments from the 42nd Infantry Division Murska (42nd ID) to revolt; only two battalions deployed to their allocated positions. In the face of this German advance, Yugoslav border troops withdrew towards the Drava. The following day, in the areas of the 42nd ID and Detachment Ormozki on the left flank of the 4th Army, the Germans cleared the territory north of the Drava, and border guard units were withdrawn south of the river. On this day, the 39th Infantry Regiment was transferred to the 42nd ID from the Detachment Ormozki, and the 36th Infantry Regiment of the former joined the 27th ID. The Mura sector was quiet on 9 April. The 42nd ID took the 39th Infantry Regiment under command, but another of its infantry regiments and the border guards in the divisional sector began to disintegrate due to desertions. With the deteriorating situation on the right flank of the 42nd ID, the 4th Army headquarters ordered it and Detachment Ormozki to withdraw from the Drava to behind the Bednja River conforming with the line being held by the 27th ID on its immediate right flank. ##### Barcs bridgehead and the Bjelovar rebellion In the early evening of 7 April, German units in regimental strength began to cross the Drava near Barcs and established a second bridgehead in the sector of the 40th Infantry Division Slavonska (40th ID). Affected by propaganda from the Ustaše, the border troops abandoned their positions and withdrew to Virovitica. Fifth column activities within units of the 4th Army were fomented by the Ustaše, which facilitated German establishment of the bridgehead at Barcs, and resulted in a number of significant revolts within units. The 108th Infantry Regiment of the 40th ID, which had mobilised in Bjelovar, was marching towards Virovitica to take up positions. On the night of 7/8 April, the Croats of the 108th Regiment revolted, arrested their Serb officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers. The regiment then marched back towards Bjelovar. The revolt of the 108th Regiment meant that the entire frontage of the division had to be covered by a single regiment. During the night, patrols were sent towards the German bridgehead, but Ustaše sympathisers misled them into believing the Germans were already across the Drava at Barcs in strength. The Germans were subsequently able to consolidate their bridgehead at Barcs overnight. By late evening on 7 April, Petrović's reports to the Yugoslav Supreme Command noted that the 4th Army was exhausted and its morale had been degraded significantly, and that Nedeljković concurred with his commander's assessment. On 8 April, the German XXXXVI Motorised Corps continued with its limited objective attacks to expand the Barcs bridgehead. A German regiment broke through the border troops in the sector of the 40th ID, and approached Virovitica. At this point, the entire divisional sector was defended by the divisional cavalry squadron, which had been transported there in requisitioned cars due to the lack of horses. Two understrength and wavering battalions arrived at Pčelić, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southwest of Virovitica. By noon, the rebels of the 108th Infantry Regiment were approaching Bjelovar, where they were joined by elements of the 42nd Infantry Regiment and other units of the 40th ID. When Nedeljković became aware of their approach, he ordered the local gendarmerie commander to maintain order, but was advised this would not be possible, as local conscripts would not report for duty. The headquarters of the 4th Army reported the presence of the rebelling units to Headquarters 1st Army Group, and it was suggested that the VVKJ could bomb them. The 8th Bomber Regiment at Rovine was even warned to carry out a bombing mission against the rebels, but the idea was subsequently abandoned. Instead, it was decided to request that the leader of the Croatian Peasant Party, Vladko Maček, intervene with the rebels. On that day, Josip Broz Tito and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, then located in Zagreb, along with the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia, sent a delegation to the headquarters of the 4th Army urging them to issue arms to workers to help defend Zagreb. Pavle Gregorić, who was a member of both Central Committees, went to 4th Army headquarters twice, and was able to speak briefly with Nedeljković, but could not convince him to do so. On that same day, Maček, who had returned to Zagreb after briefly joining Simović's post-coup d'état government, agreed to send an emissary to the 108th Infantry Regiment urging them to obey their officers, but they did not respond to his appeal. Later in the day, two trucks of rebels arrived at 4th Army headquarters in Bjelovar with the intention of killing the staff. The headquarters guard force prevented this, but the operations staff immediately withdrew from Bjelovar to Popovača. After the mutinous troops issued several unanswered ultimatums, around 8,000 of them attacked Bjelovar, assisted by fifth-columnists within the city. The city then surrendered, and many Yugoslav officers and soldiers were captured by the rebels. When Nedeljković heard of the fall of the city, he called the Mayor of Bjelovar, Julije Makanec and threatened to bomb the city if the prisoners were not immediately released. Detained officers from 4th Army headquarters and the 108th Infantry Regiment were then sent to Zagreb. About 16:00, Nedeljković informed the Ban of Croatia, Ivan Šubašić of the revolt, but Šubašić was powerless to influence events. About 18:00, Makanec proclaimed that Bjelovar was part of an independent Croatian state. On the morning of 9 April, the German bridgehead at Barcs had expanded to Lukač, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north of Virovitica. Following up the withdrawal of the divisional cavalry squadron, the Germans seized Suho Polje, west of Virovitica, cutting the main road to Slatina, and the rebel Croat troops at Bjelovar made contact with them. By 11:00, the 40th ID front line consisted of a single regiment with some cavalry support. The 89th Infantry Regiment, marching from its concentration area in Sisak, arrived at divisional headquarters at Pivnica Slavonska, to replace the 43rd Infantry Regiment, which had been transferred to the 17th Infantry Division Vrbaska (17th ID) of the right flanking 2nd Army, which belonged to the 2nd Army Group. Other reinforcements included elements of the 4th Army anti-aircraft units sent from Lipik, but the divisional artillery regiment had not completed mobilisation. The rebels in Bjelovar issued false orders to one of the forward battalions of the 40th ID, directing it to fall back to Bjelovar. At 11:15, Nedeljković arrived at divisional headquarters and shortly afterwards ordered the division to launch a counter-attack on the German bridgehead at Barcs at dawn the following day. Nedeljković also visited the commander of the 17th ID on the right flank of the 4th Army, to arrange support from that division during the pending attack. However, because the majority of that division's troops had yet to arrive from Bosnia, all it was able to do was advance its left flank west of Slatina. The 40th ID spent the remainder of the day preparing for the counter-attack, but was hindered by German artillery and air attacks. In an indication of the state of the division, during a visit to the front line, the commander and chief of staff of 40th ID were fired at by their own troops. On the night of 9/10 April, those Croats that had remained with their units began to desert or turn on their commanders. #### 7th Army sector The largely mountainous border between Germany and Yugoslavia was unsuitable for motorised operations. Due to the short notice of the invasion, the elements of the invading 2nd Army that would make up XXXXIX Mountain Corps and LI Infantry Corps had to be assembled from France, Germany and the German puppet Slovak Republic, and nearly all encountered difficulties in reaching their assembly areas. In the interim, the Germans formed a special force under the code name Feuerzauber (Magic Fire). This force was initially intended to merely reinforce the 538th Frontier Guard Division, who were manning the border. On the evening of 5 April, a particularly aggressive Feuerzauber commander led his Kampfgruppe Palten across the Mura from Spielfeld and, having secured the bridge, began attacking bunkers and other Yugoslav positions on the high ground, and sent patrols deep into the Yugoslav border fortification system. Due to a lack of Yugoslav counter-attacks, many of these positions remained in German hands into 6 April. On the morning of 6 April, German aircraft conducted surprise attacks on Yugoslav airfields in the 7th Army area, including Ljubljana and Cerklje, where the 7th Army air reconnaissance assets were based. The German LI Infantry Corps was tasked with attacking towards Maribor then driving towards Zagreb, while the XXXXIX Mountain Corps of General der Infanterie Ludwig Kübler was to capture Dravograd then force a crossing on the Sava. On the first day of the invasion, LI Infantry Corps captured the Mura bridges at Mureck and Radkersburg (opposite Gornja Radgona) undamaged. In the sector of the 38th Infantry Division Dravska (38th ID), one German column pushed towards Maribor from Mureck, and the other pushed on from Gornja Radgona through Lenart towards Ptuj. Some time later, other elements of LI Infantry Corps attacked the area between Sveti Duh and Dravograd. Border troops met these attacks with fierce resistance, but were forced to withdraw due to the German pressure. The 183rd Infantry Division captured 300 prisoners. A bicycle-mounted detachment of the 183rd Infantry Division reached the extreme right flank of the 7th Army at Murska Sobota without striking any resistance. Generalmajor Rudolf Sintzenich's 132nd Infantry Division also pushed south along the Sejanski valley towards Savci. Late that day, mountain pioneers destroyed some isolated Yugoslav bunkers in the area penetrated by Kampfgruppe Palten, and German aircraft again attacked the 7th Army's air reconnaissance assets on the ground at Cerklje, destroying most of them at the second attempt. This was followed by Regia Aeronautica (Italian Air Force) air attacks on 7th Army troop concentrations. The VVKJ was unable to interdict the Axis air attacks because their fighters were based too far away. After having been grounded for most of the day by poor weather, in the afternoon the Yugoslav bombers flew missions against airfields and railway stations across the German frontier. By the close of 6 April, the 7th Army was still largely mobilising and concentrating, and fifth column actions meant that nearly all the fighting was conducted by border troops. The 38th ID was deployed along the southern bank of the Drava around Ptuj and Maribor, and a reinforced infantry regiment was approaching Dravograd from the west. German and Italian air attacks interfered with the deployment of troops and command was hampered by reliance on civilian telegraph and telephone services. LI Infantry Corps had occupied Gornja Radgona, Murska Sobota and Radenci, and had crossed the Drava near Sveti Duh. The XXXXIX Mountain Corps captured border crossings on the approaches to Dravograd, but were held up by border troops in mountain passes located further west. During 6 April, the Ban (governor) of the Drava Banovina, Marko Natlačen met with representatives of the major Slovene political parties, and created the National Council of Slovenia, whose aim was to establish a Slovenia independent of Yugoslavia. When he heard the news of fifth column-led revolts within the flanking 4th Army, Trifunović was alarmed, and proposed withdrawal from the border areas, but this was rejected by Petrović. The front along the border with Italy was relatively quiet, with only patrol clashes occurring, some sporadic artillery bombardments of border fortifications, and an unsuccessful raid by the Italians on Mount Blegoš. Over the next three days, the LI Infantry Corps held the lead elements of its two divisions back, to some extent, while the rest of each division detrained in Graz and made their way to the border. Despite this, German forces along the 7th Army front continued to push towards Ptuj, Maribor and Dravograd on 7 April, against significant resistance from border troops. The German thrusts towards Ptuj and Maribor broke through the Yugoslav defensive line, but those advancing towards Dravograd were held up by border troops and a battalion of the 38th ID. Along the Italian border there were only skirmishes caused by Italian reconnaissance-in-force to a depth of 3 km (1.9 mi). The Yugoslav Supreme Command ordered Petrović to use Mountain Detachment Rišnajaski to capture Fiume, across the Rječina River from Sušak, but the order was soon rescinded due to the deteriorating situation in the flanking 4th Army. In the afternoon of 7 April, Trifunović again pressed Petrović to order a withdrawal from the border. Petrović accepted that this might become necessary if the situation on the immediate right flank of the 7th Army deteriorated further, but the idea was opposed by the Slovene chief of staff of the headquarters of the 1st Army Group, Armijski đeneral Leon Rupnik, who wryly suggested that Trifunović, a Serb, should personally lead night attacks to push the Germans back. At 19:30, the Yugoslav Supreme Command advised Petrović that he had approval to withdraw endangered units on the right wing of the 7th Army. Morale in the 7th Army had started to decline due to fifth column elements encouraging soldiers to stop resisting the enemy. As a result of the revolts in the 4th Army, on the night of 7/8 April, Petrović ordered the 7th Army to begin to withdraw, first to a line through the Dravinja River, Zidani Most bridge and the right bank of the Krka River. This was subsequently moved back to the line of the Kupa River. This ended the successful defence of the 38th ID along the line of the Drava, and meant their withdrawal from Maribor. On 8 April, disregarding orders from above, Palten led his kampfgruppe south towards Maribor, and crossed the Pesnica River in inflatable boats, leaving his unit vehicles behind. In the evening, Palten and his force entered Maribor unopposed, taking 100 prisoners. For disregarding orders, Palten and his kampfgruppe were ordered to return to Spielfeld, and spent the rest of the invasion guarding the border. In the meantime, the forward elements of the two divisions consolidated their bridgeheads, with the 132nd Infantry Division securing Maribor, and the 183rd Infantry Division pushing past Murska Sobota. Some bridges over the Drava were blown before all of the border troops had withdrawn, but some soldiers were able to swim across, the rest being captured by the advancing Germans. German patrols reached the Drava at Ptuj, and further east at Ormož they found the bridge had been blown. Elements of the XXXXIX Mountain Corps had pushed forward to Poljana and Dravograd. The German troops received close air support from dive bombers and fighters during their advance, while bombers hit targets throughout the 7th Army area. During the day, the regimental-sized Italian 3rd Alpine Group captured Kranjska Gora at the headwaters of the Sava in the sector of Mountain Detachment Triglavski. The German orders for the following day were for LI Infantry Corps to force a crossing of the Drava near Varaždin and advance on Zagreb, while XXXXIX Mountain Corps were to drive towards Celje. On 9 April, the Germans continued their advance, and all elements of both divisions of LI Infantry Corps had finally unloaded in Graz. In view of German success, the Italian 2nd Army in northeastern Italy accelerated its preparations and issued orders for its V and XI Corps to conduct preliminary operations aimed at improving their starting positions for the planned attack on Yugoslavia. In the meantime, the 7th Army continued rapidly withdrawing its right wing, while withdrawing its centre and keeping the Mountain Detachment Rišnajaski in place on its left flank. The 38th ID continued to withdraw south from Ptuj through Krapina towards Zagreb, while the 32nd Infantry Division Triglavski (32nd ID) and Mountain Detachment Triglavski fell back to the southern bank of the Krka River. Units of LI Infantry Corps crossed the Drava along the line Maribor–Ptuj and further east, and continued to expand their bridgehead south of Maribor. Elements of XXXXIX Mountain Corps secured the southern exit of the Karawanks railway tunnel near Jesenice and expanded their bridgehead at Dravograd. Italian units made several attacks on the weakened sector of the 32nd ID and against Mountain Detachment Rišnajaski, and Detachment Lika took up positions on the coast. On the same day, the 6th Air Reconnaissance Group airfield at Cerklje was again attacked by German aircraft. As the activities of Natlačen and his National Council of Slovenia were continuing, the Yugoslav Supreme Command ordered their arrest. However, Rupnik and the head of the operations staff of the headquarters of the 1st Army Group, Pukovnik Franjo Nikolić, hid the orders from Petrović and did not carry them out. ### 10–11 April #### 4th Army sector and the fall of Varaždin Early on 10 April, Nikolić left his post and visited the senior Ustaše leader Slavko Kvaternik in Zagreb. He then returned to the headquarters, and announced that talks with the Germans for an armistice has started and that there was no longer any need for action. He also redirected 4th Army units around Zagreb to either cease operations or to deploy to innocuous positions. These actions reduced or eliminated armed resistance to the German advance. About 09:45, the LI Infantry Corps began crossing the Drava, but the construction of a bridge near Maribor was suspended because the river was in flood. Despite this, the 183rd Infantry Division managed to secure an alternative crossing point, and established a bridgehead. This crossing point was a partially destroyed bridge, guarded by a single platoon of the 1st Bicycle Battalion of Detachment Ormozki. This crossing, combined with the withdrawal of the 7th Army's 38th ID from the line Slovenska Bistrica–Ptuj exposed the left flank of Detachment Ormozki. The Detachment attempted to withdraw south, but began to disintegrate during the night 10/11 April, and the 1st Bicycle Battalion left to return to Ljubljana. In the afternoon, the remaining elements of the 42nd ID also began to withdraw though Varaždinske Toplice to Novi Marof, leaving the Ustaše to take control of Varaždin. ##### Zákány bridgehead On the same day, Generalmajor Friedrich Kühn's 14th Panzer Division of XXXXVI Motorised Corps, supported by dive bombers, crossed the Drava at Zákány and drove southwest towards Zagreb on snow-covered roads in extremely cold conditions. Initial air reconnaissance indicated large concentrations of Yugoslav troops on the divisional axis of advance, but these troops proved to be withdrawing towards Zagreb. Degraded by revolt and fifth-column activity, the 27th ID numbered about 2,000 effectives when the German attack began. The 14th Panzer Division vanguard reached their positions around 08:00, and the remnants of the division began withdrawing under heavy air attack. Around 14:00, the Yugoslavs were quickly encircled by German motorised troops that had outflanked them. The divisional headquarters staff escaped, but were captured a little further down the road. The remnants of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment had to fight its way towards Bjelovar, but was attacked by German tanks on the outskirts, captured and detained. The 14th Panzer Division continued its almost completely unopposed drive on Zagreb using two routes, Križevci – Dugo Selo – Zagreb and Bjelovar – Čazma – Ivanić-Grad – Zagreb. ##### Fall of Zagreb About 17:45 on 10 April, Kvaternik and SS-Standartenführer Edmund Veesenmayer went to the radio station in Zagreb and Kvaternik proclaimed the creation of the Independent State of Croatia (Croatian: Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH). The 35th Infantry Regiment of the 27th ID was disbanded by its commander when he heard news of the proclamation. By 19:30 on 10 April, lead elements of the 14th Panzer Division had reached the outskirts of Zagreb, having covered nearly 160 kilometres (99 miles) in a single day. By the time it entered Zagreb, the 14th Panzer Division was met by cheering crowds, and had captured 15,000 Yugoslav troops, including 22 generals. About 19:45, the 1st Army Group held a conference in Zagreb, just as German tanks were entering the city. Nedeljković told Petrović that he could no longer hold his positions, but despite this, Petrović ordered him to hold for at least 2–3 days to enable the withdrawal of the 7th Army to the Kupa river. Nedeljković replied that he no longer had an army, and suggested that all Serb officers and men be ordered back to form a defensive line along the Sava and Una rivers. Petrović refused to consider this, but ordered the understrength 1st Cavalry Division to form a defensive line along the Sava between Jasenovac and Zagreb. Held up by freezing weather and snowstorms on 10 April, the LI Infantry Corps was approaching Zagreb from the north, and bicycle-mounted troops of the 183rd Infantry Division had turned east to capture Varaždin, along with an entire Yugoslav brigade including its commanding general. On the same day, the German-installed interim Croatian government called on all Croats to stop fighting, and in the evening, LI Infantry Corps entered Zagreb and relieved the 14th Panzer Division. In the face of the assault by the 14th Panzer Division, the 4th Army quickly ceased to exist as an operational formation. The disintegration of the 4th Army was caused largely by fifth column activity, as it was involved in little fighting. ##### Barcs bridgehead The 40th ID was battered by German artillery fire during the night 9/10 April. Seriously depleted by desertion and weakened by revolt, it was unable to mount the ordered counter-attack against the Barcs bridgehead on the morning of 10 April. The two forward infantry regiments could only muster about 600 men each. The divisional cavalry squadron was also heavily reduced in strength, and divisional artillery amounted to one anti-aircraft battery. The border units, responsible for demolition tasks on the line from Bjelovar south to Čazma, refused to follow orders. Having abandoned the counter-attack, the divisional commander decided to establish a defensive line at Pćelić to hinder German movement east towards Slatina. Soon after dawn, the main thrust of the XXXXVI Motorised Corps, consisting of Generalmajor Walter Neumann-Silkow's 8th Panzer Division leading Generalmajor Sigfrid Henrici's 16th Motorised Infantry Division, crossed the Drava at Barcs. Anti-tank fire destroyed a few of the lead tanks, but after the Germans reinforced their vanguard, the resistance of the 40th ID had been broken by noon. The remaining forward infantry troops were either captured or fled into the hills to the south. Units of the infantry regiment that had been providing depth to the defensive position began retreating south towards Slavonska Požega. Ustaše sympathisers and Yugoslav Volksdeutsche (ethnic German) troops either ran away or surrendered. By 13:30, the hard-pressed divisional cavalry squadron began to withdraw south towards Daruvar, attacking rebelling troops along their route. The divisional commander himself fled to Nova Gradiška via Voćin and Slavonska Požega, during which his car was again fired on by rebel troops. The 8th Panzer Division continued southeast between the Drava and Sava rivers, and meeting almost no further resistance, had reached the right flank of the 4th Army sector at Slatina by evening. Right flank elements of the 8th Panzer Division penetrated south into the Bilogora range, reaching Daruvar and Voćin by evening. #### 7th Army sector During the night of 9/10 April, lead elements of the XXXXIX Mountain Corps, consisting of Generalmajor Hubert Lanz's 1st Mountain Division de-trained and crossed the border near Bleiburg and advanced southeast towards Celje, reaching a point about 19 kilometres (12 mi) from the town by evening. Luftwaffe reconnaissance sorties revealed that the main body of the 7th Army was withdrawing towards Zagreb, leaving behind light forces to maintain contact with the German bridgeheads. When it received this information, the 2nd Army headquarters ordered the LI Infantry Corps to form motorised columns to pursue the 7th Army south, but extreme weather conditions and flooding of the Drava at Maribor on 10 April slowed the German pursuit. About 06:00 on 11 April, the LI Infantry Corps recommenced its push south towards Zagreb, with lead elements exiting the mountains northwest of the city in the evening of the same day, while the 1st Mountain Division captured Celje after some hard marching and difficult fighting. Emissaries from the newly formed National Council of Slovenia approached Kübler to ask for a ceasefire. Also on 11 April, the Italian 2nd Army commenced offensive operations around 12:00, with the XI Corps pushing through Logatec towards Ljubljana, VI Corps advancing in the direction of Prezid, while strong formations attacked south through Fiume towards Kraljevica and towards Lokve. By this stage, the 7th Army was withdrawing, although some units took advantage of existing fortifications to resist. To assist the Italian advance, the Luftwaffe attacked Yugoslav troops in the Ljubljana region, and the 14th Panzer Division, which had captured Zagreb on 10 April, drove west to encircle the withdrawing 7th Army. The Italians faced little resistance, and captured about 30,000 Yugoslav troops waiting to surrender near Delnice. ### Fate On 10 April, as the situation had become increasingly desperate throughout the country, Simović, who was both the Prime Minister and Yugoslav Chief of the General Staff, broadcast the following message: > All troops must engage the enemy wherever encountered and with every means at their disposal. Don't wait for direct orders from above, but act on your own and be guided by your judgement, initiative, and conscience. On 12 April, the 14th Panzer Division linked up with the Italians at Vrbovsko, closing the ring around the remnants of the 7th Army, before thrusting southeast towards Sarajevo. The remaining elements of the 4th Army had organised defences around the towns of Kostajnica, Bosanski Novi, Bihać and Prijedor, but the 14th Panzer Division quickly broke through at Bosanski Novi and captured Banja Luka, and by 14 April it had captured Jajce. In the wake of the panzers, the 183rd Infantry Division pushed through Zagreb and Sisak to capture Kostajnica and Bosanska Gradiška. On 15 April, the 14th Panzer Division was closing on Sarajevo. The Ustaše arrested the staffs of the 1st Army Group, and 4th and 7th Armies at Petrinja, and the 1st Army Group effectively ceased to exist as a formation. After a delay in locating appropriate signatories for the surrender document, the Yugoslav High Command unconditionally surrendered in Belgrade effective at 12:00 on 18 April. Records of Yugoslav killed and wounded during the invasion were lost, but about 375,000 Yugoslav troops were captured. The Germans lost only 151 killed, 392 wounded and 15 missing in action during the entire invasion. Yugoslavia was then occupied and dismembered by the Axis powers, with Germany, Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria and Albania all annexing parts of its territory. Most of the Slovene members of the 1st Army Group taken as prisoners of war, along with virtually all of its Croat members, were soon released by the Axis powers, as 90 per cent of those held for the duration of the war were Serbs.

HMS Centurion (1911)

King George V-class battleship

HMS Centurion was the second of four King George V-class dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy in the early 1910s. She spent the bulk of her career assigned to the Home and Grand Fleets. Aside from participating in the failed attempt to intercept the German ships that had bombarded Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in late 1914, and the Battle of Jutland in May 1916, her service during the First World War generally consisted of routine patrols and training in the North Sea. By the end of 1919, Centurion had been transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet. Although she spent much of her time in reserve, she had a peripheral role in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War. After her return home in 1924, the ship became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet. In 1926 Centurion was converted into a target ship and participated in trials evaluating the effectiveness of aerial bombing in addition to her normal duties. During the Second World War, the ship was rearmed with light weapons and was converted into a blockship in 1941. When that operation was cancelled, she was then modified into a decoy with dummy gun turrets in an attempt to fool the Axis powers. Centurion was sent to the Mediterranean in 1942 to escort a convoy to Malta, although the Italians quickly figured out the deception. The ship was deliberately sunk during the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 to form a breakwater. ## Design and description The King George V-class ships were designed as enlarged and improved versions of the preceding Orion-class battleship. They had an overall length of 597 feet 9 inches (182.2 m), a beam of 89 feet 1 inch (27.2 m) and a draught of 28 feet 8 inches (8.7 m). They displaced 25,420 long tons (25,830 t) at normal load and 27,120 long tons (27,560 t) at deep load. Centurion's crew numbered 862 officers and ratings upon completion. Ships of the King George V class were powered by two sets of Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving two shafts, using steam provided by 18 Yarrow boilers. The turbines were rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and were intended to give the battleships a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). During her sea trials on 19–20 February 1913, Centurion reached a maximum speed of 22.9 knots (42.4 km/h; 26.4 mph) from 34,530 shp (25,750 kW). She carried enough coal and fuel oil to give her a range of 6,310 nautical miles (11,690 km; 7,260 mi) at a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). ### Armament and armour Like the Orion class, the King George Vs were equipped with 10 breech-loading (BL) 13.5-inch (343 mm) Mark V guns in five hydraulically powered twin-gun turrets, all on the centreline. The turrets were designated 'A', 'B', 'Q', 'X' and 'Y', from front to rear. Their secondary armament consisted of 16 BL 4-inch (102 mm) Mark VII guns. Eight of these were mounted in the forward superstructure, four in the aft superstructure, and four in casemates in the side of the hull abreast of the forward main gun turrets, all in single mounts. Four 47 mm (1.9 in) saluting guns were also carried. The ships were equipped with three 21-inch (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes, one on each broadside and another in the stern, for which 14 torpedoes were provided. The King George V-class ships were protected by a waterline 12-inch (305 mm) armoured belt that extended between the end barbettes. Their decks ranged in thickness between 1 inch (25 mm) and 4 inches with the thickest portions protecting the steering gear in the stern. The main battery turret faces were 11 inches (279 mm) thick, and the turrets were supported by 10-inch-thick (254 mm) barbettes. ### Modifications A fire-control director was installed on the roof of the spotting top before August 1914; her original pole foremast was reinforced by short tripod legs to stiffen it and allow it to bear the weight of the director. By October 1914, a pair of three-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft (AA) guns had been added on the quarterdeck. Approximately 80 long tons (81 t) of additional deck armour was added after the Battle of Jutland. By April 1917, the four-inch guns had been removed from the hull casemates as they were frequently unusable in heavy seas. The casemates were plated over and some of the compartments were used for accommodations. In addition, one of the three-inch AA guns was replaced by a four-inch AA gun. Her stern torpedo tube was removed in either 1917 or 1918 and flying-off platforms were fitted on the roofs of 'B' and 'X' turrets during 1918. When Centurion was initially converted for use as a radio-controlled target ship for use by ships with guns up to 8 inches (203 mm) in diameter in 1926, the conversion was initially fairly minimal. All of her small fittings were removed, her boilers were converted to use diesel fuel instead of coal and numerous radio antennas were added for use by her controlling ship, the destroyer Shikari. The ship could steam at speeds of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) for three hours. Her gun turrets were removed shortly afterwards and some of the former coal bunkers were filled with rocks to compensate for weight of the turrets. This increased her draught to 31 feet 3 inches (9.5 m) which reduced the chances of steeply diving shells fired at maximum range penetrating beneath the armour belt. The ship was maintained by a crew of 242 who sailed her to the firing range and then disembarked. The spotting top was removed by 22 September 1930 and her forward superstructure was cut down and her funnels were shortened in 1933 in preparation for aircraft bombing trials. Centurion was armed with a variety of weapons in June 1940 as the threat of German invasion increased and was then modified to serve as a repair ship for the local defence ships based in Devonport. In April–May 1941, she was converted into a blockship, with her magazines now serving as fuel tanks, but she was then modified with false gun turrets and masts to serve as a decoy for the battleship HMS Anson. Her armament now comprised two 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom"s and eight 20-millimeter (0.8 in) Oerlikon light AA guns, all on single mounts. The ship's anti-aircraft armament was augmented in June 1942 with two additional "pom-pom"s and nine more Oerlikons. ## Construction and career Centurion, named after the Roman Army rank of centurion, was the sixth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy. She was laid down at HM Dockyard, Devonport on 16 January 1911 and launched on 18 November. While conducting her sea trials on the night of 9/10 December, Centurion accidentally rammed and sank the Italian steamer SS Derna with the loss of all hands. The battleship's bow was badly damaged and the ship was under repair until March 1913. She cost £1,950,671 at completion and was commissioned on 22 May, joining her sister ships in the 2nd Battle Squadron (BS). The ship was present with the 2nd BS to receive the President of France, Raymond Poincaré, at Spithead on 24 June. All four sisters represented the Royal Navy during the celebrations of the re-opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal, held in conjunction with Kiel Week, in Kiel, Germany, in June 1914. ### First World War Between 17 and 20 July 1914, Centurion took part in a test mobilisation and fleet review as part of the British response to the July Crisis. Arriving in Portland on 25 July, she was ordered to proceed with the rest of the Home Fleet to Scapa Flow four days later to safeguard the fleet from a possible surprise attack by the Imperial German Navy. In August 1914, following the outbreak of the First World War, the Home Fleet was reorganised as the Grand Fleet, and placed under the command of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe. Repeated reports of submarines in Scapa Flow led Jellicoe to conclude that the defences there were inadequate and he ordered that the Grand Fleet be dispersed to other bases until the defences be reinforced. On 16 October the 2nd BS was sent to Loch na Keal on the western coast of Scotland. The squadron departed for gunnery practice off the northern coast of Ireland on the morning of 27 October and her sister Audacious struck a mine, laid a few days earlier by the German auxiliary minelayer SS Berlin. Thinking that the ship had been torpedoed by a submarine, the other dreadnoughts were ordered away from the area, while smaller ships rendered assistance. On the evening of 22 November 1914, the Grand Fleet conducted a fruitless sweep in the southern half of the North Sea; Centurion stood with the main body in support of Vice-Admiral David Beatty's 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. The fleet was back in port in Scapa Flow by 27 November. #### Bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby The Royal Navy's Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans for a German attack on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby in mid-December using the four battlecruisers of Konteradmiral (Rear-Admiral) Franz von Hipper's I Scouting Group. The radio messages did not mention that the High Seas Fleet with fourteen dreadnoughts and eight pre-dreadnoughts would reinforce Hipper. The ships of both sides departed their bases on 15 December, with the British intending to ambush the German ships on their return voyage. They mustered the six dreadnoughts of the 2nd BS, including Centurion and her sisters Ajax and King George V, and stood with the main body in support of Beatty's four battlecruisers. The screening forces of each side blundered into each other during the early morning darkness of 16 December in heavy weather. The Germans got the better of the initial exchange of fire, severely damaging several British destroyers, but von Ingenohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, ordered his ships to turn away, concerned about the possibility of a massed attack by British destroyers in the dawn's light. A series of miscommunications and mistakes by the British allowed Hipper's ships to avoid an engagement with Beatty's forces. #### 1915–1916 Jellicoe's ships, including Centurion, conducted gunnery drills on 10–13 January 1915 west of the Orkneys and the Shetland Islands. On the evening of 23 January, the bulk of the Grand Fleet sailed in support of Beatty's battlecruisers, but Centurion and the rest of the fleet did not participate in the ensuing Battle of Dogger Bank the following day. The ship was refitted at Cromarty, Scotland, from 25 January to 22 February. On 7–10 March, the Grand Fleet conducted a sweep in the northern North Sea, during which it conducted training manoeuvres. Another such cruise took place on 16–19 March. On 11 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a patrol in the central North Sea and returned to port on 14 April; another patrol in the area took place on 17–19 April, followed by gunnery drills off Shetland on 20–21 April. The Grand Fleet conducted sweeps into the central North Sea on 17–19 May and 29–31 May without encountering any German vessels. During 11–14 June, the fleet conducted gunnery practice and battle exercises west of Shetland and more training off Shetland beginning on 11 July. The 2nd BS conducted gunnery practice in the Moray Firth on 2 August and then returned to Scapa Flow. On 2–5 September, the fleet went on another cruise in the northern end of the North Sea and conducted gunnery drills. Throughout the rest of the month, the Grand Fleet conducted numerous training exercises. The ship, together with the majority of the Grand Fleet, conducted another sweep into the North Sea from 13 to 15 October. Almost three weeks later, Centurion participated in another fleet training operation west of Orkney during 2–5 November and repeated the exercise at the beginning of December. The Grand Fleet sortied in response to an attack by German ships on British light forces near Dogger Bank on 10 February 1916, but it was recalled two days later when it became clear that no German ships larger than a destroyer were involved. The fleet departed for a cruise in the North Sea on 26 February; Jellicoe had intended to use the Harwich Force to sweep the Heligoland Bight, but bad weather prevented operations in the southern North Sea. As a result, the operation was confined to the northern end of the sea. Another sweep began on 6 March, but had to be abandoned the following day as the weather grew too severe for the escorting destroyers. On the night of 25 March, Centurion and the rest of the fleet sailed from Scapa Flow to support Beatty's battlecruisers and other light forces raiding the German Zeppelin base at Tondern. By the time the Grand Fleet approached the area on 26 March, the British and German forces had already disengaged and a strong gale threatened the light craft, so the fleet was ordered to return to base. On 21 April, the Grand Fleet conducted a demonstration off Horns Reef to distract the Germans while the Imperial Russian Navy relaid its defensive minefields in the Baltic Sea. The fleet returned to Scapa Flow on 24 April and refuelled before proceeding south in response to intelligence reports that the Germans were about to launch a raid on Lowestoft, but only arrived in the area after the Germans had withdrawn. On 2–4 May, the fleet conducted another demonstration off Horns Reef to keep German attention focused on the North Sea. It is uncertain if Centurion participated in this as she received a brief refit at Invergordon, Scotland, during the month. #### Battle of Jutland In an attempt to lure out and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, the High Seas Fleet, composed of sixteen dreadnoughts, six pre-dreadnoughts and supporting ships, departed the Jade Bight early on the morning of 31 May. The fleet sailed in concert with Hipper's five battlecruisers. Room 40 had intercepted and decrypted German radio traffic containing plans of the operation. In response the Admiralty ordered the Grand Fleet, totalling some 28 dreadnoughts and 9 battlecruisers, to sortie the night before to cut off and destroy the High Seas Fleet. On 31 May, Centurion, under the command of Captain Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, was the third ship from the head of the battle line after deployment. The ship was only lightly engaged at Jutland, firing four salvos (totalling 19 armour-piercing shells) at the battlecruiser SMS Lützow at 19:16 before Orion blocked Centurion's view, failing to hit her target. #### Subsequent activity Centurion was being refitted when the Grand Fleet sortied on 18 August to ambush the High Seas Fleet while it advanced into the southern North Sea, but a series of miscommunications and mistakes prevented Jellicoe from intercepting the German fleet before it returned to port. Two light cruisers were sunk by German U-boats during the operation, prompting Jellicoe to decide to not risk the major units of the fleet south of 55° 30' North due to the prevalence of German submarines and mines. The Admiralty concurred and stipulated that the Grand Fleet would not sortie unless the German fleet was attempting an invasion of Britain or there was a strong possibility it could be forced into an engagement under suitable conditions. In April 1918, the High Seas Fleet again sortied, to attack British convoys to Norway. They enforced strict wireless silence during the operation, which prevented Room 40 cryptanalysts from warning the new commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral Beatty. The British only learned of the operation after an accident aboard the battlecruiser SMS Moltke forced her to break radio silence to inform the German commander of her condition. Beatty then ordered the Grand Fleet to sea to intercept the Germans, but he was not able to reach the High Seas Fleet before it turned back for Germany. The ship was present at Rosyth, Scotland, when the High Seas Fleet surrendered there on 21 November. ### Between the wars By 18 December 1919, Centurion had been assigned to the 4th Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. In March 1920, the ship was temporarily placed in reserve, but was recommissioned on 8 August. During the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War, Centurion participated in an exchange of prisoners of war with the victorious Bolsheviks in Georgia in October–November. After the destroyer Tobago struck a mine near Trebizond on 12 November, she was towed from Constantinople to Malta for permanent repairs by Centurion. In April 1921, the ship was again reduced to reserve, recommissioning on 1 August 1922 before the Chanak Crisis of September. Upon her return home in April 1924, she became the flagship of the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth and participated in a fleet review in Torbay on 26 July. Centurion was transferred to Chatham Dockyard at the end of the year and remained there through 1925. In April 1926, the ship was chosen to replace the elderly semi-dreadnought Agamemnon as the fleet's radio-controlled target ship. The conversion, costing approximately £358,088, began on 14 April at Chatham Dockyard and lasted until July 1927 when she began sea trials. She was laid up in 1931 to cut costs and was decommissioned at Portsmouth on 30 January 1932. The ship was recommissioned in 1933 and was used by the Atlantic Fleet on 1 June. She was used in September for trials with dive bombers, which made 19 hits out of 48 bombs dropped; a much higher rate than level bombing from medium or high altitudes. Centurion was refitted between November 1934 – January 1935 to repair the damage inflicted by the fleet. ### World War II In 1939–1940, the ship continued in her prewar role, although she was briefly considered for rearming in May 1940 as an anti-aircraft cruiser in support of the Norway campaign. She then served as a repair ship at Devonport before being converted into a blockship in April 1941. On 14 April, Winston Churchill suggested that a heavy naval bombardment of the Libyan city of Tripoli should be made by the Mediterranean Fleet and followed up by blocking the port with a battleship and the Admiralty suggested Barham and a cruiser, but Admiral Andrew Cunningham, commander of the Mediterranean Fleet, rejected the idea of using one of his active battleships and suggested Centurion instead. Upon further consideration, he assessed the chance of success as one in ten due to the difficulties of "wedging herself in exactly the right position within point blank range of the enemy guns with enemy dive bombers overhead." The ship was then modified to resemble the battleship Anson, then building at HM Dockyard, Portsmouth. In 1942, Centurion was transferred to the Eastern Fleet and was detached to the Mediterranean Fleet in May–June to escort Convoy M.W. 11 from Alexandria to Malta in June as part of Operation Vigorous. She was assigned in the hopes of deceiving the Axis about the presence of an operational battleship; the Italians seem to have seen through the deception by the time the convoy sailed on 13 June, although the Germans were deceived. Two days later, the ship was slightly damaged by near misses when attacked by nine dive bombers; her Oerlikon cannon shot one of them down. Centurion was scuttled as a breakwater during the Invasion of Normandy off Omaha Beach on 9 June 1944 to protect a Mulberry harbour built to supply the forces ashore.

Liber physiognomiae

13th century work by Michael Scot

Liber physiognomiae (, ; The Book of Physiognomy) is a work by the Scottish mathematician, philosopher, and scholar Michael Scot concerning physiognomy; the work is also the final book of a trilogy known as the Liber introductorius. The Liber physiognomiae itself is divided into three sections, which deal with various concepts like procreation, generation, dream interpretation, and physiognomy proper. The information found in the Liber physiognomiae seems to have been derived largely from Arabic copies of Aristotelian and Pseudo-Aristotelian works. The work was written in the early 13th century for Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor. It was first printed in 1477. Liber physiognomiae would go on to be very popular, and would be reprinted many times. Scot's work had a major influence on physiognomy itself, and heavily affected how it would be approached and applied in the future. ## Background Liber physiognomiae was written by the Scottish mathematician Michael Scot (AD 1175 – c. 1232) and is the final entry in a divination-centered trilogy, collectively titled the Liber introductorius (The Great Introductory Book). This trilogy also includes the Liber quatuor distinctionum (The Book of the Four Distinctions) and the Liber particularis (The Singular Book). ## Contents Liber physiognomiae, as the title suggests, concerns physiognomy, or a technique by which a person's character or personality is deduced based on their outer appearance. Scot refers to this as a "doctrine of salvation" (Phisionomia est doctrina salutis), as it easily allows one to determine if a person is virtuous or evil. The book is relatively short, comprising about sixty octavo pages. The work is usually divided into around one hundred chapters, with the number of chapters and their divisions differing greatly depending on what manuscript is being consulted. While the chapter headings vary across manuscripts, scholars are in agreement that the work is made up of three distinct sections. The first of these deals with the concepts of procreation and generation, largely according to the doctrines of Aristotle and Galen. This section opens by stressing the important influence of the stars before it deals with topics concerning human sexual intercourse. The book then moves onto the topics of conception and birth, and the author then explores the physical signs of pregnancy. The final two chapters of this section deal with animals; the penultimate chapter focuses on "animals in genere et in specie" (i.e. in regards to genus and species), while the final details an idiosyncratic system for differentiating the various types of animals. The second section begins to focus specifically on physiognomy, considering different organs and body regions that index the "character and faculties" of individuals. Early chapters in this portion of the book are written in a medical style, and they detail signs in regards to "temperate and healthy bod[ies] ... repletion of bad humours and excess of blood, cholera, phlegm, and melancholy", before turning to particular sections of the body. Several following chapters discuss dreams and their meanings. Scot argues that dreams are: true or false; represent past, present, or future events; or are entirely meaningless. The second section comes to an end with chapters concerning auguries and sneezes, respectively. The third and final section covers body parts, and explicates what the characteristics of these portions may reveal about the nature of the person in question. The final chapter in this section warns the would-be physiognomist to withhold judgement based solely on one part of their body, but rather to "tend always to a general judgement based on the majority of all [the person's] members." This is because another part which has not been consulted may readily counter a conclusion suggested by a part that has. Scot also argues that a physiognomist should take into account a person's "age, long residence in one place, long social usage, excessive prevalence of the humours of his complexion beyond what is customary, accidental sickness, violence, accidents contrary to nature, and a defect of one of the five natural senses." ## Publication history and popularity The work was written sometime in the early 13th century, and is explicitly dedicated to Frederick II. The scholar James Wood Brown argues that the book was likely written for the soon-to-be Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in AD 1209 on the occasion of his wedding to Constance of Aragon. Brown also adds, "No date suits this publication so well as 1209, and nothing but the urgent desire of Court and people that the marriage should prove fruitful can explain, one might add excuse, some passages of almost fescennine license which it contains." The philosophy and religion scholar Irven Resnick argues that the work was given to Frederick so that "the emperor [might be able] to distinguish, from outward appearances, trustworthy and wise counselors from their opposite numbers." While manuscripts of the Liber quatuor distinctionum and the Liber particularis exist, the Liber physiognomiae was the only book from the Liber introductorius trilogy to be professionally printed, with a first print of the book being released in 1477. Between the date of its official printing and 1660, the work was reprinted eighteen times in many languages; this popularity of the text led Rudolf Hirsch (a book scholar) in 1950 to call the book one of the Middle Ages' "best sellers". The number of reprints and its wide circulation is attributed in large part to the advent of the printing press in 1440. Among the many reprints, there is little evidence of textual changes, which is unique for manuscripts published and then transmitted in the fifteenth century. The Liber physiognomiae was often bundled with other, topically similar texts. For instance, some copies of Scot's book were combined with a work by pseudo-Albertus Magnus entitled De secretis mulierum (Concerning the Secrets of Women), which, according to the Dictionary of National Biography, suggests the opinion of the time was that Scot "dealt with forbidden subjects, or at least subjects better left to medical science." Extracts from the Liber physiognomiae also appear in many early printed versions of Johannes de Ketham's medical treatise Fasciculus Medicinae (although this is not the case for all early copies). Finally, in 1515 a compendium titled Phisionomia Aristotellis, cum commanto Micaelis Scoti was published, which featured the Liber physiognomiae of Scot, alongside physiognomical works by Aristotle and Bartolomeo della Rocca. ## Impact According to Porter, Scot's Liber physiognomiae was influential for three main reasons: First, Scot developed a number of physiognomical aphorisms. Given the popularity of the Liber physiognomiae, Scot's new formulations and ideas, according to Porter, "introduce[d] some fundamental changes into the structure and nature of the physiognomical aphorism." (Effectively, what Scot did was add new meanings to various physical features, making the physiognomical signs discussed in the Liber physiognomiae more complex and, as Porter writes, "polyvalent.") Second, Scot developed a "stronger conceptual link between physiognomy, issues of hereditary, embryology, and generation, which he articulated through astrological ideas of conception." Porter argues that this was done because the book was written by Scot to help Frederick II pick a suitable wife (and thus, by extension, produce a suitable heir). Third and finally, Scot's Liber physiognomiae seems to be the first physiognomical work that takes smell into account. According to Porter, this "totalization" of physiognomy—that is, connecting it to a variety of subjects like reproduction and sense perception—was the most dramatic change that occurred in the way that physiognomy was practiced "as it developed in the period between classical Athens and late fifteenth-century Europe".

Scar (The Lion King)

Major antagonist from The Lion King

Scar is a fictional character and the main antagonist in Disney's The Lion King franchise. He was created by screenwriters Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts and Linda Woolverton, and animated by Andreas Deja. Scar is introduced in the first film as the ruthless, power-hungry younger brother of Mufasa, ruler of the Pride Lands. Originally first in line to Mufasa's throne until he is suddenly replaced by Mufasa's son Simba, Scar decides to lead an army of hyenas in his plot to take the throne by killing Mufasa and exiling Simba, ultimately blaming his brother's death on his nephew. Loosely based on King Claudius, the main antagonist of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Scar's villainy was additionally inspired by Adolf Hitler. As the character's supervising animator, Deja based Scar's appearance on that of original voice actor Jeremy Irons, as well as the actor's performance as Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune. Chiwetel Ejiofor voices the photorealistic version of the character in the CGI remake of the 1994 film with Kelvin Harrison Jr. voicing him in a follow-up film. As a character, Scar has garnered widespread acclaim from film critics, who greeted Irons's vocal performance with equal enthusiasm. However, Scar's violence, dark color palette and allegedly effeminate mannerisms were initially met with mild controversy. Nevertheless, Scar continues to be revered as one of Disney's greatest villains by various media publications, topping The Huffington Post's list and ranking within the top ten of similar lists published by Yahoo! Movies, the Orlando Sentinel, E! and CNN. He has also been ranked among the greatest villains in film history by Digital Spy and Entertainment Weekly. ## Development ### Conception and influences The Lion King was first conceived in 1988. The film was eventually pitched to Disney executives, one of whom was among the first to observe similarities between author Thomas M. Disch's treatment and William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. Although first citing these similarities as initially unintentional, director Rob Minkoff always felt it was essential "to anchor [the film] with something familiar." As directors, Minkoff and Roger Allers aspired to create "an animal picture based in a more natural setting," describing the film as "More true-life adventure than mythical epic." Although not the first Disney film to have been inspired by Shakespeare's work, The Lion King remains the studio's most prominent example due to close parallels between its characters and Hamlet, while both stories revolve around main characters who struggle to come to terms with the reality that they must confront their treacherous uncles and avenge their fathers' deaths. Scar is based on King Claudius. According to Slate, while Claudius is mostly "a second-rate schemer ... consumed by anxiety and guilt," Scar very much "delight[s] in his monstrosity;" both characters are motivated by jealousy. Meanwhile, The Week observed that although both characters ultimately die, Claudius is killed by protagonist Hamlet while Scar dies "at the hand of his former hyena minions, and not Simba himself." Additionally, the character shares similarities with Iago from Shakespeare's play Othello; both antagonists are skilled in exploiting their victims' fears. The original plot of The Lion King revolved around a rivalry between lions and baboons. A baboon himself, Scar was their leader. After this plot was abandoned, Scar was re-written into a rogue lion lacking any blood relation to both Mufasa and Simba. The writers eventually decided that making Scar and Mufasa brothers would make the film more interesting. At one point Scar owned a pet python as a sidekick, but this character was abandoned. Because the film was originally intended to be much more adult-oriented, Scar was to have become infatuated with Simba's childhood friend and eventual love interest Nala, wanting the young lioness to rule alongside him as his queen and consequentially banishing the character when she refuses. This concept was to have been further explored during a reprise of Scar's song "Be Prepared", but both the idea and the song were ultimately completely removed from the film because they were deemed too "creepy". In addition to that, there was a scene in which Scar was originally going to defeat Simba, and throw him off Pride Rock, before they are both engulfed by flames. This ending was cut for being far too dark for young viewers. To further emphasize the character's villainy and tyranny, the writers loosely based Scar on Adolf Hitler. According to The Jerusalem Post, Scar's song "Be Prepared" "features goose-stepping hyenas in a formation reminiscent of a Nuremberg rally." This idea was first suggested by story artist Jorgen Klubien. According to the directors, "[a] patronizing quality" was vital to Scar's role in the film. Minkoff told the Los Angeles Times, "When Scar puts the guilt trip on Simba, that's an intense idea ... probably something that is not typical of the other Disney pictures, in terms of what the villain does." Additionally, Scar serves as a departure from previous Disney villains because they "came off at least as buffoonish as they were sinister". Because Scar is the film's main antagonist, supervising animator Andreas Deja believed that "villains work really well when they're subtle", explaining, "to see them think and scheme and plot is much more interesting than showing them beating somebody up." By blaming Mufasa's death on an innocent Simba, Scar ultimately triggers "a cycle of guilt, flight, denial and redemption, as the hero goes into self-imposed exile before finally reconciling with his father's memory, returning to face his wicked uncle and generally coming of age." The character's first line in The Lion King "essentially summarizes the entire film, providing foreshadowing". It reads, "Life's not fair is it? You see I—well, I ... shall never be King. And you ... shall never see light of another day. (chuckles) Adieu." subtly revealing the plot as well as "the reason why [Scar] decides to murder his own brother." (This line is given minor edits for the 2019 remake: "Life's ... not fair. ... Is it, my little friend? While some are born to feast, others spend their lives in the dark ... begging for scraps. The way I see it, ... you and I are exactly the same: ... we both want to find a way out.") ### Voice #### 1994 incarnation Tim Curry, Malcolm McDowell, Alan Rickman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen were all originally considered for the role of Scar. However, the role was ultimately won by British actor Jeremy Irons because of his classical theater training; the directors had deliberately wanted Scar "to come across as a Shakespearean character." Successfully recruiting Irons for the film was considered an unprecedented achievement for the studio because, at the time, it was rare for a dramatic actor of Irons's caliber to agree to voice an animated character, especially immediately after winning an Academy Award. In fact, the Oscar-winning actor nearly declined because, in fear of jeopardizing his successful career, he was "[h]esitant to jump from a dramatic role to an animated feature." Prior to The Lion King, Irons was famous for starring as several villains and antagonists in live-action films "geared towards adults." Although he had starred in a children's film before, the actor admitted that it did not mirror the success of The Lion King, a film that has since gained notoriety for its cast of well known, award-winning Hollywood actors, which animation historian Jerry Beck referred to in his book The Animated Movie Guide as "the most impressive list of actors ever to grace an animated film." As directors, Minkoff and Allers "work[ed] very closely with the actors to create their performance." Describing Irons as "a gentleman and a brilliant actor," Allers revealed that the actor was constantly offering "extra interpretations of lines which were fantastic." Producer Don Hahn recalled that Irons "really wanted to play with the words and the pacing," specifically referring to a scene in which Scar coaxes Simba onto a rock and tricks the young cub to stay there and await his father's arrival alone, dubbing it "a father and son ... thing." According to Hahn, "The comedy in [Irons's] inflection comes from Scar sounding so disdainful he can barely summon the will to finish the sentence." Irons's physical appearance and mannerisms served as inspiration for Scar's supervising animator Andreas Deja, namely his flicking his paw in disgust. Critics have cited physical similarities between Irons and Scar. In a reference to the role that earned Irons an Academy Award, Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune (1990), the writers gave Scar one of von Bülow's lines, "You have no idea," which is uttered by Irons in a similar tone. According to author Rachel Stein of New Perspectives on Environmental Justice: Gender, Sexuality, and Activism, Irons relies "on his history of playing sexually perverse, socially dangerous male characters to animate his depiction of Scar." On the contrary, Irons revealed to Connect Savannah that the similarities between the voices of Scar and von Bülow were largely unintentional, explaining, "Whatever voice came was arrived at by looking at the initial sketches, and from the freedom the directors gave me to try anything." Irons concluded, "The fact that he may occasionally remind you of Claus, comes from the fact that they both share the same voice box." While recording Scar's song, "Be Prepared," Irons encountered challenges with his singing voice. The actor reportedly "blew out his voice" upon belting the line "you won't get a sniff without me," rendering him incapable of completing the musical number. Consequently, Disney was forced to recruit American voice actor Jim Cummings, who had also been providing the voice of The Lion King's laughing hyena Ed at the time, to impersonate Irons and record the rest of the song. Jim Cummings told The Huffington Post that "[s]tunt singing" is actually something the actor continues to do regularly, having done the same for American actor Russell Means, voice of Chief Powhatan in Disney's Pocahontas (1995). Critics observed that Irons "fakes his way ... through 'Be Prepared' in the grand tradition of talk-singing," drawing similarities between him and American actor James Cagney and English actor Rex Harrison. Deja revealed that, during a recording session, Irons's stomach was grumbling. Deja joked, "The growling sound could be heard in his recording, so we had to record that part of his dialog all over again." As a result of Irons's prominent British accent, critics have compared both the actor and Scar to Shere Khan, the villain of Disney's The Jungle Book (1967), voiced by English actor George Sanders. #### 2019 incarnation Chiwetel Ejiofor was officially chosen on November 1, 2017 for the role of Scar in the CGI live-action remake, The Lion King (2019) directed by Jon Favreau, as he had impressed Favreau after watching his antagonistic performance as Baron Mordo in the Marvel film Doctor Strange (2016). Ejiofor said that "especially with Scar, whether it's a vocal quality that allows for a certain confidence or a certain aggression, to always know that at the end of it you're playing somebody who has the capacity to turn everything on its head in a split second with outrageous acts of violence—that can completely change the temperature of a scene". Favreau said of casting Ejiofor, "[He] is just a fantastic actor, who brings us a bit of the mid-Atlantic cadence and a new take on the character. He brings that feeling of a Shakespearean villain to bear because of his background as an actor. It's wonderful when you have somebody as experienced and seasoned as Chiwetel; he just breathes such wonderful life into this character." When Jeremy Irons was interviewed on Larry King Now on November 30, 2016, he expressed interest in reprising the role. In August 2021, it was announced that Kelvin Harrison Jr. would voice Young Scar in Barry Jenkins' follow-up to the 2019 film. ### Design and characterization The studio originally dismissed The Lion King as a risk because, at the time, it was believed that the greatest films starred people. Concerned about the novelty of the film, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg decided to divide the studio into two separate animated films, The Lion King and Pocahontas, the latter of which was dubbed "the home run" because it was expected to be the more successful of the two projects. Disney's more seasoned and experienced animators gravitated towards Pocahontas, while the studio's newer animators were relegated to working on The Lion King, dubbing themselves the "B-team". However, Allers received Katzenberg's decision positively as an opportunity for "newer animators ... to step up to leadership roles", among them Andreas Deja, who became Scar's supervising animator. Well known for animating several Disney villains, Deja summarized the experience as "more fun than drawing heroes" because "You have so much more to work with in terms of expressions and acting and drawing-wise than you would have with a nice princess or a prince ... where you have to be ever so careful with the draftsmanship." Before becoming involved with The Lion King, Deja had already developed a reputation for animating Disney villains. Prior to animating Scar, Deja had just recently served as the supervising animator of Gaston and Jafar, the villains in Disney's Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, respectively. Initially, Deja had been considering the idea of animating a hero as opposed to a villain for a change, contemplating taking on the task of animating Simba instead. However, Deja soon relented upon learning that Scar would be voiced by Irons, feeling that it would be "fun" to animate a character voiced by such a prestigious actor. Meanwhile, Minkoff and Allers had already had Deja in mind for animating Scar long before the animator approached the directors about the position. The level anthropomorphism used in The Lion King exceeded that of any Disney animated film by which it was preceded. Because Scar is an animal as opposed to a human, Deja and the animators experienced certain challenges and limitations when it came to instilling movement in the character, and thus experimented with manipulating Scar's facial expressions, specifically the way in which he tilts his head condescendingly, raises his eyebrows and lifts his chin. The animals were each drawn with certain human-like attributes and characteristics in order to help convey emotions and tell the story. Meanwhile, the studio recruited live lions for the animators to study while drawing. As the film's villain, Scar is the only lion drawn with claws. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly described Scar as "a figure of both pity and evil, and of treacherous comedy" with "Irons ... filling this devious coward with elegantly witty self-loathing." As an animator, Deja believes that "If you have a great voice to work with, your work is half done." Enjoying the way in which Irons "has a way with words and phrasing," Deja deliberately based much of Scar's appearance on the actor himself, specifically the shape of his mouth and facial expressions. Several of the actor's physical attributes were incorporated into Scar's design, with Irons admitting to recognizing his own baggy eyes in his character. Additionally, Deja studied Irons's performances in the films Reversal of Fortune and Damage for inspiration, while refusing to watch Disney's The Jungle Book while working on The Lion King in order to avoid being influenced by the film's villain—Shere Khan, a tiger. ### Music Scar sings the musical number "Be Prepared," written by songwriters Elton John and Tim Rice, while contemplating Mufasa's death plot and bringing the hyenas along. Described as the film's "darkest" song, a "pompous," "fascistic paean to usurpers," the musical sequence depicts the lion "as a big-cat fascist." According to Business Insider, in addition to loosely basing the character on Adolf Hitler to further emphasize Scar's tyranny, the filmmakers very much directly based his song "Be Prepared," which references Nazism by having Scar's army of hyenas goose step while addressing them from a high ledge—similar to the way in which Hitler would have from a balcony—in the Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will (1935), a film that documents Nazi Germany during 1934. According to Entertainment Weekly, the concept originated from a sketch by story artist Jorgen Klubien, in which Scar was depicted as Hitler. Although hesitant that then-Disney Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg would approve, the filmmakers ultimately decided to pursue it, describing the sequence as a "Triumph of the Will-style mock-Nuremberg rally." The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reviewed, "those goose-stepping hyenas seem a little much in hindsight," while Film School Rejects coined it a "hellish gathering." ## Appearances ### Animated films #### The Lion King (1994) Scar debuted in The Lion King (1994). The scheming younger brother of Mufasa, Scar was next-in-line to take the throne until his nephew Simba, Mufasa's son, was born, replacing him. Determined to seize the throne, Scar devises a plan to kill both Simba and Mufasa. After trapping Simba in a vast gorge, Scar signals his hyena minions, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, to trigger a wildebeest stampede. Although Mufasa saves Simba, the king is weakened, and unable to climb out of the gorge to safety. When Mufasa begs Scar for help, Scar instead digs his claws into his brother's. At that moment, Mufasa realizes too little too late that he is responsible for the stampede and the last thing he hears is him menacingly saying "long live the king!" before sending him to his death below. Convincing Simba that he is to blame for Mufasa's death, Scar advises the prince to run away and never return, then orders the hyenas to kill him. Scar returns to Pride Rock and tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba died in the stampede before becoming king and allowing the hyenas into the Pride Lands. Unbeknownst to Scar, Simba was able to escape the hyenas. Years go by as Scar squanders the kingdom's resources and allows his army of hyenas to wreak havoc upon the Pride Lands, which turn barren. In addition, he forbids anyone from mentioning Mufasa's name in his presence (mainly to try and get out of his shadow). Meanwhile, aided by his friends Nala, Timon and Pumbaa, an adult Simba returns to Pride Rock and witnesses Scar striking his mother Sarabi and confronts his uncle, who then demands that Simba admit to the pride that he killed Mufasa. As he prepares to throw Simba off Pride Rock, Scar whispers to Simba that he was the one who killed Mufasa, confident that the secret will die with Simba. Instead, this angers Simba to the point that he leaps up and tackles Scar to the ground, then forces his uncle to admit his action to the pride, initiating a battle between the pride and Scar's hyenas. Scar tries to escape, but is cornered by Simba on the top of Pride Rock; Scar begs for mercy and even attempts to blame his doings on the hyenas, unaware that they are listening nearby. Simba spares Scar on the condition that Scar permanently departs. Scar briefly pretends to do so, but then attacks Simba and they fight. Scar knocks Simba on his back, but as he lunges to deliver the killing blow, Simba kicks Scar over the cliff ledge to the base of Pride Rock. Scar survives but is cornered by the vengeful hyenas, who eat him alive for betraying them, ending his threat to Simba and his family for good. #### The Lion King II: Simba's Pride Due to his death in The Lion King, Scar's appearance and presence in the sequel The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (1998) is limited. Upon (and despite) Scar's demise, a rivaling pride of lions known as the Outsiders decide to remain loyal to him, led by his most devoted follower, Zira. Zira's son Kovu is chosen to serve as Scar's heir. Simba banishes the Outsiders to the Outlands, and forbids his daughter Kiara from going there. She goes there anyway, however, and meets and befriends Kovu. Meanwhile, Zira trains Kovu to murder Simba, but when he becomes an adult, he has a change of heart as he begins to develop feelings for Kiara. Scar makes a brief cameo appearance in the film during Simba's nightmare. In the nightmare, Simba runs down the cliff where his father died in the stampede, attempting to rescue him. Scar appears, however, and then turns into Kovu and throws Simba off the cliff. Scar makes another cameo appearance in a pool of water, as a reflection, after Kovu is exiled from the Pridelands. #### The Lion King 11⁄2 In The Lion King 11⁄2 (2004), once again, Scar does make some appearances but does not speak. However, once again, his role remains vital, story wise. In the film, Nala, now Simba's queen, mentions Scar when she explains to Timon and Pumbaa why Simba left. Scar makes three cameo appearances at the film's climax. The first cameo is the scene where he backs Simba up against the ledge, right when lightning strikes the base of Pride Rock; the second is during the scene where he admits to murdering Mufasa, before being pinned down by Simba; and the third is when he is defeated by Simba and kicked off the edge of Pride Rock. He survives this fall, but is attacked and killed by the hyenas that he betrayed. ### Animated series #### The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa Despite his death in the original film, Scar makes a few appearances in the spin-off television series The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa. However, likely because of his death, his appearances are limited to brief non-speaking cameos. He is seen in the season 2 episode "Zazu's Off-By-One Day" when Zazu cleans out his trash can in search for the jungle inspector, and the animated wraparound segment in the Around the World with Timon & Pumbaa international video when Timon drags him to try to restore Pumbaa's lost memories. #### The Lion Guard Scar is portrayed in paintings throughout season 1 of The Lion Guard television series, which explains some of his backstory. When Scar was younger—as per tradition to all second born children of the current reigning "Lion King"—he led the Lion Guard who protected The Pride Lands and defended "The Circle of Life" from all enemies before his great-nephew Kion led the Guard. Like Kion, Scar was also gifted with The Roar of the Elders, which causes the lions of the Pride Lands' past to roar with the user. However, the power went to Scar's head and he vainly believed that with this power, he should be the king instead of Mufasa, but when his fellow Lion Guard members refused to aid him in his plan to dethrone Mufasa, Scar furiously destroyed them with the Roar. As a result, Scar lost the Roar forever, as it is only meant to be used for good, not evil. Scar appears as a fiery spirit in a volcano in season 2 (voiced by David Oyelowo) starting in the one-hour-long special The Rise of Scar, when Kion unknowingly summons him after using the Roar of the Elders in anger when Janja the hyena provokes him. After being summoned, Scar conspires with Janja and the other animals in the Outlands to take over the Pride Lands and defeat the new Lion Guard and Simba, who were initially unaware that Scar had returned. Later in the season, the Lion Guard finds out that Scar has returned while they are in the Outlands getting volcanic ash needed to cure Simba from a scorpion sting. Upon returning to the Pride Lands, Kion acknowledges to his team that they have a tough fight ahead, but remains confident that they will be able to defeat Scar. Scar's army begins sacking various locations in the Pride Lands, causing great unrest, until the Lion Guard trains the residents of the Pride Lands into a militia capable of fending off the Outlanders. In the hour-long season 3 special Battle for the Pride Lands, Scar battles the Lion Guard, attempting to burn down Pride Rock, as well as kill Janja and his clan along with them for being tempted to defect to Jasiri's clan. At the end of the special, Kion defeats Scar by summoning the Great Kings of the Past, to bring punishment onto Scar for his crimes, which results in his destruction, freeing the Pride Lands and the Outlands from his tyranny forever. In flashback in Battle for the Pride Lands, it is revealed that an adolescent Scar met a rogue lion who offered his help in overthrowing Mufasa, but the rogue's cobra companion bit Scar on the eye (leaving a scar) and poisoned him, which gradually worsened Scar's jealousy and brought out his darker instincts. Scar killed the rogue lion and his cobra, and was given the nickname "Scar" by Mufasa who was claimed to be apathetic to Scar's plight. Scar then adopted the nickname and began plotting to personally kill his brother. This all motivates Scar to give Kion the same fate, instructing the cobra Ushari to mark Kion in the same manner; much of season 3 revolves around the results of this. ### Broadway musical The success of The Lion King spawned a Broadway musical based on the film, directed by Julie Taymor with a book written by The Lion King co-director Roger Allers and screenwriter Irene Mecchi. American actor John Vickery originated the role of Scar. In one scene in the musical, Scar, during the song "The Madness of King Scar", tries to seduce a young adult Nala and make her his queen and mother of his cubs. Nala, however, rejects Scar's advances and leaves Pride Rock. ### The Lion King (2019 remake) In the photo-realistic computer-animated remake, Scar is described by his voice actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as more "psychologically possessed" and "brutalized" than in the original film. Ejiofor also said that "[Scar and Mufasa's] relationship is completely destroyed and brutalized by Scar's way of thinking. He's possessed with this disease of his own ego and his own want." Among the changes, Scar is stated to have challenged Mufasa in the past and lost (it is implied he got his scar in the fight), and that both brothers courted Sarabi, who chose Mufasa. He is also not allied with the hyenas from the very beginning and has to earn their trust. During his reign, Scar takes a more active role in hunting alongside the pack of hyenas, and is also seen trying to force Sarabi, whom he still lusts for, to become his mate and queen. He restricts every conversation about his deceased brother rather than banning his name. His scar appears black instead of pink as in the original film and his general appearance is strikingly similar to that of an Asiatic lion, having a noticeably thinner mane and lighter physique. During the climax, when he attempts to force Simba off Pride Rock, Scar makes the mistake of admitting to remember Mufasa's final moment, which exposes the truth to the lionesses, as he previously claimed that he was very late to rescue him at the gorge. As in the original film, Scar attempts to escape while the hyenas fight the lionesses, but is pursued by Simba to a ledge near the top of Pride Rock. Cornered, Scar begs for mercy and attempts to frame the hyenas for his crimes, denouncing them as "revolting scavengers", unaware that they are listening nearby. Simba refuses to believe Scar's lies, but spares his life on the condition that he leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar refuses and attacks Simba, who throws him off the cliff after a brief fight. Scar survives the fall, but is soon surrounded and attacked by the vengeful hyenas. In a minor change to the original ending, Scar initially fights back against the hyenas, but is quickly overpowered and eaten alive, ending his reign of terror for good. ### Other #### Books #### A Tale of Two Brothers Scar makes a few appearances in Six New Adventures, a book series that was sequel to the original Lion King. Most prominently, he is the antagonist in A Tale of Two Brothers. In the story, Simba breaks a promise to Kopa, his son, and Rafiki warns against this, using Scar's relationship with his own father, Ahadi, as an example why this was wrong. Feeling Mufasa is the favored child, Scar tries to make him look foolish by pitting him against a Buffalo named Boma. However, the plan fails and Scar, then named Taka, comes away with his namesake as a 'mark of shame'. #### The Circle of Ter-Roar Scar is the primary antagonist in the seventh book of the Disney Chills series titled The Circle of Ter-Roar, written by author Jennifer Brody under the name of Vera Strange. The book was published on August 1, 2023. Twelve-year-old Silas is a scaredy cat. Everything from an unexpected door slam to someone coughing in class scares him, and the other students waste no time in ruthlessly reminding him of it. So when his family unexpectedly inherits a safari-themed summer camp in Arizona, he is both terrified, and thrilled, at the prospect of the cross-country move. Hakuna matata is the theme of Camp Pride Rock that was the pride and joy of Silas's Aunt Scarlet. But when she suddenly passes away and gives all ownership to her brother, Silas's father, they find upon arrival that the camp isn't in the shape they thought it would be. And deep inside Silas's closet is an old, mysterious trunk. When he is finally able to unlock it, he finds the spirit of Camp Pride Rock—the pelt of an old lion named Scar. Once he unlocks the trunk, Silas begins to think that things are looking up for the dilapidated camp and for his family, until a terrifying accident and a series of scary animal encounters immediately switches his thought process. The story deals with the themes of cowardice, child neglect and sibling rivalry. #### Video games The character appears in the 1994 video game The Lion King. According to AllGame, Scar appears towards the end of video game as Simba finally "must defeat his Uncle Scar" and "stop Scar and reclaim what is rightfully his." Scar plays a similar role in the video game The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure (2000); Simba's climactic "battle with Scar concludes the first six levels of the game." According to IGN, the video game features the voices of the film's cast, including Jeremy Irons as Scar. Scar, voiced by James Horan, appears as a non-player character in Disney's Extreme Skate Adventure (2003) and Kingdom Hearts II as a villain who ultimately transforms into a Heartless as a result of the character's own "hatred and jealousy." Scar is a payable character to unlock for a limited time in Disney Magic Kingdoms. #### Cameos Scar makes a brief cameo in Disney's later film Hercules in the form of a limp lion-skin coat worn by Hercules, parodying the Nemean lion. This is also likely a reference to Zazu's remark in the first film that Scar would "make a very handsome throw rug." Scar's supervising animator Andreas Deja also served as the supervising animator of Hercules. Like other The Lion King characters, Scar has several appearances in the television series House of Mouse, as one of the guests in the titular club. In The Simpsons short Plusaversary, Scar appears as one of the attendees at the party in Moe's Tavern. In another The Simpsons short, Welcome to the Club, Scar appears along with other Disney villains trying to convince Lisa Simpson how fun it is to be a villain. ## Reception ### Critical response Scar has garnered widespread acclaim from film critics, some of whom praised him as a better character than Simba. Author Peter M. Nichols wrote in his book New York Times Essential Library: Children's Movies: A Critic's Guide to the Best Films Available on Video and DVD that Scar "is the most interesting character in the film," describing Simba and Mufasa "bores in comparison." Janet Maslin of The New York Times called Scar a "delectably wicked" villain. Maslin went on to praise Irons's voice acting, writing that the actor "slithers through the story in grandiose high style, with a green-eyed malevolence that is one of film's chief delights." Leah Rozen of People described Scar as "a flawless realization of Irons's special talent." Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune lauded Scar as the film's "best character," jokingly describing him as "Irons' Claus von Bulow with fur." Similarly, ComingSoon.net's Joshua Starnes hailed Scar as "the best part of the film." Praising both Scar and Irons's acting, Starnes continued, "He switches so quickly and easily from campy to deadly its like a showcase for how to do an over-the-top villain right." Concluding that "Villains are often the most memorable characters in a Disney animated film," Roger Ebert described Scar "one of the great ones." James Berardinelli of ReelViews reviewed, "Gone is the buffoonery that has marked the recent trio of Ursula, Gaston, and Jafar," writing, "Scar is a sinister figure, given to acid remarks and cunning villainy." Berardinelli concluded, "The cold-hearted manner in which he causes Mufasa's death lets us know that this is not a lion to be trifled with." > "Simba is also influenced by his delectably wicked uncle, Scar (Jeremy Irons). Scar arranges Mufasa's disturbing on-screen death in a manner that both banishes Simba to the wilderness and raises questions about whether this film really warranted a G rating ... For the grown-ups, there is Mr. Irons, who has been as devilishly well captured by Disney's graphic artists (Scar's supervising animator: Andreas Deja) as Robin Williams was in Aladdin. Bored, wicked and royally sarcastic, Mr. Irons's Scar slithers through the story in grandiose high style, with a green-eyed malevolence that is one of film's chief delights. 'Oh, and just between us, you might want to work on that little roar of yours, hmm?' he purrs to Simba, while purporting to be a mentor to his young nephew. Scar, who also gives a reprise of Mr. Irons's best-known line from Reversal of Fortune, may not be much of a father figure, but he's certainly great fun." A film that features the voices of several well-known A-list actors, namely Irons as Scar, Matthew Broderick as Simba, James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Nathan Lane as Timon, and Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi, The Lion King has since gone on to be acclaimed as "one of the most impressive arrays of voice talents ever utilized in an animated film." Critics have repeatedly singled out Irons's performance, praising it extensively: Cindy White of IGN called Irons's performance "deliciously smarmy," while Andy Patrizio of IGN wrote that Irons voices Scar "in perfect Shakespearean villain mode." Rolling Stone's Peter Travers hailed Irons for "deliver[ing] a triumphantly witty vocal performance that ranks with Robin Williams' in Aladdin." Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle commended Disney for "nail[ing] the voice talents," specifically Irons. The Philadelphia Daily News' Bill Wedo described Irons's voice as "silken," while Graham Young of the Birmingham Mail hailed the actor's performance as "magnificent." Radio Times' Tom Hutchinson wrote, "Jeremy Irons [is] a vocal standout as the evil uncle Scar." Annette Basile of Filmink echoed Hutchinson's statement, writing that Scar is "voiced with relish by stand-out Jeremy Irons." The Guardian's Philip French opined, "Jeremy Irons is excellent as the suavely villainous lion Scar." David Sterritt of The Christian Science Monitor exalted Irons's acting, describing him as "positively brilliant." Also hailing the film's cast as "incredible," Desson Howe of The Washington Post highlighted Irons as a "standout." Praising the film for successfully combining "grand-opera melodrama and low-comedy hi-jinks," the Orlando Sentinel's Jay Boyar concluded that "One reason they work so well together is that even most of the serious sections contain an undercurrent of humor, provided ... by the deliciously droll voice-performance of Jeremy Irons as Scar." Mathew DeKinder of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch felt that Irons successfully "handle[s] all of the dramatic heavy lifting." Even film critics who generally disliked the film tended to enjoy Scar's characterization and Irons's performance. Terrence Rafferty of The New Yorker wrote, "Among the celebrity voices on the soundtrack, two performances stand out," namely, "Jeremy Irons, as the villainous lion Scar" who "does an elegant, funny George Sanders impersonation." (Sanders himself had voiced Shere Khan for Disney in their 1967 version of The Jungle Book). Stephen Hunter of The Baltimore Sun described Irons's voice as "plummy-rich with rancid irony." Television Without Pity's Ethan Alter admitted to enjoying Scar, praising the character as "a fantastic villain and easily the most fully realized of the film's characters, thanks both to Jeremy Irons's marvelously wicked vocal performance and some clever character flourishes on behalf of the animators." David Denby of New York, who otherwise criticized the film, felt that "Irons ... sounds like he's having a better time than he's ever had in movies before." In a rare lukewarm review, Anthony Quinn of The Independent felt that Irons's performance was too campy: "more Liberace than George Sanders." Ejiofor's characterization of Scar, while constantly compared with the original, is still generally well received. Renaldo Matadeen from CBR Exclusives praised Scar's remake incarnation as being more frightening than the original for having more motives in his action instead of a simple jealousy and how Scar is more active in leading the hyenas. Similarly, Ejiofor's performance as Scar is also praised. Owen Gleiberman from Variety praised Ejiofor's voice acting, commenting that his Scar raises the film's dramatic stakes, upping the ante on what Jeremy Irons did as Scar in the 1994 version. Scott Mendelson from Forbes comments that while he prefers Jeremy Irons's Scar, he still praised Ejiofor's performance for making Scar excellent and nuanced. ### Accolades and legacy According to IGN, Scar, Simba and Mufasa have since become "household names thanks to the [film's] enormous popularity ... but back in 1994 who could have predicted that these characters would enter the lexicon of Disney's most popular creations?" Scar is considered to be among Disney's greatest villains. Desmond Ryan of The Philadelphia Inquirer reviewed Scar as "the most vivid villain in Disney features in generations." On a broader scale, Scar is often revered as one of the greatest animated villains of all time. Entertainment Weekly included the character in the article "10 Over-the-top Animated Movie Villains", explaining, "you could only expect over-the-top when you pair such a grasping, conniving character with Jeremy Irons' seductive voice." Likewise, Digital Spy's Alex Fletcher wrote of Scar in his article "Who is Disney's greatest-ever villain?" that "The scene in which he lets Mufasa ... fall into a stampede of wildebeests left lasting emotional trauma on an entire generation." The Huffington Post ranked Scar first in its "Definitive Ranking of 25 Classic Disney Villains" countdown. Similarly, BuzzFeed also ranked Scar first in the website's "Definitive Ranking Of The Top 20 Disney Villains" list, with author Javi Moreno accusing the character of removing "the innocence of an entire generation." Scar also topped About.com's "Top 10 Disney Villains" countdown; author David Nusair concluded, "There are few figures within Disney's body of work that are as deliciously reprehensible and vile as Scar ... heightened by Jeremy Irons' gloriously smug voice work." Nusair also included Irons among the "Top 5 Celebrity Voice Performances in Animated Films", acknowledging the fact that although the actor "has played a lot of villains over the course of his career ... none have had the lasting impact as Scar from The Lion King." The Orlando Sentinel ranked Scar the "sixth-greatest Disney villain of all time". Similarly, Babble.com also placed the character at number six. Included in the website's "12 most famous Disney villains from worst to best" countdown, Yahoo! Movies ranked Scar second best, while Moviefone ranked the character sixth. E! ranked Scar fifth, with author John Boone writing that the character "plotted one of the most painful deaths in Disney history, so you know he'll never be forgotten." Animation World Network ranked Scar the sixth-best animated villain. CNN considers Scar one of "Disney's scariest characters." While ranking the character fifth, The Stanford Daily wrote, "From his habit of sadistically toying with his prey to his dumb hyena coven to the way he leads the kingdom of Pride Rock into a period of starvation and sorrow, he's a backstabbing dictator of an uncle." Richard Crouse of Metro cited Scar's "Long live the King" as the character's "most evil line". Additionally, "Be Prepared" is often revered as one of the greatest Disney villain songs. Official Disney Blogs wrote that the song, with its "hyena backup singers, and the best bone-rattling percussion of all the villains' songs," Scar proves himself "an expert crooner of villainous plots." Aside from Disney and animation, Scar is often revered as one of the greatest movie villains of all time. Digital Spy featured the character who, according to author Simon Reynolds, "underlined the sheer blackness of his heart by ruthlessly killing Simba's father," among the "25 greatest movie villains". Similarly, in 2012, Entertainment Weekly ranked the character the "twenty-fifth-most vile movie villain" ever, while Total Film ranked Scar sixty-seventh in 2014. To-date, Deja remains best known for animating several of Disney's most famous villains, admitting to preferring animating villains over heroes. However, after The Lion King, Deja finally decided to take a break from animating villains in order to avoid repeating himself, subsequently refusing to animate villain Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) in favor of working on Hercules from Hercules (1997), along with Mickey Mouse in the animated short Runaway Brain (1995). Comparing Scar to other villains that he has played, Irons said that he "measures very highly," having "charm," "Machiavellian qualities" and being "iconic in some of the things he says." ### Criticism and controversy Scar became the first Disney villain to successfully explicitly murder someone. Like Disney's Bambi before it, The Lion King—dubbed the studio's "darkest" film at the time of its release—was unprecedented in terms of its serious themes, namely guilt, murder, treachery, revenge and death, specifically the on-screen assassination of one of the film's heroes. According to IGN, "The film's story concepts of morality and mortality ... was new for Disney," with The Washington Post predicting that "the death of the heroic Mufasa will be the most widely debated aspect of The Lion King, with people taking sides as to whether such things are good or bad for kids just as they did over the killing of Bambi's mother." Similarly, Variety opined, "a generation that remembers the death of Bambi's mother as traumatizing should bear that experience in mind when deciding who goes to The Lion King." Film critics and parents alike expressed concern that Scar's violent ways would frighten and disturb younger viewers. Referring to Scar murdering Mufasa, The New York Times questioned "whether this film really warranted a G rating." Critics also cautioned Scar's death; Movieline warned audiences that the film "shows a fairy tale's dark sense of justice," for example when "Scar was eaten by his hyena allies after betraying them." The Los Angeles Times warned that "The on-screen death of Mufasa and a violent battle at the finale may disturb small children," echoed by The Philadelphia Inquirer. However, film critics also felt that Disney's treatment of Scar was at times too light-hearted and comedic, with the Deseret News complaining, "a climactic battle between Simba and his evil Uncle Scar ... is [a] very bad choice near the end, as Simba and Scar battle in slow motion, a serious moment that seems unintentionally comic." According to The Seattle Times, "Some critics have complained that the movie is too funny and good-natured to accommodate the rather grim story it's telling." Considered "an odd mix of deadly seriousness and slapstick humor ... Simba fights Scar to the death" while "intercut with ... Poomba [sic] ... doing a parody of Travis Bickel. [sic]" Although universally acclaimed, Scar has sparked considerable controversy regarding the character's appearance and personality, specifically his darker-colored fur and alleged sexuality. The general public, however, appears to have remained largely oblivious to such concerns according to David Parkinson, author of The Rough Guide to Film Musicals. According to The Washington Post, a Detroit Free Press columnist felt that "Scar clearly is meant to represent an evil African American because 'while Simba's mane is gloriously red, Scar's is, of course, black." Meanwhile, Scar's mannerisms and voice which, according to Nightmare on Main Street: Angels, Sadomasochism, and the Culture of Gothic's author Mark Edmundson, resemble "a cultivated, world-weary, gay man," has been deemed homophobic by some commentators because, according to The Independent, "the arch-villain's gestures are effeminate" while, in addition to the film being "full of stereotypes," the character "speaks in supposed gay cliches." Susan Mackey-Kallis, author of The Hero and the Perennial Journey Home in American Film, observed that Scar is "more effeminate [and] less brawny ... than" both Mufasa and Simba. Additionally, "Even though [Scar] would be expected to mate with one of the lioness, he is never seen intimated by any." These allegations are inconsistent with the facts about real lions: dark manes indicate higher testosterone levels, and experiments show that male lions accordingly find dark-maned models more intimidating while lionesses find them more attractive. Slant Magazine defended the studio, explaining that Scar's black mane is simply an example of "the animators' elementary attempts to color-code evil for the film's target audience." Similarly, author Edward Schiappa wrote in his book Beyond Representational Correctness: Rethinking Criticism of Popular Media that Scar's voice was simply meant "to convey the sort of upper-class snobbishness evinced by George Sanders' performance as Shere Khan in The Jungle Book." ## See also - Queer coding

Electromagnetic articulography

Method to measure position of mouth parts

Electromagnetic articulography (EMA) is a method of measuring the position of parts of the mouth. EMA uses sensor coils placed on the tongue and other parts of the mouth to measure their position and movement over time during speech and swallowing. Induction coils around the head produce an electromagnetic field that creates, or induces, a current in the sensors in the mouth. Because the current induced is inversely proportional to the cube of the distance, a computer is able to analyse the current produced and determine the sensor coil's location in space. EMA is used in linguistics and speech pathology to study articulation and in medicine to study oropharyngeal dysphagia. Other methods have been used to study articulation and ingestion with tradeoffs in the kind and amount of data available. Palatography allows the study of articulations that make contact with the palate such as some lingual consonants, but unlike EMA, palatographs cannot provide data on sounds which do not make contact such as vowels. Fluoroscopy and X-ray microbeam allow the investigation of non-contact movements of the mouth like EMA, but expose subjects to ionizing radiation which limits the amount of data that can be collected from a given participant. ## Principles of operation The ability to observe the movements of articulators has been of great importance to the study of phonetics in order to understand the way sounds are produced. Electromagnetic articulography uses the principle of electromagnetic induction to measure the position and movement of various points in and around the mouth. A helmet containing electromagnetic transmitters creates a variable magnetic field by running currents through the transmitters at different frequencies. Sensor coils placed midsagittally in the mouth produce current as they move through the magnetic field inversely proportional to the cube of the distance from the transmitters. The current induced alternates at the same frequency as the transmitter coil and the composite signal can be separated out to determine the distance from each individual coil, thus determining the position of the sensor in space. In two-dimensional articulography, transmitter coils are placed in an equilateral triangle along the midsagittal plane at the forehead, chin, and neck. Because of the geometric orientation of the transmitter coils, accurate readings are able to be taken as long as the sensor coils placed on the tongue stay within about a centimeter of the midsagittal plane and are not angled at more than 30 degrees. Articulographs able to measure in three dimensions use six transmitter coils organized in a spherical configuration. The transmitters are arranged so that the axis of a sensor coil is never perpendicular to more than three transmitters. Through the transmitter configuration and ability to measure in multiple dimensions, three-dimensional articulographs are able to make measurements outside of the midsagittal plane. 2D articulographs require restrictive headmounts to ensure that the subject's head does not move off the plane of measurement. Because 3D articulographs are able to measure outside of the midsagittal plane, a less restrictive headmount is able to be used. ### Development of two and three dimensional sensors Thomas Hixon was the first to describe the use of electromagnetic principles to measure articulation. In his letter to the editor, published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, he described a setup using two sensor coils and one generator coil. The sensor coils, attached to the forehead and back of the neck, would remain stationary while the generator coil, attached to the jaw, would move creating variable currents in the sensor coils. These currents could then be used to determine the distance in two dimensions. Early EMA systems like Hixon's had problems with accounting for tilting of the tongue during use as tilting of the sensor coils causes changes in the induced current that can skew data. In 1987, Paul Schönle et al. published an improved system that used three transmitter coils (analogous to Hixon's generator coil) and computer software to triangulate the position of sensor coils and account for tilt. However modern two-dimensional systems are still unable to compensate for tilting of sensors past 30 degrees and measurement is distorted if sensor coils are moved off the centerline of the mouth. In 1993, Andreas Zierdt published a description of an articulograph that would be able to measure movement in three dimensions, though three dimensional articulographs have only been commercially available since around 2009. Zierdt's conceptualization placed six transmitter coils equidistant from each other. Because sensor coils are dipoles, when they are perpendicular to a transmitter coil the current induced is zero, so Zierdt angled the transmitter coils so that for any given rotation of a sensor coil, it was not perpendicular to more than three transmitter coils allowing for at least three transmitter coils to triangulate the position of the sensor. ## Effect on subjects As sensor coils are placed on the tongue of the subject, articulation may be affected depending on the placement of the coils, but no comparative analysis has shown whether articulation is altered because of the coils. The coils are about 3 mm in size and are not considered to be a particularly large source of error for measurements. Some researchers have found that subjects are irritated by sensor coils placed on the tip of the tongue which can lead to disturbed articulation. Similarly, the wires attached to the sensor coils can inhibit articulation if not run out the side of the mouth. It has not been shown that long term exposure to electromagnetic fields is harmful to human health, but it is recommended to avoid subjects who are pregnant or who utilize pacemakers. Guidelines place the limit for safe continuous exposure between 100 μT and 200 μT. The field and frequencies output by electromagnetic articulographs are comparable to those put out by computer terminals with the maximum measured being about 10 μT. ## Alternative methods Various diagnostic techniques preceded electromagnetic articulography. ### Palatography and electropalatography Palatography and electropalatography both measure contact of the tongue with the palate and thus are unable to measure articulations that do not make contact with the palate such as vowels. Palatography involves the painting of a colored substance onto the tongue which is then transferred onto the palate during articulation. A picture is then taken of the palate to record the location of contact and, if another palatogram is to be taken, the mouth is washed out and the tongue repainted. A particularly low cost method that is often used in fieldwork, it can be difficult to collect large amounts of data. Electropalatography involves the use of a custom-fitted artificial palate containing electrodes that measure contact. While able to record multiple contacts, the artificial palate may obstruct or interfere with articulation, and each subject requires a custom-fitted palate. ### Video fluoroscopy Video fluoroscopy uses X-ray radiation to produce moving pictures of the mouth during articulation or swallowing. It is considered the gold standard in studies of dysphagia because of its ability to take videos of the entire digestive tract during swallowing events. It is often used to study and treat aspiration of food, what parts of the digestive tract are malfunctioning during swallowing, and positions in which swallowing is easiest. Only limited data is able to be collected as sessions are typically limited to three minutes due to the hazards of radiation exposure. and it does not allow for fine grain analysis of tongue movements. ### X-ray microbeam Similar to video fluoroscopy, X-ray microbeam studies use radiation to study movements of articulators. Gold pellets, 2 to 3 mm in size, are placed in and around the mouth similar to the coils used in EMA. Radiation exposure is limited by using computer software to focus narrow X-ray beams, about 6 mm², on the pellets and track them as they move. Like EMA, X-ray microbeam studies are limited by the placement of the pellets. While able to minimize radiation exposure, the system is largely inaccessible as it is unique to the University of Wisconsin.

Hail

Form of solid precipitation

Hail is a form of solid precipitation. It is distinct from ice pellets (American English "sleet"), though the two are often confused. It consists of balls or irregular lumps of ice, each of which is called a hailstone. Ice pellets generally fall in cold weather, while hail growth is greatly inhibited during low surface temperatures. Unlike other forms of water ice precipitation, such as graupel (which is made of rime ice), ice pellets (which are smaller and translucent), and snow (which consists of tiny, delicately crystalline flakes or needles), hailstones usually measure between 5 mm (0.2 in) and 15 cm (6 in) in diameter. The METAR reporting code for hail 5 mm (0.20 in) or greater is GR, while smaller hailstones and graupel are coded GS. Hail is possible within most thunderstorms (as it is produced by cumulonimbus), as well as within 2 nmi (3.7 km) of the parent storm. Hail formation requires environments of strong, upward motion of air within the parent thunderstorm (similar to tornadoes) and lowered heights of the freezing level. In the mid-latitudes, hail forms near the interiors of continents, while, in the tropics, it tends to be confined to high elevations. There are methods available to detect hail-producing thunderstorms using weather satellites and weather radar imagery. Hailstones generally fall at higher speeds as they grow in size, though complicating factors such as melting, friction with air, wind, and interaction with rain and other hailstones can slow their descent through Earth's atmosphere. Severe weather warnings are issued for hail when the stones reach a damaging size, as it can cause serious damage to human-made structures, and, most commonly, farmers' crops. ## Definition Any thunderstorm which produces hail that reaches the ground is known as a hailstorm. An ice crystal with a diameter of \>5 mm (0.20 in) is considered a hailstone. Hailstones can grow to 15 cm (6 in) and weigh more than 0.5 kg (1.1 lb). Unlike ice pellets, hailstones are layered and can be irregular and clumped together. Hail is composed of transparent ice or alternating layers of transparent and translucent ice at least 1 mm (0.039 in) thick, which are deposited upon the hailstone as it travels through the cloud, suspended aloft by air with strong upward motion until its weight overcomes the updraft and falls to the ground. Although the diameter of hail is varied, in the United States, the average observation of damaging hail is between 2.5 cm (0.98 in) and golf-ball-sized 4.4 cm (1.75 in). Stones larger than 2 cm (0.79 in) are usually considered large enough to cause damage. The Meteorological Service of Canada issues severe thunderstorm warnings when hail that size or above is expected. The US National Weather Service has a 2.5 cm (0.98 in) diameter threshold, effective January 2010, an increase over the previous threshold of 0.75 in (1.9 cm) hail. Other countries have different thresholds according to local sensitivity to hail; for instance, grape-growing areas could be adversely impacted by smaller hailstones. Hailstones can be very large or very small, depending on how strong the updraft is: weaker hailstorms produce smaller hailstones than stronger hailstorms (such as supercells), as the more powerful updrafts in a stronger storm can keep larger hailstones aloft. ## Formation Hail forms in strong thunderstorm clouds, particularly those with intense updrafts, high liquid-water content, great vertical extent, large water droplets, and where a good portion of the cloud layer is below freezing (0 °C; 32 °F). These types of strong updrafts can also indicate the presence of a tornado. The growth rate of hailstones is impacted by factors such as higher elevation, lower freezing zones, and wind shear. ### Layer nature of the hailstones Like other precipitation in cumulonimbus clouds, hail begins as water droplets. As the droplets rise and the temperature goes below freezing, they become supercooled water and will freeze on contact with condensation nuclei. A cross-section through a large hailstone shows an onion-like structure. This means that the hailstone is made of thick and translucent layers, alternating with layers that are thin, white and opaque. Former theory suggested that hailstones were subjected to multiple descents and ascents, falling into a zone of humidity and refreezing as they were uplifted. This up and down motion was thought to be responsible for the successive layers of the hailstone. New research, based on theory as well as field study, has shown this is not necessarily true. The storm's updraft, with upwardly directed wind speeds as high as 110 mph (180 km/h), blows the forming hailstones up the cloud. As the hailstone ascends, it passes into areas of the cloud where the concentration of humidity and supercooled water droplets varies. The hailstone's growth rate changes depending on the variation in humidity and supercooled water droplets that it encounters. The accretion rate of these water droplets is another factor in the hailstone's growth. When the hailstone moves into an area with a high concentration of water droplets, it captures the latter and acquires a translucent layer. Should the hailstone move into an area where mostly water vapor is available, it acquires a layer of opaque white ice. Furthermore, the hailstone's speed depends on its position in the cloud's updraft and its mass. This determines the varying thicknesses of the layers of the hailstone. The accretion rate of supercooled water droplets onto the hailstone depends on the relative velocities between these water droplets and the hailstone itself. This means that generally the larger hailstones will form some distance from the stronger updraft, where they can pass more time growing. As the hailstone grows, it releases latent heat, which keeps its exterior in a liquid phase. Because it undergoes "wet growth", the outer layer is sticky (i.e. more adhesive), so a single hailstone may grow by collision with other smaller hailstones, forming a larger entity with an irregular shape. Hail can also undergo "dry growth", in which the latent heat release through freezing is not enough to keep the outer layer in a liquid state. Hail forming in this manner appears opaque due to small air bubbles that become trapped in the stone during rapid freezing. These bubbles coalesce and escape during the "wet growth" mode, and the hailstone is more clear. The mode of growth for a hailstone can change throughout its development, and this can result in distinct layers in a hailstone's cross-section. The hailstone will keep rising in the thunderstorm until its mass can no longer be supported by the updraft. This may take at least 30 minutes, based on the force of the updrafts in the hail-producing thunderstorm, whose top is usually greater than 10 km high. It then falls toward the ground while continuing to grow, based on the same processes, until it leaves the cloud. It will later begin to melt as it passes into air above freezing temperature. Thus, a unique trajectory in the thunderstorm is sufficient to explain the layer-like structure of the hailstone. The only case in which multiple trajectories can be discussed is in a multicellular thunderstorm, where the hailstone may be ejected from the top of the "mother" cell and captured in the updraft of a more intense "daughter" cell. This, however, is an exceptional case. ### Factors favoring hail Hail is most common within continental interiors of the mid-latitudes, as hail formation is considerably more likely when the freezing level is below the altitude of 11,000 ft (3,400 m). Movement of dry air into strong thunderstorms over continents can increase the frequency of hail by promoting evaporational cooling, which lowers the freezing level of thunderstorm clouds, giving hail a larger volume to grow in. Accordingly, hail is less common in the tropics despite a much higher frequency of thunderstorms than in the mid-latitudes because the atmosphere over the tropics tends to be warmer over a much greater altitude. Hail in the tropics occurs mainly at higher elevations. Hail growth becomes vanishingly small when air temperatures fall below −30 °C (−22 °F), as supercooled water droplets become rare at these temperatures. Around thunderstorms, hail is most likely within the cloud at elevations above 20,000 ft (6,100 m). Between 10,000 ft (3,000 m) and 20,000 ft (6,100 m), 60% of hail is still within the thunderstorm, though 40% now lies within the clear air under the anvil. Below 10,000 ft (3,000 m), hail is equally distributed in and around a thunderstorm to a distance of 2 nmi (3.7 km). ## Climatology Hail occurs most frequently within continental interiors at mid-latitudes and is less common in the tropics, despite a much higher frequency of thunderstorms than in the mid-latitudes. Hail is also much more common along mountain ranges because mountains force horizontal winds upwards (known as orographic lifting), thereby intensifying the updrafts within thunderstorms and making hail more likely. The higher elevations also result in there being less time available for hail to melt before reaching the ground. One of the more common regions for large hail is across mountainous northern India, which reported one of the highest hail-related death tolls on record in 1888. China also experiences significant hailstorms. Central Europe and southern Australia also experience a lot of hailstorms. Regions where hailstorms frequently occur are southern and western Germany, northern and eastern France, southern and eastern Benelux, and northern Italy. In southeastern Europe, Croatia and Serbia experience frequent occurrences of hail. Some mediterranean countries register the maximum frequency of hail during the Fall season. In North America, hail is most common in the area where Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming meet, known as "Hail Alley". Hail in this region occurs between the months of March and October during the afternoon and evening hours, with the bulk of the occurrences from May through September. Cheyenne, Wyoming is North America's most hail-prone city with an average of nine to ten hailstorms per season. To the north of this area and also just downwind of the Rocky Mountains is the Hailstorm Alley region of Alberta, which also experiences an increased incidence of significant hail events. ### Short-term detection Weather radar is a very useful tool to detect the presence of hail-producing thunderstorms. However, radar data has to be complemented by a knowledge of current atmospheric conditions which can allow one to determine if the current atmosphere is conducive to hail development. Modern radar scans many angles around the site. Reflectivity values at multiple angles above ground level in a storm are proportional to the precipitation rate at those levels. Summing reflectivities in the Vertically Integrated Liquid or VIL, gives the liquid water content in the cloud. Research shows that hail development in the upper levels of the storm is related to the evolution of VIL. VIL divided by the vertical extent of the storm, called VIL density, has a relationship with hail size, although this varies with atmospheric conditions and therefore is not highly accurate. Traditionally, hail size and probability can be estimated from radar data by computer using algorithms based on this research. Some algorithms include the height of the freezing level to estimate the melting of the hailstone and what would be left on the ground. Certain patterns of reflectivity are important clues for the meteorologist as well. The three body scatter spike is an example. This is the result of energy from the radar hitting hail and being deflected to the ground, where they deflect back to the hail and then to the radar. The energy took more time to go from the hail to the ground and back, as opposed to the energy that went directly from the hail to the radar, and the echo is further away from the radar than the actual location of the hail on the same radial path, forming a cone of weaker reflectivities. More recently, the polarization properties of weather radar returns have been analyzed to differentiate between hail and heavy rain. The use of differential reflectivity ($Z_{dr}$), in combination with horizontal reflectivity ($Z_{h}$) has led to a variety of hail classification algorithms. Visible satellite imagery is beginning to be used to detect hail, but false alarm rates remain high using this method. ## Size and terminal velocity The size of hailstones is best determined by measuring their diameter with a ruler. In the absence of a ruler, hailstone size is often visually estimated by comparing its size to that of known objects, such as coins. Using the objects such as hen's eggs, peas, and marbles for comparing hailstone sizes is imprecise, due to their varied dimensions. The UK organisation, TORRO, also scales for both hailstones and hailstorms. When observed at an airport, METAR code is used within a surface weather observation which relates to the size of the hailstone. Within METAR code, GR is used to indicate larger hail, of a diameter of at least 0.25 in (6.4 mm). GR is derived from the French word grêle. Smaller-sized hail, as well as snow pellets, use the coding of GS, which is short for the French word grésil. Terminal velocity of hail, or the speed at which hail is falling when it strikes the ground, varies. It is estimated that a hailstone of 1 cm (0.39 in) in diameter falls at a rate of 9 m/s (20 mph), while stones the size of 8 cm (3.1 in) in diameter fall at a rate of 48 m/s (110 mph). Hailstone velocity is dependent on the size of the stone, its drag coefficient, the motion of wind it is falling through, collisions with raindrops or other hailstones, and melting as the stones fall through a warmer atmosphere. As hailstones are not perfect spheres, it is difficult to accurately calculate their drag coefficient - and, thus, their speed. ### Size comparisons to objects In the United States, the National Weather Service reports hail size as a comparison to everyday objects. Hailstones larger than 1 inch in diameter are denoted as "severe." ### Hail records Megacryometeors, large rocks of ice that are not associated with thunderstorms, are not officially recognized by the World Meteorological Organization as "hail," which are aggregations of ice associated with thunderstorms, and therefore records of extreme characteristics of megacryometeors are not given as hail records. - Heaviest: 1.02 kg (2.2 lb); Gopalganj District, Bangladesh, 14 April 1986. - Largest diameter officially measured: 7.9 in (20 cm) diameter, 18.622 in (47.3 cm) circumference; Vivian, South Dakota, 23 July 2010. - Largest circumference officially measured: 18.74 in (47.6 cm) circumference, 7.0 in (17.8 cm) diameter; Aurora, Nebraska, 22 June 2003. - Greatest average hail precipitation: Kericho, Kenya experiences hailstorms, on average, 50 days annually. Kericho is close to the equator and the elevation of 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) contributes to it being a hot spot for hail. Kericho reached the world record for 132 days of hail in one year. ## Hazards Hail can cause serious damage, notably to automobiles, aircraft, skylights, glass-roofed structures, livestock, and most commonly, crops. Hail damage to roofs often goes unnoticed until further structural damage is seen, such as leaks or cracks. It is hardest to recognize hail damage on shingled roofs and flat roofs, but all roofs have their own hail damage detection problems. Metal roofs are fairly resistant to hail damage, but may accumulate cosmetic damage in the form of dents and damaged coatings. Hail is one of the most significant thunderstorm hazards to aircraft. When hailstones exceed 0.5 in (13 mm) in diameter, planes can be seriously damaged within seconds. The hailstones accumulating on the ground can also be hazardous to landing aircraft. Hail is a common nuisance to drivers of automobiles, severely denting the vehicle and cracking or even shattering windshields and windows unless parked in a garage or covered with a shielding material. Wheat, corn, soybeans, and tobacco are the most sensitive crops to hail damage. Hail is one of Canada's most expensive hazards. Rarely, massive hailstones have been known to cause concussions or fatal head trauma. Hailstorms have been the cause of costly and deadly events throughout history. One of the earliest known incidents occurred around the 9th century in Roopkund, Uttarakhand, India, where 200 to 600 nomads seem to have died of injuries from hail the size of cricket balls. ## Accumulations Narrow zones where hail accumulates on the ground in association with thunderstorm activity are known as hail streaks or hail swaths, which can be detectable by satellite after the storms pass by. Hailstorms normally last from a few minutes up to 15 minutes in duration. Accumulating hail storms can blanket the ground with over 2 in (5.1 cm) of hail, cause thousands to lose power, and bring down many trees. Flash flooding and mudslides within areas of steep terrain can be a concern with accumulating hail. Depths of up to 18 in (0.46 m) have been reported. A landscape covered in accumulated hail generally resembles one covered in accumulated snow and any significant accumulation of hail has the same restrictive effects as snow accumulation, albeit over a smaller area, on transport and infrastructure. Accumulated hail can also cause flooding by blocking drains, and hail can be carried in the floodwater, turning into a snow-like slush which is deposited at lower elevations. On somewhat rare occasions, a thunderstorm can become stationary or nearly so while prolifically producing hail and significant depths of accumulation do occur; this tends to happen in mountainous areas, such as the July 29, 2010 case of a foot of hail accumulation in Boulder County, Colorado. On June 5, 2015, hail up to four feet deep fell on one city block in Denver, Colorado. The hailstones, described as between the size of bumble bees and ping pong balls, were accompanied by rain and high winds. The hail fell in only the one area, leaving the surrounding area untouched. It fell for one and a half hours between 10:00 pm and 11:30 pm. A meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boulder said, "It's a very interesting phenomenon. We saw the storm stall. It produced copious amounts of hail in one small area. It's a meteorological thing." Tractors used to clear the area filled more than 30 dump truck loads of hail. Research focused on four individual days that accumulated more than 5.9 inches (15 cm) of hail in 30 minutes on the Colorado front range has shown that these events share similar patterns in observed synoptic weather, radar, and lightning characteristics, suggesting the possibility of predicting these events prior to their occurrence. A fundamental problem in continuing research in this area is that, unlike hail diameter, hail depth is not commonly reported. The lack of data leaves researchers and forecasters in the dark when trying to verify operational methods. A cooperative effort between the University of Colorado and the National Weather Service is in progress. The joint project's goal is to enlist the help of the general public to develop a database of hail accumulation depths. ## Suppression and prevention During the Middle Ages, people in Europe used to ring church bells and fire cannons to try to prevent hail, and the subsequent damage to crops. Updated versions of this approach are available as modern hail cannons. Cloud seeding after World War II was done to eliminate the hail threat, particularly across the Soviet Union, where it was claimed a 70–98% reduction in crop damage from hail storms was achieved by deploying silver iodide in clouds using rockets and artillery shells. But these effects have not been replicated in randomized trials conducted in the West. Hail suppression programs have been undertaken by 15 countries between 1965 and 2005. ## See also - Sleet (disambiguation) - Cumulonimbus and aviation

Salon Kitty

Nazi era Berlin brothel

Salon Kitty was a high-class Berlin brothel used by the Nazi intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), for espionage purposes during World War II. Created in the early 1930s, the salon was taken over by SS general Reinhard Heydrich and his subordinate Walter Schellenberg in 1939. The brothel was managed by original owner Kitty Schmidt throughout its entire existence. The plan was to seduce top German dignitaries and foreign visitors, as well as diplomats, with alcohol and women so they would disclose secrets or express their honest opinions on Nazi-related topics and individuals. Notable guests included Heydrich himself, Joseph Dietrich, Galeazzo Ciano and Joseph Goebbels. The building housing the salon was destroyed in an air raid in 1942 and the project quickly lost its importance. Salon Kitty has been the inspiration or subject of many brothels featured in films involving Nazi espionage. ## History In the 1930s, "Salon Kitty" was a high-class brothel at 11 Giesebrechtstrasse in Charlottenburg, a wealthy district of Berlin. Its usual clientele included German dignitaries, foreign diplomats, top industrialists, high-ranking civil servants and senior Nazi Party members. Its madame was Katharina Zammit, better known as Kitty Schmidt, who ran the brothel from its inception. Schmidt had secretly been sending money to British banks with fleeing refugees ever since the Nazis took power in Germany in January 1933. When she eventually tried to leave the country on 28 June 1939, Sicherheitsdienst (SD) agents arrested her at the Dutch border and took her to Gestapo headquarters. Once there she was seen by Walter Schellenberg, who at that time worked in the counter-intelligence department of the SD. He gave her an ultimatum: cooperate with the Nazis or be sent to a concentration camp. Using Salon Kitty for espionage purposes was an idea of Reinhard Heydrich, a leading SS general and police chief within Nazi Germany. Instead of infiltrating the brothel, Schellenberg took it over altogether. The idea was to entertain prominent guests with wine and women, so they would disclose secrets or talk about their real opinions to ensure their support could be relied upon. The nine rooms of the salon were lavishly expanded and renovated to the highest standards of the 1930s. Schellenberg installed covert listening devices in the rooms and converted the basement into a "workshop" where five operators could make transcriptions of conversations from the love-making rooms. For the purpose of espionage, the SS started looking for young women to work in the brothel. In a circular deemed "top secret", Schellenberg asked administrative offices in Berlin for assistance. The requirement profile read: "Wanted are women and girls, who are intelligent, multilingual, nationalistically minded and furthermore man-crazy" (Gesucht werden Frauen und Mädchen, die intelligent, mehrsprachig, nationalistisch gesinnt und ferner mannstoll sind.). Berlin's Sittenpolizei ("vice squad") arrested dozens of Berlin prostitutes and selected the most attractive as potential agents to work at Salon Kitty. Among other things, they were trained to recognize military uniforms, and to glean secrets from innocuous conversation. They were not told about the microphones, but had to make a report after every encounter. The ladies all had their particular attractions and had been trained to satisfy even the discerning customers. Historian Paul Roland further notes that the women who entertained members of the Nazi elite were respected ladies of Berlin's high society who were given no allowances for their "contributions" and were nearly all married to men of good financial means. In March 1940, Schmidt was told to continue business as if nothing had happened, except now she had a special book of twenty additional girls she should only show to certain clients. If a customer used the phrase "I come from Rothenburg", she was instructed to show him the book, allow him to make his decision and call for the girl he had selected. The girl would then spend the night with the guest and depart later. ### Notable guests Salon Kitty became even more popular when selected guests in the military and diplomatic corps were told the "secret codeword" and monitors made thousands of recordings during their visits. One of the customers was Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy, whose forthright opinions about the Führer were not particularly positive. Another visitor, SS General Sepp Dietrich, wanted all the 20 special girls for an all-night orgy, but he revealed no secrets. Additionally, propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels has been marked as a client; he enjoyed "lesbian displays" that were otherwise considered anti-social acts outside of that context. Heydrich also made a number of "inspection tours", although the microphones were turned off on those occasions. British agent Roger Wilson, under his cover identity as Romanian press secretary "Ljubo Kolchev", noticed the microphone wires while there. He became a frequent customer of the salon with a regular girl, and later arranged a wiretap to three cables. After that, British intelligence heard some of the same conversations as the SD. ### Air raid and closing As the war progressed, the clientele of Salon Kitty decreased. In July 1942, the building was demolished during a British air attack and the brothel had to be relocated. Within the year the SD decided to abandon the project and handed the salon back to Schmidt, with the threat that she should keep silent or face retaliation. Madame Schmidt did not talk about the matter even after the war. She died in 1954, at the age of 71, without revealing the identity of any of her former employees. The number of Gestapo recordings from the brothel was estimated by the Stasi (East German Security Service) to be about 25,000. Virtually all of the recordings have since been lost or destroyed due to their post-war unimportance. According to a 2005 article in Die Tageszeitung, the brothel continued to exist after World War II under the management of Schmidt's son and daughter. In the 1990s, it was turned into a home for asylum-seekers, which was closed soon after because of local protest against the residents. ## Media The story of what happened at Salon Kitty first came to light in Walter Schellenberg's memoirs, published in Germany in 1956 under the title The Labyrinth. Peter Norden later expanded the story in his 1973 book Madam Kitty. This book became the basis for the highly controversial 1976 film Salon Kitty, directed by Tinto Brass and starring Helmut Berger as Walter Schellenberg (renamed Helmut Wallenberg) and Ingrid Thulin as Kitty Schmidt (renamed Kitty Kellermann). The 1981 BBC comedy drama Private Schulz, about a German fraudster and petty criminal's unwilling World War II service in the SS, prominently features the salon. In the first episode, Schultz has been given the job of manning a listening post in the brothel's basement and recording the conversations picked up by the hidden microphones. The concept of the Gestapo using a brothel full of spies to find traitors within the Nazi regime has been recycled several times in various European Nazi exploitation films. ## See also - German military brothels in World War II - Prostitution in Germany - Sexual slavery by Germany during World War II

590 Madison Avenue

Office skyscraper in Manhattan, New York

590 Madison Avenue, also known as the IBM Building, is a skyscraper at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Associates the 41-story, 603-foot (184 m)-tall tower was developed for the technology company IBM and built from 1978 to 1983. The building is shaped like an irregular pentagon, with a chamfer cutting diagonally across what would typically be the southwest corner of a rectangular slab. The facade is made of gray-green glass and polished granite, which Barnes intended would give the building the appearance of a prism. The northeast corner of the tower is cantilevered over the main entrance, and there are no setbacks throughout the building's height. Adjacent to 590 Madison Avenue's southwest corner is a privately owned public space covered by a glass structure, which contains chairs, tables, and bamboo trees. From 1938 to 1964, IBM was headquartered at one of the previous structures on the site. Despite relocating its headquarters to a suburb of New York City, IBM retained office space at multiple locations in the city and proposed the current skyscraper to consolidate some of its operations. IBM owned the tower until May 1994, when it sold the building to Edward J. Minskoff and Odyssey Partners. Until the sale, IBM occupied most of the building's space; the firm continues to maintain offices in the building, though most space has been leased to other tenants. ## Site 590 Madison Avenue is in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The rectangular land lot is bounded by Madison Avenue to the east, 57th Street to the north, and 56th Street to the south. The land lot covers approximately 39,162 square feet (3,638.3 m²), with a frontage of 200 feet (61 m) on Madison Avenue and 195 feet (59 m) on both 56th and 57th Streets. The building is on the same city block as Trump Tower and the Tiffany & Co. flagship store to the west. Other nearby buildings include the Corning Glass Building to the southwest, 550 Madison Avenue to the south, Park Avenue Tower and the New York Friars Club to the southeast, 432 Park Avenue to the east, Fuller Building and Four Seasons Hotel New York to the northeast, the LVMH Tower to the north, and the L. P. Hollander Company Building to the northwest. In 1936, the IBM Corporation acquired a 20-story building at 590 Madison Avenue, at the southwest corner of 57th Street. The IBM headquarters opened within that building two years later. IBM acquired additional adjacent lots in 1973. At the time, a pair of buildings designed by Carrère and Hastings occupied part of the site. One of these buildings, at 14 East 57th Street, was designed for art gallery operator Roland Knoedler. The current skyscraper's site was also occupied by an eight-story apartment studio at 12 East 57th Street. At the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 56th Street was a 13-story structure. ## Architecture 590 Madison Avenue was originally owned by IBM and thus called the "IBM Building". 590 Madison Avenue was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Associates. John M. Y. Lee and Armand P. Avakian were the associates-in-charge while Richard Klibschon was the project architect. Antanas Vytuvis was the chief resident architect. In addition, James Ruderman was the structural engineer, LeMessurier Associates was the structural consultant, and Joseph R. Loring & Associates was the mechanical and electrical engineer. Turner Construction was the general contractor. The 41-story building is 603 feet (184 m) tall and contains a pentagonal floor plan. Adjacent to the building on its southwest corner is an enclosed atrium, a privately owned public space covered by a glass structure. As of 2020, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio owns the entire building and holds the land under it. A portion of the land owned by STRS Ohio is leased to The Trump Organization. ### Form The building was designed as a pentagonal wedge, with a large chamfer that cuts into the rectangular massing at the site's southwest corner. According to Barnes, this shape was chosen to highlight the presence of the public atrium, which otherwise would have been overlooked due to its relatively nondescript location in the middle of the block. Barnes believed in the observance of an older New York City zoning law, with the low-rise section of a skyscraper on a narrow street and the high-rise section on a wider street. As Madison Avenue and 57th Street are both wider than 56th Street, the bulk of the building is angled toward the former two streets at the northeast corner of the site. The tower runs along the lot line on 57th Street but is set back 10 feet (3.0 m) from Madison Avenue. The sidewalk, between the curb and the building's exterior wall, is made of green-granite squares measuring 40 by 40 inches (1,000 by 1,000 mm). The presence of the atrium at the southwest corner of the lot, and the fact that the tower only occupies 40 percent of the site, allowed the rest of the building to rise without setbacks. Structurally, 590 Madison Avenue is a pentagon, with columns closely clustered on three sides (the southern and western facades are relatively short). At the time of the IBM Building's completion, many of its contemporaries were International Style designs that used rectangular shapes. Originally, the building was conceived with widely spaced groups of columns, but wind-tunnel tests found that the arrangement lacked rigidity and would cause the building to sway. The building was thus stiffened, with columns being spaced every 14 feet (4.3 m) and with strengthened spandrel beams. The first three floors at the northeast corner of the building are also chamfered. This allows the tower to cantilever over the main entrance at Madison Avenue and 57th Street. The truss above the entrance only supports the weight of about ten stories above it. Most of the stories above the cantilever are instead supported by the other columns around the perimeter, which are strengthened at the base. The cantilever reportedly added \$10 million to the construction costs (equivalent to \$ million in ). The inclusion of the cantilever was in keeping with Barnes's tendency for "symbolic rather than purely structural expression", as author Eric Nash described it. #### Atrium 590 Madison Avenue contains a public atrium, originally known as the Garden Plaza. The atrium is alternatively cited as covering 8,261 square feet (767.5 m²), 10,000 square feet (930 m²), or 11,000 square feet (1,000 m²). It was built under the terms of the 1961 Zoning Resolution, which allowed New York City developers a zoning "bonus" for including open space in front of their buildings, and its presence enabled the addition of 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²), the equivalent of five stories. The atrium is within the chamfer created by cutting off the building's southwest corner. This atrium directly connects to Trump Tower's atrium, connecting west to Fifth Avenue. Combined with the atrium at 550 Madison Avenue, the atrium also creates a continuous corridor between 55th and 57th Streets. Originally, the atrium was meant to provide access to the adjacent Bonwit Teller department store building to the west. In a 2000 study of over five hundred privately owned public spaces across New York City, Jerold Kayden classified the building's atrium as one of fifteen that were "of such high quality that they draw visitors from around the city". Most of the atrium is enclosed by a sawtooth-shaped glass canopy rising 68 feet (21 m). The canopy itself is 16 feet (4.9 m) tall and consists of six ridges. There is an illuminated ceiling above the western part of the atrium, connecting the entrances on 56th and 57th Streets. The atrium was designed to be temperature-controlled, with an air conditioning system cooling or heating the space if the temperature outdoors fell below 32 °F (0 °C) or above 95 °F (35 °C). This keeps the atrium at a similar temperature to climates in Virginia or North Carolina, between 40 and 90 °F (4 and 32 °C). To conserve energy, the windows were double-glazed and tinted. The atrium was originally conceived as a space that was open to the outdoors, but wind tunnel testing showed that doors needed to be added at each end. Zion and Breen were hired to landscape the atrium. Some 300 North Carolina-sourced bamboo trees were arranged in eleven groves, illuminated by lighting from 2 to 7 a.m. each day. The New York Botanical Garden was tasked with maintaining the atrium and operated a shop there. After a renovation in 1995, eight sculptures were installed in the atrium, which was rebranded "The Sculpture Garden at 590 Madison". Eight of the eleven bamboo groves were retained. The atrium contains food and drink kiosks, tables, chairs, and receptacles, and it is also used to display artwork. Below ground level, the atrium was designed with an exhibition space called the Gallery of Science and Art, covering 13,000 square feet (1,200 m²), though this space closed in 1993. #### Sculptures At the southeast corner of the site, on the corner of Madison Avenue and 56th Street, is a steel-and-granite fountain entitled Levitated Mass. The fountain was created by Michael Heizer and dedicated in 1982. It contains an 11-short-ton (9.8-long-ton; 10.0 t) boulder within a frame measuring 25 by 16 feet (7.6 by 4.9 m), surrounded by a ledge with pedestrian seating. The boulder appears to float over running water. To create the fountain, Heizer sheared off the top of a large rock and cut grooves into the surface before setting it on supports hidden within a stainless steel structure. Heizer said of the fountain's name: "I don't use Greek names as titles, or dedicate artworks to my friends. I simply describe what it is." At the northeast corner of the site, underneath the cantilevered main entrance on the corner of Madison Avenue and 57th Street, is a bright red sculpture by Alexander Calder, entitled Saurien. Standing 18 feet (5.5 m) tall, it was completed in 1975. The sculpture's name refers to the French spelling of the word "saurian", which in turn refers to a reptilian clade. The sculpture was installed under the main entrance during a 1995 renovation. ### Facade The building's facade consists of horizontal strips of gray-green glass between spandrel panels of polished granite. The gray-green facade was intended to blend in with the Corning Glass Building as well as 590 Madison Avenue's atrium. About 15,000 slabs of Canadian granite are used on the facade. American sculptor James Rappa was hired to select the granite from the LaCroix quarry in Saint-Sébastien, Estrie, Quebec, and classify it with three grades of quality. Rappa discarded the lowest-quality granite and used the highest-quality material on the lower stories. Barnes had specified the granite be polished because it would help make the building look like a prism. In total, the granite slabs cover around 270,000 square feet (25,000 m²). Each slab has surface dimensions of 3.5 by 5 feet (1.1 by 1.5 m) and is about 3 inches (76 mm) thick. Eight slabs are mounted to a single truss to create a continuous panel generally measuring 7 by 20 feet (2.1 by 6.1 m). At the building's chamfer and each corner, the panels are half as wide. The panels measure 9.5 inches (240 mm) thick in total. The 3-inch-thick granite slabs, at the front of each panel, are mounted to the truss using stainless-steel angles. In case rust developed on the trusses, the rust would not stain the granite. The outside face of each truss, directly behind the granite slabs, contains ducts. The backs of the panels consist of 2 inches (51 mm) of mineral insulation. Each panel is attached to the building's superstructure at six locations. The windows comprise 35 percent of the facade. Each window is double-glazed and consists of a blue-green 0.25-inch (6.4 mm) outer pane and a clear 0.25-inch (6.4 mm) inner pane, separated by a gap of 0.5 inches (13 mm). The double-glazing allows 65 percent of light into the building. Moisture protection for the window frames and granite spandrels was developed concurrently. In case the insulation sealant failed, rainwater could collect at the bottom of each spandrel, where it could flow down the facade's vertical mullions to the bottom of the window. The rainwater could then drain to ground level through a notch used by the building's window cleaning equipment, preventing ice buildup and granite staining. ### Interior The building was designed with 38 floors of offices, an employee cafeteria story, two retail stories, and two mechanical stories. There is also a 78-spot parking garage. 590 Madison Avenue has 1,030,000 square feet (96,000 m²) of floor area and 24 elevators, according to its official specifications. Eighteen of the elevators are for passengers while six are for freight. The elevators are oriented on a diagonal axis in the lobby, being positioned within banks that run from southwest to northeast. The lobby itself is a triple-height space, designed with a direct view of the atrium behind it. Barnes had intended for the lobby to be a continuation of the exterior and, as such, the lobby's floor contains granite pavement. Artworks are also displayed in the lobby. Chermayeff and Geismar Associates were the graphics consultants and Donald Bliss was the lighting consultant. On the upper stories, offices are arranged around the core, though the arrangements are flexible. The office stories have a minimum ceiling height of 9 feet (2.7 m) and some perimeter offices can have a ceiling height of at least 9.5 feet (2.9 m). There is a 3,000-kilowatt (4,000 hp) diesel electricity generator that can provide energy to the building in case of power outages. ## History IBM's headquarters had been at the previous structure at 590 Madison Avenue from 1938 to 1964, when it moved to Armonk, New York, a northern suburb of New York City. IBM kept offices at 590 Madison, but it had decided to move its administrative officials after a successful experiment with opening a suburban office. The next year, it bought a plot at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and 50th Street, next to the old headquarters. ### Development #### Planning By 1969, IBM had hired architect I. M. Pei to draw preliminary plans for a skyscraper replacing its old Madison Avenue headquarters. The company rejected Pei's plans for unknown reasons. IBM acquired several other adjacent buildings and unsuccessfully attempted to acquire the air rights over the Tiffany & Co. flagship store and the Bonwit Teller store to the west. In 1973, IBM completed the acquisition of plots adjacent to its old 590 Madison Avenue headquarters. This gave the company a plot of 54,000 square feet (5,000 m²), of which 40 percent could be used for the development of a skyscraper with up to 45 floors and 972,000 square feet (90,300 m²). Barnes had been hired to make "preliminary plans" for the skyscraper. During the early design stages, IBM ran computer models to determine how to minimize the building's energy usage. By December 1976, Barnes had developed plans for a five-sided skyscraper with 830,000 square feet (77,000 m²) of space across 38 stories. The building would allow IBM to consolidate many of its offices across the city, which at the time comprised 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m²) at 23 locations. IBM already occupied most of the space in the six existing structures on the site. To accommodate its operations, IBM had to lease space at several other buildings across the New York metropolitan area. The skyscraper would be able to fit eight of IBM's twelve Manhattan offices and would also contain exhibition space at the rear. Barnes contemplated whether to make the facade out of granite, glass, aluminum, or steel. Barnes decided to use gray-green granite, so his design team traveled to several quarries across the world, including in Canada, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Africa. Ultimately, Barnes chose a sample of consistently mottled Canadian granite quarried in Quebec, eschewing a sample quarried from upstate New York with a more random pattern. #### Construction The original building was demolished starting in 1977. A New York Times editorial in January 1978 praised the IBM project, as well as the AT&T Building being constructed simultaneously at 550 Madison Avenue, as a "declaration of corporate commitment" to New York City, which had then recently rebounded from its fiscal crisis. Plans for the building had been changed by July 1978, when the site had been cleared. Work was about to proceed on the skyscraper, which had been revised to 43 stories (including the concourse and mezzanine at the building's base). John Burgee, architect of the neighboring AT&T Building, said at the time that he had designed the AT&T project with a pink facade to complement the planned IBM Building's gray-green facade. The Associated Press described the IBM Building as an extension of a "building boom" in the city that also included the AT&T Building and the Grand Hyatt New York. Turner Construction was selected the same month as the construction contractor. Because the IBM and AT&T buildings were simultaneously under construction on 56th Street, access to that street was limited. As a result, trucks delivering materials for both buildings would be backed up for several blocks along Madison Avenue. The first of the building's granite facade slabs was delivered in early 1981. After being quarried in Quebec, the granite was sent to Hohmann & Barnard's facility in Hauppauge, New York, on Long Island. Hohmann & Bernard carved the granite into slabs, and ten truckloads of four slabs each were sent to the worksite every week. At the construction site, the panels were assembled and a sealant was applied. By 1982, the atrium was being furnished. ### Opening and early years The IBM Building was dedicated on October 4, 1983. The first exhibition in the building's public gallery, "Innovation in IBM Computer Technology", opened that month, showing devices made by the company over the previous five decades. From the outset, IBM owned 590 Madison Avenue and occupied all of the space within the building. Jerold Kayden wrote that the building's public atrium became "New York City's peerless privately owned public space". Initially, the bamboo plants in the IBM atrium were not well maintained, as the bamboo plants died within six months of being planted. To solve this issue, horticulturalists rotated the plants every six months, which IBM supported up until the company's budget tightened. Economic troubles in the early 1990s forced IBM to downsize some of its real estate holdings. By 1993, IBM no longer occupied much of 590 Madison Avenue and was offering it under subleases to other companies. That March, IBM announced it would close the Gallery of Science and Art in the lower atrium to save money, despite the fact that the gallery saw 500 to 750 thousand visitors every year. The following year, IBM indicated it would lease out as much as half of the building's office space. ### Sale and renovations In May 1994, IBM sold the building to a joint venture of Edward J. Minskoff and Odyssey Partners for an estimated \$200 million. IBM leased back a third of the space. The other two-thirds of the building remained unleased because of IBM's reduced occupancy requirements, However, with a recovering market for office space, real estate executives quoted in The New York Times said that Minskoff and Odyssey would not have a difficult time leasing the space. Rumors circulated that IBM would relocate its headquarters back to Manhattan from Armonk, though IBM denied the reports. The following year, the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, a pension fund, was brought on as a partner. The pension fund received a five-year floating-rate mortgage from the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company. By 1995, the atrium had become dingy and there were complaints that homeless people were loitering in the atrium. That year, Minskoff proposed modifying the atrium; since it could affect the building's development bonus, the New York City Planning Commission had to review and approve the proposal. Minskoff planned to use forty percent of the atrium space for exhibiting sculptures and remove many trees, tables, and chairs. Critics objected that the public character of the atrium would be altered. The commission ultimately approved a modified plan for the atrium renovation that October. The renovations, designed by Robert A. M. Stern, were completed in December 1995. Other disputes over the atrium involved disagreements over whether the atrium should be closed during the daytime. Part of the former Gallery of Science and Art space was taken in 1995 by the Freedom Forum organization, which stayed there until 2001. Watch retailer Tourneau used another portion of the former gallery starting in 1996. A little more than a year after Minskoff and Odyssey bought the building, only seven floors were still unoccupied. This was in part due to a slight decline in office rents. STRS Ohio bought the remaining ownership stake in the property in 1997. The building was worth \$500 million by 1998, a 150 percent increase over what Minskoff and Odyssey had paid for it four years prior. Odyssey wished to sell the building and hired Eastdil Realty to determine the value of its stake, but Minskoff said he would not sell his stake. The Dahesh Museum of Art relocated into 590 Madison Avenue's exhibition space in 2003. STRS Ohio received a \$350 million senior mortgage for the building in 2007 from Goldman Sachs. The following year, the mozzarella bar Obika opened within the atrium, and Bonhams took some of the former IBM gallery space. In 2014, STRS Ohio considered selling a 49 percent minority ownership stake in 590 Madison Avenue. The Safra family of Brazil were reportedly interested in taking the minority ownership stake; the family's offer would value the building at over \$1.5 billion. However, STRS Ohio instead opted to refinance the building in 2015 with a ten-year, fixed-rate senior mortgage of \$650 million, provided by Goldman Sachs. Moed de Armas and Shannon conducted a renovation of the building, which was completed in 2016. The lobby was refurbished and the elevator cabs were replaced as part of the project. STRS Ohio placed the building for sale in mid-2018, seeking up to \$1.3 billion. At the time, IBM still occupied 120,000 square feet (11,000 m²) within the building. ## Tenants As of 2020, almost half of the building's space was leased by the top ten tenants. IBM continued to be the largest tenant with 11 percent of the space. Other tenants include: - Bonhams, auctioneer (mostly in the retail space) - Corcoran Group, real estate brokerage - Crowell & Moring, law firm - Colony NorthStar, private equity real estate - Morgan Stanley, financial services - Regus, industrial services - Tourneau, watch retailer (in the retail space) ## Critical reception Before construction commenced, New York Times architecture writer Paul Goldberger said in July 1978, "IBM promises to be a dignified addition to midtown Manhattan", despite his feeling that the design was "conservative indeed". As construction proceeded, Goldberger remained ambivalent about the tower, saying that the pentagonal shape and cantilevered entrance were "dramatic gestures" but that the facade looked too much like stone. Der Scutt, architect of the neighboring Trump Tower, said in 1981 in response to criticism of 550 and 590 Madison Avenue: "I can't find anything oppressively hideous in IBM or AT&T. What is wrong with 'a showcase of superscale' in a city that prides itself as being culturally ecstatic about it's [sic] skyscrapers?" Goldberger was greatly disappointed when the building was completed, writing in 1983 that the design has "generally fallen short of expectations", particularly in its atrium, entrance, and facade. He strongly preferred the design of 535 Madison Avenue three blocks south, also designed by Barnes. Architectural critic Brendan Gill likewise said of IBM: "Their idea of social awareness was to include a museum and an atrium lobby. They forgot that the building destroys the scale of the area." Martin Filler also disliked the design of the facade and atrium, though he praised Heizer's fountain as "superb". After the renovation of the atrium, Goldberger still disapproved of its design, saying that the "Zen"-like quality of the original atrium "is now compromised". In the book New York 2000, Robert A. M. Stern wrote that the IBM Building "was a challenge to the prevailing Modernist taste for glass, but it lacked the iconoclastic panache" of Philip Johnson's pink-granite design of 550 Madison Avenue. There was also praise of the building. Architectural Record said in 1984: "The IBM Building may share with [the Seagram Building] the honor of being one of the two best Modern Movement skyscrapers yet built". Mildred Schmertz of the same magazine said that, with his design for 590 Madison Avenue, Barnes "has demonstrated that a building that faithfully follows the esthetic canons of the Modern Movement can, like postmodernism, be 'contextual'." Ada Louise Huxtable wrote that "IBM's taut, refined skin of granite and glass upstages AT&T like a suave fashion model next to a fussy dowager in a home-made dress". The New York State Association of Architects gave the building its 1984 Award of Excellence, saying: "This building may be eventually labeled as one of the very great skyscrapers of the 20th century." Some critics also regarded the atrium highly. Anthony Paletta of The Daily Beast said in 2022 that 590 Madison Avenue "features a very appealing atrium" in addition to the lobby's large collection of art. Architectural critic Donald Martin Reynolds said the atrium and street "are ingeniously combined so that there is no loss of space, each one flowing into the other". ## See also - List of tallest buildings in New York City

Gervase de Cornhill

12th-century English sheriff and royal official

Gervase de Cornhill (sometimes Gervase of Cornhill; c. 1110 – c. 1183) was an Anglo-Norman royal official and sheriff. Beginning his royal service as a justice in London in 1147, he continued to serve both King Stephen of England and Henry II until his death around 1183. He played a minor role in the Becket controversy in 1170. ## Early life According to the medievalist Katharine Keats-Rohan, Gervase was the son of Roger, who was the nephew of Hubert the queen's chamberlain. Other scholars are less sure that Gervase was Roger's son, and argue that Gervase was Hubert's nephew. Gervase was likely born around 1110. He married Agnes, the daughter of Edward of Cornhill. After his marriage, he became known as de Cornhill because of his wife's property. ## Royal administrator Gervase was royal justice in London in 1147, and continued to claim that title through the 1170s on his personal seal. He was one of the members of the royal administration under King Stephen of England. Gervase was also a merchant and financier. Around 1143 he loaned money to Stephen's wife Matilda of Boulogne, and received in pledge land at Gamlingay in Cambridgeshire. The queen was unable to repay the debt, and the lands pledged eventually became Gervase's. Gervase also loaned money to Hugh Tirel, son of Walter Tirel, in 1146 to enable Hugh to go on the Second Crusade. In return, Hugh pledged the manor of Langham in Essex to Gervase. Gervase held the office of Sheriff of London in 1155 through 1157, 1160 and 1161, and may have held that office between 1159 and 1160 as well. He also held the office of Sheriff of Surrey from 1163 until his death as well as the office of Sheriff of Kent from 1167 to 1174. Gervase was named a judge on one of the eyre circuits in 1170. ## Later life In 1170, Gervase was involved with attempts to keep Thomas Becket, who had been in exile, from returning to England. Working with Gervase were Roger de Pont L'Évêque the Archbishop of York, Gilbert Foliot the Bishop of London, Josceline de Bohon the Bishop of Salisbury, Reginald de Warenne the Sheriff of Sussex, and Ranulf de Broc. Gervase was part of the party that met Becket at Sandwich on 1 December 1170 when the archbishop returned to England. The lay members of the group, led by Gervase, complained that the archbishop was sowing dissension in the land by his excommunication of the three ecclesiastics who were with the group, but Becket managed to calm the officials by stating he would consider the matter and reply to them the next day. The next day the group was accompanied by some clergy sent by the ecclesiastics who had been excommunicated by Becket. Nothing further was accomplished by this meeting except further offers from Becket to consider other options. Afterwards, Gervase and Ranulf de Broc tried to discover which of the citizens of London had welcomed Becket back into the kingdom, but were frustrated by refusal of the London clergy to appear and by the laymen refusing to answer to anything but royal writs. Gervase may be identical with the Gervase who in 1174 presented a loyalty speech to King Henry II from the citizens of London. In 1177 Gervase, along with Richard de Luci, the justiciar and Roger fitzReinfrid, assessed land taxes and heard judicial cases in Middlesex and Hampshire. Gervase held lands in London inherited from his father-in-law, lands in Kent from his father, and lands in Gamlingay which he got through a mortgage. He also acquired other lands in Essex and Surrey. He also gave lands at Greenwich and East Lewisham to St. Peter's Abbey in Ghent and other lands to Holy Trinity Priory at Aldgate. ## Death and legacy Gervase died between Michaelmas in 1183 and Michaelmas 1184. Gervase's offspring were Henry, Reginald (or Rainald), and Ralph. Ralph was also Sheriff of Kent (1191–1192) and Surrey (1191–1194). The medieval writer William of Canterbury stated of Gervase that he was "thinking of his usurious two-thirds and hundredths rather than of what was good and right".

Former Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre Championships

Professional wrestling championships promoted by Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in the past

Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL; "World Wrestling Council") is a Mexico City-based professional wrestling promotion. It was founded in 1933 and is the oldest active promotion in the world. In the company's long history it has promoted a number of professional wrestling championships as part of their shows, using various divisional, special stipulations, and weight-class championships. Over the years a total of nine CMLL championships have either been abandoned or control of the title was given to another promotion. CMLL actively promotes twelve world championships, seven national championships, and eight regional championships. Like most lucha libre promotions, CMLL allows their wrestlers to bring championship belts to their shows even if they are not CMLL sanctioned, and have on occasion allowed those championships to be defended on CMLL shows, but they are not considered CMLL championships. As professional wrestling championship is not won or lost by actual sports competition, but by a scripted ending to a match, determined by the bookers and matchmakers. On occasion, the promotion declares a championship vacant, which means there is no title holder at that point in time. This can either be due to a storyline, or real-life issues such as a championship suffering an injury and being unable to defend the title, or leaving the company. ## Defunct championships ## Mexican National Middleweight Championship (1933–1993) The Mexican National Middleweight Championship, for wrestlers weighing between 87 kg (192 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb), was created in 1933 by the "Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F." (Mexico City Boxing and Wrestling Commission). Yaqui Joe was the first champion and the championship was soon defended on EMLL shows as well as on the Mexican independent circuit. Over time EMLL gained almost total control of the championship as they grew to become Mexico's largest promotion at the time. In 1992, Antonio Peña founded Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA), taking a number of CMLL wrestlers with him. One of these wrestlers, was the then-reigning National Middleweight Champion Octagón, who took the championship with him to AAA. Blue Panther winning the championship pn July 27, 1992, signaled that the commission had granted AAA control of the championship and taken it away from CMLL. Afterward, CMLL created the CMLL World Middleweight Championship as the main focus of the division. ## NWA World Middleweight Championship (1939–2010) In 1939, wrestler Gus Kallio was awarded the "World Middleweight Championship" in Mexico, as recognition of Kallio's middleweight wrestling achievements in the United States. He lost the championship to Octavio Gaona on February 19, 1939, establishing the championship under EMLL's control. In 1953, EMLL joined the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and the NWA officially recognized the middleweight championship as an NWA championship, renaming it to the NWA World Middleweight Championship shortly after EMLL joined the NWA. EMLL, and later CMLL promoted the NWA World Middleweight Championship as the highest-ranking middleweight championship, relegating the Mexican National Middleweight Championship to a secondary status. EMLL retained control of the championship and continued to use the NWA moniker after 1986. From 1994 until 2004 the championship was controlled by various Japanese promotions but returned to CMLL in September 2004. In 2010, CMLL relinquished control of the championship to the NWA and introduced the NWA World Historic Middleweight Championship as its replacement. ## NWA World Welterweight Championship (1946–2010) EMLL introduced a world championship for the welterweight division, for wrestlers weighing between 77 kg (170 lb) and 87 kg (192 lb), in 1956. El Santo became the first champion on March 15, 1946, when he defeated Pete Pancof to win the championship. In 1953, EMLL joined the NWA and the NWA officially recognized the welterweight championship as an NWA championship, making it the NWA World Welterweight Championship shortly after EMLL joined the NWA. The company would continue promoting the championship until 1996 when it was brought to Japan to be one of eight titles that made up the New Japan Pro-Wrestling's J-Crown Championship. After the J-Crown was disbanded in late 1997, the championship remained in Japan, used by Toryumon. When Toryumon became Dragon Gate, the NWA World Welterweight Championship was taken over by Osaka Pro Wrestling. On November 27, 2007, La Sombra defeated Hajime Ohara to win the championship, bringing it back under CMLL control. In 2010 CMLL gave up control of the championship to the NWA and introduced the NWA World Historic Welterweight Championship as its replacement. ## NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1958–2010) The NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was created in 1951 for one of the US-based NWA territories, but by 1958 the championship was given to EMLL after joining the NWA. The title became the main championship of EMLL's light heavyweight weight division, for wrestlers weighing between 87 kg (192 lb) and 97 kg (214 lb). The first Mexican-based champion was Dory Dixon, who defeated Al Kashley on February 13, 1958, to win the vacant championship. Over the subsequent 52 years, EMLL/CMLL had 52 separate reigns, divided between a total of 38 wrestlers. In 2010 CMLL gave up control of the championship to the NWA and introduced the NWA World Historic Light Heavyweight Championship as its replacement. ## EMLL Arena México Tag Team Championship (1960s) Magazines from the late-1960s occasionally refer to an EMLL Arena México Tag Team Championship being defended. It was similar to the CMLL Arena Coliseo Tag Team Championship, in that it was intended to only be defended on Arena México shows. A December 1966 source listed El Santo and Rayo de Jalisco being the champions at that point in time. The champions were mentioned again in the lead up to La Ola Blanca ("The White Wave"; Dr. Wagner and Ángel Blanco) winning the championship on December 2, 1967. On September 27, 1968 it was reported that El Santo and Ray Mendoza defeated La Ola Blanca to win the championship. ## NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship (1990) EMLL briefly promoted the "NWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship" in late 1990. Pirata Morgan won the championship no later than October 1990; records are unclear if Morgan won a tournament or was awarded the championship. Pirata Morgan lost the championship to El Faraón on September 13 on a show in Mexico City. The championship was abandoned when El Faraón was fired by EMLL the following month. ## CMLL Japan Women's Championship (1999–2001) The CMLL Japan Women's Championship was unveiled on October 17, 1999 on a show in Osaka, Japan. Chikako Shiratori defeated Lady Apache, in a best-of-five match series to become the inaugural champion. Her initial reign lasted until sometime in November 1999 where La Diabólica won the title on a CMLL Japan show in Tokyo. La Diabólica's reign lasted only a matter of weeks before Shiratori regained the championship on November 25, 1999, in Kyoto, Japan. The CMLL Japan Women's Championship was actively defended in Japan after CMLL stopped touring. Shiratori's last documented championship defense took place on January 7, 2001, where she defeated Policewoman to retain the title. When Shiratori retired in June 2001 the CMLL Japan Women's Championship was also retired. ## CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship (1999–2000) Starting in 1999, CMLL began to promote recurring tours of Japan under the brand "CMLL Japan" and introduced three championships to be defended exclusively on CMLL Japan shows. The CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship was introduced on February 27, 1999, on a show in Nagoya, Japan. The first champion was Masato Yakushiji, who defeated Rencor Latino in a match for the vacant championship. Over the next two years Virus and Ricky Marvin both won the championship twice. CMLL ended their Japanese tours by the end of 2000, abandoning the Super Lightweight Championship. The company later introduced the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship, which used the CMLL Japan Super Lightweight Championship belt. When the weight division was adjusted to become the CMLL World Lightweight Championship, the promotion retained the original belt. ## CMLL Japan Tag Team Championship (1999–2000) Along with the CMLL Japan Super Light Heavyweight Championship and the CMLL Japan Women's Championship the promotion also introduced the "CMLL Japan Tag Team Championship", exclusively for male tag teams. CMLL representative El Oriental and Japanese Tsubasa defeated Último Guerrero and Virus to become the first tag team champions. Oriental and Tsubasa had no successful title defenses in the 147 days they were the champions, losing to Masato Yakushiji and Naohiro Hoshikawa on an Osaka Pro show in Aomori, Japan. Yakushiji and Hoshikawa defended the championship twice, both on Osaka Pro shows, before the championship was abandoned in September 2000. ## LLA Azteca Championship (2009–2014) Starting in 2009, CMLL and the television channel TV Azteca Noreste held a series of shows in Monterrey, Nuevo León under the name Lucha Libre Azteca. CMLL introduced the LLA Azteca Championship as the main attraction of both the shows and TV broadcasts. The first champion was Último Guerrero who won an eight-man tournament on December 19, 2009 to claim the title. Over the following five years there were seven LLA Azteca champions, with Atlantis ending up as the last champion. Atlantis won the championship on May 4, 2014, but did not defend the championship afterward. CMLL stopped promoting the LLA shows on September 27, 2015.

Operation Mistral 2

Offensive by the Croatian Army and Croatian Defence Council

Operation Mistral 2, officially codenamed Operation Maestral 2, was a Croatian Army (HV) and Croatian Defence Council (HVO) offensive in western Bosnia and Herzegovina on 8–15 September 1995 as part of the Bosnian War. Its objective was to create a security buffer between Croatia and positions held by the Bosnian Serb Army of Republika Srpska (VRS). The operation also spearheaded a Herzeg-Croat led move to compromise the occupation of the largest Bosnian Serb-held city, Banja Luka, by capturing the towns of Jajce, Šipovo and Drvar. Thus jeopardizing the operations capacity of Banja Luka and ultimately leading to its recapture. The combined HV and HVO forces were under the overall command of HV Major General Ante Gotovina. The operation commenced during a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air campaign against the VRS codenamed Operation Deliberate Force, targeting VRS air defences, artillery positions and storage facilities largely in the area of Sarajevo, but also elsewhere in the country. Days after commencement of the offensive, the VRS positions to the right and to the left of the HV and the HVO advance were also attacked by the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) in Operation Sana. The offensive achieved its objectives and set the stage for further advances of the HV, HVO and ARBiH towards Banja Luka, contributing to the resolution of the war. There is disagreement among scholars as to whether the offensive, together with Operation Sana, or NATO airstrikes contributed more towards the resolution of the Bosnian War, and to what extent ARBiH, HVO and HV advances were aided by NATO airstrikes. Operation Mistral 2 resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Bosnian Serb civilians, as well as the displacement of tens of thousands of others. In 2011, five former Croatian military personnel were convicted of war crimes for the summary execution of five Bosnian Serb soldiers and a civilian during the operation. In 2016, Bosnian Serb officials filed a criminal complaint against the Croatian Minister of Defence, Damir Krstičević, alleging that he had committed war crimes during the offensive. ## Background As the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslovenska narodna armija – JNA) withdrew from Croatia following the acceptance and start of implementation of the Vance plan, its 55,000 officers and soldiers born in Bosnia and Herzegovina were transferred to a new Bosnian Serb army, which was later renamed the Army of Republika Srpska (Vojska Republike Srpske – VRS). This re-organisation followed the declaration of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 9 January 1992, ahead of the referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina that took place between 29 February and 1 March 1992. This declaration would later be cited by the Bosnian Serbs as a pretext for the Bosnian War. Bosnian Serbs began fortifying the capital, Sarajevo, and other areas on 1 March 1992. On the following day, the first fatalities of the war were recorded in Sarajevo and Doboj. In the final days of March, Bosnian Serb forces bombarded Bosanski Brod with artillery, resulting in a cross-border operation by the Croatian Army (Hrvatska vojska – HV) 108th Brigade. On 4 April 1992, JNA artillery began shelling Sarajevo. There were other examples of the JNA directly supported the VRS, such as during the capture of Zvornik in early April 1992, when the JNA provided artillery support from Serbia, firing across the Drina River. At the same time, the JNA attempted to defuse the situation and arrange negotiations elsewhere in the country. The JNA and the VRS in Bosnia and Herzegovina faced the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Armija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine – ARBiH) and the Croatian Defence Council (Hrvatsko vijeće obrane – HVO), reporting to the Bosniak-dominated central government and the Bosnian Croat leadership respectively, as well as the HV, which occasionally supported HVO operations. In late April 1992, the VRS was able to deploy 200,000 troops, hundreds of tanks, armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and artillery pieces. The HVO and the Croatian Defence Forces (Hrvatske obrambene snage – HOS) could field approximately 25,000 soldiers and a handful of heavy weapons, while the ARBiH was largely unprepared with nearly 100,000 troops, small arms for less than a half of their number and virtually no heavy weapons. Arming of the various forces was hampered by a United Nations (UN) arms embargo that had been introduced in September 1991. By mid-May 1992, when those JNA units which had not been transferred to the VRS withdrew from Bosnia and Herzegovina to the newly declared Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the VRS controlled approximately 60 percent of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The extent of VRS control was extended to about 70 percent of the country by the end of 1992. ## Prelude By 1995, the ARBiH and the HVO had developed into better-organised forces employing comparably large numbers of artillery pieces and good defensive fortifications. The VRS was not capable of penetrating their defences even where its forces employed sound military tactics, for instance in the Battle of Orašje in May and June 1995. After recapture of the bulk of the Republic of Serb Krajina (the Croatian Serb-controlled areas of Croatia) in Operation Storm in August 1995, the HV shifted its focus to western Bosnia and Herzegovina. The shift was motivated by a desire to create a security zone along the Croatian border, establish Croatia as a regional power and gain favours with the West by forcing an end to the Bosnian War. The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina welcomed the move as it contributed to their goal of gaining control over western Bosnia and the city of Banja Luka—the largest city in the Bosnian Serb-held territory. In the final days of August 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force—an air campaign targeting the VRS. This campaign was launched in response to the second Markale massacre of 28 August, which came on the heels of the Srebrenica massacre. Airstrikes began on 30 August, initially targeting VRS air defences, and striking targets near Sarajevo. The campaign was briefly suspended on 1 September and its scope was expanded to target artillery and storage facilities around the city. The bombing resumed on 5 September, and its scope extended to VRS air defences near Banja Luka by 9 September as NATO had nearly exhausted its list of targets near Sarajevo. On 13 September, the Bosnian Serbs accepted NATO's demand for the establishment of an exclusion zone around Sarajevo and the campaign ceased. ## Order of battle As the NATO bombing generally targeted VRS around Sarajevo, western Bosnia remained relatively calm following Operation Storm, except for probing attacks launched by the VRS, HVO or ARBiH near Bihać, Drvar and Glamoč. At the time the HV, HVO and ARBiH were planning a joint offensive in the region. The main portion of the offensive was codenamed Operation Maestral (Croatian name for maestro wind), or more accurately Operation Maestral 2. Within a month, the HV and HVO had planned an operation to capture the towns of Jajce, Šipovo and Drvar, and position their forces to threaten Banja Luka. Major General Ante Gotovina was placed in command of the combined HV and HVO forces earmarked for the offensive. The forces were deployed in three groups. Operational Group (OG) North, tasked with capturing Šipovo and Jajce, consisted of 11,000 troops and included the best units available to Gotovina—the 4th Guards and the 7th Guards Brigades, the 1st Croatian Guards Brigade (1. hrvatski gardijski zdrug – 1st HGZ) of the HV and three HVO guards brigades. The rest of the force was organised into OG West and OG South, and consisted of five HV Home Guard regiments and three reserve infantry brigades. These two groups were to pin down the troops of the VRS 2nd Krajina Corps in the vicinity of Drvar, and attempt to advance on the town. Once OG North had completed its tasks, it was to turn back and capture Drvar. Gotovina's forces were deployed between the ARBiH 5th Corps on their left, and the 7th Corps on their right. The ARBiH forces were to advance on the flanks of the HV and the HVO, in a separate but coordinated offensive codenamed Operation Sana. In the area of the combined HV and HVO offensive, the VRS had its 2nd Krajina Corps, commanded by Major General Radivoje Tomanić, and the 30th Infantry Division of the 1st Krajina Corps, commanded by Major General Momir Zec. Tomanić, who set up his headquarters in Drvar, was in overall command in western Bosnia. Tomanić and Zec commanded a combined force of approximately 22,000 troops. They considered the ARBiH to be a greater threat in the area and only deployed between 5,000 and 6,000 troops directly against the HV, consisting of one motorised and six infantry or light infantry brigades fielded along the frontline and one brigade in reserve. ## Timeline ### First stage: 8–11 September The first stage of the offensive was planned to overcome VRS defences extending across mountains north of Glamoč, guarding southern approaches to Šipovo and Jajce. The attack was launched in the morning of 8 September. The 7th and the 4th Guards Brigades spearheaded the attack, striking towards the Mlinište Pass and Jastrebnjak Hill respectively. The first line of VRS defences was breached by 10:00, which allowed the 1st HGZ to push through the 4th Guards Brigade and outflank Mount Vitorog and the particularly strong VRS defences there. The 1st HGZ was quickly reinforced by the 60th Guards Battalion and the special police in attacks against the VRS positions on Vitorog. The farthest advance achieved on the initial day of the offensive was achieved by the 4th Guards Brigade, which advanced 5 kilometres (3.1 miles). The 7th Guards Brigade and the 1st HGZ advanced considerably less distance, while the supporting efforts of OG South and OG West launched that day against Drvar made little progress. On 9 September, the HV and HVO defeated the bulk of the main VRS defences of the 3rd Serbian and 7th Motorised Brigades, achieving a key breakthrough. The 1st HGZ pushed back the VRS from Vitorog, and the 7th Guards Brigade advanced 8 kilometres (5.0 miles), capturing the Mlinište Pass, while the 4th Guards Brigade secured Jastrebnjak Hill. The next day, the HV and the HVO were only able to advance 2 kilometres (1.2 miles), as the VRS deployed a battalion of M-84 tanks detached from the 1st Armoured Brigade. At this point, the HV and the HVO had achieved the objectives of the first stage of the offensive. That day, the 7th Corps of the ARBiH launched its attack on the right flank of the HV and the HVO assault. It engaged VRS elements tenaciously defending Donji Vakuf. On 11 September, OG North paused offensive operations while the 4th and 7th Guards Brigades moved into reserve. They were replaced with the 1st and the 2nd Guards Brigades of the HVO, which became the spearhead of OG North. A probing attack by the 2nd Guards Brigade achieved some gains towards Jajce along the rim of the Kupres Plateau. OGs South and West made another effort to capture Drvar, but were beaten back by VRS infantry supported by artillery and M-87 Orkan rockets. ### Second stage: 12–13 September The second stage of the offensive commenced on 12 September. Its objective was the capture of Šipovo and Jajce by OG North after it successfully breached the VRS defences north of Glamoč. As the 7th Motorised Brigade of the VRS was forced to withdraw from positions near Vitorog in order to defend Šipovo, the rapid advance of the HV and the HVO meant the VRS could not consolidate a defensive line. On the same day, the HV deployed three Mil Mi-24 helicopter gunship sorties against VRS armour and artillery, and the HVO 1st Guards Brigade was able to reach Šipovo and capture the town. Its advance was also supported by the 1st HGZ, which advanced to outflank the VRS near Šipovo. The assault was also supported by the 60th Guards Battalion, the General Staff Reconnaissance Sabotage Company, heavy artillery and multiple rocket launchers. As the VRS positions around Šipovo began to give way, the 2nd Guards Brigade advanced against Jajce, reaching a point within 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) south of the town by the end of the day. Its advance was supported by the 22nd Sabotage Detachment and the special police. On 13 September, as the 2nd Guards Brigade was approaching Jajce, the VRS withdrew from Donji Vakuf to avoid being surrounded, and the ARBiH captured the town. The 5th Corps of the ARBiH, on the left flank of the HV and HVO offensive, began its assault against the VRS 2nd Krajina Corps, moving south from Bihać towards Bosanski Petrovac. The HV 81st Guards Battalion was inserted into the operation to support the HVO exploitation forces, and when it approached Mrkonjić Grad it clashed with the VRS 7th Motorised Brigade defending the town. By the end of the day the 2nd Guards Brigade had reached Jajce. The civilian population of Jajce was evacuated when its capture appeared imminent. The 2nd Guards Brigade entered the deserted town, recapturing the townwhich had been lost to the VRS in Operation Vrbas '92, nearly three years before. Its capture prevented the 7th Corps of the ARBiH from advancing any further as its frontline facing the VRS all but disappeared. The 7th Corps then detached a substantial part of its force and sent them as reinforcements to the 5th Corps. ### Third stage: 14–15 September The third stage of the operation centred on the capture of Drvar, the secondary objective of the overall offensive. VRS defences around the town held until 14 September, when Gotovina detached a reinforced battalion from the 7th Guards Brigade held in the reserve of OG North and deployed it against Drvar. A renewed push by OGs West and South, combined with a rapid advance by the ARBiH 5th Corps against Bosanski Petrovac threatened to isolate Drvar, and the VRS withdrew from the town. The ARBiH 5th Corps captured Kulen Vakuf on 14 September, and Bosanski Petrovac the next day. It linked up with HV forces at the Oštrelj Pass, 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) southeast of the town on the road to Drvar. The link-up was not smooth, as a friendly fire incident occurred, resulting in casualties. ## Aftermath The combined HV and HVO force penetrated VRS defences by up to 30 kilometres (19 miles) capturing 2,500 square kilometres (970 square miles), and demonstrating the improved skill of HV planners. More significantly, Operation Mistral 2, as well as Operation Sana, as the first in a string of offensives launched shortly before the end of the Bosnian War, were crucial in applying pressure on the Bosnian Serbs. They also set the stage for further HV and HVO advances in Operation Southern Move. The Central Intelligence Agency analysed the effects of Operation Deliberate Force and Operations Maestral 2 and Sana, and noted that the NATO air campaign did not degrade VRS combat capability as much as was expected, because the airstrikes were never primarily directed at field-deployed units but at command and control infrastructure. This analysis noted that, while the NATO air campaign did degrade VRS capabilities, the final offensives by the HV, HVO and the ARBiH did the most damage. The analysis further concluded that the ground offensives, rather than the NATO bombardment, were responsible for bringing the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiation table and the war to its end. However, author Robert C. Owen argues that the HV would not have advanced as rapidly as it did had NATO not intervened and hampered the VRS defence by denying it long-range communications. Operation Mistral 2, along with the near-concurrent Operation Sana, created a large number of refugees from the areas previously controlled by the VRS. Their number was variously reported and the estimates range from 655 killed civilians and 125,000 refugees, reported by Radio-Television Republika Srpska in 2010, to approximately 40,000 refugees reported in 1995—both by Bosnian Serb sources. The latter figure was reported to encompass the entire contemporary populations of the towns of Jajce, Šipovo, Mrkonjić Grad and Donji Vakuf fleeing or being evacuated. At the time, the UN spokesman in Sarajevo estimated the number of refugees at 20,000. The refugees fled to VRS-controlled areas around Brčko and Banja Luka, adding to the 50,000 refugees who had been sheltering in Banja Luka since Operation Storm. During the Trial of Gotovina et al before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Reynaud Theunens compared Operations Mistral 2 and Storm in his capacity as an expert witness for the prosecution. Theunens pointed out that civilian property and infrastructure at less risk in the aftermath of Operation Mistral 2, as Gotovina had issued much more strict orders in that respect, establishing companies specifically tasked with security and imposing a curfew in Jajce. The HV and the HVO sustained losses of 74 killed and 226 wounded in the operation. In 2007, Croatian authorities received information that the commanding officer of the 7th Guards Brigade, Brigadier Ivan Korade, had ordered the killing of VRS prisoners of war during the offensive. Charges of war crimes were brought against seven soldiers of the brigade, specifying that they executed Korade's orders to kill one VRS prisoner and one unknown man in the village of Halapić near Glamoč, and four VRS prisoners in the village of Mlinište. Five defendants were convicted and the remaining two acquitted in October 2011. Two of them were sentenced to six years in prison, one of them to five years and the remaining two to two years' imprisonment. Korade was never tried, as he committed suicide following a standoff with police officers who sought to apprehend him in relation to a quadruple murder committed in late March 2008. In 2016, Bosnian Serb officials filed a criminal complaint against the Croatian Minister of Defence, Damir Krstičević, alleging that he had committed war crimes during the offensive.

Court of Common Pleas (England)

English court for disputes between commoners (c. 1200 – 1880)

The Court of Common Pleas, or Common Bench, was a common law court in the English legal system that covered "common pleas"; actions between subject and subject, which did not concern the king. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century after splitting from the Exchequer of Pleas, the Common Pleas served as one of the central English courts for around 600 years. Authorised by Magna Carta to sit in a fixed location, the Common Pleas sat in Westminster Hall for its entire existence, joined by the Exchequer of Pleas and Court of King's Bench. The court's jurisdiction was gradually undercut by the King's Bench and Exchequer of Pleas with legal fictions, the Bill of Middlesex and Writ of Quominus respectively. The Common Pleas maintained its exclusive jurisdiction over matters of real property until its dissolution, and due to its wide remit was considered by Sir Edward Coke to be the "lock and key of the common law". It was staffed by one Chief Justice and a varying number of puisne justices, who were required to be Serjeants-at-Law, and until the mid 19th century only Serjeants were allowed to plead there. As one of the two principal common law courts with the King's Bench, the Common Pleas fought to maintain its jurisdiction and caseload, in a way that during the 16th and 17th centuries was categorised as conservative and reactionary. Reaching an acceptable medium with the King's Bench and Exchequer of Pleas proved to be the downfall of all three courts; with several courts of near-identical jurisdiction, there was little need for separate bodies, and the superior courts of Westminster were merged by the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 into a single High Court of Justice. With an Order in Council issued on 16 December 1880, the Common Pleas Division of the High Court ceased to exist, marking the end of the Court of Common Pleas. ## History ### Origin Originally, the sole fixed "court" was the curia regis, one of the three central administrative bodies along with the Exchequer and Chancery, from which the Court of Chancery formed. This curia was the king's court, composed of those advisers and courtiers who followed the king as he travelled around the country. This was not a dedicated court of law, instead a descendant of the witenagemot. In concert with the curia regis, eyre circuits staffed by itinerant judges dispensed justice throughout the country, operating on fixed paths at certain times. These judges were also members of the curia, and would hear cases on the king's behalf in the "lesser curia regis". Gradually, the curia split into two distinct branches, the coram rege (King's Bench) and de banco (Common Bench, or Common Pleas). Much academic discussion occurs over the circumstances and times of their founding. In 1178, a chronicler recorded that when Henry II: > learned that the land and the men of the land were burdened by so great a number of justices, for there were, eighteen, chose with the counsel of the wise men of his kingdom five only, two clerks three and laymen, all of his private family, and decreed that these five should hear all complaints of the kingdom and should do right and should not depart from the king's court but should remain there to hear the complaints of men, with this understanding that, if there should come up among them any question which could not be brought to a conclusion by them, it should be presented to a royal hearing and be determined by the king and the wiser men of the kingdom. This was originally interpreted as the foundation of the King's Bench, with the Court of Common Pleas not coming into existence until the granting of Magna Carta, which mandated in Section 17 that common pleas (cases between subject and subject, as opposed to cases involving the king) be heard in "some fixed place". This ensured that rather than the source of justice moving from place to place as the king did, there would be a fixed location that claimants and defendants could travel to that would address their problems. The later theory was that Henry II's decree created the Court of Common Pleas, not the King's Bench, and that the King's Bench instead split from the Common Pleas at some later time. In the 20th century, with better access to historical documents, legal historians have come to a different conclusion. Rather than the Common Pleas being created out of the curia regis directly, it instead arose out of the Exchequer of Pleas, another body split from the curia regis. By the beginning of the 13th century, a split began; chronicles from 1201 identify the "bench" and "exchequer" as distinct bodies, and records of Barons of the Exchequer and Justices of the Common Pleas show a distinct lack of overlap. The Court of Common Pleas, along with the other superior courts, sat in Westminster Hall from its creation. Due to the provisions in Magna Carta, it was bound to sit there; an apocryphal story says that Orlando Bridgeman refused to move the court a few feet to avoid the draught from the north entrance, fearing that to do so would be to infringe on Magna Carta. The court sat in a space marked off by a wooden bar (which counsel stood behind) with the court officials sitting at a large oak table covered in green cloth and the justices on a raised platform (or "bench") at the rear of the court. ### Struggle with the King's Bench During the 15th century, the common law courts were challenged by the civil law and equity found in the Chancery and similar courts. These courts and legal methods were much faster than the common law courts, so lawyers and claimants flocked to them. This was perceived as a threat to the common law courts, for good reason; between 1460 and 1540, the business of the common law courts significantly dropped, while the Chancery's cases rose massively in number. In reaction to this, the Court of King's Bench developed its own, faster system, intent on winning cases back, and through procedures such as the Writ of Quominus and Bill of Middlesex acquired a wider jurisdiction. While this succeeded in forming an equilibrium between the old common law courts and the new courts, it was viewed with suspicion by the Common Pleas, who became highly reactionary to the changes the King's Bench attempted to introduce. When the King's Bench attempted to use the Bill of Middlesex to widen its jurisdiction, the Common Pleas became increasingly conservative in its attempts to avoid ceding cases. This was limited by the fact that the three Common Pleas prothonotaries could not agree on how to cut costs, leaving the court both expensive and of limited malleability while the King's Bench became faster, cheaper and more varied in its jurisdiction. The troubles during this period are best illustrated by Slade's Case. Under the medieval common law, claims seeking the repayment of a debt or other matters could only be pursued through a writ of debt in the Common Pleas, a problematic and archaic process. By 1558 the lawyers had succeeded in creating another method, enforced by the Court of King's Bench, through the action of assumpsit, which was technically for deceit. The legal fiction used was that by failing to pay after promising to do so, a defendant had committed deceit, and was liable to the plaintiff. The conservative Common Pleas, through the appellate court the Court of Exchequer Chamber, began to overrule decisions made by the King's Bench on assumpsit, causing friction between the courts. In Slade's Case, the Chief Justice of the King's Bench, John Popham, deliberately provoked the Common Pleas into bringing an assumpsit action to a higher court where the Justices of the King's Bench could vote, allowing them to overrule the Common Pleas and establish assumpsit as the main contractual action. After the death of Edmund Anderson, the more activist Francis Gawdy became Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, which briefly led to a less reactionary and more revolutionary court. The Interregnum granted some respite to the Common Pleas, which abolished fines on original writs, hurting the King's Bench, but in 1660 the fines were reinstated and "then the very attorneys of the Common Pleas boggled at them and carried all their finable business to the King's Bench". In 1661 the Common Pleas attempted to reverse this by pushing for an Act of Parliament to abolish latitats based on legal fictions, forbidding "special bail" in any case where "the true cause of action" was not expressed in the process. The King's Bench got around this in the 1670s; the Act did not say that the process had to be true, so the court continued to use legal fictions, simply ensuring that the true cause of action was expressed in the process, regardless of whether or not it was correct. The Bill of Middlesex disclosed the true cause of action, satisfying the 1661 statute, but did not require a valid complaint. This caused severe friction within the court system, and Francis North, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, eventually reached a compromise by allowing such legal fictions in the Common Pleas as well as the King's Bench. ### Unity and dissolution The unintended outcome of these compromises was that by the end of Charles II's reign, all three common law courts had a similar jurisdiction over most common pleas, with similar processes. By the 18th century, it was customary to speak of the "twelve justices" of the three courts, not distinguishing them, and assize cases were shared equally between them. In 1828, Henry Brougham complained that > The jurisdiction of the Court of King's Bench, for example, was originally confined to pleas of the Crown, and then extended to actions where violence was used - actions of trespass, by force; but now, all actions are admissible within its walls, through the medium of a legal fiction, which was adopted for the purpose of enlarging its authority, that every person sued is in the custody of the marshal of the court and may, therefore, be proceeded against for any personal cause of actions. Thus, by degrees, this court has drawn over to itself actions which really belong to...the Court of Common Pleas. The Court of Common Pleas, however...never was able to obtain cognizance of - the peculiar subject of King's Bench jurisdiction - Crown Pleas... the Exchequer has adopted a similar course for, though it was originally confined to the trial of revenue cases, it has, by means of another fiction - the supposition that everybody sued is a debtor to the Crown, and further, that he cannot pay his debt, because the other party will not pay him, - opened its doors to every suitor, and so drawn to itself the right of trying cases, that were never intended to be placed within its jurisdiction. The purpose of Brougham's speech was to illustrate that three courts of identical jurisdiction were unnecessary, and further that it would create a situation where the best judges, lawyers and cases would eventually go to one court, overburdening that body and leaving the others near-useless. In 1823, 43,465 actions were brought in the King's Bench, 13,009 in the Common Pleas and 6,778 in the Exchequer of Pleas. Not surprisingly, the King's Bench judges were "immoderately over burdened", the Common Pleas judges were "fully occupied in term, and much engaged in vacation also" and the Barons of the Exchequer were "comparatively little occupied either in term or vacation". In response to this and the report of a committee investigating the slow pace of the Court of Chancery, the Judicature Commission was formed in 1867, and given a wide remit to investigate reform of the courts, the law, and the legal profession. Five reports were issued, from 25 March 1869 to 10 July 1874, with the first (dealing with the formation of a single Supreme Court of Judicature) considered the most influential. The report disposed of the previous idea of merging the common law and equity, and instead suggested a single Supreme Court capable of utilising both. In 1870 the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hatherly, attempted to bring the recommendations into law through an Act of Parliament, but did not go to the trouble of consulting the judiciary or the leader of the Conservatives, who controlled the House of Lords. The bill ran into strong opposition from lawyers and judges, particularly Alexander Cockburn. After Hatherly was replaced by Lord Selbourne in September 1872, a second bill was introduced after consultation with the judiciary; although along the same lines, it was far more detailed. The Act, finally passed as the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873, merged the Common Pleas, Exchequer, King's Bench and Court of Chancery into one body, the High Court of Justice, with the divisions between the courts to remain. The Court of Common Pleas thus ceased to exist, except as the Common Pleas Division of the High Court. The existence of the same courts under one unified head was a quirk of constitutional law, which prevented the compulsory demotion or retirement of Chief Justices. By sheer chance, both the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and Chief Baron of the Exchequer died in 1880, allowing for the abolition of the Common Pleas Division and Exchequer Division by Order in Council on 16 December 1880, with their functions merged into the King's Bench Division, with the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas becoming Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales. ## Jurisdiction The Common Pleas' jurisdiction was over "common pleas," cases where the king had no interest. This in practice meant cases between subject and subject, including all actions taken under praecipe to recover debts or property, which made up the vast majority of civil cases. As such, the Common Pleas "was the court which more than any other shaped the medieval common law". It was the court where most students went to learn, and the majority of the early case reports come from the Common Pleas. The court was called "the lock and key of the common law" by Sir Edward Coke, since throughout its history it was the only court where claims involving real property could be brought, giving it a wider remit to set precedent than the other courts. For almost all of its history, Serjeants at Law and King's Serjeants were the only advocates given rights of audience in the Court of Common Pleas. As part of the Court of Common Pleas the Serjeants also performed some judicial duties, such as levying fines. In 1834 Lord Brougham issued a mandate which opened up pleading in the Court of Common Pleas to every barrister, Serjeant or not, and this was followed for six years until the Serjeants successfully petitioned the Queen to overturn it as invalid. The Serjeants only enjoyed their returned status for another six years, however, before Parliament intervened. The Practitioners in Common Pleas Act 1846, from 18 August 1846, allowed all barristers to practice in the Court of Common Pleas. From the 13th century onwards, the Court of Common Pleas could issue its own writs, and was not dependent on the Court of Chancery, where such documents usually originated. These were sealed with the Great Seal of the King until at least 1338, along with the seal of the justices; the Chancery writs had their own independent seal. Documents were, from 1350, considered acceptable if only marked with the seal of the justices. In 1344, the king created a separate seal for the Common Pleas, allowing them to process cases without involving the Chancery or the king. The court stood on an equal footing with the Exchequer of Pleas, Court of Chancery and King's Bench in relation to transferring cases between them. Any errors on the part of the Common Pleas would be corrected by the King's Bench through a separate action brought there. Thanks to the Bill of Middlesex and other legal fictions, the King's Bench gained much of the Common Pleas's jurisdiction, although the Common Pleas remained the sole place where real property claims could be brought. ## Structure ### Justices The Common Pleas was staffed by a number of justices, under one Chief Justice. The number of Justices at any one time varied; between 1377 and 1420 there were generally four, switching to five from 1420 to 1471. From 1471 onwards, the number was fixed at three. This changed in the 19th century; provisions were made for the appointment of fourth and fifth justices in 1830 and 1868 respectively. From the start of the 14th century, Justices were appointed via letters patent made under the Great Seal, and held their appointments "under the pleasure of the King". Justices received the same remuneration as judges of the Exchequer of Pleas and Court of King's Bench; £1,000 in 1660, increased to £2,000 in 1759 and £4,000 in 1809. From 1799, pensions were also awarded to retiring justices. The Chief Justice was one of the highest judicial officials in England, behind only the Lord High Chancellor of England and the Lord Chief Justice of the King's (or Queen's) Bench. Initially the position of Chief Justice was not an appointment; of the justices serving in the court, one would become more respected than his peers, and was therefore considered the "chief" justice. The position was formalised in 1272 with the raising of Sir Gilbert of Preston to Chief Justice, and from then on it was considered a formally appointed role similar to the positions of Chief Justice of the King's Bench and Chief Baron of the Exchequer. Both the puisne and chief justices were required to be Serjeants-at-Law, and were appointed by letters patent. The Serjeant would then be greeted by the Lord Chancellor, who would inform him of his new position; the letters patent would then be read out in court, and the new justice would swear an oath to do "justice without favour, to all men pleading before him, friends and foes alike", not to "delay to do so even though the king should command him by his letters or by word of mouth to the contrary" or "receive from anyone except the king any fee or other pension or livery nor take any gift from the pleaders before him, except food and drink of no great price". The innovation of appointment by letters patent was a scheme of Edward III's to avoid the potential for bribery, by providing a method through which judges could be paid. This income was supplemented through work on commissions of assize, gaol deliveries, and oyer and terminer. The justice would also receive fees from the parties in court, through the costs of judicial writs. ### Other offices The justices were assisted by a staff of over 50 officials, most of whom sat in Westminster Hall but also kept offices at the various Inns of Court. The Chief Clerk was the Custos Brevium, appointed by the crown, but in practice clerking matters were handled by his deputy, as the office was a royal favour rather than a serious judicial appointment. The crown also appointed the court chirographer, the officer responsible for noting final concords and filing records of fines. Another high-ranking clerk was the Clerk of the Outlawries, an under-clerk of the Attorney General for England and Wales, who was tasked with recording recognizances to protect the interests of the King in common law matters. In 1541 his position was replaced with the office of Clerk of the King's Process. Other offices created during the reign of Henry VIII include the Clerk of the Recognizances in 1432, who recorded debts secured by recognizances and the office of Receiver of Debts, who was tasked with receiving and recording money coming into the court via debts and fines, and was first appointed in 1536. Due to their technical knowledge, the most important officers were the three Prothonotaries, the first and third of whom were appointed by the Chief Justice and the second by the Chief Justice on the advice of the Custos Brevium. They were responsible for enrolling records of litigation, including anything that raised a point of law, and were often consulted by the court due to their detailed technical knowledge. The Chief Justice also appointed the Clerk of the Warrants, Clerk of the Treasury (also known as the Clerk of Hell), the Keeper of the Seal, the Clerk of Essoins and the Clerk of Acknowledgments of Fines and Recoveries (who was officially the Chief Justice's own clerk, rather than that of the court), as well as other officials. The Custos Brevium appointed the Clerk of the Juries, responsible for issuing writs of Habeas Corpus. There were four Exigenters tasked with issuing and controlling the process of declaring someone an Outlaw, with each Exigenter assigned a set of counties. The most valuable of the Exigenterships was that for London, Middlesex, Sussex, Kent, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Bristol and Exeter due to the number of processes each year, with London alone handling over 100 documents a year by the mid-1550s. By tradition the Exigenter for Yorkshire and the other northern counties was also Filazer for Northumberland, Westmorland, Cumberland and Newcastle, and Clerk of the King's Silver for the entire country. There were also thirteen Filazers, who shared counties between them according to historical divisions, and were tasked with filing judicial writs for their counties and transferring them to the Custos Brevium for filing. A fourteenth Filazer was appointed for Monmouthshire in 1542, but other than this there were no changes to the position until the abolition of the court. The Warden of the Fleet Prison, who was also keeper of Westminster Hall, was tasked with keeping it clean and letting the shops and booths along the sides. Despite acting as gaoler to the Exchequer of Pleas, Court of Chancery and Star Chamber as part of his duties the Warden was considered an officer of the Court of Common Pleas. All court officers were appointed for life, and could only be removed for misbehaviour. Despite this, the sheer number of positions meant that several came up for reappointment in each Chief Justice's tenure, and selling them could be very profitable. ## See also - Court of Common Pleas

South Dakota-class battleship (1939)

Fast battleship class of the United States Navy

The South Dakota class was a group of four fast battleships built by the United States Navy. They were the second class of battleships to be named after the 40th state; the first were designed in the 1920s and canceled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Four ships comprised the class: South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama. They were designed to the same treaty standard displacement limit of 35,000 long tons (35,600 t) as the preceding North Carolina class and had the same main battery of nine 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 guns in three-gun turrets, but were more compact and better protected. The ships can be visually distinguished from the earlier vessels by their single funnel, compared to twin funnels in the North Carolinas. Construction began shortly before World War II, with Fiscal Year (FY) 1939 appropriations. Commissioning through the summer of 1942, the four ships served in both the Atlantic, ready to intercept possible German capital ship sorties, and the Pacific, in carrier groups and shore bombardments. All four ships were retired shortly after World War II; South Dakota and Indiana were scrapped in the 1960s, Massachusetts and Alabama were retained as museum ships. ## Development ### Background The preceding two North Carolina-class battleships had been assigned to the FY1937 building program, and in 1936, the General Board met to discuss the two battleships to be allocated to FY1938. The General Board argued for two more North Carolinas, but Admiral William H. Standley, the Chief of Naval Operations, wanted the ships to be of a new design. That meant construction could not begin by 1938, so the ships were assigned to FY1939. Design work started in March 1937 and the draft for two battleships was formally approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 23 June. More specific characteristics for the two ships were ironed out, and those were approved on 4 January 1938. The ships were formally ordered on 4 April 1938. Due to the deteriorating international situations in Europe and Asia, Congress authorized a further two battleships of the new design, for a total of four, under the Deficiency Authorization of 25 June 1938. The "Escalator Clause" of the Second London Naval Treaty had been activated in the U.S. Navy so it could begin work on the follow-on Iowa-class battleships, but Congress was willing to approve only the 35,000-ton battleships. A number of deficiencies in the preceding North Carolinas were to be fixed in the South Dakotas; these included insufficient underwater protection and turbine engines not of the most recent technology. The North Carolinas also did not have sufficient space to act as fleet flagships, so the lead ship of the new class was designed with an extra deck on the conning tower specifically for this purpose, although the increase in space and weight from this necessitated removal of two twin 5-inch dual-purpose (DP) gun mounts. ### Design There was a great deal of debate on the requirements for the new battleships. The design board drew up a number of proposals; one called for a ship with nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns in three triple turrets, 5.9-inch-thick (150 mm) deck armor that would have made the ship immune to plunging fire out to 30,000 yards (27,000 m), and a top speed of at least 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). The belt armor was a much more intractable problem; the 16-inch gun could penetrate 13.5 inches (340 mm) of plate, the thickest in an American battleship at the time, even at 25,000 yd (23,000 m). To proof the ship against her own armament—a characteristic known as "balanced armor"—the main belt would have to be increased to 15.5 in (390 mm), which would have increased the weight of the vessel to prohibitive levels. To mitigate this problem, sloped armor was proposed; it was infeasible to use inclined armor in an external belt, because it would compromise stability to a dangerous degree. Instead, an internal armor belt was constructed behind unarmored hull plates. This had serious drawbacks, however; it complicated the construction process, and if the armored belt was damaged, the external plating would have to be cut away first before the belt could be repaired. To minimize the drawbacks of the inclined belt, it sloped outward from the keel, then back in towards the armored deck. This meant that shells fired at relatively close range would hit the upper portion of the belt at an angle, which maximized armor protection. However, the effectiveness of the upper portion of the belt was degraded at longer ranges, because plunging fire would strike it at an angle closer to the perpendicular, increasing their ability to penetrate the armor. It did reduce the area that needed to be covered by the armored deck, which saved additional weight. This enabled the upper belt to be thicker, which to an extent ameliorated the vulnerability to plunging fire. Because the belt was internal, it provided the opportunity to extend it to the inner portion of the double bottom, which gave the ship better underwater protection than the North Carolinas. Ultimately, the complex double incline belt armor was abandoned when it became apparent that a single slanted belt could provide similar protection, and save several hundred tons of weight. The size of the hull was also a problem: a longer hull generally equates to a higher top speed, but requires more armor to protect it. In order to keep a higher top speed on a shorter hull, higher-performance machinery is required. Since the South Dakota design was much shorter than the preceding North Carolinas—680 ft (207.3 m) compared to 729 ft (222.2 m), respectively—the new ships would need improved machinery than would otherwise have been used in shorter hulls in order to retain the same speed as the longer ships. The design initially called for a top speed of at least 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph), which was deemed sufficient to keep up with opposing battleships and outrun surfaced submarines. However, in late 1936, cryptanalysts deciphered radio traffic from the Japanese navy which revealed that the battleship Nagato was capable of speeds in excess of 26 knots (48 km/h). To counter this, it was determined a top speed of 25.8–26.2 kn (47.8–48.5 km/h; 29.7–30.2 mph) was possible if the power plant from North Carolina could be reduced in size enough to fit in the tighter hull of South Dakota. In order to do so the boilers were positioned directly above the turbines in the same arrangement to have been used in the 1916 Lexington-class battlecruisers. The boilers were then rearranged several times so they were staggered with the turbines, eventually ending directly alongside the turbines. The propulsion system was arranged as close together as possible, and the evaporators and distilling equipment were placed in the machinery rooms. This provided enough additional space behind the armored belt to add a second plotting room. By this time, the design process had established that the hull was to be 666 ft long (203 m) between perpendiculars and incorporate the single internal sloped armor belt. However, in case of rejection by the General Board, naval architects produced a series of alternatives. Among these were longer, faster ships armed with 14-inch guns in triple turrets, slower ships with 14-inch guns in quadruple turrets, improved versions of the North Carolina class, and a ship of 27 knots (50 km/h) armed with nine 16-in guns in a similar configuration to the North Carolinas. Arguments arose, frequently over the issue of speed; the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (CINCUS) refused to allow the new ship to drop below 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), the Battle Force argued at least 27 knots (50 km/h; 31 mph) was necessary to maintain homogeneity in the line of battle, and the president of the War College maintained a fast ship was optimal, but the navy would continue to operate the older 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) battleships until the 1950s and so a higher speed was not strictly necessary—though, crucially, it would mean the class would have been too slow to act in what would emerge as the most critical role for battleships, as escorts for fast carrier task forces. The primary 666-ft design was the only plan that could meet the specified requirements for speed, protection, and the nine 16-inch guns. By late 1937 a proposed design was agreed on, requiring only small modifications to save weight and increase the fields of fire. Berths for the crew, even the staterooms for senior officers, along with mess halls were reduced in size, and ventilation ports were completely removed, forcing the ship to rely completely on artificial air circulation. Despite the compromises made, naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin would later argue that the South Dakota-class ships were the best treaty battleships ever built. The naval historian Norman Friedman stated that the South Dakota design was "a remarkable achievement within very constricting treaty limits." Moreover the final commitment to a higher speed presaged the development of the subsequent Iowa class—the largest, fastest, and final U.S. battleships. As Friedman has written: > For half a century prior to laying the Iowa class down, the U.S. Navy had consistently advocated armor and firepower at the expense of speed. Even in adopting fast battleships of the North Carolina class, it had preferred the slower of two alternative designs. Great and expensive improvements in machinery design had been used to minimize the increased power on the designs rather than make extraordinary powerful machinery (hence much higher speed) practical. Yet the four largest battleships the U.S. Navy produced were not much more than 33-knot versions of the 27-knot, 35,000 tonners that had preceded them. The Iowas showed no advance at all in protection over the South Dakotas. The principal armament improvement was a more powerful 16-inch gun, 5 calibers longer. Ten thousand tons was a very great deal to pay for 6 knots. ## Specifications ### General characteristics The South Dakota–class battleships were 666 ft (203 m) long at the waterline, 680 ft (207.3 m) overall, and 108 ft 2 in (32.97 m) in beam. The design standard displacement was 35,412 long tons (35,980 t), approximately 1.2% overweight; when the ships were commissioned in 1942, the considerable increase in anti-air armament from the contract design increased standard displacement to 37,682 long tons (38,287 t) (Indiana's calculated value on 12 April 1942). Full load displacement was 44,519 long tons (45,233 t) when commissioned, with a mean draft of 34 ft 11.25 in (10.6 m) at this displacement. At the design combat displacement of 42,545 long tons (43,228 t), the mean draft was 33 ft 9.813 in (10.3 m) while metacentric height was 7.18 ft (2.2 m). The addition of more anti-aircraft mounts during the ships' service in World War II increased the full load displacement considerably towards the end of the war; by 1945, South Dakota's full load displacement was some 46,200 long tons (46,900 t), and Massachusetts reached up to 47,006 long tons (47,760 t) at emergency load. The hull featured a bulbous bow, triple bottom under the armored citadel, and skegs, characteristics shared by all American fast battleships. Unlike the preceding North Carolina-class and the subsequent Iowa-class, the South Dakotas mounted the outboard propulsion shafts in skegs rather than the inboard ones. Compared to the North Carolinas, the slightly shorter hull form resulted in improved maneuverability, and the vibration problems had been considerably reduced. ### Armament #### Main battery The South Dakota–class battleships carried a main battery of nine 16 inches (406 mm)/45 caliber Mark 6 guns in three three-gun turrets, identical to the North Carolina-class. Two of these turrets were placed in a superfiring pair forward; the third turret was mounted aft of the main superstructure. These guns fired a 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) Mark 8 armor-piercing (AP) shell at a rate of two per minute per gun. The guns could either use a full propellant charge of 535 lb (243 kg), a reduced charge of 295 lb (134 kg), or a reduced flashless charge of 315 lb (143 kg). This provided a muzzle velocity of 2,300 feet per second (700 metres per second) for the AP shell with the full propellant charge, while the reduced version provided a correspondingly lower muzzle velocity of 1,800 ft/s (550 m/s). 130 shells were stowed for each gun, which came to a total of 1,170. The guns in all three turrets could elevate to 45 degrees, but only I and III turrets could depress to −2 degrees; the superfiring II turret was not able to depress. This enabled a maximum range of 36,900 yards (33,700 m) with the Mark 8 projectile. The turrets were able to train 150 degrees in both directions from the centerline, which enabled a wide arc of fire. The guns could be elevated or depressed at a rate of 12 degrees per second, and the turrets could train at 4 degrees per second. #### Secondary battery South Dakota was built as a fleet flagship, with an extra deck on her conning tower for extra command space, so her secondary battery had sixteen 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber Mark 12 guns in eight Mark 28 Mod 0 twin dual-purpose (DP) mounts, four on either side of the superstructure. This was two turrets fewer than her sister ships who had ten twin DP mounts of twenty guns, five on either side of the ship. These turrets weighed 156,295 lb (70,894 kg) and could depress their guns to −15 degrees and elevate them to 85 degrees. The guns fired a variety of different projectiles, including anti-aircraft (AA), illumination, and white phosphorus (WP) shells, at a rate of fire of 15–22 rounds per minute. The AA shells were 20.75 in long (52.7 cm) and weighed between 54 and 55 lb (24–25 kg), depending on the variant. The illumination and white phosphorus shells were slightly smaller, at 20 in (51 cm) long; the illumination rounds weighed 54.4 lb (24.7 kg) and the WP shells were 53 lb (24 kg). The guns used three different charges, depending on the situation: a full charge, a full flashless charge, and a reduced charge. The standard full charge weighed 15.2–15.5 lb (6.9–7.0 kg), the flashless charge was slightly heavier at 16 lb (7.3 kg), and the reduced charge was significantly smaller, at 3.6 lb (1.6 kg). Both full charges provided a muzzle velocity of 2,600 ft/s (790 m/s) in new guns, but as continued fire wore down the barrels, muzzle velocity degraded slightly, to 2,500 ft/s (760 m/s). The reduced charge's muzzle velocity was correspondingly lower, at 1,200 ft/s (370 m/s). Each gun was supplied with 450 rounds, and was expected to fire 4,600 shells before it was worn enough to warrant replacement. At the maximum effective elevation to engage surface targets, 45 degrees, the guns could hit targets up to 17,392 yards (15,903 m) away. The maximum height at which aircraft could be engaged was 37,200 feet (11,300 m). #### Anti-aircraft battery The ships had a variety of anti-aircraft weapons, and the weapons mounted changed over time. Initially, the ships were designed to mount twelve .50 in (12.7 mm) machine guns and twelve 1.1 in (27.9 mm) autocannon. By March 1942, when South Dakota was completed, the anti-aircraft battery was modified to eight .50-inch and twenty-eight 1.1-inch machine guns and sixteen 20 mm (1 in) Oerlikon autocannon. In September of that year, the .50-inch guns were removed and the number of 1.1-inch guns reduced to 20. In their place, the 20mm guns were increased to 16 weapons, and 16 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns were added, in four quadruple mounts. In February 1943, the 1.1-inch guns and 1 Oerlikon gun were replaced with an additional 52 Bofors guns, for a total of 68. In December 1944, the battery was again upgraded, with 72 Oerlikon and 72 Bofors guns. In March 1945, the battery was modified for the last time: 5 Oerlikon were added and 4 Bofors were removed. This provided the maximum number of anti-aircraft guns, at 145 guns. The other three ships followed a similar pattern of upgrades to the anti-aircraft armament. ### Propulsion The South Dakotas had eight Babcock & Wilcox three-drum express type boilers that had a steam pressure of 600 psi (4,100 kPa) and a temperature of 850 °F (454 °C). The steam drove four geared turbines, one for each propeller shaft. General Electric provided the turbines for the South Dakota and the Massachusetts, while identical machinery for Indiana and Alabama were provided by Westinghouse. Similar to the North Carolina-class, the machinery was divided into four machinery spaces, each with two boilers and one set of turbines in order to ensure isolation of main propulsion machinery. No longitudinal bulkheads were fitted in the machinery spaces; this was to reduce the risk of asymmetric flooding and capsizing. The vessels had four screws, with the two outboard screws mounted in skegs. Two semi-balanced rudders were mounted behind the two inboard screws. As completed, the ships had all four-bladed propellers, but vibration tests would result in the ships of the class having different propeller blade arrangements throughout the war. The Massachusetts and Alabama had five blades in the outboard propellers and four blades inboard, while the Indiana had three blades inboard. The power output was 130,000 shp (97,000 kW), while overloading permitted up to 135,000 shp (101,000 kW), which drove the ships at a design speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph). The displacement of the vessels gradually increased over World War II, mainly due to additional light anti-aircraft gun placements and greater fuel oil carriage to refuel smaller escorts. By 1945, the Alabama achieved 27.08 knots (50.2 km/h; 31.2 mph) at 42,740 long tons (43,430 t) on 133,070 shp (99,230 kW). The ships carried about 6,600 long tons (6,700 t) of fuel oil, which gave a range of 15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Each ship had seven 1,000 kW ship service turbogenerators (SSTG) as well as two 200 kW emergency diesel generators. Total electrical power output was 7,000 kW at 450 volts alternating current. ### Electronics The South Dakotas were able to reap the benefits of developments in radar technology during World War II. By the end of the war, the ships were equipped with air and surface-search radars and radar fire-control. When commissioned, the ships were equipped with the SC air-search radar. This radar would eventually get replaced by the SK and SK-2 air-search radar. The main battery directors were fitted with Mark 3 fire-control radar, which were replaced by the Mark 8 starting in 1942. This radar gave these ships a significant advantage over ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which for the most part relied on optical systems. The Mark 37 directors for the secondary batteries were fitted with the Mark 4 radar. With this system and the VT fused shells, the secondary batteries became formidable anti-air weapons, as well as being capable of using against surface targets. The Mark 4 was eventually replaced by the Mark 12/22. ### Armor Unlike the preceding North Carolina-class battleships, the South Dakotas were designed to be resistant against 16-inch shellfire. The protection zone against the 2,240 lb projectile fired by the 16-inch/45 cal. guns of the Colorado class was 17,700 to 30,900 yd (16.2 to 28.3 km). To remain within treaty displacement limits, the belt armor was only slightly thicker while being considerably more inclined; this necessitating an internal belt arrangement in order to retain adequate waterline beam for stability. The immune zone of the side armor against the 16-inch guns used by the South Dakotas themselves was smaller due to the introduction of the 2,700 lbs Mark 8 Super Heavy shell; against such a shell, the armor was effective only at ranges between 20,500 and 26,400 yd (18.7 and 24.1 km). Abreast of the 1.25-inch (32 mm) Special Treatment Steel (STS) outer hull plating, the South Dakotas' internal armor belt consists of 12.2-inch (310 mm) thick Class A Krupp cemented (K.C.) armor mounted on 0.875-inch (22 mm) thick STS plate, and was inclined 19° from the vertical. This was equal to 17.3 inches (440 mm) of vertical belt armor at 19,000 yards (9.4 nmi; 17 km). The belt armor extended to the triple bottom with a Class B homogeneous Krupp-type lower belt and tapered from its maximum thickness of 12.2 inches (310 mm) down to 1 inch (25 mm) at the lowest portion at the triple bottom. This feature was chosen to protect against penetration of heavy-caliber gun projectiles that managed to hit the ship below the waterline. The ends of the armored citadel are protected by 11.3-inch (287 mm) thick traverse bulkheads. The horizontal deck protection is made of three layers: a 1.5-inch (38 mm) STS weather deck (also called "bomb deck"), a combined 5.75–6.05-inch (146–154 mm) Class B and STS second deck, and a 0.625-inch (16 mm) STS splinter deck over the machinery spaces. Over the magazines, the splinter deck is replaced with a 1-inch (25 mm) STS third deck. The South Dakotas had considerable main battery turret protection; the turret face plates are 18-inch (457 mm) Class B, the sides are 9.5-inch (241 mm) Class A, the rear is 12-inch (305 mm) Class A, and the roof is 7.25-inch (184 mm) Class B. The barbettes are protected by Class A armor 11.3 inches (287 mm) thick along the centerline and 17.3 inches (439 mm) on the sides. Secondary battery turrets and handling spaces are protected by 2 inches (51 mm) STS. The conning tower is protected by 16-inch (406 mm) thick armor. The underwater protection was an internal "bulge" that consists of four longitudinal torpedo bulkheads forming a multi-layered system designed to absorb the energy from an underwater explosion equivalent to 700 pounds of TNT (1.3 GJ). The protection system was designed for the torpedo bulkheads to deform and absorb energy while several compartments were liquid loaded in order to disrupt the gas bubble and stop fragments; the total system depth was 17.9 feet (5.46 m). Notably, the armor belt itself, which extended to the triple bottom where it tapered to 1 in (25 mm), formed the third torpedo bulkhead. The lower edge of the belt was welded to the triple bottom structure and the joint was reinforced with buttstraps due to the structural discontinuity from the slight knuckle. It was hoped that extending the armor belt to the triple bottom as one of the torpedo bulkheads can help increase the protection of the system compared to the one used by the previous North Carolina-class. However, caisson tests in 1939 indicated that the South Dakota system was less effective due to the rigidity of the armor belt causing force of the detonation to significantly displace the final holding bulkhead inwards despite remaining watertight. This and several further subscale caisson tests resulted in several modifications, including the system's liquid loading scheme; whereas the North Carolinas had the third and fourth outboard compartments liquid loaded, the South Dakotas had the outer two compartments filled with liquid, typically fuel oil, while the inner two compartments were void spaces; this was done to mitigate the listing potential from a torpedo strike. The system saw further strengthening and refinements in the subsequent Iowa class, which shared similar geometries. ## Service ### South Dakota South Dakota's keel was laid on 5 July 1939 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 7 June 1941 and commissioned on 20 March 1942. She went on a shakedown cruise in June after her fitting out was complete. In August–September, the battleship voyaged from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Panama Canal; she struck a coral reef soon after arriving in the Tonga Islands and had to sail to the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for repairs, which took about a month. South Dakota was then assigned to escort the aircraft carrier Enterprise as part of Task Force (TF) 16; joined by TF 17 soon after, the combined fleet—now known as TF 61—was ordered to "make a sweep of the Santa Cruz Islands and then move southwest to block any Japanese forces approaching Guadalcanal." This led to the Battle of Santa Cruz, where in escorting Enterprise, South Dakota was credited with shooting down 26 Japanese planes. The battleship was hit once by a 500 lb (230 kg)-bomb on Turret I during the action. On 30 October 1942, South Dakota and the destroyer Mahan collided while the latter was investigating a sonar contact with a submarine. Both ships were able to continue to Nouméa, where Vestal repaired them. The battleship joined the North Carolina-class battleship Washington and four destroyers to form TF 64. The ships intercepted a Japanese bombardment force on the night of 14–15 November, and, in a battle now known as the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, they damaged the cruisers Takao and Atago in addition to forcing the battleship Kirishima and destroyer Ayanami to be scuttled. During the battle, a power failure incapacitated South Dakota and she received considerable topside damage—42 shells hit the ship, knocking out radio communications and three fire control radars along with destroying the main radar set. Partial repairs courtesy of Prometheus' crew allowed South Dakota to sail for New York; after the ship's arrival on 18 December 1942, she was given an overhaul and the battle damage was completely fixed. Departing the yard on 25 February 1943, South Dakota underwent sea trials before escorting Ranger in North Atlantic operations until mid-April, when she joined the British Home Fleet. This deployment lasted until 1 August; the ship then traveled to Norfolk and then the Pacific, arriving at Efate on 14 September. Moving to Fiji on 7 November, she joined Battleship Divisions 8 and 9, which supported Allied forces in the Battle of Tarawa, among other battles. Along with five other battleships, she fired upon Nauru Island on 6 December 1943. The day of 29 January 1944 saw the ship bombard Roi-Namur before she moved away to protect the carriers assigned to provide air support for multiple amphibious assaults on islands within Kwajalein Atoll. South Dakota provided anti-aircraft support for various fast carrier task forces until June, when she bombarded Saipan and Tinian. The battleship took part in the so-called "Marianas Turkey Shoot", where more than 300 attacking Japanese aircraft were shot down, though she was hit by a 500-pound bomb on the main deck that killed 24 and wounded 27. For the rest of World War II, South Dakota operated in the Pacific mostly as a carrier escort; the only times she did not was when she received an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard from July to August 1944, when five tanks of gunpowder for the 16-inch guns exploded on 6 May (putting the ship out of action until 1 June), and when she bombarded Okinawa (24 March 19 April), the Kamaishi Steel Works on Honshu (14 July and 9 August), and Hamamatsu on Honshū (29–30 July). South Dakota was present at the Surrender of Japan aboard Missouri on 2 September 1945; she left Tokyo Bay on 20 September for the west coast of the United States. The battleship set sail for Philadelphia on 3 January 1946 to be overhauled; she was designated as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet there in June. Decommissioned on 31 January 1947, South Dakota remained idle until she was stricken from the Naval Register on 1 June 1962 and sold for scrap to the Lipsett Division of Luria Brothers and Company, Inc. on 25 October. The ship is memorialized at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where memorabilia and parts of the battleship are displayed within an outline of the main deck. A screw from South Dakota is on display outside the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, D.C. ### Indiana Indiana's keel was laid on 20 September 1939 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 21 November 1941; during the fitting out process, the former battleship Kearsarge, which had been rebuilt as a crane ship, lowered the 16-inch guns into their turret mountings. Indiana was commissioned into the fleet on 30 April 1942. After shakedown operations, she was sent directly to the Solomon Islands; Indiana arrived off Guadalcanal on 9 November 1942 and replaced her sister South Dakota, which was in need of repairs. Indiana's operations off Guadalcanal consisted primarily of shore bombardment in support of the Marines fighting on the island. In November 1943, Indiana took part in the invasion of Tarawa, alongside her sister South Dakota. During this operation, Indiana shot down her first aircraft. The ship also participated in the invasion of the Marshall Islands; on 1 February 1944, the battleship Washington collided with Indiana on her starboard side. 13 of the voids between the torpedo protection system and 13 fuel tanks were flooded, and the longitudinal bulkheads were severely damaged. The starboard outboard propeller was damaged, along with the shaft upon which it was mounted. Two quad-mount 40 mm guns and nine 20 mm guns were destroyed, along with two of the mounts for the 20 mm guns. Indiana's starboard catapult was torn from the ship, along with the Kingfisher float plane that had been sitting on it. The ship suffered a list to starboard, which was corrected by flooding compartments on the port side. Indiana sailed to Majuro Lagoon to be repaired enough to make the voyage back to Pearl Harbor; the resulting work was the largest single repair handled at Pearl Harbor other than the battleships damaged during the attack that started the war. After Indiana returned to active duty, she participated in the invasion of Hollandia in western New Guinea. The ship then returned to the central Pacific and bombarded Truk, and subsequently took part in operations off the Marianas Islands. On 19 June 1944 a Japanese torpedo bomber attempted to attack the ship, but Indiana's anti-aircraft gunners managed to destroy both the aircraft and the torpedo it had dropped, with no damage to the ship. Shortly thereafter, a second Japanese plane was shot down, but a third managed to crash into the ship. The aircraft disintegrated upon striking the side armor plates and scattered pieces of the plane across the stern. Five men were injured, but the ship suffered only very slight damage. Indiana returned to Puget Sound naval yard for a needed overhaul. The work lasted until January 1945; the ship returned to active duty on the 24th of that month. Indiana took part in the bombardment of Iwo Jima, as well as in attacks on the Japanese home islands. Following the shore bombardments, Indiana joined the task force that had assembled to invade Okinawa; the ship provided ground support fire as well as anti-aircraft defense against the increasing number of Kamikazes that were attacking the invasion fleet. Indiana continued in these duties until the end of the war in August 1945. In 1947, Indiana was put into the reserve fleet at Puget Sound. She was finally struck from the Navy List on 1 June 1962, and sold for scrapping on 6 September 1963 for \$418,387. The ship breaking was finished in 1964. The battleship's mast was given to Indiana University at Bloomington, and her anchor is on display in Fort Wayne. ### Massachusetts Massachusetts, the third ship of the class, was laid down on 20 July 1939 at the Fore River Shipyard of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. She was launched on 23 September 1941 and commissioned on 12 May 1942. After a shakedown cruise, the battleship departed Casco Bay, Maine on 24 October 1942 to support the Allied invasion of Africa, Operation Torch, as flagship of the Western Naval Task Force. Along with the heavy cruisers Tuscaloosa and Wichita and four destroyers, Massachusetts sailed to Casablanca on the evening of 7 November. The incomplete French battleship Jean Bart, missing one of her quadruple 380 mm/45 caliber gun turrets, was in the harbor, having traveled there in 1940 to escape the German invasion of France. American planes were fired upon and two French submarines were spotted leaving the harbor; at 07:03 the coastal battery at El Hank opened fire on Massachusetts. It was mistakenly assumed that the gunfire had come from Jean Bart, so the order to neutralize the battleship was given. Massachusetts hit Jean Bart five times, and in the process disabled the one active main battery turret. Massachusetts also severely damaged the destroyer Milan, which subsequently had to be beached. Four merchant ships and a floating crane were also destroyed. During this engagement, seven French destroyers managed to escape the harbor and attempted to make their way to the invasion beaches. At 08:55, Massachusetts increased speed in order to attack the destroyers. The battery at El Hank continued to fire on the ship, and at 10:00, one of the 7.6-inch shells from the coastal battery struck her on the port side between the two forward main gun turrets. The shell penetrated the deck armor and started a small fire that was quickly extinguished. At this time, the French cruiser Primauguet and another two destroyers left the port. Massachusetts and Tuscaloosa sank the destroyer Fougueux, and at 10:05 a 16-inch shell from Massachusetts struck the destroyer Milan, and put her out of action. Primaguet was forced to retire after she was hit by a 16-inch shell from Massachusetts and a number of smaller caliber shells from the American cruisers Brooklyn and Augusta. During the operations off the North African coast on 8 November, Massachusetts fired 786 main battery shells and 221 rounds from her 5-inch guns. Following her successful operations off North Africa, Massachusetts was taken in for an overhaul in the Boston Navy Yard. After the refitting, the ship sailed for the Pacific theater, and arrived in Nouméa on 4 March. The battleship supported operations in the South Pacific over the next months, including guarding convoy lanes, escorting aircraft carriers, and bombarding Japanese positions on various islands, including Nauru (8 December 1943) and Kwajalein (30 January 1944). Returning to carrier protection after the latter bombardment, Massachusetts provided anti-aircraft defense while Allied air attacks were sent against Saipan, Tinian and Guam; she also supported later invasions of the Caroline Islands and Hollandia. After bombarding Ponape Island on 1 May, the ship set course for the Puget Sound Navy Yard for an overhaul and to have her gun barrels relined, as they had worn out. Back on active duty, Massachusetts departed Pearl Harbor on 1 August. Joining Task Force 38, she supported forces landing around Leyte Gulf, and provided cover for task groups attacking Japanese warships in the Battle for Leyte Gulf, Okinawa, and Formosa. Moving to the Philippines, the battleship protected Allied ships and troops during the Battle of Mindoro and was part of a force that struck Manila. Massachusetts, along with the rest of TF 38, ran into Typhoon Cobra, which had winds of around 120 kn (140 mph; 220 km/h). She continued to operate with TF 38 from 30 December and 23 January 1945; the ships struck Formosa and Okinawa, provided cover for an amphibious assault on Lingayen, and made forays into the South China Sea to attack Japanese shipping and airfields. In February–early March 1945, Massachusetts provided anti-aircraft cover for airborne raids on Honshū, Iwo Jima and Kyushu. On 24 March, the ship bombarded Okinawa; for the remainder of that month and a majority of April, Massachusetts once again provided anti-aircraft defense, this time for Allied ships massed near Okinawa. On 5 June, she suffered through another typhoon, Louise, this one with 100 kn (120 mph; 190 km/h) winds. Five days later, she bombarded Minamidaitō. 1 July saw the Third Fleet and Massachusetts set course for Japan; the battleship protected carriers while they launched raids on Tokyo, then moved closer to land to hit targets with gunfire. Massachusetts attacked Japan's second largest iron and steel center, Kamaishi on Honshū, on 14 July; Hamamatsu on 28 July; and Kamaishi on 9 August. The latter bombardment was probably the last 16-inch shell fired during World War II. With the war over, Massachusetts voyaged to the Puget Sound Navy Yard once more for an overhaul; once completed, she left on 28 January 1946 and operated off the California coast before setting course for Hampton Roads via the Panama Canal. After she arrived on 22 April, Massachusetts was decommissioned on 27 March 1947 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet; she was struck from the Naval Register on 1 June 1962, but not scrapped. Instead, the battleship was given to the Massachusetts Memorial Committee on 8 June 1965 to become a museum ship in Fall River, Massachusetts; she has been located in "Battleship Cove" ever since. ### Alabama Construction work on Alabama, the fourth and final member of the South Dakota class, began on 1 February 1940 in the Norfolk Navy Yard with the keel laying. She was launched on 16 February 1942 and commissioned into service six months later, on 16 August. Alabama sailed on her shakedown cruise from the Chesapeake Bay on 11 November, which culminated in Casco Bay, Maine. Minor repairs were carried out in Norfolk, after which the big ship returned to Casco Bay to conduct training maneuvers with her sister, South Dakota. Beginning in March 1943, Alabama was assigned to the British Home Fleet, and tasked with convoy escort duties on the route to the Soviet Union. She was relieved of these duties in July so that she could return to Norfolk for a brief overhaul in August. Later in August, Alabama departed for the Pacific theater; the ship was assigned to the US Third Fleet during the amphibious operations in the Gilbert islands, particularly Kwajalein in early 1944. During the night of 21 February 1944, Alabama's 5-inch guns were firing upon Japanese aircraft in the area. The ship turned in the direction of the Japanese aircraft in order to better engage them, but the rearmost turret was masked behind the amidships mount. The gunner in the rearmost turret accidentally overrode the safety mechanism that prevented the gun from firing in that circumstance, and when the gun was fired, it hit the 5-inch turret in front of it. Five men were killed and 11 wounded in the incident; an investigation revealed that the override switch was faulty and prone to accidental operation. Alabama shot down her first Japanese aircraft the following month, in March 1944. The ship conducted anti-aircraft defense operations during the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944. After that, she joined other battleships that were providing gunfire support to the ground troops in the Marianas islands. She was assigned to Task Force 34 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. In early 1945, Alabama returned for repair and refit work at the Puget Sound naval yard; the work consisted primarily of improvements to her guns and radar equipment. By early May the ship returned to fleet operations. She was tasked with providing anti-aircraft support to the fast carrier groups that were launching air strikes on the Japanese main island of Kyushu. In July 1945, she shelled a number of areas in Japan, including Kamaishi on the 14th, Hitachi on the 18th, and Hamamatsu on the 29th and 30th. These turned out to be her last offensive operations of the war. Her last duty in the Far East was to assist in the landing of occupation forces in Japan, after which she departed for the United States. On 9 January 1947, Alabama was placed into the reserve fleet in Bremerton, Washington, where she remained until 1 June 1962, when she was removed from the Navy List. Alabama was transferred to the USS Alabama Battleship Commission, which had acquired the ship in order to turn her into a memorial. She was towed out of Bremerton on 2 July 1964, to Mobile, Alabama, where she currently resides as a museum ship, the main attraction of Battleship Memorial Park. ### Conversion proposal On 26 July 1954, a conversion proposal for the South Dakota–class ships was ordered by the Chairman of the Ship Characteristics Board. The request was made for the ships' speed to be increased to at least 31 knots. To do so, the design staff decided to remove the after turret and use the weight and space gained to install either a set of improved steam turbines or a set of gas turbines. Either system would have to produce at least 256,000 shaft horsepower (190 MW)—the minimum requirement to achieve 31 knots on the South Dakota hull. Unfortunately, this would have necessitated alterations to the hull form, particularly in the rear of the ship. Larger propellers were also required, and all four shafts would have had to have been completely rebuilt to accommodate the changes. Estimates for the project ran as high as \$40,000,000 per ship, and this did not include the cost of reactivating the ship and upgrades to its electrical and combat systems. As a result, the conversion program was halted. ## Ships of the class

SM UB-43

German Imperial Navy's Type UB II submarine

SM UB-43 was a Type UB II submarine or U-boat for the German Imperial Navy (German: Kaiserliche Marine) during World War I. UB-43 was sold to the Austro-Hungarian Navy (German: Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine or K.u.K. Kriegsmarine) during the war. In Austro-Hungarian service the B was dropped from her name and she was known as SM U-43 or U-XLIII as the lead boat of the Austro-Hungarian U-43 class. UB-43 was ordered in July 1915 and was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen in September. UB-43 was a little more than 121 feet (37 m) in length and displaced between 270 and 305 tonnes (266 and 300 long tons), depending on whether surfaced or submerged. She was equipped to carry a complement of four torpedoes for her two bow torpedo tubes and had an 8.8-centimeter (3.5 in) deck gun. As part of a group of six submarines selected for Mediterranean service, UB-43 was broken into railcar sized components and shipped to Pola where she was assembled and launched in early April 1916, and commissioned later in the month. Over the next year the U-boat sank twenty-two ships, which included the Peninsular and Oriental liner . UB-43 also damaged the British protected cruiser HMS Grafton. The German Imperial Navy was having difficulties filling submarine crews with trained men and offered to sell UB-43 and a sister boat, UB-47, to the Austro-Hungarian Navy. After the terms were agreed to in June 1917, both boats were handed over at Pola. When commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the B in her designation was dropped so that she became U-43 or U-XLIII. She damaged one Italian steamer in limited Austro-Hungarian service through the end of the war. U-43 was ceded to France as a war reparation in 1920 and broken at Bizerta that same year. ## Design and construction The German UB II design improved upon the design of the UB I boats, which had been ordered in September 1914. In service, the UB I boats were found to be too small and too slow. A major problem was that, because they had a single propeller shaft/engine combo, if either component failed, the U-boat became almost totally disabled. To rectify this flaw, the UB II boats featured twin propeller shafts and twin engines (one shaft for each engine), which also increased the U-boat's top speed. The new design also included more powerful batteries, larger torpedo tubes, and a deck gun. As a UB II boat, U-43 could also carry twice the torpedo load of her UB I counterparts, and nearly ten times as much fuel. To accommodate all of these changes the boats' had larger hulls, and surface and submerged displacements more than twice those of the UB I boats. The Imperial German Navy ordered UB-43 from AG Weser on 31 July 1915 as one of a series of six UB II boats (numbered from UB-42 to UB-47) UB-43 was 36.90 metres (121 ft 1 in) long and 4.37 metres (14 ft 4 in) abeam. She had a single hull with saddle tanks and had a draft of 3.68 metres (12 ft 1 in) when surfaced. She displaced 305 tonnes (300 long tons) while submerged but only 272 tonnes (268 long tons) on the surface. The submarine was equipped with twin Daimler diesel engines and twin Siemens-Schuckert electric motors—for surfaced and submerged running, respectively—that drove one propeller shaft. UB-43 had a surface speed of up to 8.82 knots (16.33 km/h; 10.15 mph) and could go as fast as 6.22 knots (11.52 km/h; 7.16 mph) while underwater. The U-boat could carry up to 27 tonnes (27 long tons) of diesel fuel, giving her a range of 6,940 nautical miles (12,850 km; 7,990 mi) at 5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph) Her electric motors and batteries provided a range of 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) at 4 knots (7.4 km/h; 4.6 mph) while submerged. UB-43 was equipped with two 50-centimeter (19.7 in) bow torpedo tubes and could carry four torpedoes. The U-boat was also armed with one 8.8 cm (3.5 in) Uk L/30 deck gun. UB-43 was laid down by AG Weser at its Bremen shipyard on 3 September 1915. As one of six U-boats selected for service in the Mediterranean while under construction, UB-43 was broken into railcar-sized components and shipped overland to the Austro-Hungarian port of Pola. Shipyard workers from Weser assembled the boat and her five sisters at Pola, where she was launched on 8 April. ## German Imperial Navy career SM UB-43 was commissioned into the German Imperial Navy on 24 April 1916 under the command of Oberleutnant zur See Dietrich Niebuhr; UB-43 was the only U-boat command for the 27-year-old officer. UB-43 was assigned to the Navy's Pola Flotilla (German: Deutsche U-Halbflotille Pola) in which she remained throughout her German career. Although the flotilla was based in Pola, the site of the main Austro-Hungarian Navy base, boats of the flotilla operated out of the Austro-Hungarian base at Cattaro which was located farther south and closer to the Mediterranean. German U-boats typically returned to Pola only for repairs. Under Niebuhr's command, UB-43 had no success, and he was replaced by Kapitänleutnant Hans-Joachim von Mellenthin on 29 August. After two weeks under von Mellenthin's command, UB-43 sank her first ship. While 112 nautical miles (207 km; 129 mi) east of Malta, the British steamer Italiana with her cargo of hay destined for Salonica was torpedoed and sunk. Three days later, and some 60 nautical miles (110 km; 69 mi) closer to Malta, von Mellenthin sank a pair of British steamers. Dewa was in ballast headed for Port Said when attacked by UB-43; three of the steamer's crew lost their lives in the attack. Lord Tredegar was carrying a general cargo when she was sent down with the loss of four men. The Wall Street Journal reported that the sinking of Lord Tredegar resulted in a loss of \$1,000,000 for her American insurer. In October, von Mellenthin and UB-43 sank an additional two ships. On 10 October, the British tanker Elax, carrying fuel oil from Rangoon was sunk off Cape Matapan without casualties. Three days later, two men were killed when UB-43 torpedoed and sank their ship, the British steamer Welsh Prince, of 4,934 gross register tons (GRT). On 18 November, the British Admiralty, released a report that listed all of UB-43's first five victims as evidence of German wrongdoing. According to the British report, Italiana, Dewa, Lord Tredegar, and Elax—four of the twenty-two ships listed—had all been torpedoed without warning. This type of attack was counter to German pledges to adhere cruiser warfare, which required that ships be allowed time for the crews to escape before any attack could commence. UB-43's fifth victim, Welsh Prince, was on another list of 107 British ships sunk whose lifeboats had been fired upon by German submarines. In the meantime, UB-43 had continued sinking British ships, sending down five in a nine-day span in early November. Statesman, a 6,153 GRT steamer carrying a general cargo, was first on 3 November; six crewmen were killed when the ship went down 200 nautical miles (370 km; 230 mi) east of Malta. The following day, the 3,937 GRT Clan Leslie and the 5,398 GRT Huntsvale were sunk in the same area. Clan Leslie was carrying a general cargo from Bombay when sunk with three casualties. Seven were killed when Huntsvale, traveling in ballast for Algiers, was sunk. On 6 November, UB-43 torpedoed the Peninsular and Oriental liner 112 nautical miles (207 km; 129 mi) off Cape Matapan. According to contemporary news accounts, gunners on Arabia fired upon UB-43 after the liner was torpedoed, but recorded no hits. All 437 passengers aboard the steamer, en route from Sydney to London when attacked, were rescued after an hour in the water. The liner went down 90 minutes after the torpedo struck. Eleven died in the attack, including two of Arabia's engineers killed in the initial blast of the torpedo. Six days after Arabia's sinking, UB-43 sank the 3,383 GRT British steamer Kapunda east of Malta. Kapunda's loss brought the U-boat's November tally to 26,774 gross register tons, which accounted for more than 15% of the November tally for all German U-boats in the Mediterranean. UB-43 and von Mellenthin sank three more British steamers in December: Bretwalda on the 13th, and Russian and Westminster on the 14th. Bretwalda—which had escaped destruction from a mine laid by UC-5 in August 1915—and her cargo of jute were sent down 220 nautical miles (410 km; 250 mi) from Malta. Russian, at 8,825 GRT, was the largest ship sunk by UB-43; the horse transport ship was sailing in ballast from Salonica when she went down with 28 of her crewmen. After UB-43 torpedoed Westminster, the U-boat shelled the survivors in their lifeboats, according to authors R. H. Gibson and Maurice Prendergast. Fifteen men from Westminster died in the sinking. UB-43 sank no ships over the next eight weeks. Author Paul Halpern reports that the majority of the German U-boats in the Mediterranean fleet were undergoing repairs and refits at Pola and Cattaro during January. Although no specific mention is made of repairs done on UB-43, the U-boat's inactivity in this period may be for that reason. ### Unrestricted submarine warfare On 1 February 1917, Kaiser Wilhelm II personally approved a resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare in order to try to force the British to make peace. The new rules of engagement specified that no ship was to be left afloat, although British reports for several of UB-43's victims suggest that von Mellenthin was already operating in this manner. Under these new rules of engagement, UB-43 first sank the Greek steamer Miaoulis 130 nautical miles (240 km; 150 mi) from Benghazi on 24 February, while she was carrying cottonseed to London. Two days later, the turret hull steamer Clan Farquhar, carrying cotton and coal for London, was torpedoed and sunk. After the attack, which killed 49 of her crew, the ship's second engineer was taken captive by von Mellenthin. On the 27th, Brodmore and her cargo of frozen meat from Majunga were sunk off Libya (and her master taken prisoner), and on the 28th the Japanese steamer Shinsei Maru was sunk nearby. She was nearly a month later before von Mellenthin and UB-43 sank their next target. On 26 March, the British steamer Ledbury, carrying wheat from Karachi, was sunk 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) from Benghazi. Eight days later, Vasilefs Constantinos, a Greek steamer of 4,070 gross register tons (GRT), was sunk in the Ionian Sea; the Constantinos was the last ship sunk by UB-43 under von Mellenthin's command. On 9 April, von Mellenthin was succeeded by Oblt.z.S. Horst Obermüller, a 26-year-old first time U-boat commander. Under von Mellenthin's command, UB-43 had sunk 86,236 gross register tons (GRT) of merchant shipping. On 1 May, Obermüller sank the American-owned (but British-flagged) tanker British Sun carrying a load of fuel oil. According to a report in The New York Times, the 5,565 GRT vessel, valued at \$2,500,000, was "one of the finest" tankers. The collier Repton was sent down off Cape Matapan six days later; three of the British steamer's crewmen died in the attack. Later in the month, the Greek steamer Dorothy and her cargo of wheat from Karachi were sunk 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) from Cap D'Armi. UB-43's final attack of note was upon the protected cruiser HMS Grafton, torpedoed 150 nautical miles (280 km; 170 mi) east of Malta. Grafton was damaged but suffered no casualties. The 7,350-tonne (7,230-long-ton)-displacement British ship was brought safely into port at Malta. On 21 July, UB-43 was decommissioned at Pola and handed over to the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In her German Imperial Navy career of fourteen months, UB-43 sank twenty-two merchant ships totaling 99,176 gross register tons (GRT), and damaged one warship with a displacement of 7,350 tonnes (7,230 long tons). ## Austro-Hungarian Navy service In November 1916, the German Imperial Navy, having a hard time finding trained submarine crews, inquired to find out if its ally Austria-Hungary was interested in purchasing some of its Mediterranean submarines. A general agreement led to protracted negotiations, which stalled over the outflow of Austro-Hungarian gold reserves to Germany. But, with all of the details worked out, the two parties agreed on the sale of UB-43 and sister ship UB-47 to Austria-Hungary in June 1917. When handed over by the Germans on 21 July, UB-43 was in a "worn out condition". Despite the rough condition of the boat, the U-boat was commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy on 30 July 1917 as SM U-43, dropping the B from her former designation. Linienschiffsleutnant Friedrich Schlosser was installed as the new commander of the U-boat, which remained at Pola for the next three months undergoing repairs. Departing that port on 1 November, U-43 made way to Cattaro, and then went out on patrol. Schlosser torpedoed the Italian steamer Orione on 16 November, but the Italian ship did not sink; she was towed to safety in Taranto. On 30 November, a leak on U-43 partially flooded the boat and caused her to sink to a depth of 100 metres (330 ft) before she was brought under control and raised to the surface. The flooding damaged the U-boat's electrical systems, preventing her from submerging on her return to port for repairs. An unidentified submarine launched a torpedo at the surfaced U-43, but the torpedo's aim was off and it passed harmlessly in front of the bow. The boat made port at Cattaro on 1 December and at Pola on 6 December for two months of repairs. During U-43's time under repair, Schlosser was reassigned to command U-14, and Linienschiffsleutnant Eugen Hornyák Edler von Horn was named to take his place aboard U-43 on 18 January 1918. Under von Horn, U-43 patrolled off Cattaro, having to crash dive at least once to escape attack from enemy torpedo boats. On 17 March, while returning to Cattaro from patrol, the crew of the Austro-Hungarian destroyer Dinara mistook U-43 for an enemy submarine and rammed her, damaging the diving planes. U-43 sailed for Fiume for three months of repairs. The U-boat returned to action in June and patrolled off Montenegro, Durazzo, and Cattaro for the next five months. On 13 June, U-43 was slightly damaged in an air raid on Cattaro and, on 5 September, had to crash dive to avoid another air attack while off Cattaro. On 20 September, the boat rendezvoused with U-47 and received a French prisoner of war. The prisoner was the only survivor of the French submarine Circé, which U-47 had torpedoed the night before. At the end of the war, U-43 was at Cattaro. In her Austro-Hungarian Navy career, U-43 damaged a single merchant ship of 4,016 gross register tons. U-43 was ceded to France as a war reparation in 1920, towed to Bizerta, and broken up there within a year. ## Summary of raiding history ### As the German UB-43 ### As the Austro-Hungarian U-43

From the Bottom of My Broken Heart

1999 single by Britney Spears

"From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is a song by American singer Britney Spears from her debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). It was released on December 14, 1999, by Jive Records as the fifth and final single from the album. After Spears recorded an unused song from Toni Braxton and sent it through Larry Rudolph to several labels, executives from Jive Records commented that it was very rare to hear someone so young who could deliver emotional content and commercial appeal, appointing the singer to work with producer Eric Foster White. The teen pop ballad was written and produced by White, and features Spears singing about the loss of a first love and how breaking up can be hard. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics, who noted the song as a classic hit and competent single, despite considering it unremarkable like other ballads on the album and calling it "another rejection ballad that refers to kissing but nothing else". "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" achieved moderate success, peaking at number 37 in Australia, and 23 in New Zealand. In the United States, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 17 on Pop Songs, being later certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 28, 2000, for shipping 1,000,000 physical units of the single. It was the 8th best-selling physical single of the 2000s in the country. An accompanying music video, directed by Gregory Dark from November 22–23, 1999, was released on December 17, 1999. It portrayed Spears packing her belongings as she readies herself to move away from home, and feeling upset because she knows that she is going to miss her first love. The video was the subject of controversy among the press, who panned the singer for hiring an adult filmmaker to direct her video. A Spears representative commented that they were only aware of Dark doing music videos. The singer performed "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" in a few live appearances, including at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards, in a medley with "...Baby One More Time", and in three of her concert tours. ## Background In June 1997, Spears was in talks with manager Lou Pearlman to join female pop group Innosense. Her mother Lynne asked family friend and entertainment lawyer Larry Rudolph for his opinion and submitted a tape of Spears singing over a Whitney Houston karaoke song along with some pictures. Rudolph decided he wanted to pitch her to record labels, therefore she needed a professional demo. He sent Spears an unused song from Toni Braxton; she rehearsed for a week and recorded her vocals in a studio with a sound engineer. Spears traveled to New York with the demo and met with executives from four labels, returning to Kentwood the same day. Three of the labels rejected her, arguing audiences wanted pop bands such as the Backstreet Boys and the Spice Girls, and "there wasn't going to be another Madonna, another Debbie Gibson, or another Tiffany." Two weeks later, executives from JIVE Records returned calls to Rudolph. Senior vice president of A&R Jeff Fenster stated about Spears's audition that "It's very rare to hear someone that age who can deliver emotional content and commercial appeal. [...] For any artist, the motivation—the 'eye of the tiger'— is extremely important. And Britney had that." They appointed her to work with producer Eric Foster White for a month, who reportedly shaped her voice from "lower and less poppy" delivery to "distinctively, unmistakably Britney." After hearing the recorded material, president Clive Calder ordered a full album. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was written by Eric Foster White, for Spears' debut studio album, ...Baby One More Time (1999). Spears recorded the vocals for the song in 1997 at 4MW East Studios in New Jersey and at Battery Studios in New York City, New York. Dan Petty played the guitar, while the bass guitar was done by Andy Hess. The song was later mixed by White and Chris Trevett, while background vocals were provided by Spears, Angie Simmons, Don Philip and Andrew Fromm. It was released on December 15, 1999, as the final single from ...Baby One More Time. ## Composition "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was produced by Eric Foster White. Described by Spears as a "soulful" ballad, it draws influence from teen pop and lasts for five minutes and ten seconds. Chuck Taylor of Billboard noted that the singer "turn toward the sad side" on the track, with its lyrics talking about the loss of a first love and how breaking up can be hard. As the song begins, Spears declares, "'Never look back', we said / How was I to know I'd miss you so? / Loneliness up ahead, emptyness behind / Where do I go?" During the chorus, she realizes that she has lost her true love, stating, "From the bottom of my broken heart, even though time may find me somebody new / You were my real love, I never knew love, till there was you." According to sheet music published at musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" is composed in the key of G major and is set in time signature of common time with a slowly tempo of 76 beats per minute. The single's B-side, "Thinkin' About You", is also a teen pop influenced song. The song is composed in the key of G major and is set in time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 96 beats per minute. Spears vocal range spans over two octaves from the low note of G₃ to the high note D₅ Craig McDennis of The Hamilton Spectator said the lyrics of "Thinkin' About You", along with "Born to Make You Happy", "verge on the sort of boy-worshipping dreck that even Tiffany would have sniffed at", while Jane Stevenson of Toronto Sun noted Spears "puts some rather grownup heartfelt soul into [it]". ## Critical response "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics. Amanda Murray of Sputnikmusic considered the song a competent, but unremarkable single. Kyle Anderson of MTV criticized its lyrics, deeming it as "another rejection ballad that references kissing but nothing else". Caryn Ganz of Rolling Stone called "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" a "further hit" from ...Baby One More Time, along with "Sometimes" and "(You Drive Me) Crazy". The song was a Track Pick from the AllMusic review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who praised it along with the other singles from the album, saying, "...Baby One More Time has its share of well-crafted filler, but the singles, combined with Britney's burgeoning charisma, make this a pretty great piece of fluff". Author David Gauntlett considered its lyrics as "slushy", and noticed that the track was "seen as less interesting and relevant [by the fans], although [they] clearly enjoyed [the song] too". Billboard critic Chuck Taylor praised the song, and did a further review on his column: > "'From the Bottom of My Broken Heart' possesses a breezy air that is certain to continue her breakneck success on the singles charts. Eric Foster White is at the helm this time, writing and producing a song that will easily appeal to Miss Spears' young core, with the potential to chart the more mature AC audience, too. [...] Spears' star is shining brighter than ever, and this wholesome track will only serve to illuminate it all the more. An ace". Also from Billboard, Chuck Arnold wrote that "there’s just not enough depth or texture to her voice, but the little quiver in her chirp does serve her well on the final single from the album, a weepie one about losing your first love". The staff from Entertainment Weekly placed it at number 135 on their ranking of Spears's songs. Bustle's Alex Kristelis said that "I can roll with cheesy, but ['From the Bottom of My Broken Heart'] is just too much!". Nicholas Hautman, from Us Weekly, was more positive and opined that "this teenybopper torch song is no 'Sometimes', but it’s a classic in Spears’ catalog that some fans unfairly push to the side". ## Chart performance On the chart issue dated February 19, 2000, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was at number 52 on United States' Billboard Hot 100. The following issue, the song peaked at number 14, after selling 78,000 physical units of the single, and became the Greatest Gainer/Sales title of that week. The song also went from number 73 to number three on the Hot Singles Sales chart, before peaking at number one on the chart issue dated March 4, 2000. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" also appeared on several Billboard component charts, peaking at number 24 on Top 40 Tracks, number 17 on Pop Songs, and number 53 on Radio Songs. On March 28, 2000, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipping 1,000,000 physical units of the single in the country. By the end of 2000, the song peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100 Year-End chart. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was the eighth best-selling physical single of the 2000s, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As of June 2012, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" has sold 778,000 physical singles, with 33,000 paid digital downloads in the United States. It is Spears' second best-selling physical single in the country. In Australia, "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" entered the ARIA chart at number 47, before peaking at number 37 on the following issue. The song stayed a total of five weeks on the chart. It performed better in New Zealand, where it peaked at number 23. In Canada, after staying for five weeks on the RPM Singles Chart, the song peaked at number 25 on the dated week of February 28, 2000. ## Music video ### Background and synopsis Jive Records commissioned a music video for the song to be directed by Gregory Dark. According to Dark, the label hired him with the intention of re-image Spears from the naughty schoolgirl persona of "...Baby One More Time", and stated that they "wanted a much more story-oriented video without dance, one that was serious and emotional." He further stated that, during the filming, "I'd joke with her so that she would loosen up and feel comfortable acting, as opposed to being Britney Spears at that moment." The video was produced by the FM Rocks Production Company. The music video portrays Spears packing up her belongings, as she readies herself to move away from home, and feeling upset because she knows that she is going to miss her first love. Throughout the video, scenes of the couple's past are also seen and Spears is sitting on a tire swing, including one where they climb up onto a windmill, with Spears singing the song, and Spears is standing by a billboard that reads "Welcome to Cedar Springs Gardens" similar to the video "Lucky". Before the end of the video, Spears is waiting at a bus stop while, at the same time, her first love is driving to come see her one last time. However, by the time he finally gets there, Spears had left him behind and taken the bus. ### Reception According to writer Linda Ruth Williams, the music video attracted attention from the press because of "the clash between Spears' wholesome image and Dark's unwholesome back catalogue." A Spears representative spoke to the Sunday Sport and revealed, "as far as I'm aware the director just does music videos. This is a video for young teenage girls and not sexy at all." Dark responded to the negative reviews saying, "I don't deny that I did [adult films], it's just that I also like people to know that I don't currently and haven't in a long time." Billboard reporter Carla Hay also noted, "I don't think people who buy records are too concerned about the background of the video's director." Lucy O'Brien, author of She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul, noted that hiring Dark as the video director implied that Spears was not that innocent. Time journalists Briton Hadden and Henry Robinson Luce said that Spears "may be the queen of pop tartiness, but her new video, 'From the Bottom of My Broken Heart', is an entirely wholesome affair," while Chris Ryan of MTV considered it "a suitably soft-focus affair". The video was also added to MTV's 2000 Yearbook, a list with the "biggest, best, most memorable music videos of every year since the beginning of MTV." Alec Hanley Bemis of LA Weekly highly criticized Spears and the music video. He thought that the singer's "lack of musical talent" had begun to affect her career, after Dark was selected as the director of the video. Bemis commented, however, that Spears' already had "a history of questionable decisions", and cited her Rolling Stone photoshoot done in early 1999, which was condemned by the American Family Association, as an example. He continued to state that the plotline set the singer "on the fast track to adulthood" and questioned, "who's in bed with Britney now? While a TV tabloid recently reported that an old bayou beau in Louisiana has mother Spears’ approval, fantasizing fans want to believe Britney's dallying with that braided moppet from N’Sync or a member of the Backstreet Boys. But the only verifiable fact we have to work with is that Spears has started running with a darker L.A. crowd." Bemis finished his review saying that "no avant-garde film techniques [were used on it]. But Britney's lips glisten so... Speaking frankly, this light in our lives hurts us, from the fire in our loins to the bottom of our broken hearts." ## Live performances "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" was performed for the first time on the ...Baby One More Time Tour in Pompano Beach, Florida, U.S.A at June 28, 1999. After its release as a single, Spears performed the song in a medley with "...Baby One More Time" at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards. Spears was wearing a turtleneck and a full tulle skirt at the beginning of the performance, while dancers surrounded her with enormous hand fans. After singing a shortened version of the song, she then took a few moments to shuffle into a form-fitting red rhinestone outfit (with side cutouts) and emerged onto a stage to perform "...Baby One More Time." Jocelyn Vena of MTV included the performance on her list of Spears' Top 10 Best TV Performances. Spears also performed the song on her 2000s Crazy 2k Tour, where her dancers picked a boy from the audience and invited him onstage, while Spears dedicated the performance of "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" to the boy. The same year, the song was performed for the last time on Oops!... I Did It Again Tour. Wearing glittery jeans and an orange halter top, she performed an acoustic version of the song with her guitarist Skip. Spears also performed "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" and "Born to Make You Happy" on Disney Channel in Concert in 1999. The performances were recorded and included on Spears' first home video release, Time Out with Britney Spears. The song was also performed in the television program Good Morning America on January 7, 2000, along with "...Baby One More Time". ## Track listings - Australian CD maxi single 1. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" (Radio Edit) – 4:34 2. "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix) – 3:40 3. "Thinkin' About You" – 3:35 4. "Sometimes" Answering Machine Message – 0:25 - US CD single 1. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" (Radio Edit) – 4:34 2. "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix) – 3:40 3. Enhanced with sneak peek of music videos "Born to Make You Happy" and "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" - Cassette single 1. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" (Radio Edit) – 4:34 2. "(You Drive Me) Crazy" (Jazzy Jim's Hip-Hop Mix) – 3:40 - Digital download (Digital 45) 1. "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" (Radio Edit) – 4:34 2. "Thinkin' About You" – 3:35 ## Credits and personnel Credits for "From the Bottom of My Broken Heart" are adapted from ...Baby One More Time's liner notes. - Britney Spears – lead vocals - Eric Foster White – audio mixing, producer, songwriting - Chris Trevett – audio mixing - Dan Petty – guitar - Andy Hess – bass guitar, bass, guitar ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications ## Release history

Flower, Sun, and Rain

2001 video game

is an adventure video game developed by Grasshopper Manufacture and published by Victor Interactive Software for the PlayStation 2 in 2001. It was initially only released in Japan. A port for the Nintendo DS (DS) was developed by h.a.n.d. under supervision by Grasshopper Manufacture. It was published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan (2008) and North America (2009) and Rising Star Games in Europe (2008). Flower, Sun, and Rain is set on the Micronesian island resort of Lospass, and is loosely connected to the events of The Silver Case. The story follows Sumio Mondo, a "searcher" who makes a living looking for things people have lost. Mondo is initially contracted to defuse a bomb planted on a plane, but is so distracted with helping the islanders that the bomb goes off. He ends up caught in a timeloop, where he relives the same day running up to the explosion. Gameplay focuses on Mondo exploring the island, solving numerical puzzles with the help of his computer "Catherine" to solve people's problems on Lospass. Flower, Sun, and Rain was conceived, directed, designed and co-written by studio founder Goichi Suda. Production began in 1999 following the release of The Silver Case, the studio's debut title. Multiple staff from The Silver Case returned, including co-writer Masashi Ooka and character designer Takashi Miyamoto. Returning composer Masafumi Takada co-wrote the score with Shingo Yasumoto. The PS2 version remained exclusive to Japan, while the DS version received an international release. The original version was positively reviewed, but the DS release received mixed to negative reviews from critics. ## Gameplay Flower, Sun, and Rain is an adventure game where players take the role of main protagonist Sumio Mondo. As Mondo, the player navigates the environments around the "Flower, Sun, and Rain" hotel on the island resort of Lospass. All environments within Lospass are rendered using three-dimensional graphics. The game is split into chapters that take place across eighteen days. While he has a main goal, "Obstacle" events will block his path, prompting him to help non-playable characters (NPCs) solving problems and locating lost items. Each day after the initial opening segment begins with Mondo in his hotel room, and after that time Mondo is allowed to explore the environments within and surrounding "Flower, Sun, and Rain". Later in the game, more of the environments open up for exploration. Mondo has no form of transport, only being able to explore the island on foot. Puzzles in Flower, Sun, and Rain all follow a similar pattern, with Mondo being asked by NPCs to help them with a problem. Puzzles are solved using "Catherine", a suitcase-bound computer that Mondo carries with him at all times. Puzzles are initiated when locating environmental cues or talking to NPCs. All puzzles revolve around numerical solutions, the correct combinations being hinted at through dialogue and other clues: an example puzzle is taking a birthday and manipulating the numbers in some way, through either physically flipping them or rearranging them, to find the correct code. The player may also need to solve math or logic problems to deduce the correct code. When all the necessary numbers are found, Mondo then uses Catherine to solve the puzzle and complete the request. Catherine can be connected to anything from inanimate objects to living people through the use of jacks: when the correct jack has been connected, the player then inputs the number sequence. If correct, the player gains a "Hit" and the puzzle is completed, but a "Blank" means that the player has the incorrect answer. If the player fails at a puzzle, they can start over again after a short cutscene. At the beginning of the game, Mondo is given a guidebook to the island, which acts as a means for the player to document environmental and dialogue clues. In the Nintendo DS (DS) version, the gameplay is almost identical, although displays are split between the dual screen set up and touch screen controls are incorporated: puzzles make use of the touch screen and DS' stylus, while elements such as the map of Lospass are displayed on the bottom screen during navigation. A new feature dubbed the "Lost and Found Report" is added, giving players new puzzles to solve at the beginning of each day. Players also have access to a notepad within the Catherine computer, on which players can draw and write notes related to a particular puzzle. The amount of exploration done across Lospass by Mondo is documented using a Step Counter, and bonuses can be awarded based on the distance covered by Mondo. As the game progresses, additional costumes for Mondo are unlocked. ## Synopsis The game opens with Sumio Mondo, a "searcher" who makes a living looking for people's lost things, arriving on the Micronesian resort island of Lospass and taking a room at the "Flower, Sun, and Rain" hotel; his task is to locate and defuse a bomb planted on a plane which is soon to leave the island's only airport. When he first arrives, he encounters Peter Bocchwinkur—a mediator between Mondo and his client Edo Macalister, manager of "Flower, Sun, and Rain". On his way to the airport, Mondo is distracted with helping other residents of Lospass and guests of "Flower, Sun, and Rain". This results in him failing in his mission, causing the bomb to explode and the plane to crash into Lospass. The next morning, Mondo wakes in his hotel room to find it is the same day as the explosion. Over the following two weeks, Mondo repeats the same day over and over again, but each time he is distracted with helping the islanders and fails to stop the bomb from exploding, which in turn causes his death. As each day passes, Mondo finds it increasingly difficult to maintain his sanity in the face of these inexplicable events. On the fourteenth day, Mondo is attacked by the assassin Sandance Shot on the roof of "Flower, Sun, and Rain". Mondo is shot and falls to his death, and the next day federal agents Yoshimitsu Koshimizu and Remy Fawzil travel to Lospass to investigate the murder. During the investigation, a high school student named Toriko Kusabi confronts Shot to avenge the death of the island's "savior". Instead, the two strike a deal resulting in Mondo's resurrection. Alive once again, Mondo resumes his quest and encounters a man named Tokio Morishima, a protagonist from The Silver Case, who claims to have created the time loop. Tokio agrees to restore the flow of time and allow Mondo to reach the airport. In the final chapters, it is revealed by Tokio and Macalister that Lospass is an artificial island which was colonized as a breeding ground for an elusive species of hyena whose silver eye, when placed into the eye socket of a human being, would grant immortality. This discovery led to the birth of the Sandance Tribe, aborigines on Lospass—Tokio has one of the silver eyes, and its interaction with others on Lospass triggered the time loop. Macalister declares that because of the silver eyes' existence, he planned to destroy the island with the bomb, however the bomb was stolen by Shot and taken aboard the plane to prevent its destruction. After Tokio ends the time loop, Mondo proceeds to the airport where he meets Toriko, Koshimizu, Fawzil and Shot at the flight gate. Shot reveals that both he and Mondo are genome clones of Sumio Kodai, a supporting character of The Silver Case—a new version of Mondo has been deposited on the island with each repeating day, with each Mondo clone inheriting the memories of his predecessor. Shot is also a member of the Sundance Tribe, and is implied to be the latest incarnation of Kamui Uehara, a serial killer from The Silver Case. Having accepted all his clones' memories and disarmed the bomb, Mondo is allowed to leave the island. The game ends with Mondo meeting Bocchwinkur on the plane—Bocchwinkur reveals himself to be the disguised Tetsuguro Kusabi, the former partner of Kodai during the events of The Silver Case. ## Development Flower, Sun, and Rain was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture. The game was conceived by studio founder Goichi Suda, beginning development in 1999 after completion of the studio's debut title The Silver Case. The staff number for The Silver Case was under ten people and thus they had to adjust their development goals based on that. For Flower, Sun, and Rain five or six more people were involved and thus the scope was increased, such as including exploration and action elements. According to Suda, Flower, Sun, and Rain was part of the studio's transition towards more action-oriented titles. While The Silver Case was published on the original PlayStation, that console was nearing the end of its viable life cycle, so Flower, Sun, and Rain was developed for the PlayStation 2 (PS2). Flower, Sun, and Rain moved away from the purely text-driven structure of The Silver Case, but it still carried over many of the previous game's themes and concepts. As with The Silver Case, Suda wanted to include puzzles, but felt that he had gone too far with the variety and challenge of puzzles within The Silver Case. Instead, Suda created a single puzzle system revolving around numerical combinations, which both simplified puzzles and tied in with Mondo's character. Suda wrote the game's script in an improvisational manner, aiming for a lighthearted atmosphere that sometimes even mocked the game's design. The main reason for this was that he had fully immersed himself in the grim atmosphere of The Silver Case, and he wanted a change both for himself and his next game. Returning staff from The Silver Case included scenario co-writer Masashi Ooka and character designer Takashi Miyamoto; the change to a lighter atmosphere proved difficult for Miyamoto when designing the characters. Despite the differing aesthetics, the overall visual design was deliberately similar to that of The Silver Case. The music was composed by Masafumi Takada, who had previously worked on The Silver Case; and Shingo Yasumoto, who had worked on the Twilight Syndrome series. The soundtrack incorporated remixed and re-orchestrated versions of classical music. The idea of using classical music was suggested by Suda: he told the sound designers to create a score that sounded like lounge music, but some considered tracks could not be used due to licensing issues. Due to budgetary constraints, voice acting could not be included, with characters instead being given garbled vocals "that sounded like random foreign languages". Flower, Sun, and Rain shares its setting and some characters with some of Suda's other games, such as Moonlight Syndrome and The Silver Case. Despite acting as a sequel to The Silver Case, and featuring a version of that game's protagonist Sumio Kodai, the story does not present itself as initially related to The Silver Case. This approach was inspired by the Star System utilized by manga artist Osamu Tezuka in which the same characters appear in different works with different roles. The opening scene, where Mondo drives his car towards the island, was put into the game to both introduce Mondo's character to newcomers, and to throw players of The Silver Case off guard by the familiar name "Sumio" contrasting with Mondo's the unfamiliar personality. It also helped establish the setting and get the player used to Mondo's point of view. His portable computer Catherine, stored in a suitcase, is said by Suda to contain the events of The Silver Case within it. Despite this, it literally being a "silver case" was coincidental rather than a deliberate reference to the previous game's title. ## Release Flower, Sun, and Rain was originally going to be published by ASCII Entertainment, the publishers for The Silver Case. Policy changes at ASCII meant that the whole project was in danger of being cancelled as they would no longer support the game. Suda ended up pitching to other publishing houses, eventually gaining the support of Victor Interactive Software. This approach of pitching to new publishers with each title would be adopted by the developer for multiple subsequent titles to protect their status as an independent studio. It was during this period that he met Yasuhiro Wada, with whom he collaborated on future projects for Grasshopper Manufacture. The change of publisher, along with its release date, was publicly revealed in February 2001. Over the following months, the game was featured in multiple Japanese magazines, and was exhibited at that year's first Tokyo Game Show. The game's opening used a mixture of live-action and in-game footage; the live action footage featured actress and model Mia Murano. In addition to its Japanese title, the game's title was translated into English, giving rise to its common acronym "FSR". Flower, Sun, and Rain was released on May 2, 2001. The PS2 version was not released outside Japan. It was speculated that this was due to the game's content mirroring recent terrorist attacks. ### Nintendo DS port The DS version of Flower, Sun, and Rain was first announced in November 2007 with an intended 2008 release window. Production was primarily handled by Japanese company h.a.n.d. under Grasshopper Manufacture's supervision. The port was suggested to Suda by Wada, who had also proposed developing No More Heroes for the Wii. Due to both this and Wada's prestigious career as a game developer, Suda felt obliged to accept the offer. The port was developed without Suda's direct involvement. Despite this, Marvelous producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto worked to keep the port as faithful to the original version as possible. Suda's one major request for the port was to incorporate the DS' touch screen functionality into gameplay. Takada returned to create new musical tracks for the game. It was noted that the visuals were noticeably downgraded during the transition onto DS hardware. In Japan, the game was subtitled Neverending Paradise (終わらない楽園, Owaranai Rakuen). The subtitle was created by Grasshopper in consultation with the game's publisher based on the time loop in which Mondo was trapped. The game published in Japan by Marvelous Entertainment on March 6, 2008. Flower, Sun, and Rain was released in Europe on November 14, 2008. It was published in the region by Rising Star Games. The game was also released in Australia on January 15, 2009. In North America, the title was published by Marvelous Entertainment USA in partnership with Xseed Games. The North American version used a different localization to the European version with further polishing performed by Xseed Games, which contributed the delay in releasing the game. Another reason for the delay was the game's unique nature, which made it a hard sell for the company, in addition to the flagging popularity of the DS at the time. Xseed Games spent an unspecified time deliberating over whether to release it in North America at all before approving the decision. Initially scheduled for March 2009, the game was eventually released in North America on June 16. In English territories, the subtitle was changed to Murder and Mystery in Paradise, while the game's original title remained intact. ## Reception In its review of the original version, Japanese magazine Famitsu praised the game's tone and story, with one reviewer noting its focus on visual aesthetics, although another noted the "mismatch" between the game's light tone and darker themes. Speaking about the PS2 original in a feature about Goichi Suda, Ray Barnholt of 1UP.com positively noted the use of music for setting the mood and capturing that atmosphere, and referred to the title as a notable step towards the studio's more successful future titles. Speaking about the graphics, he negatively compared to those of the Nintendo 64, saying they undermined the experience. For the DS port, Famitsu held many of the same opinions, comparing it positively to Suda's other works and noting its combination of charm and weirdness, although one reviewer was disappointed that it was the same game as the original. Reviewing the DS version for 1UP.com, Barnholt positively noted the surreal story and music, but felt that the gameplay began to falter during the second half and called the graphics "perhaps even worse" than the PS2 original. He concluded that the game was most suited to dedicated fans of Suda's work, and that it showed the increased quality of his work on later titles more than having its own qualities. Matthew Razak of Destructoid found the gameplay elements "seriously lacking" and faulted most aspects of the title, which contributed to the low score. Despite this, Razak felt that people should play it and experience its unique deconstruction of game cliches, a theme that he realized ran through all of Suda's subsequent work. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh found that most of the puzzles presented to the player were forced in and distracted from the main narrative, but noted that the odd elements within the game fitted well into the story's surreal style. He was fairly negative about the graphics, despite the stylized look helping alleviate the downgrade from the PS2 original. In conclusion, he called the game's dated appearance and style "a double edged sword", both entertaining and annoying players with its mechanics and styling. Game Informer's Joe Juba enjoyed the bizarre characters and story, in addition to the artistic styling and music. His main complaints were focused on tedious sections within the gameplay and the "blocky" graphics. He said that, unless the player believed in sacrificing everything for style, Flower, Sun, and Rain could not be recommended. Mark Bozon of IGN was highly critical of the game's dated graphics, found the overall gameplay very slow, and found the garbled voice work unsettling while enjoying the soundtrack. He concluded that, even as a fan of old school and abstract gameplay design, he had not enjoyed his time with the game. Lark Anderson, writing for GameSpot said there was "never a dull moment" due to the eccentric cast and story, and found the puzzle elements to be an entertaining challenge. His main complaints were the poor graphics, unresponsive camera system, lack of direction during navigation and the constant need for backtracking. Nintendo World Report's Nick DiMola noted the dialogue for its humor, but generally faulted most other aspects of the game; he called its graphics and sound low-quality, felt the gameplay was shallow, and found the puzzle solving segments a chore. He found it hard to recommend the title for any but dedicated fans of Suda's work. PALGN reviewer Ben Chev called the script "well-written in what can only be described as a typical Suda 51 style", and praised the music for its unique take on classical music. However he generally faulted the gameplay and called the graphics the worst he had seen for the DS.

Yogini temples

9th to 12th century roofless hypaethral Hindu shrines

The Yogini temples of India are 9th to 12th century roofless hypaethral shrines to the yoginis, female masters of yoga in Hindu tantra, broadly equated with goddesses especially Parvati, incarnating the sacred feminine force. They remained largely unknown and unstudied by scholars until late in the 20th century. Several of the shrines have niches for 64 yoginis, so are called Chausath Yogini Temples (Chausath Yogini Mandir, from चौसठ, Hindi for 64, also written Chaunsath or Chausathi); others have 42 or 81 niches, implying different sets of goddesses, though they too are often called Chausath yogini temples. Even when there are 64 yoginis, these are not always the same. The extant temples are either circular or rectangular in plan; they are scattered over central and northern India in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha. Lost temples, their locations identified from surviving yogini images, are still more widely distributed across the subcontinent, from Delhi in the north and the border of Rajasthan in the west to Greater Bengal in the east and Tamil Nadu in the south. ## Overview ### Yoginis From around the 10th century, Yoginis appear in groups, often of 64. They appear as goddesses, but human female adepts of tantra can emulate "and even embody" these deities, who can appear as mortal women, creating an ambiguous and blurred boundary between the human and the divine. Yoginis, divine or human, belong to clans; in Shaiva, among the most important are the clans of the 8 Mothers (matris or matrikas). Yoginis are often theriomorphic, having the forms of animals, represented in statuary as female figures with animal heads. Yoginis are associated with "actual shapeshifting" into female animals, and the ability to transform other people. They are linked with the Bhairava cult, often carrying skulls and other tantric symbols, and practising in cremation grounds and other liminal places. They are powerful, impure, and dangerous. They both protect and disseminate esoteric tantric knowledge. They have siddhis, extraordinary powers, including the power of flight; many yoginis have the form of birds or have a bird as their vahana or animal vehicle. In later Tantric Buddhism, dakini, a female spirit able to fly, is often used synonymously with yogini. The scholar Shaman Hatley writes that the archetypal yogini is "the autonomous Sky-traveller (khecari)", and that this power is the "ultimate attainment for the siddhi-seeking practitioner". A Shaiva cult of yoginis flourished roughly between 700 and 1200. It is documented in the Brahmayamalatantra scripture. Non-yoginis consulted yoginis in "visionary, transactional encounters". The cult led to the building of stone temples from the 10th to perhaps the 13th centuries, across the Indian subcontinent. ### Rediscovery India's major extant shrines of the 64 Yoginis (Chausathi Jogan) are in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh. Alexander Cunningham visited and described them in the 19th century for the Archaeological Survey of India, and they were then largely forgotten. In 1986, Vidya Dehejia recorded that the shrines were "remote and difficult of access", scarcely explored for a hundred years, and frequented by dacoits, gangs of robbers, who used the temples as places of refuge unknown to the authorities. The well-preserved Chausathi Yogini Temple at Hirapur was only rediscovered in 1953, despite its proximity to the Bhubaneshwar temple site, something Dehejia describes as "quite amazing". ### Characteristics The Yogini shrines are usually circular enclosures, and they are hypaethral, open to the sky, unlike most Indian temples. Inside the circular wall are niches, most often 64, containing statues of female figures, the yoginis. Their bodies are described as beautiful, but their heads are often those of animals. Yogini temples normally stood somewhat outside the main group of temples, and at the highest point of the site. The iconographies of the yogini statues in the yogini temples are not uniform, nor are the yoginis the same in each set of 64. In the Hirapur temple, all the yoginis are depicted with their Vahanas (animal vehicles) and in standing posture. In the Ranipur-Jharial temple the yogini images are in dancing posture. In the Bhedaghat temple, the yoginis are seated in lalitasana, the royal position, and are surrounded by cremation-ground scenes complete with "flesh-eating ghouls" and scavenging animals. ### Significance Hatley, following Vidya Dehejia, suggests that the yogini temples relate to the tantric yogini-chakra. This is a "mandala of mantra-goddesses surrounding Shiva/Bhairava, installation of which ... was central to the ritual of the esoteric Shaiva cult of yoginis." Chapter 9 of the Kaulajnana Nimaya, attributed to the 10th century sage Matsyendranath, describes a system of 8 chakras represented as eight-petalled lotus flowers, the total of 64 petals denoting the 64 yoginis. Hatley comments that "tantric worship of 'circles' of yoginis (yoginichakras) appears to predate the temples by at least two centuries, and the remarkable congruity in Shaiva textual representations of yoginis and their depiction in sculpture suggest direct continuity" between the practices described in tantric texts and the yogini temples. ### Practices Hindu tantric practices were secret. However, texts from c. 600 AD describe esoteric rituals, often linked to cremation grounds. Female practitioners of Hindu tantrism, also called yoginis, were seen as embodying the superhuman yoginis. Activities included Prana Pratishtha, the ritual consecration of images, such as of yoginis. Present-day rituals of this type can last three days, with a team of priests, involving ritual purification, an eye-opening ceremony, worship (yogini puja), invocation of protectors, and the preparation of a yantra diagram containing a yogini mandala and an array of areca nuts for the 64 goddesses. The earliest yogini practices were kapalika mortuary rites. The Varanasimahatmya of the Bhairavapradurbhava describes ceremonies of worship involving singing and dancing in the yogini temple at Varanasi, summarised by Peter Bisschop: > For men who worship there nothing becomes in vain. Those who stay awake that night, performing the great festival of song and dance, and worship the circle of kulayoginis at daybreak, acquire the Kaula knowledge from them ... All Yoginis delight in that abode in the centre of Varanasi. The goddess Vikata stands there, it is the most divine abode. The Kashikhanda section of the Skandapurana, which narrates the myth of the arrival in disguise of the 64 yoginis in Varanasi, states that worship can be simple, since the yoginis only need daily gifts of fruit, incense, and light. It prescribes a major ritual for the autumn, with fire libations, recitation of the names of the yoginis, and ritual offerings, while all residents of Varanasi should visit the temple in springtime at the festival of Holi to respect the goddesses. Dehejia writes that > It seems probable that the Kaula Chakra [tantric ritual circle] was formed within the circle of the Yogini temple, with offerings to the Yoginis of matsya [fish], mamsa [meat], mudra [gesture], madya [alcohol], and finally maithuna [tantric sex] too. Active worship (puja) continues in some yogini temples, such as at Hirapur. ## 64-yogini shrines ### Hirapur The small 9th century yogini temple at Hirapur, only 25 feet in diameter, is in Khurda district, Odisha, 10 miles south of Bhubaneshwar. 60 of the yoginis are arranged in a circle around a small rectangular shrine that may have contained a Shiva image. The circle is reached via a protruding entrance passage, so that the plan of the temple has the form of a yoni-pedestal for a Shiva lingam. At least 8 of the yoginis stand on animal vehicles representing signs of the zodiac, including a crab, a scorpion, and a fish, suggesting a link with astrology or calendrical work. The scholar István Keul writes that the yogini images are of dark chlorite rock, about 40 cm tall, and standing in varying poses on plinths or vahanas; most have "delicate features and sensual bodies with slender waists, broad hips, and high, round breasts" with varying hairstyles and body ornaments. He states that the central structure is faced with three yogini images and "four naked ithyphallic representations of Bhairava". Around the outside of the temple are nine unsmiling goddesses, locally described as the nine katyayanis, an unusual feature for a yogini temple. The entrance is flanked by a pair of male dvarapala, door guardians. Two additional images near the dvarapalas may be bhairavas. The scholar Shaman Hatley suggests that if the temple is seen as a tantric mandala embodied in stone, Shiva is surrounded by 4 yoginis and 4 bhairavas of an inner circuit, and sixty yoginis of an outer circuit. ### Ranipur-Jharial, Balangir The Chausathi Yogini Pitha in Ranipur-Jharial, near the towns of Titilagarh and Kantabanjhi in Balangir district, Odisha, is a larger hypaethral 64-yogini temple. 62 of the yogini images survive. At the centre is a shrine with four pillars, holding an image of Nateshwar, Shiva as Lord of Dance. The similar-sized image of Chamunda in the temple may once have been housed with Shiva in the central shrine. Ranipur-Jharial was the first of the Yogini temples to be discovered; it was described by Major-General John Campbell in 1853. ### Khajuraho The 9th or 10th century yogini temple at Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh, lies to the southwest of the western group of temples in Khajuraho, near Chhatarpur in Chhatarpur District, and is the oldest temple on the site. It is rectangular, unlike the other yogini temples, but like them is hypaethral. There is no sign of a central shrine; the central deity, whether that was Shiva or the Goddess, was apparently housed in the niche, larger than the rest, opposite the entrance. It was constructed with 65 shrine cells (10 on the front, 11 at the back including the one for the central deity, and 22 on each side), each with a doorway made of two squared granite pillars and a lintel stone, and each with a tower roof. 35 of the cells survive. It stands on a 5.4 metre high platform. Three squat images, of Brahmani, Maheshwari and Hingalaja (Mahishamardini), survived at the site and are on display in the museum there. ### Mitaoli, Morena The well-preserved 11th century yogini temple at Mitaoli (also spelt Mitavali and Mitawali) in Morena district, Madhya Pradesh, 30 miles north of Gwalior, also called Ekattarso Mahadeva Temple, has a central mandapa sacred to Shiva in an open circular courtyard with 65 niches. The niches are now all filled with statues of Shiva, but they once held statues of 64 yoginis and a deity. The hypaethral temple stands alone on top of a rocky hill. The entrance is directly into the circular wall. The outside of the temple is adorned with small niches that once held statues of couples with maidens on either side, but most of these are now lost or heavily damaged. It is not clear why the temple had 65 rather than 64 cells; Dehejia notes the suggestion that the extra cell was for Devi, the consort of Shiva, who has the pavilion at the temple's centre, so the divine couple were then surrounded by the 64 yoginis. She observes that this could also explain the 65th cell at Khajuraho, in which case there would once have been a central shrine to Shiva there also. ## 81-yogini shrine ### Bhedaghat, Jabalpur The 10th century Yogini temple in Bhedaghat (also written Bheraghat), near Jabalpur in Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh, is a shrine to 81 yoginis. It is the largest of the circular yogini temples, some 125 feet in diameter. Hatley calls Bhedagat the "most imposing and perhaps best known of the yogini temples". The temple had a covered walkway with 81 cells for yoginis around the inside of its circular wall. There is a later shrine in the centre of the courtyard. The 81 images include 8 Matrikas, Mother goddesses, from an earlier time. ## 42-yogini shrines ### Dudahi The temple at Dudahi, locally named Akhada, near Lalitpur in Uttar Pradesh, now in ruins, had a circular plan with niches for 42 yoginis. The circle is 50 feet in diameter. ### Badoh Some 30 miles from Dudahi, at Badoh in Vidisha district, Madhya Pradesh is the Gadarmal temple of the Mothers, another 42-niche yogini temple, and one of the few that are rectangular. 18 broken images of the goddesses that once fitted into grooves in the temple platform are preserved from the waist down. It is composed of a rectangular shrine and a tall and massive Shikhara, adjacent to some Jain temples. Vidya Dehejia writes that the yogini temple must once have been hypaethral. The two 42-yogini shrines probably date from sometime between 950 and 1100. ## Lost shrines Several yogini temples have been lost, whether through deliberate destruction or plundering for building materials. These include the following. ### Lokhari There appears to have been an early 10th century yogini temple on a hilltop at Lokhari, Banda District, Uttar Pradesh. A set of twenty images, nearly all theriomorphic, the figures having the heads of animals such as horse, cow, rabbit, snake, buffalo, goat, bear, and deer, has been recorded. Dehejia describes these as striking rather than specially artistic. ### Nareshwar Another set of twenty 10th century images, with careless later inscriptions from the 12th century, was rescued from Nareshwar (also called Naleshvar and Naresar) in Madhya Pradesh, a site which still has some twenty small Shaivite temples, to the Gwalior Museum, some fifteen miles away. ### Hinglajgarh The site of Hinglajgarh, on the border of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, was cleared of statuary for the building of the Gandhi Sagar Dam. The rescued statues contain enough fragments of yogini images for Dehejia to state that there was once a yogini temple at Hinglajgarh. ### Rikhiyan Some 150 miles north of Khajuraho on the south bank of the River Yamuna, in the Banda District, Uttar Pradesh, are the fragmentary remains of what seems to have been a rectangular 64-Yogini temple in the Rikhiyan valley. This is part of a complex of other temples, unlike the solitary Yogini temples such as Mitaoli. When the site was photographed in 1909, ten four-Yogini slabs were present. Dehejia states that the multiples of 4 suggest a 64-Yogini total, while the straightness of the slabs implies a rectangular plan (as at Khajuraho). Seven were stolen on various occasions, and the last 3 of the slabs were moved to Gadhwa fort nearby for their safety. The slabs portray the Yoginis on a plain background without the usual attendant figures. They sit in the ceremonial pose of Lalitasana, one leg resting on their animal vehicle. They have "heavy breasts, broad waist[s] and large stomach[s]". One has the head of a horse, and holds a corpse, a severed head, a club, and a bell, and so may be Hayanana, "The Horse-headed". This and other Yoginis shown with corpses link the temple to a corpse ritual. Also photographed in 1909 were three three-Matrika slabs; Dehejia suggests that these formed part of a rectangular shrine to the Eight Matrikas accompanied by Ganesh. A well-preserved four-Yogini slab from Rikhiyan is held in the Denver Art Museum. ### Shahdol Yogini images from Shahdol district (anciently Sahasa-dollaka) in Madhya Pradesh have been taken to the Dhubela Museum near Khajuraho, the Indian Museum at Calcutta, and the village temples of Antara and Panchgaon in Shahdol district. The yoginis are seated in the ceremonial Lalitasana pose, and they have haloes flanked by flying figures behind their heads. ### Kanchipuram or Kaveripakkam Dehejia publishes and discusses yogini images of the Chola period, around 900 AD, recovered from northern Tamil Nadu. These include one now in the British Museum, others in the Madras Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Royal Ontario Museum. The British Museum yogini is ascribed to Kanchipuram; the collection site is not known, but many sculptures of the same style were recovered from a large "tank" (artificial lake) at Kaveripakkam, seemingly derived from nearby temples. The image formed part of a large set of yoginis. ### Greater Bengal There is evidence from inscriptions and archaeology that several yogini temples were built in greater Bengal. Dehejia notes that "texts on the Kaula Chakrapuja [worship in the tantric circle] indirectly reveal their Bengali origin in specifying varieties of fish known only in Bengal waters" and that "most of the texts containing lists of Yoginis were written in Bengal". ### Varanasi 12th century texts including the Varanasimahatmya of the Bhairavapradurbhava suggest that there was a circular hypaethral yogini temple in Varanasi (also called Benares and Kashi) in the 11th century. Several yogini-related sites have been identified in the city. Just above the Chaumsathi Ghat cremation ground is Chaumsathi Devi temple; it is not mentioned in the scriptures, but is where modern-day devotees gather, especially at the Holi spring festival, as prescribed in the Kashikhanda. ### Delhi Legend has it that a yogini temple was built in the south Delhi district of Mehrauli; tradition places this as the Yogmaya Temple there, without reliable evidence. The region outside the imperial city of Indraprastha, described in the Mahabharata, was called Yoginipura, the yogini city. Indraprastha has been identified with Delhi. ## Influence The circular plan of the Mitaoli temple is popularly supposed, without reliable evidence, to have inspired the architecture of India's Parliament House, the Sansad Bhavan, which was designed by the British architects Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Herbert Baker in 1912-1913, and completed in 1927. A 10th century buffalo-headed Vrishanana yogini was stolen from a museum in Uttar Pradesh and smuggled to France. The image was identified as one of those published in Dehejia's book, and the collector Robert Schrimpf was contacted by the National Museum, Delhi. His widow donated the sculpture to India in 2008, and it was returned in 2013, described as "priceless" by the Deccan Herald and welcomed "home" to the National Museum with a special exhibition. The newspaper noted that the isolated locations of yogini temples made them vulnerable to antique smugglers. Padma Kaimal has written a travel book about the processes by which the yogini statues have been turned from religious images to artworks to be looted, smuggled, purchased, and collected in the western world. ## See also - Yoga for women

Hungry Bay Nature Reserve

Nature reserve in Bermuda

Hungry Bay Nature Reserve is a nature reserve on the east coast of Bermuda. It was established in 1986. It is considered the best example of coastal mangrove swamp on the island. It includes the Hungry Bay area and the largest mangrove coastal swamp in Bermuda. It is protected by a Tree preservation order (T.P.O.) and designated as an official Nature Reserve within the Parks system of Bermuda. The Hungry Bay Mangrove Swamp Reserve, a wetland site, is one of the seven Ramsar Sites in Bermuda. This designation recognises its international importance as a northerly mangrove swamp, as a habitat for its native crustaceans and as an important destination for migratory birds. Most of the reserve consists of mangrove swamp, while in the southern part there is a small area of saltmarsh. Much damage was done to the site by a storm in 2003 and residents have expressed concern about possible environmental damage resulting from pollution from the village of Seabright. ## History The reserve was proposed as a National Nature Reserve under the Development and Planning Act of 1974. It was part of the Development Plan of 1983. While the mangroves are under the Tree Preservation Order, the reserve in general is decreed as a National Reserve under the Bermuda National Parks Act of 1986. The Hungry Bay Mangrove Swamp Reserve is one of the seven Ramsar Sites in Bermuda. It was approved as a Ramsar site of international importance on 10 May 1999, meeting the criteria (1, 2, 3, 4 and 8) for its unique characteristics. Its significance is due to being the largest northerly mangrove swamp in the Atlantic Ocean, the many migratory bird species which visit during winter, and the many native crustacean species, including the endangered terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) and giant land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi). During Hurricane Fabian in September 2003, the outer (western) third of the swamp, accounting for 25–30% of the total area of mangroves, suffered total destruction. Global warming has also caused rise in tidal levels resulting in damage to the swamps. More recently, residents have begun to voice concerns over the Seabright sewage outflow, which enters Hungry Bay itself. A resident of the Bay noted the persistent appearance of a "shiny slick" emanating from Seabright extending to the "reef-line a few hundred yards off". ## Geography Bermuda's largest tidal mangrove swamp is situated in a sea bay on the east coast of Bermuda, in an enclosed coast with a narrow opening from the sea, Hungry Bay. Reported as the most northerly mangrove swamp in the world, it is shallow with a depth of about 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) during high tide. The area is small at 2.01 hectares (5.0 acres), of which 99% is of tidal mangrove forest and the balance 1% is made up of permanent brackish marshes. The soil conditions comprise clay, mud, peat and sand. It has perennial source of water and is of water quality varying from brackish to mixosaline, saline and euhaline in different zones. Climatic conditions in the reserve is subtropical with mild temperatures with humidity. Storms and gales are a common feature during winter. The reserve consists of dense forest of red and black mangrove trees. A large number of sea water channels flow through the area which rise and fall with the tides. These tidal channels are an important habitat for small fish. Crabs and other marine creatures are found here. The trees are the habitat for many species of birds. Snails and insects are commonly found in the reserve. The reserve can be reached by road, though access is limited, or by boat travelling directly through the bay. The reserve operates a small wharf capable of receiving boat traffic. ## Flora Vegetation in the mangrove swamps consists primarily of black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) and red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). Other species of trees reported around the mangroves are buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), rush (Juncus acutus), sea purslane (Sesuvium portulacastrum), sea ox-eye (Borrichia arborescens), sea lavender (Limonium caroliniatum), Paspalum vaginatum, Sporobolus virginicus, woody glasswort (Salicornia perennis) and West Indian grass (Eustachys petraea). Tropical mangrove swamp characterises the northern areas of the reserve while the southern areas primarily represent temperate saltmarsh. Invasive plants, notably among them casuarina, are adversely affecting the growth of the mangrove swamp, and therefore in addition giant land and hermit crabs, endemic snail species. Habitat restoration measures are underway to retain the mangroves and other native species. ## Fauna The faunal species reported from the mangrove swamp include several species of crabs: the giant land crab (Cardisoma guanhumi) ( only two colonies exists in the upper regions of the swamp), the terrestrial hermit crab (Coenobita clypeatus) (54 individuals recorded in 1990), and the mangrove crab (Goniopsis cruentatus). ### Avifauna Significant avifauna reported in the reserve are the great blue heron (Ardea herodias), yellow-crowned night heron (Nyctanassa violacea), snowy egret (Egretta thula), mallard (Anas platyrhynchus), belted kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon and northern waterthrush (Parkesia noveboracensis), which are all wintering bird species. Feral pigeons, which are displacing tropic birds from their nesting sites in cliff-holes and ledges, need to be eliminated from the reserve to preserve the native species of birds, according to efforts made to control their population thus far.

Hailey Van Lith

American basketball player

Hailey Van Lith (born September 9, 2001) is an American basketball player for the LSU Tigers of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). She previously played for the Louisville Cardinals. At Cashmere High School in Cashmere, Washington, Van Lith was rated as one of the top recruits in her class, named a McDonald's All-American and left as the all-time leading scorer in state history. She played her first three college seasons at Louisville, earning first-team All-ACC honors two times and leading the Cardinals to the Final Four as a sophomore in 2022. After her junior season, she transferred to LSU. Van Lith has won two gold medals with the United States at the youth international level. In 3x3 basketball, she has played for the senior national team and is a 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup gold medalist. Van Lith was most valuable player (MVP) of the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Cup, where she led her team to a gold medal. ## Early life Van Lith was born in Wenatchee, Washington, to Jessica and Corey Van Lith. Her father played basketball and baseball at the University of Puget Sound, and her parents own a custom home building business. She has one brother, Tanner, who played baseball for Big Bend Community College. Van Lith grew up playing basketball under the guidance of her father, who had her train four to five nights per week. She modeled her game after Diana Taurasi and also drew inspiration from Seattle Storm players Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart. Van Lith was a member of the Northwest Blazers Amateur Athletic Union program under coach Steve Klees. She was the first eighth and ninth-grader to play for the Blazers' top team and started in the Adidas Nationals title game in both years, earning Adidas All-American honors. ## High school career Van Lith played four years of basketball at Cashmere High School in Cashmere, Washington, under head coach Brent Darnell. On November 30, 2016, she made her debut, scoring 14 points in a win over Ellensburg High School. Van Lith led Cashmere to the Class 1A state title game, where she recorded 18 points, 12 rebounds and seven steals in a 45–44 upset loss to Mount Baker Senior High School. Her team finished the season with a 26–1 record. As a freshman, she averaged 24.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.8 steals per game, earning Associated Press (AP) Class 1A All-State first team honors. In her sophomore season, Van Lith assumed a more important role with the departures of three starters. On January 25, 2018, she recorded the first quadruple-double in program history, with 37 points, 14 steals, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in an 89–34 win over Chelan High School. She helped her team reach the Class 1A state title game, where they lost to Lynden Christian School. Van Lith averaged 32 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.3 steals and 5.2 assists per game as a sophomore and was named AP Class 1A Player of the Year. In her junior season, Van Lith led Cashmere to a third-place finish at the Class 1A state tournament, where she was MVP. She averaged 34.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 4.9 assists per game as a junior. Van Lith was named Washington Gatorade Player of the Year and AP Class 1A Player of the Year. Before her senior season, she developed a relationship with Hall of Fame player Kobe Bryant, who was impressed by her work ethic and mentality and viewed her as a role model for his daughter, Gianna. She trained at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy in Los Angeles and became a friend and mentor for Gianna. On February 15, 2020, Van Lith became the state's all-time leading scorer, a record previously held by Jennifer Stinson since 1995, while scoring 46 points in an 84–28 win over Omak High School at the Caribou Trail League title game. She led Cashmere to a 24–1 record and the Class 1A state title game, where her team lost to Lynden Christian School, and was named tournament MVP. As a senior, Van Lith averaged 32.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 4.2 steals per game. She was honored as Washington Ms. Basketball, Washington Gatorade Player of the Year, The Seattle Times Player of the Year and AP all-class Player of the Year. She was selected to play in the McDonald's All-American Game and the Jordan Brand Classic, but both games were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to basketball, Van Lith played softball for Cashmere as a center fielder and shortstop. On April 11, 2017, as a freshman, she hit her first career walk-off home run in a 7–6 win over Cascade High School. She held offers from NCAA Division I softball programs by eighth grade. ### Recruiting Van Lith was considered a five-star recruit, the number seven player and the top combo guard in the 2020 class by ESPN. She was drawing the interest of NCAA Division I programs by her freshman season. On November 16, 2019, Van Lith committed to playing college basketball for Louisville, choosing the Cardinals over an offer from Baylor. ## College career Van Lith was the starting point guard for Louisville in her freshman season. On November 25, 2020, she made her collegiate debut and had 13 points and eight rebounds in a 74–53 win over Southeast Missouri State. On March 5, 2021, in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, Van Lith recorded a season-high 24 points, five rebounds and four steals in a 65–53 win against Wake Forest. She was named to the All-ACC tournament first team after helping the Cardinals achieve a runner-up finish. As a freshman, Van Lith averaged 11.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game and was an ACC All-Freshman Team selection. She helped Louisville win the ACC regular season title and reach the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA tournament. In her sophomore season, Van Lith assumed a greater role with the departure of Dana Evans. She scored 19 points in her season debut on November 12, 2021, as her team lost to Arizona, 61–59, in overtime. On December 19, she scored 16 points to help lead Louisville to a 69–64 win over UConn at the Women's Hall of Fame Showcase. On February 3, 2022, Van Lith scored a career-high 34 points in a 93–71 win against Clemson. In the game, she shot 6-of-6 from three-point range, the most three-pointers made without a miss in program history. Van Lith led Louisville to the Final Four of the 2022 NCAA tournament, with four consecutive 20-point games, and was named most outstanding player of the Wichita Regional. She averaged 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game as a sophomore, earning first-team All-ACC honors. Van Lith's role continued to expand in her junior season. In her first game of the season, on November 7, 2022, she scored 28 points in an 87–68 over Cincinnati. On January 12, Van Lith scored a season-high 29 points in an 81–79 loss to Virginia Tech. In the quarterfinals of the 2023 ACC tournament on March 3, she scored 26 points, including 17 in the first quarter, in a 74–48 win over Wake Forest. Van Lith led Louisville to an ACC tournament runner-up finish and was named to the all-tournament first team. At the 2023 NCAA tournament, she had four straight 20-point games and led her team to the Elite Eight, where she scored 27 points in a 97–83 loss to two-seed Iowa. As a junior, Van Lith averaged 19.7 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. She was named first-team All-ACC for a second straight season and earned All-American honorable mention from the Associated Press, the United States Basketball Writers Association and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Following her junior season, Van Lith entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer on April 8. ESPN rated her as the top transfer in the nation. On April 27, 2023, Van Lith announced that she would transfer to reigning national champion LSU. She was drawn to the school's support for the women's basketball team and the intensity of the team, and she had a relationship with head coach Kim Mulkey since high school. ## National team career Van Lith represented the United States at the 2018 FIBA Under-17 World Cup in Belarus and won a gold medal. She averaged five points and two assists in 13.6 minutes per game in the tournament. At the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Thailand, Van Lith averaged 9.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game, helping the United States win the gold medal. In the final, she scored 16 points and made the game-tying basket in regulation to help her team defeat Australia, 74–70, in overtime. In 3x3 basketball, Van Lith won a gold medal with the United States at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Argentina. She led her team to another gold medal at the 2019 FIBA 3x3 Under-18 World Cup in Mongolia, where she was named MVP. Van Lith played for the senior national 3x3 team at the 2022 FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Belgium, leading the United States to the quarterfinals. At the 2023 FIBA 3x3 World Cup in Austria, she helped the team win the gold medal, recording seven points and six rebounds in a 16–12 win over France in the final. ## Career statistics ### College \|- \| style="text-align:left;"\| 2020–21 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Louisville \| 30 \|\| 30 \|\| 30.1 \|\| .429 \|\| .383 \|\| .830 \|\| 5.2 \|\| 2.1 \|\| 1.2 \|\| .2 \|\| 1.7 \|\| 11.2 \|- \| style="text-align:left;"\| 2021–22 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Louisville \| 34 \|\| 34 \|\| 30.9 \|\| .432 \|\| .360 \|\| .813 \|\| 3.6 \|\| 2.2 \|\| 1.2 \|\| .1 \|\| 2.1 \|\| 14.4 \|- \| style="text-align:left;"\| 2022–23 \| style="text-align:left;"\| Louisville \| 37 \|\| 37 \|\| 36.9 \|\| .411 \|\| .293 \|\| .874 \|\| 4.5 \|\| 3.2 \|\| 1.5 \|\| .3 \|\| 3.7 \|\| 19.7 \|- class="sortbottom" \|style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"\|Career \|101\|\|101\|\|32.9\|\|.422\|\|.337\|\|.850\|\|4.4\|\|2.5\|\|1.3\|\|.2\|\|2.6\|\|15.4 \|- class="sortbottom" \|style="text-align:center;" colspan="14"\|Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference. ## Off the court Van Lith is represented by the sports agency Octagon. She has been described as one of the most marketable women's college basketball players. Van Lith has signed name, image and likeness deals with Adidas, JCPenney and Dick's Sporting Goods. On February 25, 2023, she announced that she donated \$30,000 to the Louisville nonprofit Family Scholar House to provide tablets for its children's technology program. Van Lith graduated from the University of Louisville in three years with a degree in finance. She was a three-time All-ACC Academic Team selection at Louisville. In her junior year, Van Lith was named a second-team Academic All-American by College Sports Communicators.

Columbus Buggy Company

American automobile manufacturer

The Columbus Buggy Company was an early buggy and automotive manufacturer based in Columbus, Ohio, United States, from 1875 to 1913. Begun by three business partners, the company set up its manufacturing facilities in what is today the Arena District producing inexpensive buggies and dashboards, and quickly saw success. At its height it employed 1,200 people and was producing 100 buggies a day which were sold in every state in the United States. The company was one of the city's major employers and a significant portion of the city's buggy manufacturing economy. After the turn of the century it oriented itself toward production of electric vehicles and, later, of automobiles. Crippled by the Great Flood of 1913 and unable to compete with cheaper alternatives like the Model T, the company eventually went bankrupt in 1913, reorganized, and closed its doors a few years later. It influenced the early automobile industry production methods and several notable employees, including Eddie Rickenbacker and Harvey S. Firestone. The company buildings, after some time empty, have since been re-developed as office space in the Arena District. ## History ### Origin The Columbus Buggy Company was established by entrepreneur Clinton D. Firestone and brothers George and Oscar Peters. The three partners saw Columbus, Ohio as a ripe location for a business thanks to cheap labor as well as the recent network of railroads created during the American Civil War reducing the costs of goods. The completion of the Hocking Valley Railway also granted them ample access to coal, wood and iron from southeast Ohio. Before starting the company, the Peters brothers had worked in the leather trade, but had developed a process to produce cheap buggies for close to \$150 apiece, using wood obtained from a company near the Ohio Penitentiary and building using a specialized manufacturing system. Before 1870 they produced 100 and sold them successfully at auction, though their business partners refused further work, leaving them in debt. In 1870, they were introduced to Firestone, a native of Canton, Ohio and who had operated a railroad business in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, moved to Columbus and financed the business with \$5,000. Their first venture, Iron Buggy Company, launched in 1870 in a shanty built for \$100, at 180 North High Street and focused it on selling cheap buggies. The business saw immediate success thanks to a design created by the Peters brothers and a system of labor that made production efficient, and it sold 237 buggies in its first year. The building it was housed in burnt down on May 27, 1874 and was rebuilt. In 1875 its owners sold the business to another buggy producer, H. K. Tuller of Buckeye Buggy Company. ### Success In 1875, the three formed the Columbus Buggy Company and Peters Dash Company, with \$20,000 in capital. Its first facility was locating at Wall and Locust streets near the modern day One Nationwide Plaza building in the Arena District, immediately north of downtown Columbus, and near the Ohio Penitentiary and Union Station. His business specialized in making buggies that were affordable to people at all price ranges as well as dashboards, carriage fenders, washes and straps for carriage dealers and manufacturers. The company quickly saw success, drawing \$50,000 in revenue in its first year, but sales quickly grew. By 1878 it had 250 employees and was making 100 buggies a week. In 1883, the company had 1,000 employees and was producing 25,000 buggies a year. That year it was struck with a patent infringement lawsuit from Timken Company, alleging the company had stolen the idea for an "automatic" spring part used in its carriages, and seeking \$50,000 in damages. Columbus Buggy Co. filed a countersuit and the two businesses traded barbs in trade publications for two months before the courts decided in Studebaker's favor in December 1884. Columbus Buggy Co. was obliged to pay \$3,000 in damages, though it began to use Timken springs in models starting in 1886, and the Timken and Firestone families maintained a friendly relationship during and after the litigation. The company continued to add buildings as it continued to expand along High Street until it became the largest manufacturer of buggies in the world. By 1888 it occupied an entire city block between High Street and Wall Street. In 1890 it pledged \$5,000 to the creation of a YMCA building in downtown Columbus. In the meantime, it began advertising its vehicles and dash products heavily in magazines. At its height in 1892, the company employed 1,200 people and built 100 vehicles and 1,500 carriage dashboards a day, with its products exported to other countries around the world. Its revenue grew to \$2 million a year on an active capital of about \$1 million and about \$300,000 a month in payroll. The company had a presence at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, where it boasted that it had dealerships in every state and shipped overseas. By that year, though, its buggies, which sold for \$110, were considered overpriced. By 1900, about two dozen other buggy producers had formed around Columbus, with factories working day and night in the city, and an estimated one in six buggies in use around the world was built in Columbus. Some of these companies were older than Columbus Buggy Co, but the manufacturer remained one of the largest businesses in the city. Columbus Buggy Co. moved its production to a new plant at 400 Dublin Road in 1906 at Firestone's insistence. ### Branching into automobiles With the advent of the automobile, Columbus Buggy Co. found itself at a competitive disadvantage to companies in Detroit, Cleveland and Chicago, which had a greater access to steel. In 1903, though, it opted to produce an electric vehicle to compete with these new and increasingly popular vehicles. The 400 Dublin Road facility began producing its first electric coupe in 1903, the Columbus Electric Model No. 1000. This would be one of several models of electric vehicle the company produced in larger scale beginning in 1905. The company advertised the vehicles as easy to operate, targeting women, and that they were quiet. But the vehicles were limited by a top speed of 20 miles per hour (32 km/h), limited range and a need to recharge batteries for several hours. Powered by Willard batteries, this car sold for about \$1,000. It produced several models including the No. 3003 Firestone Motor Buggy: a light motor buggy, which it also marketed to physicians as a medical phaeton, as well as the Columbus Station Wagon No. 1102, which was to be driven by a chauffeur while its passengers rode in an enclosed compartment. In 1907, it bought the Springfield Automotive Company of Springfield, Ohio which had been manufacturing the Bramwell, a gasoline powered automobile. In 1909, the company hired Lee Frayer to design a full-sized car, with Eddie Rickenbacker as his assistant. The Firestone-Columbus, a gasoline-powered car geared toward families, began production in 1909. About 500 of the vehicles sold in the first year and it was generally well received in the market. Improvements were made to the vehicles continually as they were produced, as opposed to creating successive model years. There were a few different variations on the vehicle, including the model 76-A, an intermediate sized vehicle that could carry four passengers. The Columbus-Firestone was reported to be the first car with its steering wheel on the left side of the car. Introduced at the 1909 Chicago Auto Show, it became popular and sold 2,000 units a year, all made at the 400 Dublin Road plant. By 1912 there were more cars of this brand than any other in Columbus and the company was producing 2,000 a year. But it also struggled to compete with cheaper competitors, notably the Ford Model T. The company built a special racing buggy, the Red Wing, which it entered into the 1911 Indianapolis 500, designed by Frayer and Rickenbacker and driven by Frayer. Though the car didn't finish the race, it was credited with finishing 13th in the race. They subsequently entered a car into the 1912 Indianapolis 500, this time driven by Rickenbacker. It finished 21st. ### Decline The business was affected by the severe flooding of local rivers during the Great Flood of 1913 and it this damaged the business sufficiently for it to declare bankruptcy, with the company \$624,000 in debt. Initially it was offered for sale for 25 cents on the dollar, but received only one offer, for less than \$100,000, prompting its interests, headed by Frank L. Chase, to withdraw the offer. Under an order from a federal judge, \$273,000, or 44 percent of the debt, was eventually paid to creditors. In 1914, a new entity, named the New Columbus Buggy Co., was incorporated with \$500,000 in capital under a new ownership group, including C. A. Finnegan and E. D. Hoefeller of Buffalo, New York. This entity, controlled by the company's creditors, continued production at the plant. That same year, Firestone died. Both the Firestone Electric and the Columbus-Firestone vehicle lines were produced into 1915, when the company ceased operations, leaving an inventory of 35 new electric cars and 12 automobiles, as well as several used cars. Following the closure of the Columbus Buggy Co. The Allen Motor Co. of Fostoria, Ohio leased the plant and built automobiles there before closing in 1923. The building itself was home to Janitrol Corp. before being redeveloped as the Buggyworks building in the 1990s. ## Legacy The company played a key role in shaping the early history of the automobile. Its manufacturing processes for efficiently producing vehicles were notable and ahead of many companies of its time. The success of the business brought attention to C. D. Firestone, who became a prominent figure in the carriage industry and he became president of the Carriage Builders National Association in 1888. Several of the company's employees rose to great prominence in the industry. Clinton Firestone's cousin, Harvey S. Firestone, was a salesmen for the company. During his time as a salesman, and racing buggies through the streets of Detroit, Michigan, Clinton Firestone met Henry Ford, who helped him obtain tires for custom-built racing carriages. Firestone, seeing the advantage of the buggies' thick rubber tires, left the company and in 1900 founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron to produce rubber tires for carriages and buggies. By 1904, it was the largest tire manufacturer in the world. Eddie Rickenbacker joined the company at the age of 17, and he quickly became an engineer and troubleshooter, dispatched to help owners when they had problems with their vehicles, and his service increased the reputation of the business among its owners. It was during this assignment that Rickenbacker, while serving as a test driver for the vehicles, developed an affinity for driving fast cars. Some of the original sales catalog promotional material of the company are still preserved in the Henry Ford Museum. ### Buggyworks complex The company's original buildings north of downtown Columbus were redeveloped as part of a larger revival of the industrial area north of Columbus — by then termed the Arena District — following the construction of Nationwide Arena. Nationwide Realty Investors, a development affiliate of Nationwide Insurance, acquired two of the production facilities at 390 and 400 W. Nationwide Blvd., termed the "Buggyworks," and redeveloped them into 145,000 square feet of office space. The development project cost \$10.5 million. The office buildings attracted a number of tenants, the first being Cameron Mitchell Restaurants. Another portion of the complex at 440 W. Nationwide Blvd., was redeveloped into loft condominiums. ## See also - Clinton DeWeese Firestone mansion

Equestrian statue of Ambrose Burnside

Equestrian statue in Providence, US

Major General Ambrose E. Burnside, also known as the Ambrose Burnside Monument, is a monumental equestrian statue in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. The statue, located in the city's Burnside Park, was designed by sculptor Launt Thompson and depicts Ambrose Burnside, an officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War who later served as the governor of Rhode Island. Ambrose had died in 1881 and the project to erect a statue in his honor began shortly afterwards. It was dedicated on July 4, 1887 in a large ceremony that included several notable guests of honor, such as General William Tecumseh Sherman, Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard, and the governors of both Connecticut and Rhode Island. The monument was originally located in Exchange Place (now known as Kennedy Plaza), but it was moved to its current location in the early 1900s. As part of the move, the pedestal was replaced with one designed by William R. Walker. ## History ### Background Ambrose Burnside was a military officer who served in the United States Army during the mid-1800s. After graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1847, he participated in the Mexican–American War. At the outbreak of the American Civil War, he led the 1st Rhode Island Infantry Regiment of the Union Army and was later promoted to commanding the Army of the Potomac. In the later parts of the war, Burnside was moved to commanding positions in other departments, including the Department of the Ohio and the IX Corps. Following the war, he was elected to several terms as governor of Rhode Island, and afterwards was elected to the U.S. Senate. He died on September 13, 1881. Following this, he laid in state in Providence City Hall. ### Creation The day after Burnside's death, Colonel Isaac M. Potter suggested erecting a statue in his honor, and less than a week after his funeral, a group of soldiers gathered at the Grand Army of the Republic's Prescott Post Hall in Providence at Potter's request. The result of this meeting was the formation of a General Committee to oversee the monument project, with General Horatio Rogers Jr. as its chairman. This committee then began fundraising, and by January 1883, enough money had been raised that a meeting was held on January 20 where a Building Committee was appointed to select an artist and location in Providence for the monument, which would be an equestrian statue. In May 1883, the Building Committee commissioned sculptor Launt Thompson of New York City to design the monument, which was to be created by May 20, 1886. Thompson would be paid \$30,000 for the work, with half to be received at the submission of a plaster model to a bronze foundry and the other half to be received when the statue was placed on a pedestal, which was to be designed by Thompson and provided by the committee. At the time, Thompson was working on another commission, a statue of Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont in Washington, D.C. In designing the statue, Thompson bought several horses to use as models and make several changes until a final design was determined. The Burnside monument was Thompson's last major work, as well as the only equestrian statue in his career. According to a preservationist with the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission, the statue was commissioned during a time they referred to as the "Bronze Age"—the period from the 1870s to the 1920s when many bronze Civil War statues were erected across the country. Work on the Burnside project took longer than expected, and it was not until July 1885 that a sketch of the statue was submitted by Thompson and approved by the committee, and it took until August 1886 that a plaster model was submitted for casting at the Henry-Bonnard Bronze Company in New York City. Meanwhile, Thompson's pedestal design was accepted by the committee, with some slight modifications from the committee's consulting architect William R. Walker, and created by architect Henry O. Avery of New York City, with the location for the monument selected to be Exchange Place (later renamed Kennedy Plaza). Specifically, the statue would be on the eastern end of the plaza. Additional contracting work was done by George Gerhard of East Providence, Rhode Island and Franklin L. Mason of Providence, while the city government added a curbed sidewalk to hinder the possibility of auto accidents with the monument. The marble for the pedestal was acquired from Frederick L. Mathewson's quarry in Burrillville, Rhode Island and was cut and prepared by Providence citizen Isaac M. Sweet. The total cost of the monument (not including the sidewalk installation) was about \$40,000, with the government of Rhode Island contributing \$10,854.69 of this amount, the city contributing an additional \$5,000, and the remainder raised through private donations. By April 1887, it was determined that the monument would be ready for unveiling on July 4 (Independence Day). In preparation for this, the Rhode Island General Assembly appropriated \$4,000 towards the dedication ceremony, in addition to \$1,000 for transporting veterans to the event and \$2,500 for the governor to call upon the militia for the event. This was all in addition to \$2,000 set aside by the city council for Independence Day festivities. All veterans living in Rhode Island were invited to attend, with free transportation and food provided. The statue itself was cast and shipped to Providence in June 1887. ### Dedication The statue was dedicated on July 4, 1887, in a ceremony that began with a procession at 10:30 a.m. The procession included mounted police, the marshals for the event (of which Potter was the chief marshal), the Rhode Island Militia, and many veterans, including members of the Grand Army of the Republic. In total, about 5,000 people marched in the procession, which lasted over an hour. At the end of the procession was a carriage holding Rhode Island Governor John W. Davis and other guests of honor, including General William Tecumseh Sherman and the governor of Connecticut, Phineas C. Lounsbury. "Marching Through Georgia", a Civil War march, was played during the parade to cheers from spectators. The parade marched through Providence and ended at the monument, where the American Band played an overture before Governor Davis was introduced to the crowd by Henry Rodman Barker. Davis then gave a brief speech before an invocation was given by the Reverend Joseph J. Woolley. General Lewis Richmond then gave a short speech before unveiling the statue, which was accompanied by the American Band playing "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the crowd cheered. General Rogers was then introduced as the ceremony's orator and proceeded to give a lengthy oration in praise of Burnside, recounting some of his experiences in the Civil War and testifying to his character. At the end, Governor Davis introduced Thompson to the crowd and thanked him for his work on the statue, with Thompson giving a one-sentence reply to the crowd that he was proud to have been selected to create the monument and that he hoped it would be satisfactory to the people of Providence and Rhode Island. After this, Colonel Robert Hale Ives Goddard spoke on behalf of the Monument Committee and offered the monument to the city of Providence, with Providence Mayor Gilbert F. Robbins accepting. The ceremony ended with the Reverend Christopher Hughes giving a benediction and the band playing the "American Hymn". Following the close, a large reception was held for the guests of honor and veterans. Additionally, other Independence Day-related festivities occurred throughout Providence for the rest of the day. ### Later history In December 1902, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed an act to relocate some monuments in Providence, including the Burnside statue. As part of the act, the General Assembly would pay for both the statue's relocation and the creation of a new pedestal. In 1906, the statue was moved from Exchange Plaza to the northeast corner of nearby City Hall Park, which would later be known as Burnside Park. The statue was placed on a new pedestal designed by Walker. In 1993, the statue was surveyed as part of the Save Outdoor Sculpture! project. In July 2015, the city of Providence spent \$13,500 in hiring Buccacio Sculpture Studios LLC of Natick, Massachusetts to restore the statue as part of a larger renovation of the Kennedy Plaza area. ## Design The monument consists of a bronze equestrian statue of Burnside atop a granite pedestal. The statue depicts Burnside overlooking a battlefield, with binoculars in his right hand and the horse's reins in his left. The horse is depicted with all four feet planted on the ground and also staring directly ahead. Burnside is dressed in his Civil War military attire. The statue itself is approximately 13.5 feet (4.1 m) tall, with the horse measuring approximately 8 feet (2.4 m) from the ground to its withers. The total statue is approximately 1.5 times life-size, with Burnside depicted as an approximately 9-foot (2.7 m) tall man. The pedestal is divided into two parts, with the upper portion measuring 86 inches (2.2 m) tall and the lower portion measuring 26.5 inches (0.67 m). The upper pedestal covers a rectangular area of 89 inches (2.3 m) by 14 feet (4.3 m), while the lower part has side measurements of 8 feet (2.4 m) and 18 feet (5.5 m). By comparison, the original pedestal measured roughly 15 feet (4.6 m) or 16 feet (4.9 m) tall, making the total original height of the monument about 31 feet (9.4 m). Today, the total height is roughly 20 feet (6.1 m). The base of the statue bears markings from both the sculptor (Launt Thompson 1887 Sculptor) and the foundry (The Henry-Bonnard Bronze Co. 1887.), while the front of the pedestal bears the inscription "BURNSIDE". ### Analysis In an 1887 encyclopedia of art, Samuel Greene Wheeler Benjamin stated that the statue was "a work of considerable merit" and compares it favorably to other equestrian statues in the United States, such as Thomas Ball's statue of George Washington in Boston, John Quincy Adams Ward's statue of George Henry Thomas in Washington D.C., and Henry Kirke Brown's statues of Winfield Scott and George Washington in Washington, D.C., and New York City, respectively. However, in the same review, Benjamin stated that while all of those statues were "meritorious works", "none are of the first rank". Meanwhile, an 1891 article in The American Architect & Building News gave the following review: "Considering the character of the sculptor's previous work, this, his only piece of equestrian sculpture, is surprisingly good. It is sober, dignified, well-composed and, though the modelling is commonplace and hardly bears examination, the whole monument is deserving of a much better site than has been accorded it, for it is pushed aside to one end of an irregular-shaped square near the railroad station, where it is hemmed about by cars, carriages and wagons; but the squalor and bustle of its surroundings do but enhance and make conspicuous the virtues of a quiescent pose in a public statue." A 1965 catalogue from the Metropolitan Museum of Art states that many of Thompson's Civil War-related statuary, including the Burnside statue, were designed "in the heavy-handed, cast-iron, realistic style that prevailed between 1865 and 1895." ## See also - List of equestrian statues in the United States - List of Union Civil War monuments and memorials

To Fly!

1976 IMAX film by MacGillivray Freeman Films

To Fly! is a 1976 American short docudrama film by Greg MacGillivray and Jim Freeman of MacGillivray Freeman Films. It was the premiere film of the giant-screen IMAX theater for the National Air and Space Museum's main building, which opened to celebrate the United States Bicentennial. The film chronicles the history of aviation in the US and its effects on humanity, with a narration written by Thomas McGrath. The film explores the search for national identity and humanity's relationship with aviation. The idea of the film was proposed in 1970 and revisited two years later following the museum's interest in an IMAX theater for the planned building. MacGillivray and Freeman expanded a treatment written by the Smithsonian Institution and Francis Thompson, adding humor and various scenes that would jolt IMAX audiences. Due to the large dimensions of the screens, the filmmakers aimed for immersion and clarity via novel cinematographic techniques. This was further enhanced by the surround sound design. Creation of the ending space sequence, featuring the first IMAX rocket launch scene, was made with various experiments. The film was edited by MacGillivray and Freeman while the score was composed by Bernardo Segall. It was finished on schedule with a low budget and two years of challenging production. To Fly! was released on July 1, 1976 and sponsored by Conoco, who funded the film. It was initially scheduled to screen only for the Bicentennial, but due to public demand was screened indefinitely. The film was later released in other formats too, and had a 20th-anniversary special edition in 1996. It was deemed significant for introducing people to the nascent IMAX format, with various intense reactions observed among audiences, and was thus included in the National Film Registry and the IMAX Hall of Fame. It also cast MacGillivray as a major IMAX filmmaker. With increasing popularity, To Fly! remained the highest-grossing giant-screen documentary for several decades. It received critical acclaim in visual and narrative aspects, and received various accolades. ## Summary To Fly! begins in Vermont on July 4, 1831. Fictional hot air balloonist Ezekiel, after reciting a zestful quatrain declaring himself a pioneer, ascends on a voyage around New England. Spectators below look at the balloon in awe and surprise. Ezekiel sees a canoeist heading to whitewater at Horseshoe Falls and warns him to shore before he reaches the rapid. The film then chronicles the history of aviation, beginning with hot air balloons. Its advent is described as "like the opening of a new eye", allowing humans to reach untouched places and extend their limits. This also later inspired the creation of skyscrapers. Despite this, the majority of Americans still used horses; for speedier travel, trains were invented, then cars and mechanical aircraft. The Roaring Twenties saw the invention of barnstorming, expanding access to aviation among Americans. As part of diversifying aviation, military jets were created, thereupon forming aerobatic teams like the Blue Angels. Commercial jetliners made travel faster and the American territory expanded beyond the mainland. Then, ultralight aviation was invented. To Fly! lastly depicts the Saturn IB rocket launch for the Apollo–Soyuz mission at the Kennedy Space Center on July 15, 1975. Dubbing spaceflight a globally historical feat, the film suggests it can be used in finding extraterrestrial intelligence, and describes the human imagination as limitless, credited to a philosophical awakening caused by the aerial view of the world. The film ends with a view of Earth, and the narration: > We have come a long way from a time when people gazed enviously upon the birds in-flight. Today, we look upon our planet from afar, and feel a new tenderness for the tiny and fragile Earth. For we know now, that even as we walk upon the ground, we are ever in-flight through the universe. And so, we begin to realize that human destiny has ever been, and always must be, to fly! ## Production ### Background The 1960s and 1970s saw increasing numbers of museum theaters in the effort to modernize museums with audiovisual content. The idea of a giant-screen theater at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) was mooted in 1970 in a 153-page report by the National Museum of Natural History's (NMNH) curator team, which argues the NASM needs a "contemporary medium of communications" that will resonate intellectually and psychologically. It suggested an experiential film that would showcase the American landscape and the country's introduction to technology, ending with predictions of the country's future. Among these giant-screen film formats was IMAX, characterized by its tall screen which fills the audiences' peripheral vision, triggering immersive telepresence which creates the illusion of being present within the film's setting. The NMNH proposed a panoramic, curved IMAX screen that envelops its rotunda, but this idea was later discarded. In 1972, the deputy director of the Smithsonian Institution, Melvin B. Zisfein, wrote a memo praising IMAX over other giant-screen formats like Cinerama and Circle-Vision 360°, and suggested making an IMAX film for the NASM. Several film treatments were written, the first titled "The Beautiful Mysteries of Flight", though they were all rejected., In 1974, after hearing about plans for a new building of the NASM at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as part of the US Bicentennial, IMAX's co-founder Graeme Ferguson proposed an IMAX theater to museum director and astronaut Michael Collins. While Ferguson believed this would enhance the museum, Collins had not seen an IMAX film and initially rejected the proposal. However when he visited Expo '74, an IMAX representative convinced him to go to the IMAX theater and see Man Belongs to the Earth; he became convinced that an IMAX theater at the NASM—the first museum to have one—would provide a sense of realism to visitors. ### Pre-production On July 1, 1974, giant-screen filmmaker Francis Thompson joined in proposing a film about the history of flight for the Bicentennial at the NASM theater. With a US\$590,000 fund from the Continental Oil Company (commoly referred as and later renamed Conoco), with an additional \$160,000 for film rights, they set the deadline for 1976. After writing a third treatment with Thompson, the Smithsonian commissioned filmmaker duo Greg MacGillivray and James "Jim" Freeman, who had previously made surf and giant-screen films with experimental editing, and shot aerials for Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973) and The Towering Inferno (1974). Collins told the duo that he did not want the film to be too history-oriented and be more fun. With Collins giving them full creative freedom, pre-production meetings took place in New York City for several months. Collins and Zisfein gave around 30 suggestions, around 20 of which were incorporated into the film. MacGillivray and Freeman thought the treatment was imperfect and expanded it into a narrative docudrama with several moments of comedy. They analyzed the existing IMAX films for inspiration, including Man Belongs to the Earth, whose opening aerial shot of the Grand Canyon enthused them. The opening scene is given comedic moments so audiences would realize the film is not a dry historical drama. Thompson agreed with this decision, saying there were enough fact-based Bicentennial films being made and that people needed more entertainment. MacGillivray said IMAX is perfect for the film because it "allows me [...] to impact the audience in a greater way". He and Freeman storyboarded the film with John Divers at their Laguna Beach, California office, creating "IMAX moments" to thrill audiences and to rely on visuals more than narration. Seven months were spent on research, with aviators Walter J. Boyne and Donald S. Lopez Sr. as technical advisors. Actor and real-life balloonist Peter Walker was chosen to portray Ezekiel due to his comic charm. The character was based upon a balloonist who in 1790 apparently made flights over New England while reciting self-written poems, purportedly to impress young women. Walker listed To Fly! among his favorite films to star in. Through filmmaker Randal Kleiser whom he knew from his friend Basil Poledouris, MacGillivray took classes with actress Nina Foch to master in directing his cast. Extras were not mandated to speak because they comprise locals, some of whom the filmmakers felt were amateur. Freeman's girlfriend Cindy Huston, MacGillivray's girlfriend Barbara Smith, and production manager-costumer Jeff Blyth made cameo appearances as different characters. Huston was also focus puller, and Smith was production assistant, craft service specialist, and unit still photographer. Other writers were Thompson, Robert M. Young, and Arthur Zegart; Thomas McGrath wrote the narration. Additionally, Byron McKinney was executive producer. Documentarian and historian Jon Wilkman was briefly involved, alongside NASA, the Office of Naval Research, and the California Institute of Technology. ### Filming Principal photography occurred throughout 1975 and lasted five months, as per the schedule. Filming paused eight weeks (2.5 months) in during June for MacGillivray and Freeman to film the action scenes of Sky Riders (1976), then resumed for another 2.5 months. They directed and cinematographed To Fly!, frequently switching roles and working seven days a week with a 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedule. Oftentimes they would film together in a multiple-camera setup, like in one of the barnstorming shots. According to MacGillivray, the film was the most fun that he and Freeman worked on throughout their 11 years of partnership. At the time, IMAX cameras weighed 80 pounds (36 kilograms) and felt "crude", dismaying the filmmakers who wanted To Fly! to be innovative. Furthermore, they were worried about damaging the only camera available to them, and wanted to minimize the need for retakes. Ferguson and fellow IMAX co-founders, Bill Shaw and Robert Kerr, ideated creating three new cameras with better specifications, with one of them to be used for Thompson in his other Bicentennial film, American Years. Ferguson granted the proposal. When filming an aerial scene in American Years, the camera's parachute failed to deploy, destroying it. The pre-existing camera was also modified to be on par with the new ones. To make the film bright, colorful, and naturalistic, the crew used the Eastman Color Negative 5254 tungsten 65 mm film stock, with the opening scene in 35 mm. The costly stock caused the short duration of 27 minutes. To give a dramatic look, they emphasized the characters with cross-backlighting or crosslighting. Because of IMAX's large screens and where the perceived center would be, many novel techniques were implemented. Extreme long shots were treated as wide-angle shots, while the latter were treated as normal shots, and close-ups were treated as medium close-ups. The latter has a wider headroom for visual comfort. Movement was condensed to ease the switching between an extreme long shot to medium close-up, and a wide-angle lens was used to further expand the film's view. Camera lenses were also carefully chosen, ranging from the fisheye 30 mm to the telephoto 600 mm. Pentax and Hasselblad-brand lenses were used; the latter had their focal lengths changed, shutters removed, and mounts modified. It took three months to test them and the camera magazines. They had no zoom lenses which would have eased filming; as later proved in Behold Hawaii (1983). Many shots in the film were time-consuming: a 35-second shot of the Blue Angels flying over the Colorado River and Yuma Desert took over four months to choreograph. Camera mounts were designed by the United States Navy for a McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II used to film the shot. Nelson Tyler spent two months developing two mounts for the camera helicopters to film front and side shots, providing smoothness as the smallest vibrations would be noticeable on IMAX. The helicopters were piloted by George Nolan, Chuck Phillips, and Adrian Brooks. Mounts were also made by Boeing for the Boeing 747; they used its first prototype. Art Scholl's "Super Chipmunk" aircraft was used to film front shots. The Navy donated helium for the hot air balloon, thanks to the Blue Angels' presence in the film. The balloon, in shots where it actually flies, was piloted by Kurt Stehling, with whom MacGillivray has collaborated in Above San Fransisco (1973). Aerial work platforms were used to support the balloon basket and camera; two platforms supported the basket as it moved in opposing directions to heighten the illusion of flight. The balloon was decorated with 13 American flags, the number of states in the US during the period, sewn by a vexillography shop. To create a shot in which a Sierra No. 3 train seemingly hits the camera, inspired by the allegedly jolting effects of L'Arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat (1895), the crew placed a mirror at the rail and pointed the camera at a 45-degree angle to image the mirror for a symmetrical view of the rail, as the train approached and shattered the mirror. The illusion of pilots "flying" was made by filming close-ups of the aircraft backdropped by the sky while the camera dawdles within a rigid camera dolly. Bob Wills flew a hang glider above the Nā Pali coastline. Various kinds of transportation were used. In one scene, a stagecoach races with the train; the previous scene includes a Conestoga wagon. Aerial shots of the 747 were filmed from a 737 Boeing donated. Frank Tallman flew a Curtiss Model D for the mechanical flight scene. A Ford Model T was used in a segue between the car and the mechanical flight scenes, depicting the ground as it accelerates, then flies above Coastal California. Other filming locations included the Gateway Arch, Lake Powell, Monument Valley, Zion Canyon, Yosemite Falls, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada. The barnstorming scene was filmed in California, and the opening sequence's forests in Parsons, West Virginia. Filming also occurred in Alaska. A barn raising scene from the opening was cut from the final release. Overall, 150,000 feet (46,000 meters) of film stock were used. #### Space sequence To Fly!'s space sequence depicts the launch of the Saturn IB, before showing a fictional spaceship voyaging around the Solar System. Five nebulae are then depicted before ending with a view of Earth. The filmmakers were given permission to film the launch, marking the first time such was filmed in IMAX. They took this part more seriously because it could not be repeated. After filming 1,200 feet (370 meters) away from the launch pad, they left their camera outside for a day, forming condensation inside and exacerbated by seasonal thunderstorms. It was found wet and jammed, and the crew spent three hours cleaning it to recover the recording. Meanwhile, a shot of the Saturn V's interstage ring jettisonning back to Earth was filmed in 16 mm film from the actual rocket's second stage, during Apollo 4 in 1967. With a low budget, they initially conceived the space sequence as merely a compilation of astronomical images but realized they needed some kind of movement for an IMAX film, and thus saved money on the live-action filming in order to achieve a better space sequence. They expected To Fly! to be compared with the film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and with their resources tried to make the sequence as reminiscent of that film as possible. They learned that small objects like stars on an IMAX screen are much smaller on a traditional presentation, and typical small stars would be oversized in IMAX; after some difficulty, they were able to create regular-sized stars on an 8-by-360-inch (20-by-914-centimeter) Kodalith negative sheet film. Because of the nature of IMAX, filming some scenes at six and twelve frames per second (fps) was preferred over stop motion. George Casey and Lester Novros of special effects company Graphic Films provided planetary models and a studio, and also assisted the crew. The spaceship seen was a transparent two-inch (5.1-centimeter) portion of a larger 36-inch (0.91-meter) model built by MacGillivray and Freeman, backlit on a glass frame. As special effects supervisor, Blyth designed it to have the same color palette as the 747. It took inspiration from concepts of advanced ion thrusters and magnetically confined fusions like deuterium and helium-3. It took 150 hours to create, with Collins as technical advisor. For a shot in which the spaceship passes Jupiter and Io, the crew filmed each object one by one; it would be rewound back to layer in the next object. The camera was placed on a motorized dolly. Some shots, including the one of Saturn, were filmed at a homemade animation stand. Others used a faux version of the slit-scan photography kit used for 2001: the sheet film was projected onto a white board, which the fisheye camera was put close to. Models were attached to a peg bar, near where their glass frame was suspended on. To film extremely slow shots with distinct movement, a geared head and custom gear operated by zoom motors were used, creating a slight pan. They filmed all these on 16 mm first to see if they could be done on IMAX. Bellows and close-up lenses by Hasselblad were used for the penultimate nebulae shots; the camera was facing a tray filled with water and a mixture of black ink and white enamel paint lit by color gels. The materials' temperature, thickness, size, and type had to be precise to achieve the reaction. Unable to film at the desired 96 fps, mineral oil and paint thinner were poured into the tray to slow down movement; the thinner was favored because it created more interesting 3D-like movements. Often, a short wire was shaped and dipped in to create specific patterns. Special effects designers Jim Palmer and Barney Kaelin created laser patterns, the first in any IMAX film. Overall, the space sequence took four-and-a-half months to prepare, test, and film. ### Post-production To Fly! was edited by MacGillivray and Freeman, with Alexander Hammid supervising, using a Moviola. Knowing they would experiment with the editing, the film's shots were directed beforehand to allow them to do so. Pacing is medium so audiences have enough time to explore the entirety of the shots. The 35 mm opening where Ezekiel is still at ground is windowboxed to 1⁄6th of the IMAX screen; as he ascends, the scene smash dissolves and the whole screen is filled, intensifying its mood and as a reference to aviation, which the film calls "like the opening of a new eye". This was inspired by the opening scenes of This is Cinerama (1952) and the second ever IMAX film North of Superior (1971). The placing of multiple images on the same screen were occasionally used; these were inspired by another multi-image film In the Labyrinth (1967) and the first IMAX film Tiger Child (1970). In one scene of the Blue Angels, the screen divides into 36 duplicates of the same shot. After learning an inconsiderately-placed multi-image scene would create a confusing experience for audiences, Jim Liles of the Optical Department at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and filmmaker Dennis Earl Moore designed new mattes in which the bottom row is 15% larger than the top, allowing for clearer focus of attention. Smith supervised the curation of archival and original footage to be incorporated into these scenes. After four months of editing, two Norelco AAII 70/35 mm projectors were installed to preview in the highest quality possible. MacGillivray chose the film's score to be composed and conducted by Bernardo Segall, and performed by a 49-piece symphony orchestra at the Burbank Studios which he considered "the most professional and experienced" in California that he could find. Segall's works were described by MacGillivray as having "an air of sophistication and elegance, which would maintain the steady rhythm and pulse of the film". The score was the first in history to use a keyed bugle, which is also depicted in the film's opening scene: at the gathering for Ezekiel's ascent, a small fanfare band plays a fife, drum, clarinet, and B♭ keyed bugle. The score was then edited by Richard R. McCurdy and mixed by Dan Wallin. It was recorded in 16 channels and then downmixed to three of the six channels on the 35 mm sound follower, which would play in sync with the picture in theaters. Sound design was done at Todd-AO's Hollywood, Los Angeles studio. For the sound effects, Sam Shaw was the editor while Ray West and Jack Woltz were mixers. Some scenes in the film were made just to exploit IMAX's sound technology. For example, a multi-image scene in which two jets cross each other uses the surround nature of the sound system; MacGillivray expected audiences to "shiver" due to the dramatic shift of attention. In the train screen-hitting shot, the horn and engine noise gradually surround the audience. Joseph Ellison also helped with the sound design, which completed on June 18, 1976. After post-production which—combined with the space sequence production—took six months, Conoco applauded the film's rough cut; the company's investors and the Smithsonian gave input for the final cut, which spans more than 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) of film stock. ## Themes and style To Fly! is described as a hegemonic film on how the imagination of the American people pioneered aviation, illustrated with scenes of aircraft flying over various American landscapes. Film critic Daniel Eagan said most of the views depicted in its opening sequence are "stately, processional, celebrating the American landscape while remaining distant from it". From there, the film explores the US, triggering "some patriotic empathy." It was also viewed as a nationalist film, linking the American quest for national identity to the development of aviation through metanarratives like the linear westward progress of aviation, though its omniscient visual rhetoric is most distinct in the space sequence. The film generally shies away from depicting the Industrial Revolution's effects on the US in favor of displaying untouched nature. The Smithsonian said that its theme is: "Flight, in all its forms, is part of the Human condition, part of our Destiny". This refers to manifest destiny, a cultural belief that propelled the American westward expansion. Collins said To Fly!'s style makes it "a break from the learning going on in the rest of the museum", and NASM board members said it is an amplification of visitors' fascination of flying after seeing the museum's exhibits. Film author Alison Griffiths agrees, saying that as an add-on to a museum admission, whereas the exhibits give visitors information and interest, the film gives them a sense of wonder for aviation in an effect akin to synesthesia. This is achieved through its immersive cinematography, which provides viewers with vicarious participation. Steve McKerrow of The Baltimore Sun noted certain scenes reference classic films: the train screen-hitting scene is similar to the one from The Great Train Robbery (1903); the hot air balloon scenes are reminiscent of Around the World in 80 Days (1956); and the barnstorming scene is seemingly set in the same field as the North by Northwest (1959) crop duster chase scene. As a travelogue film of the US, To Fly! was also compared to the closing sequence of This is Cinerama. The aerial shots of land also signify aviation's usage in cartography, reconnaissance, resource exploration, land-use planning, and navigation. ## Release ### NASM The first press announcements of To Fly! were issued on May 16, 1976, and on June 24, the film was previewed to members of the US Congress at the NASM's IMAX Theater (later renamed Samuel Pierpoint Langley, and then Lockheed Martin). Two days prior to the preview, Freeman was killed in a helicopter crash while finding locations for a commercial at the Sierra Nevada. Grief-stricken, MacGillivray initially doubted he could continue filmmaking but decided to retain, keeping the production company's name, MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF), as a tribute. The film premiered on July 1, 1976, labeled as being sposored by Conoco. The New York City-based Lawrence Associates acquired distribution rights. With underwriting concerns, the Smithsonian prohibited Conoco from using the Smithsonian's name for promotional and commercial uses, but granted "limited right" to use Conoco's name for it. It was later relabeled as sponsored by parent company DuPont. MacGillivray assisted the inexperienced projectionists and frequently visited the projection booth to ensure the film roll was in consistently mint condition. A Pachelbel's Canon rendition was played as an overture, a decision praised as memorable, relaxing, and meaningful, with adults reportedly indulging in it. Setting against the film, the music can be interpreted as being about humanity's quest to fly. To Fly! was also partially credited for the music's popularity. Like the other Bicentennial films, it was initially scheduled for a one-year run but the NASM kept the film playing due to audience demand. In the 1990s, they upgraded the theater's sound system to digital and also released the film for digital projection. At times, there were 14 shows daily. A 20th-anniversary special edition of To Fly! was released in 1996, with the audio being digitally remastered with new sound effects, new narration voice, and alterations of the score such as trimming, editing, and adding choral sounds. The Lake Powell-Monument Valley scene and space sequence have their music changed, and two existential narrations from the space sequence were cut. Celebrating the NASM's silver jubilee in 2001, a screening of the film was made free. Later during its 35th anniversary in 2011, screenings were charged at 50 cents for adults and 25 cents for children, the same price up to the 1980s; in 1976, it was charged at \$1 for adults and 50 cents for children, but fearing they were making too much profit, it was halved six months later. The Airbus IMAX Theater of the NASM's annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, has also been screening To Fly!. ### Other venues To Fly! spurred the mass construction of IMAX theaters in the US and internationally. The Smithsonian later also built an IMAX theater at the NMNH. Museums built IMAX theaters intrigued by the film, specifically the transformative opening sequence. Other screening formats include the dome-shaped Omnimax and the digital IMAX with Laser. For the first 15 months since its opening in April 1983, To Fly! was the only film shown at the IMAX theater at the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television (NMPFT) in Bradford, England, and its quality made them commit to retaining the theater. It was re-screened in 2013 for the museum's 30th anniversary. Michael Kernan of The Washington Post credited word of mouth to the popularity because advertising was mainly via brochures, newspapers, and television. MacGillivray claimed to have not expected such popularity. Several theaters played the film in a double feature, such the NASM and American Museum of Natural History's Naturemax Theater, who screened it with the travelogue film Living Planet (1979) and Man Belongs to the Earth. The NASM later replaced Living Planet with MFF's Speed (1984). To Fly! was put with Blue Planet (1990) at the Montreal and Maryland Science Center as they similarly showcase spaceflight. It was also the premiere film for IMAX theaters of theme parks like Six Flags Great America's Pictorium (1979), Dreamworld in Gold Coast, Australia (1981), and the Speelland Beekse Bergen at Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands (June 19, 1981). Dreamworld founder John Longhurst was inspired to build the theater after seeing To Fly!. Over 24 countries have released the film, including Germany, Japan, Mexico, and Indonesia (Keong Emas IMAX Theater, Jakarta). The film has been translated to 10 languages and screened at around 150 theaters worldwide, as well as festivals like the 1976 Toronto International Film Festival, who took it from the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The 2019 IMAX Victoria Film Festival put it in a double feature with North of Superior, titled "The Dawn of IMAX Filmmaking". After September 6, 1976 (Labor Day), Conoco distributed To Fly! to schools, organizations, and non-IMAX theaters. However, the lack of non-IMAX screenings made it unpopular among filmgoers. They also sent 16 mm copies of the film to all 600 existing independent television stations in the US to be aired for free, as a marketing strategy. On May 28, 2023, the non-IMAX Cleveland Cinematheque put it together with MFF's Great Barrier Reef (2018) and Great Bear Rainforest (2019), in a series of MFF double features. ### Home media In 1985, To Fly! was released on videocassette formats Betamax and VHS, while its LaserDisc was in 1991 by Lumivision, catalog number LVD9113. The latter, as well as a VHS of the anniversary edition by IMAX subsidary DKP 70MM Inc., features Dolby Surround-encoded audio. On March 20, 2011, the first VHS was preserved at the Hagley Museum and Library and is freely available at their finding aid website. For the VHS, the windowboxed opening scene was zoomed to fill the entire screen, and a large portion of the opening drum roll was cut. Together with the LaserDisc and second VHS, the film is cropped to the television 1.33:1 aspect ratio, in lieu of the slightly-wider IMAX 1.44:1. On October 7, 2021, MFF launched a streaming service called Movies For Families and included To Fly!'s anniversary edition, cropped to the widescreen ratio of 1.78:1. The multi-image scenes were re-adjusted, like the 36-duplicate shot which became 30. ## Reception ### Box office To Fly! is regarded as the first blockbuster IMAX film. Over one million people watched it during its first year at the NASM with approximately 80% of its 485 seats occupied. Initially, Collins had projected three-and-a-half of NASM visitors to view it. Up to 1980, it amassed more than 6.3 million viewers, with an average seat occupation of 77%, growing to 6.5 million by 1983. Over 15 million people have watched it there; 4 million of which were in its three years, then 4.5 million the following year. Up to 1982, around 100 million audiences were recorded across the US. In 1996, CBS This Morning dubbed it "the longest-running ticketed film in one location in history" and reported that it accumulated over 300 million views worldwide. From 2000 to 2012, there was an audience addition of 1.5 million at the NASM. As of 1991, over 100 million people have viewed To Fly! at schools and on television. Overall, the film is the longest-exhibited documentary film in the world and the most successful sponsored film. Museums like the NASM and NMPFT used early earnings of the film to underwrite expenses, maintain theaters, and/or funding IMAX films. It grew from \$20 million in 1993—thus being the 14th highest-grossing independently-distributed film in the US and Canada (excluding pornographic films)— to \$100 million in 1999. Up to 2000, it earned \$50 million in the NASM alone. To Fly! was the third highest-grossing IMAX documentary as of 2002, earning \$113 million, behind The Dream is Alive (1985, \$150 million) and MFF's Everest (1998, \$114 million). It gained a net addition \$2.7 million up to early 2003, then a gross \$900,000 throughout the year, and another \$11.3 million up to 2011. In between that, The Numbers reported over \$86.6 million within the US and Canada and \$34.1 million elsewhere, totalling at \$120.7 million. MFF reported a \$135 million gross as of December 2019, thus being the company's second highest-grossing documentary film after Everest. Per The Numbers, it is—in the US and Canada—the second-highest-grossing 1976 film behind Rocky which earned \$117.2 million, and above A Star is Born which earned \$63.1 million. ### Critical response To Fly! was well-received by many film critics; John Alderson of the Chicago Sun-Times summarized that "the subject charms its imagination, while the IMAX format goes right to the brink of sensory overload". Contemporary critics called it underrated and electric, with David Handler of the Newspaper Enterprise Association dubbing it "the ultimate film trip". The Washington Post called it an icon of the city and a must-watch to all Washingtonians. The film was cited by scholars and authors as examplifying the role of screen size in amplifying a film's kinesthetic thrills. Some called To Fly! one of the best IMAX films, with guides like those by BioScience and the Michelin Green Guide calling it a must-watch for those planning to visit the NASM. The cinematography was praised for its vertiginous aesthetics, equated to theme park rides and epic films, which was further amplified by Segall's score and the use of "unusual" camera angles and novel filming techniques. The Tampa Tribune rated the film three out of four stars, deeming the Horseshoe Falls and barnstorming scenes the best. The opening scene was praised for being banal which effectively shocks audiences during the giant-screen transition. The overall sequence was described as intimate and stellar, and the ending as uplifting. John Russell of The New York Times credited the cinematography to the audiences' immersion in the story, with the story improving as the film progresses. Critics called it poetic and paean-like, citing its lyrical depictions of nature and aviation. The film's duality of vintage and contemporary settings were credited for its nostalgic weight. Nathan Southern of AllMovie gave the film four-and-a-half stars out of five, stating its shots make it a vivid historical insight and "one of the greatest unsung landmarks of American documentary". As the filmmakers intended, Alderson likened the space sequence to that of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The narration was praised as personal and meditative, though others found it cursory and superfluous. Some critics panned Ezekiel's character as banal and mawkish, and the omissions of real-life aviation pioneers were noted, alongside how In some shots, the balloon is immobile. Filmmaker Mark R. Hasan thought the Betamax audio lacks quality in the dialogue, and said To Fly! performs starting from the barnstorming scene. While some praised its effectiveness for inspiring audiences even in smaller formats, others found its panoramas to be boring, similar to other IMAX films that is said to overexploit immersion as a gimmick. With familiarity to the later catalogue of "more intrepid" IMAX films, To Fly!'s impressiveness is said to be debatable for many modern first-time viewers. Because of this, the St. Petersburg Times graded it C in a 1998 review. Documentarian Ross Anthony graded it B+, noting he would have graded it A in the 1970s, and deemed To Fly! "amusing and informative (on a basic level)". ### Audience response The Smithsonian reported a diverse demographic of audiences, who were reportedly "astonished" by To Fly!'s IMAX vertiginous shots. Shouts and gasps were heard in screenings, especially during the opening sequence—where people exclaimed in awe—as well as the Blue Angels and hang-gliding scenes. Others, however, screamed in jolt and "hastily" left the theater during its vertiginous scenes; journalist Douglas Preston attributed this to nausea. For some, uncontrollable dizziness lingered long after the film had finished, equated by Time magazine with airsickness. Vomit bags were unavailable, making the film inaccessible for people with vertigo. Later, the NASM added pre-entry warnings about potential dizziness and motion sickness. However, some people noted they were able to watch To Fly! without getting scared due to it being illusionary. Many who watched the film returned with their children to rewatch it, akin to a generational tradition. Similar remarks were made by Carl Sagan, who remained astonished after seeing it more than five times at the NASM. Several pilots credited the film for propelling their interest in aviation, including astronaut Terry W. Virts to whom To Fly! is his first, and among his most memorable, childhood IMAX films. Dan Moran of the Chicago Tribune said it is among the few films that kept Pictorium audiences awake instead of asleep. The 2011 Virginia earthquake coincided with To Fly!'s Horseshoe Falls scene at Lockheed Martin; audiences and the projectionist assumed the shaking they felt came from the theater's subwoofers rather than an earthquake. Modern expert hang-gliders were surprised at the hang-gliding stunt by Wills, described as dynamic yet on an "impossibly simple craft." Responding to the film's popularity, Bill McCabe of the DuPont Aerospace Enterprise said because humans have a supposedly innate interest in flying, the film has a universal appeal. Several educators categorized it as educational entertainment, though with less interest among field trip groups than other IMAX documentaries. The audience response prompted the Smithsonian to write a tagline on their website: "Feel the Earth Drop Away Beneath You". In 2016, "Feel" was changed to "Watch" and a 40th-anniversary one-minute trailer was released. MacGillivray said that the film's "unpretentiousness and lightheartedness" makes it a form of escapism and its unconventional ending makes it "more profound and in a way, more lasting". ### Accolades As of 1992, To Fly! had received 11 awards. The following table only lists the ones mentioned at the MFF website, until other sources are available. ## Legacy To Fly! is regarded as an influential IMAX film, with filmmaker and author Lenny Lipton calling it the giant-screen film industry's "signature film". Wilkman, writing for Literary Hub, listed the film in 2020 as one of the "21 Documentaries That Redefined the Genre". In 1980, Kernan listed the film as one of the top reasons people visited Washington, alongside the Washington Monument and J. Edgar Hoover Building. It also has a significant history with political figures, viewed by heads of state from Egypt, Greece, Indonesia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. During his first inauguration in 1981, US President Ronald Reagan handed a copy of it to Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, and later showed it to him while in Moscow. When George H. W. Bush met Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir in 1989, they went to the NASM and watched To Fly!. Contrary to popular belief, the film is not the first in IMAX, though was instrumental in introducing more people to the format. This was acknowledged by IMAX filmmakers like Kieth Merrill of Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets (1984), and Ron Fricke who decided to film Chronos (1985) in IMAX after seeing To Fly!, regretting not shooting his more-popular film Koyaanisqatsi (1982) with it. Brian J. Terwilliger theatrically premiered his IMAX film Living in the Age of Airplanes (2015) at Lockheed Martin as a tribute to To Fly! which he watched as a teenager. Christopher Nolan watched the film at the age of 14 and noticed the audience tilting their heads during the aerial scenes; MacGillivray consulted him on the IMAX cameras for The Dark Knight (2008), the first feature-length film to be shot on IMAX and whose aerial scenes were inspired by To Fly!. After watching the film, scientist Anatoly Sagalevich ideated the underwater film Titanica (1992) to IMAX filmmaker Stephen Low. The film was also cited as a great influence on the legitimization of IMAX and the use of multi-image scenes in IMAX films, which has been common practice ever since. In a contemporary review, major film companies were urged to "watch out", predicting To Fly! would set IMAX as a leading film format over Cinerama and 3D. In 1995, the Library of Congress deemed To Fly! a pioneer of the format, thus culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant for the National Film Registry, which preserved its reduction prints. Voters at the Giant Screen Theater Association included it in the IMAX Hall of Fame on September 24, 2001, a decision praised by IMAX's then-co-chief executive officers Richard Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler, stating the film deserves such recognition. In 1980, the NASM requested another IMAX film, prompting Moore to collaborate with MacGillivray on Flyers (1982), which Conoco funded and became an box-office success too. MFF continued making IMAX documentaries, two of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject: The Living Sea (1995), also inducted into the IMAX Hall of Fame, and Dolphins (2000), which was the highest-grossing documentary that year. Still active, the company is regarded one of the most influential IMAX figures with over \$1 billion of box-office earnings. In 1996, MacGillivray released The Magic of Flight, a film about the Blue Angels which serves as the spiritual sequel of To Fly!'s scene featuring the squadron. ## See also - Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, whose tender is used for the train scene - Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, flown in the Blue Angels scene - Sonnet 18, whose concluding couplet is recited by one of the film's characters - Travel Air 4000, flown in the barnstorming scene

Cedric Wright

American photographer and musician

George Cedric Wright (April 13, 1889 – 1959) was an American violinist and a wilderness photographer of the High Sierra. He was Ansel Adams's mentor and best friend for decades, and accompanied Adams when three of his most famous photographs were taken. He was a longtime participant in the annual wilderness High Trips sponsored by the Sierra Club. ## Family Cedric Wright was born and raised in Alameda, California. His father was a successful attorney, and one of his father's clients was astronomer Charles Hitchcock Adams, Ansel Adams's father. Cedric's uncle, William Hammond Wright, was also an astronomer who became head of Lick Observatory. As a result of his father's success, Wright was financially comfortable throughout his life. His first wife was Mildred Sahlström, and they had a daughter, Alberta. After they divorced, he married pianist and piano teacher Rhea Ufford in 1929. They had a daughter, Joanne, and a son, David. ## Violinist Wright was motivated to become a violinist when he heard a performance by Fritz Kreisler. After study in the United States, he spent seven years studying with Otakar Ševčík in Prague and Vienna. Wright was known as a "distinguished violinist", and was a violin teacher at the University of California Extension and Mills College for many years. Renowned violin teacher and conductor Louis Persinger called him "one of the foremost performers and instructors in the West". In 1934, arthritis brought an early end to his professional career as a violinist, and he then decided to pursue his hobby of photography as a career. ## Friendship and collaboration with Ansel Adams Wright first met Ansel Adams at a family gathering at the Wright family vacation home in the Santa Cruz Mountains when Cedric was about 21 and Ansel was about 8 years old. They encountered each other again on a four-week wilderness High Trip in Yosemite National Park, organized by the Sierra Club in 1923. Nancy Newhall wrote, "On that first High Trip, Ansel found himself drawn to one Cedric Wright, a violinist, who could fiddle by the fire deep into the night and still be among the first up, making a little fire of twigs..." Their friendship, which continued until Wright's death in 1959, was described by Mary Street Alinder as an "intense comradeship". The men shared a deep interest in both classical music and photography, since Adams was an accomplished classical pianist. Wright introduced Adams to the writings of the British philosopher Edward Carpenter, whose thoughts helped shape both men's world views. Together, they discussed the works of other writers, including Elbert Hubbard and Walt Whitman. Back in the Bay Area after their initial 1923 wilderness journey together had ended, Adams became a part of Wright's social circle of musicians and Sierra Club activists who gathered at his Berkeley home. Adams "idolized" Wright, and he followed in Wright's footsteps by taking long trips into the wilderness of the Sierra Nevada each summer, photographing the remote mountain peaks. In his autobiography, Ansel Adams called Cedric Wright "my best friend for many years". He described Wright as "almost an occupant of another world and a creator and messenger of beauty and mysteries. Perhaps his greatest gift was that of imparting confidence to those who were wavering on the edge of fear and indecision; often it was me." In 1926, Wright introduced Adams to Albert Bender, a patron of the arts who was to play an instrumental role in Adams's enormous success as a photographer. Wright was also a close friend of Virginia Best, who was Adams' girlfriend for years. Wright visited with her when Adams was away on photography trips, and she confided in him about the problems in her relationship with Adams. Wright was their best man when they were married on January 2, 1928. Wright accompanied and assisted Adams when he took three of the most famous photographs of his career: On April 10, 1927, Wright hiked with Adams, Virginia Best, Charles Michael and another photographer, Arnold Williams, to a rocky perch high above Yosemite Valley called the "Diving Board". There, Adams took Monolith, the Face of Half Dome, which Mary Street Alinder called Adams's "most significant photograph" because it was a triumph of visualization showing "extreme manipulation of tonal values". This photo set Adams on the path of becoming America's most well-known photographer. Adams called the excursion a "personally historic moment in my photographic career." During the 1932 Sierra Club High Trip to Sequoia National Park, Wright and Adams both photographed Precipice Lake near Eagle Scout Peak, while Virginia swam in the lake, still arrayed with icy patches. Wright was shocked when he saw Adams's Frozen Lake and Cliffs, The Sierra Nevada, Sequoia National Park, so much more beautiful than the photos Wright himself had produced. Mary Street Alinder described the image: "Mirrored ghostly upon the inky waters, a shattered black cliff descends into a partially frozen lake." In 1941, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes hired Adams for six months to create photographs of lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior. Wright accompanied Adams and his young son Michael Adams on a long road trip around the west. While traveling through the Chama River valley near nightfall on November 1, 1941, they encountered a "fantastic scene", a church and cemetery near Hernandez, New Mexico, and pulled to the side of the road. Adams recalled that he yelled at his son Michael and at Wright to "Get this! Get that, for God's sake! We don't have much time!" Desperate to capture the image in the fading light, they scrambled to set up the tripod and camera, knowing that only moments remained before the light was gone. The result was Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico, a photograph that became so popular and collectible that Adams personally made over 1,300 photographic prints of it during his long career. On October 17, 2006, Sotheby's auctioned a print of this photograph for \$609,600. Art historian H. W. Janson called this photo "a perfect marriage of straight and pure photography". ## Wright's Berkeley home In 1921, Wright purchased an old dairy barn at 2515 Etna Street in Berkeley, California, and hired architect Bernard Maybeck to remodel it into a home. Nicknamed "the barn", Wright's home featured "a soaring ceiling with room for a rope swing hung from the rafters and space enough for two grand pianos. Maybeck's daughter-in-law Jacomena Maybeck "remembered evenings at Cedric Wright's studio, when the women wore evening dresses and the men wore tuxedos, and there was much music around the big stone fireplace." The home was known as "party central" among Sierra Club members of the era. Among that social circle were Richard M. Leonard and his wife Doris, Francis P. Farquhar and his wife Marjorie, David Brower and his wife Anne, Edgar Wayburn and his wife Peggy, and Wright's best friends, Ansel Adams and his wife Virginia. Nancy Newhall described the atmosphere: "Meanwhile in Cedric Wright's house among the redwoods in Berkeley, Ansel was finding a warm welcome ... In his house there was music for violin and piano; there was poetry, especially Whitman." ## Sierra Club High Trips The High Trips were large wilderness excursions organized and led by the Sierra Club, beginning in 1901. While most of these excursions were to the High Sierra, some were to other destinations, such as the Canadian Rockies in 1928. Wright's photos of that trip, along with those of Adams and other photographers, were included in a portfolio produced to commemorate it. No other member participated in as many High Trips as Wright, and David Brower recounted that Wright told him in 1953 that he had participated in 33 High Trips. Tom Turner wrote that "Wright was a tireless and talented photographer of the mountain scene, who entertained campers with his fiddle and loved to greet weary hikers at day's end with an unexpected cup of tea or soup." `During the High Trips, Wright and his student Dorothy Minty would often entertain groups of 200 participants with performances of Bach's Double Violin Concerto.` ## Photographer, inventor and writer Arthritis forced Wright to give up his career as a violinist in 1934, and he resolved to pursue his hobby of photography as a new career. In 1939 the Museum of Modern Art accepted six of Wright's photographs, donated by Albert Bender, into its photography collection. These were followed by another ten prints the following year. Several of his photos were displayed at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco in 1939 and 1940. Wright's work was also featured in a 1943 exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art called "Action Photography", along with work by Erich Salomon, Peter Stackpole, Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand and Weegee. He was issued a United States patent for a portable photo-printing device in 1935. `He also made various devices, including "collapsible and portable latrines" for the High Trips, and "astonishingly solid camera and violin cases of varnished plywood with leather thongs, which would tolerate the rigors of being packed for a month on muleback."` In an article published in 1957, which included eight full-page photographs, Wright described his thoughts about how high mountain beauty resembles great music: "Beauty haunts the high country like a majestic hymn, sings in cold sunny air, the brilliant mountain air—makes of sunlight a living thing—floats in cloud forms—filters changing floods of light ever clothing the mountains anew. Beauty arrives in deep voice of river and wind through forest, swelling the chorus, giving sonority universal proportions." He dedicated these words to Sierra Club leader William Edward Colby, and they became part of the introduction to Wright's posthumous book, Words of the Earth. ## Final years Ansel Adams described Wright's final years as "complex and difficult". He suffered a stroke, which caused a personality change, and he became "rigid and dictatorial", which was a "painful experience for all his friends." Wright died in 1959. ## Legacy After his death, Nancy Newhall edited and completed his book, Words of the Earth, which was among the first titles published by Sierra Club Books in 1960. Ansel Adams wrote the foreword. In 1961, a 12,362-foot (3768 meter) High Sierra peak was officially named Mount Cedric Wright (), in memory of Wright, who was described as an "internationally known photographer whose photography has made a significant contribution to the appreciation of the natural scene." The mountain is located in Kings Canyon National Park, 1.9 km (1.2 mi) southwest of Colosseum Mountain and 5.3 km (3.3 mi) south-southeast of Mount Pinchot. Virginia Best Adams later arranged for park ranger Randy Morgenson to scatter Wright's ashes on the slopes of Mount Cedric Wright. In 1976, Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club arranged for Wright's personal papers to be donated to the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. A 2011 exhibit at the Chadwick School featured photos of the school by both Wright and Adams. Two of Wright's children had attended the school. A critic writing for the Los Angeles Times praised Wright's work: "In the Chadwick exhibition, it's Wright who trumps Adams with the show's most jaw-dropping image: a 1947 shot of five boys playing basketball on the school's outdoor court, against a backdrop of rolling hills and the Los Angeles Basin far below. It captures a moment of sheer ballet, the composition so gracefully perfect that one would think it had been choreographed by Balanchine — except that you can't choreograph players leaping for a rebound."

Blackmouth catshark

Species of shark

The blackmouth catshark (Galeus melastomus) is a species of catshark, and part of the family Scyliorhinidae, common in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Senegal, including the Mediterranean Sea. It is typically found over the continental slope at depths of 150–1,400 m (490–4,590 ft), on or near muddy bottoms. The youngest sharks generally inhabit shallower water than the older juveniles and adults. This slim-bodied species is characterized by the black interior of its mouth, a marbled pattern of pale-edged brownish saddles or blotches along its back and tail, and a prominent saw-toothed crest of enlarged dermal denticles along the upper edge of its caudal fin. It reaches lengths of 50–79 cm (20–31 in), with sharks in the Atlantic growing larger than those in the Mediterranean. Slow-swimming but active, the blackmouth catshark is a generalist that preys on a wide variety of crustaceans, cephalopods, and fishes. Its visual and electroreceptive systems are adept at tracking moving, bioluminescent prey. This species is oviparous, with females producing batches of up to 13 egg cases throughout the year. Because of its abundance, the blackmouth catshark forms a substantial part of the bycatch of deepwater commercial fisheries across much of its range. It has low economic value and is usually discarded, though the largest sharks may be marketed for meat and leather. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed this species under Least Concern, as there is no indication that its numbers have declined despite fishing pressure. ## Taxonomy and phylogeny Constantine Samuel Rafinesque briefly described the blackmouth catshark in his 1810 Caratteri di alcuni nuovi generi e nuove specie di animali e piante della Sicilia: con varie osservazioni sopra i medesimi, wherein he referenced the distinctive black interior of its mouth (from which the specific epithet melastomus is derived). No type specimen was designated. This species may also be called the black-mouthed dogfish. A 2005 phylogenetic analysis that included five Galeus species, based on mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, found that G. melastomus forms a clade with G. murinus, apart from the clade of G. eastmani, G. gracilis, and G. sauteri. The oldest documented blackmouth catshark fossils come from the northern Apennines and date to the Lower Pliocene (5.3–3.6 Ma). ## Distribution and habitat The blackmouth catshark is widely distributed in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, from southwestern Iceland and Trondheim, Norway southward to Senegal, including the Faroe Islands, the British Isles, the Azores, and the northern portion of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It occurs throughout the Mediterranean Sea, save for the northern waters of the Adriatic and Aegean Seas, and is absent from the Black Sea. This species primarily inhabits the continental slope, at depths of 150–1,400 m (490–4,590 ft). However, it has been documented from water as shallow as 20–25 m (66–82 ft) in Norway, and as deep as 2,300–3,850 m (7,550–12,630 ft) in the eastern Mediterranean. The depths at which it is most common vary between regions, for example 300–500 m (980–1,640 ft) in the Bay of Biscay, 400–800 m (1,300–2,600 ft) off Portugal, 500–800 m (1,600–2,600 ft) in the Strait of Sicily, 1,000–1,400 m (3,300–4,600 ft) in the Catalan Sea, and 1,500–1,830 m (4,920–6,000 ft) in the eastern Mediterranean. Water temperature does not appear to be an important factor in determining the distribution of this species. Found on or near the bottom, the blackmouth catshark favors a muddy habitat. There is little evidence for segregation by sex. A number of studies in the northern and western Mediterranean have reported that adults occur deeper than juveniles. Other studies though have found no such pattern. It is possible that areas such as the waters off southern France offer a habitat suitable for sharks of all ages. Another explanation with some scientific support is that adults are most common at intermediate depths, while young sharks are restricted to shallower water and both adults and juveniles are found in deeper water. If true, the age-depth inconsistencies observed from previous research could have resulted from incomplete depth sampling. ## Description The reported maximum lengths attained by the blackmouth catshark varies from 67 to 79 cm (26 to 31 in) for Atlantic sharks and 50 to 64 cm (20 to 25 in) for Mediterranean sharks; a length record of 90 cm (35 in) may be dubious. Females attain a larger ultimate size than males. The maximum weight on record is 1.4 kg (3.1 lb). This species has a slender, firm body with a rather long, pointed snout comprising roughly 6–9% of the total length. The anterior rim of each nostril bears a large triangular flap, which divides the nostril into incurrent and excurrent openings. The eyes are horizontally oval and equipped with rudimentary nictitating membranes (protective third eyelids). Beneath each eye is a subtle ridge, and behind is a small spiracle. The mouth forms a short, wide arch, and bears moderately long furrows around the corners. The upper and lower jaws contain around 69 and 79 tooth rows respectively. Each tooth is small, with a narrow central cusp flanked by one or two smaller cusplets on either side. There are five pairs of gill slits, with the fifth pair over the pectoral fin bases. The two dorsal fins are roughly equal in size and placed far back on the body: the first originates behind the midpoint of the pelvic fin bases and the second behind the midpoint of the anal fin base. The pectoral fins are large, while the pelvic fins are small and low, with angular margins. The anal fin is much larger than either dorsal fin; its base measures 13–18% of the total length and greatly exceeds the distance between the pelvic and anal fins, or between the dorsal fins. The caudal peduncle is laterally compressed, with the end of the anal fin very close to the caudal fin. The caudal fin comprises around a quarter of the total length; the upper lobe is low with a ventral notch near the tip, while the lower lobe is indistinct. The skin is very thick and covered by well-calcified dermal denticles. There is a prominent row of enlarged denticles, resembling saw teeth, along the upper edge of the caudal fin. The body is grayish-brown above, with 15–18 dark, rounded saddles, blotches, and/or spots that run onto the tail; each marking is highlighted by a paler border. The underside is white, as are the tips of the dorsal and caudal fins. The inside of the mouth is black. ## Biology and ecology Within its range, the blackmouth catshark is one of the most abundant sharks over the upper and middle continental slope. It is nomadic in nature and may be found alone or in groups. Relatively slow, this shark swims with strong eel-like (anguilliform) undulations of its body. It often cruises just above the sea floor, perhaps taking advantage of the ground effect (a reduction in the drag on a wing when close to the ground) to save energy. It has also been seen resting motionless on the bottom. Known predators of the blackmouth catshark include the kitefin shark (Dalatias licha) and the European flying squid (Todarodes sagittatus). Parasites that have been documented from this species include the tapeworm Ditrachybothridium macrocephalum and the protist Eimeria palavensis. ### Feeding The blackmouth catshark is an active, generalist predator that feeds on both bottom-dwelling and free-swimming organisms. Its diet is dominated by decapods, krill, bony fishes (including lanternfishes, bristlemouths, dragonfishes, and moras), and cephalopods. The most significant prey species generally reflect what is most available in the environment, for example the shrimps Calocaris macandreae and Pasiphaea multidentata off southern France and the prawns Sergestes arcticus and Sergia robusta off the Iberian Peninsula. Juveniles consume a greater amount and variety of crustaceans than adults, including smaller types such as mysids and hyperiid amphipods. Adults favor relatively large fish prey and have been known to take other sharks and rays and smaller members of the same species. The importance of cephalopod prey across ages differs between regions. The stomachs of some blackmouth catsharks have found to contain pieces of animals too large for a single shark to overwhelm, suggesting that it may sometimes attack in groups. Scavenging has been infrequently documented, including of human refuse. When foraging, the blackmouth catshark swings its head from side to side to employ its senses more effectively. It likely relies mainly on vision and electroreception to find food, and less on smell. As in most sharks, its visual acuity is greatest along the median horizontal plane. The lens and cone cells of its eyes are large, allowing smaller or farther objects to be discerned from the background. The rod cells of its eyes are most sensitive to the wavelengths emitted by bioluminescence, which is exhibited by most of the organisms it hunts. For electroreception, the blackmouth catshark has a high number of ampullae of Lorenzini that are evenly arranged, which enhances spatial resolution and is best suited for localizing fast-moving prey. ### Life history Unlike most members of its genus, the blackmouth catshark exhibits multiple oviparity, in which more than one egg can mature within each oviduct simultaneously. Females may contain up to 13 developing eggs, though 1–4 per oviduct is typical. The number of eggs laid annually per female has been estimated at between 60 and 100, increasing with female size. Only the right ovary is functional in mature females. The egg case is vase-shaped and bears a slight flange along the lateral margins; the anterior end is squared off, with a pair of stubby, coiled horns at the corners, while the posterior end is rounded. The surface of the case is somewhat translucent, smooth, and glossy. The case is a golden brown color when first laid, and becomes dark brown in sea water. Egg cases produced by Atlantic sharks measure 3.5–6.5 cm (1.4–2.6 in) long and 1.4–3.0 cm (0.55–1.18 in) across. Those produced by Mediterranean sharks tend to be smaller at 4.2–5.5 cm (1.7–2.2 in) long and 1.7–2.5 cm (0.67–0.98 in) across. Larger females produce slightly larger egg cases. Mating and egg-laying proceeds year-round; reproductive activity is highest in winter and summer, though not all studies have found such a seasonal pattern. The eggs are deposited on muddy substrates in relatively shallow water. Maturation size varies between geographical regions, and is generally larger in the Atlantic than in the Mediterranean. Lengths at maturity for males and females have been variously reported from 48 to 79 cm (19 to 31 in) and 56 to 79 cm (22 to 31 in) respectively in the Atlantic, and from 42 to 55 cm (17 to 22 in) and 39 to 61 cm (15 to 24 in) respectively in the Mediterranean. ## Human interactions Harmless to humans and of little economic value, the blackmouth catshark is caught incidentally in large numbers by commercial bottom trawl and longline fisheries. In particular, it is among the most commonly bycaught sharks in trawls targeting deepwater lobsters and shrimps (Nephrops norvegicus, *, Aristeus antennatus, and Aristaeomorpha folicea*), operating off Portugal and in the Mediterranean. Most captured sharks are discarded, probably with heavy mortality. Some fisheries, such as those off Portugal and Italy, retain and utilize a small subset of the largest individuals for human consumption fresh or dried and salted, and for leather; the fishing fleet of Viareggio, Tuscany reported landing 700 kg (1,500 lb) in 2005. In the northeastern Atlantic, this shark is being increasingly targeted by fishers following the decline of other deepwater shark species. Off Corsica, Sicily, and southern Portugal, and in the Ionian, southern Adriatic, and Aegean Seas, most of the blackmouth catsharks captured are immature, suggesting there has been a negative impact of fishing pressure. However, the species remains extremely abundant in a number of areas, and survey and fishery data have not shown any evidence of overall population decline. The wide range of depths it occupies likely afford it some protection against fishing, particularly given a 2005 ban on trawling deeper than 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in the Mediterranean. Therefore, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has listed the blackmouth catshark under Least Concern. In the waters of the European Commission, fishing for this species is managed as part of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for deepwater sharks.

Mary Surratt

American boarding house owner convicted as a conspirator to murder (1823–1865)

Mary Elizabeth Jenkins Surratt (1820 or May 1823 – July 7, 1865) was an American boarding house owner in Washington, D.C., who was convicted of taking part in the conspiracy which led to the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Sentenced to death, she was hanged and became the first woman executed by the U.S. federal government. She maintained her innocence until her death, and the case against her was and remains controversial. Surratt was the mother of John Surratt, who was later tried in the conspiracy, but due to statute of limitations, was not convicted. Born in Maryland in the 1820s, Surratt converted to Catholicism at a young age and remained a practicing Catholic for the rest of her life. She wed John Harrison Surratt in 1840 and had three children with him. An entrepreneur, John became the owner of a tavern, an inn, and a hotel. The Surratts were sympathetic to the Confederate States of America and often hosted fellow Confederate sympathizers at their tavern. Upon her husband's death in 1862, Surratt had to manage his estate. Tired of doing so without help, Surratt moved to her townhouse in Washington, D.C., which she then ran as a boardinghouse. There, she was introduced to John Wilkes Booth. Booth visited the boardinghouse numerous times, as did George Atzerodt and Lewis Powell, Booth's co-conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. Shortly before killing Lincoln, Booth spoke with Surratt and handed her a package containing binoculars for one of her tenants, John M. Lloyd. After Lincoln was assassinated, Surratt was arrested, then tried by a military tribunal the following month, along with the other conspirators. She was convicted primarily due to the testimonies of Lloyd, who said that she told him to have the "shooting irons" ready, and Louis J. Weichmann, who testified about Surratt's relationships with John. Five of the nine judges at her trial asked that Surratt be granted clemency by President Andrew Johnson because of her age and sex. Johnson did not grant her clemency, though accounts differ as to whether or not he received the clemency request. Surratt was hanged on July 7, 1865, and later buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. ## Early life Mary Elizabeth Jenkins (baptismal name, Maria Eugenia) was born to Archibald and Elizabeth Anne (née Webster) Jenkins on a tobacco plantation near the southern Maryland town of Waterloo (now known as Clinton). Sources differ as to whether she was born in 1820 or 1823. There is uncertainty as to the month as well, but most sources say May. She had two brothers: John Jenkins, born in 1822, and James Jenkins, born in 1825. Her father died in the fall of 1825 when Mary was either two or five years old, and Mary's mother then inherited their property (originally part of the His Lordship's Kindness estate). Although her father was a nondenominational Protestant and her mother Episcopalian, Surratt was enrolled in a private Roman Catholic girls' boarding school, the Academy for Young Ladies in Alexandria, Virginia, on November 25, 1835. Mary's maternal aunt, Sarah Latham Webster, was a Catholic, which may have influenced where she was sent to school. Within two years, Mary converted to Roman Catholicism and adopted the baptismal name of Maria Eugenia. She stayed at the Academy for Young Ladies for four years, leaving in 1839, when the school closed. She remained an observant Catholic for the rest of her life. ## Married life Mary Jenkins met John Harrison Surratt in 1839, when she was 16 or 19 and he was 26. His family had settled in Maryland in the late 1600s. An orphan, he was adopted by Richard and Sarah Neale of Washington, D.C., a wealthy couple who owned a farm. The Neales divided their farm among their children, and Surratt inherited a portion of it. His background has been described by historian Kate Clifford Larson as "questionable", and he had fathered at least one child out of wedlock. They wed in August 1840. John converted to Roman Catholicism prior to the marriage, and the couple may have wed at a Catholic church in Washington, D.C. John purchased a mill in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and the couple moved there. The Surratts had three children over the next few years: Isaac (born June 2, 1841), Elizabeth Susanna (nicknamed "Anna", born January 1, 1843), and John Jr. (born April 1844). In 1843, John Surratt purchased from his adoptive father 236 acres (96 ha) of land straddling the DC/Maryland border, a parcel named "Foxhall" (approximately the area between Wheeler Road and Owens Road today). Richard Neale died in September 1843, and a month later, John purchased 119 acres (48 ha) of land adjoining Foxhall. John and Mary Surratt and their children moved back to John's childhood home in the District of Columbia in 1845 to help John's mother run the Neale farm. But Sarah Neale fell ill and died in August 1845, having shortly before her death deeded the remainder of the Neale farm to John. Mary Surratt became involved in raising funds to build St. Ignatius Church in Oxon Hill (it was constructed in 1850), but John was increasingly unhappy with his wife's religious activities. His behavior deteriorated over the next few years. John drank heavily, often failed to pay his debts, and his temper was increasingly volatile and violent. In 1851, the Neale farmhouse burned to the ground (an escaped family slave was suspected of setting the blaze). John found work on the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Mary moved with her children into the home of her cousin, Thomas Jenkins, in nearby Clinton. Within a year, John purchased 200 acres (81 ha) of farmland near what is now Clinton, and by 1853, he constructed a tavern and an inn there. Mary initially refused to move herself and the children into the new residence. She took up residence on the old Neale farm, but John sold both the Neale farm and Foxhall in May 1853 to pay debts and she was forced to move back in with him in December. With the money he earned from the tavern and sale of his other property, on December 6, 1853, John Surratt bought a townhouse at 541 H Street in Washington, D.C., and began renting it out to tenants. In 1854, John built a hotel as an addition to his tavern and called it Surratt's Hotel. The area around the tavern was officially named Surrattsville that same year. Travelers could take Branch Road (now Branch Avenue) north into Washington, D.C.; Piscataway Road southwest to Piscataway; or Woodyard Road northeast to Upper Marlboro. Although Surrattsville was a well-known crossroads, the community did not amount to much: just the tavern, a post office (inside the tavern), a forge, and a dozen or so houses (some of them log cabins). John Surratt was the hamlet's first postmaster. He expanded his family's holdings by selling off land, paying down debt, and starting new businesses. Over the next few years, Surratt acquired or built a carriage house, corn crib, general store, forge, granary, gristmill, stable, tobacco curing house, and wheelwright's shop. The family had enough money to send all three children to nearby Roman Catholic boarding schools. Isaac and John Jr. attended the school at St. Thomas Manor, and Anna enrolled at the Academy for Young Ladies (Mary's alma mater). The family's debts continued to mount, however, and John Sr.'s drinking worsened. John sold another 120 acres (49 ha) of land in 1856 to pay debts. By 1857, Surratt had sold all but 600 acres (240 ha) of the family's formerly extensive holdings (which represented about half the 1,200 acres (4.9 km²) he had originally owned). Most of the family's slaves were also sold to pay debts. Still, his alcoholism worsened. In 1858, Mary wrote a letter to her local priest, telling him that Surratt was drunk every single day. In 1860, St. Thomas Manor School closed, and Isaac found work in Baltimore, Maryland. The Surratts sold off another 100 acres (40 ha) of land, which enabled Anna to remain at the Academy for Young Ladies and for John Jr. to enroll at St. Charles College, Maryland (a Catholic seminary and boarding school in Ellicott's Mills). The couple also borrowed money that same year against their townhouse in Washington, DC, and at some point used the property as collateral for a \$1,000 loan. ## Civil War and widowhood The American Civil War began on April 12, 1861. The border state of Maryland remained part of the United States ("the Union"), but the Surratts were Confederate sympathizers, and their tavern regularly hosted fellow sympathizers. The Surratt tavern was being used as a safe house for Confederate spies, and at least one author concludes that Mary had "de facto" knowledge of this. Confederate scout and spy Thomas Nelson Conrad visited Surratt's boarding house before and during the Civil War. On March 7, 1861, three days after Abraham Lincoln's inauguration as President of the United States, Isaac left Maryland and traveled to Texas, where he enlisted in the Confederate States Army (serving in the 33rd Cavalry, or Duff's Partisan Rangers, 14th Cavalry Battalion). John Jr. quit his studies at St. Charles College in July 1861 and became a courier for the Confederate Secret Service, moving messages, cash, and contraband back and forth across enemy lines. The Confederate activities in and around Surrattsville drew the attention of the Union government. In late 1861, Lafayette C. Baker, a detective with the Union Intelligence Service, and 300 Union soldiers camped in Surrattsville and investigated the Surratts and others for Confederate activities. He quickly uncovered evidence of a large Confederate courier network operating in the area, but despite some arrests and warnings, the courier network remained intact. John Surratt collapsed suddenly and died on either August 25 or August 26 in 1862 (sources differ as to the date). The cause of death was a stroke. The Surratt family affairs were in serious financial difficulties. John Jr. and Anna both left school to help their mother run the family's remaining farmland and businesses. On September 10, 1862, John Jr. was appointed postmaster of the Surrattsville post office. Lafayette Baker swept through Surrattsville again in 1862, and several postmasters were dismissed for disloyalty, but John Jr. was not one of them. In August 1863, he sought a job in the paymaster's department in the United States Department of War, but his application caused federal agents to be suspicious about his family's loyalties to the Union. On November 17, 1863, he was dismissed as postmaster for disloyalty. The loss of John Jr.'s job as postmaster caused a financial crisis for the Surratt family. When John Sr.'s estate was probated in late November 1862, the family owned only two middle-age male slaves. However, by 1863, Louis J. Weichmann, a friend of John Jr. from St. Charles College, observed that the family had six or more slaves working on the property. By 1864, Mary Surratt found that her husband's unpaid debts and bad business deals had left her with many creditors. Several of her slaves ran away. When he was not meeting with Confederate sympathizers in the city, her son was selling vegetables to raise cash for the family. Mary was tired of running the farm, tavern, and other businesses without her son's help. In the fall of 1864, she began considering moving to her townhouse in the city. On October 1, 1864, she took possession of the townhouse at 604 H Street NW in Washington, D.C. The gray brick house had four stories and stood on a lot 29 feet (8.8 m) wide, 100 feet (30 m) deep. The first floor, which was level with the street, had two large rooms, used as the kitchen and dining room. The second floor had a front and back parlor, with the room in the rear used as Mary Surratt's bedroom. The third floor had three rooms: two in the front and a larger one at the back. The fourth floor, which was considered an attic, had two large and one small room, occupied by a servant. Surratt began moving her belongings into the townhouse that month, and on November 1, 1864, Anna and John Jr. took up residence there. Mary Surratt herself moved into the home on December 1. That same day, she leased the tavern in Surrattsville to a former Washington, D.C., policeman and Confederate sympathizer John M. Lloyd for \$500 a year. On November 30, December 8, and December 27, Mary Surratt advertised for lodgers in the Daily Evening Star newspaper. She had initially said that she wanted only lodgers who were known to her personally or were recommended by friends, but in her advertisements, she said rooms were "available for 4 gentlemen." Some scholars have raised questions about Surratt's move into the city. Historians Kate Larson and Roy Chamlee have noted that although there is no definite proof, a case can be made that Surratt made the move into the city in furtherance of her and her son's espionage activities. For example, Larson and Chamlee say that on September 21, 1864, John Surratt wrote to Louis J. Weichmann, observing that the family's plans to move into the city were advancing rapidly "on account of certain events having turned up," perhaps a cryptic reference to either his Confederate activities in general or the conspiracy to kidnap or kill Lincoln. Larson has observed that although the move made long-term economic sense for Surratt, it also, in the short term, would have meant moving expenses and furnishing up to 10 rooms in the townhouse, money that she did not have. Chamlee, too, found little economic reason to move into the city and concluded that it would have been more profitable to rent the H Street boarding house entirely to lodgers. During her time in the city, Surratt tried to keep her daughter away from what she felt were negative influences. Moreover, Surratt still owed money on both the tavern and the townhouse and would take out yet another mortgage against the townhouse in January 1865. John Jr. transferred all his title to the family property to his mother in January 1865. That act may have additional implications. A traitor's property could be seized, and John's spy knowledge was certainly his motivation for relinquishing his title to the houses and land. Mary may have known of his motivation as well or at least suspected. If she did, she would have possessed at least de facto knowledge of the conspiracy. ## Conspiracy Louis J. Weichmann moved into Surratt's boarding house on November 1, 1864. On December 23, 1864, Dr. Samuel Mudd introduced John Surratt Jr. to John Wilkes Booth. Booth recruited John Jr. into his conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln. Confederate agents began frequenting the boarding house. Booth visited the boarding house many times over the next few months, sometimes at Mary's request. George Atzerodt and Lewis Powell boarded at the townhouse for short periods. Atzerodt, a friend of both John Jr. and Booth and a co-conspirator in the plot to kidnap Lincoln, visited the boarding house several times in the first two months of 1865. He stayed at the Surratt boarding house in February 1865 (for one night or several, sources differ), but he proved to be a heavy drinker, and Surratt evicted him after just a few days. He continued to visit the townhouse frequently afterward, however. Powell posed as a Baptist preacher and stayed at the boarding house for three days in March 1865. David Herold also called at the home several times. As part of the plot to kidnap Lincoln in March 1865, John, Atzerodt, and Herold hid two Spencer carbines, ammunition, and some other supplies at the Surratt tavern in Surrattsville. On April 11, Mary Surratt rented a carriage and drove to the Surratt tavern. She said that she made the trip to collect a debt owed her by a former neighbor. However, according to her tenant, John Lloyd, Surratt told him to get the "shooting irons" ready to be picked up. On April 14, Surratt said that she would once again visit the family tavern in Surrattsville to collect a debt. Shortly before she left the city, Booth visited the boarding house and spoke privately with her. He gave her a package, later found to contain binoculars, for Lloyd to pick up later that evening. Surratt did so and, according to Lloyd, again told Lloyd to have the "shooting irons" ready for pickup and handed him a wrapped package from Booth. Booth's plan was to assassinate Lincoln and have Atzerodt kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Powell kill Secretary of State William H. Seward. Booth killed Lincoln, Atzerodt never attempted to kill Johnson, and Powell stabbed Seward repeatedly but failed to murder him. As they fled the city after Lincoln's assassination, Booth and Herold picked up the rifles and binoculars from Surratt's tavern. Lloyd repaired a broken spring on Surratt's wagon before they left. ## Arrest and incarceration Around 2 a.m. on April 15, 1865, members of the District of Columbia police visited the Surratt boarding house, seeking John Wilkes Booth and John Surratt. Why the police came to the house is not entirely clear. Most historians conclude that Weichmann's friend, Department of War employee Daniel Gleason, had alerted federal authorities to Confederate activity centered on the Surratt house, but that does not explain why police rather than federal agents appeared there. (Historian Roy Chamlee, however, says that there is evidence that Gleason did not tell police about his suspicions of Weichmann for several days.) Within 45 minutes of the attack on Lincoln, John Surratt's name had become associated with the attack on Secretary of State William H. Seward. The police as well as the Provost Marshal's office both had files on John Surratt Jr. and knew he was a close friend of Booth. (It is possible that either James L. Maddox, property supervisor at Ford's Theatre and a friend of Booth's, or actor John Matthews, both of whom may have known about the plot to attack government officials, mentioned Surratt's name.) Historian Otto Eisenschiml has argued that David Herold's attempt to steal a horse from John Fletcher may have led them to the Surratt boarding house, but at least one other scholar has called the link uncertain. Other sources claim that eyewitnesses had identified Booth as Lincoln's attacker, and the detectives had information (a tip from an unnamed actor and a bartender) linking John Jr. to Booth. Mary lied to the detectives that her son had been in Canada for two weeks. She also did not reveal that she had delivered a package to the tavern on Booth's behalf only hours earlier. On April 17, a Surratt neighbor told U.S. military authorities that he overheard one of the Surratt's servants saying that three men had come to the house on the night of Lincoln's assassination and that one of the men had mentioned Booth in a theater. (The servant was mistaken about the date, as John Surratt Jr. had indeed been in Elmira, New York, on a mission for a Confederate general). Other pieces of information also mentioned the boarding house as a key meeting place of the possible conspirators. Either Colonel Henry H. Wells, Provost Marshal (head of the military police) of the District of Columbia, or General Christopher C. Augur told Colonel Henry Steel Olcott to arrest everyone in the house. Federal soldiers visited the Surratt boarding house again late on the evening of April 17. John Jr. could not be found, but after a search of the house, the agents found in Mary's room a picture of Booth, hidden behind another photograph, pictures of Confederate leaders including Jefferson Davis, a pistol, a mold for making bullets, and percussion caps. As Mary was being arrested for conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln, Powell appeared at her door in disguise. Although Surratt denied knowing him, Powell claimed that he was a laborer hired by Surratt to dig a ditch the next morning. The discrepancy and Powell's remarkably well-dressed and -groomed appearance, quite unlike a ditch-digger, prompted his arrest. He was later identified as the man who had attempted to assassinate Secretary of State William Seward. After her arrest, she was held at an annex to the Old Capitol Prison before being transferred to the Washington Arsenal on April 30. Two armed guards stood before the door to her cell from the beginning of her imprisonment until her death. Her cell, while airy and larger than the others, was sparsely furnished, with a straw mattress, table, wash basin, chair, and a bucket. Food was served four times a day, always of bread; salt pork, beef, or beef soup; and coffee or water. The other arrested conspirators had their heads enclosed in a padded canvas bag to prevent a suicide attempt. Sources disagree as to whether Surratt was also forced to wear it. Although the others wore iron manacles on their feet and ankles, she was not manacled. (Rumors to the contrary were raised by reporters at the trial who could not see her or "heard" the clank of chains about her feet. The rumors were repeatedly investigated and denied.) She began to suffer menstrual bleeding and became weak during her detention. She was given a rocking chair and allowed visits from her daughter, Anna. She and Powell received the most attention from the press. The Northern press was also highly critical of her, claiming that she had a "criminal face" due to her small mouth and dark eyes. John Surratt Jr. was in Elmira at the time of the assassination, delivering messages on behalf of a Confederate general. After learning of Lincoln's death, he fled to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. ## Trial The trial for the alleged conspirators began on May 9. A military tribunal, rather than a civilian court, was chosen as the venue because government officials thought that its more lenient rules of evidence would enable the court to get to the bottom of what was then perceived by the public as a vast conspiracy. All eight alleged conspirators were tried simultaneously. Historians have conflicting views regarding Surratt's innocence. Historian Laurie Verge commented, "Only in the case of Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd is there as much controversy as to the guilt or innocence of one of the defendants." Lincoln assassination scholar Thomas Reed Turner says that of the eight people accused of plotting to kill Lincoln, the case against Surratt remains "the most controversial... at that time and since." A room on the northeast corner of the third floor of the Arsenal was made into a courtroom, and the prisoners were brought into the room through a side door, which prevented them from passing by or being harassed by spectators. Surratt was given special considerations during the trial because of her illness and sex. In the courtroom, she sat apart from the other prisoners. Sources differ as to whether an armed guard sat on either side of her, as was done for other prisoners during the trial. While the others wore wrist and ankle manacles in the courtroom, she did not. She was also permitted a bonnet, fan, and veil to hide her face from spectators. As her illness worsened during the trial, she was moved to a larger and more comfortable prison cell. Surratt was charged with abetting, aiding, concealing, counseling, and harboring her co-defendants. The federal government initially attempted to find legal counsel for her and the others, but almost no attorneys were willing to take the job for fear they would be accused of disloyalty to the Union. Surratt retained Reverdy Johnson as her legal counsel. A member of the military commission trying the conspirators challenged Johnson's right to defend Surratt, as he had objected to requiring loyalty oaths from voters in the 1864 presidential election. After much discussion, this objection was withdrawn, but damage had been done to his influence, and he did not attend most of the court sessions. Most of Surratt's legal defense was presented by two other lawyers: Frederick Aiken and John Wesley Clampitt. The prosecution's strategy was to tie Surratt to the conspiracy. Powell's arrival at her boarding house, three days after the president's murder, was critical evidence against her, the government argued. The prosecution presented nine witnesses, but most of their case rested on the testimony of just two men: John M. Lloyd and Louis J. Weichmann. Lloyd testified on May 13 and 15, 1865 on the hiding of the carbines and other supplies at the tavern in March and the two conversations he had with her in which she told him to get the "shooting irons" ready. Weichmann's testimony was important, as it established an intimate relationship between her and the other conspirators. Weichmann testified May 16 to 19 and said that he had resided at the boarding house since November 1864. He had seen or overheard John Jr. meeting and talking with Atzerodt, Booth, and Powell many times over the past four and a half months. Weichmann had driven Surratt to the tavern on April 11 and 14, confirmed that she and Lloyd had spent much time in private conversation, testified that he saw Booth give her the package of binoculars, and attested that she had turned the package over to Lloyd. Weichmann also testified at length about the Surratt family's ties to the Confederate spy and courier rings operating in the area and their relationships with Atzerodt and Powell. He also testified about the December 23 meeting with Booth and John (which he also attended) and their subsequent meeting with Booth at Booth's room at the National Hotel. Finally, he told the military tribunal about the general excitement in the boarding house in March 1865 after the failed attempt to kidnap Lincoln. Other prosecution witnesses reinforced Weichmann's testimony. Lodger Honora Fitzpatrick confirmed visits by Atzerodt, Booth, and Powell to the boarding house. Emma Offut, Lloyd's sister-in-law, testified that she saw (but did not hear) Surratt speaking for long periods of time with Lloyd on April 11 and 14. Government agents testified about their arrest of Surratt, Powell's arrival, and her denial that she knew Powell. The fact that Powell sought refuge in the boarding house after Lincoln's murder left a bad impression of her. Surratt's refusal (or failure) to recognize him also weighed against her. The agents also testified about their search of the house, and the evidence (the photographs, the weapons, etc.) discovered there. Lloyd's testimony was the most important for the prosecution's case, for it indicated that she had played an active role in the conspiracy in the days before Lincoln's death. The prosecution rested its case on May 22. The defense strategy was to impeach the testimony of the key prosecution witnesses: Lloyd and Weichmann. It also wished to show that she was loyal to the Union, her trips to Surrattsville were of an innocent nature, and she had not been aware of Booth's plans. There were 31 witnesses who testified for the defense. George H. Calvert testified that he had pressed Surratt to pay a debt, Bennett Gwynn said Surratt had sought payment from John Nothey to satisfy the Calvert debt, and Nothey agreed that he had received a letter from Surratt for him to appear at the tavern on April 11 to pay what was owed. Several witnesses impugned Lloyd's character by testifying about his alcoholism, while others said he was too intoxicated on the day of Lincoln's assassination to remember that day clearly. Augustus Howell, a Confederate agent, testified Weichmann was an untrustworthy witness, as he had sought to become a Confederate spy himself. (The prosecution had attempted to show that Howell was a Confederate spy and should not be trusted.) Anna Surratt testified that it was Weichmann who had brought Atzerodt into the boarding house, that the photograph of Booth was hers, and that she owned photographs of Union political and military leaders. Anna denied ever overhearing any discussions of disloyal activities or ideas in the boarding house, and that Booth's visits to the house were always short. Anna explained her mother's failure to recognize Powell by asserting she could not see well. Augusta Howell, a former servant, and Honora Fitzpatrick, a former slave, testified to Mary's poor eyesight as well. The former servant and the former slave both said Surratt had given Union soldiers food. Numerous witnesses were called at the end of the defense's case to testify to her loyalty to the Union, her deep Christian faith, and her kindness. During the prosecution's rebuttal, government lawyers called four witnesses to the stand, who testified as to Weichmann's unimpeachable character. Johnson and Aiken presented the closing arguments for the defense. Johnson attacked the jurisdiction of a military tribunal over civilians, as had Mudd's attorney. Aiken also challenged the court's jurisdiction. He also reiterated that Lloyd and Weichmann were unreliable witnesses and that the evidence against her was all circumstantial. The only evidence linking Surratt to the conspiracy to kill Lincoln, he said, came from Lloyd and Weichmann, and neither man was telling the truth. (Dorothy Kunhardt has written that there is evidence the latter's perjured testimony was suborned by Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton.) Judge Advocate John Bingham presented the closing argument for the prosecution. The military tribunal had jurisdiction, he said, not only because the court itself had ruled at the beginning of the trials that it did but because they were crimes committed in a military zone, during a time of war, and against high government officials in carrying out treasonous activities. Bingham pointed out that the Surratt boarding house was where the conspiracy was planned, and Atzerodt, Booth, and Powell had all met with Surratt. Booth had paid for the rental of the carriage that took Surratt to Surrattsville each time, and Bingham said that was evidence that Surratt's trips were critical to the conspiracy. Bingham also said that Lloyd's testimony had been corroborated by others and that his unwillingness to reveal the cache of weapons in the tavern was prompted by his subservient tenant relationship to Surratt. Bingham concluded by reiterating the government's key point: Powell had returned to the Surratt house seeking Surratt, and that alone was proof of her guilt. Bingham also pointed out for the tribunal that the charge a person was indicted for was irrelevant. Under the law of conspiracy, if one person carries out a crime, all conspirators are guilty of the same crime. The trial ended on June 28, 1865. Surratt was so ill the last four days of the trial that she was permitted to stay in her cell. In the opinion of historian Roy Z. Chamlee, both legal teams appeared to have flaws in their cases, and except for Reverdy Johnson, neither team employed highly skilled attorneys. The government's case was hindered by its failure to call as a witness the man who shared Lloyd's carriage when he talked with Surratt and could have verified Lloyd's version of the "shooting irons" story or Metropolitan Police Chief A.C. Richards whose investigation had had the most success in the early days of the investigation. The government did not fully investigate Booth's meetings with Surratt at noon or the evening of the murder, and its questioning and cross-examination of witnesses was poorly prepared and weak. What is most important, according to historian Roy Z. Chamber Jr., is that the government had botched the attempt to apprehend John Jr. The defense's case, too, had a problem. The defense never followed up on inconsistencies in Weichmann's chronology of Mary's last visit to the tavern, which could have undermined Weichmann's entire credibility. The military tribunal considered guilt and sentencing on June 29 and 30. Surratt's guilt was the second-last to be considered, as her case had problems of evidence and witness reliability. The sentence was handed down on June 30. The military tribunal found her guilty on all charges but two. A death sentence required six of the nine votes of the judges. Surratt was sentenced to death, the first woman executed by the federal government. The sentence was announced publicly on July 5. When Powell learned of his sentence, he declared that she was completely innocent of all charges. The night before the execution, Surratt's priests and Anna Surratt both visited Powell and elicited from him a strong statement declaring Mary innocent. Although it was delivered to Captain Christian Rath, who was overseeing the execution, Powell's statement had no effect on anyone with authority to prevent Surratt's death. George Atzerodt bitterly condemned her, implicating her even further in the conspiracy. Powell's was the only statement by any conspirator exonerating Surratt. Anna Surratt pleaded repeatedly for her mother's life with Judge Advocate General Joseph Holt, but he refused to consider clemency. She also attempted to see President Andrew Johnson several times to beg for mercy but was not granted permission to see him. Five of the nine judges signed a letter asking President Johnson to give Surratt clemency and commute her sentence to life in prison because of her age and sex. Holt did not deliver the recommendation to Johnson until July 5, two days before Surratt and the others were to hang. Johnson signed the order for execution but did not sign the order for clemency. Johnson later said he never saw the clemency request; Holt said he showed it to Johnson, who refused to sign it. Johnson, according to Holt, said in signing the death warrant that she had "kept the nest that hatched the egg." ## Execution Construction of the gallows for the hanging of the conspirators condemned to death began immediately on July 5, after the execution order was signed. It was constructed in the south part of the Arsenal courtyard, was 12 feet (3.7 m) high and about 20 square feet (1.9 m²) in size. Rath, who oversaw the preparations for the executions, made the nooses. Tired of making nooses and thinking that the government would never hang a woman, he made Surratt's noose the night before the execution with five loops rather than the regulation's seven. He tested the nooses that night by tying them to a tree limb and a bag of buckshot and then tossing the bag to the ground (the ropes held). Civilian workers did not want to dig the graves out of superstitious fear, so Rath asked for volunteers among the soldiers at the Arsenal and received more help than he needed. At noon on July 6, Surratt was informed she would be hanged the next day. She wept profusely. She was joined by two Catholic priests (Jacob Walter and B.F. Wiget) and her daughter Anna. Father Jacob remained with her almost until her death. Her menstrual problems had worsened, and she was in such pain and suffered from such severe cramps that the prison doctor gave her wine and medication. She repeatedly asserted her innocence. She spent the night on her mattress, weeping and moaning in pain and grief, ministered to by the priests. Anna left her mother's side at 8 A.M. on July 7 and went to the White House to beg for her mother's life one last time. Her entreaty rejected, she returned to the prison and her mother's cell at about 11 A.M. The soldiers began testing the gallows about 11:25 A.M.; the sound of the tests unnerved all the prisoners. Shortly before noon, Mary Surratt was taken from her cell and then allowed to sit in a chair near the entrance to the courtyard. The heat in the city that day was oppressive. By noon, it had already reached 92.3 °F (33.5 °C). The guards ordered all visitors to leave at 12:30 P.M. When she was forced to part from her mother, Anna's hysterical screams of grief could be heard throughout the prison. Clampitt and Aiken had not finished trying to save their client, however. On the morning of July 7, they asked a District of Columbia court for a writ of habeas corpus, arguing that the military tribunal had no jurisdiction over their client. The court issued the writ at 3 A.M., and it was served on General Winfield Scott Hancock. Hancock was ordered to produce Surratt by 10 A.M. General Hancock sent an aide to General John F. Hartranft, who commanded the Old Capitol Prison, ordering him not to admit any US marshal, as that would prevent the marshal from serving a similar writ on Hartranft. Johnson was informed that the court had issued the writ and promptly cancelled it at 11:30 A.M. under the authority granted to him by the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act of 1863. General Hancock and United States Attorney General James Speed personally appeared in court and informed the judge of the cancellation of the writ. On July 7, 1865, at 1:15 P.M., a procession led by General Hartranft escorted the four condemned prisoners through the courtyard and up the steps to the gallows. Each prisoner's ankles and wrists were bound by manacles. Surratt led the way, wearing a black bombazine dress, black bonnet, and black veil. More than 1,000 people, including government officials, members of the US armed forces, friends and family of the accused, official witnesses, and reporters, watched. General Hancock limited attendance to those who had a ticket, and only those who had a good reason to be present were given a ticket. (Most of those present were military officers and soldiers, as fewer than 200 tickets had been printed.) Alexander Gardner, who had photographed the body of Booth and taken portraits of several of the male conspirators while they were imprisoned aboard naval ships, photographed the execution for the government. Hartranft read the order for their execution. Surratt, either weak from her illness or swooning in fear (perhaps both), had to be supported by two soldiers and her priests. The condemned were seated in chairs, Surratt almost collapsing into hers. She was seated to the right of the others, the traditional "seat of honor" in an execution. White cloth was used to bind their arms to their sides and their ankles and thighs together. The cloths around Surratt's legs were tied around her dress below the knees. Each person was ministered to by a member of the clergy. From the scaffold, Powell said, "Mrs. Surratt is innocent. She doesn't deserve to die with the rest of us." Fathers Jacob and Wiget prayed over her and held a crucifix to her lips. About 16 minutes elapsed from the time the prisoners entered the courtyard until they were ready for execution. A white bag was placed over the head of each prisoner after the noose was put in place. Surratt's bonnet was removed, and the noose put around her neck by a U.S. Secret Service officer. She complained that the bindings about her arms hurt, and the officer preparing said, "Well, it won't hurt long." Finally, the prisoners were asked to stand and move forward a few feet to the nooses. The chairs were removed. Her last words, spoken to a guard as he moved her forward to the drop, were "Please don't let me fall." Surratt and the others stood on the drop for about 10 seconds, and then Captain Rath clapped his hands. Four soldiers of Company F of the 14th Veteran Reserves knocked out the supports holding the drops in place, and the condemned fell. Surratt, who had moved forward enough to barely step onto the drop, lurched forward and slid partway down the drop, her body snapping tight at the end of the rope, swinging back and forth. She appeared to die relatively quickly with little struggle. Atzerodt's stomach heaved once and his legs quivered; then, he was still. Herold and Powell struggled for nearly five minutes, strangling to death. ## Burial Each body was inspected by a physician to ensure that death had occurred. The bodies of the executed were allowed to hang for about 30 minutes and soldiers began to cut them down at 1:53 p.m. A corporal raced to the top of the gallows and cut down Atzerodt's body, which fell to the ground with a thud. He was reprimanded, and the other bodies were cut down more gently. Herold's body was next, followed by Powell's. Surratt's body was cut down at 1:58 p.m. As Surratt's body was cut loose, her head fell forward. A soldier joked, "She makes a good bow" and was rebuked by an officer for his poor use of humor. Upon examination, the military surgeons determined that no one's neck had been broken by the fall. The manacles and cloth bindings were removed but not the white execution masks, and the bodies were placed into the pine coffins. The name of each person was written on a piece of paper by acting Assistant Adjutant R. A. Watts, and inserted in a glass vial, which was placed into the coffin. The coffins were buried against the prison wall in shallow graves, just a few feet from the gallows. A white picket fence marked the burial site. The night that she died, a mob attacked the Surratt boarding house and began stripping it of souvenirs until the police stopped them. Anna Surratt unsuccessfully asked for her mother's body for four years. In 1867, the War Department decided to tear down the portion of the Washington Arsenal where the bodies of Surratt and the other executed conspirators lay. On October 1, 1867, the coffins were disinterred and reburied in Warehouse No. 1 at the Arsenal, with a wooden marker placed at the head of each burial vault. Booth's body lay alongside them. In February 1869, Edwin Booth asked Johnson for the body of his brother. Johnson agreed to turn the body over to the Booth family, and on February 8 Surratt's body was turned over to the Surratt family. She was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Washington, D.C., on February 9, 1869. Lloyd is buried 100 yards (91 m) from her grave in the same cemetery. ## Surviving family and home Anna Surratt moved from the townhouse on H Street and lived with friends for a few years, ostracized from society. She married William Tonry, a government clerk. They lived in poverty for a while after he was dismissed from his job, but in time, he became a professor of chemistry in Baltimore and the couple became better off. The strain of her mother's death left Anna mentally unbalanced, and she suffered from periods of extreme fear that bordered on insanity. She died in 1904. After the dismissal of charges against him, John Jr. married and he and his family lived in Baltimore near his sister, Anna. Isaac Surratt also returned to the United States and lived in Baltimore. He died unmarried in 1907. Isaac and Anna were buried on either side of their mother in Mount Olivet Cemetery. John Jr. was buried in Baltimore in 1916. In 1968, a new headstone with a brass plaque replaced the old, defaced headstone over Mary Surratt's grave. Mary Surratt's boarding house still stands and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. Those interested in Mary Surratt formed the Surratt Society. The Surrattsville tavern and house are historical sites run today by the Surratt Society as a historic house museum. The Washington Arsenal is now Fort Lesley J. McNair. ## Portrayals Surratt was portrayed by actress Virginia Gregg in the 1956 episode "The Mary Surratt Case," telecast as part of the NBC anthology series The Joseph Cotten Show. She was portrayed by Robin Wright in the 2011 film The Conspirator, which was directed by Robert Redford.

Proton (satellite program)

Series of Soviet satellites

Proton (Russian: протон) ('proton') was a Soviet series of four cosmic ray and elementary particle detecting satellites. Orbited 1965–68, three on test flights of the UR-500 ICBM and one on a Proton-K rocket, all four satellites completed their missions successfully, the last reentering the Earth's atmosphere in 1969. ## Background The Proton satellites were heavy automated laboratories launched 1965–68 to study high energy particles and cosmic rays. These satellites were built to utilize the test launches of the UR-500, a heavy two-stage ICBM designed by Vladimir Chelomey's OKB-52 to carry a 100-megaton nuclear payload. Each Proton was housed in a purpose-built third stage added to the UR-500 stack. ## Spacecraft design Protons 1–3 were largely identical craft massing 12,200 kg (26,900 lb), with scientific packages developed under the supervision of Academician Sergey Nikolayevich Vernov of Moscow State University's Scientific-Research Institute of Nuclear Physics. Experiments included a gamma-ray telescope, a scintillator telescope, and proportional counters. The counters were able to determine the total energy of each super-high energy cosmic particle individually, a capability no prior satellite had possessed. Though the equipment had been developed eight years earlier (by Professor N. L. Grigorov), the UR-500 was the first booster powerful enough to orbit a satellite carrying the sensitive particle counter. The counters could measure cosmic rays with energy levels up to 100 million eV. Proton 3 also was equipped with a gas-Cerenkov-scintillator telescope to attempt to detect the newly postulated fundamental particle, the quark. The entire experiment package massed 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) and was composed of metal, plastic, and paraffin blocks. Telemetry was relayed via a 19.910 MHz beacon. Four solar panels powered the crafts, which were cooled by heat exchangers. The Protons were spin-stabilized, their attitude controlled by jet and an on-board dampener. Satellite systems were controlled by an internal computer. Proton 4 was considerably more massive at 17,000 kg (37,000 lb). Its primary instrument was an ionization calorimeter composed of steel bars and plastic scintillators. A measuring device comprising one lump of carbon and another of polyethylene provided data on cosmic rays and the energy spectrum in orbit, the possible collisions of cosmic ray particles with atmospheric nuclei of hydrogen, carbon, and iron, and continued the search for the quark. ## Missions ### Proton 1 Proton 1 was launched into Earth orbit 16 July 1965 11:16 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/23, though the launch was threatened by a leak in the oxidizer pipeline resulting in nitrogen tetroxide spilling on electrical wires. Early in the flight, launch specialists only received signals indicating that the satellite was functioning. Eventually, however, Proton 1 performed normally, returning physics data on ultra-high-energy cosmic particles. Its mission lasted 45 days, and the satellite reentered Earth's atmosphere 11 October 1965. ### Proton 2 The virtually identical Proton 2 was launched 2 November 1965 12:28 UTC, also from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/23. It reentered Earth's atmosphere on 6 February 1966. At the time of their launch, American experts believed the first Protons were experimental space station components due to their weight and the Soviet use of the word "station" in describing the observatory satellites. ### Proton 3 After an unsuccessful launch of the third test UR-500 on 24 March 1966 14:39 UTC, Proton 3 was successfully launched into Earth orbit from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/23 on 6 July 1966 12:57 UTC on the fourth and final UR-500 test flight and began searching for quarks and other elementary particles of fractional electron charge. The satellite returned data for most, if not all, of its short time in orbit, reentering Earth's atmosphere on 16 September 1966. Shortly before reentry, Proton 3 was observed tumbling once per second over the Indian Ocean by the crew of Gemini 11. ### Proton 4 After the end of the run of UR-500 test launches, the rocket (now designated Proton) and its successors were largely employed in the launch of the Zond lunar spacecraft. However, on 16 November 1968 11:40 UTC, the final and much larger Proton 4 was launched into orbit via Proton-K rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 81/24 to continue the search for the quark and supplement the earlier Proton satellites' cosmic ray measurements. This final Proton reentered Earth's atmosphere on 24 July 1969. ## Legacy The Proton satellites were heralded by Soviet media as the start of a new stage in Soviet space exploration. The success of Proton afforded Chelomey a status in the Soviet rocket industry equal to that of Sergei Korolev of OKB-1 (developer of Sputnik, Vostok, and Voskhod) and Mikhail Yangel of OKB-456 (an important designer of military missiles). The UR-500, originally named "Gerkules" (Russian: Геркулес) ('Hercules'), was renamed "Proton" when news reports conflated the launcher and its payload. Though the Proton was never used in the ICBM role it had been built for, the rocket became an extraordinarily successful booster for commercial satellites, serving well into the 1990s. ## See also - Soviet space program

Planet Ladder

Japanese manga series by Yuri Narushima

Planet Ladder (Japanese: プラネット·ラダー, Hepburn: Puranetto Radā) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yuri Narushima. Appearing as a serial in the shōjo (targeted towards girls) manga magazine Crimson from the March 1998 issue to the May 2003 issue, the chapters of Planet Ladder were published by Sobisha/Shueisha in seven tankōbon volumes from December 1998 to May 2004. Based on the Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter in which a girl is discovered to be the princess of the moon, the story focuses on a teenager named Kaguya, who is prophesied to save only one of the nine parallel worlds, and her quest to bring peace to a warring universe while finding her true identity. Planet Ladder was licensed for an English-language translation in North America by Tokyopop, and released from April 2002 to March 2005 after being serialized in Tokyopop's manga anthology Smile. Planet Ladder was part of Tokyopop's line-up of manga in its original right-to-left format; previously, the majority of manga licensed in the United States was "flopped" to read left-to-right for a Western audience. Planet Ladder was positively received by English-language readers, with two volumes placing in ICv2's list of best-selling graphic novels. The series received generally positive reviews from English-language critics. On April 2, 2007, it went out of print in North America. ## Plot The series focuses on Kaguya Haruyama, a teenager who has lived with a Japanese foster family since she was found as an abandoned, amnesiac four-year-old. One night, two men—Idou, a monk, and Seeu, an emotionless prince—appear in her home and fight over her. Gold, Seeu's robot modeled after Kaguya's deceased brother Kagami, brings her to a world parallel to Earth on Seeu's orders. After exploring the world with Gold, she encounters Shiina Mol Bamvivrie who believes Kaguya is the "Girl of Ananai", destined to save only one of the nine parallel worlds from collision. Shiina explains that nine worlds exist: Ancient, the first civilized world that was mysteriously destroyed; Asu, Seeu's disintegrated world; Eden, present-day Earth; Telene, a small world allied with Geo; Fifth World, a politically neutral world; Geus, a peaceful world under the control of Geo; Geo, the most powerful of the worlds; Asuraitsu, Geo's rival; and the Ninth World, destroyed before the start of the series. Shiina and Waseda, a Tokyo University student trapped in the body of a giant rooster, join her and Gold in traveling across Telene. After learning that Seeu watched his people die from an incurable virus spread around Asu, Kaguya decides to change the fate of the worlds by confronting Kura, Geo's indulgent emperor who ordered her kidnapping. Instead, while en route to Geo, Gold brings her to Seeu's floating castle in Asu and Kura captures and recruits Shiina into his army. Kaguya later makes an interplanetary broadcast, announcing her refusal to save only one world. Instead, she plans to find a person to help her save most of the worlds and people. Kura begins to destroy other worlds to increase Geo's survival chances. Deciding to use Kaguya as a political figurehead, Kura sends Shiina to abduct her; once there, Kaguya refuses to help him. Angered, Kura divulges that the "Girl of Ananai" legend is a myth elaborated on and spread around by him and Kagami. After a brief battle with Shiina, Seeu arrives to rescue Kaguya and she realizes her love for him. Transforming into a dragon, Gold teleports everyone to Ancient; there Idou, Seeu, Kura, and Shiina are persuaded to combine their magical weapons with Gold to fix the rift in the universe, the cause of the eventual collision between the worlds. The series ends with an epilogue seven years later; Kaguya explains the fate of everyone and meets Seeu and their young son with a picnic basket. ## Production According to manga artist Yuri Narushima, she began the manga with "a dramatic feeling in mind" and wanted to "start off with a comic book for young girls (shōjo manga)." Narushima planned to have the plot progress quickly so the reader remembers the events and can "'digest' the foreshadowed events". Planet Ladder was based on the Japanese folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which focuses on a girl named Kaguya-Hime who is discovered to be the princess of the moon. Additionally, the protagonist takes her name from the folktale. After discovering that a North American version of Planet Ladder was being simultaneously released, Narushima designed the cover of volume 6 to be "export friendly", describing it as "like Japanese style, but slightly off". Additionally, she considered serializing Planet Ladder in another magazine, but decided against it since the series was close to ending. ## Release Written and illustrated by Yuri Narushima, Planet Ladder appeared as a serial in the Japanese manga magazine Crimson from the March 1998 issue to the May 2003 issue. Sobisha/Shueisha later published the chapters in seven tankōbon volumes from December 1998 to May 2004. Shueisha re-released Planet Ladder in four bunkoban volumes from July 18, to August 8, 2008. Tokyopop licensed Planet Ladder for an English-language release in North America and serialized it in its manga magazine Smile. The first volume was released on April 23, 2002; the final volume was published on March 8, 2005. Planet Ladder belonged to Tokyopop's line-up of manga in its original right-to-left format; previously, the majority of manga licensed in the United States was "flopped" to read left-to-right for a Western audience. As a result, it was displayed in a case with the eight other "unflopped" manga—Chobits, Dragon Knights, Marmalade Boy, GTO, Real Bout High School, The Skull Man, Mars and Cowboy Bebop—and heavily advertised in anime magazines and on fan sites. Planet Ladder went out of print on April 2, 2007 in North America. Only the last two volumes were given titles in the English-language release: The Fate of the Dark Planet for volume six and Ananai of the Puzzled Star for the seventh volume. ### Volume list ## Reception Planet Ladder was positively received by English-language readers. The fifth volume placed in the 44th spot on the list of the 50 best-selling graphic novels of February 2003, with an estimated 1,176 copies sold. The sixth volume reached the 71st place on the list of the 100 best-selling graphic novels of February 2004, with an estimated 984 copies sold. Critical reaction to Planet Ladder was generally positive. In Manga: The Complete Guide, Jason Thompson wrote that the manga reminded him of "prose science fiction", citing A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962) and Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny (1970) as examples. His criticism of the series centered on Narushima's "inconsistent designs, crude faces, and too much greasy looking screentone". While stating that Planet Ladder is a "difficult title to warm to, since it feels like we're in the middle of the story, rather than the beginning", Mike Dungan of Mania Entertainment considered the effort "worthy", and wrote that it made Kaguya more sympathetic at the cost of the other characters. Dungan enjoyed the "pleasant though not especially unique" art, the "attractively designed and well-drawn" characters, the occasional humor, and the overall adaptation, especially the "natural sounding dialogue". However, he criticized Tokyopop's inconsistent handling of the sound effects. Sequential Tart's Sheena McNeil praised the plot as original and noted elements from fairytales and fantasy in the series. In follow-up reviews, she praised the manga as "turning out to be one of the best fantasy manga out there; it stands apart from the rest with its uniqueness" but expressed her surprise that Sheena's name changed to Shiina halfway through the series with no explanation.

Anti-predator adaptation

Defensive feature of prey for selective advantage

Anti-predator adaptations are mechanisms developed through evolution that assist prey organisms in their constant struggle against predators. Throughout the animal kingdom, adaptations have evolved for every stage of this struggle, namely by avoiding detection, warding off attack, fighting back, or escaping when caught. The first line of defence consists in avoiding detection, through mechanisms such as camouflage, masquerade, apostatic selection, living underground, or nocturnality. Alternatively, prey animals may ward off attack, whether by advertising the presence of strong defences in aposematism, by mimicking animals which do possess such defences, by startling the attacker, by signalling to the predator that pursuit is not worthwhile, by distraction, by using defensive structures such as spines, and by living in a group. Members of groups are at reduced risk of predation, despite the increased conspicuousness of a group, through improved vigilance, predator confusion, and the likelihood that the predator will attack some other individual. Some prey species are capable of fighting back against predators, whether with chemicals, through communal defence, or by ejecting noxious materials. Many animals can escape by fleeing rapidly, outrunning or outmanoeuvring their attacker. Finally, some species are able to escape even when caught by sacrificing certain body parts: crabs can shed a claw, while lizards can shed their tails, often distracting predators long enough to permit the prey to escape. ## Avoiding detection ### Staying out of sight Animals may avoid becoming prey by living out of sight of predators, whether in caves, burrows, or by being nocturnal. Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day. This is a behavioral form of detection avoidance called crypsis used by animals to either avoid predation or to enhance prey hunting. Predation risk has long been recognized as critical in shaping behavioral decisions. For example, this predation risk is of prime importance in determining the time of evening emergence in echolocating bats. Although early access during brighter times permits easier foraging, it also leads to a higher predation risk from bat hawks and bat falcons. This results in an optimum evening emergence time that is a compromise between the conflicting demands. Another nocturnal adaptation can be seen in kangaroo rats. They forage in relatively open habitats, and reduce their activity outside their nest burrows in response to moonlight. During a full moon, they shift their activity towards areas of relatively dense cover to compensate for the extra brightness. ### Camouflage Camouflage uses any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment to make the organism hard to detect by sight. It is common in both terrestrial and marine animals. Camouflage can be achieved in many different ways, such as through resemblance to surroundings, disruptive coloration, shadow elimination by countershading or counter-illumination, self-decoration, cryptic behavior, or changeable skin patterns and colour. Animals such as the flat-tail horned lizard of North America have evolved to eliminate their shadow and blend in with the ground. The bodies of these lizards are flattened, and their sides thin towards the edge. This body form, along with the white scales fringed along their sides, allows the lizards to effectively hide their shadows. In addition, these lizards hide any remaining shadows by pressing their bodies to the ground. ### Masquerade Animals can hide in plain sight by masquerading as inedible objects. For example, the potoo, a South American bird, habitually perches on a tree, convincingly resembling a broken stump of a branch, while a butterfly, Kallima, looks just like a dead leaf. ### Apostatic selection Another way to remain unattacked in plain sight is to look different from other members of the same species. Predators such as tits selectively hunt for abundant types of insect, ignoring less common types that were present, forming search images of the desired prey. This creates a mechanism for negative frequency-dependent selection, apostatic selection. ## Warding off attack Many species make use of behavioral strategies to deter predators. ### Startling the predator Many weakly-defended animals, including moths, butterflies, mantises, phasmids, and cephalopods such as octopuses, make use of patterns of threatening or startling behaviour, such as suddenly displaying conspicuous eyespots, so as to scare off or momentarily distract a predator, thus giving the prey animal an opportunity to escape. In the absence of toxins or other defences, this is essentially bluffing, in contrast to aposematism which involves honest signals. ### Pursuit-deterrent signals Pursuit-deterrent signals are behavioral signals used by prey to convince predators not to pursue them. For example, gazelles stot, jumping high with stiff legs and an arched back. This is thought to signal to predators that they have a high level of fitness and can outrun the predator. As a result, predators may choose to pursue a different prey that is less likely to outrun them. White-tailed deer and other prey mammals flag with conspicuous (often black and white) tail markings when alarmed, informing the predator that it has been detected. Warning calls given by birds such as the Eurasian jay are similarly honest signals, benefiting both predator and prey: the predator is informed that it has been detected and might as well save time and energy by giving up the chase, while the prey is protected from attack. ### Playing dead Another pursuit-deterrent signal is thanatosis or playing dead. Thanatosis is a form of bluff in which an animal mimics its own dead body, feigning death to avoid being attacked by predators seeking live prey. Thanatosis can also be used by the predator in order to lure prey into approaching. An example of this is seen in white-tailed deer fawns, which experience a drop in heart rate in response to approaching predators. This response, referred to as "alarm bradycardia", causes the fawn's heart rate to drop from 155 to 38 beats per minute within one beat of the heart. This drop in heart rate can last up to two minutes, causing the fawn to experience a depressed breathing rate and decrease in movement, called tonic immobility. Tonic immobility is a reflex response that causes the fawn to enter a low body position that simulates the position of a corpse. Upon discovery of the fawn, the predator loses interest in the "dead" prey. Other symptoms of alarm bradycardia, such as salivation, urination, and defecation, can also cause the predator to lose interest. ### Distraction Marine molluscs such as sea hares, cuttlefish, squid and octopuses give themselves a last chance to escape by distracting their attackers. To do this, they eject a mixture of chemicals, which may mimic food or otherwise confuse predators. In response to a predator, animals in these groups release ink, creating a cloud, and opaline, affecting the predator's feeding senses, causing it to attack the cloud. Distraction displays attract the attention of predators away from an object, typically the nest or young, that is being protected, as when some birds feign a broken wing while hopping about on the ground. ### Mimicry and aposematism Mimicry occurs when an organism (the mimic) simulates signal properties of another organism (the model) to confuse a third organism. This results in the mimic gaining protection, food, and mating advantages. There are two classical types of defensive mimicry: Batesian and Müllerian. Both involve aposematic coloration, or warning signals, to avoid being attacked by a predator. In Batesian mimicry, a palatable, harmless prey species mimics the appearance of another species that is noxious to predators, thus reducing the mimic's risk of attack. This form of mimicry is seen in many insects. The idea behind Batesian mimicry is that predators that have tried to eat the unpalatable species learn to associate its colors and markings with an unpleasant taste. This results in the predator learning to avoid species displaying similar colours and markings, including Batesian mimics, which are in effect parasitic on the chemical or other defences of the unprofitable models. Some species of octopus can mimic a selection of other animals by changing their skin color, skin pattern and body motion. When a damselfish attacks an octopus, the octopus mimics a banded sea-snake. The model chosen varies with the octopus's predator and habitat. Most of these octopuses use Batesian mimicry, selecting an organism repulsive to predators as a model. In Müllerian mimicry, two or more aposematic forms share the same warning signals, as in viceroy and monarch butterflies. Birds avoid eating both species because their wing patterns honestly signal their unpleasant taste. ### Defensive structures Many animals are protected against predators with armour in the form of hard shells (such as most molluscs and turtles), leathery or scaly skin (as in reptiles), or tough chitinous exoskeletons (as in arthropods). A spine is a sharp, needle-like structure used to inflict pain on predators. An example of this seen in nature is in the sohal surgeonfish. These fish have a sharp scalpel-like spine on the front of each of their tail fins, able to inflict deep wounds. The area around the spines is often brightly colored to advertise the defensive capability; predators often avoid the Sohal surgeonfish. Defensive spines may be detachable, barbed or poisonous. Porcupine spines are long, stiff, break at the tip, and are barbed to stick into a would-be predator. In contrast, the hedgehog's short spines, which are modified hairs, readily bend, and are barbed into the body, so they are not easily lost; they may be jabbed at an attacker. Many species of slug caterpillar, Limacodidae, have numerous protuberances and stinging spines along their dorsal surfaces. Species that possess these stinging spines suffer less predation than larvae that lack them, and a predator, the paper wasp, chooses larvae without spines when given a choice. ## Safety in numbers Group living can decrease the risk of predation to the individual in a variety of ways, as described below. ### Dilution effect A dilution effect is seen when animals living in a group "dilute" their risk of attack, each individual being just one of many in the group. George C. Williams and W.D. Hamilton proposed that group living evolved because it provides benefits to the individual rather than to the group as a whole, which becomes more conspicuous as it becomes larger. One common example is the shoaling of fish. Experiments provide direct evidence for the decrease in individual attack rate seen with group living, for example in Camargue horses in Southern France. The horse-fly often attacks these horses, sucking blood and carrying diseases. When the flies are most numerous, the horses gather in large groups, and individuals are indeed attacked less frequently. Water striders are insects that live on the surface of fresh water, and are attacked from beneath by predatory fish. Experiments varying the group size of the water striders showed that the attack rate per individual water strider decreases as group size increases. ### Selfish herd The selfish herd theory was proposed by W.D. Hamilton to explain why animals seek central positions in a group. The theory's central idea is to reduce the individual's domain of danger. A domain of danger is the area within the group in which the individual is more likely to be attacked by a predator. The center of the group has the lowest domain of danger, so animals are predicted to strive constantly to gain this position. Testing Hamilton's selfish herd effect, Alta De Vos and Justin O'Rainn (2010) studied brown fur seal predation from great white sharks. Using decoy seals, the researchers varied the distance between the decoys to produce different domains of danger. The seals with a greater domain of danger had an increased risk of shark attack. ### Predator satiation A radical strategy for avoiding predators which may otherwise kill a large majority of the emerging stage of a population is to emerge very rarely, at irregular intervals. Predators with a life-cycle of one or a few years are unable to reproduce rapidly enough in response to such an emergence. Predators may feast on the emerging population, but are unable to consume more than a fraction of the brief surfeit of prey. Periodical cicadas, which emerge at intervals of 13 or 17 years, are often used as an example of this predator satiation, though other explanations of their unusual life-cycle have been proposed. ### Alarm calls Animals that live in groups often give alarm calls that give warning of an attack. For example, vervet monkeys give different calls depending on the nature of the attack: for an eagle, a disyllabic cough; for a leopard or other cat, a loud bark; for a python or other snake, a "chutter". The monkeys hearing these calls respond defensively, but differently in each case: to the eagle call, they look up and run into cover; to the leopard call, they run up into the trees; to the snake call, they stand on two legs and look around for snakes, and on seeing the snake, they sometimes mob it. Similar calls are found in other species of monkey, while birds also give different calls that elicit different responses. ### Improved vigilance In the improved vigilance effect, groups are able to detect predators sooner than solitary individuals. For many predators, success depends on surprise. If the prey is alerted early in an attack, they have an improved chance of escape. For example, wood pigeon flocks are preyed upon by goshawks. Goshawks are less successful when attacking larger flocks of wood pigeons than they are when attacking smaller flocks. This is because the larger the flock size, the more likely it is that one bird will notice the hawk sooner and fly away. Once one pigeon flies off in alarm, the rest of the pigeons follow. Wild ostriches in Tsavo National Park in Kenya feed either alone or in groups of up to four birds. They are subject to predation by lions. As the ostrich group size increases, the frequency at which each individual raises its head to look for predators decreases. Because ostriches are able to run at speeds that exceed those of lions for great distances, lions try to attack an ostrich when its head is down. By grouping, the ostriches present the lions with greater difficulty in determining how long the ostriches' heads stay down. Thus, although individual vigilance decreases, the overall vigilance of the group increases. ### Predator confusion Individuals living in large groups may be safer from attack because the predator may be confused by the large group size. As the group moves, the predator has greater difficulty targeting an individual prey animal. The zebra has been suggested by the zoologist Martin Stevens and his colleagues as an example of this. When stationary, a single zebra stands out because of its large size. To reduce the risk of attack, zebras often travel in herds. The striped patterns of all the zebras in the herd may confuse the predator, making it harder for the predator to focus in on an individual zebra. Furthermore, when moving rapidly, the zebra stripes create a confusing, flickering motion dazzle effect in the eye of the predator. ## Fighting back Defensive structures such as spines may be used both to ward off attack as already mentioned, and if need be to fight back against a predator. Methods of fighting back include chemical defences, mobbing, defensive regurgitation, and suicidal altruism. ### Chemical defences Many prey animals, and to defend against seed predation also seeds of plants, make use of poisonous chemicals for self-defence. These may be concentrated in surface structures such as spines or glands, giving an attacker a taste of the chemicals before it actually bites or swallows the prey animal: many toxins are bitter-tasting. A last-ditch defence is for the animal's flesh itself to be toxic, as in the puffer fish, danaid butterflies and burnet moths. Many insects acquire toxins from their food plants; Danaus caterpillars accumulate toxic cardenolides from milkweeds (Asclepiadaceae). Some prey animals are able to eject noxious materials to deter predators actively. The bombardier beetle has specialized glands on the tip of its abdomen that allows it to direct a toxic spray towards predators. The spray is generated explosively through oxidation of hydroquinones and is sprayed at a temperature of 100 °C. Armoured crickets similarly release blood at their joints when threatened (autohaemorrhaging). Several species of grasshopper including Poecilocerus pictus, Parasanaa donovani, Aularches miliaris, and Tegra novaehollandiae secrete noxious liquids when threatened, sometimes ejecting these forcefully. Spitting cobras accurately squirt venom from their fangs at the eyes of potential predators, striking their target eight times out of ten, and causing severe pain. Termite soldiers in the Nasutitermitinae have a fontanellar gun, a gland on the front of their head which can secrete and shoot an accurate jet of resinous terpenes "many centimeters". The material is sticky and toxic to other insects. One of the terpenes in the secretion, pinene, functions as an alarm pheromone. Seeds deter predation with combinations of toxic non-protein amino acids, cyanogenic glycosides, protease and amylase inhibitors, and phytohemagglutinins. A few vertebrate species such as the Texas horned lizard are able to shoot squirts of blood from their eyes, by rapidly increasing the blood pressure within the eye sockets, if threatened. Because an individual may lose up to 53% of blood in a single squirt, this is only used against persistent predators like foxes, wolves and coyotes (Canidae), as a last defence. Canids often drop horned lizards after being squirted, and attempt to wipe or shake the blood out of their mouths, suggesting that the fluid has a foul taste; they choose other lizards if given the choice, suggesting a learned aversion towards horned lizards as prey. The slime glands along the body of the hagfish secrete enormous amounts of mucus when it is provoked or stressed. The gelatinous slime has dramatic effects on the flow and viscosity of water, rapidly clogging the gills of any fish that attempt to capture hagfish; predators typically release the hagfish within seconds. Common predators of hagfish include seabirds, pinnipeds and cetaceans, but few fish, suggesting that predatory fish avoid hagfish as prey. ### Communal defence In communal defence, prey groups actively defend themselves by grouping together, and sometimes by attacking or mobbing a predator, rather than allowing themselves to be passive victims of predation. Mobbing is the harassing of a predator by many prey animals. Mobbing is usually done to protect the young in social colonies. For example, red colobus monkeys exhibit mobbing when threatened by chimpanzees, a common predator. The male red colobus monkeys group together and place themselves between predators and the group's females and juveniles. The males jump together and actively bite the chimpanzees. Fieldfares are birds which may nest either solitarily or in colonies. Within colonies, fieldfares mob and defecate on approaching predators, shown experimentally to reduce predation levels. ### Defensive regurgitation Some birds and insects use defensive regurgitation to ward off predators. The northern fulmar vomits a bright orange, oily substance called stomach oil when threatened. The stomach oil is made from their aquatic diets. It causes the predator's feathers to mat, leading to the loss of flying ability and the loss of water repellency. This is especially dangerous for aquatic birds because their water repellent feathers protect them from hypothermia when diving for food. European roller chicks vomit a bright orange, foul smelling liquid when they sense danger. This repels prospective predators and may alert their parents to danger: they respond by delaying their return. Numerous insects utilize defensive regurgitation. The eastern tent caterpillar regurgitates a droplet of digestive fluid to repel attacking ants. Similarly, larvae of the noctuid moth regurgitate when disturbed by ants. The vomit of noctuid moths has repellent and irritant properties that help to deter predator attacks. ### Suicidal altruism An unusual type of predator deterrence is observed in the Malaysian exploding ant. Social hymenoptera rely on altruism to protect the entire colony, so the self-destructive acts benefit all individuals in the colony. When a worker ant's leg is grasped, it suicidally expels the contents of its hypertrophied submandibular glands, expelling corrosive irritant compounds and adhesives onto the predator. These prevent predation and serve as a signal to other enemy ants to stop predation of the rest of the colony. ## Escaping ### Flight The normal reaction of a prey animal to an attacking predator is to flee by any available means, whether flying, gliding, falling, swimming, running, jumping, burrowing or rolling, according to the animal's capabilities. Escape paths are often erratic, making it difficult for the predator to predict which way the prey will go next: for example, birds such as snipe, ptarmigan and black-headed gulls evade fast raptors such as peregrine falcons with zigzagging or jinking flight. In the tropical rain forests of Southeast Asia in particular, many vertebrates escape predators by falling and gliding. Among the insects, many moths turn sharply, fall, or perform a powered dive in response to the sonar clicks of bats. Among fish, the stickleback follows a zigzagging path, often doubling back erratically, when chased by a fish-eating merganser duck. ### Autotomy Some animals are capable of autotomy (self-amputation), shedding one of their own appendages in a last-ditch attempt to elude a predator's grasp or to distract the predator and thereby allow escape. The lost body part may be regenerated later. Certain sea slugs discard stinging papillae; arthropods such as crabs can sacrifice a claw, which can be regrown over several successive moults; among vertebrates, many geckos and other lizards shed their tails when attacked: the tail goes on writhing for a while, distracting the predator, and giving the lizard time to escape; a smaller tail slowly regrows. ## History of observations Aristotle recorded observations (around 350 BC) of the antipredator behaviour of cephalopods in his History of Animals, including the use of ink as a distraction, camouflage, and signalling. In 1940, Hugh Cott wrote a compendious study of camouflage, mimicry, and aposematism, Adaptive Coloration in Animals. By the 21st century, adaptation to life in cities had markedly reduced the antipredator responses of animals such as rats and pigeons; similar changes are observed in captive and domesticated animals. ## See also

Live Peace in Toronto 1969

Live Peace in Toronto 1969 is a live album by the Plastic Ono Band, released in December 1969 on Apple Records. Recorded at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival, it was the first live album released by any member of the Beatles separately or together. John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono received a phone call from the festival's promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker, and then assembled a band on very short notice for the festival, which was due to start the following day. The band included Eric Clapton, Klaus Voormann, and drummer Alan White. The group flew from London, and had brief unamplified rehearsals on the plane before appearing on the stage to perform several songs; one of which, "Cold Turkey", was first performed live at the festival. After returning home, Lennon mixed the album in a day. The album peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200 and was certified a gold album by the RIAA, representing 1,000,000 copies in sales. The album did not chart in the UK. The original LP included a 13-month 1970 calendar. A video of several performances, not just the Plastic Ono Band's set, was released. Since its first release, the album has been reissued a number of times. ## Background Toronto rock promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker organised a festival held at Varsity Stadium on 13 September 1969, around the notion of a revival of rock and roll stars from the 1950s, booking Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, and Gene Vincent. They also booked more modern acts such as Alice Cooper, Chicago, and the Doors. On 12 September, Brower contacted Lennon, who was still a member of the Beatles, to ask him to be the master of ceremonies for the festival. Instead, Lennon offered to perform at the show with a new group, the Plastic Ono Band." Brower readily agreed, but since Lennon did not actually have a new group, he quickly began making phone calls to potential members to accompany himself and Yoko Ono. He initially approached Beatles band-mate George Harrison to play lead guitar, but Harrison declined, so Lennon turned to Eric Clapton, who had previously performed with Lennon in the one-off super group, the Dirty Mac. Bassist Klaus Voormann and drummer Alan White soon agreed to perform, along with their assistants, Anthony Fawcett, Terry Doran, and Jill and Dan Richter. Voormann was a long-time friend of Lennon, but White, who was a respected session musician in London but did not know Lennon personally, initially thought that someone was prank calling him and only believed that the real John Lennon was on the phone when he called a second time. The group was scheduled to fly to Toronto on 12 September, the day before the concert, but Lennon, Ono, and Clapton were late to arrive at the airport. Lennon had talked to Clapton's management, but Clapton himself did not yet know that Lennon had invited him to perform and was not even aware of the concert. Brower managed to reach Clapton personally and told him to contact Lennon and Ono, who were still in bed. Clapton said he got "a phone call on the day we were to leave and he said that someone had asked him to do that concert and it was that night! So I had to make the airport in an hour." The group had two quick rehearsals before appearing on stage. One was during the transatlantic flight from London to Toronto, though they could not hear the music very well since they were playing unplugged electric instruments. They had another at the concert venue shortly before appearing on stage. Lennon later said that the group "didn't know what to play" since they had not previously performed together, and they eventually settled on a set list consisting of older rock and roll standards, three Lennon-penned Beatle and solo songs, and two longer experimental songs featuring Ono. Though preparations for the show were rushed and chaotic, Lennon later said that he gained the confidence to leave the Beatles during those few days. Lennon mentioned this to Clapton at the time, and upon returning to London, he privately told Beatles' manager Allen Klein. ## Recording The group played eight songs to a crowd of 20,000 people. Before the start of the Plastic Ono Band's performance, they were introduced by Kim Fowley, and Lennon said to the crowd that the group were going to play only songs that they actually knew. They performed the Beatles' "Yer Blues", because Clapton had performed it with Lennon for The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus, and his two solo songs, "Give Peace a Chance" and "Cold Turkey", the latter of which had its premiere at the festival. "Cold Turkey", presented as "the newest song that John wrote" by Ono, had Lennon reading the lyrics off a clip-board. Ono selected a song that was to be B-side of "Cold Turkey," "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)", which also had its premiere at the festival. Shortly before the band went into "Don't Worry Kyoko", Lennon announced that Ono was "gonna do her thing all over you". The band closed with an electric version of the Wedding Album track "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)", an extended experimental number consisting of her screaming the title repeatedly to the feedback of the electric guitars. Towards the end of Ono's performance, the audience began to boo and whistle, and the band departed the stage leaving their guitars and bass to resonate until Mal Evans turned off the amplifiers. With their stage remarks, Lennon and Ono linked their appearance there to their ongoing campaign for peace. Lennon went to Abbey Road Studios on 25 September 1969 to mix the album from their eight-track recordings. While at the session, Lennon finished the stereo master for the album, although he did go back on 20 October to re-do the "Don't Worry Kyoko" stereo master, removing the majority of Ono's vocals from his songs and Clapton's backing vocals. The album is technically a soundtrack recording, being part of the audio portion of the documentary film being made of the festival by D.A. Pennebaker, later released as Sweet Toronto. Lennon and Ono made a deal with Pennebaker to license their portion of the show for record, in exchange for rights to include their appearance. According to the Beatles Monthly, due to the adverse reaction to Ono's performance, Pennebaker removed the segments with Lennon and Ono after limited screenings of the film, later re-edited as Keep on Rockin. Showtime ultimately presented the performance in 1989, and the full movie appeared later on home video and DVD. ## Release and aftermath The album, released on the same day in both the UK and US, failed to chart in the UK but peaked at number 10 in the US. It was released to quash any bootleg versions that Lennon was sure would leak onto the market. US editions of the album wrongly stated that the album was recorded in England. The album came with a 13-month calendar that had photos, poems and songs in it, from Lennon's 1964 book In His Own Write, his 1965 book A Spaniard in the Works, and Ono's 1964 book Grapefruit. In the US, Capitol was reluctant at first to issue the album, after the commercial failures of Lennon's and Ono's experimental albums. Lennon recalled in an interview in December 1980 that he had to persuade Capitol to distribute the album: "They said 'This is garbage, we're not going to put it out with her screaming on one side and you doing this sort of live stuff.' And they refused to put it out. But we finally persuaded them that ... people might buy this." In an interview with Rolling Stone, Lennon said that Capitol "were on the [Paul] McCartney bandwagon, which they were on, and they thought that I was just an idiot pissing about with a Japanese broad and the music we were making, like Toronto, they didn't want to put out, because they didn't like that." Criticism was directed at side two of the LP, the side consisting entirely of two Yoko Ono songs. In a retrospective assessment, Richard Ginell of AllMusic remarks: > Side two, alas, was devoted entirely to Ono's wailing, pitchless, brainless, banshee vocalizing on "Don't Worry Kyoko" and "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)" – the former backed with plodding rock rhythms and the latter with feedback. No wonder you see many used copies of the LP with worn A-sides and clean, unplayed B-sides – and Yoko's "art" is just as irritating today as it was in 1969. But in those days, if you wanted John you had to take the whole package. In contrast, fellow musicians over the years remarked how Yoko Ono's half was a lot more inspirational and groundbreaking than the first half. Iggy Pop labelled the first side of the album as "Pedestrian. Just blues." Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction echoed similar feelings, stating that Ono's sound experimentations were a cornerstone of his musical education. Lennon later said he "couldn't remember any of the words but it didn't matter—I just made them all up and we made a great wonderful noise." Carl Perkins said to Lennon after the show that he was "so beautiful you made me cry." A bootleg album of the concert appeared, under the title JL-YO-EC, thanks to an audience recording, which was released about the same time as the official album. After Lennon's death, the album, along with seven other Lennon albums, was reissued by EMI as part of a box set released in the UK on 15 June 1981. The album was reissued in the US in 1982, by Capitol, and again in 1986. The album was originally scheduled to appear on CD for the first time in June 1989, but the plan was scrapped. Ono, with the help of Rob Stevens from Quad Recording, supervised a remixing of Live Peace in Toronto 1969 for its compact disc issue, released on 1 May 1995. Two of the remixed tracks feature a variation in Ono's vocals: while "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" has additional backing vocals from Ono, "Money" has fewer backing vocals from Ono. The CD booklet included a 1995 calendar, mimicking the original release. The album is also available from the audiophile label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, utilizing the same remix. The booklet for the 2006 Mobile Fidelity release also included a current calendar. ## Track listing Side one 1. "Blue Suede Shoes" (Carl Perkins) – 3:50 2. "Money (That's What I Want)" (Janie Bradford, Berry Gordy) – 3:25 3. "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy" (Larry Williams) – 3:24 4. "Yer Blues" (John Lennon, Paul McCartney) – 4:12 5. "Cold Turkey" (Lennon) – 3:34 6. "Give Peace a Chance" (Lennon, previously Lennon-McCartney) – 3:41 Side two' 1. "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" (Yoko Ono) – 4:48 2. "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)" (Ono) – 12:38 ## Personnel - John Lennon – lead vocals, rhythm guitar - Yoko Ono – wind, presence, backing, art - Eric Clapton – lead guitar, backing vocals - Klaus Voormann – bass - Alan White – drums - Kim Fowley – spoken introduction ## Charts ## Certifications

Exploding cigar

Cigar that explodes after being lit, usually as a practical joke

An exploding cigar is a variety of cigar that explodes shortly after being lit. Such cigars are normally packed with a minute chemical explosive charge near the lighting end or with a non-chemical device that ruptures the cigar when exposed to heat. Also known as "loaded cigars," the customary intended purpose of exploding cigars is as a practical joke, rather than to cause lasting physical harm to the smoker of the cigar. Nevertheless, the high risk of unintended injuries from their use caused a decline in their manufacture and sale. Although far rarer than their prank cousins, exploding cigars used as a means to kill or attempt to kill targets in real life has been claimed, and is well represented as a fictional plot device. The most famous case concerning the intentionally deadly variety was an alleged plot by the CIA in the 1960s to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Notable real-life incidents involving the non-lethal variety include an exploding cigar purportedly given by Ulysses S. Grant to an acquaintance and a dust-up between Turkish military officers and Ernest Hemingway after he pranked one of them with an exploding cigar. ## Manufacture and decline The largest manufacturer and purveyor of exploding cigars in the United States during the middle of the 20th century was the S. S. Adams Company, which, according to The Saturday Evening Post, made more exploding cigars and other gag novelty items as of 1946 than its next eleven competitors combined. The company was founded by Soren Sorensen Adams, dubbed the "king of the professional pranksters", who invented and patented many common gag novelties such as sneezing powder, itching powder, the dribble glass and the joy buzzer. The largest New York–based manufacturer of exploding cigars was Richard Appel, a German refugee from Nuremberg, who in or about 1940 opened a gag novelty factory on Manhattan's Lower East Side. By the time exploding cigars were being turned out by manufacturers such as Adams and Appel, the chemical explosive variety had fallen out of favor. According to Adams, the large-scale switch to a non-chemical device occurred in approximately 1915 in the aftermath of a death caused by a homemade exploding cigar rigged with dynamite. Though exploding cigars were not normally rigged with dynamite but with explosive caps using a less powerful incendiary, following the incident, a number of US states banned the product altogether. The replacement for chemical explosives was a metal spring mechanism, bound with cord—as the victim puffed away, the cord burned through, causing the device to spring open, thus rupturing the cigar's end. However, the decline in the use and advertisement of the exploding cigar was neither complete, nor permanent, and they can be obtained worldwide. In the United States, makers include Don Osvaldo and Hawkins Joke Shop. However, their availability in the US is limited, as some states, such as Massachusetts, have banned their sale entirely. Prank exploding cigars have caused many injuries over their history. For example, in 1902 one Edward Weinschreider sued a cigar shop for an exploding cigar which burned his hand so badly three of his fingers had to be amputated. As has been observed by one legal scholar, "[t]he utility of the exploding cigar is so low and the risk of injury so high as to warrant a conclusion that the cigar is defective and should not have been marketed at all." Laws have been enacted banning the sale of exploding cigars entirely, such as Chapter 178 of Massachusetts' Acts and Resolves, passed by its legislature in 1967. ## In fiction Both prank and intentionally deadly exploding cigars have been featured in numerous works of fiction, spanning many forms of media including literature, film, comics books, cartoons and others. A well-known use of the exploding cigar in literature, for example, appears in Thomas Pynchon's 1973 novel, Gravity's Rainbow. In it, the character Etzel Ölsch symbolically betrays his death wish by eagerly smoking a cigar he knows to be of the prank explosive variety. Other book examples include Robert Coover's 1977 novel, The Public Burning, where a fictionalized Richard Nixon hands an exploding cigar to Uncle Sam, and Sherburne James' Death's Clenched Fist (1982), in which a Tammany Hall politico of the 1890s is murdered with an exploding cigar. Film examples include Cecil B. DeMille's 1921 romance Fool's Paradise, wherein the main character is blinded by an exploding cigar; Laurel and Hardy's Great Guns (1941), which features a gag in which tobacco is replaced by gunpowder; in Road To Morocco (1942) with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope features the duo mixing gunpowder with tobacco in order to create chaos and escape a desert sheik with their girls; the Elke Sommer vehicle, Deadlier Than the Male (1967), where a murder by exploding cigar is a key plot element; in The Beatles' 1968 animated feature film, Yellow Submarine, where an exploding cigar is used to rebuff a psychedelic boxing monster; the 1984 comedy Top Secret!, in which Omar Sharif's British secret agent character is pranked with an exploding cigar by a blindman; and in the 2005 film V for Vendetta, where the main antagonist's cigar is swapped with an exploding one during a comedy skit. Appearance of exploding cigars in the Warner Bros. cartoon franchises, Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes was fairly common, often coupled with the explosion resulting in the pranked character appearing in blackface. Some examples include: Bacall to Arms (1942), wherein an animated Humphrey Bogart gets zapped by an exploding cigar leaving him in blackface, 1949's Mississippi Hare, where the character, 'Colonel Shuffle' likewise ends up in blackface after the explosion, 1952's Rabbit's Kin, in which Pete Puma offers Bugs Bunny an exploding cigar (true to form, Bugs Bunny turns the tables on the hapless feline, placing the cigar in Pete's mouth after he is dazed and lighting it with expected results), and 1964's Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare, where the Tasmanian Devil successfully gets Bugs Bunny to smoke an exploding cigar. Other media examples include television appearances such as when Peter Falk's Columbo must solve an industrial magnate's death by exploding cigar in the episode "Short Fuse" (1972), in a season four episode of the United States television, CBS crime drama, CSI: NY titled "Child's Play", wherein the forensic team investigate the death of a man killed by an exploding cigar, and in a 1966 episode of The Avengers entitled "A Touch of Brimstone"; in video games such as Day of the Tentacle where Hoagie can offer George Washington an exploding cigar; and as a stock device by the Joker in Batman comic books. For example, in Batman \#251 (1973) entitled "The Joker's Five-Way Revenge", an exploding cigar containing nitroglycerin is used by the Joker to kill one of the members of his gang. ## In reality ### Ulysses S. Grant's delayed gift According to a 1932 Associated Press story, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant gave Horace Norton, the founder of a now defunct college in Chicago, an exploding cigar soon after being introduced to him, but the "joke" wasn't revealed until many years later. According to the story, unaware of the nature of the gift, Norton saved the cigar, keeping it on display in his college's museum. Years later, when the school was shutting its doors for good, the alumni thought it would be a fitting gesture to smoke the cigar at the college's annual reunion. The honor was given to Winstead Norton, Horace's grandson. During the sober speech he was presenting, Winstead lit the cigar, and after two puffs, it exploded. A 1952 news report contradicts one detail, holding that the explosion ultimately occurred at a family reunion rather than the alumni affair noted. The tale of "Grant's cigar" has unquestionably been embellished over time. The possibility exists that the tale is a hoax or urban legend or that the cigar was tampered with by someone after Grant's purported presentation. ### Ernest Hemingway Reportedly, Ernest Hemingway, urged on by a group of journalists with whom he was drinking at the Palace Hotel bar in Rapallo, Italy, presented an exploding cigar to one of four bodyguards of Turkish general İsmet İnönü. When the cigar "went off", all four guards drew their guns and aimed at Hemingway. He apparently escaped without any grievous bodily injury. ### CIA plot to assassinate Castro In the late 1950s under Dwight D. Eisenhower's presidential administration and in the early 1960s under John F. Kennedy's, the CIA had been brainstorming and implementing plots to assassinate Fidel Castro, going as far as enlisting the help of American Mafia leaders such as Johnny Roselli and Santo Trafficante, Jr. to assist in carrying out their plans. Many assassination ideas were floated by the CIA in the covert operation which was dubbed "Operation Mongoose." The most infamous was the CIA's alleged plot to capitalize on Castro's well known love of cigars by slipping into his supply a very real and lethal "exploding cigar." A November 4, 1967 Saturday Evening Post article reported that during Castro's visit to the United Nations in 1966 a CIA agent approached New York City police chief inspector Michael J. Murphy with a plan to get Castro to smoke an exploding cigar. While numerous sources state the exploding cigar plot as fact, at least one source asserts it to be simply a myth, and another, mere supermarket tabloid fodder. Another suggests that the story does have its origins in the CIA, but that it was never seriously proposed by them as a plot. Rather, the plot was made up by the CIA as an intentionally "silly" idea to feed to those questioning them about their plans for Castro, in order to deflect scrutiny from more serious areas of inquiry. Whether true or not, the CIA's exploding cigar assassination plot inspired the cover of the October 1963 issue (#82) of Mad Magazine. Conceived by Al Jaffee, the cover (pictured at right) bears the headline, "You'll Get a BANG out of this issue of Mad Magazine", and features a painting by Norman Mingo depicting Castro in the act of lighting a cigar wrapped with a cigar band on which is drawn Alfred E. Neuman with his fingers plugging his ears, awaiting the explosion. An exploding cigar is also featured on the poster for the Channel 4 British Documentary, 638 Ways to Kill Castro, which shows Castro with a cigar in his mouth that has a fuse projecting from the end and a lit match approaching. An exploding cigar was tested on a season 2 episode of Deadliest Warrior, KGB vs. CIA. The cigar completely destroyed the upper and lower jaw of a gel head but was determined to be very unreliable due to its timed fuse and small explosive payload. ## See also - List of practical joke topics

Mine Is Yours

Mine Is Yours is the third studio album by American indie rock band Cold War Kids. It was released on January 25, 2011, by Downtown Records. Following the releases of Loyalty to Loyalty (2008) and Behave Yourself (2010), the band sought to work on new material that spanned the course of three months in Nashville and California after two years of touring. Produced by Jacquire King, responsible for the mainstream success of fellow American rock band Kings of Leon, the album deviates from the band's dark blues rock-influenced folk tales heard in their previous records into a more mainstream sound with lyrics that talked about personal relationships. Mine Is Yours debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200 and spawned four singles (two official and two promotional): "Louder Than Ever", "Skip the Charades", "Finally Begin" and "Royal Blue". The album received a mixed response from critics, with reviews divided by the band's change in sound and lyrical content. To promote the record, the band toured across North America and Europe with appearances at music festivals and talk shows. Mine Is Yours was the band's last album to feature lead guitarist Jonnie Russell, who left for personal reasons. ## Background and recording Cold War Kids released their sophomore album Loyalty to Loyalty on September 23, 2008. The album received a generally favorable reception but critics found it uneven in terms of songwriting and performance. To promote the record, the band spent the next two years touring across North America and Europe making appearances at music festivals and talk shows. After the release of their seventh EP Behave Yourself, the band went to Nashville to work on new material for their next album. Instead of writing and recording songs in a few days, they spent two months carefully working on the material. Lead singer Nathan Willett found this new experience to be "much more spread out, [it was] much more broken down and built up again." The band found the approach different than the one used on their previous record, with Willett saying that, "[A] lot of our good ideas went unfinished. Nobody was there to tell us, "This is good, but it could be better." The album was produced by Jacquire King, who previously did albums for Kings of Leon, Modest Mouse and Tom Waits. Willett was surprised by King, commenting how he would interject himself into the recording process with advice and allow his artists to brainstorm ideas until they come up with the answer. The production featured reverb-tinged guitars and drum machines that were considered new to the band when they came across them during recording. Critics gave note to the production being reminiscent of bands like U2 and Coldplay, with Willett also alluding to some White Stripes influences as well. ## Music and lyrics The album's lyrical content and overall sound differ strongly from the band's previous albums. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Willett said that he went back to Long Beach after two years of touring to perfect his voice and write lyrics that came from his personal life. He also said that one of the influences that inspired him was Michael Stipe and R.E.M. saying their initial lyricism was "more or less kind of just good-sounding words, and then kind of moved into really revealing something about themselves — that was my goal." Aside from Stipe, other influences that Willett was inspired by were Woody Allen (Husbands and Wives), John Cassavetes (A Woman Under the Influence) and Jonathan Franzen (The Discomfort Zone). Lyrically, Mine Is Yours uses a first-person narrative in its songs, whereas previous albums were more character-driven. Willett explained that Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence got him to write songs about men-women relationships. The opening title track was described by Willett as being more straightforward than the previous two albums and embodies the record's themes of relationships. The track begins with a minute-long intro that's inspired by U2's The Joshua Tree. Claire Suddath from Time described "Louder Than Ever" as a song that "isn't a breakup song so much as a we-need-to-talk anthem", and also gave note of "Royal Blue" being "a spirited, piano-and-guitar number about the redemptive quality of devotion." The overall sound of the track is reminiscent of funk. "Finally Begin" has drum work that's similar in style to Ringo Starr. "Out of the Wilderness" was described by Sputnikmusic's Rudy Klap as "a gently lilting ballad" that's backed up by drums and a combustible bridge that "coalesces into one of Willett's most fiery performances." It also utilizes guitar tones and a breakdown that's reminiscent of The Who. "Skip the Charades" was based on the idea of relationships using charades and the theatricality of it all. "Sensitive Kid" is about a son dealing with the separation of his parents by throwing a party in his empty house and being admonished for it when told to act more like a grown up. Willett explained that in high school, he would have parties at his house because it was empty and that his mother was out dating other people. The overall sound of the track utilizes "fractured stabs of piano, electronic percussion, and obtuse grooves" reminiscent of Spoon. "Bulldozer" is about starting over from a failed relationship. Willett said that the inspiration for the song came from the marital problems that some of his college friends had gone through in their relationships, but with more of a happy ending from the aftermath of it all. "Cold Toes on the Cold Floor" was described by critics as a return to the band's debut record Robbers & Cowards, specifically the track "Hang Me Up to Dry". Willett called the track one of his favorites off the album because of its similarity to their previous efforts and its playability live that allow for a lot of improvisation. ## Singles The lead single, "Louder Than Ever", was released digitally on December 14, 2010 (officially on January 24, 2011) and peaked at number 31 on the Alternative Songs chart, their fourth top 40 hit on that chart. A music video was created for it and premiered in January 2011. A second single, "Skip the Charades", was released on February 8, 2011, on SoundCloud, only making it on the Rock Digital Songs chart at number 43. A music video was created for the single and was released on iTunes on June 22, 2011. The song "Finally Begin" was released as the album's first promotional single on March 7, 2011, and peaked at number 99 in the Netherlands. A music video, directed by drummer Matt Aveiro, was created for the song and it premiered on March 15, 2011. The song "Royal Blue" was released as the album's second promotional single, peaking at number 24 on the Mexico Ingles Airplay chart and number 94 in the Netherlands. The title track, although not released as a single, managed to reach number 23 on the Rock Digital Songs chart. ## Promotion The band performed eight songs from the album at a Pioneertown concert on November 5, 2010. They followed that up with several talk show appearances to help promote the album; performing a medley of "Louder Than Ever" and "Royal Blue" on both Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Last Call with Carson Daly. They performed "Louder Than Ever" on the Late Show with David Letterman, gave a performance at Jack White's Third Man Records that was recorded and released in March 2011 and made festival appearances at Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza Chile and Coachella. ### Tour On November 30, the band performed a few UK tour dates to promote Mine Is Yours ahead of its release, beginning with Manchester Academy and finishing at London's KOKO club. On December 1, they went on a 24-city spring tour across North America to go along with both their UK and latter-half 2010 tour dates, beginning with Portland, Oregon's Crystal Ballroom and finishing at Oakland's Fox Theatre. ## Critical reception Mine Is Yours received mixed reviews from music critics, who were divided by the band's sound and lyrical content. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 55, based on 21 reviews. Ryan Reed of The Phoenix said "On Mine Is Yours, everything is bigger. King's reverb-tinged production puts the focus on the band's surprisingly tender melodies and slow-burn rock arrangements; the result is 11 melodic, economical tracks that deliver huge hooks without sacrificing instrumental dexterity." John Freeman of Clash found more enjoyment from the record than the "solid but oddly unsatisfying Loyalty to Loyalty," giving praise to Willett's songwriting for mining "fractured relationships for inspiration and the resultant openness," concluding that King's production of Willett's songs "has created the finest Cold War Kids album yet." Theo Krekis of Drowned in Sound was pleased by the band's new direction in sound without coming across as overly mainstream and removing their trademark piano-heavy tracks, saying they took the Arcade Fire's The Suburbs and added a slice of pop to it. Rudy Klap of Sputnikmusic commented on the quality of both the songwriting and production, finding unevenness on both throughout the album, but still found it to be "a damn good rock record through and through [...] there's an accomplishment to be praised." He also said that the album will divide fans. Mikael Wood of the Los Angeles Times also commented on the divisive take the fans will have with the album, as well as its lack of uniqueness. AllMusic's Heather Phares noted the album's newfound polish and maturity differing from the band's previous releases. Josh Modell of Spin was critical of Nathan Willett's performance, divided by the tone he used throughout the album, and the songs overall saying "[A] couple of songs succeed on their own terms, but most float unmemorably down the highway of not-quite-modern rock." In a negative review, Kevin Liedel of Slant Magazine considered the album to be a "crushing disappointment", calling it "a work of obviously borrowed ideas from a group highly capable of succeeding with their own." PopMatters contributor David Gassmann said that despite some strong hooks and instrumental choices, he felt the album lacked the idiosyncratic personality from the band's previous records and resembled more of The Script and Train due to King's production. He added that listeners will consider this as a gateway introduction to the band itself. Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club gave the album a D+ grade. He found their sound to be "dulled for maximum accessibility" coupled with "uninspired melodies" and "formless" lyrics, calling it "the bland sound of a band trading identity for ambition." NME'''s Katherine Rodgers was very critical about the record, finding some of the tracks to be generic and found the highlights to be "asphyxiated in lubricious studio slime." ## Commercial performance Mine Is Yours debuted at number 21 on the Billboard 200, their second album to appear in the top 50 and in the same position as their previous album, despite selling 4,000 fewer copies. It additionally charted in several territories but was less successful chart wise than Loyalty to Loyalty. The record debuted at number 9 in Australia (whereas Loyalty to Loyalty reached number 20) and stayed there for an additional four weeks. It debuted at numbers 56 and 85 in Austria and Switzerland respectively before leaving the next week; their only charting album in those countries to date. However, it did poorly in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, charting at numbers 54, 128 and 84 respectively (whereas the previous album charted at numbers 29, 48 and 68). ## Track listing ## Personnel Adapted from the liner notes of Mine Is Yours''. Cold War Kids - Nathan Willett – lead vocals, piano, rhythm guitar - Jonathan Russell – lead guitar, keyboards, backing vocals - Matthew Aveiro – drums, percussion - Matthew Maust – bass guitar Artwork - Maust – design - Lucy Hamblin – photography Production - Jacquire King – producer, recording, mixing - Brad Bivens – additional recording engineer - Morgan Stratton – assistant engineer - Joe Martino – assistant engineer - Adam Bednarik – assistant engineer - Justin March – assistant engineer ## Charts ## Release history

BR Standard Class 8

One-off three-cylinder 4-6-2 locomotive

The BR Standard Class 8 was a class of a single 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive designed by Robert Riddles for use by British Railways. Only the prototype was constructed, named Duke of Gloucester. Constructed at Crewe Works in 1954, the Duke, as it is popularly known, was a replacement for the destroyed LMS Princess Royal Class locomotive number 46202 Princess Anne, which was involved in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash of 1952. The Duke was based on the BR Standard Class 7 Britannia design. It incorporated three sets of modified Caprotti valve gear, relatively new to British locomotive engineering and more efficient than Walschaerts or Stephenson valve gear. The Duke was regarded as a failure by locomotive crews due to its poor steaming characteristics and its heavy fuel consumption. Trials undertaken by British Railways also returned negative feedback, reporting problems with the poor draughting of the locomotive which resulted in difficulty adhering to the timetables. The result was an operational period of only eight years. This unique locomotive was saved from being scrapped at Woodham Brothers scrapyard in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales when it was purchased by a group of railway enthusiasts who restored it from scrapyard to as-built condition in 13 years. Since then, modifications have been made to the original design, resulting in one of the most efficient and powerful steam locomotives ever to run in Britain. As a result, the Duke of Gloucester can frequently be seen on the mainline around Britain. ## Background Riddles had frequently argued the case for the inclusion of a Standard Class 8 Pacific into the standard range of locomotives being introduced by British Railways. However, these proposals were rejected by the Railway Executive on the grounds of cost in attempting to develop a form of steam motive power that was not necessarily required for use on Britain's railways, as there were enough Standard Class 7 Britannia locomotives already available for use. However, opportunity came out of adversity when the short-lived rebuild of the LMS Turbomotive, 46202 Princess Anne, was destroyed in the Harrow and Wealdstone rail disaster of 1952. A gap now existed in the roster for locomotives with 8P power classification, of which the demand was high for the efficient operation of heavy expresses on the West Coast Main Line between London Euston and Scotland. This presented Riddles with the perfect opportunity to press the case for his new design, a prototype of which was duly authorised for construction. ## Design details At first, Riddles wished to develop an enlarged version of his Standard Class 7 Britannias, as the design still featured a two-cylinder layout. However, the size of the cylinders in order to achieve the 8P power classification would have put the design over the British loading gauge limit and so a reluctant reversion to the three-cylinder layout ensued. This reluctance was born from experience with the Gresley Pacifics, whose conjugated valve gear was difficult to maintain due to the location of the middle cylinder between the frames. Therefore, an alternative type of valve gear had to be found. The valve gear that was settled upon was a rotary cam-driven form of Caprotti valve gear, developed by Heenan & Froude with poppet valves. This was based on Italian locomotive practice and allowed precise control of steam admission to the cylinders while improving exhaust flow and boiler draughting characteristics when compared to the more conventional Walschaerts and Stephenson valve gear. On paper this created a free-steaming, hard-working locomotive capable of hauling heavy loads over long distances but, in practice, fundamental design errors and undetected deviations from the drawings made during construction combined to prevent the locomotive from achieving its expected performance during British Railways ownership. The main problem was known even when the locomotive was under construction, as Mr. L.T. Daniels, the representative of the British Caprotti company, recommended the use of the Kylchap blastpipe, which could have coped with the fierce exhaust blasts experienced with the Caprotti system. A standard double chimney of the Swindon type had already been fabricated in order to cut costs and it had been installed in the smokebox supposedly before Riddles could do anything about it. As a result, the locomotive suffered due to the choke area of both chimney and blastpipe being much too small for the pressure created by the exhaust, leading to poor draughting. Further problems regarding the firebox of the locomotive were only discovered during restoration, including a poorly dimensioned ashpan and dampers that were again too small, strangling the fire of air when operating at speed. Further, British Railways "Modernisation Plan" was already under development concurrent with the construction of 71000 raising other questions. Following experience of occasional cracks appearing near the spring brackets of the Britannias and Clans, a substantial rearrangement took place in this area that resulted in the locomotive riding on three cast steel "sub-frames" carrying the ten front-most spring brackets and lengthened spring brackets behind the rear driven axle. Perhaps remarkably, these were not integrated into a cast combined sub-frame/pony truck pivot stretcher, the pony truck pivot stretcher being a fabrication. Had the planned batch of further smaller Pacifics been built, they would have been fitted with this arrangement. ## Construction history The opportunity to create an entire batch of locomotives within the 8P category was declined by the Railway Executive. It had been said this was because the design process had been highly expensive and complex, so that when the locomotive emerged from Crewe Works in 1954, such thoughts were inappropriate, especially with the advent of the 1955 Modernisation Plan. As a result, 71000 remained the solitary member of a proposed class of Standard 8P locomotives. ### Naming the locomotive Upon emerging from Crewe Works in 1954, the locomotive was named Duke of Gloucester prior to entering revenue-earning service. Had further locomotives been constructed, they would have belonged to the Duke Class, standing alongside the sister locomotives of the Britannia and Clan Classes. Since then, the locomotive has colloquially been referred to by steam enthusiasts and crews as the Duke. ## Operational details The Duke was highly unpopular with crews, who regarded it as something of a liability due to its poor steam production. Inefficiencies caused by the problems regarding the draughting abilities and firebox design meant that no further examples were constructed. The fact that no effort was made to rectify these problems indicates the change in policy regarding steam locomotives, with the Modernisation Plan entering circulation as the "Duke" entered service. Based for its entire working life at Crewe North depot, the locomotive was utilised in hauling boat trains on the undemanding North Wales Coast Line between Crewe and Holyhead. All of this culminated in the locomotive having a short service life of only eight years, being withdrawn from service in 1962. The reputation of the locomotive amongst its crews as being a poor steamer was eventually to disappear – but only after it was rescued from the scrapyard during 1974. ## Livery and numbering The livery of the "Duke" was a continuation of the British Railways standard class practice. The class was given the power classification 8P. Following on from the 'Britannias', the "Duke" was numbered under the British Railways standard numbering system in the 71xxx series. The "Duke" was given the number 71000, and featured brass nameplates with a black background, located on the smoke deflectors. ## Preservation After withdrawal, the "Duke" was initially selected for the National Collection, though it was later decided that only the cylinder arrangement was of interest. One of the outside cylinders was removed for display at the Science Museum; the other was removed to restore balance in readiness for scrapping. The locomotive was purchased by Dai Woodham, though it was initially sent to the wrong scrapyard. After retrieval, the "Duke" languished for many years in Woodham Brothers scrapyard at Barry Island, South Wales, before enthusiasts purchased the locomotive in 1974, forming the Duke of Gloucester Steam Locomotive Trust. Restoration began in earnest, though with many components missing, the most expensive of which being the Caprotti valve gear, it took 13 years of effort on the part of enthusiasts, with assistance in the guise of sponsorships from industry, to return the locomotive to near as-built condition. One of the very few compromises made was replacing the previous steel cylinders with spheroidal graphite iron. Two significant construction errors were discovered during restoration: - The chimney was too small compared with other locomotives of similar size, resulting in poor boiler draughting at times of high steam demand. - The firebed (grate) air inlet dampers had not been built to the drawings; they were too small, resulting in poor air supply and inefficient combustion. These errors were corrected and the opportunity taken to incorporate some other improvements, including the previously recommended Kylchap exhaust system, which has finally unlocked the locomotive's true potential as a powerful express passenger locomotive. When the "Duke" was first allowed to haul a full load on the main line, it became immediately obvious that the boiler was now producing steam at a more efficient rate and that the reborn "Duke" was unrecognisable from the failure that was experienced under British Railways ownership. With these modifications, the "Duke" is now one of the most powerful steam locomotives ever to run on Britain's railways, past or present (the LMS Coronation Class Pacifics held that title under British Railways auspices - the three cylinder "Duke" never actually achieved the 3000 cylinder horse power figure that was recorded by the four cylinder Princess Coronation Class); ironically, it is now more powerful than not only the English Electric Type 4 diesel locomotives which replaced it directly in service, but also the type 4 and 5 diesel locomotives built to replace the earlier diesels. In the 1995 "Shap trials" (30 Sept to 3 October) 71000 broke the record for the fastest northbound ascent and achieved the highest EDHP figures during the event, its average over the Shap ascent was 2300 and peak 2803. The Duchess of Hamilton (46229) generated EDHP figures of 2150 and 2343 respectively. The A4 Sir Nigel Gresley (60007) suffered from poor coal and possible leaking tubes so only made EDHP figures of 1671 (average) and 1812 (peak). In preservation, the "Duke" had held an impeccable operational record for reliability; however on 9 June 2007, the engine operated a railtour from Preston to Carlisle returning via Settle, where, for operational reasons, the locomotive's start position was changed to Carnforth. Little over 30 miles (48 km) into the journey, the locomotive was stopped at Penrith with leaking tubes in the firebox and removed from the train. The engine was then withdrawn for repairs before a return to service in January 2008. As the locomotive now bears little mechanical resemblance to that which operated under British Railways, it has also been used as a test bed, incorporating several other modifications and innovations. These are intended to investigate how much further the locomotive's performance can be enhanced, therefore raising speculation surrounding the capabilities of an entire batch of Standard class 8 "Pacifics" had history been different. ## Models On 17 December 2012 Hornby announced that in their 2013 product range they would make 71000 Duke of Gloucester in BR Brunswick Green. This model was released in late 2013, where it received mixed reviews. A ready to run model in O scale, produced by Ace Trains, was released in Summer 2019. Built to coarse scale standards, these apply mainly to the wheels rather than the model more generally. Uniquely, the model has a representation of working Caprotti valve gear The only well documented construction of working live steam scale Duke of Gloucester models in Model Engineer magazine was by Denis Evans of Blackpool in England. Beginning in the 1966, and using original British Railways and Associated Locomotive Equipment (a subsidiary of Heenan & Froude) drawings, Denis built three Dukes each complete with fully working Caprotti valve gear, first in 71⁄4 inch gauge, and then 5 inch and 31⁄2 inch gauges. The 71⁄4 inch gauge Duke won awards at the 48th Model Engineer Exhibition in 1979, as did his 31⁄2 inch gauge locomotive at the 61st Model Engineer Exhibition in 1992.

Snow

Precipitation in the form of ice crystal flakes

Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide or sublimate away. Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, which freeze in hexagonal-shaped crystals. Snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts. Over time, accumulated snow metamorphoses, by sintering, sublimation and freeze-thaw. Where the climate is cold enough for year-to-year accumulation, a glacier may form. Otherwise, snow typically melts seasonally, causing runoff into streams and rivers and recharging groundwater. Major snow-prone areas include the polar regions, the northernmost half of the Northern Hemisphere and mountainous regions worldwide with sufficient moisture and cold temperatures. In the Southern Hemisphere, snow is confined primarily to mountainous areas, apart from Antarctica. Snow affects such human activities as transportation: creating the need for keeping roadways, wings, and windows clear; agriculture: providing water to crops and safeguarding livestock; sports such as skiing, snowboarding, and snowmachine travel; and warfare. Snow affects ecosystems, as well, by providing an insulating layer during winter under which plants and animals are able to survive the cold. ## Precipitation Snow develops in clouds that themselves are part of a larger weather system. The physics of snow crystal development in clouds results from a complex set of variables that include moisture content and temperatures. The resulting shapes of the falling and fallen crystals can be classified into a number of basic shapes and combinations thereof. Occasionally, some plate-like, dendritic and stellar-shaped snowflakes can form under clear sky with a very cold temperature inversion present. ### Cloud formation Snow clouds usually occur in the context of larger weather systems, the most important of which is the low-pressure area, which typically incorporate warm and cold fronts as part of their circulation. Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect (also sea-effect) storms and elevation effects, especially in mountains. #### Low-pressure areas Mid-latitude cyclones are low-pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. During a hemisphere's fall, winter, and spring, the atmosphere over continents can be cold enough through the depth of the troposphere to cause snowfall. In the Northern Hemisphere, the northern side of the low-pressure area produces the most snow. For the southern mid-latitudes, the side of a cyclone that produces the most snow is the southern side. #### Fronts A cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line (similar to a rainband), when temperature is near freezing at the surface. The strong convection that develops has enough moisture to produce whiteout conditions at places which the line passes over as the wind causes intense blowing snow. This type of snowsquall generally lasts less than 30 minutes at any point along its path, but the motion of the line can cover large distances. Frontal squalls may form a short distance ahead of the surface cold front or behind the cold front where there may be a deepening low-pressure system or a series of trough lines which act similar to a traditional cold frontal passage. In situations where squalls develop post-frontally, it is not unusual to have two or three linear squall bands pass in rapid succession separated only by 25 miles (40 kilometers), with each passing the same point roughly 30 minutes apart. In cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing, the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow. A warm front can produce snow for a period as warm, moist air overrides below-freezing air and creates precipitation at the boundary. Often, snow transitions to rain in the warm sector behind the front. #### Lake and ocean effects Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water, warming the lower layer of air which picks up water vapor from the lake, rises up through the colder air above, freezes, and is deposited on the leeward (downwind) shores. The same effect occurring over bodies of salt water is termed ocean-effect or bay-effect snow. The effect is enhanced when the moving air mass is uplifted by the orographic influence of higher elevations on the downwind shores. This uplifting can produce narrow but very intense bands of precipitation which may deposit at a rate of many inches of snow each hour, often resulting in a large amount of total snowfall. The areas affected by lake-effect snow are called snowbelts. These include areas east of the Great Lakes, the west coasts of northern Japan, the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and areas near the Great Salt Lake, Black Sea, Caspian Sea, Baltic Sea, and parts of the northern Atlantic Ocean. #### Mountain effects Orographic or relief snowfall is created when moist air is forced up the windward side of mountain ranges by a large-scale wind flow. The lifting of moist air up the side of a mountain range results in adiabatic cooling, and ultimately condensation and precipitation. Moisture is gradually removed from the air by this process, leaving drier and warmer air on the descending, or leeward, side. The resulting enhanced snowfall, along with the decrease in temperature with elevation, combine to increase snow depth and seasonal persistence of snowpack in snow-prone areas. Mountain waves have also been found to help enhance precipitation amounts downwind of mountain ranges by enhancing the lift needed for condensation and precipitation. ### Cloud physics A snowflake consists of roughly 10¹⁹ water molecules which are added to its core at different rates and in different patterns depending on the changing temperature and humidity within the atmosphere that the snowflake falls through on its way to the ground. As a result, snowflakes differ from each other though they follow similar patterns. Snow crystals form when tiny supercooled cloud droplets (about 10 μm in diameter) freeze. These droplets are able to remain liquid at temperatures lower than −18 °C (0 °F), because to freeze, a few molecules in the droplet need to get together by chance to form an arrangement similar to that in an ice lattice. The droplet freezes around this "nucleus". In warmer clouds, an aerosol particle or "ice nucleus" must be present in (or in contact with) the droplet to act as a nucleus. Ice nuclei are very rare compared to cloud condensation nuclei on which liquid droplets form. Clays, desert dust, and biological particles can be nuclei. Artificial nuclei include particles of silver iodide and dry ice, and these are used to stimulate precipitation in cloud seeding. Once a droplet has frozen, it grows in the supersaturated environment—one where air is saturated with respect to ice when the temperature is below the freezing point. The droplet then grows by diffusion of water molecules in the air (vapor) onto the ice crystal surface where they are collected. Because water droplets are so much more numerous than the ice crystals, the crystals are able to grow to hundreds of micrometers or millimeters in size at the expense of the water droplets by the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process. These large crystals are an efficient source of precipitation, since they fall through the atmosphere due to their mass, and may collide and stick together in clusters, or aggregates. These aggregates are snowflakes, and are usually the type of ice particle that falls to the ground. Although the ice is clear, scattering of light by the crystal facets and hollows/imperfections mean that the crystals often appear white in color due to diffuse reflection of the whole spectrum of light by the small ice particles. ### Classification of snowflakes Micrography of thousands of snowflakes from 1885 onward, starting with Wilson Alwyn Bentley, revealed the wide diversity of snowflakes within a classifiable set of patterns. Closely matching snow crystals have been observed. Ukichiro Nakaya developed a crystal morphology diagram, relating crystal shapes to the temperature and moisture conditions under which they formed, which is summarized in the following table. Nakaya discovered that the shape is also a function of whether the prevalent moisture is above or below saturation. Forms below the saturation line tend more toward solid and compact while crystals formed in supersaturated air tend more toward lacy, delicate, and ornate. Many more complex growth patterns also form, which include side-planes, bullet-rosettes, and planar types, depending on the conditions and ice nuclei. If a crystal has started forming in a column growth regime at around −5 °C (23 °F) and then falls into the warmer plate-like regime, plate or dendritic crystals sprout at the end of the column, producing so called "capped columns". Magono and Lee devised a classification of freshly formed snow crystals that includes 80 distinct shapes. They documented each with micrographs. ## Accumulation Snow accumulates from a series of snow events, punctuated by freezing and thawing, over areas that are cold enough to retain snow seasonally or perennially. Major snow-prone areas include the Arctic and Antarctic, the Northern Hemisphere, and alpine regions. The liquid equivalent of snowfall may be evaluated using a snow gauge or with a standard rain gauge, adjusted for winter by removal of a funnel and inner cylinder. Both types of gauges melt the accumulated snow and report the amount of water collected. At some automatic weather stations an ultrasonic snow depth sensor may be used to augment the precipitation gauge. ### Event Snow flurry, snow shower, snow storm and blizzard describe snow events of progressively greater duration and intensity. A blizzard is a weather condition involving snow and has varying definitions in different parts of the world. In the United States, a blizzard occurs when two conditions are met for a period of three hours or more: a sustained wind or frequent gusts to 35 miles per hour (16 m/s), and sufficient snow in the air to reduce visibility to less than 0.4 kilometers (0.25 mi). In Canada and the United Kingdom, the criteria are similar. While heavy snowfall often occurs during blizzard conditions, falling snow is not a requirement, as blowing snow can create a ground blizzard. Snowstorm intensity may be categorized by visibility and depth of accumulation. Snowfall's intensity is determined by visibility, as follows: - Light: visibility greater than 1 kilometer (0.6 mi) - Moderate: visibility restrictions between 0.5 and 1 kilometer (0.3 and 0.6 mi) - Heavy: visibility is less than 0.5 kilometers (0.3 mi) Snowsqualls may deposit snow in bands that extend from bodies of water as lake-event weather or result from the passage of an upper-level front. The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground defines "height of new snow" as the depth of freshly fallen snow, in centimeters as measured with a ruler, that accumulated on a snowboard during an observation period of 24 hours, or other observation interval. After the measurement, the snow is cleared from the board and the board is placed flush with the snow surface to provide an accurate measurement at the end of the next interval. Melting, compacting, blowing and drifting contribute to the difficulty of measuring snowfall. ### Distribution Glaciers with their permanent snowpacks cover about 10% of the earth's surface, while seasonal snow covers about nine percent, mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, where seasonal snow covers about 40 million square kilometres (15×10^⁶ sq mi), according to a 1987 estimate. A 2007 estimate of snow cover over the Northern Hemisphere suggested that, on average, snow cover ranges from a minimum extent of 2 million square kilometres (0.77×10^⁶ sq mi) each August to a maximum extent of 45 million square kilometres (17×10^⁶ sq mi) each January or nearly half of the land surface in that hemisphere. A study of Northern Hemisphere snow cover extent for the period 1972–2006 suggests a reduction of 0.5 million square kilometres (0.19×10^⁶ sq mi) over the 35-year period. ### Records The following are world records regarding snowfall and snowflakes: - Highest seasonal total snowfall – The world record for the highest seasonal total snowfall was measured in the United States at Mt. Baker Ski Area, outside of the city of Bellingham, Washington during the 1998–1999 season. Mount Baker received 2,896 cm (95.01 ft) of snow, thus surpassing the previous record holder, Mount Rainier, Washington, which during the 1971–1972 season received 2,850 cm (93.5 ft) of snow. - Highest seasonal average annual snowfall – The world record for the highest average annual snowfall is 1,764 cm (57.87 ft), measured in Sukayu Onsen, Japan for the period of 1981–2010. - Largest snowflake – According to Guinness World Records, the world's largest snowflake fell in January 1887 outside present-day Miles City, Montana. It measured 38 cm (15 in) in diameter. The cities (more than 100,000 inhabitants) with the highest annual snowfall are Aomori (792 cm), Sapporo (485 cm) and Toyama (363 cm) in Japan, followed by St. John's (332 cm) and Quebec City (315 cm) in Canada. ## Metamorphism According to the International Association of Cryospheric Sciences, snow metamorphism is "the transformation that the snow undergoes in the period from deposition to either melting or passage to glacial ice". Starting as a powdery deposition, snow becomes more granular when it begins to compact under its own weight, be blown by the wind, sinter particles together and commence the cycle of melting and refreezing. Water vapor plays a role as it deposits ice crystals, known as hoar frost, during cold, still conditions. During this transition, snow "is a highly porous, sintered material made up of a continuous ice structure and a continuously connected pore space, forming together the snow microstructure". Almost always near its melting temperature, a snowpack is continually transforming these properties wherein all three phases of water may coexist, including liquid water partially filling the pore space. After deposition, snow progresses on one of two paths that determine its fate, either by ablation (mostly by melting) from a snow fall or seasonal snowpack, or by transitioning from firn (multi-year snow) into glacier ice. ### Seasonal Over the course of time, a snowpack may settle under its own weight until its density is approximately 30% of water. Increases in density above this initial compression occur primarily by melting and refreezing, caused by temperatures above freezing or by direct solar radiation. In colder climates, snow lies on the ground all winter. By late spring, snow densities typically reach a maximum of 50% of water. Snow that persists into summer evolves into névé, granular snow, which has been partially melted, refrozen and compacted. Névé has a minimum density of 500 kilograms per cubic metre (31 lb/cu ft), which is roughly half of the density of liquid water. ### Firn Firn is snow that has persisted for multiple years and has been recrystallized into a substance denser than névé, yet less dense and hard than glacial ice. Firn resembles caked sugar and is very resistant to shovelling. Its density generally ranges from 550 kilograms per cubic metre (34 lb/cu ft) to 830 kilograms per cubic metre (52 lb/cu ft), and it can often be found underneath the snow that accumulates at the head of a glacier. The minimum altitude that firn accumulates on a glacier is called the firn limit, firn line or snowline. ## Movement There are four main mechanisms for movement of deposited snow: drifting of unsintered snow, avalanches of accumulated snow on steep slopes, snowmelt during thaw conditions, and the movement of glaciers after snow has persisted for multiple years and metamorphosed into glacier ice. ### Drifting When powdery snow drifts with the wind from the location where it originally fell, forming deposits with a depth of several meters in isolated locations. After attaching to hillsides, blown snow can evolve into a snow slab, which is an avalanche hazard on steep slopes. ### Avalanche An avalanche (also called a snowslide or snowslip) is a rapid flow of snow down a sloping surface. Avalanches are typically triggered in a starting zone from a mechanical failure in the snowpack (slab avalanche) when the forces on the snow exceed its strength but sometimes only with gradually widening (loose snow avalanche). After initiation, avalanches usually accelerate rapidly and grow in mass and volume as they entrain more snow. If the avalanche moves fast enough some of the snow may mix with the air forming a powder snow avalanche, which is a type of gravity current. They occur in three major mechanisms: - Slab avalanches occur in snow that has been deposited, or redeposited by wind. They have the characteristic appearance of a block (slab) of snow cut out from its surroundings by fractures. These account for most back-country fatalities. - Powder snow avalanches result from a deposition of fresh dry powder and generate a powder cloud, which overlies a dense avalanche. They can exceed speeds of 300 kilometers per hour (190 mph), and masses of 10,000,000 tonnes (9,800,000 long tons; 11,000,000 short tons); their flows can travel long distances along flat valley bottoms and even uphill for short distances. - Wet snow avalanches are a low-velocity suspension of snow and water, with the flow confined to the surface of the pathway. The low speed of travel is due to the friction between the sliding surface of the pathway and the water saturated flow. Despite the low speed of travel (\~10 to 40 kilometers per hour (6 to 25 mph)), wet snow avalanches are capable of generating powerful destructive forces, due to the large mass, and density. ### Melting Many rivers originating in mountainous or high-latitude regions receive a significant portion of their flow from snowmelt. This often makes the river's flow highly seasonal resulting in periodic flooding during the spring months and at least in dry mountainous regions like the mountain West of the US or most of Iran and Afghanistan, very low flow for the rest of the year. In contrast, if much of the melt is from glaciated or nearly glaciated areas, the melt continues through the warm season, with peak flows occurring in mid to late summer. ### Glaciers Glaciers form where the accumulation of snow and ice exceeds ablation. The area in which an alpine glacier forms is called a cirque (corrie or cwm), a typically armchair-shaped geological feature, which collects snow and where the snowpack compacts under the weight of successive layers of accumulating snow, forming névé. Further crushing of the individual snow crystals and reduction of entrapped air in the snow turns it into glacial ice. This glacial ice will fill the cirque until it overflows through a geological weakness or an escape route, such as the gap between two mountains. When the mass of snow and ice is sufficiently thick, it begins to move due to a combination of surface slope, gravity and pressure. On steeper slopes, this can occur with as little as 15 m (50 ft) of snow-ice. ## Science Scientists study snow at a wide variety of scales that include the physics of chemical bonds and clouds; the distribution, accumulation, metamorphosis, and ablation of snowpacks; and the contribution of snowmelt to river hydraulics and ground hydrology. In doing so, they employ a variety of instruments to observe and measure the phenomena studied. Their findings contribute to knowledge applied by engineers, who adapt vehicles and structures to snow, by agronomists, who address the availability of snowmelt to agriculture, and those, who design equipment for sporting activities on snow. Scientists develop and others employ snow classification systems that describe its physical properties at scales ranging from the individual crystal to the aggregated snowpack. A sub-specialty is avalanches, which are of concern to engineers and outdoors sports people, alike. Snow science addresses how snow forms, its distribution, and processes affecting how snowpacks change over time. Scientists improve storm forecasting, study global snow cover and its effect on climate, glaciers, and water supplies around the world. The study includes physical properties of the material as it changes, bulk properties of in-place snow packs, and the aggregate properties of regions with snow cover. In doing so, they employ on-the-ground physical measurement techniques to establish ground truth and remote sensing techniques to develop understanding of snow-related processes over large areas. ### Measurement and classification In the field snow scientists often excavate a snow pit within which to make basic measurements and observations. Observations can describe features caused by wind, water percolation, or snow unloading from trees. Water percolation into a snowpack can create flow fingers and ponding or flow along capillary barriers, which can refreeze into horizontal and vertical solid ice formations within the snowpack. Among the measurements of the properties of snowpacks that the International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground includes are: snow height, snow water equivalent, snow strength, and extent of snow cover. Each has a designation with code and detailed description. The classification extends the prior classifications of Nakaya and his successors to related types of precipitation and are quoted in the following table: All are formed in cloud, except for rime, which forms on objects exposed to supercooled moisture. It also has a more extensive classification of deposited snow than those that pertain to airborne snow. The categories include both natural and man-made snow types, descriptions of snow crystals as they metamorphose and melt, the development of hoar frost in the snow pack and the formation of ice therein. Each such layer of a snowpack differs from the adjacent layers by one or more characteristics that describe its microstructure or density, which together define the snow type, and other physical properties. Thus, at any one time, the type and state of the snow forming a layer have to be defined because its physical and mechanical properties depend on them. Physical properties include microstructure, grain size and shape, snow density, liquid water content, and temperature. When it comes to measuring snow cover on the ground, typically three variables are measured: the snow cover extent (SCE) — the land area covered by snow, snow cover duration (SD) — how long a particular area is covered by snow, and the snow accumulation, often expressed as snow water equivalent (SWE), which expresses how much water the snow would be if it were all melted: this last one is a measurement of the volume of the snowpack. To measure these variables a variety of techniques are used: surface observations, remote sensing, land surface models and reanalysis products. These techniques are often combined to form the most complete datasets. ### Satellite data Remote sensing of snowpacks with satellites and other platforms typically includes multi-spectral collection of imagery. Multi-faceted interpretation of the data obtained allows inferences about what is observed. The science behind these remote observations has been verified with ground-truth studies of the actual conditions. Satellite observations record a decrease in snow-covered areas since the 1960s, when satellite observations began. In some regions such as China, a trend of increasing snow cover was observed from 1978 to 2006. These changes are attributed to global climate change, which may lead to earlier melting and less coverage area. In some areas, snow depth increases because of higher temperatures in latitudes north of 40°. For the Northern Hemisphere as a whole the mean monthly snow-cover extent has been decreasing by 1.3% per decade. The most frequently used methods to map and measure snow extent, snow depth and snow water equivalent employ multiple inputs on the visible–infrared spectrum to deduce the presence and properties of snow. The National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) uses the reflectance of visible and infrared radiation to calculate a normalized difference snow index, which is a ratio of radiation parameters that can distinguish between clouds and snow. Other researchers have developed decision trees, employing the available data to make more accurate assessments. One challenge to this assessment is where snow cover is patchy, for example during periods of accumulation or ablation and also in forested areas. Cloud cover inhibits optical sensing of surface reflectance, which has led to other methods for estimating ground conditions underneath clouds. For hydrological models, it is important to have continuous information about the snow cover. Passive microwave sensors are especially valuable for temporal and spatial continuity because they can map the surface beneath clouds and in darkness. When combined with reflective measurements, passive microwave sensing greatly extends the inferences possible about the snowpack. Satellite measurements show that snow cover has been decreasing in many areas of the world since 1978. ### Models Snow science often leads to predictive models that include snow deposition, snow melt, and snow hydrology—elements of the Earth's water cycle—which help describe global climate change. Global climate change models (GCMs) incorporate snow as a factor in their calculations. Some important aspects of snow cover include its albedo (reflectivity of incident radiation, including light) and insulating qualities, which slow the rate of seasonal melting of sea ice. As of 2011, the melt phase of GCM snow models were thought to perform poorly in regions with complex factors that regulate snow melt, such as vegetation cover and terrain. These models typically derive snow water equivalent (SWE) in some manner from satellite observations of snow cover. The International Classification for Seasonal Snow on the Ground defines SWE as "the depth of water that would result if the mass of snow melted completely". Given the importance of snowmelt to agriculture, hydrological runoff models that include snow in their predictions address the phases of accumulating snowpack, melting processes, and distribution of the meltwater through stream networks and into the groundwater. Key to describing the melting processes are solar heat flux, ambient temperature, wind, and precipitation. Initial snowmelt models used a degree-day approach that emphasized the temperature difference between the air and the snowpack to compute snow water equivalent, SWE. More recent models use an energy balance approach that take into account the following factors to compute Q_m, the energy available for melt. This requires measurement of an array of snowpack and environmental factors to compute six heat flow mechanisms that contribute to Q_m. ## Effects on civilization Snow routinely affects civilization in four major areas, transportation, agriculture, structures, and sports. Most transportation modes are impeded by snow on the travel surface. Agriculture often relies on snow as a source of seasonal moisture. Structures may fail under snow loads. Humans find a wide variety of recreational activities in snowy landscapes. It also affects the conduct of warfare. ### Transportation Snow affects the rights of way of highways, airfields and railroads. The snowplow is common to all workers, though roadways take anti-icing chemicals to prevent bonding of ice and airfields may not; railroads rely on abrasives for track traction. #### Highway In the late 20th century, an estimated \$2 billion was spent annually in North America on roadway winter maintenance, owing to snow and other winter weather events, according to a 1994 report by Kuemmel. The study surveyed the practices of jurisdictions within 44 US states and nine Canadian provinces. It assessed the policies, practices, and equipment used for winter maintenance. It found similar practices and progress to be prevalent in Europe. The dominant effect of snow on vehicle contact with the road is diminished friction. This can be improved with the use of snow tires, which have a tread designed to compact snow in a manner that enhances traction. The key to maintaining a roadway that can accommodate traffic during and after a snow event is an effective anti-icing program that employs both chemicals and plowing. The Federal Highway Administration Manual of Practice for an Effective Anti-icing Program emphasizes "anti-icing" procedures that prevent the bonding of snow and ice to the road. Key aspects of the practice include: understanding anti-icing in light of the level of service to be achieved on a given roadway, the climatic conditions to be encountered, and the different roles of deicing, anti-icing, and abrasive materials and applications, and employing anti-icing "toolboxes", one for operations, one for decision-making and another for personnel. The elements to the toolboxes are: - Operations – Addresses the application of solid and liquid chemicals, using various techniques, including prewetting of chloride-salts. It also addresses plowing capability, including types of snowplows and blades used. - Decision-making – Combines weather forecast information with road information to assess the upcoming needs for application of assets and the evaluation of treatment effectiveness with operations underway. - Personnel – Addresses training and deployment of staff to effectively execute the anti-icing program, using the appropriate materials, equipment and procedures. The manual offers matrices that address different types of snow and the rate of snowfall to tailor applications appropriately and efficiently. Snow fences, constructed upwind of roadways control snow drifting by causing windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are also used on railways. Additionally, farmers and ranchers use snow fences to create drifts in basins for a ready supply of water in the spring. #### Aviation In order to keep airports open during winter storms, runways and taxiways require snow removal. Unlike roadways, where chloride chemical treatment is common to prevent snow from bonding to the pavement surface, such chemicals are typically banned from airports because of their strong corrosive effect on aluminum aircraft. Consequently, mechanical brushes are often used to complement the action of snow plows. Given the width of runways on airfields that handle large aircraft, vehicles with large plow blades, an echelon of plow vehicles or rotary snowplows are used to clear snow on runways and taxiways. Terminal aprons may require 6 hectares (15 acres) or more to be cleared. Properly equipped aircraft are able to fly through snowstorms under instrument flight rules. Prior to takeoff, during snowstorms they require deicing fluid to prevent accumulation and freezing of snow and other precipitation on wings and fuselages, which may compromise the safety of the aircraft and its occupants. In flight, aircraft rely on a variety of mechanisms to avoid rime and other types of icing in clouds, these include pulsing pneumatic boots, electro-thermal areas that generate heat, and fluid deicers that bleed onto the surface. #### Rail Railroads have traditionally employed two types of snow plows for clearing track, the wedge plow, which casts snow to both sides, and the rotary snowplow, which is suited for addressing heavy snowfall and casting snow far to one side or the other. Prior to the invention of the rotary snowplow ca. 1865, it required multiple locomotives to drive a wedge plow through deep snow. Subsequent to clearing the track with such plows, a "flanger" is used to clear snow from between the rails that are below the reach of the other types of plow. Where icing may affect the steel-to-steel contact of locomotive wheels on track, abrasives (typically sand) have been used to provide traction on steeper uphills. Railroads employ snow sheds—structures that cover the track—to prevent the accumulation of heavy snow or avalanches to cover tracks in snowy mountainous areas, such as the Alps and the Rocky Mountains. #### Construction Snow can be compacted to form a snow road and be part of a winter road route for vehicles to access isolated communities or construction projects during the winter. Snow can also be used to provide the supporting structure and surface for a runway, as with the Phoenix Airfield in Antarctica. The snow-compacted runway is designed to withstand approximately 60 wheeled flights of heavy-lift military aircraft a year. ### Agriculture Snowfall can be beneficial to agriculture by serving as a thermal insulator, conserving the heat of the Earth and protecting crops from subfreezing weather. Some agricultural areas depend on an accumulation of snow during winter that will melt gradually in spring, providing water for crop growth, both directly and via runoff through streams and rivers, which supply irrigation canals. The following are examples of rivers that rely on meltwater from glaciers or seasonal snowpack as an important part of their flow on which irrigation depends: the Ganges, many of whose tributaries rise in the Himalayas and which provide much irrigation in northeast India, the Indus River, which rises in Tibet and provides irrigation water to Pakistan from rapidly retreating Tibetan glaciers, and the Colorado River, which receives much of its water from seasonal snowpack in the Rocky Mountains and provides irrigation water to some 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares). ### Structures Snow is an important consideration for loads on structures. To address these, European countries employ Eurocode 1: Actions on structures - Part 1-3: General actions - Snow loads. In North America, ASCE Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures gives guidance on snow loads. Both standards employ methods that translate maximum expected ground snow loads onto design loads for roofs. #### Roofs Snow loads and icings are two principal issues for roofs. Snow loads are related to the climate in which a structure is sited. Icings are usually a result of the building or structure generating heat that melts the snow that is on it. Snow loads – The Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures gives guidance on how to translate the following factors into roof snow loads: - Ground snow loads - Exposure of the roof - Thermal properties of the roof - Shape of the roof - Drifting - Importance of the building It gives tables for ground snow loads by region and a methodology for computing ground snow loads that may vary with elevation from nearby, measured values. The Eurocode 1 uses similar methodologies, starting with ground snow loads that are tabulated for portions of Europe. Icings – Roofs must also be designed to avoid ice dams, which result from meltwater running under the snow on the roof and freezing at the eave. Ice dams on roofs form when accumulated snow on a sloping roof melts and flows down the roof, under the insulating blanket of snow, until it reaches below freezing temperature air, typically at the eaves. When the meltwater reaches the freezing air, ice accumulates, forming a dam, and snow that melts later cannot drain properly through the dam. Ice dams may result in damaged building materials or in damage or injury when the ice dam falls off or from attempts to remove ice dams. The melting results from heat passing through the roof under the highly insulating layer of snow. #### Utility lines In areas with trees, utility distribution lines on poles are less susceptible to snow loads than they are subject to damage from trees falling on them, felled by heavy, wet snow. Elsewhere, snow can accrete on power lines as "sleeves" of rime ice. Engineers design for such loads, which are measured in kg/m (lb/ft) and power companies have forecasting systems that anticipate types of weather that may cause such accretions. Rime ice may be removed manually or by creating a sufficient short circuit in the affected segment of power lines to melt the accretions. ### Sports and recreation Snow figures into many winter sports and forms of recreation, including skiing and sledding. Common examples include cross-country skiing, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. The design of the equipment used, e.g. skis and snowboards, typically relies on the bearing strength of snow and contends with the coefficient of friction bearing on snow. Skiing is by far the largest form of winter recreation. As of 1994, of the estimated 65–75 million skiers worldwide, there were approximately 55 million who engaged in Alpine skiing, the rest engaged in cross-country skiing. Approximately 30 million skiers (of all kinds) were in Europe, 15 million in the US, and 14 million in Japan. As of 1996, there were reportedly 4,500 ski areas, operating 26,000 ski lifts and enjoying 390 million skier visits per year. The preponderant region for downhill skiing was Europe, followed by Japan and the US. Increasingly, ski resorts are relying on snowmaking, the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a snow gun on ski slopes. Snowmaking is mainly used to supplement natural snow at ski resorts. This allows them to improve the reliability of their snow cover and to extend their ski seasons from late autumn to early spring. The production of snow requires low temperatures. The threshold temperature for snowmaking increases as humidity decreases. Wet-bulb temperature is used as a metric since it takes air temperature and relative humidity into account. Snowmaking is a relatively expensive process in its energy consumption, thereby limiting its use. Ski wax enhances the ability of a ski (or other runner) to slide over snow by reducing its coefficient of friction, which depends on both the properties of the snow and the ski to result in an optimum amount of lubrication from melting the snow by friction with the ski—too little and the ski interacts with solid snow crystals, too much and capillary attraction of meltwater retards the ski. Before a ski can slide, it must overcome the maximum value static friction. Kinetic (or dynamic) friction occurs when the ski is moving over the snow. ### Warfare Snow affects warfare conducted in winter, alpine environments or at high latitudes. The main factors are impaired visibility for acquiring targets during falling snow, enhanced visibility of targets against snowy backgrounds for targeting, and mobility for both mechanized and infantry troops. Snowfall can severely inhibit the logistics of supplying troops, as well. Snow can also provide cover and fortification against small-arms fire. Noted winter warfare campaigns where snow and other factors affected the operations include: - The French invasion of Russia, where poor traction conditions for ill-shod horses made it difficult for supply wagons to keep up with troops. That campaign was also strongly affected by cold, whereby the retreating army reached Neman River in December 1812 with only 10,000 of the 420,000 that had set out to invade Russia in June of the same year. - The Winter War, an attempt by the Soviet Union to take territory in Finland in late 1939 demonstrated superior winter tactics of the Finnish Army, regarding over-snow mobility, camouflage, and use of the terrain. - The Battle of the Bulge, a German counteroffensive during World War II, starting December 16, 1944, was marked by heavy snowstorms that hampered allied air support for ground troops, but also impaired German attempts to supply their front lines. On the Eastern Front with the Nazi invasion of Russia in 1941, Operation Barbarossa, both Russian and German soldiers had to endure terrible conditions during the Russian winter. While use of ski infantry was common in the Red Army, Germany formed only one division for movement on skis. - The Korean War which lasted from June 25, 1950, until an armistice on July 27, 1953, began when North Korea invaded South Korea. Much of the fighting occurred during winter conditions, involving snow, notably during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, which was a stark example of cold affecting military operations, especially vehicles and weapons. ## Effects on plants and animals Plants and animals endemic to snowbound areas develop ways to adapt. Among the adaptive mechanisms for plants are freeze-adaptive chemistry, dormancy, seasonal dieback, survival of seeds; and for animals are hibernation, insulation, anti-freeze chemistry, storing food, drawing on reserves from within the body, and clustering for mutual heat. Snow interacts with vegetation in two principal ways, vegetation can influence the deposition and retention of snow and, conversely, the presence of snow can affect the distribution and growth of vegetation. Tree branches, especially of conifers intercept falling snow and prevent accumulation on the ground. Snow suspended in trees ablates more rapidly than that on the ground, owing to its greater exposure to sun and air movement. Trees and other plants can also promote snow retention on the ground, which would otherwise be blown elsewhere or melted by the sun. Snow affects vegetation in several ways, the presence of stored water can promote growth, yet the annual onset of growth is dependent on the departure of the snowpack for those plants that are buried beneath it. Furthermore, avalanches and erosion from snowmelt can scour terrain of vegetation. Snow supports a wide variety of animals both on the surface and beneath. Many invertebrates thrive in snow, including spiders, wasps, beetles, snow scorpionflys and springtails. Such arthropods are typically active at temperatures down to −5 °C (23 °F). Invertebrates fall into two groups, regarding surviving subfreezing temperatures: freezing resistant and those that avoid freezing because they are freeze-sensitive. The first group may be cold hardy owing to the ability to produce antifreeze agents in their body fluids that allows survival of long exposure to sub-freezing conditions. Some organisms fast during the winter, which expels freezing-sensitive contents from their digestive tracts. The ability to survive the absence of oxygen in ice is an additional survival mechanism. Small vertebrates are active beneath the snow. Among vertebrates, alpine salamanders are active in snow at temperatures as low as −8 °C (18 °F); they burrow to the surface in springtime and lay their eggs in melt ponds. Among mammals, those that remain active are typically smaller than 250 grams (8.8 oz). Omnivores are more likely to enter a torpor or be hibernators, whereas herbivores are more likely to maintain food caches beneath the snow. Voles store up to 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) of food and pikas up to 20 kilograms (44 lb). Voles also huddle in communal nests to benefit from one another's warmth. On the surface, wolves, coyotes, foxes, lynx, and weasels rely on these subsurface dwellers for food and often dive into the snowpack to find them. ## Outside of Earth Extraterrestrial "snow" includes water-based precipitation, but also precipitation of other compounds prevalent on other planets and moons in the Solar System. Examples are: - On Mars, observations of the Phoenix Mars lander reveal that water-based snow crystals occur at high latitudes. Additionally, carbon dioxide precipitates from clouds during the Martian winters at the poles and contributes to a seasonal deposit of that compound, which is the principal component of that planet's ice caps. - On Venus, observations from the Magellan spacecraft reveal the presence a metallic substance, which precipitates as "Venus snow" and leaves a highly reflective substance at the tops of Venus's highest mountain peaks resembling terrestrial snow. Given the high temperatures on Venus, the leading candidates for the precipitate are lead sulfide and bismuth(III) sulfide. - On Saturn's moon, Titan, Cassini–Huygens spacecraft observations suggest the presence of methane or some other form of hydrocarbon-based crystalline deposits. ## See also Lexicon - Eskimo words for snow - The wrong type of snow Notable snow events - 2007 Siberian orange snow - Alberta clipper - List of blizzards - List of snowiest places in the United States by state Recreation - Skiing - Sled - Snow angel - Snow cannon - Snowman - Snowmobiling - Winter sport Related concepts - Blizzard - Freezing rain - Frost - Graupel - Hail - Ice - Ice pellets - Rime - Sleet - Snowbelt Science and scientists - Snow hydrology - Timeline of snowflake research - Ukichiro Nakaya Snow structures - Igloo - Quinzhee - Snow cave - Snow grooming

Subcutaneous emphysema

Subcutaneous emphysema (SCE, SE) occurs when gas or air accumulates and seeps under the skin, where normally no gas should be present. Subcutaneous refers to the subcutaneous tissue, and emphysema refers to trapped air pockets. Since the air generally comes from the chest cavity, subcutaneous emphysema usually occurs around the upper torso, such as on the chest, neck, face, axillae and arms, where it is able to travel with little resistance along the loose connective tissue within the superficial fascia. Subcutaneous emphysema has a characteristic crackling-feel to the touch, a sensation that has been described as similar to touching warm Rice Krispies. This sensation of air under the skin is known as subcutaneous crepitation, a form of crepitus. Numerous etiologies of subcutaneous emphysema have been described. Pneumomediastinum was first recognized as a medical entity by Laennec, who reported it as a consequence of trauma in 1819. Later, in 1939, at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Dr. Louis Hamman described it in postpartum woman; indeed, subcutaneous emphysema is sometimes known as Hamman's syndrome. However, in some medical circles, it can instead be more commonly known as Macklin's Syndrome after L. Macklin, in 1939, and C.C. and M.T. Macklin, in 1944, who cumulatively went on to describe the pathophysiology in more detail. Subcutaneous emphysema can result from puncture of parts of the respiratory or gastrointestinal systems. Particularly in the chest and neck, air may become trapped as a result of penetrating trauma (e.g., gunshot wounds or stab wounds) or blunt trauma. Infection (e.g., gas gangrene) can cause gas to be trapped in the subcutaneous tissues. Subcutaneous emphysema can be caused by medical procedures and medical conditions that cause the pressure in the alveoli of the lung to be higher than that in the tissues outside of them. Its most common causes are pneumothorax or a chest tube that has become occluded by a blood clot or fibrinous material. It can also occur spontaneously due to rupture of the alveoli, with dramatic presentation. When the condition is caused by surgery it is called surgical emphysema. The term spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema is used when the cause is not clear. Subcutaneous emphysema is not typically dangerous in and of itself, however it can be a symptom of very dangerous underlying conditions, such as pneumothorax. Although the underlying conditions require treatment, subcutaneous emphysema usually does not; small amounts of air are reabsorbed by the body. However, subcutaneous emphysema can be uncomfortable and may interfere with breathing, and is often treated by removing air from the tissues, for example by using large bore needles, skin incisions or subcutaneous catheterization. ## Symptoms and signs Signs and symptoms of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema vary based on the cause, but it is often associated with swelling of the neck and chest pain, and may also involve sore throat, neck pain, difficulty swallowing, wheezing and difficulty breathing. Chest X-rays may show air in the mediastinum, the middle of the chest cavity. A significant case of subcutaneous emphysema can be detected by touching the overlying skin, which will feel like tissue paper or Rice Krispies. Touching the bubbles causes them to move and sometimes make a crackling noise. The air bubbles, which are painless and feel like small nodules to the touch, may burst when the skin above them is palpated. The tissues surrounding SCE are usually swollen. If large amounts of air leak into the tissues around the head, the face can swell considerably. In cases of subcutaneous emphysema around the neck, there may be a feeling of fullness in the neck, and the sound of the voice may change. If SCE is particularly extreme around the neck and chest, the swelling can interfere with breathing. The air can travel to many parts of the body, including the abdomen and limbs, because there are no separations in the fatty tissue in the skin to prevent the air from moving. ## Causes ### Trauma Conditions that cause subcutaneous emphysema may result from both blunt and penetrating trauma; SCE is often the result of a stabbing or gunshot wound. Subcutaneous emphysema is often found in car accident victims because of the force of the crash. Chest trauma, a major cause of subcutaneous emphysema, can cause air to enter the skin of the chest wall from the neck or lung. When the pleural membranes are punctured, as occurs in penetrating trauma of the chest, air may travel from the lung to the muscles and subcutaneous tissue of the chest wall. When the alveoli of the lung are ruptured, as occurs in pulmonary laceration, air may travel beneath the visceral pleura (the membrane lining the lung), to the hilum of the lung, up to the trachea, to the neck and then to the chest wall. The condition may also occur when a fractured rib punctures a lung; in fact, 27% of patients who have rib fractures also have subcutaneous emphysema. Rib fractures may tear the parietal pleura, the membrane lining the inside of chest wall, allowing air to escape into the subcutaneous tissues. Subcutaneous emphysema is frequently found in pneumothorax (air outside of the lung in the chest cavity) and may also result from pneumomediastinum (air in the mediastinum) or pneumopericardium (air in the pericardial cavity around the heart). A tension pneumothorax, in which air builds up in the pleural cavity and exerts pressure on the organs within the chest, makes it more likely that air will enter the subcutaneous tissues through pleura torn by a broken rib. When subcutaneous emphysema results from pneumothorax, air may enter tissues including those of the face, neck, chest, armpits, or abdomen. Pneumomediastinum can result from a number of events. For example, foreign body aspiration, in which someone inhales an object, can cause pneumomediastinum (and lead to subcutaneous emphysema) by puncturing the airways or by increasing the pressure in the affected lung(s) enough to cause them to burst. Subcutaneous emphysema of the chest wall is commonly among the first indications that barotrauma, damage caused by excessive pressure, has occurred; it suggests that the lung was subjected to significant barotrauma. Thus the phenomenon may occur in diving injuries. Trauma to parts of the respiratory system other than the lungs, such as rupture of a bronchial tube, may also cause subcutaneous emphysema. Air may travel upward to the neck from a pneumomediastinum that results from a bronchial rupture, or downward from a torn trachea or larynx into the soft tissues of the chest. It may also occur with fractures of the facial bones, neoplasms, during asthma attacks, as an adverse effect of the Heimlich maneuver, and during childbirth. Injury with pneumatic tools is also known to cause subcutaneous emphysema, even in extremities (the arms and legs). It can also occur as a result of rupture of the esophagus; when it does, it is usually as a late sign. ### Medical treatment Subcutaneous emphysema is a common result of certain types of surgery; for example it is not unusual in chest surgery. It may also occur from surgery around the esophagus, and is particularly likely in prolonged surgery. Other potential causes are positive pressure ventilation for any reason and by any technique, in which its occurrence is frequently unexpected. It may also occur as a result of oral surgery, laparoscopy, and cricothyrotomy. In a pneumonectomy, in which an entire lung is removed, the remaining bronchial stump may leak air, a rare but very serious condition that leads to progressive subcutaneous emphysema. Air can leak out of the pleural space through an incision made for a thoracotomy to cause subcutaneous emphysema. On infrequent occasions, the condition can result from dental surgery, usually due to use of high-speed tools that are air driven. These cases result in immediate onset (usually) painless swelling of the face and neck; crepitus (crunching sound) typical of subcutaneous emphysema is often present and the subcutaneous air will be visible on X-ray. One of the main causes of subcutaneous emphysema, along with pneumothorax, is an improperly functioning chest tube. Thus subcutaneous emphysema is often a sign that something is wrong with a chest tube; it may be clogged, clamped, or out of place. The tube may need to be replaced, or, if large amounts of air are leaking, a new tube may be added. Since mechanical ventilation can worsen a pneumothorax, it can force air into the tissues; when subcutaneous emphysema occurs in a ventilated patient, it is an indication that the ventilation may have caused a pneumothorax. It is not unusual for subcutaneous emphysema to result from positive pressure ventilation. Another possible cause is a ruptured trachea. The trachea may be injured by tracheostomy or tracheal intubation; in cases of tracheal injury, large amounts of air can enter the subcutaneous space. An endotracheal tube can puncture the trachea or bronchi and cause subcutaneous emphysema. ### Infection Air can be trapped under the skin in necrotizing infections such as gangrene, occurring as a late sign in gas gangrene, of which it is the hallmark sign. Subcutaneous emphysema is also considered a hallmark of Fournier gangrene. Symptoms of subcutaneous emphysema can result when infectious organisms produce gas by fermentation. When emphysema occurs due to infection, signs that the infection is systemic (i.e. that it has spread beyond the initial location) are also present. ## Pathophysiology Air is able to travel to the soft tissues of the neck from the mediastinum and the retroperitoneum (the space behind the abdominal cavity) because these areas are connected by fascial planes. From the punctured lungs or airways, the air travels up the perivascular sheaths and into the mediastinum, from which it can enter the subcutaneous tissues. Spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema is thought to result from increased pressures in the lung that cause alveoli to rupture. In spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema, air travels from the ruptured alveoli into the interstitium and along the blood vessels of the lung, into the mediastinum and from there into the tissues of the neck or head. ## Diagnosis Significant cases of subcutaneous emphysema are easy to diagnose because of the characteristic signs of the condition. In some cases, the signs are subtle, making diagnosis more difficult. Medical imaging is used to diagnose the condition or confirm a diagnosis made using clinical signs. On a chest radiograph, subcutaneous emphysema may be seen as radiolucent striations in the pattern expected from the pectoralis major muscle group. Air in the subcutaneous tissues may interfere with radiography of the chest, potentially obscuring serious conditions such as pneumothorax. It can also reduce the effectiveness of chest ultrasound. On the other hand, since subcutaneous emphysema may become apparent in chest X-rays before a pneumothorax does, its presence may be used to infer that of the latter injury. Subcutaneous emphysema can also be seen in CT scans, with the air pockets appearing as dark areas. CT scanning is so sensitive that it commonly makes it possible to find the exact spot from which air is entering the soft tissues. In 1944, M.T. Macklin and C.C. Macklin published further insights into the pathophysiology of spontaneous Macklin's Syndrome occurring as a result of a severe asthmatic attack. The presence of subcutaneous emphysema in a person who appears quite ill and febrile after bouts of vomiting followed by left chest pain is very suggestive of the diagnosis of Boerhaave's syndrome, which is a life-threatening emergency caused by rupture of the distal esophagus. Subcutaneous emphysema can be a complication of CO₂ insufflation with laparoscopic surgery. A sudden rise in end-tidal CO₂ following the initial rise that occurs with insufflation (first 15-30 min) should raise suspicion of subcutaneous emphysema. Of note, there are no changes in the pulse oximetry or airway pressure in subcutaneous emphysema, unlike in endobronchial intubation, capnothorax, pneumothorax, or CO₂ embolism. ## Treatment Subcutaneous emphysema is usually benign. Most of the time, SCE itself does not need treatment (though the conditions from which it results may); however, if the amount of air is large, it can interfere with breathing and be uncomfortable. It occasionally progresses to a state "Massive Subcutaneous Emphysema" which is quite uncomfortable and requires surgical drainage. When the amount of air pushed out of the airways or lung becomes massive, usually due to positive pressure ventilation, the eyelids may swell so much that the patient cannot see. The pressure of the air may impede the blood flow to the areolae of the breast and skin of the scrotum or labia which can lead to necrosis. The latter are urgent situations requiring rapid, adequate decompression. Severe cases can compress the trachea and do require treatment. In severe cases of subcutaneous emphysema, catheters can be placed in the subcutaneous tissue to release the air. Small cuts, or "blow holes", may be made in the skin to release the gas. When subcutaneous emphysema occurs due to pneumothorax, a chest tube is frequently used to control the latter; this eliminates the source of the air entering the subcutaneous space. If the volume of subcutaneous air is increasing, it may be that the chest tube is not removing air rapidly enough, so it may be replaced with a larger one. Suction may also be applied to the tube to remove air faster. The progression of the condition can be monitored by marking the boundaries of the emphysema on the patient's skin. Since treatment usually involves dealing with the underlying condition, cases of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema may require nothing more than bed rest, medication to control pain, and perhaps supplemental oxygen. Breathing oxygen may help the body to absorb the subcutaneous air more quickly. ## Prognosis Air in subcutaneous tissue does not usually pose a lethal threat; small amounts of air are reabsorbed by the body. Once the pneumothorax or pneumomediastinum that causes the subcutaneous emphysema is resolved, with or without medical intervention, the subcutaneous emphysema will usually clear. However, spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema can, in rare cases, progress to a life-threatening condition, and subcutaneous emphysema due to mechanical ventilation may induce ventilatory failure. ## History The first report of subcutaneous emphysema resulting from air in the mediastinum was made in 1850 in a patient who had been coughing violently. In 1900, the first recorded case of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema was reported in a bugler for the Royal Marines who had had a tooth extracted: playing the instrument had forced air through the hole where the tooth had been and into the tissues of his face. Since then, another case of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema was reported in a submariner for the US Navy who had had a root canal in the past; the increased pressure in the submarine forced air through it and into his face. A case was reported at the University Hospital of Wales of a young man who had been coughing violently causing a rupture in the esophagus resulting in SE. The cause of spontaneous subcutaneous emphysema was clarified between 1939 and 1944 by Macklin, contributing to the current understanding of the pathophysiology of the condition.

University of Dayton Ghetto

Human settlement in Dayton, Ohio, United States of America

The University of Dayton Ghetto, officially the Student Neighborhood, located in Dayton, Ohio, is home to upperclassmen at the University of Dayton (UD). Housing in "the Ghetto" is leased in an arrangement that resembles both traditional university housing and a landlord/tenant relationship. Tracing its history back to the 1870s, the neighborhood now includes more than 200 university-owned houses as well as landlord-owned houses, high-density housing and gathering spaces. With the inclusion of Holy Angels and The Darkside, or officially "the North Student Neighborhood", two smaller neighborhoods the university owns property in, there are more than 400 houses currently used as student residential space. Because of the area's age, the university has been engaged in a program to renovate and update the houses, and several additional changes to the neighborhood are expected in the coming years as part of the university's Master Plan. ## History and geography Dayton's Student Neighborhood is south of downtown Dayton but north of the city of Oakwood. The Great Miami River is just more than half a mile to the west, and Interstate 75 is just more than a mile to the west. In its current form, it is bounded by Brown Street to the west, Irving Avenue to the south, Trinity Avenue and Evanston Avenue to the east, and Caldwell Street and Stonemill Road to the north. This gives the area a roughly triangular shape. The land on which the Neighborhood sits was owned by John Henry Patterson until the mid-1870s. The land was then divided between suburban housing lots to the east and the NCR factory to the west. The original proprietors of the neighborhood were Thomas S. Babbitt, Dr. Joseph E. Lowes, R. D. Hughes and Harry Kiefaber. The area was known as the town of Babbitt, and in its original form included only four streets: Lowes Street, Kiefaber Street, Hughes (now Stonemill Road) and Wead (now Lawnview Avenue). This core area was measured at 47 acres (190,000 m²). The NCR Corporation used Babbitt as housing for its workers. In 1906, the area was annexed by the city of Dayton and continued on as a middle-class neighborhood. The University of Dayton, Babbitt's neighbor to the northeast, began to buy available houses in the neighborhood in the 1950s as an experiment in off-campus housing. By the 1970s, the student population of the area was growing rapidly. While it is unknown when the area began its life as the Ghetto, there have been several efforts to rename it. In the 1960s, Rev. Norbert Burns, who taught at the university for 62 years before retiring in 2007 at the age of 82, was part of one such effort. His committee attempted to change the name to the "Village," an effort which ultimately failed. University administrators now refer to the area as the "Student Neighborhood," as the phrase "Ghetto" is offensive to many students and faculty at the school. ## Changes since 2000 As the houses in the Ghetto age, and as the number of students wishing to live in the Ghetto expands, the university has begun a renovation and replacement program with the goal of keeping the current feel of the area intact. In 2000, construction began on several new duplexes to fill land that was unused, resulting in housing for several dozen additional students. The duplexes housed six students per side, for a total of 12 students each. In 2003, the university continued the project by tearing down several houses on Stonemill Road and replacing them with a new five-person design. Several more of these houses have now been built throughout the Ghetto. In 2006, the university began a new phase of replacement and renovation in the neighborhood, in which \$2.5 million was spent to renovate four existing structures, including a duplex, as well as to build a five-unit set of attached townhouses. The houses, located on Frericks Way and Stonemill Road, house 55 students and include the famous "Castle" which has been given a new faux-stone facade in homage to its traditional name. The houses became available to students for the 2007 – 2008 academic year. The new wave of construction brings the university's stock of houses to 328, including several duplexes. Not including these new additions, as of 2005, the university owned 225 houses in the Ghetto, with the rest on the Darkside, the other half of the University of Dayton campus. Additionally, 73 houses in the neighborhood were owned by private landlords and rented to UD students. The newest building in the South Student Neighborhood is currently under construction on the corner of Frericks and Lowes Streets. The building standing there previously, the McGinnis Center was demolished, and the new construction will be called the Adele Center, after one of the co-founding Marianist women, Mother Adele de Bats de Trenquelléon, that the University of Dayton reveres. The \$11.2 million apartment building will feature 96 new living spaces for upperclassmen students, with a first-floor front desk, office space, and other multipurpose spaces to serve the university. The building is set to open in the fall of 2018. ## Holy Angels and the Darkside In addition to the properties the university owns in the Ghetto, there are also student houses located in two other neighborhoods: the Darkside—or North Student Neighborhood, as it is referred to by the university—and Holy Angels, also known as "College Park". Once considered a single neighborhood and connected by the north-south Alberta Street, the areas were separated when the Thomas J. Frericks Center and a new formal entrance were added. Alberta Street now acts as the main thoroughfare for the Darkside, while the street has been rerouted and renamed College Park Avenue in the Holy Angels/College Park neighborhood. It is cut off from the portion in the Ghetto, renamed Frericks Way. The Darkside, which derives its name from a lack of street lights when students first began to move to the area, is bounded by Stewart Street to the south, Brown Street to the west, Woodland Cemetery to the east and Wyoming Street to the north. Traditionally, the Darkside has served as housing for juniors. Now with the introduction of AVIATE and points accumulated towards housing (More commonly referred to as PATH credits), Juniors and Seniors are more evenly distributed between the two. Both Juniors and Seniors are even in the assignments process and groups with more PATH credits chose their location first, regardless of seniority. The third and smallest neighborhood, Holy Angels, derives its name from the Holy Angels Church and School that occupies the center of the area. Holy Angels is often alternatively referred to as College Park. It lies between the Darkside and the Ghetto, but is physically separated from them by Stewart Street and the Frericks Center parking lot. ## Features Not all of the houses in the student neighborhoods are occupied by students. Four houses in both the Ghetto and the Darkside – on Trinity Avenue, Kiefaber Street, Stonemill Road and Chambers Street — are home to groups of Marianists, the Catholic religious institute behind UD. Between six and 10 Marianists live in each house. They serve the university as ministers, groundskeepers, administrators and professors, among other professions. The Ghetto also contains several high-density living areas, including the Garden Apartments, the Lawnview Apartments and the Campus South, a high-rise living complex for sophomores. In 2004, the ArtStreet complex opened, intended as a combined living-learning space. It includes housing for 56 students, as well as a cafe, an amphitheater, rehearsal rooms, several activity rooms and gallery spaces, and a new studio for the campus radio station, WUDR. The Ghetto was also home to the McGinnis school house, which was acquired in 1982 and renamed the McGinnis Center; it is used as a central point of contact for residents. In 2017 McGinnis Center was demolished to make room for the addition of an \$11 million apartment style building. The building is set to open for the 2018 Fall semester. Some houses in the neighborhood have been given informal nicknames by which they are commonly known, such as "The Deli House" at 237 Lowes St., "The F Shaq" at 418 Lowes St. and "The Crack House" at 1439 Frericks Way. For the majority of houses, nicknames are arbitrary and vary year to year. In addition, many houses in the Ghetto are those occupied by various fraternities, sororities and other special interest groups. ## Future In 2002, the University of Dayton released a Master Plan which called for the renovation and construction of several houses, an extension to Stonemill Road to connect directly to Evanston Avenue, and the enlargement and clean-up of the parking areas in the alleys behind the houses. Despite ongoing rumors, there were no plans to replace the neighborhood with more high-density housing and other university buildings, despite the landlocked nature of the campus. In June 2005, before the plan could be realized, the university made a \$25 million purchase of an additional 49 acres (200,000 m²)—much of the land which was once home to the NCR Corporation—as well as a new 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) building on Brown Street. The area, renamed Mid Campus, prompted the development of a new Campus Master Plan. While several new buildings have been planned, many of the changes that had been proposed to the Ghetto in the previous master plan are no longer included in the new plan. The largest feature affecting the student neighborhoods is a new building to the east of Alberta Street, between Chambers Street and Obell Court, on the Darkside. According to the draft of the master plan, the building is intended to be a sustainable residence hall, a 75- to 90-bed facility that would also include an educational wing. The proposed building would use technologies such as solar energy, geothermal heating and cooling, compost piles and low-flow showers. The plan also calls for a walk/bike greenway to link the neighborhood to the core of campus and the athletic complex.

Apocrypha (The X-Files)

"Apocrypha" is the sixteenth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files. It premiered on the Fox network on February 16, 1996. It was directed by Kim Manners, and written by Frank Spotnitz and series creator Chris Carter. "Apocrypha" included appearances by John Neville, Don S. Williams and Brendan Beiser. The episode helped to explore the overarching mythology, or fictional history of The X-Files. "Apocrypha" earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8, being watched by 16.71 million people in its initial broadcast. The show centers on FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) who work on cases linked to the paranormal, called X-Files. In this episode, Mulder returns from Hong Kong, having found rogue agent Alex Krycek (Nicholas Lea) while investigating a mysterious mind-altering black oil. Meanwhile, Scully pursues the man who she believes killed her sister. "Apocrypha" is the second part of a two-part episode, continuing the plot from the previous episode, "Piper Maru". "Apocrypha" was the first mythology-centered episode to be directed by Manners, and made use of a mixture of physical and digital effects to create the episode's antagonistic black oil. The episode's sets were also augmented with digital effects, amplifying what could be constructed within the given budget. ## Plot On August 19, 1953, a burned crewman talks to three government agents about his experience on the submarine Zeus Faber, completing the story told in the previous episode. He explains that he and other crew members were locked in with their captain, who was infected by the black oil. After being knocked out from behind, the black oil leaves the captain's body and exits via a grate into the sea. It is revealed that Bill Mulder and the Smoking Man are two of the agents who are interviewing the crewman. In the present, Fox Mulder and Alex Krycek return to the United States, but are run off the road by another vehicle. The assailants attempt to apprehend Krycek, but are severely injured when he emits a flashing light. The Smoking Man sees their bodies and orders their destruction. Mulder, who was knocked unconscious in the crash, awakens in the hospital. Dana Scully tells Mulder about Walter Skinner's condition, and says that an analysis of saliva has identified his shooter as the same person who killed her sister Melissa. The Syndicate meets to discuss the events surrounding the Piper Maru and realizes someone is leaking information. Meanwhile, Skinner tells Scully that he recognizes his shooter as the man who was with Krycek when the digital tape was stolen from him. Mulder believes that the oil found on the diving suit and Gauthier is a medium used by an alien to transfer from body to body, and that Krycek is currently occupied by it. Mulder and the Lone Gunmen use Krycek's key to recover the tape from a locker at an ice rink, but Mulder finds the case empty. Krycek returns the tape to the Smoking Man in exchange for the location of the recovered UFO. As Luis Cardinal is identified as Skinner's shooter, the Syndicate admonishes the Smoking Man for moving the UFO to a new location. By rubbing a pencil over the envelope containing the tape case, Mulder finds a phone number which connects him to the Syndicate's office. Mulder speaks to the Well-Manicured Man, who offers to meet with him. The Well-Manicured Man tells Mulder that a UFO was sunk during World War II and that a cover story of a sunken atomic bomb was used to cover up its attempted recovery. He reveals that anyone can be gotten to, causing Mulder to ask Scully to check on Skinner. Scully accompanies Skinner as he is being transported in an ambulance. When Cardinal attempts to break in, she tracks him down and arrests him. Cardinal tells her that Krycek is headed to an abandoned missile silo in Black Crow, North Dakota. There, the agents are captured by the Smoking Man's men and are escorted away. Deep inside, Krycek sits atop the UFO and coughs out the black oil, which seeps into the ship. Skinner recovers and returns to work. Mulder sees Scully at Melissa's grave, explaining that Cardinal was found dead in his cell. Meanwhile, Krycek is trapped within the silo, banging on the door in an attempt to be let out. ## Production Conception of the episode was based around a visual image series creator Chris Carter had wanted to include in a script "since the beginning of the show". The image was of a black-and-white flashback taking place in a submarine. The episode's title is a reference to Biblical apocrypha, which series creator Chris Carter felt was appropriate to the episode's thematic concerns—hidden documents and truths not brought to light. Director Kim Manners had directed a number of stand alone "monster of the week" episodes, but this was his first mythology-centered episode. Manners explained that "there is some individual creative contribution from the directors" in stand-alone episodes, but that with mythology episodes "what you need to as a director is to be sure that the performances are there ... and that the yarn is presented in its cleanest and most interesting fashion". Nicholas Lea was fitted with a mask with tubes for the scene where the alien black oil leaves his body. Lea said filming the scene was horrible, and the scene ended up having to be filmed again a few days later. The similar scene from the start of the episode with the submarine captain was accomplished with a dummy head. The depiction of the oil in this scene was originally filmed using a magnetic fluid pulled along with magnets, although the end result of this was deemed not be "menacing" enough, and looked "a little bit comic". To fix this, the sound stage used to represent the submarine's interior was rebuilt so it could be rocked back and forth, with the movement being used to guide the flow of a different liquid. This effect was then enhanced digitally in post-production. The black oil effect over people's eyes was accomplished by inserting the footage digitally in post production. The missile silo used for the episode's climactic scene was incomplete when the scene was filmed, as the crew did not have enough time or money left to complete the set. The crew built the incomplete silo on a sound stage around a completed spacecraft prop, and were able to digitally extend the set with computer generated interiors to give the impression of a much larger silo. Exterior shots of the silo building were also enhanced digitally, with various buildings and machinery created with computer generated imagery and composited into the exterior shots. ## Broadcast and reception "Apocrypha" premiered on the Fox network on February 16, 1996, and was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on December 4, 1996. The episode earned a Nielsen household rating of 10.8 with an 18 share, meaning that roughly 10.8 percent of all television-equipped households, and 18 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. A total of 16.71 million viewers watched this episode during its original airing. In an overview of the third season in Entertainment Weekly, "Apocrypha" was rated an A. The review noted that the episode offered "some interesting progressions in the grand theme" of the series, although it was also "worth it just for the awesome missile site finale" alone. Writing for The A.V. Club, Zack Handlen also rated the episode an A. Handlen felt the episode was impressive in its general impression, but that the details were not necessarily important; he also added that the cyclical nature of the plot of most mythology episodes was not something he felt negatively about, noting that although the series' protagonists are often defeated, they "can't be corrupted or dissuaded or undone". Co-writer Frank Spotnitz said of the episode "I actually think you didn't learn a lot more about the conspiracy in these two episodes, but emotionally, I think they were really good episodes ... It is really easy to go through a lot of these action things with people dying and never addressing them. So I thought it was very interesting to do so". Terrorist Timothy McVeigh, a fan of The X-Files, asked his defense team to watch the episode "Apocrypha" with him to showcase its "covert meetings in the night, secret goings-on" and "ghost government." At McVeigh's request, his attorneys included questions on The X-Files in the jury-screening questionnaire.

Ediel López Falcón

Mexican drug lord

Ediel López Falcón (born 1973/1974), also known as La Muela or Metro 5, is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He was the regional boss of Miguel Alemán and helped coordinate international drug trafficking shipments from South and Central America to Mexico and the U.S. His roles in the cartel were also to coordinate oil theft operations. In 2012, he was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for drug trafficking activities. After fleeing Mexico to avoid gang-related violence, López Falcón was arrested in Texas during a sting operation in 2013. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in 2015. He is currently imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix in New Jersey. His expected release date is in 2029. ## Early life and career Ediel López Falcón was born in in Mexico. He was a high-ranking member of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, Mexico. He worked under a faction known as Los Metros. His code name was "Metro 5" ("M-5"). López Falcón also went by the alias "La Muela" (English: The Molar). López Falcón rose through the ranks of the cartel after several of his bosses were arrested or killed in the 2010s. He became the regional boss of Miguel Alemán, a city across the U.S.-Mexico border from Roma, Texas, from where he oversaw drug trafficking operations from Tamaulipas to Texas, and oil theft operations. In 2010, the Gulf Cartel and their former paramilitary group Los Zetas broke ties, triggering high levels of gang violence across Mexico. In 2011, Gulf Cartel members killed Los Metros chief Samuel Flores Borrego ("Metro 3"), which intensified the violence, starting a series of internal battles within the cartel. Several members of the Gulf Cartel were arrested or killed during this time, while others, like López Falcón, sought safe haven and relocated to the U.S with their families. According to a sealed indictment sworn in by a grand jury of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (D.D.C.) on 7 May 2012, sometime in or around 2000 and up until February 2010, López Falcón and other members of the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas conspired with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms (11 lb) of cocaine and 1,000 kilograms (2,200 lb) of marijuana into the U.S. from Colombia, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico and elsewhere. This information was legally gathered by U.S. officials who intercepted López Falcón's phone conversations with other drug traffickers, where he discussed cocaine and marijuana shipments, procurement of firearms, and the smuggling of bulk cash. For his drug charges, López Falcón was ordered to forfeit all money and properties derived from these drug proceeds, as well as any properties used to facilitate his operations. If such properties could not be located, were sold or transferred to a third-party, or largely diminished in value, López Falcón was ordered to forfeit other assets to make up for the total amount of said property. This indictment was unsealed in court on 9 May 2013. ## Arrest and trial On 18 September 2013, López Falcón was arrested by U.S. authorities when walking out of a PlainsCapital Bank in Pharr, Texas. He was arrested as part of a sting operation that originated from an indictment issued by the D.D.C. against Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas leaders for their involvement in drug trafficking. On 25 September, an identity verification hearing was held before judge Dorina Ramos in McAllen to prove the man in question was indeed López Falcón. The confusion arose after López Falcón was identified as Ediel López García at the moment of his arrest, which meant his name did not match the individual charged in the D.D.C indictment. In addition, the name in his indictment was nearly identical to that of former deceased cartel leader Edelio López Falcón ("El Yeyo"), who was also the regional leader of Miguel Alemán. His moniker "La Muela" was also used by Jaime or Javier Alejandro Pérez, another Gulf Cartel member in Matamoros wanted on U.S. drug charges. During the identity hearing, the prosecution asked a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent to confirm López Falcón's identity. The agent said he was unable because the lead agent in the case was based in Washington, D.C. The agent present in court confirmed they had information that López Falcón was involved in trafficking several tons of narcotics into the U.S. He said his identification was done after the Mexican Armed Forces shared a picture of him to the DEA. The agent did not have the picture during the court session, however. López Falcón's attorney Arnulfo Guerra asked the agent multiple questions, including why the DEA had confused López Falcón's name. Guerra also said there are several people in Matamoros and along the border who call themselves La Muela. The judge was not satisfied with the agent's answers and postponed the hearing for 27 September. She asked the agent to come prepared for the hearing with evidence to present and to bring the lead agent to testify in court if he could. ## Conviction On 3 February 2015, López Falcón pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. before the D.D.C federal judge Barbara Jacobs Rothstein. In his guilty plea, López Falcón admitted he was a member of La Compañía (English: The Company), a name that collectively referred to the co-organization of the Gulf Cartel and its former paramilitary group Los Zetas. He said his criminal organization was responsible for smuggling many tons of cocaine and marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. and that he was directly involved in this process, as well as smuggling the cash proceeds back into Mexico. He also confirmed Los Zetas acted as the paramilitary wing of the Gulf Cartel, and that its members were mostly ex-military members who acted as enforcers and hitmen for the cartel in their region and against rival gangsters. On 31 July 2015, López Falcón was sentenced to 18 years in prison for conspiracy to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the U.S. The D.D.C also ordered him to forfeit US\$15 billion; the court stated this was the total gross profits the Gulf Cartel made in drug proceeds from its smuggling centers across the U.S.-Mexico border during López Falcón's tenure. A few years after his sentencing, Mexican officials discussed the possibility of passing a law in Mexico permitting them to formally request the U.S. government for fifty percent of the earnings seized from a Mexican national convicted in the US in order to invest that money into their law enforcement agencies. López Falcón was serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution, Ray Brook in Essex County, New York, but was later transferred to the Federal Correctional Institution, Fort Dix in New Jersey. His expected release date was adjusted from September 2029 to August 2029. The investigation against López Falcón and other co-conspirators was headed by the DEA's field office in Houston and the DEA Bilateral Investigation Unit. It was part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program. The prosecution attorney was Adrián Rosales, who was part of the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division's Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell and DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg were the first to announce López Falcón's conviction. ## See also - Mexican Drug War

Thomas P. Stafford

United States astronaut (born 1930)

Thomas Patten Stafford (born September 17, 1930) is an American former Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut, and one of 24 people who flew to the Moon. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1969 to 1971. After graduating from the United States Naval Academy, Stafford was commissioned in the United States Air Force, flying the F-86 Sabre before becoming a test pilot. He was selected to become an astronaut in 1962, and flew aboard Gemini 6A in 1965 and Gemini 9A in 1966. In 1969, Stafford was the commander of Apollo 10, the second crewed mission to orbit the Moon and the first to fly a Lunar Module in lunar orbit, descending to an altitude of nine miles. In 1975, Stafford was the commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) flight, the first joint U.S.-Soviet space mission. A brigadier general at the time, he became the first general officer to fly in space. He was the first member of his Naval Academy class to pin on the first, second, and third stars of a general officer. He made six rendezvous in space and logged 507 hours of space flight. Stafford has flown more than 120 types of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft and three types of spacecraft. Since the deaths of Wally Schirra, Eugene Cernan, and John Young, he is the last surviving crew member of Gemini 6A, Gemini 9A, and Apollo 10. He and Vance Brand are the last two surviving crew members of ASTP. In 1993, the Stafford Air & Space Museum was founded in honor of Stafford in his hometown of Weatherford, Oklahoma. Originally just two rooms, it has grown to over 63,000 square feet of artifact space. The museum is a Smithsonian affiliate and is the only museum in the world to house test-fired engines that would have been used in the Space Race: a U.S. F-1 engine and a Soviet NK-33 engine. The museum is also the home of the Gemini 6 spacecraft that Schirra and Stafford flew in a rendezvous with Gemini 7. ## Early years and education Thomas Patten Stafford was born on September 17, 1930, in Weatherford, Oklahoma, to Thomas Sabert Stafford, a dentist, and Mary Ellen Stafford (née Patten), a former teacher. Thomas Sabert Stafford was diagnosed with skin cancer in 1944, and died on June 22, 1948. Mary Stafford remained in Weatherford until her death in August 1987. Stafford became interested in aviation following the start of World War II, as the nearby city El Reno has an Army Air Corps training base. Stafford began making model airplanes, and made his first flight at the age of 14 in a Piper Cub. He attended Weatherford High School and graduated in 1948. In his senior year of high school, Stafford was recruited to play football at the University of Oklahoma, where he had received a Navy ROTC scholarship. Stafford applied to the United States Naval Academy, and was accepted to the Class of 1952. Stafford intended to play football for the Navy Midshipmen, but sustained a career-ending knee injury during a preseason practice session. After his freshman year, he sailed aboard the battleship USS Missouri, where his roommate was his future Apollo 10 Command Module Pilot, John Young. Following his second year, Stafford spent a summer at NAS Pensacola, where he was exposed to naval aviation and flew in the SNJ Trainer. On a trip home to Weatherford, Stafford began dating his future wife, Faye Shoemaker. After his third year, he served aboard USS Burdo, a destroyer escorting USS Missouri. While visiting home during his fourth year, Stafford became engaged to Faye in December 1951. In the spring of 1952, he was selected in a lottery to join the U.S. Air Force upon graduation. Stafford graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in 1952, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. ## Military service In high school, Stafford served in the 45th Infantry Division in the Oklahoma National Guard. Soon after, he transferred to the division's 158th Field Artillery Battalion, where he plotted targets for artillery fires. Stafford attended the first phase of pilot training at Greenville AFB, Mississippi, San Marcos AFB, Texas and Connally AFB, Texas, where he flew the T-6 Texan and the T-33 Shooting Star. While on a training mission at San Marcos AFB, he was involved in a mid-air collision with another student pilot. Stafford and his instructor were able to land, but the other student pilot was killed. He graduated from pilot training on September 1, 1953, and moved to Tyndall AFB, Florida, for F-86 Sabre training. In 1954, Stafford was assigned to the 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, where he flew the F-86 mission for Arctic defense. In 1955, Stafford transferred to the 496th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Landstuhl AFB (now Ramstein AB), West Germany, again flying interceptor mission in the F-86 Sabre. In addition, he served as an assistant maintenance officer, developing his interest in applying for the USAF Experimental Flight Test Pilot School. In 1958, Stafford attended the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California, where he finished first in his class, and received the A. B. Honts Award. After graduation, he remained at Edwards AFB as a flight instructor. While working as an instructor, Stafford created the first civilian instructor position at Test Pilot School to ensure continuity, and co-wrote the Pilot's Handbook for Performance Flight Testing and the Aerodynamics Handbook for Performance Flight Testing. At the end of his assignment, Stafford was accepted at Harvard Business School, and moved to Boston, Massachusetts, in September 1962. Three days after arriving, he was accepted to NASA Group Two. ## NASA career In April 1962, while working as a flight instructor, Stafford applied for the next round of astronaut selection. The required interviews and medical screenings occurred over the summer of 1962 at Brooks Air Force Base and in Houston. On September 14, 1962, Stafford was selected for Astronaut Group 2, alongside eight other future astronauts. ### Project Gemini #### Gemini 6A Stafford was originally scheduled to fly with Alan Shepard on the first crewed Gemini mission, Gemini 3, but was replaced when Shepard was removed from the flight rotation after being diagnosed with Ménière's disease. Stafford was paired with Wally Schirra as pilot and commander, respectively, and the pair was reassigned as the backup crew for Gemini 3, and primary crew for Gemini 6. The original Gemini 6 mission profile involved docking with an Agena target vehicle. On October 25, 1965, Schirra and Stafford were inside Gemini 6 before liftoff when the Agena vehicle exploded on ascent. After the original mission was canceled, it was redesignated Gemini 6A and was planned to rendezvous with the long-duration Gemini 7 mission. Gemini 7 lifted off on December 4, 1965. On December 12, 1965, Gemini 6A's ignition was followed by an immediate engine shutdown. Schirra and Stafford did not eject, and the cause of the shutdown was found to be an electrical issue and a cap inadvertently left on a fuel line. On December 15, 1965, Gemini 6A lifted off and rendezvoused with Gemini 7. The two spacecraft kept station for about five hours, coming within feet of each other. Gemini 6A splashed down on December 16, and was recovered by USS Wasp. #### Gemini 9A Before Gemini 6A, Stafford was assigned as the backup commander for Gemini 9 with Eugene Cernan as the backup pilot. Charlie Bassett and Elliot See were the primary crew. On February 28, 1966, both crews flew in T-38 Talons to Lambert Field to visit the McDonnell Douglas Gemini assembly facility. Bassett and See crashed on landing, and were killed. Stafford and Cernan became the Gemini 9 primary crew, with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin as their backup crew. On May 17, 1966, the Agena target vehicle went off course and was shut down before entering orbit. As there was no replacement Agena rocket, the new target for the mission was the Augmented Target Docking Adapter (ATDA), which achieved orbit on June 1, 1966. The Gemini 9A launch, scheduled for later the same day, was canceled due to a computer error. Gemini 9A launched on June 3, and rendezvoused with the ATDA on the second orbit. However, the shroud on the ATDA had only partially opened, and Gemini 9A was unable to dock with it. Nonetheless, Stafford and Cernan conducted orbital rendezvous maneuvers with the ATDA, including a simulated rescue of a lunar module in a lower orbit. The following day, Cernan attempted an extravehicular activity (EVA), with the primary mission of testing the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (AMU). After exiting the spacecraft, Cernan quickly experienced mobility issues, followed by environmental regulation and communication issues. The EVA was aborted, and Cernan returned to the capsule after two hours. On June 6, Gemini 9A landed, and was recovered by USS Wasp. ### Apollo program After Gemini 9A, Stafford was assigned as the backup command module pilot on Apollo 2, with Frank Borman as the commander and Mike Collins as the lunar module pilot. For his technical assignment, Stafford was tasked as an astronaut liaison for the development of Apollo guidance and navigation systems, as well as the command and service module. In late 1966, he was reassigned to Apollo 2 backup commander, with Apollo 10 crewmates John Young as the command module pilot and Gene Cernan as the lunar module pilot. While testing the command module, they received word of the Apollo 1 fire and subsequent suspension of the Apollo program. #### Apollo 10 In the spring of 1968, Deke Slayton announced that the previous backup crew for Apollo 2 would become the primary crew for Apollo 10. In preparation for the mission, Stafford helped design a color camera to replace the grainy black-and-white video broadcast before from space; he felt that public outreach was a vital aspect of the mission. The command module (CM) was nicknamed "Charlie Brown"; the lunar module (LM) was nicknamed "Snoopy". Apollo 10 lifted off on May 18, 1969. Despite heavy oscillation during ascent, Apollo 10 achieved orbit without incident, docked the LM and CM, and achieved its translunar injection burn. Upon arriving in lunar orbit, Stafford and Cernan undocked in the LM and entered an elliptical orbit with a periapsis (the closest distance) of nine miles over the lunar surface. To provide reconnaissance, the periapsis coincided with the Sea of Tranquility, the intended landing site for Apollo 11. Upon ascent, the LM began turning rapidly from a misaligned switch on the Abort Guidance System; Stafford was able to regain control and conduct the burn to rendezvous with the CM. The LM docked with the CM to return the astronauts and was jettisoned. After two days in lunar orbit, the Apollo 10 began its return trajectory. Along the return, the capsule traveled 24,791 mph (39,897 km/h), setting the record for the fastest speed by a human being. Apollo 10 splashed down east of Samoa and was recovered by USS Princeton. #### Apollo-Soyuz Test Project In July 1969, Stafford replaced Alan Shepard (who had returned to flight status) as Chief of the Astronaut Office. Along with Director of Flight Crew Operations Deke Slayton, Stafford oversaw assignments to the upcoming Apollo and Skylab missions until Shepard resumed the position after Apollo 14 in July 1971. During this period, U.S. President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin agreed to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Stafford was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in late 1972, and was soon named the commander of ASTP, along with Slayton (who had also returned to flight status) and Vance Brand. Beginning in 1973, the ASTP team trained extensively in Russia and the United States. Soyuz 19, carrying Alexei Leonov and Valery Kubasov, launched on July 15, 1975, at 12:20 UTC, followed by Apollo at 19:50 UTC. After two days in space, Soyuz and Apollo docked on July 17, where the crews met and conducted joint experiments and held press conferences. After remaining docked for 44 hours, the two spacecraft undocked on July 19. Soyuz returned to Earth on July 21; Apollo remained in orbit until July 24. While descending, the Apollo command module began filling with nitrogen tetroxide from the reaction control thrusters. The crew donned oxygen masks, but Brand lost consciousness and had to be assisted by Stafford. All crew were safely recovered aboard USS New Orleans, and were hospitalized in Hawaii for edema (swelling) from fuel inhalation. ## Post-NASA career In June 1975, before ASTP, Stafford was offered command of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB. He accepted and assumed the assignment on November 15, 1975. Stafford oversaw both the Air Force and NASA test facilities at Edwards AFB, as well as test ranges in Utah and Nevada. He continued to fly (including foreign aircraft such as the MiG-17 and Panavia Tornado) and was involved in the interview of Viktor Belenko after his defection. Stafford also managed the development of the XST, which would later evolve into the F-117 Nighthawk. In March 1978, he was promoted to lieutenant general and became Deputy Chief of Staff, Research Development and Acquisition in Washington, D.C. While working in Washington, Stafford advocated for the creation of the mobile MX missile, and began developing the Advanced Technology Bomber, the predecessor to the B-2 stealth bomber. With no statement of need or requirements, he pushed for and started a larger attack stealth aircraft named Senior Trend which was later designated the Stealth Attack F-117A. The F-117A flew in just two years and eight months after the contract with Lockheed was signed. This is a modern record from the start of the contract to flight. The aircraft became operational in less than five years. During Desert Storm, it was the only plane that secured airspace above Baghdad on the opening night of combat in 1991. The F-117A flew less than two percent of the air-to-ground combat missions, but it was responsible for attacking 38 percent of the Iraqi strategic targets. In early 1979, before giving a speech at the Chicago chapter of the Air Force Association, General Stafford met with the Chairman of Northrop whose company had started a low-speed experimental stealth reconnaissance program for DARPA and the U.S. Army using smooth surfaces. On a piece of hotel stationery, General Stafford wrote specs for range, payload, radar cross-section, and gross take-off weight for an advanced stealth technology bomber, which later became designated as the B-2. To further enhance his emphasis on stealth, he started a competition between the firms of Boeing, General Dynamics, and also included Lockheed because of their stealth technology, to develop a stealth supercruise missile. Out of that came the AGM-129 Stealth Cruise missile developed by General Dynamics. It was a 2,000 nautical mile super stealth nuclear-armed cruise missile with a W-80-1 warhead and 130 Kilotons yield. He then started the Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program to replace the F-15 (now the F-22) as an air superiority fighter. Stafford retired to Norman, Oklahoma, on November 1, 1979. Following his retirement, Stafford served on several corporate boards, including Omega SA, Gibraltar Exploration, and Gulfstream Aerospace. He originally intended to reunite with his ASTP crewmates in Russia, but the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the subsequent 1980 Olympics boycott, left them unable to travel to Russia. Stafford created a consulting firm, Stafford, Burke, and Hecker, with two recently retired United States Air Force general officers, Lieutenant General Kelly H. Burke, and Major General Guy L. Hecker Jr.. In July 1990, Vice President Quayle and Admiral Richard Truly, then the NASA administrator, asked Stafford to chair a committee (the "Synthesis Committee") that advised NASA on their overall effort toward long-term lunar and Mars missions, the Space Exploration Initiative. Stafford and his team of 42 full-time members and 150 part-time members created a long-term plan with lunar missions in 2004 and a Mars mission in 2012. In 1992, Stafford began work as an advisor for Space Station Freedom, the precursor to the International Space Station (ISS). While coordinating Russian involvement, Stafford became a technical advisor for the Shuttle–Mir Program, particularly STS-63 and STS-71. He also served on a review committee for the Progress-Mir Collision. In 2002, Stafford published an autobiography written with Michael Cassutt, titled We Have Capture: Tom Stafford and the Space Race. He also wrote the epilogue of the 2011 book Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut's Journey to the Moon by fellow Apollo astronaut Al Worden. Stafford and Soviet commander Alexey Leonov, became lasting friends, with Leonov being the godfather of Stafford's younger children. Stafford gave a eulogy in Russian at Leonov's funeral in October 2019. ## Personal life In 1953, Stafford married Faye Shoemaker from Weatherford, Oklahoma. Faye and Stafford have two daughters, Dionne (b. 1954) and Karin (b. 1957). Faye and Stafford divorced in 1985. Stafford later married Linda Ann Dishman in December 1988. They have two adopted sons, Michael Thomas and Stanislav "Stas" Patten. Stafford enjoys hunting, weight lifting, gliding, scuba diving, fishing and swimming. ## Awards and honors Throughout his career, Stafford received numerous awards for his accomplishments. He was a recipient of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Award (1969), the Harmon International Aviation Trophy (1966), the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Special Trustees Award (1969), the Society of Experimental Test Pilots James H. Doolittle Award (1979) and the Elmer A. Sperry Award (2008). Stafford received recognition from both the U.S. and Russian governments, with the U.S. Congressional Space Medal of Honor (1993) and the Russian Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" (2011). Stafford's military decorations and awards include: the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal and Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ribbon with three oak leaf clusters. Other awards presented to Stafford include: NASA Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, NASA Exceptional Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Octave Chanute Award (1976), the Veterans of Foreign Wars National Space Award, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1976), the National Geographic Society's General Thomas D. White USAF Space Trophy (1975), and the A. B. Honts Award as the outstanding graduate from the USAF Experimental Test Pilot School. He was awarded the Gold Space Medal from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) in 1976. FAI created an exception that allowed Leonov to be awarded it alongside him; typically the award is restricted to one person per year. In 2011, Stafford was awarded the National Aeronautic Association Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, and the Air Force Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2014. Stafford is an inductee of the National Aviation Hall of Fame, Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame, International Air & Space Hall of Fame, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the International Space Hall of Fame. He is a fellow of the American Astronautical Society, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and a member of the Explorers Club. In 2019, he was awarded the General James E. Hill Lifetime Space Achievement Award. Stafford is the recipient of a Doctorate of Science from Oklahoma City University; a Doctorate of Laws from Western State University; a Doctorate of Communications from Emerson College, and a Doctorate of Aeronautical Engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. In his hometown of Weatherford, Stafford was honored with a building at Southwestern Oklahoma State University named in his honor, the Thomas P. Stafford Airport, and the Stafford Air & Space Museum. The Stafford Building at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City is named after him. In September 2018, Stafford was depicted in with a corn maze in Hydro, Oklahoma. ## In media - 1974 TV movie Houston, We've Got a Problem – played by himself - 1996 TV movie Apollo 11 – was played by Tony Carlin. - 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon – played by Steve Hofvendahl. - 1990 album Impurity by British rock band New Model Army – quotes Stafford in the song "Space" - 2013 Pilot episode of The Americans on FX, played by an uncredited actor ## See also - List of spaceflight records

Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 40 km (25 mi) from Thanjavur and 282 km (175 mi) from Chennai and is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district. It is the second largest city in the district after Thanjavur. The city is bounded by two rivers, the Kaveri River to the north and Arasalar River to the south. Kumbakonam is known as a "Temple town" due to the prevalence of a number of temples here and is noted for its Mahamaham festival, which happens once in 12 years, attracting people from all over the country. Kumbakonam dates back to the Sangam period and was ruled by the Early Cholas, Pallavas, Mutharaiyar dynasty, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas. It rose to be a prominent town between the seventh and ninth centuries AD, when it served as a capital of the Medieval Cholas. The city reached the zenith of its prosperity during the British Raj when it was a prominent centre of European education and Hindu culture; and it acquired the cultural name, the "Cambridge of South India". In 1866, Kumbakonam was officially constituted as a municipality, which today comprises 48 wards, making it the second largest local civil body in Thanjavur district. It became a municipal corporation on 24 August 2021. ## Etymology The name "Kumbakonam", roughly translated in English as the "Pot's Corner", is believed to be an allusion to the mythical pot (kumbha) of the Hindu god Brahma that contained the seed of all living beings on earth. The kumbha is believed to have been displaced by a pralaya (dissolution of the universe) and ultimately came to rest at the spot where the town of Kumbakonam now stands. This event is now commemorated in the Mahamaham festival held every 12 years. Kumbakonam is also known as Baskarashetram and Kumbam from time immemorial and as Kudanthai in ancient times. Kumbakonam is also spelt as Coombaconum in the records of British India. Kumbakonam was also formerly known by the Tamil name of Kudamukku. Kumbakonam is also identified with the Sangam age settlement of Kudavayil. ## History The region around Kumbakonam was inhabited as early as the Sangam Age (third century BC to third century AD). The present-day Kumbakonam is believed to be the site of the ancient town of Kudavayil where the Early Chola king Karikala held his court. Some scholars identify Kumbakonam as the site of the fabled prison of Kudavayir-kottam where the Chera king Kanaikkal Irumporai was imprisoned by the Early Chola king Kocengannan. Kumbakonam is identified with the town of Malaikūrram which had served as the Chola capital as early as the seventh century and with the town of Solamaligai which had also served as a Chola capital. According to the Sinnamanur plates, Kumbakonam was the site of a battle between the Pallava king Sri Vallabha and the then Pandya king in 859 and between the Pandya king Srimara Pandya and a confederacy of the Cholas and Gangas. Kumbakonam came into the limelight during the rule of the Medieval Cholas who ruled from the ninth century to the twelfth century. The town of Pazhaiyaarai, 8 km (5.0 mi) from Kumbakonam was the capital of the Chola Empire in the ninth century. Following the decline of the Chola kingdom, Kumbakonam was conquered by the Pandyas in 1290. Following the demise of the Pandya kingdom in the 14th century, Kumbakonam was conquered by the Vijayanagar Empire. Krishnadevaraya (1509–29), the emperor of Vijayanagara visited the town in 1524 and is believed to have bathed in the famous Mahamaham tank during the Mahamaham festival. Kumbakonam was ruled by the Madurai Nayaks and the Thanjavur Nayaks from 1535 to 1673 when it fell to the Marathas. Each of these dynasties had a considerable impact on the demographics and culture of the region. When the Vijayanagar Empire fell in 1565, there was a mass influx of poets, musicians and cultural artists from the kingdom. According to the chronicles of the Hindu monastic institution, the Kanchi matha, the matha was temporarily transferred to Kumbakonam in the 1780s following an invasion of Kanchipuram by Hyder Ali of Mysore. When Tipu Sultan invaded the east coast of South India in 1784, Kumbakonam bore the brunt of his invasion. The produce fell sharply and the economy collapsed. Kumbakonam did not recover from the calamity until the beginning of the 19th century. Kumbakonam was eventually ceded to the British East India Company in 1799 by the Thanjavur Maratha ruler Serfoji II (1777–1832) and reached the zenith of its prosperity in the late 19th and early 20th century when it emerged as an important center of Brahminism, Hindu religion and European education in the Madras Presidency. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 fostered trade contacts with the United Kingdom. In 1877, railway lines were completed linking Kumbakonam with the ports of Madras, Tuticorin and Nagapattinam. The Tanjore district court was established in Kumbakonam in 1806 and functioned from 1806 to 1863. Kumbakonam continued to grow even after India's independence though it fell behind the nearby town of Thanjavur in terms of population and administrative importance. The population growth rate began to fall sharply after 1981. This decline has been attributed to limited land area and lack of industrial potential. However the peripheral areas of Kumbakonam population increased as evident from the successive census data. During the Mahamaham festival of 1992, there was a major stampede in which 48 people were killed and 74 were injured. On 16 July 2004, a devastating fire accident in the Sri Krishna school killed 94 children. ## Geography Kumbakonam is located at . It is situated 273 km (170 mi) south of Chennai, 96 km (60 mi) east of Tiruchirappalli, and about 40 km (25 mi) north-east of Thanjavur. It lies in the region called the "Old delta" which comprises the north-western taluks of Thanjavur district that have been naturally irrigated by the waters of the Cauvery and its tributaries for centuries in contrast to the "New Delta" comprising the southern taluks that were brought under irrigation by the construction of the Grand Anicut canal and the Vadavar canal in 1934. It has an average elevation of 26 metres (85 ft). The town is bounded by two rivers, the Cauvery River on the north and Arasalar River on the south. Although the Cauvery delta is usually hot, the climate of Kumbakonam and other surrounding towns is generally healthy and moderate. Kumbakonam is cooler than Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu. The maximum temperature in summer is about 40 °C (104 °F) while the minimum temperature is about 20 °C (68 °F). Kumbakonam receives an annual rainfall of 114.78 cm (45.19 in) every year. The region is covered with mainly alluvial or black soil which is conducive for rice cultivation. Other crops grown in Kumbakonam include mulberry, cereals and sugarcane. The town of Kumbakonam is surrounded by extensive paddy fields. Methods of irrigation were considerably improved following the opening of the Mettur Dam in 1934. The fauna of the Cauvery Delta is limited to cattle and goats. The town is situated at the western flank of the Kumbakonam-Shiyali ridge which runs along the Kollidam river basin separating the Ariyalur-Puducherry depression from the Nagapattinam depression. This granular ridge projects further eastwards penetrating the Puducherry depression and forms a hard layer of cretaceous rock underneath the sedimentary topsoil. ## Demographics According to 2011 census, Kumbakonam had a population of 140,156 with a sex-ratio of 1,021 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 12,791 were under the age of six, constituting 6,495 males and 6,296 females. The average literacy of the town was 83.21%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. There were a total of 9,519 workers, comprising 32 cultivators, 83 main agricultural labourers, 1,206 in house hold industries, 7,169 other workers, 1,029 marginal workers, 24 marginal cultivators, 45 marginal agricultural labourers, 212 marginal workers in household industries and 0 other marginal workers. Kumbakonam has a strong Hindu majority; but it also has sizeable Muslim and Christian populations. Among Hindus, Vanniyars, Kallars, Brahmins and Dalits are the numerically dominant Tamil-speaking groups. Brahmins are more numerous and affluent in Kumbakonam than in other parts of Tamil Nadu. There are also large populations of Moopanars, Konars and Nadars. Amongst Muslims, the Tamil Muslims are dominant. Most of the Muslims are Rowthers. The majority of Muslims in Kumbakonam are involved in commerce or maritime trade. Kumbakonam also has a large population of Protestant Christians largely due to the efforts of the German missionary Christian Friedrich Schwarz. The Catholics in Kumbakonam are mainly affiliated to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kumbakonam which was separated from the Archdiocese of Pondicherry in 1899. The population of Kumbakonam is predominantly Tamil-speaking. The commonly used dialects is the Central Tamil dialect. There are significant minorities speaking Thanjavur Marathi, Telugu, Kannada and Saurashtra as their mother tongue. Residential areas make up 32.09% of the town's total area while commercial enterprises and industrial units make up 2.75% and 1.21%, respectively. The non-urban portion of the town constitutes about 44.72% of the total area. Kumbakonam has a total of 45 slums with a population of 49,117. As per the religious census of 2011, Kumbakonam had 86.07% Hindus, 9.57% Muslims, 3.99% Christians, 0.% Sikhs, 0.% Buddhists, 0.23% Jains, 0.13% following other religions and 0.% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference. ## Administration and Politics ### Municipal Corporation The Kumbakonam municipality was officially constituted in the year 1866. Initially, the municipality exercised its jurisdiction over an area of 7.68 km² (2.97 sq mi) and its affairs were administered by a town-level committee or municipal committee. Later it was constituted special-grade municipality and currently, exercises its authority over an area of 12.58 km² (4.86 sq mi) out of the town's total area of 64.02 km² (24.72 sq mi). It comprises 48 wards and is the biggest municipality in Thanjavur district. The town was upgraded to Municipal Corporation on 24 August 2021, with administration authority area of 42.9 km² (16.6 sq mi). The functions of the municipality are devolved into six departments: General, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health, Town planning and the Computer Wing. All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the supreme executive head. The legislative powers are vested in a body of 48 members, one each from each of the 48 wards. The legislative body is headed by an elected chairperson who is assisted by a deputy chairperson. ### Politics Kumbakonam is a part of the Kumbakonam Legislative Assembly constituency and elects a member to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly once every five years. Despite being a hub of militant Communism in the 1950s, Kumbakonam voted for the Indian National Congress in the first five state elections held between 1952 and 1977. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam won the elections in 1977 and between 1977 and 1989, the seat was alternatively held by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam or the Indian National Congress. Since 1989, barring an interregnum of five years between 1991 and 1996, the seat has been held by Ko. Si. Mani of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Kumbakonam was a part of the Kumbakonam Lok Sabha constituency from 1952 until 1977, when the constituency was disbanded. The assembly segments in the erstwhile Kumbakonam Lok Sabha constituency were included in the Mayiladuthurai Lok Sabha constituency and have remained so ever since. ### Law Enforcement Law and order in Kumbakonam in maintained by the Thanjavur sub division of the Tamil Nadu Police headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP). There are four police stations in the town, one of them being an all-women police station. There are special units like prohibition enforcement, district crime, social justice and human rights, district crime records and special branch that operate at the district level police division headed by a Superintendent of Police (SP). Suburban localities are under the jurisdiction of Swamimalai, Patteswarm, Nachiyarkovil, Tiruvidamarudhur, Thiruneelakudi police stations. Recently government has established one police station at Cholapuram by reorganizing kumbakonam Taluk, Swamimali and Thirupanandal Police station ## Economy The important products of Kumbakonam include brass, bronze, copper and pewter vessels, silk and cotton cloths, sugar, indigo and pottery. Kumbakonam is considered to be the chief commercial centre for the Thanjavur region. In 1991, around 30% of the population was engaged in economic activity. Rice production is an important activity in Kumbakonam. Of 194 industrial units in Kumbakonam, 57 are rice and flour mills. Kumbakonam is also a leading producer of betel leaves and nuts; the betel leaves produced in Kumbakonam are ranked amongst the best in the world in terms of quality. The A. R. R. Agencies, a leading manufacturer of arecanut slices has its factory in Kumbakonam. The main administrative offices of T. S. R. & Co., a cosmetic company, are also based in Kumbakonam. Kumbakonam is also famous for its metal works. The Tamil Nadu Handicraft Development Corporation had been established in the nearby town of Swamimalai in order to train bronze artisans. Kumbakonam is an important silk-weaving centre and more than 5,000 families were employed either directly or indirectly in silk weaving. Silk weaved in Kumbakonam is regarded as one of the finest in the subcontinent. They are largely used in the manufacture of Thirubuvanam silk sarees. Kumbakonam was also an important salt-manufacturing area during British rule. The town lends its name to the Kumbakonam Degree Coffee, a blend of coffee prepared using undiluted pure milk. In recent times, Kumbakonam has emerged as an important manufacturer of fertilizers. Apart from its manufactures, tourism is also a major source of income for the town. Many Lodges and resorts from budget to high end category are functioning in kumbakonam. The Hindu temples and colonial-era buildings have been recognised for their tourism potential. The 12th-century Airavatesvara Temple in the town of Darasuram near Kumbakonam is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Kumbakonam is also frequented by art collectors interested in handloom cloth and other curios. Banks such as the Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, IDBI Bank, State Bank of India, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Canara Bank, Indian Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Corporation Bank, Lakshmi Vilas Bank, ICICI Bank, ING Vysya Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank and Vijaya Bank have their branches in Kumbakonam. The City Union Bank was founded in Kumbakonam in 1904 as the Kumbakonam Bank Limited and it is headquartered in the town. ## Utility services Electricity supply to Kumbakonam is regulated and distributed by the Kumbakonam circle of Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). Power Substations are existing viz. Kumabakonam Urban 33/11 kV SS at Rajan Thottam, Kumbakonam Township (Nagariyam) 110 kV at Needamangalm Road, 110 kV SS at Sakottai and Patteswaram 230/110 kV. Water supply is provided by the Kumbakonam municipality from Cauvery river and Coleroon river; the distribution is managed through head works located at Valayapettai and Kudithangi, supplying 3,265 kl (863,000 US gal) of water to the town. About 18 t (40,000 lb) of solid waste is collected from the town everyday; 53% domestic wastes and 32% commercial wastes. The collected wastes are dumped in yards outside the town and segregated to produce organic manure. Kumbakonam municipality has partial underground drainage connectivity and the municipality is implementing the underground drainage to the uncovered areas. The major sewerage system for disposal of sullage is through septic tanks and public conveniences. Roadside drains carry untreated sewage out of the town to let out raw into the sea or accumulate in a low-lying area. Kumbakonam comes under the Cauvery River Delta Area (CRDA) of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), India's state-owned telecom and internet services provider. Apart from telecom, BSNL also provides broadband internet service. Kumbakonam hosts the district headquarters hospital, Thanjavur District at Kumbakonam and Coronation municipal hospital, Melakaveri Urban Primary health centre, 34 private hospitals & clinics and numerous medical shops catering to the healthcare need of the town. ## Landmarks ### Temples Kumbakonam is known for its temples and mathas (monasteries). There are around 188 Hindu temples within the municipal limits of Kumbakonam. Apart from these, there several thousand temples around the town thereby giving the town the sobriquets "Temple Town" and "City of temples". Adi Kumbeswarar Temple is considered to be the oldest Shaiva (the sect of the god Shiva) shrine in the town, believed to be constructed by the Cholas in the seventh century. The Nageswaraswamy Temple has a separate shrine for the Sun god Surya who is believed to have worshipped Shiva at this place. Adi Kumbeswarar temple, Nageswaraswamy temple and Kasi Viswanathar temple are Shiva temples in the town revered in the Tevaram, a Tamil Shaiva canonical work of the seventh to eighth century. Kumbakonam has one of the few temples dedicated to the god Brahma. Sarangapani temple is the largest Vaishnava (the sect of the god Vishnu) shrine present in Kumbakonam. The present structure of the temple having a twelve storey high tower was constructed by Nayak kings in the 15th century. It is one of the "Divya Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 Alvar saint-poets. The Ramaswamy temple, which has scenes from the Hindu epic Ramayana depicted on its walls, was constructed by Govinda Dikshitar, the minister of successive Nayak rulers, Achuthappa Nayak (1560–1614) and Raghunatha Nayak (1600–34). He added a commercial corridor between the temple and the older Chakrapani temple, which in modern times is called Chinna Kadai Veethi, a commercial street in the town. Pilgrims from all parts of India take a holy dip once every 12 years during the Mahamaham festival in the Mahamaham tank. Over 40 lakh pilgrims participated in the festival during the 2016 event which is also known as the Southern Kumbha mela. Govinda Dikshitar constructed the sixteen mandapams (shrines) and stone steps around this tank. Kumbakonam also has a number of mathas. The Sri Sankara matha of Kanchipuram was moved to Kumbakonam during the reign of Pratap Singh (1739–63) and remained in Kumbakonam until the 1960s. There are also two Vellalar mathas in the nearby towns of Dharmapuram and Thiruppanandal and a Raghavendra matha in Kumbakonam. There is also a branch of the Vaishnava Ahobila mutt in Kumbakonam. The Thenupuriswarar Temple at Patteeswaram, the Oppiliappan Kovil and the Swamimalai Murugan temple are located in the vicinity of Kumbakonam. The Airavatesvara Temple in Darasuram locality of Kumbakonam built by Rajaraja Chola II (1146–73) during 12th century is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur and the Gangaikondacholisvaram Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram that are collectively referred as the Great Living Chola Temples. ## Transport Kumbakonam is connected by road and rail. The National highway NH-36 connects Vikravandi - Manamadurai, passes through this town. The nearest international airport is at Tiruchirapalli, which is 91 km (57 mi) from Kumbakonam. The nearest seaport is located at Nagapattinam which is about 50 km (31 mi) away. The town has around 141 km (88 mi) of roads, 544 municipal roads making up 122.29 km (75.99 mi). There are also around 18.71 km (11.63 mi) of state highways running through Kumbakonam. Over 87% of the municipal roads are paved. There are regular government and private bus services to Chennai, Thanjavur, Mannargudi, Tiruchirapalli, Chidambaram, Thiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Palani, Thoothukudi, Rameswaram, Tiruchendur, Salem, Edapaddi, Vellore, Kumuli, Cumbum, Karaikudi, Pudukkottai, Neyveli, Madurai, Sivagangai, Thiruthuraipoondi, Pattukkottai, Muthupet, Puducherry, and Tirunelveli. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and State Express Transport Corporation (Tamil Nadu)(SETC) operates daily services from Bengaluru and mysuru to Kumbakonam. On 1 March 1972, the Cholan Roadways Corporation was established by the Government of Tamil Nadu with its headquarters in Kumbakonam in order to improve transportation facilities in the districts of central Tamil Nadu. The organisation acquired the fleets of buses earlier owned by private operators – Sri Ramavilas Service, Raman and Raman Limited and Sathi Vilas. On 1 July 1997, the organization was renamed Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation, Kumbakonam and presently forms division no. 1 of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. The corporation runs a reconditioning unit and a tyre re-threading unit in Kumbakonam. Kumbakonam is connected by rail with towns and cities in South India. The Mysuru- Mayiladuthurai Express connects Kumbakonam with Mysuru and Bengaluru. There are regular express trains that connect Kumbakonam with major cities in the state like Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchirapalli. There are passenger trains that connect Kumbakonam with Thanjavur, Tiruchirapalli, Chidambaram and Mayiladuthurai. The upgrading of NH-36 from two-lane to four-line is under progress, which upon completion will greatly reduce to time of travel to Thanjavur and Chennai. The traditional modes of transportation are bullock carts. It is recorded that as late as the 1950s, landlords and rich farmers travelled mostly by bullock carts with the exception of rare long journeys which they undertook by buses or motor vehicles. Kumbakonam has an efficient local bus transportation system. The town bus stand is located situated just opposite to the moffusil Bus Station Kumbakonam\|Arignar Anna Bus Stand where the long-distance buses are stationed. There are occasional ferries that transport people and goods across the Cauvery. Till the beginning of the 20th century, students of the Government Arts College used to cross the Cauvery on coracle ferries in order to attend college. Since the construction of a bridge in 1944, the practice of transporting men and goods by coracles has greatly diminished. ## Education The Raja Veda Padasala, established by Govinda Dikshitar during 1542 in Kumbakonam, teaches Sanskrit vedic scriptures in specialised fields of Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Sama Veda, Agamas and Sastras. Kumbakonam emerged as an important centre of education in the late 19th century and was known as the "Cambridge of South India". The Government Arts College, established in Kumbakonam in 1867, is one of the oldest educational institutions in the Madras Presidency. It began as a provincial school on 19 October 1854, before being upgraded to a government college in 1867. It was affiliated to the Madras University in 1877. One of the early principals of the college was William Archer Porter, a Cambridge Wrangler, who, along with T. Gopala Rao, was instrumental in its elevation to a government college. He is also credited with framing the college's acclaimed educational policy. In 1881, it became a full-fledged college and high school courses ceased to be taught. Notable faculty members included U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855–1942) while the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887–1920) who studied from 1904 until 1906 when he dropped out and V. S. Srinivasa Sastri (1869–1946), an Indian politician and administrator, are its notable alumni. The Government Arts College for Women was started in 1963 and had a total strength of 2,597 pupils in February 2006. The college offers various undergraduate courses and one post-graduate course and is affiliated to the Bharathidasan University. Other colleges in Kumbakonam include Idhya Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Annai College of Arts and Sciences, Annai Engineering College, Mass College, Sankara Arts college, PRIST University Kumbakonam Campus, Government College Of Fine Arts and Arasu Engineering College, KSK Engineering college, As Slam Engineering college at nearby Thirumanglakudi. The Shanmugha Arts, Science, Technology & Research Academy has a satellite campus based in Kumbakonam where disciplines of Engineering(electronics and communication Engineering & computer science Engineering), arts and sciences are taught. The Native High School, founded in 1876, and the Town Higher Secondary School, one of whose students was Srinivasa Ramanujan, were some of the oldest schools in the Madras Presidency. At present, there a total of 36 government and private schools in Kumbakonam.

The Hobby Directory

American periodical

The Hobby Directory was an American periodical published by Francis Willard Ewing from 1946 until the early 1950s. Ostensibly intended to connect men and boys with shared interests, its audience came to include a significant number of gay men, who used the magazine to post covert personal advertisements at a time when homosexuality was socially taboo and legally proscribed. ## Publication history The Hobby Directory was founded in 1946 by Francis Willard Ewing (1896–1984), a New Jersey high school teacher. It was the official publication of the National Association of Hobbyists for Men and Boys. The Hobby Directory was sold openly, including at craft stores. In addition, classified advertisements soliciting subscribers appeared in the national magazines Popular Mechanics and Popular Science, the latter directed to "men and boys only." According to the copyright registration filed with the United States Copyright Office, the publication initially appeared twice a year, in June or July and in December. The run held by the GLBT Historical Society suggests the magazine later appeared quarterly and continued publishing until at least March 1952. The March 1952 issue is likewise the final one registered with the Copyright Office. Historian David K. Johnson speculates that the magazine may have ceased publication following a "police crackdown" at a time when US authorities were vigorously enforcing the Comstock laws which prohibited sending obscene material through the mail. ## Contents The Directory described its mission as being "to help its members find hobby friends". The typewritten magazine consisted entirely of classified ads. In a typical ad, members would list their age, location, occupation, and hobbies or interests, such as model trains, particular genres of music, or rock collecting. Members would also indicate what sort of correspondence they sought from others using the initialism "C.D." for "Contacts Desired". ## Gay audience The magazine was notably used by gay men seeking to connect with other gay men, to the point that writer Daniel Harris describes it as "little more than a bizarre dating service". At the time of The Hobby Directory's publication, the ability of gay men in the US to express their sexuality was extremely limited. Prior to the 1958 Supreme Court case One, Inc. v. Olesen, writing on homosexuality was liable to be classified as obscene, and the transmission of such materials through the postal system was vigorously policed by the US Postal Service, enforcing the Comstock laws. The first enduring gay membership organization, the Mattachine Society, was not founded until 1950. Some gay men formed clandestine communities centered around certain bars, bathhouses, and public meeting places, though they risked police raids, and this option was foreclosed to men living in rural areas. Unable to advertise their desires openly, many gay men turned to classified ads in publications such as The Hobby Directory, signaling to other gay men using coded references to interests such as physical culture, sunbathing, ballet, or wrestling. Another potential signal were professions suggestive of "gender inversion" such as florist, nurse, or hairdresser. Scholar William Leap suggests that such ads would not have been likely to arouse suspicion in an average reader because they made use of "familiar words and phrases" rather than any peculiar secret codes. It is unknown whether Ewing intended to cater to gay men, or the degree to which he was aware of the magazine's large gay audience. Michael Waters notes that Ewing apparently had a genuine zeal for hobbies, given that, more than a decade before the magazine's debut, he had founded a student hobbyist club at the high school at which he taught. As evidence of Ewing's complicity, some scholars have pointed to a notice printed by Ewing in a 1951 issue in which he chastised members for lying about their age, deceiving younger members who wished to correspond only with members of similar ages for purposes such as sharing "photos of young men in service uniforms" or "memorabilia related to boys famous in history". The proportion of gay-coded advertisements appears to have increased over the span of the magazine's existence. David K. Johnson views later issues of The Hobby Directory as increasingly coming to resemble the physique magazines which were becoming increasingly popular among gay men. Later issues of the Directory would include photos of members, and "cover art featuring naked boys seen from behind". ## Scarcity The only known surviving issues of The Hobby Directory are preserved in the holdings of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco. The collection, consisting of 24 issues ranging from July 1946 to March 1952, came to the institution's archives as part of the papers of Bois Burk (1906–1993). A gay man who served as one of Alfred Kinsey's research informants, Burk marked up some of his copies of the magazine with notes regarding his contacts with men who had placed personal advertisements.

Swan Song (song)

2019 single by Dua Lipa

"Swan Song" is a song by English-Albanian singer Dua Lipa for the soundtrack of 2019 film Alita: Battle Angel. The singer co-wrote the song with Justin Tranter, Kennedi Lykken, Mattias Larsson, Robin Fredriksson and Tom Holkenborg, while the production was handled by Mattman & Robin. Holkenborg also composed the soundtrack and orchestrations he created for it are used in the song. Announced in December 2018, the song was released for digital download and streaming on 24 January 2019 through Warner Bros. Records as the soundtrack's lead single. "Swan Song" is an electropop song set to muted electronics, cinematic horns and orchestral stabs. In the song, Lipa references 1980s AIDS activist group ACT UP and sings about new beginnings and society using their voices to fight for what they believe in. Several critics praised the song for the production. It was nominated for Best Original Song at the 24th Satellite Awards. Commercially, the song reached number 24 on the UK Singles Chart and also reached the top 50 of charts in Belgium (Flanders), Ireland, Lithuania and Scotland. The song was awarded a silver certification in the UK and a gold one in Poland. The music video for "Swan Song" was directed by Floria Sigismondi and accompanied the song's release. A blockbuster visual, it follows a loose synopsis of Alita: Battle Angel, specifically with the self-discovery themes. The video features Lipa and her crew in the fictional Iron City of the film. They encounter a giant robot and eventually Alita, before Lipa transforms into her towards the end. Several critics complimented the video's sci-fi themes. An acoustic version and a remixes extended play were released for further promotion. ## Background and development At the end of 2018, Dua Lipa was contacted about an opportunity to create a song for the new film Alita: Battle Angel, which James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez had been working on. She accepted as she was instantly drawn to the film's titular character, Alita, and wanted to be a part of the film. The film team thought that Lipa would be a perfect fit for Alita: Battle Angel after seeing her music video for "New Rules". They thought her performance had the "kick-ass strength, power and attitude" Alita embodies in the film. Lipa was given the film's trailer and synopsis to begin, while she later got to see it prior to working on the song. Lipa wrote "Swan Song" alongside Justin Tranter, Kennedi Lykken, Mattias Larsson, Robin Fredriksson and Tom Holkenborg. The singer found it exciting to write a song she already had a concept for and experiment with sounds that were different from what she was working on with her album. Holkenborg had composed the score for the film; the writers decided to take the orchestrations he created and use them in the song. The production was handled by Mattman & Robin. "Swan Song" was recorded at Conway Studios in Los Angeles, TaP Studio in London and Wolf Cousins Studios in Stockholm. Serban Ghenea mixed the song at MixStar Studios in Virginia Beach, Virginia and Randy Merrill mastered it at Sterling Sound in New York. ## Music and lyrics Musically, "Swan Song" is an electropop track. It is constructed in verse–chorus form and composed in the time signature of time in the key of C minor, with a tempo of 96 beats per minute and a chord progression of A–B–Cm–Gm7. The song begins with a burst of horns and heavy drums. The production features muted electronics, airy synths, stabbing brass samples, vocal chants, percolating percussion, cinematic horns, orchestral stabs, a driving melody, powerful strings and a mechanized, cybernetic and pulsating beat. Lipa builds on an urgency feeling in the bridge. The synths build up to the minimal chorus, while the sections progress to the final booming hook. Lipa uses triumphant vocals, ranging from G₃ to D₅. In the song, Lipa sings about new beginnings and mentions a series of obstacles she has had to overcome. The writers were inspired by how Alita fights for the lives of marginalized people. They wrote the song about how society constantly needs to speak up about what they believe in and the injustices of the world, as well as how their voices always need to be used; this message was also inspired by the film's empowering message. The song additionally took inspiration from the 1980s advocacy group ACT UP, who formed in response to the HIV/AIDS crisis at the time. The bridge paraphrases the group's motto "silence equals death" and the song's title contradicts its meaning. "Swan Song" ends with an abrupt climax that leads to a two-second fade out. ## Release and promotion On 17 December 2018, it was announced that Lipa would record "Swan Song" for Alita: Battle Angel and that the song would be released ahead of the film's 14 February 2019 release. The same day, Lipa revealed the cover art. Also in December 2018, the film's trailer was released, featuring clip of the song. The following month, it was announced that the song would be released on 25 January 2019. Lipa began teasing the song on social media thereafter. Prior to the song's release, it was previewed in a TV spot for Alita: Battle Angel. "Swan Song" was released for digital download and streaming on 24 January 2019 through Warner Bros. Records as the lead single from the film's soundtrack, being released a day earlier than originally intended. The following day, the song was sent for radio airplay in Australia and Italy. On 28 January 2019, it was sent to US adult contemporary radio formats and contemporary hit radio formats the following day. While promoting the song, Lipa wanted viewers to find a piece of themselves in Alita and inspire one to do good in everyday life. "Swan Song" was included as the closing track on physical releases of the Milan Records-released Alita: Battle Angel soundtrack. On 22 March 2019, an acoustic version of the song was released. An extended play featuring remixes by DJ Shadow and NastyNasty, Maya Jane Coles, aboutagirl and Calibre was released on 12 April 2019. ## Reception In Time, Raisa Bruner viewed "Swan Song" as a "clear battle anthem" where Lipa's "mellifluous" voice adds "weight and smoothness, and a welcome human element". She concluded by stating it echoes a "mix of electronic rhythms and a touch of the real". Writing for The New York Times, Jon Pareles compared the backup chants to "remnants of past civilizations" and thought the song "puts human aspiration in electronic armor". Brennan Carley of GQ thought Lipa treated the song as a "proper" solo single instead of a soundtrack song while also stating it could be nominated for an Academy Award. Additionally, he said the song "feels properly high stakes, but also kind of weird and murky until its head-rattling chorus kicks in". Ryan Reed of Rolling Stone called the song "cinematic" while Uproxx's Chloe Gilke named "Swan Song" a "powerful", "confident, anthemic banger" and Lake Schatz of Consequence viewed it as a "defiant number". For Idolator, Mike Nied named "Swan Song" a "soaring anthem" with a "suitably epic production" that "could easily be [Lipa's] next song to dominate the charts". Chris DeVille of Stereogum complimented how Lipa experimented with the track and compared it to Lorde's "Yellow Flicker Beat" (2014). In Popjustice, Peter Robinson praised the "creative and luxurious production" that is "sparse where it needs to be and full of dramatic and unpredictable little flourishes" while also complimenting how the song fades out at the end. Writing for Audacy, Michael Cerio viewed the song as a "sweeping epic, building like a battle hymn into a post-apocolyptic banger". "Swan Song" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 24th Satellite Awards. In February 2019, "Swan Song" debuted at number 25 on the UK Singles Chart. In its third week, the song reached a peak of number 24. It spent a total of eight weeks on the chart. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a silver certification in November 2021 for selling 200,000 track-equivalent units in the UK. In Ireland and Scotland, the song had respective peaks of numbers 24 and 27. Additionally, the song reached number 50 in Belgium (Flanders), 63 in Portugal, 67 in Sweden and 96 in Switzerland. In 2020, the song was awarded a gold certification from the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (ZPAV) for track-equivalent sales of 10,000 units in Poland. It reached number 99 in both Canada and Germany. In the United States, the song spent five weeks on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, peaking at number four. In Oceania, it reached number 68 in Australia and entered the NZ Hot Singles chart at number five. ## Music video The music video for "Swan Song" was directed by Floria Sigismondi and filmed in December 2018. Lipa described filming the video as different from ones she had done before as a movie team was working on it and CGI was used. She knew she wanted to do a fighting scene and had people from Alita: Battle Angel come and help her out and teach her how to do the fighting. The only time Lipa had to rehearse for the videos shoot was while she was in Toronto writing for her album so she would spend the entire day in the studio and then go and practice the moves every night for two to three hours. Sigismondi wanted the video to showcase the self-discovery themes of Alita: Battle Angel. She thought that the film is a powerful story for any girl who does not know her power, a notion the director wanted to play with by putting Lipa into Alita's world and using Alita to help Lipa on a journey to discover she's stronger than she knew. Along with the song's announcement, Lipa revealed that it would also receive a music video. The video accompanied the single's release on 24 January 2019. It follows a loose synopsis of the film and is a blockbuster production. The visual is set in the fictional Iron City from Alita: Battle Angel. It begins with Lipa and her crew rummaging through ruins and picking through mountains of trash, looking for items of value. The singer wears a chain mail dress with a black leather corset alongside heavy gold and silver chain necklaces, chunky lace-up platform boots, black pants and dark eye makeup. Lipa and her crew eventually perform dance and martial arts choreography in the city. Following this, a giant robot pops up to attack them but they escape. Lipa reemerges in another setting as if she had woken up from a nightmare and makes her way to a mirror. She encounters Alita in the mirror and performs a martial arts inspired dance break with her. The singer then transforms into Alita wearing a skin-tight black crop top. To close the video, she puts her cyborg fist into the air, posing in front of the Iron City. Elizabeth Aubrey of NME described the video as "sci-fi, futuristic". Robinson thought it marked "the best rubbish dump-based pop video" since "Keep Your Head Up" (2009) by Girls Can't Catch. For Clash, Robin Murray viewed the video as "ambitious" and noted the sci-fi theme reminiscent of the film. Cerio compared the video to the 2008 film WALL-E. Nied called the music video "dramatic" and thought it does "a great job integrating Dua into the film's world". Gilke viewed the video as "cinematic" and thought it is "a perfect match" to the song. ## Track listings - Digital download and streaming 1. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" – 3:02 - Digital download and streaming – acoustic 1. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" [acoustic] – 3:09 - Digital EP – remixes 1. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" [DJ Shadow and NastyNasty remix] – 3:55 2. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" [Maya Jane Coles rework] – 3:07 3. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" [aboutagirl remix] – 3:24 4. "Swan Song (From the Motion Picture 'Alita: Battle Angel')" [Calibre remix] – 3:39 ## Personnel - Dua Lipa – vocals - Mattman & Robin – production, programming, drums, percussion, guitar, piano, bass, synths, backing vocals, strings - Lorna Blackwood – vocal production - Kennedi Lykken – backing vocals - Tom Holkenborg – piano, strings, bass, brass, synths - John Hanes – engineering - Serban Ghenea – mixing - Randy Merrill – mastering ## Charts ## Certifications ## Release history

Deus Ex: The Fall

2013 video game

Deus Ex: The Fall is an action role-playing video game developed by N-Fusion Interactive under the supervision of Eidos-Montréal. A spin-off of the Deus Ex series, the game was published by Square Enix's European branch for iOS in 2013. Android and Windows versions released in 2014. The gameplay—combining first-person shooter, stealth and role-playing elements—features exploration and combat in Panama City and quests which grant experience and allow customization of the main character's abilities. The Fall is set in a near-future cyberpunk Earth where the covert Illuminati seek to exert control over the world as a technological revolution prompts the development of advanced artificial organs dubbed "Augmentations". Set after the spin-off novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect but during the events of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the story follows fugitives Ben Saxon and Anna Kelso as they hide from the forces of the Illuminati. While intended as the first in an episodic narrative, the story remains incomplete. Development of The Fall started in 2012 and lasted twelve months. The team, between twelve and fifteen people, also consulted staff from Human Revolution to ensure consistency between the two products. The team used assets from Human Revolution as references to create the game's environments, and Michael McCann composed new tracks for the game. Reception of the mobile version was mixed, but many critics praised it as a serviceable attempt at translating Deus Ex into the mobile format. The Windows version saw negative responses from critics due to technical and control issues. ## Gameplay Deus Ex: The Fall is an action role-playing game with incorporated first-person shooter and stealth mechanics. Players take the role of Ben Saxon, a man equipped with mechanical cybernetic implants called Augmentations. Players navigate the game's environments in first-person perspective, though some actions switch to a third-person view. In these environments, players can perform contextual actions such as climbing ladders, using cover, and talking with non-playable characters (NPCs) that will advance both the main story quest and provide optional side quests. Completing quests, along with other actions such as combat with enemies and environmental interaction, awards experience points (EXP). There are a variety of ways to approach the game's situations: players can use a violent approach and shoot their way through environments while using cover to hide from enemy fire. Alternately, Saxon can take a stealthy approach, avoiding guards and security devices, again using cover to avoid enemy sight lines. Saxon can move between cover elements and aim around corners while staying hidden from guards and security devices. The melee takedown system offers lethal and non-lethal options, in addition to an assortment of lethal and non-lethal weapons. A key part of Saxon's abilities are Augmentations, which can be acquired and upgraded using Praxis Kits either bought from special vendors, found in the game environments, or automatically unlocked by gathering enough EXP. Augmentations cover different parts of the body, from the head to limbs and torso, and range from passive enhancements such as hacking upgrades and expanded dialogue options with NPCs, to active upgrades which expand combat options and movement abilities. While exploring, Saxon can find both story cues and additional lore on the world through portable devices and computers. To access in-game computers and terminal consoles without a passcode requires players to complete a hacking minigame. Weapons, ammunition and items such as Praxis Kits are purchased directly through the inventory using Credits. The game includes microtransactions which lets players spend real money on Credits to buy items and ammunition. Credits can also be found while exploring the game. The microtransactions were removed for the Windows port. ## Synopsis ### Setting and characters The Fall is set during the year 2027, taking place in parallel to the opening sections of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Deus Ex series is set in a cyberpunk future rife with secret organizations and conspiracies, including the Illuminati. Advances in biotechnology and cybernetics have led to the development of "augmentations" (artificial organs capable of improving and enhancing the human body's performance) that require doses of a limited and expensive immunosuppressive drug called Neuropozyne to prevent implant rejections. The development of augmentation technology has triggered controversy and divided society between those who use augmentations and those who are either morally opposed, too poor to afford them, or whose bodies actively reject them. The story focuses on events in Panama City, though some scenes occur in Costa Rica and Moscow. The main protagonist is British-born Ben Saxon, an augmented mercenary and former member of the Tyrants, a group in the employ of private company Belltower and their Illuminati sponsors. Saxon looks after former federal agent Anna Kelso, who, together with Saxon, was one of the protagonists of the spin-off novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect. They are supported by Janus, the unseen leader of the Juggernaut Collective hacktivist group; and Alex Vega, a Belltower pilot who later joins Janus for the events of Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Characters from Human Revolution and the wider Deus Ex universe also feature, including Illuminati member Bob Page and news reader Eliza Cassan. ### Plot The Fall takes place during the six-month period when Human Revolution protagonist Adam Jensen is recovering from an attack on his employer Sarif Industries by the Tyrants, and acts as a sequel to the novel Deus Ex: Icarus Effect. The story of The Fall was designated as the first episode in a longer narrative. No further episodes have been released, leaving the story incomplete. Hiding in their Costa Rica safe house during a worldwide Neuropozyne shortage, Saxon and Kelso are beginning to suffer the effects of implant rejection. Ben recalls the loss of his squadmate Sam Duarte in the Australian Civil War, and how Duarte's death lead to Ben's recruitment, and ultimately his defection from the Tyrants. On advice from Janus, Saxon travels to Panama City to get a supply of Neuropozyne, discovering a cheaper drug called Riezene is both entering clinical trials and being sold on the street. Saxon eventually acquires Neuropozyne for himself and Anna from local doctor Camila Cardoso after he investigates the black market for Riezene, discovering that his old employer, Belltower Associates, is supervising illegal and dangerous population testing of Riezene on behalf of its manufacturer, Zaaphire Biotech. Aided by the disgruntled Vega, Saxon tries to warn an inspector of the World Health Organization about Belltower's involvement. When he reaches him, the Tyrants assassinate the inspector. The heavily-augmented assassin is Duarte, who hesitantly spares Saxon and escapes. Shocked, Saxon warns Kelso not to return to the safe house. Determined to follow the trail, he infiltrates Belltower's base of operations to rendezvous with Vega. They depart Panama, heading for Zaaphire Biotech headquarters in Canberra, Australia. The game ends on a cliffhanger, with the Tyrants swearing to Page that Saxon will die. ## Development After the success of Human Revolution, publisher Square Enix and developer Eidos-Montréal sought to expand the series into other areas, appealing to both core fans and newcomers. With this in mind, they decided to create a dedicated mobile game that would expand the lore of the series while translating the gameplay elements onto the platform. They decided to work with an external studio with a track record for high-quality mobile games. Approaching N-Fusion Interactive with the concept, N-Fusion pitched a sequel to Icarus Effect. From this point, it was a collaborative process between N-Fusion, Eidos Montréal and the mobile division of Square Enix; while the other two acted as support and provided overall creative control, N-Fusion was in charge of development. N-Fusion developed the game and came up with the initial concept, working closely with staff from Human Revolution during production; those from Human Revolution included director Jean-François Dugas, lead writer Mary DeMarle, co-writer and Icarus Effect author James Swallow, and art director Jonathan Jacques-Belletête. Human Revolution composer Michael McCann created original music for the game. Production lasted twelve months, with a core team of between twelve and fifteen people assigned to it. Dugas later praised N-Fusion for being both willing to develop the project and able to tell their partners about aspects that were not working or could not be done. N-Fusion CEO and game director Jeffrey Birns remembered The Fall as the studio's most challenging project at the time due to the need to represent the different gameplay and narrative elements from the Deus Ex universe, in addition to adapting the complex control scheme for mobile devices. The game's story was created by designer Tyler Munden to act as a direct sequel to Icarus Effect, with Swallow helping with script writing during production. The team collaborated closely with DeMarle and Dugas to keep the game's continuity in line with Human Revolution. Kelso was considered as a possible protagonist during early production, but due to their tight schedule, they chose Saxon as the protagonist since they already had stock character movements suited to him. The international settings were chosen to match the globe-trotting storyline of Icarus Effect. The black-and-gold aesthetic of Human Revolution was directly carried over into The Fall. The team initially used reduced assets from Human Revolution, but due to problems making the game work, they had to create mobile-friendly environments using the original assets as references. At one stage, N-Fusion created a nightclub setting that used purple as its key color, but Eidos Montréal had them change it as purple was only to be associated with the newsreader Cassan. While the decision to bring Deus Ex to mobile was initially unpopular with fans following the game's announcement, Square Enix stated that The Fall was intended as a console-like experience rather than a "light" version of the series. The biggest challenge during development was the control scheme, which had to both work with the complex gameplay of Deus Ex and function using the simple control scheme options available on mobile and tablets. The development mandate was to create a console-quality experience for mobile on a limited budget. The team met with multiple difficulties making Deus Ex gameplay work within the limited hardware of mobiles. There were several times where the game refused to function. Memory limitations were a constant problem throughout development. Due to hardware restrictions, some gameplay elements such as jumping had to be cut. The Fall was developed using the Unity game engine, whose user-friendly architecture helped. The choice of Unity also eased development for Android devices, which had different hardware specs from iOS devices. Production of the Android version met with separate difficulties to the iOS version. Microtransactions were included due to it being the dominant mobile business model for the mobile market, but they were designed so players could complete the game without using them. ## Release By early 2013, Square Enix had reportedly trademarked the phrase "Deus Ex: The Fall" and registered related domain names. In June 2013, Eidos Montréal released a teaser trailer and Square Enix formally announced the game for iOS and Android. Square Enix showcased the game at the June 2013 E3 expo and released additional gameplay footage and screenshots. The game debuted one day early for the iOS platform on July 10, 2013. Upon release, players on jailbroken iOS devices were unable to fire weapons in-game, which caused some controversy within the gaming community. Square Enix later confirmed and released a patch to fix the issue. The game was later patched to both include support for iPad 2 models and fix bugs and glitches along with improvements to the artificial intelligence (AI). Shortly after the announcement, the game was also confirmed for Android devices. This version was eventually released on January 22, 2014. A Windows port was later announced and released via Steam on March 18, 2014. The port included platform-based control options, Steam cards and achievements, and graphical options. The team also removed microtransactions and improved the AI. N-Fusion developed the Windows port, later saying that their greatest difficulty was adjusting the controls from touchpad-based mobile play to the Windows options of gamepad or keyboard and mouse. ## Reception The Fall garnered a "mixed or average" reception according to review aggregator site Metacritic, which gave it a score of 69 out of 100 points based on 43 reviews. TouchArcade acknowledged criticism that the game was published on iOS rather than PC or console, but described it as a high-quality and engaging experience: "it reeks of 'console quality' in terms of story, production values and visuals, and it's just straight-up fun to play." Eurogamer's Christian Donlan gave the game a low score, citing game-crashing bugs, awkward combat and controls, repetitive graphics and shaky story and voice acting, but still praised the touchscreen functionality and general atmosphere. He concluded that while it had all the right elements for a Deus Ex game, it lacked energy and execution. Digital Spy said that "Deus Ex: The Fall is a short but sweet spin-off for fans of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, just make sure you double check your iOS device's firmware and hardware before downloading". IGN's Justin Davis praised the game's story, presentation, exploration and streamlined build, but criticized the awkward combat. He concluded that "frustrating combat aside, it's almost astounding how successful The Fall is at distilling the core Deus Ex experience onto a mobile device. The mysterious and well-told story, steady stream of powerful new augments, and impressive game world all combined to create a mobile experience I didn't want to put down after I started". Reviewing the Android version, Ryan Ballard of Droid Gamers was generally positive about the game, praising the narrative and art design; his greatest criticism with the former was the incomplete nature of the story. He also found the color palette repetitive and some gameplay structures frustrating. The Windows version received "generally unfavorable reviews", attaining a 45/100 rating on Metacritic based on 14 reviews. IGN reviewer Craig Pearson focused on the game's poor adaptation, particularly the lack of a jump button, inability to remap controls, and issues with the game not properly responding to menu actions and button presses. He concluded, "Beneath the struggle with terrible controls and bugs, there are vents to sneak through, email to hack, and people to confuse. It's something that could shine on the PC if any sort of care was taken." Daniel Hindes of GameSpot praised N-Fusion's original effort to capture the aesthetics of Human Revolution on iOS while strongly criticizing them for failing to take advantage of the expanded capabilities of the new platform, especially for retaining the limitations required by the original interface. Hindes also criticized the limited fixed-binding controls, also complaining of unresponsiveness. PC Gamer reviewer Andy Kelly called the game "truly one of the worst [Windows] ports I've played in some time", in part citing the game's unresponsive controls, particularly in menus. Speaking in 2014, Square Enix's Western CEO Phil Rogers described The Fall as a means of getting Deus Ex into a wider audience using the casual gaming market created by mobiles while also appealing to series fans. While he praised N-Fusion's efforts in translating the gameplay onto mobile devices, he said that "console experiences on mobile and tablet" were too much of a minority in mobile gaming at the time. Following the game's release, Square Enix began internal discussions around the project based on feedback, including whether its controls could have been improved, to use in future mobile game projects. Rogers said that the game only partly achieved its intended goals.

Inception

2010 film by Christopher Nolan

Inception is a 2010 science fiction action film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced the film with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. He is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased, as payment for the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious. The ensemble cast includes Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Dileep Rao and Michael Caine. After the 2002 completion of Insomnia, Nolan presented to Warner Bros. a written 80-page treatment for a horror film envisioning "dream stealers," based on lucid dreaming. Deciding he needed more experience before tackling a production of this magnitude and complexity, Nolan shelved the project and instead worked on 2005's Batman Begins, 2006's The Prestige, and The Dark Knight in 2008. The treatment was revised over six months and was purchased by Warner in February 2009. Inception was filmed in six countries, beginning in Tokyo on June 19 and ending in Canada on November 22. Its official budget was \$160 million, split between Warner Bros. and Legendary. Nolan's reputation and success with The Dark Knight helped secure the film's US\$100 million in advertising expenditure. Inception's premiere was held in London on July 8, 2010; it was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters beginning on July 16, 2010. Inception grossed over \$837 million worldwide, becoming the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2010. Considered one of the best films of the 2010s, Inception won four Oscars (Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects) and was nominated for four more (Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score) at the 83rd Academy Awards. ## Plot Cobb and Arthur are "extractors" who perform corporate espionage using experimental dream-sharing technology to infiltrate their targets' subconscious and extract information. Their latest target, Saito, is impressed with Cobb's ability to layer multiple dreams within each other. He offers to hire Cobb for the supposedly impossible job of implanting an idea into a person's subconscious; performing "inception" on Robert, the son of Saito's competitor Maurice Fischer, with the idea to dissolve his father's company. In return, Saito promises to clear Cobb's criminal status, allowing him to return home to his children. Cobb accepts the offer and assembles his team: a forger named Eames, a chemist named Yusuf, and a college student named Ariadne. Ariadne is tasked with designing the dream's architecture, something Cobb himself cannot do for fear of being sabotaged by his mind's projection of his late wife Mal. Maurice dies, and the team sedates Robert into a three-layer shared dream on an airplane to America. Time on each layer runs slower than the layer above, with one member staying behind on each to perform a music-synchronized "kick" to awaken dreamers on all three levels simultaneously. The team abducts Robert in a city on the first level, but they are attacked by his trained subconscious projections. After Saito is wounded, Cobb reveals that while dying in the dream would normally awaken dreamers, Yusuf's sedatives will instead send them into "Limbo": a world of infinite subconscious. Eames impersonates Robert's godfather, Peter Browning, to introduce the idea of an alternate will to dissolve the company. Cobb tells Ariadne that he and Mal entered Limbo while experimenting with dream-sharing, experiencing fifty years in one night due to the time dilation with reality. Mal refused to return to reality, and Cobb instead performed inception on her to convince her. After waking up, Mal still believed she was dreaming. Attempting to "wake up", she committed suicide and framed Cobb to force him to do the same. Cobb fled the U.S., leaving his children behind. Yusuf drives the team around the first level as they are sedated into the second level, a hotel dreamed by Arthur. Cobb persuades Robert that he has been kidnapped by Browning to stop the dissolution and that Cobb is a defensive projection, leading Robert another third level deeper as part of a ruse to enter Robert's subconscious. In the third level, the team infiltrates an alpine fortress with a projection of Maurice inside, where the inception itself can be performed. However, Yusuf performs his kick too soon by driving off a bridge, forcing Arthur and Eames to improvise a new set of kicks synchronized with them hitting the water, by rigging an elevator and the fortress respectively with explosives. Mal then appears and kills Robert before he can be subjected to the inception and he and Saito are lost into Limbo, forcing Cobb and Ariadne to rescue them in time for Robert's inception and Eames's kick. Cobb makes peace with his part in causing Mal's death. Ariadne kills Mal's projection and wakes Robert up with a kick. Revived into the third level, he discovers the planted idea: his dying father telling him to create something for himself. While Cobb searches for Saito in Limbo, the others ride the synced kicks back to reality. Cobb finds an aged Saito and reminds him of their agreement. The dreamers all awaken on the plane, and Saito makes a phone call. Arriving at L.A., Cobb passes the immigration checkpoint and his father-in-law accompanies him to his home. Cobb uses Mal's "totem" – a top that spins indefinitely in a dream – to test if he is indeed in the real world, but he chooses not to observe the result and instead joins his children. ## Cast - Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb, a professional thief who specializes in conning secrets from his victims by infiltrating their dreams. DiCaprio was the first actor to be cast in the film. Both Brad Pitt and Will Smith were offered the role, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Cobb's role is compared to "the haunted widower in a Gothic romance". - Ken Watanabe as Saito, a Japanese businessman who employs Cobb for the team's mission. Nolan wrote the role with Watanabe in mind, as he wanted to work with him again after Batman Begins. Inception is Watanabe's first work in a contemporary setting where his primary language is English. Watanabe tried to emphasize a different characteristic of Saito in every dream level: "First chapter in my castle, I pick up some hidden feelings of the cycle. It's magical, powerful and then the first dream. And back to the second chapter, in the old hotel, I pick up [being] sharp and more calm and smart and it's a little bit [of a] different process to make up the character of any movie". - Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, Cobb's partner who manages and researches the missions. Gordon-Levitt compared Arthur to the producer of Cobb's art, "the one saying, 'Okay, you have your vision; now I'm going to figure out how to make all the nuts and bolts work so you can do your thing'". The actor did all but one of his stunt scenes and said the preparation "was a challenge and it would have to be for it to look real". James Franco was in talks with Christopher Nolan to play Arthur, but was ultimately unavailable due to scheduling conflicts. - Marion Cotillard as Mal, Cobb's deceased wife. She is a manifestation of Cobb's guilt about the real cause of Mal's suicide. He is unable to control these projections of her, challenging his abilities as an extractor. Nolan described Mal as "the essence of the femme fatale," and DiCaprio praised Cotillard's performance, saying that "she can be strong and vulnerable and hopeful and heartbreaking all in the same moment, which was perfect for all the contradictions of her character". - Elliot Page as Ariadne, a graduate student of architecture who is recruited to construct the various dreamscapes, which are described as mazes. The name Ariadne alludes to a princess of Greek myth, daughter of King Minos, who aided the hero Theseus by giving him a sword and a ball of string to help him navigate the labyrinth which was the prison of the Minotaur. Nolan said that Page was chosen for being a "perfect combination of freshness and savvy and maturity beyond [his] years". Page said their character acts as a proxy to the audience, as "she's just learning about these ideas and, in essence, assists the audience in learning about dream sharing". - Tom Hardy as Eames, a sharp-tongued associate of Cobb. He is referred to as a fence but his specialty is forgery, more accurately identity theft. Eames uses his ability to impersonate others inside the dream world in order to manipulate Fischer. Hardy described his character as "an old, Graham Greene-type diplomat; sort of faded, shabby, grandeur—the old Shakespeare lovey mixed with somebody from Her Majesty's Special Forces", who wears "campy, old money" costumes. - Cillian Murphy as Robert Fischer, Jr., the heir to a business empire and the team's target. Murphy said Fischer was portrayed as "a petulant child who's in need of a lot of attention from his father, he has everything he could ever want materially, but he's deeply lacking emotionally". The actor also researched the sons of Rupert Murdoch, "to add to that the idea of living in the shadow of someone so immensely powerful". - Tom Berenger as Browning, Robert Fischer's godfather and fellow executive at the Fischers' company. Berenger said Browning acts as a "surrogate father" to Fischer, who calls the character "Uncle Peter", and emphasized that "Browning has been with [Robert] his whole life and has probably spent more quality time with him than his own father". - Michael Caine as Miles, Cobb's mentor and father-in-law, and Ariadne's college professor who recommends her to the team. - Dileep Rao as Yusuf. Rao describes Yusuf as "an avant-garde pharmacologist, who is a resource for people, like Cobb, who want to do this work unsupervised, unregistered and unapproved of by anyone". Co-producer Jordan Goldberg said the role of the chemist was "particularly tough because you don't want him to seem like some kind of drug dealer", and that Rao was cast for being "funny, interesting and obviously smart". - Lukas Haas as Nash, an architect in Cobb's employment who betrays the team and is later replaced by Ariadne. - Talulah Riley as a woman, credited as "Blonde", whom Eames disguises himself as in a dream. Riley liked the role, despite it being minimal: "I get to wear a nice dress, pick up men in bars, and shove them in elevators. It was good to do something adultish. Usually I play 15-year-old English schoolgirls." - Pete Postlethwaite as Maurice Fischer, Robert Fischer's father and the dying founder of a business empire. ## Production ### Development Initially, Nolan wrote an 80-page treatment about dream-stealers. Originally, Nolan had envisioned Inception as a horror film, but eventually wrote it as a heist film even though he found that "traditionally [they] are very deliberately superficial in emotional terms." Upon revisiting his script, he decided that basing it in that genre did not work because the story "relies so heavily on the idea of the interior state, the idea of dream and memory. I realized I needed to raise the emotional stakes." Nolan worked on the script for nine to ten years. When he first started thinking about making the film, Nolan was influenced by "that era of movies where you had The Matrix (1999), you had Dark City (1998), you had The Thirteenth Floor (1999) and, to a certain extent, you had Memento (2000), too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real." Nolan first pitched the film to Warner Bros. in 2001, but decided that he needed more experience making large-scale films, and embarked on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. He soon realized that a film like Inception needed a large budget because "as soon as you're talking about dreams, the potential of the human mind is infinite. And so the scale of the film has to feel infinite. It has to feel like you could go anywhere by the end of the film. And it has to work on a massive scale." After making The Dark Knight, Nolan decided to make Inception and spent six months completing the script. Nolan said that the key to completing the script was wondering what would happen if several people shared the same dream. "Once you remove the privacy, you've created an infinite number of alternative universes in which people can meaningfully interact, with validity, with weight, with dramatic consequences." Nolan had been trying to work with Leonardo DiCaprio for years and met him several times, but was unable to recruit him for any of his films until Inception. DiCaprio finally agreed because he was "intrigued by this concept—this dream-heist notion and how this character's going to unlock his dreamworld and ultimately affect his real life." He read the script and found it to be "very well written, comprehensive but you really had to have Chris in person, to try to articulate some of the things that have been swirling around his head for the last eight years." DiCaprio and Nolan spent months talking about the screenplay. Nolan took a long time re-writing the script in order "to make sure that the emotional journey of his [DiCaprio's] character was the driving force of the movie." On February 11, 2009, it was announced that Warner Bros. purchased Inception, a spec script written by Nolan. ### Locations and sets Principal photography began in Tokyo on June 19, 2009, with the scene in which Saito first hires Cobb during a helicopter flight over the city. The production moved to the United Kingdom and shot in a converted airship hangar in Cardington, Bedfordshire, north of London. There, the hotel bar set which tilted 30 degrees was built. A hotel corridor was also constructed by Guy Hendrix Dyas, the production designer, Chris Corbould, the special effects supervisor, and Wally Pfister, the director of photography; it rotated a full 360 degrees to create the effect of alternate directions of gravity for scenes set during the second level of dreaming, where dream-sector physics become chaotic. The idea was inspired by a technique used in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Nolan said, "I was interested in taking those ideas, techniques, and philosophies and applying them to an action scenario". The filmmakers originally planned to make the hallway only 40 feet (12 m) long, but as the action sequence became more elaborate, the hallway's length was increased to 100 ft (30 m). The corridor was suspended along eight large concentric rings that were spaced equidistantly outside its walls and powered by two massive electric motors. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Arthur, spent several weeks learning to fight in a corridor that spun like "a giant hamster wheel". Nolan said of the device, "It was like some incredible torture device; we thrashed Joseph for weeks, but in the end we looked at the footage, and it looks unlike anything any of us has seen before. The rhythm of it is unique, and when you watch it, even if you know how it was done, it confuses your perceptions. It's unsettling in a wonderful way". Gordon-Levitt remembered, "it was six-day weeks of just, like, coming home at night battered ... The light fixtures on the ceiling are coming around on the floor, and you have to choose the right time to cross through them, and if you don't, you're going to fall." On July 15, 2009, filming took place at University College London for the sequences occurring inside a Paris college of architecture in the story, including the library, Flaxman Gallery and Gustav Tuck Theatre. Filming moved to France, where they shot Cobb entering the college of architecture (the place used for the entrance was the Musée Galliera) and the pivotal scenes between Ariadne and Cobb, in a bistro (a fictional one set up at the corner of Rue César Franck and Rue Bouchut), and lastly on the Bir-Hakeim bridge. For the explosion that takes place during the bistro scene, local authorities would not allow the use of real explosives. High-pressure nitrogen was used to create the effect of a series of explosions. Pfister used six high-speed cameras to capture the sequence from different angles and make sure that they got the shot. The visual effects department enhanced the sequence, adding more destruction and flying debris. For the "Paris folding" sequence and when Ariadne "creates" the bridges, green screen and CGI were used on location. Tangier, Morocco, doubled as Mombasa, where Cobb hires Eames and Yusuf. A foot chase was shot in the streets and alleyways of the historic medina quarter. To capture this sequence, Pfister employed a mix of hand-held camera and steadicam work. Tangier was also used as the setting for filming an important riot scene during the initial foray into Saito's mind. Filming moved to the Los Angeles area, where some sets were built on a Warner Bros. sound stage, including the interior rooms of Saito's Japanese castle (the exterior was done on a small set built in Malibu Beach). The dining room was inspired by the historic Nijō Castle, built around 1603. These sets were inspired by a mix of Japanese architecture and Western influences. The production staged a multi-vehicle car chase on the streets of downtown Los Angeles, which involved a freight train crashing down the middle of a street. To do this, the filmmakers configured a train engine on the chassis of a tractor trailer. The replica was made from fiberglass molds taken from authentic train parts and matched in terms of color and design. Also, the car chase was supposed to be set in the midst of a downpour, but the L.A. weather stayed typically sunny. The filmmakers set up elaborate effects (e.g., rooftop water cannons) to give the audience the impression that the weather was overcast and soggy. L.A. was also the site of the climactic scene where a Ford Econoline van runs off the Schuyler Heim Bridge in slow motion. This sequence was filmed on and off for months, with the van being shot out of a cannon, according to actor Dileep Rao. Capturing the actors suspended within the van in slow motion took a whole day to film. Once the van landed in the water, the challenge for the actors was to avoid panic. "And when they ask you to act, it's a bit of an ask," explained Cillian Murphy. The actors had to be underwater for four to five minutes while drawing air from scuba tanks; underwater buddy breathing is shown in this sequence. Cobb's house was in Pasadena. The hotel lobby was filmed at the CAA building in Century City. 'Limbo' was made on location in Los Angeles and Morocco, with the beach scene filmed at Palos Verdes beach with CGI buildings. N Hope St. in Los Angeles was the primary filming location for 'Limbo,' with green screen and CGI being used to create the dream landscape. The final phase of principal photography took place in Alberta in late November 2009. The location manager discovered a temporarily closed ski resort, Fortress Mountain. An elaborate set was assembled near the top station of the Canadian chairlift, taking three months to build. The production had to wait for a huge snowstorm, which eventually arrived. The ski-chase sequence was inspired by Nolan's favorite James Bond film, On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): "What I liked about it that we've tried to emulate in this film is there's a tremendous balance in that movie of action and scale and romanticism and tragedy and emotion." ### Cinematography The film was shot primarily in the anamorphic format on 35 mm film, with key sequences filmed on 65 mm, and aerial sequences in VistaVision. Nolan did not shoot any footage with IMAX cameras as he had with The Dark Knight. "We didn't feel that we were going to be able to shoot in IMAX because of the size of the cameras because this film given that it deals with a potentially surreal area, the nature of dreams and so forth, I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. Not be bound by the scale of those IMAX cameras, even though I love the format dearly". In addition Nolan and Pfister tested using Showscan and Super Dimension 70 as potential large-format, high-frame-rate camera systems to use for the film, but ultimately decided against either format. Sequences in slow motion were filmed on a Photo-Sonics 35 mm camera at speeds of up to 1,000 frames per second. Wally Pfister tested shooting some of these sequences using a high speed digital camera, but found the format to be too unreliable due to technical glitches. "Out of six times that we shot on the digital format, we only had one usable piece and it didn't end up in the film. Out of the six times we shot with the Photo-Sonics camera and 35 mm running through it, every single shot was in the movie." Nolan also chose not to shoot any of the film in 3D as he prefers shooting on film using prime lenses, which is not possible with 3D cameras. Nolan has also criticized the dim image that 3D projection produces, and disputes that traditional film does not allow realistic depth perception, saying "I think it's a misnomer to call it 3D versus 2D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it's three dimensional... You know 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2D movie a '2D movie' is a little misleading." Nolan did test converting Inception into 3D in post-production but decided that, while it was possible, he lacked the time to complete the conversion to a standard he was happy with. In February 2011 Jonathan Liebesman suggested that Warner Bros. were attempting a 3D conversion for Blu-ray release. Wally Pfister gave each location and dream level a distinctive look to aid the audience's recognition of the narrative's location during the heavily crosscut portion of the film: the mountain fortress appears sterile and cool, the hotel hallways have warm hues, and the scenes in the van are more neutral. Nolan has said that the film "deals with levels of reality, and perceptions of reality which is something I'm very interested in. It's an action film set in a contemporary world, but with a slight science-fiction bent to it", while also describing it as "very much an ensemble film structured somewhat as a heist movie. It's an action adventure that spans the globe". ### Visual effects For dream sequences in Inception, Nolan used little computer-generated imagery, preferring practical effects whenever possible. Nolan said, "It's always very important to me to do as much as possible in-camera, and then, if necessary, computer graphics are very useful to build on or enhance what you have achieved physically." To this end, visual effects supervisor Paul Franklin built a miniature of the mountain fortress set and then blew it up for the film. For the fight scene that takes place in zero gravity, he used CG-based effects to "subtly bend elements like physics, space and time." The most challenging effect was the "Limbo" city level at the end of the film, because it continually developed during production. Franklin had artists build concepts while Nolan expressed his ideal vision: "Something glacial, with clear modernist architecture, but with chunks of it breaking off into the sea like icebergs". Franklin and his team ended up with "something that looked like an iceberg version of Gotham City with water running through it." They created a basic model of a glacier and then designers created a program that added elements like roads, intersections and ravines until they had a complex, yet organic-looking, cityscape. For the Paris-folding sequence, Franklin had artists producing concept sketches and then they created rough computer animations to give them an idea of what the sequence looked like while in motion. Later during principal photography, Nolan was able to direct DiCaprio and Page based on this rough computer animation that Franklin had created. Inception had nearly 500 visual effects shots (in comparison, Batman Begins had approximately 620), which is relatively few in comparison to contemporary effects-heavy films, which can have as many as 2,000 visual effects shots. ## Music The score for Inception was written by Hans Zimmer, who described his work as "a very electronic, dense score", filled with "nostalgia and sadness" to match Cobb's feelings throughout the film. The music was written simultaneously to filming, and features a guitar sound reminiscent of Ennio Morricone, played by Johnny Marr, former guitarist of the Smiths. Édith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette rien" ("No, I Regret Nothing") appears throughout the film, used to accurately time the dreams, and Zimmer reworked pieces of the song into cues of the score. A soundtrack album was released on July 11, 2010, by Reprise Records. The majority of the score was also included in high resolution 5.1 surround sound on the second disc of the two-disc Blu-ray release. Hans Zimmer's music was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Original Score category in 2011, losing to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of The Social Network. ## Themes ### Reality and dreams In Inception, Nolan wanted to explore "the idea of people sharing a dream space... That gives you the ability to access somebody's unconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?" The majority of the film's plot takes place in these interconnected dream worlds. This structure creates a framework where actions in the real or dream worlds ripple across others. The dream is always in a state of production, and shifts across the levels as the characters navigate it. By contrast, the world of The Matrix (1999) is an authoritarian, computer-controlled one, alluding to theories of social control developed by thinkers Michel Foucault and Jean Baudrillard. However, according to one interpretation Nolan's world has more in common with the works of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. David Denby in The New Yorker compared Nolan's cinematic treatment of dreams to Luis Buñuel's in Belle de Jour (1967) and The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). He criticized Nolan's "literal-minded" action level sequencing compared to Buñuel, who "silently pushed us into reveries and left us alone to enjoy our wonderment, but Nolan is working on so many levels of representation at once that he has to lay in pages of dialogue just to explain what's going on." The latter captures "the peculiar malign intensity of actual dreams." Deirdre Barrett, a dream researcher at Harvard University, said that Nolan did not get every detail accurate regarding dreams, but their illogical, rambling, disjointed plots would not make for a great thriller anyway. However, "he did get many aspects right," she said, citing the scene in which a sleeping Cobb is shoved into a full bath, and in the dream world water gushes into the windows of the building, waking him up. "That's very much how real stimuli get incorporated, and you very often wake up right after that intrusion." Nolan himself said, "I tried to work that idea of manipulation and management of a conscious dream being a skill that these people have. Really the script is based on those common, very basic experiences and concepts, and where can those take you? And the only outlandish idea that the film presents, really, is the existence of a technology that allows you to enter and share the same dream as someone else." ### Dreams and cinema Others have argued that the film is itself a metaphor for filmmaking, and that the filmgoing experience itself, images flashing before one's eyes in a darkened room, is akin to a dream. Writing in Wired, Jonah Lehrer supported this interpretation and presented neurological evidence that brain activity is strikingly similar during film-watching and sleeping. In both, the visual cortex is highly active and the prefrontal cortex, which deals with logic, deliberate analysis, and self-awareness, is quiet. Paul argued that the experience of going to a picturehouse is itself an exercise in shared dreaming, particularly when viewing Inception: the film's sharp cutting between scenes forces the viewer to create larger narrative arcs to stitch the pieces together. This demand of production parallel to consumption of the images, on the part of the audience is analogous to dreaming itself. As in the film's story, in a cinema one enters into the space of another's dream, in this case Nolan's, as with any work of art, one's reading of it is ultimately influenced by one's own subjective desires and subconscious. At Bir-Hakeim bridge in Paris, Ariadne creates an illusion of infinity by adding facing mirrors underneath its struts, Stephanie Dreyfus in la Croix asked "Is this not a strong, beautiful metaphor for the cinema and its power of illusion?" ## Cinematic technique ### Genre Nolan combined elements from several different film genres into the film, notably science fiction, heist film, and film noir. Marion Cotillard plays "Mal" Cobb, Dom Cobb's projection of his guilt over his deceased wife's suicide. As the film's main antagonist, she is a frequent, malevolent presence in his dreams. Dom is unable to control these projections of her, challenging his abilities as an extractor. Nolan described Mal as "the essence of the femme fatale", the key noir reference in the film. As a "classic femme fatale" her relationship with Cobb is in his mind, a manifestation of Cobb's own neurosis and fear of how little he knows about the woman he loves. DiCaprio praised Cotillard's performance saying that "she can be strong and vulnerable and hopeful and heartbreaking all in the same moment, which was perfect for all the contradictions of her character". Nolan began with the structure of a heist movie, since exposition is an essential element of that genre, though adapted it to have a greater emotional narrative suited to the world of dreams and subconscious. As Denby described this device: "the outer shell of the story is an elaborate caper". Kristin Thompson argued that exposition was a major formal device in the film. While a traditional heist movie has a heavy dose of exposition at the beginning as the team assembles and the leader explains the plan, in Inception this becomes nearly continuous as the group progresses through the various levels of dreaming. Three quarters of the film, until the van begins to fall from the bridge, are devoted to explaining its plot. In this way, exposition takes precedence over characterization. The characters' relationships are created by their respective skills and roles. Ariadne, like her ancient namesake, creates the maze and guides the others through it, but also helps Cobb navigate his own subconscious, and as the sole student of dream sharing, helps the audience understand the concept of the plot. Nolan drew inspiration from the works of Jorge Luis Borges, including "The Secret Miracle" and "The Circular Ruins", and from the films Blade Runner (1982) and The Matrix (1999). While Nolan has not confirmed this, it has also been suggested by many observers that the movie draws heavy inspiration from the 2006 animated film Paprika. ### Ending The film cuts to the closing credits from a shot of the top apparently starting to show an ever so faint wobble, inviting speculation about whether the final sequence was reality or another dream. Nolan confirmed that the ambiguity was deliberate, saying, "I've been asked the question more times than I've ever been asked any other question about any other film I've made... What's funny to me is that people really do expect me to answer it." The film's script concludes with "Behind him, on the table, the spinning top is STILL SPINNING. And we—FADE OUT". Nolan said, "I put that cut there at the end, imposing an ambiguity from outside the film. That always felt the right ending to me—it always felt like the appropriate 'kick' to me... The real point of the scene—and this is what I tell people—is that Cobb isn't looking at the top. He's looking at his kids. He's left it behind. That's the emotional significance of the thing." Caine interpreted the ending as meaning that Cobb is in the real world, quoting Nolan as telling him "'Well, when you're in the scene, it's reality.' So get that — if I'm in it, it's reality. If I'm not in it, it's a dream". While reiterating that he was uncomfortable with definitively explaining the scene, Nolan in 2023 credited Emma Thomas as providing "the correct answer, which is Leo's character ... doesn't care at that point". Mark Fisher argued that "a century of cultural theory" cautions against accepting the author's interpretation as anything more than a supplementary text, and this all the more so given the theme of the instability of any one master position in Nolan's films. Therein the manipulator is often the one who ends up manipulated, and Cobb's "not caring" about whether or not his world is real may be the price of his happiness and release. ## Release ### Marketing Warner Bros. spent US\$100 million marketing the film. Although Inception was not part of an existing franchise, Sue Kroll, president of Warner's worldwide marketing, said the company believed it could gain awareness due to the strength of "Christopher Nolan as a brand". Kroll declared that "We don't have the brand equity that usually drives a big summer opening, but we have a great cast and a fresh idea from a filmmaker with a track record of making incredible movies. If you can't make those elements work, it's a sad day." The studio also tried to maintain a campaign of secrecy—as reported by the Senior VP of Interactive Marketing, Michael Tritter, "You have this movie which is going to have a pretty big built in fanbase... but you also have a movie that you are trying to keep very secret. Chris [Nolan] really likes people to see his movies in a theater and not see it all beforehand so everything that you do to market that—at least early on—is with an eye to feeding the interest to fans." A viral marketing campaign was employed for the film. After the revelation of the first teaser trailer, in August 2009, the film's official website featured only an animation of Cobb's spinning top. In December, the top toppled over and the website opened the online game Mind Crime, which upon completion revealed Inception's poster. The rest of the campaign unrolled after WonderCon in April 2010, where Warner gave away promotional T-shirts featuring the PASIV briefcase used to create the dream space, and had a QR code linking to an online manual of the device. Mind Crime also received a stage 2 with more resources, including a hidden trailer for the movie. More pieces of viral marketing began to surface before Inception's release, such as a manual filled with bizarre images and text sent to Wired magazine, and the online publication of posters, ads, phone applications, and strange websites all related to the film. Warner also released an online prequel comic, Inception: The Cobol Job. The official trailer released on May 10, 2010, through Mind Game was extremely well received. It featured an original piece of music, "Mind Heist", by recording artist Zack Hemsey, rather than music from the score. The trailer quickly went viral with numerous mashups copying its style, both by amateurs on sites like YouTube and by professionals on sites such as CollegeHumor. On June 7, 2010, a behind-the-scenes featurette on the film was released in HD on Yahoo! Movies. Inception and its film trailers are widely credited for launching the trend throughout the 2010s in which blockbuster movie trailers repeatedly hit audiences with so-called "braam" sounds: "bassy, brassy, thunderous notes—like a foghorn on steroids—meant to impart a sense of apocalyptic momentousness". However, different composers worked on the teaser trailer, first trailer, second trailer, and film score, meaning that identifying the composer(s) responsible for that trend is a complicated task. ### Home media Inception was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 3, 2010, in France, and the week after in the UK and USA (December 7, 2010). Warner Bros. also made available in the United States a limited Blu-ray edition packaged in a metal replica of the PASIV briefcase, which included extras such as a metal replica of the spinning top totem. With a production run of less than 2,000, it sold out in one weekend. Inception was released on 4K Blu-ray and digital copy along with other Christopher Nolan films on December 19, 2017. As of 2018, the home video releases have sold over 9 million units and grossed over \$160 million. ### Putative video game In a November 2010 interview, Nolan expressed his intention to develop a video game set in the Inception world, working with a team of collaborators. He described it as "a longer-term proposition", referring to the medium of video games as "something I've wanted to explore". ### 10th anniversary re-release Inception was re-released in theaters for its tenth anniversary, starting on August 12, 2020, in international markets and on August 21 in the U.S. The re-release was originally announced by Warner Bros. in June 2020 and scheduled for July 17, 2020, taking the original release date for Nolan's upcoming film Tenet after its delay to July 31 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on movie theaters. After Tenet was delayed again to August 12, the re-release was shifted to July 31, before setting on the August release date following a third delay. ## Reception ### Box office Inception was released in both conventional and IMAX theaters on July 16, 2010. The film had its world premiere at Leicester Square in London on July 8, 2010. In the United States and Canada, Inception was released theatrically in 3,792 conventional theaters and 195 IMAX theaters. The film grossed US\$21.8 million during its opening day on July 16, 2010, with midnight screenings in 1,500 locations. Overall the film made US\$62.7 million and debuted at No.1 on its opening weekend. Inception's opening weekend gross made it the second-highest-grossing debut for a science fiction film that was not a sequel, remake or adaptation, behind Avatars US\$77 million opening-weekend gross in 2009. The film held the top spot of the box office rankings in its second and third weekends, with drops of just 32% (US\$42.7 million) and 36% (US\$27.5 million), respectively, before dropping to second place in its fourth week, behind The Other Guys. Inception grossed US\$292 million in the United States and Canada, US\$56 million in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta and US\$475 million in other countries for a total of US\$823 million worldwide. Its five highest-grossing markets after the US and Canada (US\$292 million) were China (US\$68 million), the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta (US\$56 million), France and the Maghreb region (US\$43 million), Japan (US\$40 million) and South Korea (US\$38 million). It was the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2010 in North America, and the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2010, behind Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Inception is the third most lucrative production in Christopher Nolan's career—behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises—and the second most for Leonardo DiCaprio—behind Titanic. ### Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 87% based on 361 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Smart, innovative, and thrilling, Inception is that rare summer blockbuster that succeeds viscerally as well as intellectually." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 74 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called Inception a "wildly ingenious chess game," and concluded "the result is a knockout." Justin Chang of Variety praised the film as "a conceptual tour de force" and wrote, "applying a vivid sense of procedural detail to a fiendishly intricate yarn set in the labyrinth of the unconscious mind, the writer-director has devised a heist thriller for surrealists, a Jungian's Rififi, that challenges viewers to sift through multiple layers of (un)reality." Jim Vejvoda of IGN rated the film as perfect, deeming it "a singular accomplishment from a filmmaker who has only gotten better with each film." Relevant'''s David Roark called it Nolan's "greatest accomplishment", saying, "Visually, intellectually and emotionally, Inception is a masterpiece." In its August 2010 issue, Empire gave the film a full five stars and wrote, "it feels like Stanley Kubrick adapting the work of the great sci-fi author William Gibson [...] Nolan delivers another true original: welcome to an undiscovered country." Entertainment Weekly's Lisa Schwarzbaum gave the film a B+ grade and wrote, "It's a rolling explosion of images as hypnotizing and sharply angled as any in a drawing by M. C. Escher or a state-of-the-biz video game; the backwards splicing of Nolan's own Memento looks rudimentary by comparison." The New York Post's Lou Lumenick gave the film a four-star rating and wrote, "DiCaprio, who has never been better as the tortured hero, draws you in with a love story that will appeal even to non-sci-fi fans." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded the film a full four stars and said that Inception "is all about process, about fighting our way through enveloping sheets of reality and dream, reality within dreams, dreams without reality. It's a breathtaking juggling act." Richard Roeper, also of the Sun-Times, gave Inception an "A+" score and called it "one of the best movies of the [21st] century." BBC Radio 5 Live's Mark Kermode named Inception as the best film of 2010, stating that "Inception is proof that people are not stupid, that cinema is not trash, and that it is possible for blockbusters and art to be the same thing." Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and wrote, "I found myself wishing Inception were weirder, further out [...] the film is Nolan's labyrinth all the way, and it's gratifying to experience a summer movie with large visual ambitions and with nothing more or less on its mind than (as Shakespeare said) a dream that hath no bottom." Times Richard Corliss wrote that the film's "noble intent is to implant one man's vision in the mind of a vast audience [...] The idea of moviegoing as communal dreaming is a century old. With Inception, viewers have a chance to see that notion get a state-of-the-art update." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times felt that Nolan was able to blend "the best of traditional and modern filmmaking. If you're searching for smart and nervy popular entertainment, this is what it looks like." USA Today's Claudia Puig gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars and felt that Nolan "regards his viewers as possibly smarter than they are—or at least as capable of rising to his inventive level. That's a tall order. But it's refreshing to find a director who makes us stretch, even occasionally struggle, to keep up." Not all reviewers gave the film positive reviews. New York magazine's David Edelstein said in his review that he had "no idea what so many people are raving about. It's as if someone went into their heads while they were sleeping and planted the idea that Inception is a visionary masterpiece and—hold on ... Whoa! I think I get it. The movie is a metaphor for the power of delusional hype—a metaphor for itself." The New York Observer's Rex Reed said the film's development was "pretty much what we've come to expect from summer movies in general and Christopher Nolan movies in particular ... [it] doesn't seem like much of an accomplishment to me." A. O. Scott of The New York Times commented "there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision. Mr. Nolan's idea of the mind is too literal, too logical, and too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness." The New Yorker's David Denby considered the film to "not nearly [be] as much fun as Nolan imagined it to be", concluding that "Inception is a stunning-looking film that gets lost in fabulous intricacies, a movie devoted to its own workings and to little else." While some critics have tended to view the film as perfectly straightforward, and even criticize its overarching themes as "the stuff of torpid platitudes", online discussion has been much more positive. Heated debate has centered on the ambiguity of the ending, with many critics like Devin Faraci making the case that the film is self-referential and tongue-in-cheek, both a film about film-making and a dream about dreams. Other critics read Inception as Christian allegory and focus on the film's use of religious and water symbolism. Yet other critics, such as Kristin Thompson, see less value in the ambiguous ending of the film and more in its structure and novel method of storytelling, highlighting Inception as a new form of narrative that revels in "continuous exposition". Several critics and scholars have noted the film has many striking similarities to the 2006 anime film Paprika by Satoshi Kon (and Yasutaka Tsutsui's 1993 novel of the same name), including plot similarities, similar scenes, and similar characters, arguing that Inception was influenced by Paprika. Several sources have also noted plot similarities between the film and the 2002 Uncle Scrooge comic The Dream of a Lifetime by Don Rosa. The influence of Tarkovsky's Solaris on Inception was noted as well. ### Year-end and all-time lists Inception appeared on over 273 critics' lists of the top ten films of 2010, being picked as number-one on at least 55 of those lists. It was the second-most-mentioned film in both the top ten lists and number-one rankings, only behind The Social Network along with Toy Story 3, True Grit, The King's Speech, and Black Swan as the most critically acclaimed films of 2010. Author Stephen King placed Inception at No. 3 in his list of top 10 best films of the year. Critics and publications who ranked the film first for that year included Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times (tied with The Social Network and Toy Story 3), Tasha Robinson of The A.V. Club, Empire magazine, and Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter. In March 2011, the film was voted by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra listeners as their ninth-favorite film of all time. Producer Roger Corman cited Inception as an example of "great imagination and originality". It was voted as the third-best science fiction film of all time in the 2011 list Best in Film: The Greatest Movies of Our Time, based on a poll conducted by ABC and People. In 2012, Inception was ranked the 35th-best-edited film of all time by the Motion Picture Editors Guild. In the same year, Total Film named it the most-rewatchable movie of all time. In 2014, Empire ranked Inception the tenth-greatest film ever made on their list of "The 301 Greatest Movies Of All Time" as voted by the magazine's readers, while Rolling Stone magazine named it the second-best science fiction film since the turn of the century. Inception was ranked 84th on Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films, a list compiled by The Hollywood Reporter in 2014, surveying "Studio chiefs, Oscar winners and TV royalty". In 2016, Inception was voted the 51st-best film of the 21st Century by BBC, as picked by 177 film critics from around the world. The film was included in the Visual Effects Society's list of "The Most Influential Visual Effects Films of All Time". In 2019, Total Film named Inception the best film of the 2010s. Many critics and media outlets included Inception in their rankings of the best films of the 2010s. The film was included in Forbes magazine's list of Top 150 Greatest Films of 21st Century. In April 2014, The Daily Telegraph placed the title on its top ten list of the most overrated films. Telegraph's Tim Robey stated, "It's a criminal failing of the movie that it purports to be about people's dreams being invaded, but demonstrates no instinct at all for what a dream has ever felt like, and no flair for making us feel like we're in one, at any point." The film won an informal poll by the Los Angeles Times as the most overrated movie of 2010. ## Accolades The film won many awards in technical categories, such as Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, and the British Academy Film Awards for Best Production Design, Best Special Visual Effects and Best Sound. In most of its artistic nominations, such as Film, Director, and Screenplay at the Oscars, BAFTAs and Golden Globes, the film was defeated by The Social Network or The King's Speech. However, the film did win the two highest honors for a science fiction or fantasy film: the 2011 Bradbury Award for best dramatic production and the 2011 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Long Form). ## In popular culture Numerous pop and hip hop songs reference the film, including Common's "Blue Sky", N.E.R.D.'s "Hypnotize U", XV's "The Kick", Black Eyed Peas' "Just Can't Get Enough", Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot", Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor", and B.o.B's "Strange Clouds", while T.I. had Inception-based artwork on two of his mixtapes. An instrumental track by Joe Budden is titled "Inception". The animated series South Park parodies the film in the show's tenth episode of its fourteenth season, titled "Insheeption." The film was also an influence for Ariana Grande's video for "No Tears Left to Cry." "Lawnmower Dog", the second episode of the animated comedy show Rick and Morty, parodied the film. In an episode of The Simpsons, named "How I Wet Your Mother", the plot spoofs Inception with various scenes parodying moments from the film. The showrunners of the television series The Flash said its season 4 finale was inspired by Inception. In February 2020, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift released a lyric video for her single "The Man", which featured visuals bearing resemblance to the film. The song also mentions DiCaprio in its lyrics. The film's title has been colloquialized as the suffix -ception, which can be jokingly appended to a noun to indicate a layering, nesting, or recursion of the thing in question. ## See also - Simulacrum - Simulation hypothesis - Solipsism - Suggestion - Dreamscape (1984 film) - Existenz (1999 film) - The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch'' (1965 novel)

Pakeezah

1972 film by Kamal Amrohi

Pakeezah (; ) is a 1972 Indian Hindustani-language musical romantic drama film that was written, directed, and produced by Kamal Amrohi. The film stars Ashok Kumar, Meena Kumari, and Raaj Kumar. It tells the story of Sahibjaan, a Lucknow-based tawaif. While asleep on a train, Sahibjaan receives a note from a stranger praising her beauty. Later, evacuating from a broken boat, she takes shelter in a tent and finds out its owner, a forest ranger named Salim, wrote the letter. Sahibjaan and Salim plan to get married, causing conflicts with Sahibjaan's professional background. Amrohi, to whom Kumari was married, wanted to make a film dedicated to his wife; he began conceiving the story after the release of their collaborative film Daaera (1953). Production lasted 15 years. Pakeezah's principal photography commenced in 1956 under the German cinematographer Josef Wirsching. The film faced many obstacles, particularly Amrohi and Kumari's separation in 1964 and Kumari's addiction to alcohol, which often made her unable to perform. After being postponed for many years, filming resumed in 1969 and finished in November 1971. The film's soundtrack, which became one of the highest-selling Bollywood soundtracks of the 1970s, was composed by Ghulam Mohammed and finished by Naushad, who also composed the background score. Pakeezah, which was made on a budget of ₹12.5 million (US\$160,000) to ₹15 million (US\$190,000), premiered on 4 February 1972 and garnered a mixed response from critics. It was criticised for its extravagance and plot. Nevertheless, it was the highest-grossing Indian film of the year, collecting ₹60 million (US\$750,000) after a theatrical run of over 50 weeks. Trade analysts said its popularity might have been due to Meena Kumari's death a month after its release. Meena Kumari was nominated for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and won a special award at the Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards; the film also received nominations for Best Film and Best Director (Amrohi), and won N. B. Kulkarni a trophy for Best Art Direction at Filmfare. The film is known for its lengthy production time and is considered to be a milestone of the Muslim social genre. Although initial critical reception to the film was unfavourable, it greatly improved in the years after its release. The film earned widespread praise for its luxurious, sophisticated sets and costumes. Pakeezah is also known for being Meena Kumari's last film to be released during her lifetime; her performance in it has been regarded as one of the best of her career. Pakeezah has often been included in listings of the best works of Indian cinema, including a poll conducted by the British Film Institute in 2007. ## Plot Nargis is a tawaif based in the Muslim quarter of Lucknow. She dreams of marrying Shahbuddin, the man she loves, but his family's patriarch Hakim Saab strongly opposes their relationship because he finds it unacceptable to welcome a tawaif as a daughter-in-law into his respected family. Dejected, Nargis flees to a nearby qabristan (cemetery) and lives there, giving birth to a daughter before dying. On her deathbed, Nargis writes Shahbuddin a letter asking him to come for his newborn daughter. Nargis' sister Nawabjaan is buying jewellery when she finds a piece that is similar to one owned by Nargis. She asks the jeweller its origin and is led to the cemetery. She finds Nargis' body and her daughter, whom she takes back to her kotha (brothel). When Nargis' belongings are sold several years later, a man finds Nargis' letter and delivers it to Shahbuddin. Shahbuddin tracks down Nargis' now-adult daughter Sahibjaan's whereabouts and finds her working as tawaif at Nawabjaan's brothel. Nawabjaan, however, does not want him to take Sahibjaan away, and takes her niece and flees to another town. While travelling by train, a young man enters Sahibjaan's compartment and seeing her sleeping. Struck by her beauty, he leaves her a note. After arriving at her destination, Sahibjaan wakes up and finds the note. She reads it and falls in love with the stranger. A brothel patron named Nawab wishes to own Sahibjaan and takes her to his boat for a night. The boat, however, is attacked by elephants and Sahibjaan is carried away by the fast-flowing river in the broken boat. She is taken to the riverside tent of Salim, a forest ranger. Sahibjaan reads Salim's diary and learns it was him who had left her a note on the train. Sahibjaan has finally met the stranger but feigns amnesia to avoid telling him of her profession. Before sunset, Nawabjaan finds Sahibjaan and takes her back to the brothel. Sahibjaan keeps thinking about Salim and runs away from the brothel. Without realising, she runs along the railway and gets her gharara (clothing) stuck there. Upon seeing an approaching train, Sahibjaan panics, stumbles and faints. The train stops before running over her and people come to help her. One of them is Salim, who takes her to his home. Salim and Sahibjaan plan to elope to live peacefully but her profession as a tawaif makes her doubtful of the plan. When Salim anoints her to marry her, she refuses and decides to return to the brothel. Salim, who is heartbroken, eventually decides to marry someone else at his family's request and invites Sahibjaan to perform a mujra at his wedding. During the event, Nawabjaan recognises Shahbuddin, Salim's paternal uncle, and calls him to witness the irony of the situation: his own daughter dancing and entertaining his family. Shahbuddin's father tries to shoot Nawabjaan to silence her but instead kills Shahbuddin while trying to protect her. With his dying breath, Shahbuddin asks Salim to marry Sahibjaan. Salim's doli (wedding palanquin) defies convention and arrives at Sahibjaan's brothel, fulfilling Shahbuddin's wishes. ## Cast The cast is listed below: - Ashok Kumar as Shahbuddin - Meena Kumari as Nargis/Sahibjaan - Raaj Kumar as Salim Ahmed Khan - Veena as Nawabjaan - Nadira as Gauharjaan - D. K. Sapru as Hakim Saab - Kamal Kapoor as Nawab Zafar Ali Khan - Vijayalakshmi as Rashidan ## Production The filmmaker Kamal Amrohi and actress Meena Kumari were married in 1952, and made Daaera (1953), a film based on their relationship. Although it received positive feedback from critics, the film under-performed at the box office. Daaera's commercial failure left Amrohi feeling insecure about his career, and he wanted to make a film that would both establish him as a filmmaker and be a tribute to Kumari, reflecting his love for her. Amrohi started conceiving a story of a nautch girl in the mid-1950s. Starting in May or July 1956, Amrohi wrote the screenplay in Mahabaleshwar. At that time, many films with similar themes had vulgar scenes; not wanting Pakeezah to be similar, he made the screenplay more "realistic [and] unvulgarised". Amrohi had Kumari in mind while finalising it, and during writing read the film's dialogue to her and asked for her opinions. In 1958, he asked Akhtar ul Iman and Madhusudan to expand the screenplay. Charging only ₹1 (1.3¢ US), Kumari played the roles of Nargis and her daughter Sahibjaan, the central characters of the film. She was also involved as the costume designer and helped with casting. Since the film was dedicated to his wife, Amrohi focused the film's story entirely on her characters. In 1958, Amrohi stated he would play Salim because he could not find a suitable actor for the role, but he abandoned the idea because he found it difficult to act and direct at the same time. Ashok Kumar was cast in 1958 for the role but the plan was abandoned after several days of filming, and he got the role of Shahbuddin when filming was resumed. After considering a number of actors, Raaj Kumar became the final choice for the part as Salim; Pakeezah was his second collaboration with Amrohi after the hospital-set drama Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai (1960). He joined the cast in 1968 but it was only announced a year later. Principal photography was started by the German cinematographer Josef Wirsching on 16 July 1956. Pakeezah used CinemaScope. On Kumari's recommendation, Amrohi changed his plans to make the film in black-and-white, and in 1958, he started to make it entirely in colour with Eastmancolor. Filming progressed intermittently, largely determined by Kumari's availability during the 1950s. By early 1964, ₹4 million (US\$50,000) had been spent on the film, with particular focus on the sets. Also that year, Amrohi and Kumari separated due to personal differences but never actually divorced. In 1969 Kumari agreed to resume work on the film, and shooting restarted on 16 March. Amrohi invited the press to witness Kumari's return and made a documentary on it. Filming was completed in November 1971, and the editing, finished a month later, was done by D. N. Pai. From a 35,000 ft (11,000 m) reel of film, he retained 14,000 ft (4,300 m). The background score was composed by Naushad and arranged by Kersi Lord. Ghulam Mohammed composed the soundtrack to Pakeezah, except for the alap (title song) sequence, which Naushad himself composed. Amrohi, Kaifi Azmi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, and Kaif Bhopali served as the lyricists. Mohammed did not have a successful career, but Amrohi had seen and appreciated his work on Mirza Ghalib (1954). Recording started in December 1955 but was interrupted when Mohammed suffered a heart attack; nevertheless, he finished the soundtrack the same year. The 1960s marked the rise of the rock and roll genre in Bollywood films; after Mohammed's death in 1963, distributors suggested Amrohi replace him with a more commercial composer, but Amrohi refused to do so, insisting on keeping Mohammed's work. What remained uncomposed were the music for the alap and background score, and by the time production restarted, Amrohi chose Naushad to finish both because distributors persisted with their recommendation. ## Release Indian journalist Vinod Mehta and the author Bunny Reuben state that Pakeezah generated considerable pre-release anticipation; contrarily, authors Mohan Deep and Meghnad Desai say because of the lengthy production time, anticipation decreased up to the film's theatrical release. On 30 January 1972, The Illustrated Weekly of India carried an article by Kamal Amrohi, saying that he doubted Kumari could deliver a good performance at the age of almost 40. Filmfare published a promotional blurb of the film. A preview of Pakeezah was held for critics; Desai reported Amrohi was depressed because the film attracted more criticism than appreciation, which led him to go home drunk that night. Amrohi originally set the film's release for 1971 but it was postponed due to the Indo-Pakistani War. Pakeezah premiered at Maratha Mandir, Bombay, on 4 February 1972; Kumari attended the opening with Amrohi, his son Tajdar, and Raaj Kumar. The composer Mohammed Zahur Khayyam called the film "priceless". According to an estimate by Box Office India, it was highest-grossing film of the year, grossing ₹60 million (US\$750,000). Mint estimated its net profit to be ₹30 million (US\$380,000). Pakeezah initially opened to mediocre box-office returns but the film became a sleeper hit and ran for over 50 weeks, in 33 of which it was fully booked. Film observers credited these boosts to the audience's sympathy, given Kumari's death a month later. Amrohi said two weeks after its release, trade analysts called the film a commercial success and added that the pre-release advertisements led it its success. In late 1973, Pakeezah became the first film to be aired on Amritsar TV Centre, a television channel established in September 1973 in Amritsar, India, for broadcasting to Lahore, Pakistan. The film unexpectedly received an enthusiastic response from Pakistani viewers and people from other parts of India went to Lahore to watch it. According to Desai, public arrangements using big-screen televisions at traffic intersections were made for screening the film. Consequently, Amritsar TV started airing more films with similar themes. Due to the success of the televising of Pakeezah, few people visited cinemas on that day, leading the owners, who faced financial failure, to demand a ban on airing the film. Since then, Pakeezah has frequently been broadcast on television. In 2005, Tajdar informed a Stardust interviewer its rights had been sold for the next 50 years. ## Critical reception ### Initial Upon its premiere, Pakeezah's plot received unfavourable reviews from the Indian English-language press but according to Mehta, Urdu reviewers showed more enthusiasm, praising the historicity and sensitive, moving performances. The Times of India was highly critical of Pakeezah, describing it as a "lavish waste". Thought magazine panned the storyline of a prostitute as irrelevant for the 1970s but complimented the technical aspects, including the colour cinematography and Amrohi's dedication to continuing production of the film for such a long time. The Thought writer also added that the film's dialogue uses many metaphors, especially a scene in which Sahibjaan has a monologue about the letter she finds on the train, and considered it to be excessively philosophical and unnatural. Writing for Filmfare, S. J. Banaji gave the film a one-star rating, indicating "very poor" for the publication's standard, and criticised the film's narrative: > The trouble is Kamal Amrohi can't decide which way he wants to go. He starts with a couple eloping in a couch, but for the rest about the only period flavour to the tale is the self-conscious way he's kept motor-cars out of the street scenes! He keeps hovering between fantasy and realism and often the world outside seems more interesting—those shots of a passing train, for instance, to suggest the heroine's thoughts recurring to the man she never met ... Nobody seems very sure whether the heroine's playing prostitute or virgin—not even the heroine. Nirmal Kumar Ghosh reviewed Pakeezah positively for Amrita Bazar Patrika, saying the popular belief among critics of the time was that the film's "overabundant wealth of dramatic conviction wrapped in superb cinematic fluidity is slow to its core". He thought its slowness makes the film "in perfect tune with its core, its world of hasteless fragrance, as if in terms of a sad-sweet dream which weaves its own slow spell while the outer world of time keeps ticking". Ghosh predicted it would be "a standing testimony to the great heights of tragedy that a peerless actress-tragedienne of Meena's calibre could climb to achieve deathlessness". While praising the film for promoting Muslim culture, Mehta saw Kumari's performance as "not genius" and commented; "While she was dancing, I would have preferred more lust. While she was playful, I would have preferred more frivolity. While she was briefly happy, I would have preferred more joy. While she was resigned, I would have preferred more fatalism." ### Contemporary Critical reception to Pakeezah has significantly improved since its release, with most praise going to Kumari's performance; contemporary critics have described the film as "iconic" a classic, and a magnum opus. In the 1988 book One Hundred Indian Feature Films: An Annotated Filmography, Anil Srivastava and Shampa Banerjee wrote the film recreates "a lost era of decadence, and the world of high-class courtesans who were artistes in their own right", accompanied by "an incredible romance which cannot be contained within a rational or a casual framework". In 1999, Derek Malcolm of The Guardian described it as a mixture of poetry, fantasy and nostalgia, commenting; "If there is nothing special about the plot, the way it is accomplished is often astounding. Amrohi ... saturates the screen not only with some amazing colour photography but with a swirling romanticism that somehow never tips over into the laughable". Malcolm included his review for The Guardian in his book, A Century of Films (2000). Dinesh Raheja, in 2002, commended the film's lavish production designs, saying; "its splendour fills the eye, stirs the senses. And it ultimately showcases the heart beating at the film's core." He commented that Kumari's "understated performance and moist eyes sparkling with unshed tears have a hypnotic effect", saying Raaj Kumar's presence is felt because of his character's "likeable steadfastness". In 2005, British academic Rachel Dwyer applauded Pakeezah for presenting aesthetics in the cast and the choreography, and noted "the elaboration of scenery and in particular of clothing, tied to a certain nostalgia arising from the decline and disappearance of courtesan culture". She called Kumari's character a "quintessentially romantic figure: a beautiful but tragic woman, who pours out her grief for the love she is denied in tears, poetry and dance". Writing for The Hindu in 2008, Anjana Rajan likened reviewing Pakeezah in the 21st century to stepping "into the twilight world when India was traditional even in its approach to modernity. When courtesy and wisdom were considered as important to a civilised society as appearances and grooming. And when commercial Hindi cinema looked society in the face to point out its flaws, yet laced the statement with a sad sweetness, a searing beauty." In a review carried by the Pakistani newspaper Dawn in 2012, Raza Ali Sayeed found the plot to be "over-the-top" but said it is helped by the visuals: "From the dazzling colors of the dresses worn by the courtesans, to the beautiful set pieces which bring the world of the tawaif to life, this film is a joy to the senses". He added the dialogue is "like a long poetry recitation from start to finish", and that the film belongs to Kumari. In 2017, American critic Maitland McDonagh of TVGuide referred to Pakeezah as a "passionate, opulent Indian melodrama". ## Accolades Pakeezah won Best Art Direction for Kulkarni at the 20th Filmfare Awards, and was also nominated in categories Best Film, Best Director (Amrohi), Best Actress (Kumari), Best Music Director (Mohammed), and Best Cinematographer (Wirsching). The awards were controversial; there was criticism after Mohammed lost the award to the duo Shankar–Jaikishan of Be-Imaan. In protest, Pran, the winner of Best Supporting Actor for Be-Imaan, returned his trophy and said Mohammed's loss was "an insult" for India's music industry. Filmfare, however, defended their decision by stating according to their rules, posthumous awards are not allowed; Mohammed had died in 1963. Filmfare's editor B. K. Karanjia said both Kumari and Wirsching lost for the same reason. ## Analysis Pakeezah addresses prostitution and belongs to the Muslim social genre, a Bollywood film category exploring Muslim culture in the usual settings of Lucknow, Lahore, and Delhi that became popular in the 1930s. Films of the genre generally follow the romantic stories of members of a nawab family. In Pakeezah's narrative, Nargis and Sahibjaan present as Lucknow-based tawaifs (entertainers) who fall in love with Shahbuddin and Salim, members of nawab families, respectively. Other aspects of Muslim culture, such as dance and costumes, are vital to the plot. According to the academic Sumitra S. Chakravarthy, Pakeezah is a film in which "high drama and spectacle combine with a fine evocation of the niceties" of Muslim culture and Urdu, the language used by most Indian Muslims. The film's central character is Sahibjaan, and Shahbuddin and Salim appear only in secondary roles, which is uncommon for this type of story. Pakeezah follows society's rejection of prostitution; at the film's beginning, Shahbuddin arrives at his home with Nargis, whom he is preparing to marry. His father rejects Nargis, shouting, "She's not my daughter-in-law. She's your sin." The film also aims to capture Islamic traditions; in the ending, Sahibjaan is revealed by Shahbuddin to be the daughter of Nargis, whom his family rejected. Salim is also part of the family, being the son of Shahbuddin's brother. Sahibjaan and Salim subsequently marry, which her father requests before his death; this is not exceptional for a Muslim marriage—marriage between cousins is legal under Islamic law. In Pakeezah, sexuality is represented but not directly depicted. Sex scenes are avoided and instead, like other Indian prostitution-related films, the film uses dance to emphasise the romance genre. Film analysts have considered the first encounter of Salim and Sahibjaan to be one of the most erotic scenes in the film. Salim and Sahibjaan meet in their respective railway journeys when Sahibjaan is sleeping and Salim enters her compartment and is amazed by her feet, placing a note there saying, "Aapke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hain. Inhein zameen par mat utariyega... maile ho jaayenge" ("I saw your feet. They are really beautiful. Please do not step on the ground... avoid making them dirty"). According to Sulagana Biswas of The Telegraph, writing in 2020, the letter can be dismissed in the 21st century as foot fetishism. Voiceovers done by Amrohi play a significant role in Pakeezah, which several film analysts found to be his finest work. In the film's opening minutes, voiceover is used to identify Nargis as a courtesan with a "mesmerising voice" and whose tinkling of bells are "a sensation all over", and is the younger sister of the character Nawabjaan. Later in the film, the voiceover describes a man who wants to remove Nargis from her brothel, which is referred to as "this hell", and the black-dressed Shahbuddin then opens the doors. Sound motifs are used throughout the film; for instance, a train whistle represents Sahibjaan's hopes of escaping from her brothel and the alap represents her sadness. A number of symbols, such as a bird with clipped wings and a snake in Sahibjaan's brothel, are used to represent struggles in Kumari's personal life. ## Legacy ### Influence Pakeezah attained cult status and became a milestone in Bollywood, particularly for its depiction of Muslim culture. The film has been considered one of Amrohi's best works alongside Mahal (1949) and Daaera (1953), and his monument to Kumari. Pakeezah established Amrohi's image as a prominent director. According to Raheja, Amrohi narrates "a story imbued with the despair and the euphoria of human desires so deftly that you are caught up in the swirl of the visual maximalism in the fanciful, almost surreal setting. And by the romanticism of the wish-fulfillment end." Amrohi said the film's success prompted many producers and actors to express their desire to collaborate with him. In 1983, he made an experimental, Muslim-themed biopic called Razia Sultan, which is about the female Sultan of Delhi of the same name. It was then the most-expensive Indian film, but failed to attract an audience and became his last work. Critics have praised Kumari's performance as one of her career's bests, her swan song, and one that made her an "evergreen heroine" of Hindi cinema. Pakeezah was her last release in her lifetime; Gomti Ke Kinare, in which she also stars as a prostitute, was released after her death, though it failed commercially. Scholar Tejaswini Ganti said though she built her persona as a tragic actor in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), the image culminated with her performance in Pakeezah; according to critic Nikhat Kazmi; "It wasn't incidental that Meena Kumari perfected the role of the virginal nautch-girl in Kamal Amrohi's Pakeezah." In 2010, Filmfare included Kumari's work in their list of Bollywood's "80 Iconic Performances", praising her effort to deliver a sensitive performance. Pakeezah has been noted for its unusually long production time, and is described by critics as the finest example of the Muslim social, a genre that declined in the 1970s with the rise of secular themes in Bollywood. Its sophisticated, lavish costumes and sets have been considered influential. The duo Abu Jani–Sandeep Khosla's design of Anarkali, the Indian version of a ball gown, was inspired by Kumari's costumes in Pakeezah; it was shown in their first fashion show in 1988. Costume designer Salim Arif, in the 2003 book Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema, wrote Kumari "stood out as the perfect embodiment of the distinctive culture that Muslim socials were set in, with her sophisticated persona heightened manifold by the use of the nuances of the Urdu language, an air of nostalgia for a fading style, refined poetry and music, and exquisite costumes and jewellery". Costume designer Manish Malhotra, who watched Pakeezah's premiere in 1972, said the film's costume and set designs are his favourite of any film. ### Impact Pakeezah has been included in several lists of best films. In 1992, Peter Wollen included in it his list of ten best films of world cinema, placing Pakeezah in the fifth position. In 2005, Rachel Dwyer selected the film for her book 100 Bollywood Films, and Rachna Kanwar of The Times of India included it in her 2005 list of "25 Must See Bollywood Movies". In 2007, it appeared in the British Film Institute's user poll of ten greatest Indian films. The American Indologist Philip Lutgendorf of the University of Iowa, who compiled a list of "Ten Indian Popular Films that are Not-to-be-missed" in 2014, placed Pakeezah in the third position. In 2016, Devesh Sharma from Filmfare included it in his "Seven Muslim Socials You Must Watch" list. The newspaper Mint chose Pakeezah in the list of "70 Iconic Films of Indian Cinema" in the next year. The film appeared in the 2018 book 100 Essential Indian Films, compiled by Rohit K. Dasgupta and Sangeeta Datta. In 2020, The Indian Express's Shaikh Ayaz included Pakeezah as one of the "Hindi classics that defined the 1970s". On Eid al-Fitr 2021, Subhash K. Jha of Bollywood Hungama included it in his list of the holiday's must-watches. The Urdu-language dialogue "Aapke paon dekhe, bahut haseen hain. Inhein zameen par mat utariyega ... maile ho jaayenge" ("I saw your feet. They are really beautiful. Please do not step on the ground ... avoid making them dirty") attained popularity among the audience; India Today and Filmfare gave it a place in their lists of "30 Best Dialogues in Bollywood Movies" (2006) and "20 Most Famous Bollywood Dialogue" (2017), respectively. Actor Madhuri Dixit called Pakeezah her favourite film and filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali said it can make him happy, adding; "We already have Pakeezah. There is no need for another." Writing for Open in 2018, Dwyer said Pakeezah along with Deewaar (1975), Sholay (1975), and films of Bimal Roy and Guru Dutt "could constitute some kind of 'world cinema', where despite their typical features such as the use of melodrama and heightened emotion especially around the family, an engaging narrative, stars, a certain mise en scène, usually one of glamour, grandiloquent dialogues and all-important songs, they can be appraised on similar critical and aesthetic terms". Pakeezah remained one of the most-talked-about Indian films decades after its release, and many books, including their chapters, and articles have been written about it. In the 1972 biography Meena Kumari, republished in 2013 under the title Meena Kumari: The Classic Biography, Mehta dedicated the fifth chapter to examining the film's production and release, followed by his commentary. Desai wrote the book Pakeezah: An Ode to a Bygone World (2013), providing an inside look at the production, release and thematic analysis. The book attracted positive reviews from critics, who praised his writing and extensive commentary. Biographer Raju Bharatan's Naushadnama, released that year, also contains a chapter about the film's musical composition and background score. Pakeezah is one of ten films whose production and release Padhye covered in her book Ten Classics (2020). In 2021, media reported the National Film Archive of India had obtained 18 minutes of film footage that includes a sequence of the original, black-and-white version of "Inhin Logon Ne" with a younger Kumari and different choreography. ## See also - List of films with longest production time

30 Seconds to Mars (album)

30 Seconds to Mars is the debut studio album by American rock band Thirty Seconds to Mars. It was first released on August 27, 2002, by Immortal Records and distributed by Virgin Records. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin, Brian Virtue, and Thirty Seconds to Mars, and was recorded in rural Wyoming during 2001 and early 2002. It had been in the works for a couple of years, with lead vocalist Jared Leto writing the majority of the songs. 30 Seconds to Mars was described as a concept album centering on human struggle and self-determination, characterized by personal lyrics that use otherworldly elements and conceptual ideas to illustrate a truthful personal situation. The album incorporates progressive sounds with influences and elements from new wave, space rock, and electronica. Upon release, 30 Seconds to Mars received mostly positive reviews from music critics, who commended the album's lyrical content and the band's musicianship, which has been compared to the works of Pink Floyd, Tool, and Brian Eno. The album debuted at number 107 on the Billboard 200 and number one on the US Top Heatseekers. It was a slow-burning success that eventually sold two million copies worldwide. It produced two singles, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" and "Edge of the Earth". Thirty Seconds to Mars promoted the album by opening concerts for bands such as Puddle of Mudd, Incubus, Sevendust, and Chevelle. ## Background and recording By 1998, Thirty Seconds to Mars was performing gigs at small American venues and clubs. When they first started, lead vocalist Jared Leto did not allow his vocation as a Hollywood actor to be used in promotion of the band. They played their first concerts under different names, before finally settling on the name "Thirty Seconds to Mars", which was taken from a rare manuscript titled Argus Apocraphex. During this period, the band recorded demo tracks such as "Valhalla" and "Revolution", or "Jupiter" and "Hero", which later appeared on the debut album as "Fallen" and "Year Zero" respectively, but also "Buddha for Mary". Their work led to a number of record labels being interested in signing Thirty Seconds to Mars, which eventually signed to Immortal Records. In 1999, Virgin Records entered into the contract. The work of Thirty Seconds to Mars generated the interest of record producer Bob Ezrin, who had previously worked on several groundbreaking projects, including The Wall by Pink Floyd, Love It to Death by Alice Cooper, and Destroyer by Kiss. Thirty Seconds to Mars contacted Ezrin because they felt that he had the ability to help them achieve their own vision and create a distinct sound; moreover, the band's members grew up listing to his work with Pink Floyd, Kiss and Alice Cooper. Brian Virtue, who had previously worked with Jane's Addiction, joined the band and Ezrin in producing the record. Thirty Seconds to Mars retreated to the isolation of Wyoming's countryside in 2001 to record the album, tentatively titled Welcome to the Universe. The band and Ezrin chose an empty warehouse lot on 15,000 acres, starting an intense period of preproduction focused on fifty songs. The isolation allowed the band to work at a different pace. Jared Leto said that while recording in Wyoming, "there was an interesting dichotomy, a kind of contradiction with the technology and the organic world that we were surrounded [...] It's something that I think ended up in the music". Ezrin helped the band to understand the importance of an album's structure and how to create a progression, rather than a simple series of singles. "We really wanted to create something that had depth," Leto explained. He described the process of working with Ezrin as tumultuous but also fulfilling, having its own dynamics. He also stated that Virtue was a key element in helping the band define their sound. Although bassist Matt Wachter was a band member at the time, the majority of the bass tracks were recorded by Jared Leto, with Wachter only being credited as a band member. The track "Fallen", originally titled "Jupiter", was the first to be produced for the album. Thirty Seconds to Mars initially thought to exclude the track from the record since they were not satisfied with it, but then they decided to rework the song because there were people who had strong feelings about it. The track features programming by Danny Lohner and background vocals by Maynard James Keenan. Several musicians, including Elijah Blue Allman, Renn Hawkey, as well as producers Ezrin and Virtue, contributed on selected tracks. ## Composition ### Style and influences The style of the album combined progressive metal and space rock with influences and elements from new wave and electronica, utilizing programming and synthesizers. According to Jared Leto, the band wanted to create "something that had cohesiveness and kind of an atmospheric musical story to it". He identified groups that had a sense of identity and atmosphere as being influential on the album's songwriting. He cited classic stoner rock artists, to which he and his brother Shannon had listened while growing up. Eventually, they gravitated toward more conceptual work like Pink Floyd, David Bowie and The Cure. Thirty Seconds to Mars also drew influences from acts such as Björk, Rush, and Depeche Mode; according to Shannon Leto, the inspirations derived from "mostly big conceptional bands; bands that had depth; bands that were dynamic". The sound of 30 Seconds to Mars takes on many musical stylistic shifts. Elizabeth Bromstein from Now magazine described it as a concoction of '80s electronics, industrial music and nu metal with a heavy dose of progressive rock. Jaan Uhelszki of Alternative Press felt that the album is made of "sterner stuff", with the band's prog-metal foundation "enhanced by an unexpectedly powerful sense of melody". Smiley Ben of BBC Collective noted in the album alternative rock tendencies. Ryan Rayhill from Blender found the album befitting prog-rock prototypes Rush and opined that Thirty Seconds to Mars "emerged with an eponymous debut that sounds like Tool on The Dark Side of the Moon", referring to the 1973 album by Pink Floyd. ### Lyrics and themes 30 Seconds to Mars is a concept album focusing on human struggle and self-determination. It deals with characters who battle with social alienation, emotional isolation, and political malaise. The title itself "30 Seconds to Mars" indicates the accelerated human society and suggests a potential escapism from it. The album's lyrics describe the personal human experience through the use of metaphors and moments of fantasy. Jared Leto regarded it as a "very personal album that sometimes uses otherworldly elements and conceptual ideas to illustrate a truthful personal situation". He cited the human struggle as the most inspiring source for the band and explained that the record features "a definite desire for change, for renewal, for a new beginning and ultimately, for escape". Author Karin Lowachee commented that Leto, who wrote most of the lyrics, allows the listener to draw his or her own conclusions to the meanings of the songs. She noted that "this makes the music especially personal, as whatever images you conjure from the sound and words can be interpreted by your own inner language". Opening track "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" deals with a desire for renewal. Leto, however, stated that he prefers to let the listener take its own understanding and meaning from the song, claiming that the interpretation, from individual to individual, is one of the most interesting aspects of music. The track "Fallen" faces the necessity to escape from the inner world that every person has created for itself. The lyrics of "Oblivion", originally titled "The Reckoning", lead into a frantic threat, in which "Unity divides / Division will unite". Leto described this paradox as a rather common but unfortunate occurrence. A dramatic narration drives "Buddha for Mary", whose story is not about a specific person and represents a metaphor. "End of the Beginning" features a foreboding tone and emphasizes the human nature in constant search for something. The album ends with the hidden track "The Struggle", whose lyrics were taken from the ancient Chinese military treatise The Art of War, attributed to Sun Tzu. The track "Revolution", excluded from the final track listing, was considered by some critics as having an anti-American tone. Leto rejected the claim and explained that it can be taken "many different ways" and if taken literally or politically, it could be misinterpreted. He said that the band "didn't want a song like that to overshadow what we are about" and especially after the September 11 attacks, they felt it did not fit thematically with the rest of the album, stating that "it took on new dimensions". The album features elements inspired by the science fiction novel Dune by Frank Herbert, which influenced the album's songwriting for its themes regarding the interactions of politics, religion, technology, and human emotion. ## Packaging The photography for the album was handled by drummer Shannon Leto, with additional works provided by Ken Schles. The cover art features a teenage boy and some of the band's symbolism. It includes a phoenix logo, named "Mithra" by the band, that bears the motto "Provehito in Altum". Roughly translated from Latin, the phrase means "Launch forth into the deep". The band chose a phoenix for its association with rebirth and renewal in the Greek mythology. The group expressed interest in signs and symbols and their relationships with cultures and subcultures. The album's cover art was unveiled through the band's official website on July 29, 2002. However, it was not conceived to be the original concept for the artwork. The initial cover art was discontinued and destroyed during production following the September 11 attacks due to the graphic content of the image. It featured a fighter pilot ejecting from an exploding plane. Thirty Seconds to Mars explained that they never saw it as a violent image, but felt that it was inappropriate in the wake of the events. ## Release and promotion 30 Seconds to Mars was released on August 27, 2002, on Immortal Records in the United States and September 30 on EMI in the United Kingdom. It was originally expected to be released in early 2002. However, the band was behind schedule and the cover design needed a reshoot. The album's compact disc featured enhanced material developed by Little Lion Studios, including a promotional video titled "Capricorn" directed by Lawton Outlaw, and a behind the scenes footage edited by Ari Sandel. The Japanese edition of the album included the bonus track "Anarchy in Tokyo". "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" was the first single taken from 30 Seconds to Mars. It was issued a month before the album's release on July 23, 2002. It had an accompanying music video directed by Paul Fedor. "Edge of the Earth" was released as the album's second single on January 28, 2003, with a music video directed by Kevin McCullough. After five years since its original release, 30 Seconds to Mars was made available in Australia on April 7, 2007, on Virgin Records. EMI re-issued a limited edition of the album in Japan on December 2, 2009. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the album, Thirty Seconds to Mars hosted an event called MarsX on August 27, 2012. It was broadcast worldwide through the online platform VyRT and included live playback and commentary of the record with the band, interactive discussion focused on the formation of Thirty Seconds to Mars, and exclusive acoustic performances. The album was also re-issued as a limited edition picture disc. To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the long-playing vinyl, Universal Music re-issued a double LP of 30 Seconds to Mars on September 23, 2016. A re-release on red translucent vinyl was pressed the following year in a limited edition for the 15th anniversary of the album. ### Touring The band promoted the album through a number of tours in North America. Even before its release, Puddle of Mudd invited Thirty Seconds to Mars to open a six-week tour for them in the spring of 2002. On January 30, Thirty Seconds to Mars began a promotional tour in North America. The band played its first European concert on June 24, 2002, at The Barfly in London, England. In July 2002, they began a club tour and also embarked on a North American tour supporting Incubus. In early October, they were invited by MTV to join the Campus Invasion Tour, playing ten dates in Canada alongside I Mother Earth, Billy Talent, and Pepper Sands. The band was also scheduled to open a spring tour for Adema but was forced to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts. After playing a series of shows supporting Our Lady Peace, Thirty Seconds to Mars opened an autumn tour for Sevendust. The band's first appearance on television was on Last Call with Carson Daly on November 18, which aired on November 27, 2002. It was the last performance with guitarist Solon Bixler, which left the band due to issues primarily related to touring. The band later performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn, which marked the first live performance with guitarist Tomo Miličević. In 2003, the band went on tour with Chevelle, Trust Company, and Shihad, and played thirteen shows for Lollapalooza. ## Critical reception 30 Seconds to Mars earned mostly positive reviews upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 60, based on 5 reviews. Jason Pettigrew from Alternative Press regarded it as "an ambitious, immense-sounding work that's at once rich in melody" and "lyrically jarring". Ryan Rayhill from Blender noticed "throbbing synths" and "exploding guitars", and called the album a "high-minded space opera of epic scope" narrating "tales of living in deep, black oblivion". Smiley Ben of BBC Collective described the overall sound as "certainly compelling", and praised the sonic variety, writing that the band "knowingly push[es] boundaries" producing "great music with an edge". AllMusic reviewer Jon O'Brien called the record a "highly ambitious space-themed concept album", and commended its "heavy, riff-laden" guitars, "soaring" vocals and sci-fi lyrics. Johan Wippsson from Melodic claimed that the band has "something new to add to the world" with their space-influenced modern rock. Jeremy Gladstone of Kludge commented that the album reaches its peak with "Buddha for Mary", which he called a "virtual sonic achievement", but felt that the quality of the songs drops off at the halfway point, describing the entire project as "top-heavy". Canadian critic Karin Lowachee found the group's sound and vision reminiscent of their "concept-styled forbears" but "uniquely owned" for a contemporary audience, and wrote that the band "defies the trend by stepping out ahead of it and into the future", giving the listener something original to enjoy. Amber Authier from Exclaim! echoed this sentiment, stating that the band stretched musical borders and represented something that is "a little different", offering a "solid sound". Mitch Joel from Blistering commended the band's musical diversity, noting that they are "worth more than most of their peers on a song-by-song magnitude." Elizabeth Bromstein of Now magazine found the track-to-track variation limited, although she appreciated the range of styles. Peter Relic of Rolling Stone gave a mixed response, stating that the album has its finer moments but felt that it is undone by Jared Leto's "baffling, pretentious poetry" and the "sanitized quality of the heavy guitars. Q magazine described it as having "a polished sheen", but opined that the "earnest, sci-fi-tinged lyrics gets monotonous" over the course of the album. In contrast, Jason D. Taylor from AllMusic commented that the "space-age themes complement the group's advanced musical achievements wonderfully". Megan O'Toole of The Gazette felt that every track on the album is a "unique masterpiece that simultaneously operates on a number of different musical and spiritual levels", writing that its music has the potential to "affect and infect the deepest recesses" of the soul. ## Commercial performance In the United States, 30 Seconds to Mars entered the Billboard 200 at number 107 on the issue dated September 14, 2002. It also debuted at number one on the Top Heatseekers. After nine weeks, it fell to number 40, with sales of over 40,000 units. As of August 2006, Nielsen SoundScan estimates actual sales of the album at over 120,000 in the United States. Its lead single, "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)", entered the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart at number 40 and eventually reached a peak of number 31. In the United Kingdom, although the album never charted, it was certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in July 2013, denoting shipments of over 60,000 units. In France, 30 Seconds to Mars debuted at number 142 on the national albums chart on October 5, 2002. After its release to the Australian market, the album entered the ARIA Charts at number 95 on the issue dated June 11, 2007. It peaked at number 89 the following week. In Greece, it entered the national albums chart in June 2011, in view of a band's concert held in Athens in July, reaching a peak of number 41. 30 Seconds to Mars was a slow-burning success, and eventually sold two million copies worldwide as of March 2011. ## Legacy Jason D. Taylor of AllMusic considered the release of 30 Seconds to Mars a "daring new step in musical evolution" and noted that its impact left "vast corridors of sound open for the listener to meander down at will". He commented that Thirty Seconds to Mars managed to record an album that "breathes life" into the "empty shell that corporate rock has become", and felt that in "reanimating an avenue of musical expression that has for many years been on its deathbed", the band possibly offered the best rock experience of 2002. 30 Seconds to Mars was named one of the best albums of 2002 by a number of publications, including CMJ New Music Report, Kludge, Melodic, and Metal Hammer. Johan Wippsson of Melodic regarded it as "one of the most unique albums when it comes to an own style", while music critic Megan O'Toole from The Gazette felt that the band managed to "carve out a unique niche for themselves in the rock realm". A writer of MuchMusic called the album a "work that is built to last", noting that the band produced "something unique" with "depth and substance". Artistdirect agreed and explained that 30 Seconds to Mars established the group as "fresh, new force", revealing a "multi-faceted outfit that thrived on creative exploration and escape". Jon O'Brien, writing for AllMusic, labelled the album one of the "more convincing actor-turned-rock star" efforts. In a retrospective review in 2012, Ian Winwood from Kerrang! deemed the record an "epic starting point" for the music that followed, and stated that it displayed Jared Leto's "vast, cinematic writing style". He considered its music "undoubtedly the most aggressive they've created" and regarded lead single "Capricorn (A Brand New Name)" as the band's "most muscular moment". ## Track listing ## Personnel Credits adapted from 30 Seconds to Mars album liner notes. Thirty Seconds to Mars - Jared Leto – guitar; vocals; bass guitar on tracks 1–5, 7–11; synthesizer on tracks 1–6, 8–11; programming on tracks 1–2, 4, 6, 8–9 - Shannon Leto – drums; guitar and vocals on "The Struggle" - Solon Bixler – guitar on track 4; additional guitar on tracks 2, 9–11; bass guitar on track 6; additional synthesizer on track 10 Additional musicians - Elijah Blue Allman – additional guitar on track 7; additional bass on track 7 - Joe Bishara – additional programming on track 4 - Bob Ezrin – piano on track 8 - Renn Hawkey – additional synthesizer on track 1 - Jeffrey Jaeger – additional guitar on track 9; additional bass on tracks 5, 9–10 - Maynard James Keenan – background vocals on track 3 - Danny Lohner – programming on track 3 - Brian Virtue – synthesizer on track 6 Production - Bob Ezrin – production - Brian Virtue – production; engineering - Thirty Seconds to Mars – production; art direction, concepts and iconography - Ben Grosse – mixing - Tom Baker – mastering - Shannon Leto – photography - Ken Schles – additional photography - Mary Fagot – creative direction - Eric Roinestad – design - Eric Greenspan – legal - Arthur Spivak – management - Dian Vaughn – business management - Mark Walker Assante – business management ## Charts and certifications ### Weekly charts ### Certifications ## Release history

Hose's broadbill

Species of bird endemic to Borneo

Hose's broadbill (Calyptomena hosii) is a species of bird in the family Calyptomenidae. It was described by the British naturalist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1892 and is named after the British zoologist Charles Hose, who collected the holotype of the species. It is 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) long, with females weighing 92 g (3.2 oz) on average and males weighing 102–115 g (3.6–4.1 oz). Males are bright green and have conspicuous black spots on the wings, black markings on the head, blue , black flight feathers, and a large green tuft covering most of the bill. Females have smaller forehead tufts, lime-green underparts with sky blue instead of azure blue on the , and lack black markings on the head, except for a black spot in front of the eye. The species is endemic to montane regions in north, central, and southeastern Borneo, where it mostly occurs in forests at elevations of 600–1,220 m (1,970–4,000 ft). Omnivorous, it mainly feeds on fruit like figs and berries, supplementing its diet with insects and leaf buds. It is mainly seen alone or in pairs but can form flocks of up to 6–8 birds near fruiting trees. Breeding occurs from April to October, with clutches of 2–4 eggs being laid in delicate hanging nests. It is classified as being near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to a moderately rapid decline in its population caused by habitat destruction. ## Taxonomy and systematics Hose's broadbill was described as Calyptomena hosii by the British naturalist Richard Bowdler Sharpe in 1892 based on specimens collected from Mount Dulit, Borneo. The name of the genus, Calyptomena, is from the Ancient Greek words kaluptos, meaning covered, and mēnē, meaning moon. The specific name hosii, as well as the common name, is in honour of the British zoologist Charles Hose, who collected the holotype of the species. Hose's broadbill is the official common name designated by the International Ornithologists' Union. Other names for the species include blue-bellied broadbill, Hose's green broadbill, magnificent broadbill, and magnificent green broadbill. Whitehead's broadbill is one of three species in the genus Calyptomena, a genus of three bright green broadbills found in Southeast Asia. Calyptomena is one of two genera in the family Calyptomenidae, the other being Smithornis, a genus of three rather dull-coloured species found in Africa. Although species-level relationships within the family are unclear, both the genera are monophyletic (including all descendants of a common ancestor) taxa that are sister (most closely related) to each other. ## Description Hose's broadbill is 19–21 cm (7.5–8.3 in) long, with females weighing 92 g (3.2 oz) on average and males weighing 102–115 g (3.6–4.1 oz). Males have bright shimmery green , with a large tuft of feathers on the forehead covering most of the bill and a thin pale green eye-ring. There is a black spot in front of the eyes and black patches behind the , on the back of the neck, and across the upper back. The have conspicuous circular black spots and the flight feathers are black with green edges. The breast is indigo blue and the belly and are azure blue. Females differ in their smaller forehead tufts, paler upperparts with a slight olive tint, and lime-green with sky blue instead of azure blue. They also have lime green eye-rings and no black on the head other than the spot in front of the eye. The iris is blackish, the bill is dark brownish-black to black, and the feet are dark olive green. Juveniles are mostly like females, but juvenile males have dark feathers on the back of the neck. Immature males are similar to adult males, but lack most of the head markings and have less blue on the underparts. The species can be differentiated from the other two species of Calyptomena , which also occur in Borneo, by its blue underparts. It can be told apart from the green broadbill by its larger size and spots on the wings, instead of bars as in the latter. Whitehead's broadbill is larger and has a black patch on the breast.The only recorded vocalisation is a low, soft, pleasant dove-like coo-wooo, with the second note upslurred. It is given while making bobbing head movements. ## Distribution and habitat Endemic to the island of Borneo, Hose's broadbill inhabits the northern and central parts of the island, where it is found discontinuously from Mount Kinabalu to the Müller Mountains, Kayan Mentarang, the Dulit Range, the Sambaliung Mountains, and the Sangkulirang Peninsula. It is also found in southeastern Borneo. It may be locally migratory depending on the fruiting seasons of trees it feeds on. Hose's broadbill is mainly found on hill slopes, inhabiting dipterocarp forest, lower montane forest, lowland forest on hills, and forests with limestone pinnacles (rock columns). It is mainly found at elevations of 600–1,220 m (1,970–4,000 ft), but can be seen as low as 300 m (980 ft) and as high as around 1,680 m (5,510 ft). ## Behaviour and ecology The generation length (average age of parents in the current population) of the species is 4.2 years. The species is omnivorous but mainly feeds on fruit, such as figs and berries. It has been recorded eating soft, greyish-yellow berries and small orange figs covered with short, spiky hairs. It also eats insects and leaf buds. It generally forages in the lower levels of the forest. Hose's broadbills are mainly seen alone or in pairs, but small flocks of 6–8 birds are found at fruiting trees. Breeding has been observed from April to October. It makes a delicate hanging nest out of dead leaves, rattans, and bamboo, with an outer covering of green moss and lichen and a trailing "tail" made of rattan leaves. One nest measured around 25 cm × 15 cm (9.8 in × 5.9 in) and was hanging from a low, sagging branch 1.5 m (4.9 ft) high. Clutches have 2–4 eggs. The time taken for incubation and fledging is unknown. ## Status Hose's broadbill is classified as being near-threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its a moderately rapid decline in its population caused by habitat destruction at lower altitudes in its range. It is locally common and occurs in several protected areas like Gunung Mulu National Park, but becomes rarer after deforestation occurs. Lowland logging in its range has been extensive, but the species' preference for montane habitats may protect it in the short term. Surveys to understand the extent of population decline, studies to find the species' habitat preferences, and protection of areas with suitable habitats are needed to conserve the species.

John Komnenos Asen

Despot of the Principality of Valona circa 1345–1363

John Komnenos Asen (Bulgarian: Йоан Комнин Асен, romanized: Yoan Komnin Asen; Greek: Ίωάννης Κομνηνός Ἀσάνης, romanized: Iōannēs Komnēnos Asanēs; Serbian: Јован Комнин Асен, romanized: Jovan Komnin Asen) was the ruler of the Principality of Valona from c. 1345 to 1363, initially as a vassal of the Serbian Empire, and after 1355 as a largely independent lord. Descended from high-ranking Bulgarian nobility, John was a brother of both Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria and Helena of Bulgaria, the wife of Tsar Stephen Dušan of Serbia. Perhaps in search of better opportunities, he emigrated to Serbia, where his sister was married. There, he was granted the title of despot by Stephen Dušan, who placed him in charge of his territories in modern south Albania. As the despot of Valona, John established commercial ties with Venice and Ragusa, and he became a citizen of the former in 1353. After the death of Dušan in 1355, he took the side of the unsuccessful Simeon Uroš in the ensuing conflict for the Serbian throne. With Venetian assistance, John maintained the essentially independent status of the Principality of Valona. He probably died of the plague in 1363 and he was succeeded by Alexander Komnenos Asen, who was likely his son from his unknown first wife. John's second marriage was to the former Epirote queen-consort Anna Palaiologina. ## Origin and Serbian vassalage While the birth date of John Komnenos Asen is unknown, his origin is clearly documented in the sources. On both sides, he descended from the highest ranks of 14th-century Bulgarian nobility. He was born to Keratsa Petritsa, a daughter of despot Shishman of Vidin, and Sratsimir, the despot of Kran. John's mother was a descendant of the Asen dynasty as a grand granddaughter of Tsar Ivan Asen II. His siblings were Ivan Alexander, who would ascend to the Bulgarian throne in 1331, and Helena, who married Serbian ruler Stephen Dušan in 1332. Even though John was commonly referred to as a Komnenos in the sources, his relations to that Byzantine family are rather scarce. He had rights to that name either through his mother's descent from the Asens, themselves related to the Komnenoi, or through his marriage to Anna Palaiologina. It is uncertain as to exactly why John emigrated to Serbia instead of assuming a high-ranking position in Bulgaria, as his ancestry and family ties would suggest. Bulgarian historian Ivan Bozhilov is of the opinion that John was not seeking political refuge in Serbia. Instead, it is most likely that he moved to that country with the belief that Serbia's territorial expansion and political influence in that period would secure him better career opportunities. Presumably, John accompanied his sister Helena when she moved to Serbia to marry Stephen Dušan in 1332. John was first mentioned as the despot of Valona in 1350 and his documented presence in the Albanian lands only dates to 1349. However, he was most likely bestowed the title as early as 1345 or 1346, when Stephen Dušan was proclaimed Emperor (Tsar). American scholar John Fine believes this happened immediately after Stephen Dušan's coronation in 1346. Along with Stephen Dušan's half-brother, Simeon Uroš, and Jovan Oliver, John was one of three people to bear that title under Stephen Dušan. John was installed as ruler of Valona in late 1345, in the wake of the Serbian conquest of south Albania from the Byzantine Empire, which was concluded no later than August 1345. Besides the Adriatic port of Valona (modern Vlorë), John's appanage included nearby Kanina and the inland castle of Berat to the northeast. Other than that, the extent of his domain is uncertain. Estimates of the area John ruled over range from all of central Albania to only the three cities mentioned, with the rest remaining under the government of local Albanian nobility, who owed allegiance either to John or to Stephen Dušan directly. To the south, John's appanage bordered on the lands of Simeon Uroš, the ruler of Epirus. ## Relations with Venice and independence In 1349, John plundered a Venetian commercial ship which had been shipwrecked on the coast he controlled, in accordance with the medieval principle of jus naufragii. This act necessitated the involvement of Stephen Dušan in order to settle the dispute between Venice and John, as evidenced by an official document from 13 April 1350. Despite this conflict, under John the Principality of Valona was an active partner of Venice and Ragusa (modern Dubrovnik) in maritime commerce. Two receipts from 27 April 1350 document John's role as a mediator in cattle, sugar and pepper trade and reveal that he received significant income from the Valona customs. The customs was profitable because the port was often visited by merchant ships. Even though all of these documents were written in Slavic, John signed his name in Greek, which testifies to his Hellenisation. At the time, John also had ties with the Mamluk rulers of Egypt, who addressed him as “King of Serbia and Bulgaria” in correspondence. In 1353, John and his family were granted Venetian citizenship, which hints that his domain was under the protection of Venice. The premature death of Stephen Dušan in 1355 plunged the Serbian Empire into civil war. In that conflict, John took the side of his wife's son-in-law Simeon Uroš against the legitimate successor Stephen Uroš, who was Stephen Dušan's son and Simeon Uroš's nephew. While Simeon's attempt at taking the throne was ill-fated and Stephen Uroš even captured Berat in 1356, John managed to preserve his remaining lands and became independent from both Simeon and Stephen Uroš. The threat of Nikephoros II Orsini, who was gaining ground in Thessaly and Epirus, forced John to request the dispatch of a Venetian warship and an administrator from Venice to take control of his domain, to which the republic obliged. Bulgarian historian Hristo Matanov conjectures that after 1355, John may have minted his own coinage intended for trade with partners outside the inner Balkans. He bases this theory on a new reading of several Latin-language coin inscriptions as Monita despoti Ioanni instead of Monita despoti Oliveri, as previously thought. The new reading, which would identify the coins as being minted by John, was proposed by Yugoslav numismatist Nedeljković, who rejects the initial attribution of these coins to Jovan Oliver. A commercial document from 30 January 1359, which testifies to John's continuing trade relations with Venice, is chronologically the last reference to his activity in contemporary sources. While the date of his death was not recorded, it is likely that John perished during the plague epidemic which hit Valona and Durazzo (today Durrës) in 1363. ## Family John's first marriage probably dates to after his arrival in Serbia, though the identity of his first wife, if any, is unknown. If the next ruler of Valona, Alexander Komnenos Asen, was his son, then he would have been born circa 1346–1348, as he was already an adult in 1363–1366. This would place John's potential first marriage a few years before Alexander's estimated birth. Around 1350–1355, John married Anna Palaiologina, a granddaughter of Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos and a widow of John II Orsini, the despot of Epirus. This marriage to an Epirote noblewoman consolidated and legitimised John's position in the region. Besides Alexander, another very likely child of John Komnenos Asen was a certain Komnena, the wife of Balša II who had succeeded Alexander as ruler of Valona in early 1372.

Savile Row

Street in Mayfair, London, England

Savile Row (pronounced /ˌsævɪl ˈroʊ/) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical Society at 1 Savile Row, where significant British explorations to Africa and the South Pole were planned; and more recently, the Apple office of the Beatles at 3 Savile Row, where the band's impromptu final live performance was held on the roof of the building. Originally named Savile Street, it was built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the development of the Burlington Estate. It was designed under the influence of Burlington's interpretation of Palladian architecture, known as "Burlingtonian". Henry Flitcroft, under the supervision of Daniel Garrett, appears to have been the main architect – though 1 and 22–23 Savile Row were designed by William Kent. Initially, the street was occupied mainly by military officers and their wives; later William Pitt the Younger and Irish-born playwright and MP Richard Brinsley Sheridan were residents. Tailors started doing business in the area in the late 18th century; first in Cork Street, about 1790, then by 1803 in Savile Row itself. In 1846, Henry Poole, later credited as the creator of the dinner jacket, opened an entrance to Savile Row from his tailoring premises in Old Burlington Street. Founded in 1849 by Henry Huntsman, H. Huntsman & Sons moved to No. 11 Savile Row with the ending of the war in 1919. During the First World War, Huntsman's was a tailor to the military, producing dress uniforms for British officers. In 1969, Nutters of Savile Row modernised the style and approach of traditional Savile Row tailoring; a modernisation that continued into the 1990s with the "New Bespoke Movement", involving the designers Richard James, Ozwald Boateng, and Timothy Everest. The term "bespoke" as applied to fine tailoring is understood to have originated in Savile Row, and came to mean a suit cut and made by hand. ## Location Savile Row runs parallel to Regent Street between Conduit Street at the northern end and Vigo Street at the southern. Linking roads include New Burlington Place, New Burlington Street, Boyle Street, and Clifford Street. ## Ownership The freehold is owned by the Pollen Estate. In 2016 Westminster City Council commenced attempts to protect the street's tailoring heritage under the Savile Row SPA (Special Policy Area). As of August 2014, Norway's Oil Fund, the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, had acquired a 57.8% interest in the Pollen Estate. This includes properties in Mayfair, among which is Savile Row. ## History The first house in what would become Savile Row was "a fine House and Ground", built in 1674 on the site of what is now No. 1, and occupied by a series of nobles until it was demolished in 1730 in preparation for the laying out of the houses on the east of Savile Row in 1731. Savile Row was built between 1731 and 1735, on freehold land known as Ten Acres belonging to a merchant tailor, William Maddox, as part of the development of the Burlington Estate, and is named after Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington. Maddox's land, consisting mainly of fruit and other trees covering what would become Savile Row and the streets around, some of which is still owned by his descendants as the Pollen Estate. When initially laid out – under the name Saville Street – Savile Row ran from Burlington Gardens (then Vigo Lane) to Boyle Street, with houses only on the east side, but in the 19th century, houses were built on the west side. ### Nineteenth century Initially, the street was occupied by military officers and their wives, along with politicians: William Pitt the Younger wrote letters from the street when it was called Savile Street; Irish-born playwright and MP, Richard Brinsley Sheridan lived at 14 Savile Row in 1813–16, till his death. Jules Verne had Phileas Fogg, his lead character in Around the World in Eighty Days, live at 7 Savile Row – a "fashionable address" and "the former home of Sheridan". It may have been the affluent and influential nature of the residents of Savile Row that first attracted dealers in luxury goods to the area. Tailors started to take premises around Savile Row in the late 18th century, first in Cork Street, about 1790, then by 1803 in Savile Row itself. In 1846, Henry Poole, credited as creator of the dinner jacket or tuxedo, opened an entrance at 37 Savile Row from his late father's tailoring premises at 4 Old Burlington Street. As tailoring moved into the street, the house frontages were altered to bring natural light into the tailors' working area with the addition of glass frontages and lightwells. The houses have been much altered over time; the original Burlingtonian design has been mostly lost, though No. 14 still retains much of the original external features. ### Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society occupied No. 1 from 1870 to 1912, from where significant British exploration was planned, including into Asia, Africa, and the South Pole; and, according to the society, the address "became associated with adventure and travel". David Livingstone was laid out in state at the society's headquarters, before being buried in Westminster Abbey. In 1871, shortly after the Royal Geographical Society moved into Savile Row, so did the Savile Club; a gentlemen's club founded in 1868 as the New Club, occupying rooms overlooking Trafalgar Square; it changed to its current name during its residence at 12 Savile Row, retaining the name when it moved in 1882 to premises in Piccadilly. ### Twentieth century Savile Row was extended to Conduit Street in 1937–38, and by 1939, the Metropolitan Police Station was constructed on the corner of Boyle Street. This police station was damaged in another German bombing raid in September 1940, during which the building opposite, No. 21a, was destroyed, as was No. 7 earlier that month. Fortress House, an eight-storey block of offices faced with Portland stone, was constructed at 23 Savile Row in 1949-50 and occupied by a series of government ministries, ending with a long period of occupation by English Heritage until 2006. It was demolished in 2009 and replaced by a new mixed-use development designed by Eric Parry, Architects. In July 1968, the Beatles moved Apple Corps, their multimedia corporation, into 3 Savile Row. A studio was built in the basement; though it was poorly designed, the Beatles recorded Let It Be there before a new studio was constructed in 1971 at an estimated cost of \$1.5 million. Various artists, including Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, and Marc Bolan recorded in the basement studio until it closed in May 1975. The Beatles' final live performance, known as the "rooftop concert", was held on the roof of the building, on 30 January 1969, and was recorded for the documentary film Let It Be; the last words of the band, spoken by John Lennon as the police stopped the performance, were "I hope we passed the audition." In 1969, Nutters of Savile Row modernised the style and approach of the traditional tailors; a modernisation which continued in the 1990s with the "New Bespoke Movement", involving the designers Richard James, Ozwald Boateng, and Timothy Everest. With increasing rents and criticisms from Giorgio Armani of falling behind the times, the number of tailors in Savile Row had declined to 19 in 2006, from approximately 40 in the 1950s. However, tailoring businesses have increased since 2006; as of October 2014, a local online directory listed 44 tailoring and clothing businesses on and around Savile Row. Some tailors had expressed concern in 2005 that an increase in commercial development in the area could lead to the death of the business locally, as tailors, many of whom traditionally manufacture their suits in their premises, in basement studios, could be priced out of the local property market. The Savile Row Bespoke Association was founded in 2004 to protect and develop bespoke tailoring as practised in Savile Row and the surrounding streets. The member tailors are typically required to put at least 50 hours of hand labour into each two-piece suit. The Association, along with the owners, the Pollen Estate, is working in partnership with Westminster Council to protect the street's tailoring heritage under the Savile Row SPA (Special Policy Area). The Association objected to the American retailer Abercrombie & Fitch's plan to open a children's store at 3 Savile Row, concerned that chain stores entering the street would drive up rents, and took part in, what was then, a successful protest in 2012. However, A&F were allowed to move in and set up a children's store in 2013, although it has since closed. Starting in 1946, 14 Savile Row was the home of Hardy Amies which changed ownership several times over the course of its history. In 2018, the company went into administration for a second time, and was attempting to sell its assets in 2019. The Savile Row store was closed in March 2019 and the space taken over by Hackett in June as its flagship store. ## Architecture The original architectural plan for Savile Row is believed to have been drawn up by Colen Campbell, with Henry Flitcroft as the main architect of the street, under the supervision of Daniel Garrett; though 1 and 22–23 Savile Row were designed by William Kent, who moved into No. 2. These architects were all under the influence of Burlington's interpretation of Palladian architecture, known as "Burlingtonian", which was to have some influence on English architecture in the 16th century. As tailoring moved into the street, the house frontages were altered to bring natural light into the tailors' working area with the addition of glass frontages and light wells. The houses have been much altered over time; the original Burlingtonian design has been mostly lost, though No. 14 still retains much of the original external features. When the Royal Geographical Society occupied No. 1, they built a glass-roofed map-room in the courtyard, a small astronomical observatory on the roof, and a new portico – which may be the basis for the current appearance of the façade. Several of the buildings on Savile Row are listed on the National Heritage List for England; 1 Savile Row (6A Vigo Street) is listed Grade II, 3 Savile Row is listed II\*, 12, 12A and 13 are listed II as a group, 14 is listed Grade II\*, 17 is listed Grade II, 16 is listed Grade II, and 11 is listed II\*. ## Tailoring Savile Row's reputation is built on bespoke tailoring, where each suit is made to individually fit. The term "bespoke", which has an etymology developing from "to exclaim" through "discussed in advance" and is generally understood to mean "made to order", became associated with fine tailoring, with tailors claiming that the term has been in common use for tailoring since the 17th century. Savile Row tailors argue that "bespoke", in relation to tailoring, is understood to mean a suit cut and made by hand; however, after a ruling by the Advertising Standards Authority in 2008, the term may now also be applied to machine sewed garments, provided they are made-to-measure. Customers of the "golden mile of tailoring" have included Lord Nelson, Napoleon III, Winston Churchill, Charles III, and Jude Law, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan used to order his suits from Savile Row. Although it is sometimes reported that Ian Fleming and his character James Bond bought suits in Savile Row, there is no evidence for this in the novels; both Fleming and the Bond film character wore suits designed by non-Savile Row tailors, in particular Anthony Sinclair of nearby Conduit Street. Tailors, attracted by the affluent and influential nature of the residents of Savile Row, started to open businesses in the area in the late 18th century, first in Cork Street, about 1790, then by 1803 in Savile Row itself. None of those original tailors survive today, though Henry Poole & Co, who through Edward VII's patronage, helped make the street fashionable, still have a presence in Savile Row. Poole moved the company into 32 Savile Row in 1846, following the death of his father James Poole, and the company is now at No. 15. Henry Poole is credited as creator of the dinner jacket, when he made a smoking jacket for the young Edward VII in 1860. Tailoring was softened in the early 20th century by Frederick Scholte when he developed the English drape for the Duke of Windsor. Scholte's "dress soft" style was developed into the "London cut", the house style of Anderson & Sheppard, by Per Anderson, a protégé of Sholte. The "London cut" is a high small armhole with a generous upper sleeve that permits the jacket to remain close to the neck while freeing the arm to move with comfort. Though the reputation of tailoring on Savile Row is for bespoke suits, ready-to-wear clothes were introduced by Gieves & Hawkes, a company formed in 1974 by the merger of two separate businesses who both date from the late 19th century: Gieves, a Royal Navy tailor founded in Portsmouth; and Hawkes, a London-based cap-maker and tailor to the British Army. Hardy Amies Ltd further broadened the scope and appeal of tailoring in Savile Row: in 1961, he staged the first men's ready-to-wear catwalk shows, at the Ritz Hotel in London, he designed costumes for the 1966 England World Cup team, and for the 1968 film 2001: Space Odyssey, and dressed the Queen, designing the gown used for the Silver Jubilee portrait in 1977. Hardy Amies founded the company in 1946, converting the bombed out shell of No. 14. Amies sold the business to the Luxury Brands Group and retired in 2001, but it went into administration in 2008 when it was bought by Fung Capital. It went back into administration in 2018 but on this occasion no buyer was found and the House was closed. Modernisation of tailoring continued in 1969 with Nutters of Savile Row. Nutters of Savile Row was opened on Valentine's Day 1969 by Tommy Nutter and Edward Sexton, who had worked together at Donaldson, Williamson & Ward. Financially backed by Cilla Black and Peter Brown of the Beatles Apple Corps, Nutters used bold window displays, created by the then unknown Simon Doonan; and clients included the Beatles, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Nutter left the company in 1976 and went to work at Kilgour. He died in 1992. However, Terry Haste, cutter at Tommy Nutter, continues with John Kent (holder of the Royal Warrant for the Duke of Edinburgh) nearby at 7 Sackville Street. Modernisation had slowed by the early 1990s; Savile Row tailors were "struggling to find relevance with an audience that had grown increasingly disassociated". Three tailors, Ozwald Boateng, Timothy Everest (an apprentice of Nutter's), and Richard James, then became known for revitalising the bespoke style for the modern market - having each broken away independently from the Savile Row mould. Public relations professional Alison Hargreaves coined the term "New Bespoke Movement" to describe collectively the work of this "new generation" of tailors. Interest reached a peak in 1997 when the three were featured together in Vanity Fair. The newcomers altered their shop fronts and used marketing and publicity to their advantage; challenging the traditional Savile Row styling, they brought twists and "a fine sense of colour to bespoke suits." They were seen to "push the envelope of modern suit making and bespoke active wear, creating more contemporary silhouettes with bolder fabrics," and set out to attract celebrity clients, sell their clothing via supermarket chains, and attract wider national and international custom, raising the profile of their new tailoring style.

More Hearts Than Mine

"More Hearts Than Mine" is a song by American singer-songwriter Ingrid Andress from her debut studio album, Lady Like (2020). It was written by Andress alongside Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland, with production being handled by Andress and Ellis. Warner Music Nashville released it as her second single for digital download and streaming on April 5, 2019. In June 2019, the aforementioned label sent the song for radio airplay, becoming Andress' first song to be submitted for this format. The country ballad discusses Andress' decision of bringing her boyfriend home and declares that if they break up, her family will suffer most. Andress wrote the song after considering whether or not she should bring her new boyfriend to her family, as they became attached to Andress' ex-boyfriend from a previous relationship. "More Hearts Than Mine" received widespread acclaim from music critics, who praised its lyrics and Andress' decision to write a song about the situation she was in. Commercially, the song peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number 55 on the Canadian Hot 100. The track attained double platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Music Canada (MC). "More Hearts Than Mine" received nominations for Best Country Song at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards and Song of the Year at the 54th Annual Country Music Association Awards. A music video for the song was released via Billboard on April 24, 2019. It was directed by Sam Siske and it depicts a woman contemplating on how the people close to her would react if she brought her boyfriend with her. The video received a nomination for Breakthrough Video of the Year at the 2020 CMT Music Awards. To further promote the song, Andress performed it on various occasions, including at Grand Ole Opry in 2019 and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in 2020. ## Background and release Talking to Annie Reuter of Billboard in April 2019, Andress revealed that she chose to release "Lady Like" (2019) as her first single under Warner Music Nashville over "More Hearts Than Mine" as she considered that the former represented her the best. She wrote "More Hearts Than Mine" with Sam Ellis and Derrick Southerland, with whom she also collaborated on "Lady Like", and produced it alongside Ellis. It was recorded at Rosebank Studio and mixed at Larrabee Studios. In another interview with Billboard, Andress revealed that she wrote the song in late 2018. Andress disclosed that the inspiration for the song came from when she pondered over bringing her new boyfriend to her family, and that the song's title resulted from that decision. She explained that her family became attached to an ex-boyfriend of hers from college and did not want to see her family disappointed if her new relationship would not work out either. In an interview with Billboard, Andress revealed that she was not "entirely convinced" she wanted to write a song about the situation. It was released for digital download and streaming by Warner Music Nashville on April 5, 2019. The aforementioned label sent the track for radio airplay on June 12, becoming Andress' first single to be submitted for radio. In January 2020, the song was confirmed to be the first single off her debut album. Another version of the track, with Karen Fairchild and Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town was later included on the deluxe edition of Lady Like (2020). ## Composition Musically, "More Hearts Than Mine" is a country ballad. In the song's chorus, Andress predicts how people close to her would react to her new relationship; her mother would fall in love with him instantly, her father would bond with him over "guy things" and pretend he doesn't like him, her sister would try to embarrass him by asking him "a million questions" and her high school friends would tell him about her "crazy nights". According to Jon Caramanica of The New York Times, the track is about "a love that lets you down that sounds like a tragedy even at the beginning, when there’s still hope". Carena Liptak of The Boot described "More Hearts Than Mine" as "a ballad about opening up to heartbreak by inviting a partner to meet your family in your hometown". ## Reception and commercial performance "More Hearts Than Mine" received widespread acclaim from music critics. Caramanica claimed that the song was "elegantly written". Chris Willman, writing for Variety, complimented Andress' decision to write the song, stating "no one has thought to write a hit song" about "the worry about how a breakup might affect family members who’ve fallen for a significant other as much as oneself". Taste of Country's Billy Dukes stated about Andress that "there's something small-town relatable about her fears and observations" which "transcend the song". He affirmed that Andress "just dropped one of the best songs of 2019". Laura Whitmore of Parade called the track "a touching and beautifully crafted gem". People's Nancy Kruh praised the song's lyrics, declaring that Andress "has also done the near-impossible, identifying a common human situation previously unexamined in country lyrics". Writing for HuffPost, Curtis Wong claimed that Andress is "at her most lyrically adventurous" on the song. Tom Roland of Billboard compared it to Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billy Joe" (1967) and declared that it is "setting [Andress] up as a smart musical documentarian". Commercially, "More Hearts Than Mine" peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 55 on the Canadian Hot 100. It further reached the top five of both territories' country-specific charts. The song was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and Music Canada (MC). ## Promotion The music video for the track premiered on April 24, 2019 via Billboard. It was directed by Sam Siske. The video begins with a woman arriving at her family's home in a car. Throughout the video, she is seen imagining how scenarios of being with her family at home or with her girl friends would be if she brought her lover. Interspersed shots of Andress playing a piano in the middle of a street and wandering through a corridor are shown during the video. It ends with the woman leaving her family's house. CMT named it the fifth best country music video of 2020. After hearing Andress singing "Lady Like" at a country showcase in 2018, Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town invited her in July 2019 to perform "More Hearts Than Mine" and two other songs with fellow member Kimberly Schlapman as part of Cracker Barrel's "Five Decades, One Voice" initiative. In the same month Andress performed the song on American news and talk morning television show Today. On September 16, 2019 she sang "More Hearts Than Mine" live at Vevo. In October of the same year, Andress sang the track alongside "Lady Like" at the country music stage concert Grand Ole Opry. On March 19, 2020, the singer performed "More Hearts Than Mine" at YouTube Space New York. While performing the song at the 2020 CMT Music Awards, Andress broke down in tears. Her performance at the ceremony was lauded by Entertainment Tonight's Jennifer Drysdale and Carl Lamarre of Billboard. On December 9, 2020 Andress sang the track at the late-night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!. She included "More Hearts Than Mine" on the setlist for her November 18, 2021, show, which was part of her Feeling Things Tour (2021–2022). In November 2021, American trio Girl Named Tom performed the song on the 21st season of The Voice. American singer Kelly Clarkson also covered "More Hearts Than Mine" for the "Kellyoke" segment of her variety talk show The Kelly Clarkson Show on February 3, 2022. ## Accolades ## Credits and personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of Lady Like. Recording and management - Recorded at Rosebank Studio (Nashville, Tennessee) - Mixed at Larrabee Studios (North Hollywood, California) - Mastered at Georgetown Masters (Nashville, Tennessee) - Published by Songs of Universal Inc. / What Is an Ingrid / Straight from the Art Music / Songs for a Stone Heart / Universal Music Corp. / Happy Rock Publishing (BMI) Personnel - Sam Ellis – songwriter, producer, additional engineering, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, piano, keyboards, programming, background vocals - Ingrid Andress – lead vocals, songwriter, producer - Derrick Southerland – songwriter - Manny Marroquin – mixing - Chris Galland – mixing engineer - Robin Florent – mixing engineer assistant - Scott Desmarais – mixing engineer assistant - Devin Malone – baritone guitar, steel guitar - Andrew Mendelson – mastering ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications ## Release history

One (Ed Sheeran song)

"One" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran for his second studio album, x (2014). Sheeran wrote the song immediately after releasing his debut album, + (2011). It marked the last occasion wherein Sheeran wrote about his former girlfriend, who inspired all the romantic compositions on +. "One" was produced by frequent collaborator Jake Gosling and its music was based primarily on acoustic guitar. Critics were generally positive toward the song; it was noted for its guitar-driven sound and Sheeran's use of falsetto. An accompanying video for "One" was shot in an empty Wembley SSE Arena and preceded the song's release on 16 May 2014. It was the first promotional single from x. In Europe, the song appeared in several charts; it reached number 18 in the United Kingdom, where it was certified Gold for sales of at least 400,000 units on 7 April 2014. ## Background and release Shortly after the release of his debut album, +, Sheeran wrote "One" in November 2011 while he was on tour in Perth, Australia. Inside his dressing room, he composed the song on a guitar made of a whiskey barrel. "One" was the first song Sheeran wrote for his second studio album, x. The song was produced by Jake Gosling, who contributed to the majority of tracks featured on Sheeran's debut album. Gosling owned Sticky Studios, located in the small Surrey village of Windlesham, where Sheeran recorded "One". Sheeran wrote "One" as the last song about Alice, his former girlfriend who inspired all the romantic songs on +. It is the only song on x that refers to that particular relationship, while the rest was about "moving on and the [...] experiences [Sheeran] had since then". According to Sheeran, the song "is a good way to end both that period and that relationship". In "One", Sheeran finds himself bidding farewell to a former love interest. Sheeran takes a minimal approach on this ballad, which is characterised with softly strummed acoustic guitar. "One" was released on 16 May 2014 as the first promotional single from x. It was made available as an "instant great" download for those who pre-ordered the album on iTunes Store. The promotional release of "One" was meant to counterbalance "Sing", the album's lead single. "Sing" was intended to create hype over the album release, but was feared would alienate Sheeran's fan base. Preceding the song's release, an official video premiered on Sheeran's YouTube channel on 2 May 2014. The black-and-white video was shot in an empty Wembley Arena in London, England. It features Sheeran performing live an acoustic version of the song. Sheeran performed "One" on his x Tour, which ran from 2014 to 2015. ## Reception Upon the release of x, "One" received positive reviews. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph described Sheeran's style in "One" alongside "Photograph" a "soulful balladry". Luiza Lodder of No Ripcord believed that the "strumming and melodies" are "heartfelt". On another note, The Guardian'''s Alexis Petridis suggested that the "striking and beautiful" ballads in the album "evince a certain new-found maturity". Petridis felt that "One" is a "haunting, falsetto-powered" ballad. Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club noted Sheeran's "weak-kneed" falsetto in the "fragile acoustic pop". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe noted similarities between "One" and Sheeran's 2011 single "The A Team" for their tunefulness; she described the former as "burbling". Dave Hanratty of Drowned in Sound had the same opinion: "'One' [was] cut from the exact same cloth as 'The A Team'", although he favored "One" as better. Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter stated that the song "[did] a nice job mixing drunken regret with romantic dedication". In a cover interview with Sheeran for Billboard, Chris Willman opined that on "One", Sheeran took his "minimalist live approach to its furthest degree". "One", and the rest of the tracks from x, entered the UK Singles Chart due to high streaming rates. It debuted at number 20 on the chart week ending 24 May 2014, it peaked at number 18 on the following week, and has appeared on the chart for 20 weeks. On 30 June 2015, the British Phonographic Industry certified the song silver, denoting sales of 200,000 units. The song appeared once on the main US chart; it debuted at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100. ## Credits and personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of x'' - Ed Sheeran – vocals, songwriting, guitar - Jake Gosling – production, engineering, programming, drums, strings, horns - Adam Coltman – assistant engineering - Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing - Geoff Swan – engineering - Stuart Hawkes – mastering ## Charts and certifications

San Juan Creek

River in Orange County, California, United States

San Juan Creek, also called the San Juan River, is a 29-mile (47 km) long stream in Orange and Riverside Counties, draining a watershed of 133.9 square miles (347 km²). Its mainstem begins in the southern Santa Ana Mountains in the Cleveland National Forest. It winds west and south through San Juan Canyon, and is joined by Arroyo Trabuco as it passes through San Juan Capistrano. It flows into the Pacific Ocean at Doheny State Beach. San Juan Canyon provides a major part of the route for California State Route 74 (the Ortega Highway). Before Spanish colonization in the 1770s, the San Juan Creek watershed was inhabited by the Acjachemen or Juañeno Native Americans. The Juañeno were named by Spanish missionaries who built Mission San Juan Capistrano on the banks of a stream they named San Juan Creek. The watershed was used mainly for agriculture and ranching until the 1950s when residential suburban development began on a large scale. Since then, the human population has continued to encroach on floodplains of local streams. Flooding in the 20th and 21st centuries has caused considerable property damage in the San Juan watershed. The San Juan watershed is home to sixteen major native plant communities and hundreds of animal species. However, the watershed is projected to be 48 percent urbanized by 2050. In addition, urban runoff has changed flow patterns in San Juan Creek and introduced pollutants to the river system. Although the main stem of San Juan Creek does not have any major water diversions or dams, some of its tributaries, including Trabuco and Oso Creeks, have been channelized or otherwise heavily modified by urbanization. ## Course San Juan Creek begins high in the Santa Ana Mountains southwest of Lake Elsinore, at the head of the steep and narrow San Juan Canyon, at roughly 1,678 feet (511 m) in elevation where Morrell Canyon Creek, draining the western Elsinore Mountains and southernmost Santa Ana Mountains, has its confluence with Bear Canyon Creek. From there, it flows steeply down a rocky gorge over rapids and waterfalls. San Juan Canyon forms the mountain pass for California State Route 74 (the Ortega Highway), which connects San Juan Capistrano to Lake Elsinore and the Inland Empire. San Juan Falls, a 15-foot (4.6 m) cascade, and the 30-foot (9.1 m) Ortega Falls are located along the headwaters of the creek. The creek then flows generally southwest through a canyon, receiving Hot Springs Creek and Cold Springs Creek from the right, and Lucas Canyon Creek from the left. At Caspers Wilderness Park, the San Juan Canyon opens up into a fairly wide valley in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. This reach of San Juan Creek is underlain by thick alluvial deposits and is still used for farming and grazing. It is joined by Bell Canyon from the right, and Verdugo Canyon Creek from the left. Trampas Canyon enters from the left and Cañada Gobernadora and Cañada Chiquita enter from the right. The creek flows through residential Rancho Mission Viejo, crosses under Interstate 5, and enters a concrete flood control channel, turning south and receiving El Horno Creek on the right. It receives its largest tributary, Arroyo Trabuco, from the right, then flows south toward the Pacific Ocean. The creek forms a fresh water lagoon at the northern end of Doheny State Beach, which overflows into Capistrano Bay during periods of high flow. ### Tributaries All direct tributaries of San Juan Creek, from mouth to source, are listed. The list also includes streams that join major tributaries. - Arroyo Trabuco - Oso Creek - La Paz Channel - Tijeras Canyon Creek - Live Oak Canyon Creek - Hickey Canyon Creek - Rose Canyon Creek - Falls Canyon Creek - Holy Jim Canyon Creek - El Horno Creek - Cañada Chiquita - Cañada Gobernadora - Wagon Wheel Canyon Creek - Trampas Canyon - Verdugo Canyon - Bell Canyon (Bell Creek) - Crow Canyon Creek - Dove Canyon Creek - Fox Canyon Creek - Lucas Canyon Creek (mouth of San Juan Canyon) - Aliso Canyon Creek - Cold Springs Canyon - Hot Spring Canyon - Chiquito Spring Creek - Lion Canyon Creek - Bear Canyon Creek (head of San Juan Canyon) - Morrell Canyon Creek - Long Canyon Creek - Arroyo El Cariso - Decker Canyon Creek ## Geology The San Juan Creek watershed is crossed by a complex network of seismic fault zones, with streams tending to form canyons along fault traces. The Cristianitos fault (Cristianitos) runs northeast-southwest along Oso Creek, passing offshore 7 miles (11 km) south of the mouth of San Juan Creek. The Mission Viejo fault zone parallels the Cristianitos but ends much farther south, in San Diego County. The first recorded earthquake in the area partially destroyed Mission San Juan Capistrano in 1812 (which had been built only six years before), killing forty people in the adobe chapel when it collapsed. Other major quakes occurred in 1862, 1933 and 1938. Soils in the San Juan watershed are mostly sedimentary rock and are highly erosive, resulting in large alluvial deposits along floodplains. Soil types in the San Juan watershed can be divided into the Metz-San Emigdio, Sorrento-Mocho, Myford, Alo-Bosanko, Cieneba-Anaheim-Soper, and Friant-Cieneba-Exchequer associations, in order from low to high elevations. Steep hills in the San Juan watershed are prone to collapse during heavy rainfall or seismic activity. Over the past 1.2 million years the uplift of the San Joaquin Hills, a small coastal mountain range generally following the Pacific coast of Orange County, created a physical barrier for streams flowing off the Santa Ana Mountains. Climate change during the Ice Ages periodically made Southern California much wetter, most recently during the Wisconsinian Glaciation (70,000 to 10,000 years ago), when the area was home to a temperate rainforest climate that would receive rainfall in excess of 80 inches (2,000 mm) per year. The increase in water flow in San Juan Creek allowed it to maintain its course as an antecedent stream, rather than being diverted to the east or west. ## Hydrology and groundwater The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) measured the discharge of San Juan Creek in the city of San Juan Capistrano for two periods, from 1928 to 1969 and from 1969 to 1985. Stream flows for the earlier period are considerably different from the later period due to increased volumes of urban runoff. For 1928–1969, the average discharge was 14.3 cubic feet per second (0.40 m³/s), and the peak flow was 22,400 cubic feet per second (630 m³/s) on February 25, 1969. During the 1969–1985 period, the average flow was 26.1 cubic feet per second (0.74 m³/s), and a peak flow of 14,700 cubic feet per second (420 m³/s) was recorded on March 4, 1978. After 1985, the USGS stopped measuring discharge but continues to monitor water level in real-time at the La Novia Street bridge. According to the city of San Juan Capistrano, the largest flood of record occurred on January 11, 2005 with an estimated discharge of 33,650 cubic feet per second (953 m³/s). According to the California State Water Resources Control Board (1977) the San Juan Creek Groundwater Basin has a total volume of roughly 900,000 acre-feet (1.1×10⁹ m³). Natural groundwater recharge in the San Juan basin is estimated at 160,000 acre-feet (200,000,000 m³) per year. This amount has been reduced due to extensive urbanization of the lower watershed which results in more water running off to the Pacific Ocean. However, water from irrigation run-off and other human activities is responsible for recharging an additional 37,500 acre-feet (46,300,000 m³) per year. The Christianitos and Mission Viejo fault zones split the watershed into distinct "Upper" and "Lower" groundwater basins. The groundwater mostly lies in alluvium, which ranges from a depth of 200 feet (61 m) in the lower elevations to almost none in the high elevations. Groundwater in this basin at the San Juan Capistrano reach is considered of high quality. Although San Juan Creek contains water for most of the year, it is highly seasonal, with strong flows during the wettest months of January through March, and shrinking to a trickle during the other months. In poor rain years, the stream can often dry up completely in its lower reaches. The total natural (unimpaired) surface outflow from the San Juan basin into the Pacific is estimated at 5,200 acre-feet (6,400,000 m³) per year. Agricultural and urban runoff significantly increased the average outflow, to 7,800 acre-feet (9,600,000 m³) as of 1993. The maximum annual outflow is 9,000 acre-feet (11,000,000 m³). Although the use of local surface water and groundwater is increasing, local groundwater levels have not been affected significantly by human use, due to the relatively high natural recharge rate. Due to the lower amount of urbanization in the San Juan watershed as compared with other watersheds in the county, the 100-year flood inundation risk is also significantly lower than in other parts of Orange County. It has been calculated that a 100-year flood in the watershed would only affect a roughly 0.5 mi (0.80 km) wide area for the lower reaches of San Juan Creek inside San Juan Capistrano, while for Arroyo Trabuco, only a 0.2 mi (0.32 km) wide area would be affected, mainly due to considerable entrenchment of the river bed. However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers many levees in the San Juan Capistrano area to be inadequate for handling the 100-year flood, and that such a flood would cause \$149 million of property damage. ## Watershed The San Juan Creek watershed covers 133.9-square-mile (347 km²) in south Orange County and a very small portion of Riverside County. The Santa Ana Mountains occupy most of the north, east and south parts watershed, while the San Joaquin Hills border the watershed on the southwest. Along with San Juan Creek, the two largest tributaries – Trabuco and Bell Creeks – both originate in the Santa Ana Mountains. Although more than half of the watershed is undeveloped land, it also includes parts of the cities of Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and the unincorporated communities of Trabuco Canyon (near Rancho Santa Margarita) and Rancho Mission Viejo (east of San Juan). There are four main alluvial river valleys in the watershed. The San Juan Creek valley occupies the south portion of the watershed; the heavily urbanized lower (southwest) portion is located in the cities of San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point, while the largely rural (northeast) portion extends well into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. The Arroyo Trabuco valley forms a large alluvial plain called "Plano Trabuco" in the north part of the watershed (part of suburban Rancho Santa Margarita). The Oso Creek valley is narrower, running south through Mission Viejo and Laguna Hills, and is mostly urbanized. The Bell Creek valley is the least urbanized of the four, being mostly located in the Cleveland National Forest, Starr Ranch Preserve and Caspers Wilderness Park. There are 19 other major tributaries in the watershed. The California Department of Water Resources includes San Juan Creek in the 500-square-mile (1,300 km²) San Juan Hydrologic Unit, which includes the coastal watersheds of Aliso Creek, Salt Creek, Prima Deshecha Cañada, Segunda Deshecha Cañada, and San Mateo Creek, which share a similar range of elevations and climate. Elevation in the Hydrologic Unit ranges from sea level to 5,700 feet (1,700 m) at Santiago Peak (the headwater of Holy Jim Creek, a tributary of Arroyo Trabuco). The climate is Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Almost all the precipitation occurs between October and April; the average rainfall is 12 to 16 inches (300 to 410 mm), although mountain areas often receive higher amounts. San Juan Creek receives extra runoff from agriculture, urban areas, and other human sources, resulting in unnatural dry season flows that carry trash, heavy metals, oils, pesticides and fertilizer into the creek. The heaviest source of pollution is Oso Creek. Michael Hazzard, a Southern California environmentalist, said after diving into Upper Oso Creek Reservoir: "I spent three days diving to retrieve an outboard motor and my skin broke out in hives and boils and my gallbladder suffered and I later had six operations over a 21⁄2-year period." ## Ecology San Juan Creek was originally rich in riparian zones and other types habitat in both its upper and lower watershed, with wetlands totaling over 300 acres (1.2 km²) historically in the lower reaches, before urban development began in the 1950s. Only 0.3 percent of those wetlands remain. Recent efforts of stream conservation have been in the planning stage including habitat conservation plan work. There are sixteen prominent vegetation zones in the San Juan watershed, which include riparian vegetation, montane woodlands, coastal sage scrub and chaparral. Riparian vegetation is found along the banks of free-flowing streams with a measurable flow for at least several months out of the year. These include most of San Juan Creek, upper Arroyo Trabuco, Cañada Gobernadora, Bell Canyon, and other headwater streams, as well as scattered patches along Oso and El Horno creeks. Forests are present at high elevations, and also occur in close proximity to waterways. Coastal sage scrub is found on south-facing hillsides, while chaparral is found on higher-elevation hillsides and mesas. There are also a number of rare plant communities along rock outcroppings and vernal pools. However, introduced plant species, such as giant reed, castor bean, and tobacco tree, are rapidly spreading along streams. Giant reed has taken over huge areas of wetlands, swamps and riparian zones along the creek and its tributaries, although in recent years the county has taken steps toward eradicating it from San Juan Creek and other nearby streams. Historically, the San Juan watershed supported up to 12 invertebrate species, 5 fish species, 12 amphibian species, 35 reptile species, 143 bird species, and 42 mammal species, which benefited from the diverse vegetation communities present. Some streams and ponds host federally listed endangered/threatened species such as tidewater goby, fairy shrimp, and California red-legged frog. Federally listed bird species include least Bell's vireo, California gnatcatcher, California least tern, and southwestern willow flycatcher. Other listed species include Pacific pocket mouse and Quino checkerspot butterfly. As urbanization continues to increase in the San Juan watershed, most sensitive species have been pushed back to the foothills, mountains, and agricultural/ranching areas of the watershed. In 1987, just five bird species were confirmed in the watershed, while for fish, benthic invertebrates, and certain insects there were no confirmed observations, in part due to insufficient site coverage. Historic accounts suggest that San Juan Creek provided habitat for steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) in many historic accounts. However, pollution and competition from introduced sport fishes such as bluegill and striped bass have extirpated steelhead in the creek. Bacteria levels in San Juan Creek exceed state standards by 93 percent. The loss of riparian habitat along the lower 2.7 miles (4.3 km) of San Juan Creek and much of Trabuco and Oso Creeks due to channelization has also reduced steelhead habitat. However, in 2003 the California Department of Fish and Game reported three sightings of steelhead in a large stream pool along Trabuco Creek, immediately downstream of a drop structure that channels the creek beneath Interstate 5. In response, the Department of Fish and Game lobbied Caltrans to build a fish ladder at the structure, but it has not yet been implemented, due to concerns about structural stability of the I-5 bridge and the presence of a nearby natural gas pipeline. ## History ### Indigenous peoples Before the 18th century, the San Juan Creek watershed was mostly Acjachemen territory, which extended from Aliso Creek in the north to San Mateo Creek in the south, a distance of roughly 35 miles (56 km). Most of the population lived along the two major streams in the area, San Juan and San Mateo Creeks, as well as Arroyo Trabuco. The Acjachemen lived in villages along San Juan Creek, including villages on the main stem of San Juan Creek, the largest being Putiidhem, which was the mother village of the people, as well as Sajavit and Piwiva, while Huumai was located on the tributary Cañada Gobernadora. The Acjachemen diet usually consisted of fruits, acorns, grains, and some meat, while they practiced little agriculture. Shell middens indicate that they also harvested shellfish from the coast. Native peoples in this area are not known to have built permanent structures in this area or significantly influenced the natural environment. ### Spanish arrival The first European land exploration of Alta California, the Spanish Portolá expedition, passed this way on its way north, camping at San Juan Creek on July 23, 1769. Franciscan missionary Juan Crespi noted in his diary: "...we came to a very pleasant green valley, full of willows, alders, live oaks, and other trees not known to us. It has a large arroyo, which at the point where we crossed it carried a good stream of fresh and good water, which, after running a little way, formed in pools in some large patches of tules." On the return journey to San Diego, the party used the campsite again, on January 20. In 1776, Father Junípero Serra founded Mission San Juan Capistrano on a site close to the creek (possibly near the Cañada Gobernadora confluence), and the creek was named after the mission. The first site was abandoned due to lack of water, although some historical accounts suggest the creek once had a perennial flow. The mission was moved to a second site in present-day San Juan Capistrano, where it still stands. The Spanish referred to the Acjachemem as the Juañeno. The Spanish made the first recorded anthropogenic changes to hydrology in the San Juan watershed, which included excavating irrigation channels, diverting water from streams, and channelizing and changing course of streams. Grazing animals introduced by Europeans, mainly cattle (and later sheep, after a drought decimated the local cattle ranching industry), consumed native grasses and left hillsides exposed and prone to erosion. The origin of the name of Arroyo Trabuco (Spanish: "Blunderbuss Creek", literally) stems from the Gaspar de Portolà expedition of 1769, during which a soldier lost a blunderbuss ("trabuco"), and the name became associated with the creek after that point. The origin of the name of Oso Creek (Spanish: "Bear Creek")'' is not known. Many of the creeks in the watershed have names of Spanish origin, which were most likely named by the Spanish conquistadors a long time before the area was annexed by the United States. Before urban development, the damage caused by overgrazing during the Spanish period was still considered capable of recovery. However, the completion of Interstate 5 through the middle of the San Juan Creek watershed in the 1950s transformed the area into a bedroom community for Los Angeles and permanently erased many remaining grassland, meadow and riparian zones. The percent of urbanized land increased from 3 percent in 1964 to 18 percent in 1988. In the 1990s, the watershed was 32 percent urbanized. With continuing development in east San Juan Capistrano and Rancho Mission Viejo, the projected growth by 2050 is 50 percent. ### 20th century to present In the late 1960s, Dana Point Harbor was constructed adjacent to the mouth of San Juan Creek. The breakwater prevented the occurrence of a large surf break phenomenon, colloquially known as "Killer Dana", in the bay. When Killer Dana disappeared, water circulation in the bay decreased. As polluted runoff from San Juan Creek continues to flow into the bay, it is trapped for extended periods of time. At Doheny State Beach, 850,000 annual visitors are exposed to potential health risks from high bacteria levels in the water. During floods in the 1990s, an almost sheer 30-foot (9.1 m) waterfall appeared on Arroyo Trabuco in northern San Juan Capistrano, threatening the foundations of a railroad bridge. The drop required quick reinforcement with grouted riprap. With an average gradient of 29 percent it has become a major barrier to migrating fish and other riverine organisms, and thus isolates aquatic environments in upper Arroyo Trabuco from the rest of the San Juan watershed. In 1996, severe floods caused by heavy rainstorms in the San Juan watershed caused San Juan Creek to overflow, destroying long sections of the concrete river banks near their confluence. The damage was attributed to severe erosion at the base which caused the concrete to lose support and crumble. A nearby residential community was threatened, but the floods receded before the levee collapsed and no serious harm was done. The failed sections were repaired with grouted riprap. In early 2005, even more severe flooding impacted the San Juan watershed, with an all-time highest flow of 33,650 cubic feet per second (953 m³/s) recorded on January 11. Although the floods did not exceed the San Juan Creek channel capacity of 58,800 cubic feet per second (1,670 m³/s), the west levee of the channel inside San Juan Capistrano nearly failed. Also in 2005, pumps were installed on Tick and Dove Creeks (tributaries of Bell Canyon) to remove urban runoff from 1,100-acre (450 ha) of residential areas in eastern Rancho Santa Margarita. The pumps remove excess flow and divert it to storage basins for later use as reclaimed irrigation water. Between 2009 and 2013, extensive levee repairs were conducted along lower San Juan Creek. Construction closed the popular San Juan Creek bikeway for two years, inciting protests from many area residents who are frequent users of the path. ## River modifications Although the San Juan Creek watershed is less heavily developed than other coastal Orange County watersheds, extensive works have been constructed to control floods, reduce erosion, and provide reclaimed water for irrigation. A growing amount of urban runoff flows into the creek and its tributaries, creating a dry season "nuisance flow". Historically, only San Juan Creek and Arroyo Trabuco were known to contain water for most or all of the year. Oso Creek was formerly a seasonal stream, but it now has a permanent flow due to urban runoff. Runoff has caused Doheny Beach to rank in the ten most polluted beaches of California. The Upper Oso Reservoir and Lake Mission Viejo, both on Oso Creek, are the largest impoundments in the watershed, holding about 7,500 acre-feet (9,300,000 m³) combined. While Lake Mission Viejo was built solely for recreation, the 115-acre (0.47 km²) Upper Oso Reservoir collects Oso Creek water and diverts it for irrigation use. The reservoir is occasionally used by air tankers to combat wildfires in the Cleveland National Forest. The Santa Margarita Water District is currently proposing a new 5,000-acre-foot (6,200,000 m³) reservoir in Verdugo Canyon, another tributary of San Juan Creek, to collect and store reclaimed water. The lower 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of San Juan Creek are channelized between levees, from a point immediately upstream of the Interstate 5 bridge to Doheny Beach. Arroyo Trabuco is only channelized for several hundred yards above its confluence with San Juan Creek. Oso Creek is the most heavily modified, flowing in an artificial channel for almost its entire length. Bell Creek and other eastern tributaries have retained their natural characteristics. The USACE describes the San Juan and Arroyo Trabuco levees as providing a "fairly high level of protection currently", though flooding in 1996 and 2005 caused significant damage. As a result, failure scenarios of levees in the San Juan watershed have been extensively studied. To protect against future flooding, work has begun on a new west-bank levee replacement to be finished in 2013. A few check dams exist on small upper tributaries of San Juan Creek, mostly inside the Cleveland National Forest. A larger gabion-type dam is located on the middle part of San Juan Creek near the Cañada Gobernadora. Although the dam has silted in and is no longer used for water storage, its roughly 3-to-4-foot (0.91 to 1.22 m) drop still poses a problem for migrating steelhead. There are a few water diversion weirs that exist on San Juan tributary streams to divert water for irrigation, ranching and limited municipal uses, but due to limited flows and polluted water, the usefulness of these structures are limited. A number of drop structures (small dams used to control water velocity and erosion) exist on tributaries of San Juan Creek. On Arroyo Trabuco, there are eight drop structures, mostly built of riprap. The largest are a 30-foot (9.1 m) cascade immediately downstream of a Metrolink bridge, and a concrete drop structure at the terminus of a culvert that crosses underneath Interstate 5. There are also seven drop structures on Oso Creek, mostly built of riprap. There are no such specifically constructed structures on San Juan Creek itself. ## List of crossings This is a list of major crossings of San Juan Creek, proceeding upstream of the mouth. - State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) - Camino Las Ramblas - Stonehill Drive - Metrolink Orange County Line & Amtrak Pacific Surfliner - Camino Capistrano - Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) - State Route 74 ("Lower" Ortega Highway) - Antonio Parkway - Nursery Road - State Route 74 ("Middle" Ortega Highway) - State Route 74 ("Upper" Ortega Highway) ## See also - List of rivers of California - List of rivers of Orange County, California

GhostRider (roller coaster)

Ride at Knott's Berry Farm in California

GhostRider is a wooden roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, California. It is located in the Ghost Town section of the park, south of the main entrance. Manufactured by Custom Coasters International, GhostRider is the tallest and longest wooden coaster on the West Coast of the United States, measuring 4,533 feet (1,382 m) long and 118 feet (36 m) tall. The ride follows an L-shaped double out and back pattern, with a station themed to a mining building. There are three trains, each themed to a different precious metal, though only two are in use at any given time. GhostRider was announced in August 1997 as part of an expansion of Knott's Berry Farm. The coaster cost \$24 million and opened on December 8, 1998, earlier than originally scheduled. After it opened, GhostRider became one of Knott's most popular rides. Between 2015 and 2016, Great Coasters International conducted a major renovation of the ride, replacing the track and the trains. Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards has consistently ranked GhostRider among the world's top wooden roller coasters. ## History By 1997, the Knott family, which operated Knott's Berry Farm amusement park in Buena Park, California, planned to add a wooden roller coaster to the park. Knott's already had several major attractions, including the Calico Mine Ride, a prototype Corkscrew coaster, a looping shuttle roller coaster named Montezooma's Revenge, and a water ride named Bigfoot Rapids. According to historian Eric Lynxwile, who wrote a book about Knott's Berry Farm, a wooden roller coaster was the only major attraction type that was absent from the park. The Knott family had begun planning for a wooden coaster almost five years before GhostRider was ultimately completed in 1998. Knott's officials hoped that the construction of a wooden coaster would increase the park's annual attendance to 4 million. ### Development A new wooden coaster was announced in August 1997 as part of an expansion of Knott's Berry Farm. The expansion project would cost an estimated \$35 million, of which the coaster cost \$24 million. The ride would be the park's fifth roller coaster, as well as the first attraction to be built in Knott's Ghost Town section since 1969. The ride would cross over Grand Avenue, which separated the main section of the park from one of its parking lot, and would occupy a portion of that parking lot. It would replace the Pan for Gold attraction and a decorative volcano built by the park's founder, Walter Knott. Knott's vice president for maintenance and construction at the time, Robin Hall, said he wanted the project to serve as a "billboard" for the park on Beach Boulevard, along the park's eastern boundary; the project would also allow Knott's to relocate warehouses in the attraction's path. Custom Coasters International (CCI) was hired to manufacture the coaster, while Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters (PTC) provided the trains. The project lasted two years. The first phase of the project involved clearing land and relocating the warehouses, which took about a year and comprised much of the ride's budget. The ride would be the Knott family's last investment in the park, as Cedar Fair acquired Knott's Berry Farm in October 1997. At the time, land was still being cleared for the new ride. Cedar Fair's CEO Dick Kinzel briefly considered canceling the ride because of its high cost, but Cedar Fair ultimately continued to develop the new coaster. By March 1998, the ride was being referred to as "Ghost Rider". Construction of the ride itself took 11 months. Hall said that park officials wanted the ride to be taller than Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, which Hall had also designed. As a result, the ride's height was revised from 112 to 118 ft (34 to 36 m) so it would be taller than Colossus. Labor union members protested outside Knott's Berry Farm in April 1998 over the fact that the park did not hire unionized workers to build GhostRider, prompting the park to file a lawsuit to stop the protests. ### Operation GhostRider was originally scheduled to open in early 1999, but it opened on December 8, 1998, ahead of schedule. Jack Falfas, the general manager of Knott's, had advocated for an accelerated opening date. During a preview event on the roller coaster's opening day, one hundred members of nonprofit group American Coaster Enthusiasts rode GhostRider. At the time of its opening, GhostRider was advertised as the longest wooden roller coaster on the West Coast of the United States. As of January 2023, it remains the longest wooden roller coaster on the American West Coast as well as the Pacific Coast of the Americas. Park officials also claimed that GhostRider was the fastest wooden coaster on the West Coast; however, Colossus traveled at a maximum speed of 62 mph (100 km/h), compared to GhostRider's 56 mph (90 km/h). After it opened, GhostRider became one of Knott's most popular rides, and Knott's officials predicted that the ride would increase the park's annual attendance from 3.4 million to 4 million. During the second quarter of 1999, attendance at Knott's increased more than 10 percent quarter-over-quarter, at a time when other amusement parks in Southern California were experiencing decreased attendance. The ride was temporarily closed for repairs in August 1999 after an incident that injured five people. By 2015, GhostRider had gained a reputation as a rough ride. That August, Knott's officials announced that they would refurbish GhostRider for Ghost Town's 75th anniversary. The ride temporarily closed in September 2015 so Great Coasters International (GCI) could refurbish the attraction. Including the planning process, the project lasted for two years; the renovation itself only took nine months to complete. Buena Park officials had to ensure that the renovation plans complied with building codes and that the ride was resistant to earthquakes. Most of the track was replaced and re-profiled, with banked turns and airtime hills being added. Additionally, the mid-course brake run was removed, and the trains were replaced with Millennium Flyer trains. GCI also replaced the chain lift, added magnetic brakes, and removed steel in the ride's structure as part of the project. GhostRider was originally planned to reopen on May 27, 2016, but the ride ultimately reopened on June 11, 2016. ## Ride experience The ride is located in the Ghost Town section of Knott's Berry Farm, near the main entrance and the California Marketplace section of the park. The ride's official backstory involves a former Union Army soldier who moved to a California mining town in pursuit of gold during a gold rush. According to this backstory, the soldier rode his horse into the mine one day and was never seen again; local residents sometimes reported seeing a ghost riding a horse, hence the ride's name. ### Queue The ride's station is three stories high and is themed as a mining company's building. Riders approach the ride near the entrance to Ghost Town. The queue begins in a mining tunnel and features an area where guests can pan for gold while waiting in line. At the end of the tunnel, the queue enters the lower level of the fictitious GhostRider Mining Company. The queue ascends to the upper level, where riders board the trains. There is a storage track underneath the upper level of the station. ### Layout The train is propelled out of the station using drive tires. There is a small left turn and initial descent into a ravine, which is followed by a gradual sweep to the right. The train passes through the transfer track (which leads to the storage track under the station) and climbs the lift hill. Riders descend 108 ft (33 m) into a drop covered by a metal canopy. The train then turns left and rises over an airtime hill before making a sweeping left-hand turnaround. After the turnaround, riders descend again and rise into a gradual right-hand climb before descending into the structure of the lift hill and making a left-turn chicane. Originally, riders then turned into a midcourse brake run. This was removed in 2016. The turnaround starts in the second half of the ride. Diving off a straight section of track, riders descend a steep drop, making a left-hand turn, rising over an airtime hill, before making a right-hand turnaround underneath the turnaround in the first half. After rising over another airtime hill, the trains enter a 450-degree downward helix to the right, before rising over a final hill and hitting the final brake run. ## Characteristics The track measures 4,533 ft (1,382 m) long, The ride rises 118 ft (36 m) above ground, and its 51-degree first drop is 108 ft (33 m) tall. The ride was constructed with around 2.5 million board feet of Southern yellow pine from North Carolina and Alabama, as well as 50,000 lb (23,000 kg) of nails. Knott's officials used yellow pine to match the park's Old West theme. During the 2016 renovation, the top layers of the original track were replaced with Ipe wood. It also uses 250 short tons (220 long tons; 230 t) of steel, 1,410 cu yd (1,080 m³) of concrete, and 1,000 short tons (890 long tons; 910 t) of nuts and bolts. The ride lasts for about two minutes and forty seconds. The ride follows an L-shaped double out and back pattern. Most of the attraction is within the parking lot near the marketplace. The ride crosses over Grand Avenue (which connects southbound Beach Boulevard to the parking lots) four times. The track is banked at angles of up to 42 degrees. Trains travel up to 56 mph (90 km/h), subjecting riders to a maximum g-force of 3.14. On straight segments of track, which comprise about 40 percent of the ride's length, the track is made of wooden planks measuring 2 in (51 mm) thick and 8 to 10 in (200 to 250 mm) wide. Curved segments of track, comprising the remaining 60 percent of the ride's length, use smaller boards; after 1999, these boards were bound using metal straps. Because the wooden track tends to expand and compress throughout the year, mechanics conducted daily inspections of the track when it opened, tightening bolts once a year. The ride uses three trains, although only two are in use at any time. The trains each contain 12 cars; every car seats two guests in a single row. The original trains, manufactured by PTC, were each painted a different color representing a mining metal (gold, silver, and copper). Originally, each car had both a front axle and a rear axle, which added extra weight to each train. After the 2016 GCI refurbishment, the trains were redesigned with a wood-grain motif. The front car of each train retained both axles, but the remaining cars only contained a rear axle. This was done to allow each train to move smoothly, as the previous trains would whip around the course with both axles. Five mechanics maintain the ride and completely reconstruct each of the trains every year. ## Incidents On August 24, 1999, an unsecured piece of wood from the track was lifted by a passing train and thrown into another car that was passing below. Five riders were injured, including a tourist who was hit on the head and required stitches. Knott's officials said that GhostRider was inspected every morning before the park opened, including the day of the accident; during these inspections, workers secured loose bolts and replaced weakening wood. In the aftermath of the accident, CCI recommended that the boards be secured, and park officials installed metal safety devices on GhostRider. The ride reopened on August 30, 1999, after modifications. Between 2007 and 2012, guests filed two lawsuits against Knott's Berry Farm in relation to the ride. During this period, two other attractions also prompted two lawsuits each; these three rides were the subject of more lawsuits than any other ride at the park. ## Awards

Roridomyces austrororidus

Species of fungus

Roridomyces austrororidus, commonly known as the austro dripping bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. Described as new to science in 1962 by American mycologist Rolf Singer, it is found in South America, New Zealand, and Australia, where it grows on rotting wood. The fruit bodies (mushrooms) have several distinguishing characteristics that facilitate identification, including thick, white, mucilaginous stipes, and white to pale cream, convex caps that measure 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in). The gills are white, widely spaced, and have a fused or decurrent attachment to the stipe. Spores are smooth, ellipsoid, and measure about 9–15 by 6–9 micrometres. The smooth and white stipes are 4–6 cm (1.6–2.4 in) long and 0.1–0.2 cm (0.04–0.08 in) thick, and covered with a thick coating of gluten. ## Taxonomy, naming, and classification The species was first described as Mycena austrororida by mycologist Rolf Singer in 1962, based on specimens he collected from Masatierra, in the Juan Fernandez Islands, Chile. Karl-Heinz Rexer transferred it to the newly circumscribed genus Roridomyces in his 1994 doctoral thesis. The name Mycena veronicae, published by New Zealand mycologist Greta Stevenson in 1964, is a synonym of M. austrororida. The mushroom is commonly known as the "austro dripping bonnet". The specific epithet combines the Latin words austro (from australis, "south") and roridus ("wet with dew"). ## Description The cap is shallowly convex to convex or irregularly convex, and with or without a shallow umbo, measuring up to 16 mm (0.63 in) in diameter and up to 5 mm (0.2 in) high. The cap margin is curved downward, sometimes slightly flared, and sometimes has translucent radial striations marking the positions of the gills underneath. The white flesh—thickest at the center of the cap—tapers gradually to the margin. The gills are broadly adnate (fused) to decurrent (running down the length of the stipe). The gill edges are either smooth and even, or may have minute teeth. The gills are well-spaced, with 16 to 24 gills extending fully from the cap margin to the stipe, and two or three tiers of interspersed lamellulae (short gills that do not extend fully from the cap margin to the stipe). The smooth, cylindrical stipe is up to 27 mm (1.1 in) long, and up to 2.5 mm (0.1 in) in diameter at the base, narrowing towards the top. It is hollow, silky to shiny, and mucilaginous—usually with thick slime at the base. Sometimes, there are short white hairs at the bottom of the stipe, although their presence is variable. The mushroom has no distinctive odor. Spores are roughly ellipsoidal in shape with a Q ratio (the fraction of length/width) of 1.6, and dimensions of 9.4–15.4 by 6.2–9.0 μm. They have a small, oblique apiculus, lack oil droplets, and are smooth with thin walls, and hyaline (translucent). The spores are acyanophilous and strongly amyloid, meaning they stain with Methyl blue and Melzer's reagent, respectively. The basidia (spore-bearing cells) are four-spored (rarely two-spored) and club-shaped with long, robust sterigmata up to 6.0 μm long; they have clamp connections at their bases, and measure 35.3–49.6 by 10.3–14.4 μm. Roridomyces austrororidus has two types of cheilocystidia (cystidia on gill edges). One is rare, broadly club-shaped, and tapers to a narrow stem; it measures 24.1–39.5 by 6.8–12.7 μm. The other cheilocystidia are moderately dense to abundant, and form a sterile gill edge. They are cylindrical, measuring 27.5–70.4 by 5.4–10.4 μm, and often have a swollen tip that splits into two, rarely three branches. ### Similar species The African species Roridomyces mauritianus is similar in appearance to R. austrororidus, but can be distinguished by the brownish cap, and microscopically by its smaller spores (measuring 7–8 by 3.5–4.0 μm), and its shorter (25–40 μm), club-shaped basidia. ## Habitat and distribution Like all members of its genus, Roridomyces austrororidus grows as a saprophyte on rotting wood. In Australia, the fungus fruits in clusters or groups on rainforest trees, decayed logs, fallen Eucalyptus branches, Bedfordia salicina logs and branches, and Nothofagus cunninghamii logs. Fruiting usually occurs after rainy periods from April to June, although the mushroom has also been collected in August. New Zealand collections have been reported to grow on Pinus, Leptospermum, and Ripogonum. A study of fungal succession in a wet eucalypt forest in Tasmania demonstrated that R. austrororidus prefers mature forests (with at least 70 years of growth since the last wildfire), and fruits on small diameter wood—typically twigs with a width less than 15 mm (0.6 in). Roridomyces austrororidus occurs in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, and Australia. Its Australian distribution includes Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia. Australian mycologist Tony Young suggests that the geographical distribution of the fungus indicates that its ancestor may have originated from the ancient continent Gondwana.

The Hand of St. Sebastian

"The Hand of St. Sebastian" is the eighth episode of the second season of the American crime-thriller television series Millennium. It originally aired on the Fox network on November 14, 1997. The episode was written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, and directed by Thomas J. Wright. "The Hand of St. Sebastian" featured a guest appearance from C. C. H. Pounder. Millennium Group offender profilers Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) and Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) travel to Germany to locate a preserved relic of Saint Sebastian, unintentionally discovering cracks within the unity of the Group. "The Hand of St. Sebastian" was inspired by Wong's research into Freemasonry and the Knights Templar; Wong wanted to replicate the disharmony of these societies within the Millennium Group. The episode has received mixed responses from critics, and was viewed by approximately 6.7 percent of the available audience in its initial broadcast. ## Plot In 998, a monk is betrayed by his compatriot, and shot to death by archers. As they search his robe to find their objective—the mummified hand of Saint Sebastian—they notice a tattoo on the man's body; an ouroboros, symbol of the Millennium Group. In 1998, modern Group member Peter Watts (Terry O'Quinn) asks his colleague Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) for help with a case the Group have not authorized; he remains cryptic as to what it is. They travel to Germany to investigate the murder of a Dr. Schlossburg, whose lab is found to house a mummified body. The two are arrested by German police, but when the police realize they have apprehended fellow investigators they promise cooperation. However, the pair learn that Schlossburg has already been cremated; later they narrowly escape death when their rental car has been rigged with a car bomb. Black connects the attempt on their lives to Schlossburg's murder. He demands details of the case from Watts, who explains that the mummy found earlier dates to early Christianity, the time when the Millennium Group first convened. However, they realize they are being tailed by two men, and return to their hotel. There, they are met by Cheryl Andrews (C. C. H. Pounder), a fellow Group member who has worked with them in the past. She offers her help but Watts declines it. Watts is later able to access Schlossburg's computer files; meanwhile, the doctor is found to be alive, regaining consciousness in a hospital bed and telling police his assailant was Watts. Andrews tells Black she has been sent to prevent Watts acting outside the Group's remit; she gives Black a contact number and leaves. Later, Black returns to Schlossburg's lab and finds Watts, who explains that a knightly order, the Knights Chroniclers, had possessed the relic of Saint Sebastian at the turn of the second millennium; the hand imparts knowledge to its possessor that will help to overcome the evils associated with the turn of the millennium. Watts reveals that Schlossburg had uncovered the order's burial ground. Black and Watts learn that Schlossburg is alive and visit him; the doctor does not recognize Watts, but insists that his attacker identified himself as "Peter Watts". He reveals the locations of the burial ground, in a peat bog. Black and Watts leave to reach it; Schlossburg is murdered shortly afterwards by two assassins. At the bog, the pair find a mummified corpse clutching the relic; however, they have been followed by the police, and Watts is arrested for Schlossburg's murder. Black tracks down Andrews at the storage building where the relic has been taken. They are ambushed by the two assassins, and during their escape, Black mentions where the relic is hidden. Andrews immediately turns on Black; the ambush was a trick to draw the information out of Black, while she had engineered events to use Watts as a fall man to discredit the Group. However, the police are able to intervene, hearing everything and rescuing Black. Later, Watts and Black study the relic, but Black is convinced that their own convictions will be more important to them than mystical artefacts. ## Production "The Hand of St. Sebastian" was written by frequent collaborators Glen Morgan and James Wong. It was the ninth episode to have been written by the pair, who had penned several across the first and second seasons. The pair had also taken the roles of co-executive producers for the season. "The Hand of St. Sebastian" was directed by Thomas J. Wright; Wright had directed eight episodes previously and would helm a further seventeen over the series' run. Wright would also go on to direct "Millennium", the series' crossover episode with its sister show The X-Files. The episode was driven by Wong's desire to write an episode focussing on Watts, as he wanted to showcase O'Quinn as an actor. Wong also felt "that by revealing that the Millennium Group had existed for centuries and setting the episode overseas, that would give the story greater scope and weight". The introduction of schisms within the Group was inspired by Wong's research into the Knights Templar and Freemasonry, as he considered these secretive organizations to have mirrored the way he wanted to present the Group, and he felt each contained factions or reactionary elements which he wanted to recreate. The episode features the penultimate appearance by C. C. H. Pounder as pathologist Cheryl Andrews. Pounder portrayed the character in four other episodes, appearing across all three seasons. ## Broadcast and reception "The Hand of St. Sebastian" was first broadcast on the Fox network on November 14, 1997. The episode earned a Nielsen rating of 6.7 during its original broadcast, meaning that 6.7 percent of households in the United States viewed the episode. This represented approximately 6.566 million households, and left the episode the eightieth most-viewed broadcast that week. "The Hand of St. Sebastian" has received mixed responses from critics. The A.V. Club's Zack Handlen rated the episode a "B+", finding it to contain an entertaining mix of mysticism and espionage. However, he considered the revelation that Andrews was a turncoat within the Group to be confusing, finding it unclear how a human villain could be defined within a series already making use of demons and theological evil. Bill Gibron, writing for DVD Talk, rated the episode 4.5 out of 5, praising the guest performances by Pounder and Hall. Gibron wrote that the episode had a "feature film" feel, and described it as one of the best episodes of the season. However, Robert Shearman and Lars Pearson, in their book Wanting to Believe: A Critical Guide to The X-Files, Millennium & The Lone Gunmen, rated "The Hand of St. Sebastian" one star out of five. Shearman felt that by this point, the series no longer resembled what it had been in its previous season, derisively comparing it to the Indiana Jones film series. He wrote that Henriksen's portrayal of Frank Black seemed "weakened" in the episode, as the actor had built a credible and deep character who now seemed entirely unlike his former self.

Dansk Datamatik Center

Danish software research and development centre

Dansk Datamatik Center (DDC) was a Danish software research and development centre that existed from 1979 to 1989. Its main purpose was to demonstrate the value of using modern techniques, especially those involving formal methods, in software design and development. Three major projects dominated much of the centre's existence. The first concerned the formal specification and compilation of the CHILL programming language for use in telecommunication switches. The second involved the formal specification and compilation of the Ada programming language. Both the Ada and CHILL efforts made use of formal methods. In particular, DDC worked with Meta-IV, an early version of the specification language of the Vienna Development Method (VDM) formal method for the development of computer-based systems. As founded by Dines Bjørner, this represented the "Danish School" of VDM. This use of VDM led in 1984 to the DDC Ada compiler becoming the first European Ada compiler to be validated by the United States Department of Defense. The third major project was dedicated towards creation of a new formal method, RAISE. The success of the Ada compiler system would lead to creation of the commercial company DDC International A/S (DDC-I, Inc. in the US) in 1985, which would develop, productise, and market it both directly to customers and to other companies which would use it as the basis for their own Ada compiler products. ## Origins In spring 1979, Christian Gram, a computer scientist at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU)—located in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen—suggested to his colleague Dines Bjørner the idea of building an advanced software institute. Looking at the software crisis of the time, they felt that computer science had created foundational and theoretical approaches that if applied could make software development a more professional process and permit the development of large software systems on schedule and with quality. They approached the Akademiet for de Tekniske Videnskaber (ATV, the Danish Academy for Technical Sciences) with this idea, and in September 1979, Dansk Datamatik Center was formed as an ATV institute for advanced software development. (It was also referred to as the Danish Datamatics Centre in some early documents.) Ten large producers or users of information technology in Denmark became paying members of the new entity: , Crone & Koch, the Danish Defence Research Establishment, , , Kommunedata, Regnecentralen af 1979, Sparekassernes Datacenter, (TFL), and ØK Data, with each member paying DKK 100,000 per year. Bjørner became the scientific leader of the centre. The managing director of DDC was Leif Rystrøm. When it reached its greatest size around 1984, some 30–35 professional employees worked at DDC, with about 40 employees in total. By 1984, DDC had a budget of DKK 13 million, a substantial increase from its initial budget of DKK 1 million. Many of the engineers hired came from DTU and Copenhagen University. In the beginning the centre was housed in a building on the DTU campus, but then it became located in a converted textile mill along the Mølleåen, close to Lyngby centre. The cube-inspired red logo of DDC was designed by Ole Friis, who in 1984 won the from the Danish Design Centre for it. ## CHILL projects During 1978, Bjørner became interested in creating a formal definition, using denotational semantics, of the CHILL programming language then under development. Work on the formal definition of CHILL began that year based upon the request of Teleteknisk Forskningslaboratorium, assigned to a group under the Comité Consultatif International Téléphonique et Télégraphique (CCITT) and conducted at DTU, with some eighteen students working on the effort. Once DDC was established, the formal definition was completed there in 1980 and 1981. Opinions on the value of the effort differ: Bjørner has stated it discovered a definitional issue that led to the simplification of the language, while Remi Bourgonjon of Philips, the convener of the Implementors' Forum organized by the CCITT, thought the formal definition was too complicated and came too late to benefit CHILL compiler designers. At the same time, a CHILL compiler was developed, again starting before DDC but completed by it and TFL. It was developed using formal methods. The two organisations made the compiler publicly available and it would have an important role in education concerning the CHILL language. It was also adapted by British firm Imperial Software Technology with a new code generator and found use by GEC and others during the 1980s. A joint project that GEC and DDC carried out in the early 1980s was to investigate the incorporation of CHILL into an Ada Programming Support Environment (APSE), to support projects that used both languages . DDC's part of the project used an examination of the denotational semantics of both languages and concluded that such an integration was technically feasible. DDC continued to be involved in publishing papers at CHILL conferences during the first half of the 1980s, but not after that. ## Ada projects The advent of the U.S. Defense Department sponsorship of the Ada programming language during the 1979–80 period led to European interest in the new language as well, and the Commission of the European Communities (CEC) decided to allocate funding for a European Ada compiler and runtime system. A consortium of Olivetti from Italy and DDC and Christian Rovsing from Denmark submitted a bid that in early 1981 won out over a previously favored bid from a French–German consortium; half of the funding would come from the CEC and half from Danish sources. Ole N. Oest was transferred from the Danish Defence Research Establishment to DDC to manage the Ada work. DDC was responsible for developing a Portable Ada Programming System. Requirements included hosting the Ada compiler on small, 16-bit minicomputers such as the Christian Rovsing CR80D and Olivetti M40, among other platforms, and being able to fit within 80 kilobytes code and 110 kilobytes data. As a result, the compiler was constructed of many passes, in this case six for the front end alone, with linearized trees stored in files as the representation between passes. The compiler creation process went through four steps: development of a formal specification of Ada, development of a formal specification of the compiler components; development of more detailed formal specifications of particular compiler passes; implementation of these specifications in Ada itself. Among formal approaches, using the Vienna Development Method (VDM) was advantageous in this project because it was tailored for use with computer languages and compilers and because it allowed stepwise refinement of operations as well as of data representations. The central goal of the process was to prove that the implementation was equivalent to the specification. In cases where the static abstract syntax representation needed to have additional constraints incorporated, well-formedness criteria—another aspect of VDM—were defined. The first step in the process, a formal specification for Ada, had already been started by five students at DTU in 1980 as part of their master's theses. Ada was a difficult language to implement and early attempts to build a compiler for it often resulted in disappointment or outright failure. The DDC compiler was validated on a VAX/VMS system in September 1984, being the first European Ada compiler to pass, and proved a success. At that point about 44 person-years of development work had gone into it. The defect rate and maintenance costs would prove to be significantly lower for the compiler than for the software industry average. Attention regarding DDC's use of VDM in compiler design led to interest from other computer manufacturers and sales were made of what became known as the DDC OEM Compiler Kit (the name being a reference to the original equipment manufacturer business model). The compiler system offered two points for retargeting, a high-level tree-structured intermediate language and a sequence of instructions for an abstract stack machine; the latter meant shorter project times but usually not the most optimized generated code. (The abstract stack-based virtual machine was also worked on by Christian Rovsing; there was also some idea of possibly implementing it in hardware or firmware.) The first such OEM sale was to Nokia, for rehosting on the Nokia MPS 10. The second, with a contract made in February 1984, was with Honeywell Information Systems in Boston. The compiler was thus rehosted and retargeted to the Honeywell DPS6 and validated in November 1984. In addition, cross compilers began to be developed, with DDC doing one from VAX/VMS to the Intel 8086, beginning what would become a successful line of products. In December 1984, DDC signed a contract with Advanced Computer Techniques in New York, based on a license royalty arrangement. They began using the DDC front end to develop a cross-compiler for the MIL-STD-1750A architecture, which would become a reasonably successful product with a number of customers. Success of the Ada project led to a separate company being formed in 1985, called DDC International A/S, with the purpose of commercializing the Ada compiler system; Oest was named the managing director of the company. A year later a US-based subsidiary of that company, DDC-I, Inc., was formed in the state of Arizona. Concurrent with the compiler work, there was a push on various fronts to provide a formal definition of Ada, with several different approaches and metalanguages tried. Some Europeans argued that such a task was critical and that it was the only basis upon which an ISO standard for the language should be published. The CEC sponsored this work and the contract was won by DDC in partnership with two Italian research institutes, the Istituto di Elaborazione dell’Informazione (IEI) in Pisa and the Consorzio per la Ricerca e le Applicazioni di Informatica (CRAI) in Genoa, with work beginning in 1984. Additional consulting on the project was provided by staff at the University of Genoa, the University of Pisa, and at DTU. The work built up the previous formal definitions that had been done at DTU and by DDC at the beginning of its Ada compiler project, but further work was needed the define the entire language and Meta-IV had to be extended in places or alternate approaches taken. This effort culminated in the 1987 publication of the full formal definition of Ada, encompassing three separate publications and eight volumes in total. While this effort did lead to a better understanding of the language and a number of clarifications to it being made, in the end the ultimate definition of the language remained the natural language one in the Ada Language Reference Manual. ## RAISE projects The use of VDM in the CHILL and Ada projects revealed the need for improvements in formal specification techniques, and in 1983 DDC conducted a Formal Methods Appraisal study, producing a number of requirements that a formal specification language should embody. Following that DDC was awarded a CEC contract to develop a successor to VDM, which was called RAISE (Rigorous Approach to Industrial Software Engineering). This was done in consortium with STC Technology of Great Britain, which helped in the creation of the new technology, and with Nordisk Brown Boveri of Denmark and International Computers Limited of Britain, which exercised it in industrial settings. The project involved some 120 person-years of effort and sought to create a wide-spectrum language intended to handle every level from the initial, high-level abstract one down to one level above programming. It sought to remedy VDM's weaknesses with respect to modularity, concurrency, and lack of tools, and it also sought to unify approaches taken in the likes of Z notation, CSP, Larch, and OBJ. Besides the RAISE Specification language, the project also produced a description of best practices for the RAISE Method, and a RAISE toolset. ## Other projects In 1981 DDC, in conjunction with some of its members, conducted a study of the many office automation initiatives and products then available and published a taxonomy and terminology guide that analysed the domain. They then specified a generic office automation system using both VDM and informal language. Later during 1983–1987, DDC worked as a subcontractor to member ØK Data on the Functional Analysis of Office Requirements (FAOR) project under ESPRIT. DDC also gave courses and seminars in various software development topics, and starting in 1987, initiated a Danish-language quarterly publication Cubus which discussed various technical and scientific topics in an effort to engage in technology transfer. ## Conclusion and legacy During the centre's existence, some of the constituent members lost interest in its work, with no need for the CHILL or Ada compilers and the RAISE work too ambitious for their use. General acceptance of Ada as a language underperformed expectations and Ada product sales by DDC-I did not provide sufficient profits to allow money to flow to DDC. With sustained funding becoming a problem, in 1989 Dansk Datamatik Center was closed down. Work on the Ada products was carried on by DDC-I, where it was used in many high-visibility aerospace and similar projects. The best-known of these was the Airplane Information Management System flight software for the Boeing 777 airliner. Subsequent developers of the DDC-I Ada compiler were often not as well versed in formal methods as the original developers. The Ada products would still be generating revenue for DDC-I into the 2010s. DDC's work and staff on RAISE were transferred to Computer Resources International (CRI) in 1988. They used it as the basis for the European ESPRIT II LaCoS project in the 1990s. The RAISE effort was subsequently sold to Terma A/S, who use it as part of work for the European Space Agency and various defense industry projects. DDC had relatively little involvement with the Nordic software world, because it relied on European Union-based partners and funding and Denmark was the only Nordic country in the EU at the time. Nor did the Danish financial sector ever show an interest in DDC's work. In looking back, the founders of the centre have stated that, "Where DDC failed was to [convince] major Danish companies of the benefits of using reliable software development based on formal methods. (But, DDC did not try very much.)" DDC researchers believed that their work was still beneficial in making Danish technology firms aware of modern software development approaches and in populating those firms with as many as a hundred software designers and developers who had worked at DDC, and that in any case, "DDC completed a large number of projects with better performance and higher product quality than was common in the 1980s." In a 2014 survey of forty years of formal methods efforts, Bjørner and Klaus Havelund lamented that adoption of formal methods has not become widespread in the software industry and referred to the DDC Ada compiler as an unsung success story of the value of such use.

Survivor: Africa

Survivor: Africa is the third season of the American CBS competitive reality television series Survivor. The season was filmed from July 11, 2001, to August 18, 2001, in Kenya's Shaba National Reserve, and was aired weekly from October 11, 2001, until the live finale on January 10, 2002. Ethan Zohn was named Sole Survivor over Kim Johnson by a jury vote of 5–2, and won the \$1,000,000 grand prize. The season featured a cast of 16 participants split between two tribes, Boran and Samburu. Three of the cast, Zohn, Lex van den Berghe, and Tom Buchanan all returned for future seasons. The season received more criticism than previous seasons due to the harsh living conditions of the African desert and the small amount of food for participants. Filming of Survivor: Africa took place from July 11, 2001, to August 18, 2001, in Kenya's Shaba National Reserve. The show was broadcast from October 11, 2001, until January 10, 2002, on CBS. ## Contestants The show's cast consists of 16 players who are divided into tribes named Boran and Samburu for the real-life Borana and Samburu tribes. After 12 days, three members of each team switched to the other tribe in what became known as the first "twist" in Survivor. When 10 contestants remained, the two tribes were merged into the Moto Maji tribe, which was named for the Swahili words for "fire" and "water". ### Future appearances Since the broadcast of Survivor: Africa, Ethan Zohn competed again with Lex van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan on Survivor: All-Stars. Zohn also competed on Survivor: Winners at War. In 2015, Teresa Cooper was included on the public poll to choose the cast of Survivor: Cambodia but was not chosen to compete. Outside the Survivor franchise, Zohn competed on a "Reality All-Stars" episode of Fear Factor, and also appeared on The Amazing Race 19 with then-girlfriend and fellow Survivor winner Jenna Morasca. In 2013, both van den Berghe and Buchanan were involved in the making of the television series Family Beef. ## Season summary The 16 castaways were split into tribes named Samburu and Boran, and were given camps that included fencing to help protect them from wildlife. Samburu took an early lead but the tribe was internally divided along age lines – Silas, Kim Powers, Brandon and Lindsey as one, and Frank, Teresa, Carl and Linda as the other. At their first Tribal Council, the age blocs left a stalemate tie between Carl and Lindsey, and with no previous votes to count, a quiz was used. Lindsay won and put the younger members in control. On the next visit to Tribal Council, Linda was eliminated and both tribes were even at six members. On Day 13, the tribes were given a vague clue about sending three members on a quest but were unaware this would be the first tribal swap. Silas picked himself and the remaining older Samburu, Frank and Teresa. Kelly, Big Tom, and Lex were picked for Boran. After being informed of the tribal swap, these players joined their new tribes; Frank and Teresa quickly went to work with the original Boran members to eliminate Silas while the original Boran members on Samburu learned of Lindsay's past votes and were able to eliminate her. Once 10 players remained – six from the original Boran and four from Samburu – the tribes were merged into a single tribe called Moto Maji. Samburu members were aware that the Boran players were sticking with original alliances and scrambled to stay in. During the first post-merger tribal council, a mystery vote was cast for Lex, sending him on a witch hunt. Deciding it had been Kelly, a member of his alliance who had voted against him, Lex asked his alliance to turn against one of their own. When Kelly found out what was going to happen, she banded with the Samburu members, but Lex had also persuaded Brandon to vote with his alliance, leading to Kelly's elimination. Brandon's disloyalty to Samburu led to his elimination and that of the other remaining Samburu members. The final four players were Ethan, Lex, Big Tom, and Kim Johnson. Kim won the last two immunity challenges, Tom was voted out, and then Lex was voted out by Kim's vote. At the Final Tribal Council, Kim was praised for surviving the game but was accused of riding the coattails of Lex, Ethan, and Big Tom. Ethan was praised for his likeability and integrity, and the jury voted Ethan the Sole Survivor in a 5–2 vote. | Episode | Challenge winner(s) | Eliminated | |---------|----------------------------------|-------------------| | No. | Title | Original air date | | 1 | "Question of Trust" | October 11, 2001 | | 2 | "Who's Zooming Whom?" | October 18, 2001 | | 3 | "The Gods Are Angry" | October 25, 2001 | | 4 | "The Young and Untrusted" | November 1, 2001 | | 5 | "The Twist" | November 8, 2001 | | 6 | "I'd Never Do It To You" | November 15, 2001 | | 7 | "Will There Be a Feast Tonight?" | November 22, 2001 | | 8 | "The First 21 Days" | November 29, 2001 | | 9 | "Smoking Out the Snake" | December 6, 2001 | | 10 | "Dinner, Movie and a Betrayal" | December 13, 2001 | | 11 | "We Are Family" | December 20, 2001 | | 12 | "The Big Adventure" | December 27, 2001 | | 13 | "Truth Be Told" | January 3, 2002 | | 14 | "The Final Four: No Regrets" | January 10, 2002 | | Kim J. | Lex | | | 15 | "The Reunion" | | Challenge winners and eliminations by episode In the case of multiple tribes or castaways who win reward or immunity, they are listed in order of finish, or alphabetically where it was a team effort; where one castaway won and invited others, the invitees are in brackets. ## Episodes ## Voting history Notes ## Reception Survivor: Africa received much more criticism than the two previous seasons, primarily for the contestants' tough living conditions during filming. Dalton Ross of Entertainment Weekly ranked it as the ninth-worst season of the series, saying aside from "Some great challenges, not that much else was great". Tom Santilli of Examiner.com ranked it 26th, saying following Borneo and Australian Outback, "it was a complete dud at the time", while noting winner Ethan Zohn "was just so-so and not that interesting", and that the cast's "lethargy showed on screen" due to the poor conditions in the filming location. In 2020, fan site "The Purple Rock Podcast" also ranked the season 29th, and said it "suffers because of its location" and that "the cast on this season is generally pretty decent, and probably would have been much better if they weren't constantly sapped of energy by lack of food and water". In 2015, a poll by Rob Has a Podcast ranked Survivor: Africa 19th out of 30 with Rob Cesternino ranking this season 26th. This was updated in 2021 during Cesternino's podcast "Survivor All-Time Top 40 Rankings", ranking Survivor: Africa 21st out of 40. In 2013, Andrea Deiher of Zap2it ranked the season the fifth-worst before it was replaced in 2015 by Survivor: San Juan del Sur. In 2020, Inside Survivor ranked this season 23rd out of 40, saying; "Is it the most dynamic season in terms of gameplay? No. But it is rich in character." ## Controversy Controversy surrounded an immunity challenge in the final episode of Survivor: Africa''. In the "Fallen Comrades" challenge, in which the contestants were quizzed on trivia about their fellow players who had been voted out, the final question is "Which female contestant has no piercings?". The official answer, given by Kim Johnson to win the challenge, was Kelly. Lex answered "Lindsey", who, unbeknownst to the producers, also had no piercings. Had Lex been given credit for his correct answer, he and Kim would have tied and faced tie-breaker questions. After the producers were alerted to the mistake, both third-place finisher Lex and fourth-place finisher Tom were awarded the \$100,000 runner-up prize instead of the usual third- and-fourth-place earnings.

Snow (2003 video game)

2003 eroge visual novel

Snow (スノー, Sunō) is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by Studio Mebius for Windows PCs on January 31, 2003. It was later ported without the erotic content to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable consoles. The story of Snow revolves around the life of Kanata Izumo, who is revisiting a village to help his relative manage a hot spring inn. The gameplay in Snow follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the female main characters by the player character. The game was successful in both sales and popularity, it was ranked as the best-selling PC game sold in Japan at the time of its release, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterward. Snow was voted as the twenty-sixth best bishōjo game by the readers of Dengeki G's Magazine in 2007. A manga titled Snow: Pure White based on the visual novel was serialized in Comptiq between the September and December 2003 issues. Five light novels and several comic anthologies were also released, as were audio dramas. Studio Mebius went on to release a visual novel called Tomodachi Ijō Koibito Miman on September 24, 2004, which shares the same setting and characters from Snow but takes place years later and focuses on Meiko Tachibana. ## Gameplay Snow is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Kanata Izumo. Much of its gameplay is spent reading the text that appears on the screen, which represents the story's narrative and dialogue. The text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Kanata is talking to, over background art. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the background art and character sprites. In the original Windows release, the player must first complete Sumino and Asahi's story routes in order to unlock Shigure's route; after Shigure's route is completed, Ōka's route becomes available to play which serves as the true ending to Snow. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. Some decisions can lead the game to end prematurely and offer an alternative ending to the plot. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction. In adult versions of the game, there are scenes depicting Kanata and a given heroine having sex. ## Plot ### Story The story of Snow starts when the main protagonist Kanata Izumo revisits a small village from his childhood called Ryūjin-mura (龍神村, lit. "Dragon God Village"). He is revisiting Ryūjin-mura to help manage a local inn with hot springs, Ryūjin Tenshukaku (龍神天守閣, lit. "Dragon God Keep"), alongside his cousin Tsugumi. In the village, there is an old legend: In ancient times, Ryūjin-mura was protected by the dragon goddess. However, one day the goddess fell in love with a human, which is strictly forbidden, and this incident caused the village to be always covered by snow after that. The game then tells the daily life of Kanata interacting with the village girls and ultimately links the story to the legend. Snow follows a branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction. ### Main characters The player assumes the role of Kanata Izumo (出雲 彼方, Izumo Kanata), who is visiting Ryūjin-mura as a part-time worker of the local inn owned by his cousin. During his stay, he meets his childhood friend and the main heroine of the game Sumino Yukizuki (雪月 澄乃, Yukizuki Sumino, voiced by Nirai Kanai), a soothing and gentle girl whose father has died. She loves anman (a kind of mantou) and claims that it's a source of life. Kanata also encounters a young energetic girl with a tomboy personality called Asahi Hiyorigawa (日和川 旭, Hiyorigawa Asahi, voiced by Rita), suddenly appearing before Kanata and claiming that she will repulse the evil from him. In the outskirts of the village, Kanata meets the mysterious Shigure Kitazato (北里 しぐれ, Kitazato Shigure, voiced by Hikaru Isshiki); Shigure has a shy personality and is extremely silent. The protagonist also finds a little girl called Ōka Wakō (若生 桜花, Wakō Ōka, voiced by Kanae Tsumugi) waiting around the jinja for her parents. She likes to play with her cat called Shamon (シャモン). The physician of Ryujin-mura has a daughter called Meiko Tachibana (橘 芽依子, Tachibana Meiko, voiced by Chisato Suzumori), who is a close friend of Sumino. She likes to tease Kanata, and acts bizarrely in front of him. In Snow: Plus Edition, a new character referred to as Mysterious Girl (謎の少女, Nazo no Shōjo, voiced by Tomoe Tamiyasu) is introduced, bearing many secrets. ## Development and release Snow was planned to be released at the beginning of 2001, but the release date would end up being postponed several times until it was released two years later in 2003. The artists for Snow were Asuka Pyon, who was in charge of character design, and Kobuichi. The game's scenario was written by three members of staff: Mochizuki Jet, Klein, and Jinno Masaki. Kazuya Takase from I've Sound composed the songs in Snow, while Famishin composed the background music (BGM). According to the liner notes on the original soundtrack of Snow, the producers acknowledged that the game's structure resembled Key's visual novels Kanon and Air. Yūichi Suzumoto, who is known for his work on various Key games, worked as an assistant writer for Snow. The setting of the game, Ryūjin-mura, was modeled after the real village Ryūjin in Wakayama Prefecture. On January 31, 2003, Snow was released as both a CD-ROM and DVD-ROM compatible to the Windows 98/ME/2000/XP operating systems. An all-ages version for the Dreamcast was released by Interchannel on September 25, 2003. Later on February 26, 2004, Interchannel ported the game to the PlayStation 2 in both limited and regular editions; the PS2 port adds an additional scenario for Meiko Tachibana who was a supporting character in prior releases of Snow. A fully voiced version was released for Windows on September 24, 2004. Then on September 29, 2006, Snow: Plus Edition was released for Windows, sporting added parts from the console versions and introducing a new heroine. A version of the game for NTT DoCoMo FOMA cell phones was released by Prototype on VisualArt's Motto on October 27, 2006. A PlayStation Portable version of the game called Snow: Portable was released by Prototype on August 16, 2007. The standard edition for Windows was released on July 25, 2008, including a dark version of the game called Ankoku Snow which was originally released with the Studio Mebius fan disc Mebinya! Mebius Fandisc, and the content from the portable edition of Snow. A downloadable version of the PSP edition was made available on the PlayStation Store by Prototype on January 21, 2010. Snow became playable on Android on November 17, 2015. ## Related media ### Books and publications Five adult light novels written by Hangetsu Mitamura and published by Paradigm were released between June 2003 and January 2004. The cover art and internal illustrations were drawn by Asuka Pyon, the artist who drew the artwork in the visual novel. The first novel, titled Snow: Hakana Yuki (Snow ~儚雪~, Sumino), was released on June 25, 2003. The second novel was released on July 25, 2003, titled Snow: Chīsaki Inori (Snow ~小さき祈り~, Asahi). The third novel, titled Snow: Inishie no Yūyake (Snow ~古の夕焼け~), was released on September 20, 2003, focusing on Ryūjin-mura's legend. The fourth novel, titled Snow: Kioku no Toge (Snow ~記憶の棘~, Shigure), was released on November 22, 2003. The fifth and final novel, titled Snow: Sora no Yurikago (Snow ~空の揺りかご~, Ōka), was released on January 16, 2004. A 192-page art book, titled Snow Art Works, and containing information such as story and character explanations and images from the visual novel was released by Paradigm on July 25, 2003. ### Manga A game-based manga adaptation titled Snow: Pure White and illustrated by Yuki Azuma was serialized between the September and December 2003 issues of Comptiq. The manga was later compiled into a single bound volume and released by Kadokawa Shoten on December 19, 2003. The manga consists of four chapters, each being a short story focused on a different Snow heroine. Ohzora released Snow'''s first comic anthology, a stand-alone volume titled Snow Anthology Game Comics, on March 22, 2003. The second comic anthology titled Snow Comic Anthology spanned two volumes; the first was released by Ichijinsha on April 25 and the second on June 25, 2003. A third comic anthology titled Snow Game Comic was released by the now-defunct publisher Raporto in two volumes on April 25 and May 24, 2003. On May 26, 2003, Enterbrain released the last stand-alone anthology titled Snow Anthology Comic. ### Music and audio CDs The opening theme for Snow is "Snow" sung by Yumi Matsuzawa, who also provided vocals for the ending themes "Futari no Ashiato" (ふたりの足跡) and "Yuki no Kanata" (雪のかなた), and the insert song "Sora no Yurikago" (空の揺りかご). Before the visual novel's release, an album containing the BGM of Snow, titled Snow Image Album, was released at Comiket 63 on December 28, 2002. The original soundtrack for Snow was released on April 25, 2003, containing 29 tracks. A single titled Snow Extra CD was released at Comiket 64 on August 15, 2003, containing "Sora no Yurikago". Three drama CDs based on Snow have been released. The first CD volume was released by Movic on August 22, 2003, focusing on Sumino Yukizuki. Movic released a second volume focusing on Asahi Hiyorigawa, on October 24, 2003. The third and final volume, telling the story of Ryūjin-mura's legend, was released by Frontier Works on August 25, 2004. ### Merchandise The merchandising company Exhaust has sold shitajiki (pencil boards), transparent posters and postcards, dakimakura (hug pillows), a collection of character portraits, a telephone card set featuring Sumino and Ōka, and a stuffed toy of Ōka's pet cat Shamon. G-Toys released a capsule pin collection with the Snow heroines drawn in the chibi style. 1:8 scale PVC figures of Sumino, Asahi, Shigure, and Ōka were sold by the toy manufacturer Kotobukiya. Six gashapon (capsule toy) figures of the Snow heroines have been produced as a part of the risqué Digital Girls Paradise collection. ## Reception In a national sales ranking of bishōjo games conducted by PCNews, the DVD-ROM of Snow premiered at number one in the rankings, while the CD-ROM version ranked closely behind at number three. During the beginning of February, the CD-ROM ranked at number eight, while the DVD-ROM ranked just above at number seven. The DVD-ROM made another appearance in the ranking at 31 during mid-February and the CD-ROM had low enough sales to not chart. Finally, both the CD-ROM and DVD-ROM versions made their final appearances on the charts at 33 and 46 at the beginning of March, respectively. The game is now regarded as a classic in the nakige visual novel genre, though some gamers were confused about Studio Mebius' change of direction with Snow since they were a brand known for producing dark and graphic eroge. Snow was the second most widely sold game of 2003 on Getchu.com, a major redistributor of visual novel and domestic anime products. According to sales information taken from the Japanese Amazon website, Snow sold 64,526 copies in 2003. As of February 4, 2013, the PS2 version of Snow sold over 24,385 copies. In the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G's Magazine, poll results for the 50 best bishōjo games were released. Snow ranked No. 26 out of 249 titles, with 11 votes. Snow is featured in the Lycèe Trading Card Game''.

Ipswich serial murders

Series of murders during 2006

The Ipswich serial murders, commonly known as the work of the Suffolk Strangler, took place between 30 October and 10 December 2006, during which time the bodies of five murdered sex workers were discovered at different locations near Ipswich, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom. Their bodies were discovered naked but there were no signs of sexual assault. Two of the victims, Anneli Alderton and Paula Clennell, were confirmed to have been killed by asphyxiation. A cause of death for the other victims, Gemma Adams, Tania Nicol and Annette Nicholls, was not established. Suffolk Constabulary linked the killings and launched a murder investigation codenamed Operation Sumac. Due to the size of the investigation police officers were drafted from several other police forces. Two arrests were made in connection with the murders. The first suspect, who was never officially named by police, was released without charge. Forklift truck driver Steve Wright, age 48, was arrested on suspicion of murder on 19 December 2006 and charged with the murders of all five women on 21 December. Wright was remanded in custody and his trial began on 14 January 2008 at Ipswich Crown Court. He pleaded not guilty to the charges, although he admitted having sex with all five victims and that he had been paying for sex workers' services since the 1980s. DNA and fibre evidence were presented to the court that linked Wright to the victims. He was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February 2008, and was sentenced the following day to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he should never be released from prison. The murders received a large amount of media attention, both nationally and internationally. The press often compared the murders to those committed by Peter Sutcliffe, who murdered thirteen women and attacked seven others (mostly sex workers) in West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester between 1975 and 1980. There was some concern that the level of media coverage at the time could jeopardise a fair trial. The murders also sparked debates in the media over the laws surrounding prostitution. ## Police investigation On 2 December 2006, the body of a young woman was discovered in the water of Belstead Brook at Thorpe's Hill, near Hintlesham, Suffolk, by a member of the public who was working as a Water Bailiff. The body, later identified as 25-year-old Gemma Adams, had not been sexually assaulted. Six days later, on 8 December, the body of 19-year-old Tania Nicol, a friend of Adams who had been missing since 30 October, was discovered in water at Copdock Mill just outside Ipswich. On 10 December, a third victim, found by a member of the public in an area of woodland by the A14 road near Nacton, was later identified as 24-year-old Anneli Alderton. According to a police statement, she had been asphyxiated and was about three months pregnant when she died. In a press conference, investigators from the Suffolk Constabulary warned all women to stay away from the red light district of Ipswich. On 12 December, police announced that the bodies of two more women had been found. On 14 December, the police confirmed one of the bodies as 24-year-old Paula Clennell. Clennell had disappeared on 10 December and was last seen in Ipswich. According to Suffolk Police, she died from "compression of the throat". On 15 December, the police confirmed that the other body was that of 29-year-old Annette Nicholls, who disappeared on 5 December. The bodies of Clennell and Nicholls were found in Nacton near the Levington turn-off of the A1156, close to where Alderton was found. A member of the public had seen Clennell's body twenty feet (six metres) from the main road and a police helicopter dispatched to the scene discovered Nicholls' body nearby. Suffolk Constabulary linked the killings and launched a murder investigation, codenamed Operation Sumac. Chief Constable Alastair McWhirter acknowledged that his police force would be reliant on external assistance owing to the magnitude of the investigation. During press conferences on 13 and 14 December, Detective Chief Superintendent Gull revealed that police believed the locations where the five bodies were found to have been 'deposition sites', not murder scenes, indicating that the victims were all killed elsewhere and transported to the locations where they were later found; no comment was made on where the women may have been murdered. DCS Gull also revealed that some items of women's clothing and accessories, including a handbag and jacket, had been recovered and were being forensically tested to establish whether they belonged to any of the murdered women. During the course of the press briefings, DCS Gull stated that over 300 police officers were involved in the investigation, and some 400–450 calls were being received daily by detectives. On 15 December, Suffolk Constabulary's website revealed that a total of 7,300 telephone calls had been made to police regarding the investigation, and that over 300 police staff and specialists were working on the cases, with support from at least 25 other police forces. As of 18 December, the number of officers involved in the investigation had increased to 650 including 350 officers from forty other police forces who had assisted in the inquiry. The number of calls received regarding the case had also increased to around 10,000. ## Victims ### Tania Nicol Tania Nicol, aged 19, from Ipswich, disappeared on 30 October. Her body was discovered by police divers on 8 December in a river near Copdock Mill; there was no evidence of sexual assault and a post mortem could not establish a definite cause of death. Nicol attended Chantry High School but had left home at 16 to live in a hostel, engaging in sex work to fund her addiction to heroin and cocaine. She had originally worked in massage parlours, but was asked to leave on suspicion that she was using drugs. Her mother was unaware she was a sex worker, and thought she had been working in a bar or a hairdresser's. ### Gemma Adams Gemma Rose Adams, aged 25, born in Kesgrave, was last seen on West End Road in Ipswich, where she had been living; she disappeared on 15 November at about 01.15 (UTC). Her body was found on 2 December, in a river at Hintlesham. The first victim found, she was naked but had not been sexually assaulted. Adams had been a popular child from a middle-class family. As a teenager, she became addicted to heroin. She had been working as a sex worker to finance her drug addiction, which had already led to loss of her job with an insurance firm. Her partner was at the time also a heroin user, and knew she was a sex worker, although her family did not. ### Anneli Alderton Anneli Sarah Alderton, aged 24, a mother of one and also in the early stages of pregnancy, had been living in Colchester, Essex. Alderton disappeared on 3 December and was last seen on the 17.53 train from Harwich to Manningtree. Alderton got off the train at Manningtree at 18.15 before going on to Ipswich on another train, arriving at 18.43. Alderton's body was found on 10 December near Nacton, in woodland in front of Amberfield School. Alderton had been asphyxiated and was found naked, and was posed in the cruciform position. Her pregnancy was also revealed by the autopsy and her family were first informed of it by police officers. Alderton moved to Cyprus with her mother in 1992 after her parents separated, and they returned to Ipswich in 1997. Alderton attended Copleston High School and gained good grades in her exams. Alderton had been addicted to drugs since age 16, shortly after her father's death from lung cancer in 1998. ### Annette Nicholls Annette Nicholls, aged 29, a mother of one from Ipswich, was initially thought to have gone missing on 4 December, but at the trial it was revealed she was last seen in Ipswich town centre on 8 December. Her family reported her missing after they grew concerned at the news of the other murders. Nicholls' body was found on 12 December near Levington, naked but not sexually assaulted, and also posed in the cruciform position; a definite cause of death could not be established, but her breathing had been hampered. Nicholls, the oldest victim, had been a drug addict since the early 2000s, shortly after completing a beautician's course at Suffolk College. Soon afterwards, she had started carrying out sex work to fund her addiction. After moving to a housing association home from her council house, Nicholls asked her mother to look after her son. She was thought to be staying with a man in Ipswich at the time of her death. ### Paula Clennell Paula Lucille Clennell, aged 24, born in Northumberland and living in Ipswich, disappeared on 10 December in Ipswich at approximately 00.20. Clennell's body was found on 12 December near Levington on the same day as Nicholls'. Clennell was found naked, but not sexually assaulted and a post mortem reported that she had been killed by a compression of her throat. Prior to her death, Clennell commented on the then recent murders in an interview with Anglia News, stating that despite them making her "a bit wary about getting into cars" she continued to work because "I need the money." Clennell moved to East Anglia ten years before her death, following the breakup of her parents' marriage. Clennell had three children with her partner; all had been taken into care and adopted due to her drug addiction. Clennell herself had spent some of her childhood in a referral unit, and it was shortly after being placed there that she started taking drugs. ## Arrests of suspects On 18 December 2006, Suffolk Constabulary reported that they had arrested a 37-year-old man on suspicion of murdering all five women. The man was arrested at 07.20 at a house in Trimley St. Martin near Felixstowe, Suffolk. The detention of the suspect was extended by magistrates by a further period of 24 hours, to the maximum of 96 hours allowed under English law. On 19 December, at 05.00, police arrested a second suspect, a 48-year-old, at a residence in Ipswich, on suspicion of committing murder. The following day, 20 December, police were granted a 36-hour extension to question the second suspect in detention. On 21 December, a joint statement was issued by DCS Gull and Michael Crimp, senior prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in Suffolk, announcing that the second suspect identified as Steve Wright had been charged with the murder of all five women. Police said that the first suspect, who was not officially named, was released on police bail. Bail conditions were cancelled on 6 June 2007 for the first suspect, as no more inquiries concerning the case were planned involving this person. ## Court appearances Wright appeared before magistrates in Ipswich on 22 December 2006, and was remanded in custody. His trial began 16 January 2008. A second jury (of nine men and three women) was selected after a member of the first jury could not continue to serve because of ill health. The court heard how the bodies of Anneli Alderton and Annette Nicholls were deliberately posed in the cruciform position, with DNA evidence linking Steve Wright to three of the victims and fibre evidence also connecting him to the victims. The defence argued that Wright frequented sex workers and had "full sex" with all of the victims except Tania Nicol, whom he picked up with the intention of having sex, but apparently changed his mind and returned her to Ipswich's red light district. This contradicted Wright's earlier statement when stopped by police in the district in the early hours of the morning: he implied he was unaware he was in the red light district and was driving around because he could not sleep. Wright's rented flat was located in the red light area. Jurors were taken to sites involved in the case, including the exterior of Wright's rented house and the sites where the victims were found. The prosecutor suggested that Wright may not have acted alone, as the remains of Anneli Alderton were found some distance from the road but with no evidence that her body had been dragged by one person. In his summing up, the judge urged the jury to put aside their emotions: > The loss of these five young lives is clearly a tragedy. You are likely to have sympathy for the deceased and their families. Your sympathy ... must not sway you ... You may view with some distaste the lifestyles of those involved ... whatever the drugs they took, whatever the work they did, no-one is entitled to do these women any harm, let alone kill them. ### Verdict On 21 February, after eight hours of deliberation, the jury returned unanimous verdicts against Wright on all five counts of murder. A murder conviction carries an automatic term of life imprisonment but the judge could decide if Wright was eligible for parole. The prosecution argued that Wright should receive a whole life tariff and thus never be released from prison. On 22 February Wright was sentenced to life imprisonment, the judge recommending against parole because the murders involved a "substantial degree of pre-meditation and planning". Some family members felt that Wright deserved the death penalty. Craig Bradshaw, brother-in-law of Paula Clenell, said: "These crimes deserve the ultimate punishment and that can only mean one thing. Where a daughter and the other victims were given no human rights by the monster, his will be guarded by the establishment at great cost to the taxpayers of this country and emotionally to the bereaved families." But the father of Gemma Adams said, "I am very relieved and pleased for all of the families that this is now over and we can now start to get on with our lives." Prime minister Gordon Brown said the case was an example of the importance of the national DNA database. ## Steve Wright biography Steve Gerald James Wright was born in the Norfolk village of Erpingham in April 1958. Wright joined the Merchant Navy after leaving school. In 1978, he married and had a son soon afterwards; the couple later divorced. In 1987 he married another woman; they separated in 1988, and later divorced. He worked as a dock worker, a steward on the QE2, a lorry driver, a barman, and, just prior to his arrest, a fork-lift truck driver. He became a father again with another lover in 1992. Wright built up large debts largely through gambling, and had recently been declared bankrupt. Wright had twice tried to commit suicide, firstly by carbon monoxide poisoning and then, in 2000, by an overdose of pills. Wright met his last girlfriend, Pamela Wright (the shared surname is a coincidence), in 2001 in Felixstowe, and they moved to the house in Ipswich together in 2004. Wright had always admitted that he had paid for sex, firstly whilst in the Merchant Navy, and continuously throughout his life. Investigations into other crimes Wright might have committed continue, including the possibility of an involvement in the Suzy Lamplugh disappearance. However Metropolitan Police have stated that this is not a strong line of enquiry. ## Media coverage The murders have been likened to those by Peter Sutcliffe, the "Yorkshire Ripper" who was convicted of murdering 13 women (and wounding seven others), many of whom were involved in sex work, over a period of five years from 1975 to 1980 in northern England; and to "Jack the Ripper", the infamous Victorian serial murderer who was also thought to target sex workers. As with previous serial killers dating back to Jack the Ripper, many sections of the media have attempted to coin a name for the presumed murderer, using the "Suffolk Strangler", and other terms to refer to the case. A reward was offered, first by local business Call Connection, who initially offered £25,000 and later raised it to £50,000. ### Concerns about the media coverage On 21 December 2006, the then Attorney General Lord Goldsmith issued guidance to the media after concerns were raised by Suffolk Constabulary about the coverage and potential prejudice of a future trial. Lord Goldsmith urged the media to show restraint in what they reported about the two suspects being held, for fear of prejudicing any possible trial. A senior prosecutor on the case, Michael Crimp, also expressed his concerns about potentially prejudicial media coverage: "Steven Wright stands accused of these offences and has a right to a fair trial before a jury. It is extremely important that there should be responsible media reporting which should not prejudice the due process of law." ### Coverage of related issues The murders refocused press attention on a number of controversial issues in British politics. The first is that of prostitution in the United Kingdom. The murders have highlighted the vulnerability of sex workers and the lack of action taken by the government, whether to be more punitive in the hope of reducing the numbers of sex workers on the streets, to move towards legalised brothels and other measures to improve the safety of the women, or to target the demand for sex workers through prosecution of the clients, as is done in Sweden. The government has moved in the direction of tough "anti-prostitution" laws which target the clients. The government had at one point considered allowing "mini brothels", but abandoned this plan after fears that such establishments would bring pimps and drug dealers into residential areas. Instead, the laws became tougher: the Policing and Crime Act 2009 made it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been "subjected to force" and this is a strict liability offense (clients can be prosecuted even if it was not known the prostitute was forced). The second is that of drug use and whether it should be legalised or decriminalised, provided on prescription to registered addicts, or penalised more harshly. High numbers (95% according to the Home Office) of street prostitutes in the United Kingdom have a history of substance abuse, and prostitution is one means of funding addiction, known to have been used by all five of the victims. ## Appeals In March 2008, it was announced that Wright would be lodging an appeal against both his convictions and the trial judge's recommendation of a whole life tariff, claiming (amongst other things) that the trial should not have been held in Ipswich and that the evidence against him constituted insufficient proof of guilt. He was reported to have written to the court of appeal "All five women were stripped naked of clothing/jewellery/phones/bags and no evidence was found in my house or car." He has asked for a new solicitor. This first appeal was rejected in July 2008. In July 2008, it was announced that a new appeal would be lodged, but in February 2009 it was reported that Wright had dropped this appeal, though some of his family hoped to persuade the Criminal Cases Review Commission to review the case. ## Dramatisations The BBC Drama department commissioned a dramatisation of the murders and the investigation from screenwriter Stephen Butchard. The three-part production, entitled Five Daughters, began filming in November 2009, and was broadcast on BBC One from 25 to 27 April 2010. Only a few days after the BBC's announcement of the drama, Brian Clennell, the father of Paula Clennell, complained that it would portray the victims in "a bad light". Wright's brother David also complained that it would jeopardise any future retrial. Sarah Lancashire and Ian Hart led the cast. A musical play, London Road, commissioned by the Royal National Theatre and written by Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork, is based on interviews with residents of the street in Ipswich where Steve Wright lived. A film adaptation of the play was released in the United Kingdom in 2015. The case was featured in an episode of the documentary series Real Crime. ## See also - List of serial killers by country - List of serial killers by number of victims - David Smith – another British killer of sex workers - Lorraine Thorpe – murdered two people in Ipswich in 2009

Game of Thrones

American fantasy drama TV series (2011–2019)

Game of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first of which is A Game of Thrones. The show was shot in the United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, and Spain. It premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and concluded on May 19, 2019, with 73 episodes broadcast over eight seasons. Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones has a large ensemble cast and follows several story arcs throughout the course of the show. The first major arc concerns the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros through a web of political conflicts among the noble families either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from whoever sits on it. The second focuses on the last descendant of the realm's deposed ruling dynasty, who has been exiled to Essos and is plotting to return and reclaim the throne. The third follows the Night's Watch, a military order defending the realm against threats from beyond Westeros's northern border. Game of Thrones attracted a record viewership on HBO and has a broad, active, and international fan base. Critics have praised the series for its acting, complex characters, story, scope, and production values, although its frequent use of nudity and violence (including sexual violence) has been subject to criticism. The final season received significant critical backlash for its reduced length and creative decisions, with many considering it a disappointing conclusion. The series received 59 Primetime Emmy Awards, the most by a drama series, including Outstanding Drama Series in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. Its other awards and nominations include three Hugo Awards for Best Dramatic Presentation, a Peabody Award, and five nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Drama. A prequel series, House of the Dragon, premiered on HBO in 2022. ## Premise ### Plot Game of Thrones is roughly based on the storylines of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R. R. Martin, set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and the continent of Essos. The series follows several simultaneous plot lines. The first story arc follows a war of succession among competing claimants for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, with other noble families fighting for independence from the throne. The second concerns the exiled scion's actions to reclaim the throne; the third chronicles the threat of the impending winter, as well as the legendary creatures and fierce peoples of the North. ### Cast and characters Game of Thrones has an ensemble cast which has been estimated to be the largest on television. In 2014, several actors' contracts were renegotiated to include a seventh-season option. By the final season, five of the main cast members made \$1 million per episode, making them among the highest paid television performers. Eddard "Ned" Stark (Sean Bean) is the head of House Stark. He and his wife, Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), have five children: Robb (Richard Madden), Sansa (Sophie Turner), Arya (Maisie Williams), Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), and Rickon (Art Parkinson). Ned also has an illegitimate son, Jon Snow (Kit Harington), who, along with his scholarly friend, Samwell Tarly (John Bradley), serve in the Night's Watch under Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo). The Wildlings living north of the Wall include Gilly (Hannah Murray) and the warriors Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju) and Ygritte (Rose Leslie). Others associated with House Stark include Ned's ward Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen), Ned's vassal Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton), and Roose's illegitimate son, Ramsay Snow (Iwan Rheon). Robb accepts help from the healer Talisa Maegyr (Oona Chaplin), while elsewhere, Arya befriends blacksmith's apprentice Gendry Rivers (Joe Dempsie) and assassin Jaqen H'ghar (Tom Wlaschiha). In the Stormlands, the tall warrior Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie) is introduced to Catelyn. In King's Landing, Ned's friend, King Robert I Baratheon (Mark Addy), shares a loveless political marriage with Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Her younger twin brother, Ser Jamie (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), serves on the Kingsguard while their younger brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) is attended by his mistress Shae (Sibel Kekilli) and mercenary Bronn (Jerome Flynn). Cersei's father is Tywin (Charles Dance), head of House Lannister and richest man in Westeros. Cersei has two sons: Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) and Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman). Joffrey is guarded by the scar-faced warrior Sandor "The Hound" Clegane (Rory McCann). The king's Small Council includes his treasurer, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish (Aidan Gillen), and his spymaster, Varys (Conleth Hill). In Dragonstone, Robert's younger brother, Stannis (Stephen Dillane), is advised by foreign priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten) and former smuggler Ser Davos Seaworth (Liam Cunningham). In the Reach, the Tyrell family is led by matriarch Olenna (Diana Rigg) and represented at court by her granddaughter Margaery (Natalie Dormer). The High Sparrow (Jonathan Pryce) is given power as a religious leader, while, in Dorne, the warrior Ellaria Sand (Indira Varma) seeks vengeance against the Lannisters. Across the Narrow Sea in Pentos, siblings Viserys Targaryen (Harry Lloyd) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) (colloquially referred to as "Dany") are in exile, with the former plotting to reclaim his father's throne. Daenerys is forced into marrying Khal Drogo (Jason Momoa), a leader of the nomadic Dothraki. Her retinue eventually comes to include the exiled knight Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen), her aide Missandei (Nathalie Emmanuel), mercenary Daario Naharis (Michiel Huisman), and elite soldier Grey Worm (Jacob Anderson). ### Themes The series has been praised by both television critics and historians for what was perceived as a sort of medieval realism. George R. R. Martin set out to make the story feel more like historical fiction than contemporary fantasy, with less emphasis on magic and sorcery and more on battles, political intrigue, and the characters, believing that magic should be used moderately in the epic fantasy genre. Martin has said that, "the true horrors of human history derive not from orcs and Dark Lords, but from ourselves". Academics have classified the series as neo-medieval which focuses on the overlapping of medieval history and popular fantasy. A common theme in the fantasy genre is the battle between good and evil, which Martin says does not mirror the real world. Martin explores the relationship between good and evil through the questions of redemption and character change. The series allows the audience to view different characters from their perspective, unlike in many other fantasies. In early seasons, under the influence of the A Song of Ice and Fire books, main characters were regularly killed off, and this was credited with developing tension among viewers. Martin stated in an interview that he wanted to depict war and violence in a realistic way, which sometimes mean the hero or main characters could be injured or killed. In later seasons, critics pointed out that certain characters had developed "plot armor" to survive in unlikely circumstances and attributed this to Game of Thrones deviating from the novels to become more of a traditional television series. In a 2012 study, out of 40 recent television drama shows, Game of Thrones ranked second in deaths per episode, averaging 14. A scientific study conducted in 2018 stated that about 60% of the major characters died as a result of violence and war. ### Inspirations and derivations Although the series's first season closely follows the events of the first novel, there were significant changes made for later seasons. According to Benioff, the TV adaptation is "about adapting the series as a whole and following the map George laid out for us and hitting the major milestones, but not necessarily each of the stops along the way". Aspects of the novels' plots and their adaptations are based upon settings, characters, and events in European history. Most of Westeros is reminiscent of high medieval Europe, from its geography and castles to its cultures, the feudal system, palace intrigues, and the knights' tournaments. Like medieval Europe, most of the houses in the series use the patriarchal system of power. The series also includes elements of gothic fiction, including torture tropes. A principal inspiration for the novels is the English Wars of the Roses (1455–1485) between the houses of Lancaster and York, reflected in Martin's houses of Lannister and Stark. The scheming Cersei Lannister evokes Isabella, the "She-Wolf of France" (1295–1358). She and her family, as portrayed in Maurice Druon's historical novel series, The Accursed Kings, were a main inspiration of Martin's. Other historical antecedents of series elements include: Hadrian's Wall (which becomes Martin's Wall), the Roman Empire, and the legend of Atlantis (ancient Valyria), Byzantine Greek fire ("wildfire"), Icelandic sagas of the Viking Age (the Ironborn), the Mongol hordes (the Dothraki), the Hundred Years' War, and the Italian Renaissance. The series's popularity has been attributed, in part, to Martin's skill at fusing these elements into a seamless, credible version of alternate history. ## Production ### Conception and development The A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels was popular before Game of Thrones. The series has sold more than 90 million copies worldwide with the novels being translated into 45 different languages. George R. R. Martin received multiple fantasy writing awards and nominations, including a World Fantasy Award and multiple Locus Awards, for the series. Writing for Time magazine in 2005 after the release of A Feast for Crows, journalist Lev Grossman called Martin the "American Tolkien", stating he is a "major force for evolution in fantasy". In January 2006, David Benioff had a telephone conversation with Martin's literary agent about the books he represented. Having been a fan of fantasy fiction when he was younger, he became interested in A Song of Ice and Fire, which he had not read. The literary agent sent Benioff the series's first four books. Benioff read a few hundred pages of the first novel, A Game of Thrones, shared his enthusiasm with D. B. Weiss, and suggested that they adapt Martin's novels into a television series; Weiss finished the first novel in "maybe 36 hours". They pitched the series to HBO after a five-hour meeting with Martin (himself a veteran screenwriter) in a restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard. According to Benioff, they won Martin over by knowing the answer to his question, "Who is Jon Snow's mother?" Before being approached by Benioff and Weiss, Martin had had meetings with other scriptwriters, most of whom wanted to adapt the series as a feature film. Martin, however, deemed it "unfilmable", saying that the size of one of his novels is as long as The Lord of the Rings, which had been adapted as three feature films. Benioff agreed it would be impossible to turn the novels into a feature film as their scale is too big for a feature film, and dozens of characters would have to be discarded. Benioff added, "a fantasy movie of this scope, financed by a major studio, would almost certainly need a PG-13 rating. That means no sex, no blood, no profanity. Fuck that." Martin was pleased with the suggestion that they adapt it as an HBO series, saying that he "never imagined it anywhere else". The series began development in January 2007. HBO acquired the television rights to the novels, with Benioff and Weiss as the series' executive producers and Martin as a co-executive producer. The intention was for each novel to yield a season's worth of episodes. Initially, Martin would write one episode per season while Benioff and Weiss would write the rest. Jane Espenson and Bryan Cogman were added later to write one episode each for the first season. The first and second drafts of the pilot script by Benioff and Weiss were submitted in August 2007 and June 2008, respectively. Although HBO liked both drafts, a pilot was not ordered until November 2008. The pilot episode, "Winter Is Coming", was shot in 2009; after its poor reception following a private viewing, HBO demanded an extensive re-shoot (about 90 percent of the episode, with cast and directorial changes). The pilot reportedly cost HBO \$5–10 million to produce, while the first season's budget was estimated at \$50–60 million. For the second season, the series received a 15-percent budget increase for the climactic battle in "Blackwater" (which had an \$8 million budget). Between 2012 and 2015, the average budget per episode increased from \$6 million to "at least" \$8 million. The sixth-season budget was over \$10 million per episode, for a season total of over \$100 million, a record for a series's production cost. By the final season, the production budget per episode was estimated to be \$15 million. ### Casting Nina Gold and Robert Sterne were the series' primary casting directors. Through a process of auditions and readings, the main cast was assembled. The only exceptions were Peter Dinklage and Sean Bean, whom the writers wanted from the start; they were announced as joining the pilot in 2009. Other actors signed for the pilot were Kit Harington as Jon Snow, Jack Gleeson as Joffrey Baratheon, Harry Lloyd as Viserys Targaryen, and Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon. According to Benioff and Weiss, Addy was the easiest actor to cast for the series because of his audition performance. Some characters in the pilot were recast for the first season. The role of Catelyn Stark was played initially by Jennifer Ehle, but the role was recast with Michelle Fairley. The character of Daenerys Targaryen was also recast, with Emilia Clarke replacing Tamzin Merchant. The rest of the first season's cast was selected in the second half of 2009. Although many of the cast returned after the first season, the producers had many new characters to cast in each of the following seasons. Because of the large number of new characters, Benioff and Weiss postponed introducing several key characters in the second season and merged several characters into one, or assigned plot functions to different characters. Some recurring characters were recast over the years; for example, Gregor Clegane was played by three different actors, while Dean-Charles Chapman played both Tommen Baratheon and a minor Lannister character. ### Writing Game of Thrones used seven writers over its six seasons. Benioff and Weiss wrote most of each season's episodes. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin wrote one episode in each of the first four seasons. Martin did not write an episode for the later seasons, since he wanted to focus on completing the sixth novel (The Winds of Winter). Jane Espenson co-wrote one first-season episode as a freelance writer. Cogman, initially a script coordinator for the series, was promoted to producer for the fifth season. Cogman, who wrote at least one episode for the first five seasons, was the only other writer in the writers' room with Benioff and Weiss. Before Cogman's promotion, Vanessa Taylor—a writer during the second and third seasons—worked closely with Benioff and Weiss. Dave Hill joined the writing staff for the fifth season after working as an assistant to Benioff and Weiss. Although Martin was not in the writers' room, he read the script outlines and made comments. Benioff and Weiss sometimes assigned characters to particular writers; for example, Cogman was assigned to Arya Stark for the fourth season. The writers spent several weeks writing a character outline, including what material from the novels to use and the overarching themes. After these individual outlines were completed, they spent another two to three weeks discussing each main character's individual arc and arranging them episode by episode. A detailed outline was created, with each of the writers working on part of it to create a script for each episode. Cogman, who wrote two episodes for the fifth season, took a month and a half to complete both scripts. They were then read by Benioff and Weiss, who made notes, and parts of the script were rewritten. All ten episodes were written before filming began since they were shot out of order by two units in different countries. Benioff and Weiss wrote their episodes together; one wrote the first half of the script with the other writing the second half. They then passed the drafts back and forth to make notes and do rewrites. #### Adaptation schedule and episodes After Game of Thrones story line began outpacing the published novels in the sixth season, the series was based on a plot outline of the future novels provided by Martin along with original content. Before season four, Martin stated there was an issue with the television series being released before the source material could be written. According to Benioff, Martin gave the showrunners an outline on the final two books of the series. In April 2016, the showrunners' plan was to shoot 13 more episodes after the sixth season: seven episodes in the seventh season and six episodes in the eighth. Later that month, the series was renewed for a seventh season with a seven-episode order. HBO announced in June 2016 that the eighth season would be the final for the series. The first two seasons adapted one novel each. For the later seasons, its creators saw Game of Thrones as an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire as a whole rather than the individual novels, enabling them to move events across novels as the screen adaptation required. ### Filming Principal photography for the first season was scheduled to begin on July 26, 2010; the primary location was the Paint Hall Studios in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Exterior scenes in Northern Ireland were filmed at Sandy Brae in the Mourne Mountains (standing in for Vaes Dothrak); Castle Ward (Winterfell); Saintfield Estates (the Winterfell godswood); Tollymore Forest (outdoor scenes); Cairncastle (the execution site); the Magheramorne quarry (Castle Black); and Shane's Castle (the tourney grounds). Doune Castle in Stirling, Scotland, was also used in the original pilot episode for scenes at Winterfell. The producers initially considered filming the entire series in Scotland, but decided on Northern Ireland because of the availability of studio space and tax credits. The first season's southern scenes were filmed in Malta, a change in location from the pilot episode's Moroccan sets. The city of Mdina was used for King's Landing. Filming also took place at Fort Manoel (representing the Sept of Baelor); at the Azure Window on the island of Gozo (the Dothraki wedding site); and at San Anton Palace, Fort Ricasoli, Fort St. Angelo and St. Dominic monastery (all used for scenes in the Red Keep). Filming of the second season's southern scenes shifted from Malta to Croatia, where the city of Dubrovnik and nearby locations allowed exterior shots of a walled, coastal medieval city. The Walls of Dubrovnik and Fort Lovrijenac were used for scenes in King's Landing, though exteriors of some local buildings in the series, for example, the Red Keep and the Sept of Baelor, are computer generated. The island of Lokrum, the St. Dominic monastery in the coastal town of Trogir, the Rector's Palace in Dubrovnik, and the Dubac quarry (a few kilometers east) were used for scenes set in Qarth. Scenes set north of the Wall, in the Frostfangs, and at the Fist of the First Men, were filmed in November 2011 in Iceland on the Vatnajökull glacier near Smyrlabjörg, the Svínafellsjökull glacier near Skaftafell, and the Mýrdalsjökull glacier near Vik on Höfðabrekkuheiði. Filming also occurred at the harbor in Ballintoy, Northern Ireland. Third-season production returned to Dubrovnik, with the Walls of Dubrovnik, Fort Lovrijenac, and nearby locations again used for scenes in King's Landing and the Red Keep. Trsteno Arboretum, a new location, is the garden of the Tyrells in King's Landing. The third season also returned to Morocco (including the city of Essaouira) to film Daenerys's scenes in Essos. Dimmuborgir and the Grjótagjá cave in Iceland were used as well. One scene, with a live bear, was filmed in Los Angeles. The production used three units (Dragon, Wolf and Raven) filming in parallel, six directing teams, 257 cast members and 703 crew members. The fourth season returned to Dubrovnik and included new locations, including Diocletian's Palace in Split, Klis Fortress north of Split, Perun quarry east of Split, the Mosor mountain range and Baška Voda farther south. Thingvellir National Park in Iceland was used for the fight between Brienne and the Hound. The fifth season added Seville, Spain, used for scenes of Dorne, and Córdoba. The sixth season, which began filming in July 2015, returned to Spain and filmed in Navarra, Guadalajara, Seville, Almeria, Girona and Peniscola. Filming also returned to Dubrovnik, Croatia. The filming of the seven episodes of season seven began on August 31, 2016, at Titanic Studios in Belfast, with other filming in Iceland, Northern Ireland and many locations in Spain, including Seville, Cáceres, Almodovar del Rio, Santiponce, Zumaia and Bermeo. Filming continued until the end of February 2017, as necessary, to ensure winter weather in some European locations. Filming for season eight began in October 2017 and concluded in July 2018. New filming locations included Moneyglass and Saintfield in Northern Ireland for "The Long Night" battle scenes. #### Effect on locations Northern Ireland Screen, a UK government agency financed by Invest NI and the European Regional Development Fund, helped fund Game of Thrones. Tourism Ireland has a Game of Thrones-themed marketing campaign similar to New Zealand's Tolkien-related advertising. According to First Minister Arlene Foster, the series has given Northern Ireland the most publicity in its history apart from The Troubles. The production of Game of Thrones and other TV series boosted Northern Ireland's creative industries, contributing to an estimated 12.4 percent growth in arts, entertainment and recreation jobs between 2008 and 2013 (compared with 4.3 percent in the rest of the UK during the same period). After filming had finished, HBO converted its filming locations in Northern Ireland into tourist attractions to be opened in 2019. By 2019, 350,000 visitors, or one sixth of all tourists, came to Northern Ireland annually because of Game of Thrones. Tourism organizations elsewhere reported increases in bookings after their locations appeared in Game of Thrones. Between 2014 and 2016, Hotels.com reported hotel bookings increased by 285 percent in Iceland and 120 percent in Dubrovnik. In 2016, bookings doubled in Ouarzazate, Morocco, the location of Daenerys' season three scenes. Dubrovnik also saw an increase in overnight tourist stays after episodes aired. However, the increase in tourism driven by the series—estimated to be responsible for half of its annual increase over many years—led to concerns about "over-tourism" and its mayor imposing limits on tourist numbers in the city. Following the series finale, HBO announced in April 2019 a new exhibition and tourist attraction containing show props and set pieces. The attraction, titled Game of Thrones Studio Tour, will be located at former show filming location Linen Mill Studios outside Belfast. Studies showed that the series had an overall positive economic impacts for both Northern Ireland and Dubrovnik. Despite the positive economic results, some academics note the impact and damage from Game of Thrones–related tourist activities could have on historical sites and other locations of cultural value. ### Directing Each ten-episode season of Game of Thrones had four to six directors, who usually directed back-to-back episodes. Alan Taylor directed seven episodes, the most of any director. Alex Graves, David Nutter, Mark Mylod, and Jeremy Podeswa directed six episodes each. Daniel Minahan directed five episodes, and Michelle MacLaren, Alik Sakharov, and Miguel Sapochnik directed four each; MacLaren is the only female director of the entire series's run. Brian Kirk directed three episodes during the first season, and Tim Van Patten directed the series's first two episodes. Neil Marshall directed two episodes, both with large battle scenes: "Blackwater" and "The Watchers on the Wall". Other directors include Jack Bender, David Petrarca, Daniel Sackheim, Michael Slovis and Matt Shakman. David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have directed two episodes together but were credited with only one each, which was determined after a coin toss. For season eight, David Nutter and Miguel Sapochnik, who worked on previous episodes, directed the first five episodes. Benioff and Weiss were credited as both the writers and directors of the show finale "The Iron Throne". ### Production design Michele Clapton was the costume designer for Game of Thrones' first five seasons before she was replaced by April Ferry. Clapton returned to the series as its costume designer for the seventh season. For the first three seasons, Paul Engelen was Game of Thrones' main makeup designer and prosthetic makeup artist with Melissa Lackersteen, Conor O'Sullivan, and Rob Trenton. At the beginning of the fourth season, Engelen's team was replaced by Jane Walker and her crew, composed of Ann McEwan and Barrie and Sarah Gower. Over 130 makeup artists and prosthetic designers worked on the show. The designs for the series's costumes were inspired by several sources, such as Japanese and Persian armor. Dothraki dress resembles that of the Bedouin (one was made of fish skins to resemble dragon scales), and the Wildlings wear animal skins like the Inuit. Wildling bone armor is made from molds of actual bones and is assembled with string and latex resembling catgut. Although the extras who played Wildlings and the Night's Watch often wore hats (normal in a cold climate), members of the principal cast usually did not so viewers could recognize them. Björk's Alexander McQueen high-neckline dresses inspired Margaery Tyrell's funnel-neck outfit, and prostitutes' dresses were designed for easy removal. All the clothing used during the production was aged for two weeks, so it had a realistic appearance on high-definition television. About two dozen wigs were used by the actresses. Made of human hair and up to 61 centimetres (2 ft) in length, they cost up to \$7,000 each and were washed and styled like real hair. Applying the wigs was time-consuming; Emilia Clarke, for example, required about two hours to style her brunette hair with a platinum-blonde wig and braids. Other actors, such as Jack Gleeson and Sophie Turner, received frequent hair coloring. For characters such as Daenerys (Clarke) and her Dothraki, their hair, wigs and costumes were processed to appear as if they had not been washed for weeks. ### Visual effects For the large number of visual effects used in the series, HBO hired British-based BlueBolt and Irish-based Screen Scene for season one. Most of the environment builds were done as 2.5D projections, giving viewers perspective while keeping the programming from being overwhelming. In 2011, the season one finale, "Fire and Blood", was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects. The visual effects crew consisted of both on-set VFX supervisors and concept artists along with visual effect editors in post-production. Because the effects became more complex in subsequent seasons (including CGI creatures, fire, and water), German-based Pixomondo became the lead visual effects producer; nine of its twelve facilities contributed to the project for season two, with Stuttgart the lead studio. Scenes were also produced by British-based Peanut FX, Canadian-based Spin VFX, and US-based Gradient Effects. "Valar Morghulis" and "Valar Dohaeris" earned Pixomondo Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in 2012 and 2013, respectively. HBO added German-based Mackevision to the project in season four. The season four finale, "The Children", won the 2014 Emmy Award for Visual Effects. Additional producers for season four included Canadian-based Rodeo FX, German-based Scanline VFX and US-based BAKED FX. The muscle and wing movements of the adolescent dragons in seasons four and five were based largely on those of a chicken. Pixomondo retained a team of 22 to 30 people focused solely on visualizing Daenerys Targaryen's dragons, with the average production time per season of 20 to 22 weeks. For the fifth season, HBO added Canadian-based Image Engine and US-based Crazy Horse Effects to its list of main visual-effects producers. Visual effect supervisor Joe Bauer said that the VFX team worked on more than "10,000 shots of visual effects" throughout all eight seasons. More than 300 artists worked on the show's visual effects team. The show won eight Creative Arts Emmy Awards for visual effects, winning for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in seven consecutive seasons. #### Title sequence The series's title sequence was created for HBO by production studio Elastic. Creative director Angus Wall and his collaborators received the 2011 Primetime Emmy Award for Main Title Design for the sequence, which depicts a three-dimensional map of the series's fictional world. The map is projected on the inside of a sphere which is centrally lit by a small sun in an armillary sphere. As the camera moves across the map, focusing on the locations of the episode's events, clockwork mechanisms intertwine and allow buildings and other structures to emerge from the map. Accompanied by the title music, the names of the principal cast and creative staff appear. The sequence concludes after about 90 seconds with the title card and brief opening credits detailing the episode's writer(s) and director. Its composition changes as the story progresses, with new locations replacing those featuring less prominently or not at all. Entertainment Weekly named the title sequence one of the best on television, calling it an "all-inclusive cruise of Westeros". ### Music Ramin Djawadi composed the series's music. The first season's soundtrack, written about ten weeks before the series's premiere, was published by Varèse Sarabande in June 2011. Soundtrack albums for subsequent seasons have been released, with tracks by the National, the Hold Steady and Sigur Rós. Djawadi composed reoccurring themes for each of the major houses and some main characters. Some themes evolved over time. Daenerys Targaryen's theme was simple and became more complex after each season. At first, her theme was played by a single instrument, a cello, and Djawadi later incorporated more instruments into it. Djawadi was nominated twice for a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for his work on the show. In addition to the originally scored music, Columbia Records released the For the Throne: Music Inspired by the HBO Series Game of Thrones companion album on April 26, 2019. ### Language The Westerosi characters of Game of Thrones speak British-accented English, often (but not consistently) with the accent of the English region corresponding to the character's Westerosi region. The Northerner Eddard Stark speaks in actor Sean Bean's native northern accent, and the southern lord Tywin Lannister speaks with a southern accent, while characters from Dorne speak English with a Spanish accent. Characters foreign to Westeros often have a non-British accent. Although the common language of Westeros is represented as English, the producers charged linguist David J. Peterson with constructing Dothraki and Valyrian languages based on the few words in the novels. Before production, Peterson wrote 300 pages of Dothraki language material, including translation and word function. Dothraki and Valyrian dialogue is often subtitled in English. Language-learning company Duolingo began offering courses in High Valyrian in 2017, of which 1.2 million people signed up for between 2017 and 2020. ## Availability ### Broadcast Game of Thrones was broadcast by HBO in the United States and by its local subsidiaries or other pay television services in other countries, at the same time as in the US or weeks (or months) later. Broadcasters carrying Game of Thrones included Fox Showcase in Australia; HBO Canada, Super Écran, and Showcase in Canada; HBO Latin America in Latin America; Sky Television Network's SoHo and Neon in New Zealand and Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In India, two versions of the series were aired; Star World aired a censored version of the series on television at the same time as the US, while an uncensored version was made available for live viewing on the Hotstar app. On January 23, 2015, the last two episodes of season four were shown in 205 IMAX theaters across the United States, the first television series to be shown in this format. The show earned \$686,000 at the box office on its opening day and \$1.5 million during its opening weekend; the week-long release grossed \$1,896,092. Before the season eight premiere, HBO screened "The Spoils of War" episode from season seven in movie theaters in New York, Los Angeles, and "Chicago". ### Home media and streaming The ten episodes of the first season of Game of Thrones were released as a DVD and Blu-ray box set on March 6, 2012. The box set includes extra background and behind-the-scenes material but no deleted scenes, since nearly all the footage shot for the first season was used. The box set sold over 350,000 copies in the week following its release, the largest first-week DVD sales ever for an HBO series. The series also set an HBO-series record for digital-download sales. A collector's-edition box set was released in November 2012, combining the DVD and Blu-ray versions of the first season with the first episode of season two. A paperweight in the shape of a dragon egg is included in the set. DVD-Blu-ray box sets and digital downloads of the second season became available on February 19, 2013. First-day sales broke HBO records, with 241,000 box sets sold and 355,000 episodes downloaded. The third season was made available for purchase as a digital download on the Australian iTunes Store, parallel to the US premiere, and was released on DVD and Blu-ray in region 1 on February 18, 2014. The fourth season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 17, 2015, and the fifth season on March 15, 2016. Blu-ray and DVD versions of the sixth season were released on November 15, 2016. Beginning in 2016, HBO began issuing Steelbook Blu-ray sets, which include both Dolby TrueHD 7.1 and Dolby Atmos audio options. In 2018, the first season was released in 4K HDR on Ultra HD Blu-ray. Blu-ray and DVD versions of the seventh season were released on December 12, 2017. The final season was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 3, 2019. The home release also included behind-the-scenes footage and cast commentary. A box set containing all eight seasons, including a cast reunion hosted by Conan O'Brien, was released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 3, 2019, and was also released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 3, 2020. In August 2022, the complete series was released in 4K, Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos on HBO Max. ### Copyright infringement Game of Thrones has been widely pirated, primarily outside the US. According to the file-sharing news website TorrentFreak, it was the most pirated television series from 2012 to 2019 (except 2018, when no new episodes were broadcast), and Guinness World Records named it the most-pirated television program in 2015. Illegal downloads increased to about seven million in the first quarter of 2015, up 45 percent from 2014. An unnamed episode was downloaded about 4.28 million times through public BitTorrent trackers in 2012, roughly equal to its number of broadcast viewers. Piracy rates were particularly high in Australia prompting the US Ambassador to Australia, Jeff Bleich, to issue a statement in 2013 condemning the practice there. Delays in availability by non-HBO broadcasters before 2015 and the cost of subscriptions to their services have been cited as causes for the series's illegal distribution. According to TorrentFreak, a subscription to a service broadcasting Game of Thrones cost up to \$25 per month in the United States, up to £26 per episode in the UK and up to \$52 per episode in Australia. In 2013, to combat unauthorized downloads, HBO said it intended to make its content more widely available within a week of the US premiere (including HBO Go). In 2015, the fifth season was simulcast to 170 countries and to HBO Now users. On April 11, the day before the season premiere, screener copies of the first four episodes of the fifth season leaked to a number of file-sharing websites. Within a day of the leak, the files were downloaded over 800,000 times; in one week the illegal downloads reached 32 million, with the season five premiere—"The Wars to Come"— pirated 13 million times. The season five finale ("Mother's Mercy") was the most simultaneously shared file in the history of the BitTorrent file sharing protocol, with over 250,000 sharers and over 1.5 million downloads in eight hours. HBO did not send screeners to the press for the sixth season to prevent the spread of unlicensed copies and spoilers. Season seven was either illegally streamed or downloaded over 1 billion times, with the season averaging 14.7 billion illegal views, and the season finale garnering over 120 million illegal views within its first 72 hours. According to anti-piracy company MUSO, the eighth season was illegally downloaded or viewed most in India and China. Illegal viewership for the final season was double the number of legal viewers, with 55 million illegal downloads for the season eight premiere "Winterfell", compared to 17.4 million who watched on HBO platforms. Observers, including series director David Petrarca and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, said that illegal downloads did not hurt the series's prospects; it benefited from "buzz" and social commentary, and the high piracy rate did not significantly translate into lost subscriptions. According to Polygon, HBO's relaxed attitude towards piracy and the sharing of login credentials amounted to a premium-television "free-to-play" model. At a 2015 Oxford Union panel discussion, series co-creator David Benioff said that he was just glad that people watched the series; illegally downloaded episodes sometimes interested viewers enough to buy a copy, especially in countries where Game of Thrones was not televised. Series co-creator D. B. Weiss had mixed feelings, saying that the series was expensive to produce and "if it doesn't make the money back, then it ceases to exist". However, he was pleased that so many people "enjoy the show so much they can't wait to get their hands on it." ## Reception ### Critical response #### General Game of Thrones, particularly the first six seasons, received critical acclaim, although the series's frequent use of nudity and violence has been criticized. The series has an overall rating of 89 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 86 on Metacritic. Some critics and publications have called the show among the best HBO series of all time. The series was highly anticipated by fans before its premiere. James Poniewozik said the pilot episode set "a very large table", while Ti Singh of Den of Geek said the show "is here to stay". First-season reviewers said the series had high production values, a fully realized world and compelling characters. According to Variety, "There may be no show more profitable to its network than 'Game of Thrones' is to HBO. Fully produced by the pay cabler and already a global phenomenon after only one season, the fantasy skein was a gamble that has paid off handsomely." The second season was also well received. Entertainment Weekly praised its "vivid, vital, and just plain fun" storytelling and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the series made a "strong case for being one of TV's best series"; its seriousness made it the only drama comparable to Mad Men or Breaking Bad. The critical response for the middle seasons were also positive. Matt Fowler of IGN said the series was "still quite marvelous" praising the character development. TV Guide named the third season's penultimate episode "The Rains of Castamere" as number three on their 65 Best Episodes of the 21st Century. The critical acclaim continued into season four, with Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly calling the season " the height of the show's icon-generating powers". The Independent stated that the show deviated significantly from the novels however the "changes benefited the show and condensed the substantial source text admirably well". The critical response to season five was again positive, however, some commentators criticized the sexual assault in the "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" episode. Season six also received favorable reviews. Time criticized the repetitive story lines early in the season, however, its reviewer praised the "Battle of the Bastards" episode as "one of the show's very best". One reviewer also said there were "more woman-friendly" themes throughout the season, with another singling out Arya Stark's story arc. The show's final two seasons, especially season eight, received more criticism. Season seven was praised for its action sequences and focused central characters, but received criticism for its pace and plot developments that were said to have "defied logic". Writing for Vox, Emily VanDerWerff cited the departure from the source material as a reason for the "circular storytelling". Critical reception for season eight was mixed. The Guardian said there was the "rushed business" of the plot which "failed to do justice to its characters or its actors". Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, Maureen Ryan condemned the season's reductive treatment of women, and "decisions set up and executed with little or no foresight or thoughtfulness", declaring the penultimate episode as "Game of Thrones at its worst". Fan reaction was mixed for the final season. A petition on Change.org started by some fans requested that the final season be remade with different writers. Casey Bloys, HBO's president of programming, said at a Television Critics Association event "the petition shows a lot of enthusiasm and passion for the show but it wasn't something we seriously considered". Despite the criticism of the writing, the music and visual effects were praised. In 2023, Game of Thrones was included on The Guardian's list of worst TV endings of all time. The cast performances were praised throughout the show's run. Peter Dinklage's "charming, morally ambiguous, and self-aware" portrayal of Tyrion, which earned him Emmy and Golden Globe awards, was acclaimed. "In many ways, Game of Thrones belongs to Dinklage", wrote Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times before Tyrion became the series's central figure in season two. Several critics highlighted performances by actresses and children. Lena Headey's portrayal of the "riveting" Cersei Lannister also received praise. Maisie Williams was singled out as well and her season two work with veteran actor Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister). Stephen Dillane received positive reviews for his performance as Stannis Baratheon, especially in the fifth season, with one critic noting "Whether you like Stannis or not, you have to admit that Stephen Dillane delivered a monumental performance this season." The series was also praised for the portrayal of handicapped and disabled characters. One commentator stated that Tyrion Lannister is a "departure from the archetypal dwarf" often found in other fantasy stories like The Lord of the Rings. Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave the series a 'B' rating, saying that it was ultimately "okay". With both "transcendent moments" and "miserable phases", it was "beloved enough to be criticized by everyone for something". Franich described seasons three and four as "relentless", seasons six's ending having a "killer one-two punch", while seasons seven and eight were "indifferent". The New York Times gave the series a mixed review after the season three finale, criticizing the number of characters, their lack of complexity and a meandering plot. The show, however, appeared on many "best of" lists for the end of the 2010s. Alan Sepinwall, writing for Rolling Stone, placed the series on his "50 Best TV Shows of the 2010s" list, saying its "ability to most of the time keep all of its disparate threads feeling vital and tied to one another, remains a staggering achievement". #### Concerns over depiction of sex and violence Despite its otherwise enthusiastic reception by critics, Game of Thrones has been criticized for the amount of female nudity, violence, and sexual violence it depicts, and for the manner in which it depicts these themes. George R. R. Martin responded that he felt obliged to be truthful about history and human nature, and that rape and sexual violence are common in war; and that omitting them from the narrative would have rung false and undermined one of his novels' themes, its historical realism. HBO said that they "fully support the vision and artistry of Dan and David's exceptional work and we feel this work speaks for itself". The show has reportedly been censored or banned for sexual or violent content in countries like China, India, Iran, Jordan, Singapore, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The amount of sex and nudity in the series, especially in scenes incidental to the plot, was the focus of much of the criticism aimed at it in its first and second seasons. Stephen Dillane, who portrays Stannis Baratheon, likened the series's frequent explicit scenes to "German porn from the 1970s". The series's use of "sexposition", plot delivery accompanied by sex or nudity, was criticized as distracting. Saturday Night Live parodied this aspect of the adaptation in a sketch that portrayed a 13-year-old boy as a Game of Thrones consultant, whose main concern was showing as many breasts as possible. The episode "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" in the third season featured the lengthy torture and eventual emasculation of Theon Greyjoy, which prompted criticism. New York magazine called the scene "torture porn". According to one commentator, although the series' violence tended to serve a narrative purpose, Theon's torture in "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" was excessive as well. One commentator noted that Greyjoy's emasculation was one of the only sexual assault scenes where a male was the victim. A scene in the fourth season's episode "Breaker of Chains", in which Jaime Lannister rapes his sister and lover Cersei, triggered a broad public discussion about the series' depiction of sexual violence against women. According to Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times, the scene caused outrage, in part because of comments by director Alex Graves that the scene became "consensual by the end". Sonia Saraiya of The A.V. Club wrote that the series's choice to portray this sexual act, and a similar one between Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo in the first season—both described as consensual in the source novels—as a rape appeared to be an act of "exploitation for shock value". In the fifth season's episode "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken", Sansa Stark is raped by Ramsay Bolton. Most reviewers and publications found the scene gratuitous and artistically unnecessary. In response to the scene, pop culture website The Mary Sue announced that it would cease coverage of the series because of the repeated use of rape as a plot device, and US Senator Claire McCaskill said that she would no longer watch it. The episode was the lowest rated on Rotten Tomatoes until the season eight episode "The Bells". As the later seasons saw Daenerys, Sansa, and Cersei assume ruling positions, Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post noted that the series could be seen as a "long-arc revenge fantasy about what happens when women who have been brutalized and raped gain power". Much of the criticism after the series finale was centered around the handling of the female character storylines. One commentator cited the male gaze as one of main sources of the "romanticized female rape" and general nudity throughout the series. Another commentator stated the use of both sex and violence helps perpetuate misogyny within the Game of Thrones universe. #### Lighting The lighting, or lack of light, in darker scenes has been a recurring point of criticism since season six of the series. In 2016, Bustle's Caitlyn Callegari listed 31 examples of scenes where the lighting caused viewers problems ranging from not being able to tell a character's hair color to being unable to see what was going on. Some reviewers have noted this is part of a wider trend among shows that are made by people who have experience working primarily on films, suggesting they "haven't grasped the nuances (or lack thereof)" of television as a medium, especially the differences between watching a scene on a television screen versus watching it on the big screen in a movie theater. In a 2017 interview, Robert McLachlan, a cinematographer working on the show, explained the lack of lighting as an artistic choice saying "we're trying to be as naturalistic as possible". The criticism reached a high point during "The Long Night", the third episode of season eight. Barely minutes into the episode, viewers took to social media sites such as Twitter to express their discontent over the fact that they were having severe difficulties watching the battle and trying to figure out what was going on. ### Cultural influence Although Game of Thrones was initially dismissed by some critics, its success has been credited with an increase in the fantasy genre's popularity. The series's popularity led to increased sales of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels (republished in tie-in editions), which remained at the top of bestseller lists for months. On the eve of the second season's premiere, CNN said, "after this weekend, you may be hard pressed to find someone who isn't a fan of some form of epic fantasy" and cited Ian Bogost as saying that the series continues a trend of successful screen adaptations beginning with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy (2001–2003) and the Harry Potter films (2001–2011) establishing fantasy as a mass-market genre; they are "gateway drugs to fantasy fan culture". The show's success led to the commissioning of several fantasy television series, including The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by Amazon Studios. According to Neil Gaiman, whose novels Good Omens and American Gods were adapted for television, Game of Thrones helped to change attitudes towards fantasy on television, but mainly it made big budgets for fantasy series more acceptable. The success of the genre has been attributed by writers to a longing for escapism in popular culture, frequent female nudity and a skill in balancing lighthearted and serious topics (dragons and politics, for example) which provided it with a prestige enjoyed by conventional, top-tier drama series. According to The Daily Beast, Game of Thrones was a favorite of sitcom writers and the series has been referred to in other television series. With other fantasy series, it has been cited as a reason for an increase in the purchase (and abandonment) of huskies and other wolf-like dogs. Game of Thrones has added to the popular vocabulary. A first-season scene in which Petyr Baelish explains his motives (or background) while prostitutes have sex in the background gave rise to the word "sexposition" for providing exposition with sex and nudity. Dothraki, the series's nomadic horsemen, was ranked fourth in a September 2012 Global Language Monitor list of words from television most used on the internet. The series and its characters have also been referenced by politicians and academics to commentate on modern-day geopolitics, economic inequality, and climate change. In 2019, singer-songwriter Taylor Swift told Entertainment Weekly that several songs on her 2017 album Reputation were inspired by Game of Thrones characters and plots. "Khaleesi" became more popular as a name for baby girls in the United States. In the novels and the TV series, "khaleesi" is not a name, but the title of the wife of a "khal" (warlord) in the Dothraki language, held by Daenerys Targaryen. Other names from characters in the series, like Daenerys, also became popular baby names. Game of Thrones has also become a subject of both academic and scientific inquiry. In 2016, researchers published a paper analyzing emotional sentiment in online public discourse associated with the unfolding storyline during the fourth season. The Mathematical Association of America published a journal in 2016 that applied the multidisciplinary field of network science to create a social network for the show's characters and their relationships. The analysis purported to be able to distinguish discussions about an episode's storyline from media critiques or assessments of a specific actor's performance. In 2018, Australian scientists conducted a survival analysis and examined the mortality among 330 important characters during the first seven seasons of Game of Thrones. In 2019, the Australian Red Cross conducted a study using international humanitarian law to determine which of the Game of Thrones' characters had committed the most war crimes during the first seven seasons of the show. Animals have also been named after the show. Three species of mud dragons; Echinoderes daenerysae, Echinoderes rhaegal and Echinoderes drogoni, a bee fly; Paramonovius nightking, three species of scarab beetles; Gymnetis drogoni, Gymnetis rhaegali and Gymnetis viserioni, and a brittle star, Ophiohamus georgemartini, due to its sharp thorns resembling those depicted on the Game of Thrones crown. #### Fandom A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones have a broad, active international fan base. In 2012 Vulture ranked the series's fans as the most devoted in popular culture, more so than those of Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Harry Potter or Star Wars. Fans include political leaders such as former US president Barack Obama, former British prime minister David Cameron, former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and Dutch foreign minister Frans Timmermans, who framed European politics using quotes from Martin's novels in a 2013 speech. BBC News said in 2013 that "the passion and the extreme devotion of fans" had created a phenomenon, unlike anything related to other popular TV series, manifesting itself in fan fiction, Game of Thrones-themed burlesque routines and parents naming their children after series characters; writers quoted attributed this success to the rich detail, moral ambiguity, sexual explicitness and epic scale of the series and novels. The previous year, "Arya" was the fastest-rising girl's name in the US after it had jumped in popularity from 711th to 413th place. As of 2013, about 58 percent of series viewers were male and 42 percent female, and the average male viewer was 41 years old. According to SBS Broadcasting Group marketing director Helen Kellie, Game of Thrones has a high fan-engagement rate; 5.5 percent of the series's 2.9 million Facebook fans talked online about the series in 2012, compared to 1.8 percent of the over ten million fans of True Blood (HBO's other fantasy series). Vulture.com cited Westeros.org and WinterIsComing.net (news and discussion forums), ToweroftheHand.com (which organizes communal readings of the novels) and Podcastoficeandfire.com as fan sites dedicated to the TV and novel series; and podcasts cover Game of Thrones. ### Awards Game of Thrones has won numerous awards throughout its run, including 59 Emmy Awards, eight Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Peabody Award. It holds the record for total Emmy Award wins for a scripted television series (surpassing the record of 37 wins held by Frasier since 2004) and for most Emmy nominations for a drama series, with 161. In 2019, the show's final season established a new record for most Emmy nominations received in a year with 32, breaking the 25-year-long record of 26 nominations established by NYPD Blue in 1994. In 2013, the Writers Guild of America listed Game of Thrones as the 40th best written series in television history. In 2015, The Hollywood Reporter placed it at number four on their best TV shows ever list, while in 2016 the series was placed seventh on Empire's "The 50 best TV shows ever". The same year, Rolling Stone named it the twelfth "greatest TV Show of all time". In 2013, at the Media Access Awards, George R. R. Martin accepted the Visionary Award from the Writers With Disabilities committee of the Writers Guild of America, for its positive portrayal of character with disabilities. ### Viewership Game of Thrones was considered a ratings success for HBO throughout all eight seasons. The show premiere was watched by 2.2 million, and the first season averaged 2.5 million viewers per episode. For its second season, the series had an average gross audience of 11.6 million viewers. The third season was seen by 14.2 million viewers, making Game of Thrones the second-most-viewed HBO series (after The Sopranos). HBO said that Game of Thrones' average gross audience of 18.4 million viewers (later adjusted to 18.6 million) had passed The Sopranos for the viewership record. The season five episode "The House of Black and White" was simulcasted in 173 countries, becoming the "largest TV drama telecast" according to Guinness World Records. By the sixth season the average per-episode gross viewing figure had increased to over 25 million, with nearly 40 percent of viewers watching on HBO digital platforms. In 2016, a New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook likes found that Game of Thrones was "much more popular in cities than in the countryside, probably the only show involving zombies that is". By season seven, the average viewer numbers had grown to 32.8 million per episode across all platforms. The series finale was viewed by 19.3 million people across HBO's platforms, becoming the network's most watched episode. The lead-out show also benefited from the finale's record viewership. Game of Thrones also set viewership records outside the United States on pay-television channels in the United Kingdom (with a 2016 average audience of more than five million on all platforms) and Australia (with a cumulative average audience of 1.2 million). Video streaming research company Parrot Analytics stated that after the US, the season eight premiere demand was "particularly strong in the United Kingdom and France". Nielsen Media Research noted the show was popular among 18 to 49 key demographic with strong female viewership for a fantasy series. The show also benefited from time shifting viewership. Between season one and season seven, 7-day viewers, the number of both DVR and video on demand views during the week after the episode broadcast, grew from 3.3 million to 13.7 million. Following the show finale, commentators said many viewers might cancel their premium television and streaming subscriptions. HBO parent company WarnerMedia reported that subscription revenue declined only 0.9 percent between April and June 2019. ## Other media ### Video games The series and the novels have inspired several video games. ### Merchandise and exhibition HBO has licensed a variety of merchandise based on Game of Thrones, including games, replica weapons and armor, jewelry, bobblehead dolls by Funko, beer by Ommegang and apparel. High-end merchandise includes a \$10,500 Ulysse Nardin wristwatch and a \$30,000 resin replica of the Iron Throne. In 2013 and 2014, a traveling exhibition of costumes, props, armor and weapons from the series visited major cities in Europe and the Americas. Starting 2018, Diageo released several Game of Thrones themed whiskies. ## Related shows ### Thronecast Thronecast: The Official Guide to Game of Thrones, a series of podcasts presented by Geoff Lloyd and produced by Koink, were released on the Sky Atlantic website and the UK iTunes store during the series's run; a new podcast, with analysis and cast interviews, was released after each episode. In 2014 and 2015, HBO commissioned Catch the Throne, two rap albums about the series. A companion book, Inside HBO's Game of Thrones by series writer Bryan Cogman, was published on September 27, 2012. The 192-page book, illustrated with concept art and behind-the-scenes photographs, covers the creation of the series's first two seasons and its principal characters and families. ### After the Thrones After the Thrones was a live aftershow during which hosts Andy Greenwald and Chris Ryan discussed episodes of the series. It aired on HBO Now, the Monday following each season six episode. The Game of Thrones Live Concert Experience, a North American 28-city orchestral tour which performed the series's soundtrack with composer Ramin Djawadi, began in February 2017 and concluded in April 2017. A second tour followed in 2018 across cities in Europe and North America. ### Home media extras Each season's Blu-ray and DVD set contains several short still motion animated sequences titled Histories and Lore, narrated by the cast, in character, as they detail events in the history of Westeros. For the seventh season, this was to include the animated prequel series Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion, illustrated in a different animation style than previous videos. The series focuses on Aegon Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. A week after the series finale, HBO released a behind-the-scenes documentary entitled Game of Thrones: The Last Watch. The program documented the production of season 8 along with read-throughs and interviews with the cast. ### Successors In May 2017, after years of speculation about possible successor series, HBO commissioned Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, Carly Wray, and Bryan Cogman to develop five individual Game of Thrones successor series; the writers were to be working individually with George R. R. Martin, who also co-wrote two of the scripts. D. B. Weiss and David Benioff said that they would not be involved with any of the projects. Martin said that all the concepts under discussion were prequels, although he believes the term "successor show" applies better to these projects, as they are not Game of Thrones spin-offs in the traditional sense. He ruled out Robert's Rebellion (the overthrow of Daenerys's father by Robert Baratheon) as a possible idea and revealed that some may be set outside Westeros. In September 2018, speaking about the four projects (i.e. not about the Goldman's project), HBO president of programming Casey Bloys said that some of them had been abandoned completely, while others remained as possibilities for the future; Martin said that: "at least two of them are solidly based on material in Fire and Blood". In May 2019, Martin stated that two of the projects were still in the script stage, but were "edging closer". In April 2019, Cogman confirmed his prequel would not be moving forward. In January 2021, it was revealed that HBO were developing another prequel series to be based on Martin's novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg. Steve Conrad was attached as writer and executive producer of the Tales of Dunk and Egg series in November 2021. In March 2021, it was reported that three additional Game of Thrones spin-offs were in development at HBO; they include 10,000 Ships, a reference to the voyages made by warrior queen Princess Nymeria, who later founds Dorne; 9 Voyages, about the voyages of Corlys Velaryon on the Sea Snake; and a project based on Flea Bottom, the poorest slum in King's Landing. In June 2022, it was reported that a Jon Snow sequel series with Kit Harington to reprise his role was in early development at HBO. The working title is Snow and Martin confirmed his involvement with the project and that Harington initiated the idea. Also in June, Martin said there were still three other live-action series in development: 10,000 Ships (written by Amanda Segal), 9 Voyages aka Sea Snake (written by Bruno Heller), and the Dunk & Egg prequel series (written by Steven Conrad), tentatively titled either The Hedge Knight or Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. #### Bloodmoon On June 8, 2018, HBO commissioned a pilot to a Game of Thrones prequel series from Goldman as showrunner and Martin as co-creator. The prequel was to take place in the Age of Heroes, a period that begins roughly 10,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones. Notable events of that period include the foundation of powerful Houses, the Long Night when the White Walkers first descended upon Westeros, and the Andal Invasion when the Andals invaded from Essos and conquered most of Westeros. Martin suggested The Long Night as a title for the series. S. J. Clarkson was announced to direct and executive produce the pilot, while Naomi Watts was cast as the female lead playing "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret". Other series regulars were to include: Josh Whitehouse, Toby Regbo, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Alex Sharp, Miranda Richardson, Marquis Rodriguez, John Simm, Richard McCabe, John Heffernan, and Dixie Egerickx. In September 2019, Martin claimed the pilot was in post-production but in October 2019, it was announced that HBO had decided not to move forward with the series. #### House of the Dragon In September 2019, Deadline Hollywood reported that a second prequel from Martin and Ryan Condal that "tracks the beginning of the end for House Targaryen" was close to receiving a pilot order from HBO; the project is not considered an original sixth script, as it builds upon Cogman's idea from 2017. This prequel, titled House of the Dragon, was commissioned as a complete series on October 29, 2019. The 10-episode series is to be based on material from Fire and Blood, executive produced by Martin, Vince Gerardis, Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik; the latter two are to be its showrunners as well. In January 2020, HBO stated that the series is scheduled for a 2022 release and that the writing process has begun. Casting for the series started in July 2020. In October 2020, it was revealed that Paddy Considine was cast as King Viserys I Targaryen. In December 2020, three more castings were announced: Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen. In February 2021, HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys stated that the show would start production in April, with filming occurring in England. In February 2021, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Rhys Ifans, and Sonoya Mizuno were confirmed to also be starring in the series. In March 2022, HBO announced a series premiere date of August 21, 2022, followed by the release of the official teaser trailer. #### Animated series In January 2021, an adult animated drama series was announced to be in development at HBO Max. In July 2021, two more animated series were in development at HBO Max, with one being set in Yi Ti, a nation in Essos loosely based on Imperial China. The series' working title is The Golden Empire.

Central Park

Public park in Manhattan, New York

Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, containing 843 acres (341 ha), and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016. The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a 778-acre (315 ha) park approved in 1853. In 1857, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began the same year; existing structures, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village, were seized through eminent domain and razed. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park in the 1930s. The Central Park Conservancy, created in 1980 to combat further deterioration in the late 20th century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s. Main attractions include landscapes such as the Ramble and Lake, Hallett Nature Sanctuary, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, and Sheep Meadow; amusement attractions such as Wollman Rink, Central Park Carousel, and the Central Park Zoo; formal spaces such as the Central Park Mall and Bethesda Terrace; and the Delacorte Theater. The biologically diverse ecosystem has several hundred species of flora and fauna. Recreational activities include carriage-horse and bicycle tours, bicycling, sports facilities, and concerts and events such as Shakespeare in the Park. Central Park is traversed by a system of roads and walkways and is served by public transportation. Its size and cultural position make it a model for the world's urban parks. Its influence earned Central Park the designations of National Historic Landmark in 1963 and of New York City scenic landmark in 1974. Central Park is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation but has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy since 1998, under a contract with the municipal government in a public–private partnership. The Conservancy, a non-profit organization, raises Central Park's annual operating budget and is responsible for all basic care of the park. ## Description Central Park is bordered by Central Park North at 110th Street; Central Park South at 59th Street; Central Park West at Eighth Avenue; and Fifth Avenue on the east. The park is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Harlem to the north, Midtown Manhattan to the south, the Upper West Side to the west, and the Upper East Side to the east. It measures 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from north to south and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from west to east. ### Design and layout Central Park is split into three sections: the "North End" extending above the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir; "Mid-Park", between the reservoir to the north and the Lake and Conservatory Water to the south; and "South End" below the Lake and Conservatory Water. The park has five visitor centers: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, Belvedere Castle, Chess & Checkers House, the Dairy, and Columbus Circle. The park has natural-looking plantings and landforms, having been almost entirely landscaped when built in the 1850s and 1860s. It has eight lakes and ponds that were created artificially by damming natural seeps and flows. There are several wooded sections, lawns, meadows, and minor grassy areas. There are 21 children's playgrounds, and 6.1 miles (9.8 km) of drives. Central Park is the fifth-largest park in New York City, behind Pelham Bay Park, the Staten Island Greenbelt, Van Cortlandt Park, and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, with an area of 843 acres (341 ha; 1.317 sq mi; 3.41 km²). Central Park constitutes its own United States census tract, numbered 143. According to American Community Survey five-year estimates, the park was home to four females with a median age of 19.8. Though the 2010 United States Census recorded 25 residents within the census tract, park officials have rejected the claim of anyone permanently living there. ### Visitors Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States and one of the most visited tourist attractions worldwide, with 42 million visitors in 2016. The number of unique visitors is much lower; a Central Park Conservancy report conducted in 2011 found that between eight and nine million people visited Central Park, with 37 to 38 million visits between them. By comparison, there were 25 million visitors in 2009, and 12.3 million in 1973. The number of tourists as a proportion of total visitors is much lower: in 2009, one-fifth of the 25 million park visitors recorded that year were estimated to be tourists. The 2011 Conservancy report gave a similar ratio of park usage: only 14% of visits are by people visiting Central Park for the first time. According to the report, nearly two-thirds of visitors are regular park users who enter the park at least once weekly, and about 70% of visitors live in New York City. Moreover, peak visitation occurred during summer weekends, and most visitors used the park for passive recreational activities such as walking or sightseeing, rather than for active sport. ## Governance The park is managed and maintained by the Central Park Conservancy, a private, not-for-profit organization, under contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). The president of the Conservancy is the ex officio administrator of Central Park who effectively oversees the work of both the park's private and public employees under the authority of the publicly appointed Central Park Administrator, who reports to both the parks commissioner and the Conservancy's president. The Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit organization with a citizen board to assist with the city's initiatives to clean up and rehabilitate the park. The Conservancy took over the park's management duties from NYC Parks in 1998, though NYC Parks retained ownership of Central Park. The Conservancy provides maintenance support and staff training programs for other public parks in New York City, and has assisted with the development of new parks such as the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park. Central Park is patrolled by its own New York City Police Department precinct, the 22nd (Central Park) Precinct, at the 86th Street transverse. The precinct employs both regular police and auxiliary officers. The 22nd Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 81.2% between 1990 and 2019. The precinct saw one murder, one rape, 21 robberies, seven felony assaults, one burglary, 37 grand larcenies, and one grand larceny auto in 2019. The citywide New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol patrols Central Park, and the Central Park Conservancy sometimes hires seasonal Parks Enforcement Patrol officers to protect certain features such as the Conservatory Garden. A free volunteer medical emergency service, the Central Park Medical Unit, operates within Central Park. The unit operates a rapid-response patrol with bicycles, ambulances, and an all-terrain vehicle. Before the unit was established in 1975, the New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS often took over 30 minutes to respond to incidents in the park. ## History ### Planning Between 1821 and 1855, New York City's population nearly quadrupled. As the city expanded northward up Manhattan, people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, for passive recreation. These were seen as escapes from the noise and chaotic life in the city, which at the time was almost entirely centered on Lower Manhattan. The Commissioners' Plan of 1811, the outline for Manhattan's modern street grid, included several smaller open spaces but not Central Park. As such, John Randel Jr. had surveyed the grounds for the construction of intersections within the modern-day park site. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is embedded in a rock north of the present Dairy and the 66th Street transverse, marking the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue. #### Site By the 1840s, members of the city's elite were publicly calling for the construction of a new large park in Manhattan. At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined 165 acres (67 ha) of land, the largest of which was the 10-acre (4 ha) Battery Park at Manhattan island's southern tip. These plans were endorsed in 1844 by New York Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant, and in 1851 by Andrew Jackson Downing, one of the first American landscape designers. Mayor Ambrose Kingsland, in a message to the New York City Common Council on May 5, 1851, set forth the necessity and benefits of a large new park and proposed the council move to create such a park. Kingsland's proposal was referred to the council's Committee of Lands, which endorsed the proposal. The committee chose Jones's Wood, a 160-acre (65 ha) tract of land between 66th and 75th streets on the Upper East Side, as the park's site, as Bryant had advocated for Jones Wood. The acquisition was controversial because of its location, small size relative to other potential uptown tracts, and cost. A bill to acquire Jones's Wood was invalidated as unconstitutional, so attention turned to a second site: a 750-acre (300 ha) area known as "Central Park", bounded by 59th and 106th streets between Fifth and Eighth avenues. Croton Aqueduct Board president Nicholas Dean, who proposed the Central Park site, chose it because the Croton Aqueduct's 35-acre (14 ha), 150-million-US-gallon (570×10^⁶ L) collecting reservoir would be in the geographical center. In July 1853, the New York State Legislature passed the Central Park Act, authorizing the purchase of the present-day site of Central Park. The board of land commissioners conducted property assessments on more than 34,000 lots in the area, completing them by July 1855. While the assessments were ongoing, proposals to downsize the plans were vetoed by mayor Fernando Wood. At the time, the site was occupied by free black people and Irish immigrants who had developed a property-owning community there since 1825. Most of the Central Park site's residents lived in small villages, such as Pigtown; Seneca Village; or in the school and convent at Mount St. Vincent's Academy. Clearing began shortly after the land commission's report was released in October 1855, and approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under eminent domain. Though supporters claimed that the park would cost just \$1.7 million, the total cost of the land ended up being \$7.39 million (equivalent to \$ in ), more than the price that the United States would pay for Alaska a few years later. #### Design contest In June 1856, Fernando Wood appointed a "consulting board" of seven people, headed by author Washington Irving, to inspire public confidence in the proposed development. Wood hired military engineer Egbert Ludovicus Viele as the park's chief engineer, tasking him with a topographical survey of the site. The following April, the state legislature passed a bill to authorize the appointment of four Democratic and seven Republican commissioners, who had exclusive control over the planning and construction process. Though Viele had already devised a plan for the park, the commissioners disregarded it and retained him to complete only the topographical surveys. The Central Park Commission began hosting a landscape design contest shortly after its creation. The commission specified that each entry contain extremely detailed specifications, as mandated by the consulting board. Thirty-three firms or organizations submitted plans. In April 1858, the park commissioners selected Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's "Greensward Plan" as the winning design. Three other plans were designated as runners-up and featured in a city exhibit. Unlike many of the other designs, which effectively integrated Central Park with the surrounding city, Olmsted and Vaux's proposal introduced clear separations with sunken transverse roadways. The plan eschewed symmetry, instead opting for a more picturesque design. It was influenced by the pastoral ideals of landscaped cemeteries such as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Green-Wood in Brooklyn. The design was also inspired by Olmsted's 1850 visit to Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead, England, which is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civil park in the world. According to Olmsted, the park was "of great importance as the first real Park made in this country—a democratic development of the highest significance". ### Construction Construction of Central Park's design was executed by a gamut of professionals. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were the primary designers, assisted by board member Andrew Haswell Green, architect Jacob Wrey Mould, master gardener Ignaz Anton Pilat, and engineer George E. Waring Jr. Olmsted was responsible for the overall plan, while Vaux designed some of the finer details. Mould, who worked frequently with Vaux, designed the Central Park Esplanade and the Tavern on the Green building. Pilat was the park's chief landscape architect, whose primary responsibility was the importation and placement of plants within the park. A "corps" of construction engineers and foremen, managed by superintending engineer William H. Grant, were tasked with the measuring and constructing architectural features such as paths, roads, and buildings. Waring was one of the engineers working under Grant's leadership and was in charge of land drainage. Central Park was difficult to construct because of the generally rocky and swampy landscape. Around five million cubic feet (140,000 m³) of soil and rocks had to be transported out of the park, and more gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War. More than 18,500 cubic yards (14,100 m³) of topsoil were transported from Long Island and New Jersey, because the original soil was neither fertile nor sufficiently substantial to sustain the flora specified in the Greensward Plan. Modern steam-powered equipment and custom tree-moving machines augmented the work of unskilled laborers. In total, over 20,000 individuals helped construct Central Park. Because of extreme precautions taken to minimize collateral damage, five laborers died during the project, at a time when fatality rates were generally much higher. During the development of Central Park, Superintendent Olmsted hired several dozen mounted police officers, who were classified into two types of "keepers": park keepers and gate keepers. The mounted police were viewed favorably by park patrons and were later incorporated into a permanent patrol. The regulations were sometimes strict. For instance, prohibited actions included games of chance, speech-making, large congregations such as picnics, or picking flowers or other parts of plants. These ordinances were effective: by 1866, there had been nearly eight million visits and only 110 arrests in the park's history. #### Late 1850s In late August 1857, workers began building fences, clearing vegetation, draining the land, and leveling uneven terrain. By the following month, chief engineer Viele reported that the project employed nearly 700 workers. Olmsted employed workers using day labor, hiring men directly without any contracts and paying them by the day. Many of the laborers were Irish immigrants or first-or-second generation Irish Americans, and some Germans and Italians; there were no black or female laborers. The workers were often underpaid, and workers would often take jobs at other construction projects to supplement their income. A pattern of seasonal hiring was established, wherein more workers would be hired and paid at higher rates during the summers. For several months, the park commissioners faced funding issues, and a dedicated workforce and funding stream was not secured until June 1858. The landscaped Upper Reservoir was the only part of the park that the commissioners were not responsible for constructing; instead, the Reservoir would be built by the Croton Aqueduct board. Work on the Reservoir started in April 1858. The first major work in Central Park involved grading the driveways and draining the land in the park's southern section. The Lake in Central Park's southwestern section was the first feature to open to the public, in December 1858, followed by the Ramble in June 1859. The same year, the New York State Legislature authorized the purchase of an additional 65 acres (26 ha) at the northern end of Central Park, from 106th to 110th Streets. The section of Central Park south of 79th Street was mostly completed by 1860. The park commissioners reported in June 1860 that \$4 million had been spent on the construction to date. As a result of the sharply rising construction costs, the commissioners eliminated or downsized several features in the Greensward Plan. Based on claims of cost mismanagement, the New York State Senate commissioned the Swiss engineer Julius Kellersberger to write a report on the park. Kellersberger's report, submitted in 1861, stated that the commission's management of the park was a "triumphant success". #### 1860s Olmsted often clashed with the park commissioners, notably with Chief Commissioner Green. Olmsted resigned in June 1862, and Green was appointed to Olmsted's position. Vaux resigned in 1863 because of what he saw as pressure from Green. As superintendent of the park, Green accelerated construction, though having little experience in architecture. He implemented a style of micromanagement, keeping records of the smallest transactions in an effort to reduce costs. Green finalized the negotiations to purchase the northernmost 65 acres (26 ha) of the park which was later converted into a "rugged" woodland and the Harlem Meer waterway. When the American Civil War began in 1861, the park commissioners decided to continue building Central Park, since significant parts of the park had already been completed. Only three major structures were completed during the Civil War: the Music Stand and the Casino restaurant, both later demolished, and the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. By late 1861, the park south of 72nd Street had been completed, except for various fences. Work had begun on the northern section of the park but was complicated by a need to preserve the historic McGowan's Pass. The Upper Reservoir was completed the following year. During this period Central Park began to gain popularity. One of the main attractions was the "Carriage Parade", a daily display of horse-drawn carriages that traversed the park. Park patronage grew steadily: by 1867, Central Park accommodated nearly three million pedestrians, 85,000 horses, and 1.38 million vehicles annually. The park had activities for New Yorkers of all social classes. While the wealthy could ride horses on bridle paths or travel in horse-drawn carriages, almost everyone was able to participate in sports such as ice-skating or rowing, or listen to concerts at the Mall's bandstand. Olmsted and Vaux were re-hired in mid-1865. Several structures were erected, including the Children's District, the Ballplayers House, and the Dairy in the southern part of Central Park. Construction commenced on Belvedere Castle, Harlem Meer, and structures on Conservatory Water and the Lake. #### 1870–1876: completion The Tammany Hall political machine, which was the largest political force in New York at the time, was in control of Central Park for a brief period beginning in April 1870. A new charter created by Tammany boss William M. Tweed abolished the old 11-member commission and replaced it with one with five men composed of Green and four other Tammany-connected figures. Subsequently, Olmsted and Vaux resigned again from the project in November 1870. After Tweed's embezzlement was publicly revealed in 1871, leading to his imprisonment, Olmsted and Vaux were re-hired, and the Central Park Commission appointed new members who were mostly in favor of Olmsted. One of the areas that remained relatively untouched was the underdeveloped western side of Central Park, though some large structures would be erected in the park's remaining empty plots. By 1872, Manhattan Square had been reserved for the American Museum of Natural History, founded three years before at the Arsenal. A corresponding area on the East Side, originally intended as a playground, would later become the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In the final years of Central Park's construction, Vaux and Mould designed several structures for Central Park. The park's sheepfold (now Tavern on the Green) and Ladies' Meadow were designed by Mould in 1870–1871, followed by the administrative offices on the 86th Street transverse in 1872. Even though Olmsted and Vaux's partnership was dissolved by the end of 1872, the park was not officially completed until 1876. ### Late 19th and early 20th centuries: first decline By the 1870s, the park's patrons increasingly came to include the middle and working class, and strict regulations were gradually eased, such as those against public gatherings. Because of the heightened visitor count, neglect by the Tammany administration, and budget cuts demanded by taxpayers, the maintenance expenses for Central Park had reached a nadir by 1879. Olmsted blamed politicians, real estate owners, and park workers for Central Park's decline, though high maintenance costs were also a factor. By the 1890s, the park faced several challenges: cars were becoming commonplace, and with the proliferation of amusements and refreshment stands, people were beginning to see the park as a recreational attraction. The 1904 opening of the New York City Subway displaced Central Park as the city's predominant leisure destination, as New Yorkers could travel to farther destinations such as Coney Island beaches or Broadway theaters for a five-cent fare. In the late 19th century the landscape architect Samuel Parsons took the position of New York City parks superintendent. A onetime apprentice of Calvert Vaux, Parsons helped restore the nurseries of Central Park in 1886. Parsons closely followed Olmsted's original vision for the park, restoring Central Park's trees while blocking the placement of several large statues in the park. Under Parsons' leadership, two circles (now Duke Ellington and Frederick Douglass Circles) were constructed at the northern corners of the park. He was removed in May 1911 following a lengthy dispute over whether an expense to replace the soil in the park was unnecessary. A succession of Tammany-affiliated Democratic mayors were indifferent toward Central Park. Several park advocacy groups were formed in the early 20th century. To preserve the park's character, the citywide Parks and Playground Association, and a consortium of multiple Central Park civic groups operating under the Parks Conservation Association, were formed in the 1900s and 1910s. These associations advocated against such changes to the park as the construction of a library, sports stadium, a cultural center, and an underground parking lot. A third group, the Central Park Association, was created in 1926. The Central Park Association and the Parks and Playgrounds Association were merged into the Park Association of New York City two years later. The Heckscher Playground—named after philanthropist August Heckscher, who donated the play equipment—opened near its southern end in 1926, and quickly became popular with poor immigrant families. The following year, Mayor Jimmy Walker commissioned landscape designer Hermann W. Merkel to create a plan to improve Central Park. Merkel's plans would combat vandalism and plant destruction, rehabilitate paths, and add eight new playgrounds, at a cost of \$1 million. One of the suggested modifications, underground irrigation pipes, were installed soon after Merkel's report was submitted. The other improvements outlined in the report, such as fences to mitigate plant destruction, were postponed due to the Great Depression. ### 1930s to 1950s: Moses rehabilitation In 1934, Republican Fiorello La Guardia was elected mayor of New York City. He unified the five park-related departments then in existence. Newly appointed city parks commissioner Robert Moses was given the task of cleaning up the park, and he summarily fired many of the Tammany-era staff. At the time, the lawns were filled with weeds and dust patches, while many trees were dying or already dead. Monuments had been vandalized, equipment and walkways were broken, and ironwork was rusted. Moses's biographer Robert Caro later said, "The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky..." During the following year, the city's parks department replanted lawns and flowers, replaced dead trees and bushes, sandblasted walls, repaired roads and bridges, and restored statues. The park menagerie and Arsenal was transformed into the modern Central Park Zoo, and a rat extermination program was instituted within the zoo. Another dramatic change was Moses' removal of the "Hoover valley" shantytown at the north end of Turtle Pond, which became the 30-acre (12 ha) Great Lawn. The western part of the Pond at the park's southeast corner became an ice skating rink called Wollman Rink, roads were improved or widened, and twenty-one playgrounds were added. These projects used funds from the New Deal program, and donations from the public. Moses removed Sheep Meadow's sheep to make way for the Tavern on the Green restaurant. Renovations in the 1940s and 1950s include a restoration of the Harlem Meer completed in 1943, and a new boathouse completed in 1954. Moses began construction on several other recreational features in Central Park, such as playgrounds and ball fields. One of the more controversial projects proposed during this time was a 1956 dispute over a parking lot for Tavern in the Green. The controversy placed Moses, an urban planner known for displacing families for other large projects around the city, against a group of mothers who frequented a wooded hollow at the site of a parking lot. Though opposed by the parents, Moses approved the destruction of part of the hollow. Demolition work commenced after Central Park was closed for the night and was only halted after the threat of a lawsuit. ### 1960s and 1970s: "Events Era" and second decline Moses left his position in May 1960. No park commissioner since then has been able to exercise the same degree of power, nor did NYC Parks remain in as stable a position in the aftermath of his departure. Eight commissioners held the office in the twenty years following his departure. The city experienced economic and social changes, with some residents moving to the suburbs. Interest in Central Park's landscape had long since declined, and it was now mostly being used for recreation. Several unrealized additions were proposed for Central Park in that decade, such as a public housing development, a golf course, and a "revolving world's fair". The 1960s marked the beginning of an "Events Era" in Central Park that reflected the widespread cultural and political trends of the period. The Public Theater's annual Shakespeare in the Park festival was settled in the Delacorte Theater, and summer performances were instituted on the Sheep Meadow and the Great Lawn by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera. During the late 1960s, the park became the venue for rallies and cultural events such as the "love-ins" and "be-ins" of the period. The same year, Lasker Rink opened in the northern part of the park; the facility served as an ice rink in winter and Central Park's only swimming pool in summer. By the mid-1970s, managerial neglect resulted in a decline in park conditions. A 1973 report noted that the park suffered from severe erosion and tree decay, and that individual structures were being vandalized or neglected. The Central Park Community Fund was subsequently created based on the recommendation of a report from a Columbia University professor. The Fund then commissioned a study of the park's management and suggested the appointment of both a NYC Parks administrator and a board of citizens. In 1979, Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis established the Office of Central Park Administrator and appointed Elizabeth Barlow, the executive director of the Central Park Task Force, to the position. The Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization with a citizen board, was founded the following year. ### 1970s to 2000s: restoration Under the leadership of the Central Park Conservancy, the park's reclamation began by addressing needs that could not be met within NYC Parks' existing resources. The Conservancy hired interns and a small restoration staff to reconstruct and repair unique rustic features, undertaking horticultural projects, and removing graffiti under the broken windows theory which advocated removing visible signs of decay. The first structure to be renovated was the Dairy, which reopened as the park's first visitor center in 1979. The Sheep Meadow, which reopened the following year, was the first landscape to be restored. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, the USS Maine National Monument, and the Bow Bridge were also rehabilitated. By then, the Conservancy was engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning, and in 1981, Davis and Barlow announced a 10-year, \$100 million "Central Park Management and Restoration Plan". The long-closed Belvedere Castle was renovated and reopened in 1983, while the Central Park Zoo closed for a full reconstruction that year. To reduce the maintenance effort, large gatherings such as free concerts were canceled. On completion of the planning stage in 1985, the Conservancy launched its first campaign and mapped out a 15-year restoration plan. Over the next several years, the campaign restored landmarks in the southern part of the park, such as Grand Army Plaza and the police station at the 86th Street transverse; while Conservatory Garden in the northeastern corner of the park was restored to a design by Lynden B. Miller. Real estate developer Donald Trump renovated the Wollman Rink in 1987 after plans to renovate it were delayed repeatedly. The following year, the Zoo reopened after a \$35 million, four-year renovation. Work on the northern end of the park began in 1989. A \$51 million campaign, announced in 1993, resulted in the restoration of bridle trails, the Mall, the Harlem Meer, and the North Woods, and the construction of the Dana Discovery Center on the Harlem Meer. This was followed by the Conservancy's overhaul of the 55 acres (22 ha) near the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, which was completed in 1997. The Upper Reservoir was decommissioned as a part of the city's water supply system in 1993, and was renamed after former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis the next year. During the mid-1990s, the Conservancy hired additional volunteers and implemented a zone-based system of management throughout the park. The Conservancy assumed much of the park's operations in early 1998. Renovations continued through the first decade of the 21st century, and a project to restore the pond was commenced in 2000. Four years later, the Conservancy replaced a chain-link fence with a replica of the original cast-iron fence that surrounded the Upper Reservoir. It started refurbishing the ceiling tiles of the Bethesda Arcade, which was completed in 2007. Soon after, the Central Park Conservancy began restoring the Ramble and Lake, in a project that was completed in 2012. Bank Rock Bridge was restored, and the Gill, which empties into the lake, was reconstructed to approximate its dramatic original form. The final feature to be restored was the East Meadow, which was rehabilitated in 2011. ### 2010s to present In 2014, the New York City Council proposed a study on the viability of banning vehicular traffic from the park's drives. The next year, mayor Bill de Blasio announced that West and East drives north of 72nd Street would be closed to vehicular traffic, because the city's data showed that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic flows. Subsequently, in June 2018, the remaining drives south of 72nd Street were closed to vehicular traffic. Several structures were renovated. Belvedere Castle was closed in 2018 for an extensive renovation, reopening in June 2019. Later in 2018, it was announced that the Delacorte Theater would be closed from 2020 to 2022 for a \$110 million rebuild. The Central Park Conservancy further announced that Lasker Rink would be closed for a \$150 million renovation between 2021 and 2024. In March 2020, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, temporary field hospitals were set up within the park to treat overflow patients from area hospitals. By mid-2023, the New York City government was considering erecting tents in Central Park to temporarily house asylum seekers. This move came after the federal government repealed an order authorizing Title 42 expulsions of migrants, which had been implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. A renovation of the Chess and Checkers House was completed in June 2023. ## Landscape features ### Geology There are four different types of bedrock in Manhattan. In Central Park, Manhattan schist and Hartland schist, which are both metamorphosed sedimentary rock, are exposed in various outcroppings. The other two types, Fordham gneiss (an older deeper layer) and Inwood marble (metamorphosed limestone which overlays the gneiss), do not surface in the park. Fordham gneiss, which consists of metamorphosed igneous rocks, was formed a billion years ago, during the Grenville orogeny that occurred during the creation of an ancient super-continent. Manhattan schist and Hartland schist were formed in the Iapetus Ocean during the Taconic orogeny in the Paleozoic era, about 450 million years ago, when the tectonic plates began to merge to form the supercontinent Pangaea. Cameron's Line, a fault zone that traverses Central Park on an east–west axis, divides the outcroppings of Hartland schist to the south and Manhattan schist to the north. Various glaciers have covered the area of Central Park in the past, with the most recent being the Wisconsin glacier which receded about 12,000 years ago. Evidence of past glaciers can be seen throughout the park in the form of glacial erratics (large boulders dropped by the receding glacier) and north–south glacial striations visible on stone outcroppings. Alignments of glacial erratics, called "boulder trains", are present throughout Central Park. The most notable of these outcroppings is Rat Rock (also known as Umpire Rock), a circular outcropping at the southwestern corner of the park. It measures 55 feet (17 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) tall with different east, west, and north faces. Boulderers sometimes congregate there. A single glacial pothole with yellow clay is near the southwest corner of the park. The underground geology of Central Park was altered by the construction of several subway lines underneath it, and by the New York City Water Tunnel No. 3 approximately 700 feet (210 m) underground. Excavations for the project have uncovered pegmatite, feldspar, quartz, biotite, and several metals. ### Wooded areas and lawns There are three wooded areas in Central Park: North Woods, the Ramble, and Hallett Nature Sanctuary. North Woods, the largest of the woodlands, is at the northwestern corner of Central Park. It covers about 90 acres (36 ha) adjacent to North Meadow. The name sometimes applies to other attractions in the park's northern end; these adjacent features plus the area of North Woods can be 200 acres (81 ha). North Woods contains the 55-acre (22 ha) Ravine, a forest with deciduous trees on its northwestern slope, and the Loch, a small stream that winds diagonally through North Woods. The Ramble is in the southern third of the park next to the Lake. Covering 36 to 38 acres (15 to 15 ha), it contains a series of winding paths. The area contains a diverse selection of vegetation and other flora, which attracts a plethora of birds. At least 250 species of birds have been spotted in the Ramble over the years. Historically, the Ramble was known as a place for private homosexual encounters due to its seclusion. The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is at the southeastern corner of Central Park. It is the smallest wooded area at 4 acres (1.6 ha). Originally known as the Promontory, it was renamed after civic activist and birder George Hervey Hallett Jr. in 1986. The Hallett Sanctuary was closed to the public from 1934 to May 2016, when it was reopened allowing limited access. The Central Park Conservancy classifies its remaining green space into four types of lawns, labeled alphabetically based on usage and the amount of maintenance needed. There are seven high-priority "A Lawns", collectively covering 65 acres (26 ha), that are heavily used: Sheep Meadow, Great Lawn, North Meadow, East Meadow, Conservatory Garden, Heckscher Ballfields, and the Lawn Bowling and Croquet Greens near Sheep Meadow. These are permanently surrounded by fences, are constantly maintained, and are closed during the off-season. Another 16 lawns, covering 37 acres (15 ha), are classed as "B Lawns" and are fenced off only during off-seasons, while an additional 69 acres (28 ha) are "C Lawns" and are only occasionally fenced off. The lowest-prioritized type of turf, "D Lawns", cover 162 acres (66 ha) and are open year-round with few barriers or access restrictions. ### Watercourses Central Park is home to numerous bodies of water. The northernmost lake, Harlem Meer, is near the northeastern corner of the park and covers nearly 11 acres (4.5 ha). Located in a wooded area of oak, cypress, and beech trees, it was named after Harlem, one of Manhattan's first suburban communities, and was built after the completion of the southern portion of the park. Harlem Meer allows catch and release fishing. It is fed by two interconnected water features: the Pool, a pond within the North Woods fed by drinking water, and the Loch, a small stream with three cascades that winds through the North Woods. These are all adapted from a single watercourse called Montayne's Rivulet, originally fed from a natural spring but later replenished by the city's water system. Lasker Rink is above the mouth of the Loch where it drains into the Harlem Meer. South of Harlem Meer and the Pool is Central Park's largest lake, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, known as the Central Park Reservoir before 1994. It was constructed between 1858 and 1862. Covering an area of 106 acres (43 ha) between 86th and 96th streets, the reservoir reaches a depth of more than 40 feet (12 m) in places and contains about 1 billion U.S. gallons (3.8 billion liters) of water. The Onassis Reservoir was created as a new, landscaped storage reservoir to the north of the Croton Aqueduct's rectangular receiving reservoir. Because of the Onassis Reservoir's shape, East Drive was built as a straight path, with little clearance between the reservoir to the west and Fifth Avenue to the east. It was decommissioned in 1993 and renamed after Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis the following year, after her death. The Turtle Pond, a man-made pond, is at the southern edge of the Great Lawn. The pond was originally part of the Croton receiving reservoir. The receiving reservoir was drained starting in 1930, and the dry reservoir bed was temporarily used as a homeless encampment when filling stopped during the Great Depression. The Great Lawn was completed in 1937 on the site of the reservoir. Until 1987, it was known as Belvedere Lake, after the castle at its southwestern corner. The Lake, south of the 79th Street transverse, covers nearly 18 acres (7.3 ha). Originally, it was part of the Sawkill Creek, which flowed near the American Museum of Natural History. The Lake was among the first features to be completed, opening to skaters in December 1858. It was intended to accommodate boats in the summer and ice skaters in winter. The Loeb Boathouse, on the eastern shore of the Lake, rents out rowboats, kayaks, and gondolas, and houses a restaurant. The Lake is spanned by Bow Bridge at its center, and its northern inlet, Bank Rock Bay, is spanned by the Bank Rock or Oak Bridge. Ladies' Pond, spanned by two bridges on the western end of the Lake, was infilled in the 1930s. Directly east of the Lake is Conservatory Water, on the site of an unbuilt formal garden. The shore of Conservatory Water contains the Kerbs Memorial Boathouse, where patrons can rent and navigate model boats. In the park's southeast corner is the Pond, with an area of 3.5 acres (1.4 ha). The Pond was adapted from part of the former DeVoor's Mill Stream, which used to flow into the East River at the modern-day neighborhood of Turtle Bay. The western section of the Pond was converted into Wollman Rink in 1950. ## Wildlife Central Park is biologically diverse. A 2013 survey of park species by William E. Macaulay Honors College found 571 total species, including 173 species that were not previously known to live there. ### Flora According to a 2011 survey, Central Park had more than 20,000 trees, representing a decrease from the 26,000 trees that were recorded in the park in 1993. The majority of them are native to New York City, but there are several clusters of non-native species. With few exceptions, the trees in Central Park were mostly planted or placed manually. Over four million trees, shrubs, and plants representing approximately 1,500 species were planted or imported to the park. In Central Park's earliest years, two plant nurseries were maintained within the park boundaries: a demolished nursery near the Arsenal, and the still-extant Conservatory Garden. Central Park Conservancy later took over regular maintenance of the park's flora, allocating gardeners to one of 49 "zones" for maintenance purposes. Central Park contains ten "great tree" clusters that are specially recognized by NYC Parks. These include four individual American elms and one American elm grove; the 600 pine trees in the Arthur Ross Pinetum; a black tupelo in the Ramble; 35 Yoshino cherries on the east side of the Onassis Reservoir; one of the park's oldest London plane trees at 96th Street; and an Euodia at Heckscher Playground. The American elms in Central Park are the largest remaining stands in the Northeastern United States, protected by their isolation from the Dutch elm disease that devastated the tree throughout its native range. There are several "tree walks" that run through Central Park. ### Fauna Central Park contains various migratory birds during their spring and fall migration on the Atlantic Flyway. The first official list of birds observed in Central Park, which numbered 235 species, was published in Forest and Stream in 1886 by Augustus G. Paine Jr. and Lewis B. Woodruff. Overall, 303 bird species have been seen in the park since the first official list of records was published, and an estimated 200 species are spotted every season. No single group is responsible for tracking Central Park's bird species. Some of the more famous birds include a male red-tailed hawk called Pale Male, who made his perch on an apartment building overlooking Central Park in 1991. A mandarin duck nicknamed Mandarin Patinkin received international media attention in late 2018 and early 2019 due to its colorful appearance and the species' presence outside its native range in East Asia. Another bird, an Eurasian eagle-owl named Flaco, gained attention in 2023 when he escaped from the Central Park Zoo after his enclosure was vandalized. More infamously, Eugene Schieffelin released 100 imported European starlings in Central Park in 1890–1891, which led to them becoming an invasive species across North America. Central Park has approximately ten species of mammals as of 2013. Bats, a nocturnal order, have been found in dark crevices. Because of the prevalence of raccoons, the Parks Department posts rabies advisories. Eastern gray squirrels, eastern chipmunks, and Virginia opossums inhabit the park. A 2019 squirrel census found there were 2,373 Eastern Gray squirrels in Central Park. There are 223 invertebrate species in Central Park. Nannarrup hoffmani, a centipede species discovered in Central Park in 2002, is one of the smallest centipedes in the world at about 0.4 inches (10 mm) long. The more prevalent Asian long-horned beetle is an invasive species that has infected trees in Long Island and Manhattan, including in Central Park. Turtles, fish, and frogs live in Central Park. There are five turtle species: red-eared sliders, snapping turtles, painted turtles, musk turtles, and box turtles. Most of the turtles live in Turtle Pond, and many of these are former pets that were released into the park. The fish are scattered more widely, but they include several freshwater species, such as the snakehead, an invasive species. Catch and release fishing is allowed in the Lake, Pond, and Harlem Meer. Central Park is a habitat for two amphibian species: the American bullfrog and the green frog. The park contained snakes in the late 19th century, though Marie Winn, who wrote about wildlife in Central Park, said in a 2008 interview that the snakes had died off. ## Landmarks and structures ### Plazas and entrances Central Park is surrounded by a 29,025-foot-long (8,847 m), 3-foot-10-inch-high (117 cm) stone wall. It initially contained 18 unnamed gates. In April 1862, the Central Park commissioners adopted a proposal to name each gate with "the vocations to which this city owes its metropolitan character", such as miners, scholars, artists, or hunters. The park grew to contain 20 named gates, four of which are accessed from plazas at each corner of the park. Columbus Circle is a circular plaza at the southwestern corner, at the junction of Central Park West/Eighth Avenue, Broadway, and 59th Street (Central Park South). Built in the 1860s, it contains the Merchant's Gate entrance to the park., and its largest feature is the 1892 Columbus Monument and was the subject of controversies in the 2010s. The 1913 USS Maine National Monument is just outside the park entrance. The square Grand Army Plaza is on the southeastern corner, at the junction with Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. Its largest feature is the Pulitzer Fountain, which was completed in 1916 along with the plaza itself. The plaza contains the William Tecumseh Sherman statue, dedicated in 1903. Duke Ellington Circle, at the northeastern corner, forms the junction between Fifth Avenue and Central Park North/110th Street. It contains the Duke Ellington Memorial, dedicated in 1997. Duke Ellington Circle is adjacent to the Pioneers' Gate. Frederick Douglass Circle is on the northwestern corner, at the junction with Central Park West/Eighth Avenue and Central Park North/110th Street. It was named for Douglass in 1950. The center of the circle contains a memorial to Frederick Douglass, dedicated in 2011. ### Structures The Dana Discovery Center was built in 1993 at the northeast section of the park, on the north shore of the Harlem Meer. Blockhouse No. 1, the oldest extant structure within Central Park, and built before the park's creation, sits in the northwest section of the park. It was erected as part of Fort Clinton during the War of 1812. The Blockhouse is near McGowan's Pass, rocky outcroppings that also once contained Fort Fish and Nutter's Battery. The Lasker Rink, a skating rink and swimming pool facility, formerly occupied the southwest corner of the Harlem Meer. The Conservatory Garden, the park's only formal garden, is entered through the Vanderbilt Gate at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street. The North Meadow Recreation Center, tennis courts, and the East Meadow, sit between the Loch to the north and the reservoir to the south. The North Woods takes up the rest of the northern third of the park. The areas in the northern section of the park were developed later than the southern section and are not as heavily used, so there are several unnamed features. The park's northern portion was intended as the "natural section" in contrast to the landscaped "pastoral section" to the south. The area between the 86th and 96th Street transverses is mostly occupied by the Onassis Reservoir. Directly south of the Reservoir is the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. The Lawn is bordered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the east, Turtle Pond to the south, and Summit Rock to the west. Summit Rock, the highest point in Central Park at 137.5 feet (41.9 m), abuts Diana Ross Playground to the south and the Seneca Village site, occupied by the Mariners Gate playground, to the north. Turtle Pond's western shore contains Belvedere Castle, Delacorte Theater, the Shakespeare Garden, and Marionette Theatre. The section between the 79th Street transverse and Terrace Drive at 72nd Street contains three main natural features: the forested Ramble, the L-shaped Lake, and Conservatory Water. Cherry Hill is to the south of the Lake, while Cedar Hill is to the east. The southernmost part of Central Park, below Terrace Drive, contains several children's attractions and other flagship features. It contains many of the structures built in Central Park's initial stage of construction, designed in the Victorian Gothic style. Directly facing the southeastern shore of the Lake is a bi-level hall called Bethesda Terrace, which contains an elaborate fountain on its lower level. Bethesda Terrace connects to Central Park Mall, a landscaped walkway and the only formal feature in the Greensward Plan. Near the southwestern shore of the Lake is Strawberry Fields, a memorial to John Lennon who was murdered nearby; Sheep Meadow, a lawn originally intended for use as a parade ground; and Tavern on the Green, a restaurant. The southern border of Central Park contains the "Children's District", an area that includes Heckscher Playground, the Central Park Carousel, the Ballplayers House, and the Chess and Checkers House. Wollman Rink/Victorian Gardens, the Central Park Zoo and Children's Zoo, the Arsenal, and the Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary are nearby. The Arsenal, a red-brick building designed by Martin E. Thompson in 1851, has been NYC Parks' headquarters since 1934. There are 21 children's playgrounds in Central Park. The largest, at three acres (12,000 m²), is Heckscher Playground. Central Park includes 36 ornamental bridges, each of a different design. The bridges are generally designed in the Gothic Revival or Romanesque Revival styles and are made of wood, stone, or cast iron. "Rustic" shelters and other structures were originally spread out through the park. Most have been demolished over the years, and several have been restored. The park contains around 9,500 benches in three styles, of which nearly half have small engraved tablets of some kind, installed as part of Central Park's "Adopt-a-Bench" program. These engravings typically contain short personalized messages and can be installed for at least \$10,000 apiece. "Handmade rustic benches" can cost more than half a million dollars and are only granted when the honoree underwrites a major park project. ### Art and monuments #### Sculptures Twenty-nine sculptures have been erected within Central Park's boundaries. Most of the sculptures were not part of the Greensward Plan, but were nevertheless included to placate wealthy donors when appreciation of art increased in the late 19th century. Though Vaux and Mould proposed 26 statues in the Terrace in 1862, these were eliminated because they were too expensive. More sculptures were added through the late 19th century, and by 1890s, there were 24 in the park. Several busts of authors and poets are on Literary Walk adjacent to the Central Park Mall. Another cluster of sculptures, around the Zoo and Conservancy Water, are statues of characters from children's stories. A third sculpture grouping primarily depicts "subjects in nature" such as animals and hunters. Several sculptures stand out because of their geography and topography. Alice in Wonderland Margaret Delacorte Memorial (1959), a sculpture of Alice, is at Conservatory Water. Angel of the Waters (1873), by Emma Stebbins, is the centerpiece of Bethesda Fountain; it was the first large public sculpture commission for an American woman and the only statue included in the original park design. Balto (1925), a statue of Balto, the sled dog who became famous during the 1925 serum run to Nome, is near East Drive and East 66th Street. King Jagiello Monument (1939), a bronze monument installed in 1945, is at the east end of Turtle Pond. Women's Rights Pioneers Monument (2020), a monument of Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was the city's first statue to depict a female historical figure. #### Structures and exhibitions Cleopatra's Needle, a red granite obelisk west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is the oldest man-made structure in Central Park. The needle in Central Park is one of three Cleopatra's Needles that were originally erected at the Temple of Ra in Heliopolis in Ancient Egypt around 1450 BC by the Pharaoh Thutmose III. The hieroglyphs were inscribed about 200 years later by Pharaoh Rameses II to glorify his military victories. The needles are so named because they were later moved to in front of the Caesarium in Alexandria, a temple originally built by Cleopatra VII of Egypt in honor of Mark Antony. The needle in Central Park arrived in late 1880 and was dedicated early the following year. The Strawberry Fields memorial, near Central Park West and 72nd Street, is a memorial commemorating John Lennon, who was murdered outside the nearby Dakota apartment building. The city dedicated Strawberry Fields in Lennon's honor in April 1981, and the memorial was completely rebuilt and rededicated on what would have been Lennon's 45th birthday, October 9, 1985. Countries from all around the world contributed trees, and Italy donated the "Imagine" mosaic in the center of the memorial. It has since become the site of impromptu memorial gatherings for other notables. For 16 days in 2005, Central Park was the setting for Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation The Gates, an exhibition that had been planned since 1979. Although the project was the subject of mixed reactions, it was a major attraction for the park while it was open, drawing over a million people. ### Restaurants Central Park contains two indoor restaurants. Tavern on the Green, at Central Park West and West 67th Street, was built in 1870 as a sheepfold and was converted into a restaurant in 1934. The Tavern on the Green was renovated and expanded in 1974; it was closed in 2009 and reopened five years later after a renovation. The Loeb Boathouse restaurant is at the Loeb Boathouse, on the Lake, near Fifth Avenue between 74th and 75th streets. Though the boathouse was constructed in 1954, its restaurant opened in 1983. ## Activities ### Tours In the late 19th century, West and East Drives was a popular place for carriage rides, though only five percent of the city was able to afford a carriage. One of the main attractions in the park's early years was the introduction of the "Carriage Parade", a daily display of horse-drawn carriages that traversed the park. The introduction of the automobile caused the carriage industry to die out by World War I, though the carriage-horse tradition was revived in 1935. The carriages have become a symbolic institution of the city; for instance, in a much-publicized event after the September 11 attacks, Mayor Rudy Giuliani went to the stables to ask the drivers to go back to work to help return a sense of normality. Some activists, celebrities, and politicians have questioned the ethics of the carriage-horse industry and called for its end. The history of accidents involving spooked horses came under scrutiny in the 2000s and 2010s after reports of horses collapsing and even dying. Supporters of the trade say it needs to be reformed rather than shut down. Some replacements have been proposed, including electric vintage cars. Bill de Blasio, in his successful 2013 mayoral campaign, pledged to eliminate horse carriage tours if he was elected; as of August 2018, had only succeeded in relocating the carriage pick-up areas. Pedicabs operate mostly in the southern part of the park, as horse carriages do. The pedicabs have been criticized: there have been reports of pedicab drivers charging exorbitant fares of several hundred dollars, and de Blasio proposed restricting pedicabs below 85th Street to eliminate competition for the carriage horses. ### Recreation The park's drives, which are 6.1 miles (9.8 km) long, are used heavily by runners, joggers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and inline skaters. The park drives contain protected bike lanes and are used as the home course for the racing series of the Century Road Club Association, a USA Cycling-sanctioned amateur cycling club. In 2021, e-scooters were legalized in New York, including in Central Park. The park is used for professional running, and the New York Road Runners designated a 5-mile (8.0 km) running loop within Central Park. The New York City Marathon course utilizes several miles of drives within Central Park and finishes outside Tavern on the Green; from 1970 through 1975, the race was held entirely in Central Park. There are 26 baseball fields in Central Park: eight on the Great Lawn, six at Heckscher Ballfields near Columbus Circle, and twelve in the North Meadow. 12 tennis courts, six non-regulation soccer fields (which overlap with the North Meadow ball fields), four basketball courts, and a recreation center are in the North Meadow. An additional soccer field and four basketball courts are at Great Lawn. Four volleyball courts are in the southern part of the park. Central Park has two ice skating rinks: Wollman Rink in its southern portion and Lasker Rink in its northern portion. During summer, the former is the site of Victorian Gardens seasonal amusement park, and the latter converts to an outdoor swimming pool. Central Park's glaciated rock outcroppings attract climbers, especially boulderers, but the quality of the stone is poor, and the climbs present so little challenge that it has been called "one of America's most pathetic boulders". The two most renowned spots for boulderers are Rat Rock and Cat Rock. Other rocks frequented by climbers, mostly at the south end of the park, include Dog Rock, Duck Rock, Rock N' Roll Rock, and Beaver Rock. ### Concerts and performances Central Park has been the site of concerts almost since its inception. Originally, they were hosted in the Ramble, but these were moved to the Concert Ground next to the Mall in the 1870s. The weekend concerts hosted in the Mall drew tens of thousands of visitors from all social classes. Since 1923, concerts have been held in Naumburg Bandshell, a bandshell of Indiana limestone on the Mall. Named for banker Elkan Naumburg, who funded its construction, the bandshell has deteriorated over the years but has never been fully restored. The oldest free classical music concert series in the United States—the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, founded in 1905—is hosted in the bandshell. Other large concerts include The Concert in Central Park, a benefit performance by Simon & Garfunkel in 1981, and Garth: Live from Central Park, a free concert by Garth Brooks in 1997. Several arts groups are dedicated to performing in Central Park. These include Central Park Brass, which performs concert series, and the New York Classical Theatre, which produces an annual series of plays. There are several regular summer events. The Public Theater presents free open-air theater productions, such as Shakespeare in the Park, in the Delacorte Theater. The City Parks Foundation offers Central Park Summerstage, a series of free performances including music, dance, spoken word, and film presentations, often featuring famous performers. Additionally, the New York Philharmonic gives an open-air concert on the Great Lawn yearly during the summer, and from 1967 until 2007, the Metropolitan Opera presented two operas in concert each year. Every August since 2003, the Central Park Conservancy has hosted the Central Park Film Festival, a series of free film screenings. ## Transportation Central Park incorporates a system of pedestrian walkways, scenic drives, bridle paths, and transverse roads to aid traffic circulation, and it is easily accessible via several subway stations and bus routes. ### Public transport The New York City Subway's IND Eighth Avenue Line () runs along the western edge of the park. Most of the Eighth Avenue Line stations on Central Park West serve only the local , while the 59th Street–Columbus Circle station is additionally served by the express and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (). The IRT Lenox Avenue Line () has a station at Central Park North. From there the line curves southwest under the park and heads west under 104th Street. On the southeastern corner of the park, the BMT Broadway Line () has a station at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street. The 63rd Street lines () pass underneath without stopping, and the line contains a single ventilation shaft within the park, west of Fifth Avenue and 63rd Street. Various bus routes pass through Central Park or stop along its boundaries. The M10 bus stops along Central Park West, while the M5 and part of the M7 runs along Central Park South, and the run along Central Park North. The M1, M2, M3, and M4 run southbound along Fifth Avenue with corresponding northbound bus service on Madison Avenue. The (Select Bus Service), buses use the transverse roads across Central Park. The only serve Columbus Circle on the south end of the park, and the run on 57th Street two blocks from the park's south end but do not stop on the boundaries of the park. Some of the buses running on the edge of Central Park replaced former streetcar routes that formerly traveled across Manhattan. These streetcar routes included the Sixth Avenue line, which became the M5 bus, and the Eighth Avenue line, which became the M10. Only one streetcar line traversed Central Park: the 86th Street Crosstown Line, the predecessor to the M86 bus. ### Transverse roads Central Park contains four transverse roadways that carry crosstown traffic across the park. From south to north, they are at 66th Street, 79th Street, 86th Street, and 97th Street; the transverse roads were originally numbered sequentially in that order. The 66th Street transverse connects the discontinuous sections of 65th and 66th streets on either side of the park. The 97th Street transverse likewise joins the disconnected segments of 96th and 97th streets. The 79th Street transverse links West 81st and East 79th streets, while the 86th Street transverse links West 86th Street with East 84th and 85th streets. Each roadway carries two lanes, one in each direction, and is sunken below the level of the rest of the park to minimize the transverses' visual impact on it. The transverse roadways are open even when the park is closed. The 66th Street transverse was the first to be finished, having opened in December 1859. The 79th Street transverse—which passed under Vista Rock, Central Park's second-highest point—was completed by a railroad contractor because of their experience in drilling through hard rock; it opened in December 1860. The 86th and 97th Street transverses opened in late 1862. By the 1890s, maintenance had decreased to the point where the 86th Street transverse handled most crosstown traffic because the other transverse roads had been so poorly maintained. Both ends of the 79th Street transverse were widened in 1964 to accommodate increased traffic. Generally, the transverses were not maintained as frequently as the rest of the park, though being used more frequently than the park proper. ### Scenic drives The park has three scenic drives that travel through it vertically. They have multiple traffic lights at the intersections with pedestrian paths, although there are some arches and bridges where pedestrian and drive traffic can cross without intersection. To discourage park patrons from speeding, the designers incorporated extensive curves in the park drives. ` is the westernmost of the park's three vertical "drives". The road, which carries southbound bicycle and horse-carriage traffic, winds through the western part of Central Park, connecting Lenox Avenue/Central Park North with Seventh Avenue/Central Park South and Central Drive. The drive is dangerous; in 2014, a 0.5-mile (0.80 km) stretch of West Drive was considered to be "the most dangerous section of Central Park" for pedestrians, with bicycle crashes along the drive leaving 15 people injured.` `(also known as the "Central Park Lower Loop") connects northbound bicycle and carriage traffic from Midtown at Central Park South/Sixth Avenue to East Drive near the 66th Street transverse. The street generally goes east and then north, forming the bottom part of the Central Park loop. The attractions along Center Drive include Victorian Gardens, the Central Park Carousel, and the Central Park Mall.` , the easternmost of the three drives, connects northbound bicycle and carriage traffic from Midtown to the Upper West Side at Lenox Avenue. The street is renowned for its country scenery and free concerts. It generally straddles the east side of the park along Fifth Avenue. The drive passes by the Central Park Zoo around 63rd Street and the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 80th to 84th Streets. Unlike the rest of the drive system, which is generally serpentine, East Drive is straight between the 86th and 96th Street transverses, because it is between Fifth Avenue and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. East Drive is known as the "Elite Carriage Parade", because it was where the carriage procession occurred at the time of the park's opening, and because only five percent of the city was able to afford the carriage. In the late 19th century, West and East Drives were popular places for carriage rides. Two other scenic drives cross the park horizontally. Terrace Drive is at 72nd Street and connects West and East Drives, passing over Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. The 102nd Street Crossing, further north near the street of the same name, is a former carriage drive connecting West and East Drives. #### Modifications and closures In Central Park's earliest years, the speed limits were set at 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h) for carriages and 6 mph (9.7 km/h) for horses, which were later raised to 7 mph (11 km/h) and 10 mph (16 km/h) respectively. Commercial vehicles and buses were banned from the park. Automobiles became more common in Central Park during the 1900s and 1910s, and they often broke the speed limits, resulting in crashes. To increase safety, the gravel roads were paved in 1912, and the carriage speed limit was raised to 15 mph (24 km/h) two years later. With the proliferation of cars among the middle class in the 1920s, traffic increased on the drives, to as many as eight thousand cars per hour in 1929. The roads were still dangerous; in the first ten months of 1929, eight people were killed and 249 were injured in 338 separate collisions. In November 1929, the scenic drives were converted from two-way traffic to unidirectional traffic. Further improvements were made in 1932 when forty-two traffic lights were installed along the scenic drives, and the speed limit was lowered to 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). The signals were coordinated so that drivers could go through all of the green lights if they maintained a steady speed of 25 miles per hour (40 km/h). The drives were experimentally closed to automotive traffic on weekends beginning in 1967, for exclusive use by pedestrians and bicyclists. In subsequent years, the scenic drives were closed to automotive traffic for most of the day during the summer. By 1979, the drives were only open during rush hours and late evenings during the summer. Legislation was proposed in October 2014 to conduct a study to make the park car-free in summer 2015. In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the permanent closure of West and East Drives north of 72nd Street to vehicular traffic as it was proven that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic. After most of the Central Park loop drives were closed to vehicular traffic, the city performed a follow-up study. The city found that West Drive was open for two hours during the morning rush period and was used by an average of 1,050 vehicles a day, while East Drive was open 12 hours a day and was used by an average of 3,400 vehicles daily. Subsequently, all cars were banned from East Drive in January 2018. In April 2018, de Blasio announced that the entirety of the three loop drives would be closed permanently to traffic. The closure was put into effect in June 2018. During the early 21st century, there were numerous collisions in Central Park involving cyclists. The 2014 death of Jill Tarlov, after she was hit by a cyclist on West 63rd Street, called attention to the issue. Approximately 300 people a year have been injured in cycling-related accidents since the city started tracking the issue in 2011. That year, residents of nearby communities unsuccessfully petitioned the NYPD to increase enforcement of cycling rules within the park. ## Issues ### Crime and neglect In the mid-20th century, Central Park had a reputation for being very dangerous, especially after dark. Such a viewpoint was reinforced following a 1941 incident when 12-year-old Jerome Dore fatally stabbed 15-year-old James O'Connell in the northern section of the park. Local tabloids cited this incident and several other crimes as evidence of a highly exaggerated "crime wave". Though recorded crime had indeed increased since Central Park opened in the late 1850s, this was in line with crime trends seen in the rest of the city. Central Park's reputation for crime was reinforced by its worldwide name recognition, and the fact that crimes in the park were covered disproportionately compared to crimes in the rest of the city. For instance, in 1973 The New York Times wrote stories about 20% of murders that occurred citywide but wrote about three of the four murders that took place in Central Park that year. By the 1970s and 1980s, the number of murders in the police precincts north of Central Park was 18 times higher than the number of murders within the park itself, and even in the precincts south of the park, the number of murders was three times as high. The park was the site of numerous high-profile crimes during the late 20th century. Of these, two particularly notable cases shaped public perception against the park. In 1986, Robert Chambers murdered Jennifer Levin in what was later called the "preppy murder." Three years later, an investment banker was raped and brutally beaten in what came to be known as the Central Park jogger case. Conversely, other crimes such as the 1984 gang-rape of two homeless women were barely reported. After World War II, it was feared that gay men perpetrated sex crimes and attracted violence. Other problems in the 1970s and 1980s included a drug epidemic, a large homeless presence, vandalism, and neglect. As crime has declined in New York City, many of these negative perceptions have waned. Safety measures keep the number of crimes in the park to fewer than 100 per year as of 2019, down from approximately 1,000 in the early 1980s. Some well-publicized crimes have occurred since then: for instance, on June 11, 2000, following the Puerto Rican Day Parade, gangs of drunken men sexually assaulted women in the park. ### Other issues Permission to hold issue-centered rallies in Central Park, similar to the be-ins of the 1960s, has been met with increasingly stiff resistance from the city. During some 2004 protests, the organization United for Peace and Justice wanted to hold a rally on the Great Lawn during the Republican National Convention. The city denied an application for a permit, stating that such a mass gathering would be harmful to the grass and the damage would make it harder to collect private donations to maintain the park. A judge of the New York Supreme Court's New York County branch upheld the refusal. During the 2000s and 2010s, new supertall skyscrapers were constructed along the southern end of Central Park, in a corridor commonly known as Billionaires' Row. According to a Municipal Art Society report, such buildings cast long shadows over the southern end of the park. A 2016 analysis by The New York Times found that some of the tallest and skinniest skyscrapers, such as One57, Central Park Tower, and 220 Central Park South, would cast shadows that can be as much as 1 mile (1.6 km) long during the winter, covering up to a third of the park's length. In 2018, the New York City Council proposed legislation that would restrict the construction of skyscrapers near city parks. ## Impact ### Cultural significance Central Park's size and cultural position has served as a model for many urban parks. Olmsted believed landscape design was a way to improve the feeling of community and had intended the park as the antithesis of the stresses of the city's daily life. The Greensward Plan, radical at the time of its construction, led to widespread changes in park designs and urban planning; in particular, parks were designed to incorporate landscapes whose elements were related to each other. A New York City icon, Central Park is the most filmed location in the world. A December 2017 report found that 231 movies had used it for on-location shoots, more than the 160 movies that had filmed in Greenwich Village or the 99 movies that had filmed in Times Square. Some of the movies filmed at Central Park, such as the 1993 film The Age of Innocence, reflect ideals of the past. Other films, including The Fisher King (1991), Marathon Man (1976), The Out of Towners (1970), and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), use the park for dramatic conflict scenes. Central Park has been used in romance films such as Maid in Manhattan (2002), 13 Going on 30 (2004) or Hitch (2005), and fantasy live-action/animated films such as Enchanted (2007). In 2009, an estimated 4,000 days of film shoots were hosted, or an average of more than ten film shoots per day, accounting for \$135.5 million in city revenue. Because of its cultural and historical significance, Central Park has been a National Historic Landmark since 1962, and a New York City designated scenic landmark since 1974. It was placed on UNESCO's list of tentative World Heritage Sites in 2017. ### Real estate and economy The value of the surrounding land started rising significantly in the mid-1860s during the park's construction. The completion of Central Park immediately increased the surrounding area's real estate prices, in some cases by up to 700 percent between 1858 and 1870. It also resulted in the creation of the zoning plan in Upper Manhattan. Upscale districts grew on both sides of Central Park following its completion. On the Upper East Side, a portion of Fifth Avenue abutting lower Central Park became known as "Millionaires' Row" by the 1890s, due to the concentration of wealthy families in the area. The Upper West Side took longer to develop, but row houses and luxury apartment buildings came to predominate the neighborhood, and some were later included in the Central Park West Historic District. Though most of the city's rich formerly lived in mansions, they moved into apartments close to Central Park during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During the late 20th century, until Central Park's restoration in the 1990s, proximity to the park did not have a significant positive effect on real estate values. Following Central Park's restoration, some of the city's most expensive properties have been sold or rented near the park. The value of the land in Central Park was estimated to be about \$528.8 billion in December 2005, though this was based on the park's impact on the average value of nearby land. In the modern day, it is estimated that Central Park has resulted in billions of dollars in economic impact. A 2009 study found that the city received annual tax revenue of more than \$656 million, visitors spent more than \$395 million due to the park, in-park businesses such as concessions generated \$135.5 million, and the 4,000 hours of annual film shoots and other photography generated \$135.6 million of economic output. In 2013, about 550,000 people lived within a ten-minute walk (about 0.5 miles or 0.80 kilometers) of the park's boundaries, and 1.15 million more people could get to the park within a half-hour subway ride.

National War Memorial (South Australia)

War memorial in Adelaide, South Australia

The National War Memorial is a monument on the north edge of the city centre of Adelaide, South Australia, commemorating those who served in the First World War. Opened in 1931, the memorial is located on the corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue, adjacent to the grounds of Government House. Memorial services are held at the site throughout the year, with major services on both Anzac Day (25 April) and Remembrance Day (11 November). First proposed in 1919, the memorial was funded by the Parliament of South Australia, making it the first Australian state war memorial to be confirmed after the war. The design of the memorial was selected through two architectural competitions. The first competition, in 1924, produced 26 designs—all of which were lost before judging could be completed after fire destroyed the building in which they were housed. A second competition, in 1926, produced 18 entries, out of which the design by the architectural firm Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne-Smith was selected as the winner. The design—effectively a frame for two scenes depicted through Rayner Hoff's marble reliefs and bronze statues—shows the prelude and the epilogue to war, depicting both the willingness of youth to answer the call of duty and the extent of the sacrifices which they made. In this, the work is not displaying a material victory, but instead a victory of the spirit. At the insistence of W. F. J. McCann, president of the Returned Soldiers' League, bronze tablets were cast to line the walls of an inner shrine, on which are listed the names of all South Australians who died during the Great War. ## History Almost 35,000 South Australians served in the First World War. This number amounted to 8.5% of the South Australian population at the time, or 37.7% of men between the ages of 18 and 44. Of those who served, over 5,000 South Australians died. In response to these deaths, Archibald Peake, the premier of South Australia, asked the state parliament to fund a memorial commemorating the victory and the sacrifice of those who had fought and fallen. The motion was presented in March 1919, and it received unanimous support in the House of Assembly and the Legislative Council. With the passing of this motion, the South Australian Government became the first in Australia to elect to build a memorial to the soldiers of the First World War. It was decided by parliament that the new memorial should be referred to as the "National War Memorial", even though it was to be a purely South Australian monument, and in spite of the term already being used to describe the memorial to the South African War of 1899–1902. There have been at least two perspectives offered as to why the term National was employed. First, as Donald Richardson observed, the name may have been chosen to emphasise the government's intention that the memorial should commemorate all who served during the war, not just those who came from South Australia; and second, Ken Inglis argued that the name may have reflected the perception (still held in spite of federation) that the "province is a nation". ### 1924 competition The National War Memorial Committee was formed in order to bring the proposal to fruition, and in February 1924 the committee announced an architectural competition to find the design of the new memorial. In the preamble to the conditions of entry, it was stated that the new memorial was to serve the purpose of "perpetually commemorating the Victory achieved in the Great War, 1914–1918, the Supreme and personal sacrifice of those who participated in that War, and the National effort involved in such activities". Entry was open to South Australians who were British subjects, and those intending to submit designs were required to file a statement of intent prior to 29 February 1924. The competition closed on 30 September 1924, and there was a one-guinea entry fee. Three assessors were nominated to judge the entries: the South Australian Architect-in-Chief, A. E. Simpson; local architect Herbert Louis Jackman (representing the South Australian Institute of Architects); and Sir William Sowden. The committee specified a budget of £25,000 (previously figures of both £5,000 and £100,000 had been discussed), and the conditions of entry stated that the memorial was to be situated at the entrance to Government House on the corner of King William Street and North Terrace, placing it just behind the existing memorial to the South African War. This location was counter to previous suggestions: a 1919 survey of architects had proposed that the memorial should be built on Montefiore Hill, while in 1923 the plans for the memorial involved erecting it at the rear of Government House, rather than at the front. The committee left open the form that the memorial would take, beyond stating that the memorial was not to be "utilitarian in character", and debate over the form led to the emergence of a number of suggestions, many of which were covered in the media of the day. These included Dame Nellie Melba's proposal to build a carillon of bells; a suggestion by Simpson Newland to turn Anzac Highway into a "Way of Honour" by adding triumphal arches to each end; and Walter Charles Torode's plan to build a 30-metre-high (98 ft) "metal and marble" monument on the top of Mount Lofty with an electric car to carry people to the summit. In the end a total of 28 architectural firms registered their intent to submit entries to the competition—a lower number than expected, but Richardson suggests this may have been due to work on proposals for the new Adelaide railway station. Out of those 28, a total of 26 firms submitted designs by the deadline. On 10 November 1924, before judging could be completed, the Richards Building in Currie Street was destroyed by fire, taking with it all 26 proposals. Although most of the judging had been completed before the fire, suggestions at the time that the committee could use what they had learned from the entrants to propose a new competition with greater clarity as to the requirements led to naught: a 1925 letter to the then Premier John Gunn reveals that there was little to be learned from the competition, as the assessors had found that none of the designs were suitable. ### 1926 competition Little progress had been made on the memorial by 1926. While some debate occurred in respect to the form that the memorial would take, the focus of the discussions concerned the location of the memorial, and this centred on the future of Government House and the role of the Governor. A number of left-wing politicians argued that the grounds of Government House should be turned over to the State and used to build the memorial while the conservatives desired to retain the status quo. By 1925 the National War Memorial committee was prepared to accept the Government House grounds as the site of the memorial, but they delayed making an announcement. This proved to be fortuitous, as legal issues prevented the plan from going ahead. Instead a portion of the grounds, located at the corner of North Terrace and Kintore Avenue, was put aside for the purpose. (The plan to move the Governor and to use the grounds as part of a larger war memorial were revisited, over 80 years later, in 2007). In 1926, after pressure from the returned soldiers, a second competition was announced. Once again the budget was set at £25,000. As per the first competition, all entrants had to be South Australian British subjects, and all entries were to be judged anonymously, but this time there was to be only one assessor: John Smith Murdoch, the chief architect for the Commonwealth of Australia. In deference to the previous competition, the top five entrants from 1924 were each given £75 upon the submission of a new design, and all of the designs were insured by the government for £100 each. With entries restricted to South Australians, only 18 designs were received—a figure that was "correspondingly fewer" than those received in other states where the competitions were open to all Australians. Nevertheless, in his Assessor's Report, Murdoch acknowledged that the quality of some of the proposals was such that they "probably would not have been exceeded had the competition been more open". After examining the submissions, on 15 January 1927, the design by Louis Laybourne Smith, (one of the principals at the architectural firm Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne–Smith), was selected by Murdoch as the winner. Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne-Smith had entered the 1924 competition with an arch designed by Walter Bagot, but in 1926 Bagot was away in Europe. Thus Laybourne-Smith was responsible for drawing and submitting the final design, although he was clear to highlight the role Bagot played in the "architectural conception" of the monument. While the firm was to be awarded 6% of the cost of the memorial, they refused all but enough to cover their own expenses, asking instead that residues (approximately £1000) be placed in a trust fund to pay for the upkeep of the work. While this is seen as an altruistic act, Richardson noted that Laybourne-Smith was both a member of the National War Committee and sat on the sub-committee which drafted the rules of the competition, and thus it may have been considered "improper" to accept the money. When announced to the public the design was "universally hailed as a masterpiece". Nevertheless, in writing his report on the result of the judging, Murdoch stated of the winning architect that he "depends almost entirely on the sculptor to tell the story of the memorial, employing in his design no more architecture than that required to successfully frame and set his sculptural subjects, and to provide accommodation to the extent asked for by the conditions". This view was echoed by Inglis, who described the architecture as "essentially a frame for statuary"—an approach that he felt was "unusual" for an architect. As a result of this dependency on the sculpture, some of the other contestants expressed concerns, arguing that the contest was about architectural works rather than sculptural ones, even though the conditions of the competition specifically allowed for sculpture in the proposals. ### Construction Construction of the memorial began in 1928 with the cut and placement of marble blocks from Macclesfield and Angaston. The South Australian Monumental Works were chosen to work on the construction, with Alan Tillett as the principal. Although no sculptor was named in the winning proposal, it did make mention of a possible candidate—who later proved to be Rayner Hoff, a Sydney-based sculptor born in England. Rayner Hoff produced the designs for the sculptures from his Sydney studio, with the bronze castings from Hoff's plaster models being produced by the South Australian firm A. W. Dobbie and Company. (Hoff had expressed reservations that a South Australian company would be capable of handling bronzes of the required size, but a test casting of the lion's head from the memorial was sufficient to overcome his concerns). The two angel reliefs sculpted from the Angaston marble were produced by Julius Henschke in situ from Hoff's designs, expressed through one-third sized plaster models which Henschke then scaled to suit. Significant delays occurred during construction after a strike by the stonemasons. The stonemasons were demanding a 44-hour week and to be paid at "outside rates", (rates of pay for stonemasons were based on whether or not the work was to be constructed on site in the open air, or inside under cover— Tillett was paying the lower "inside rates", even though most of the work was to be conducted on the site). However, Tillett had tendered on the basis of a 48-hour week at inside rates, and paying extra would have caused significant financial problems. Tillett eventually won after the dispute went before the courts, but the strike had caused considerable financial damage to Tillett's company, which went into receivership in 1930 and stayed in that state until after the memorial was completed. The South Australian Government had dedicated £25,000 for the memorial. It was estimated that bulk of the expense would be masonry at £15,300 with sculptural work and landscaping requiring £8,500 and £1,200 respectively. However, the final cost of construction pushed this out to approximately £30,000. ### Opening The National War Memorial in South Australia became the fourth state World War I memorial to be opened when it was unveiled in 1931. Inglis notes that this is in keeping with the size of the constituency, arguing that "[t]he larger the constituency that each of these collective tributes had to represent, the later it was built". It was unveiled before a crowd of almost 75,000 on Anzac Day, 25 April 1931, (the 16th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing), by the Governor Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven. The crowd, "as huge a crowd as anyone could remember assembling in the city", was unable to fit in front of the memorial, so many thousands assembled at the Cross of Sacrifice in Pennington Gardens to await a later ceremony. Hore-Ruthven was introduced by the acting state premier, Bill Denny MC, whose involvement in the unveiling, according to Inglis, was unusual for a Labor politician. ### Commemorative activities The first dawn service to be conducted at the memorial was held on Anzac Day 1935, and was attended by 200–300 people. ### Restoration work In 2001, the memorial's 70th anniversary year, a three-month remedial project was undertaken, restoring the bronze and stonework details and reinforcing the foundations. The work was completed just days before the Remembrance Day services. In 2002 the architects responsible for the restoration, Bruce Harry & Associates, were awarded a Heritage merit award for their work on the memorial by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. ## Design The rules of the competition limited the space for the memorial to the "one half acre" of land that was excised from the grounds of Government House. The design submitted by Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith easily met this requirement, as the memorial was designed to fit on an ellipse with a major axis of 18.3 m (60 ft) in length and a minor axis of 15.5 m (51 ft). Standing at a height of over 14 m (46 ft), the structure was carefully placed back from North Terrace to provide space for "public gatherings of a ceremonial nature" and to allow for the proposed widening of the street. The monument has two sides, referred to by the architects as the reverse and the obverse of the work, which they likened to the two sides of a coin. These two aspects represent the prologue and the epilogue of war. Each side features a relief carved from Angaston marble and framed by the "rough-hewn" arch carved out of marble from Macclesfield, while the granite steps leading up to the monument are constructed of Harcourt granite, as specified in the original proposal. (The architects had preferred the local West Island granite, but acknowledged that the Harcourt granite was "the best available" unless the government would agree to reopen the quarry on West Island). The materials were chosen in order to provide continuity with Parliament House, located a short distance away along North Terrace. To represent the prologue to the war, the obverse of the monument (the side facing North Terrace) features a relief of the Spirit of Duty appearing as a vision before the youth of South Australia, represented in the work by a sculptural group consisting of a girl, a student and a farmer abandoning the "symbols of their craft". The three are depicted in normal dress, as they are not yet soldiers and are currently unprepared for the war that is to come, and they are facing away from the world as they look to the vision before them. In Bagot's original plan, submitted for the 1924 competition, there was to be but a single nude figure kneeling before the vision (for which Bagot posed while in Europe), but Laybourne-Smith's 1926 submission became grander in its scope. In addition, Bagot's original designs were naturalistic, with the Spirit of Duty depicted as a female figure, but under Hoff's direction the figure was changed to male, and the style of the reliefs was changed to Art Deco—a "radically new" art style for Australia at the time. Hoff, however, presented the sculptural group in the original naturalistic style, thus providing a "bridge between the Renaissance-style architecture and the Art Deco of the reliefs". On the reverse side of the monument, facing away from the traffic, is a relief carved into the marble representing the epilogue of the war and depicting the Spirit of Compassion as a winged spirit of womanhood bearing aloft a stricken youth. Beneath the figure is situated the Fountain of Compassion, the flow of water representing the "constant flow of memories", while the lion's head from which it emerges, (and which bears the Imperial Crown), is representative of the British Commonwealth of Nations. The designers acknowledged that the symbolism—especially that of the reverse side—does not represent "victory" in the traditional sense. They stated that the "Arch of Triumph which was built in honour of a Caesar, a Napoleon, no longer expresses the feelings of modern democracy after an international struggle". Instead, the memorial represented a spiritual victory, in which was displayed a "willingness to serve and to sacrifice". Within the memorial the architects added an inner shrine, or Record Room, in which could be recorded the names of the South Australians who fell during the war. While the design did not specify the exact form that this would take, in the completed memorial these names are inscribed in the bronzes that line the walls. The design also allowed for a cenotaph within the inner shrine, which the designers suggested could either be used as a symbolic representation of the unknown soldier or as the marker to an actual grave, although this aspect was never realised. The monument is designed to honour both the war dead and all who served in the war—one face being inscribed to those who died in the war, while the other is dedicated to "all who served". On the obverse side is inscribed the words "To perpetuate the courage, loyalty, and sacrifice of those who served in the Great War 1914–1918", while the reverse states "All honour give to those who, nobly striving, nobly fell that we might live". Above the two entrances to the inner shrine were to be inscribed the names of the major theaters in which Australians served in the Great War. Originally it was suggested that this was to be Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine on one side, with France on the other, but in the final work Belgium was added to the list. Although the central square mile of the City of Adelaide is designed to the points of the compass, the monument sits at a 45-degree angle to North Terrace. The architects provided two reasons for this. First, it was observed that "monuments suffer materially from monotonous lighting" when they face to the south; and second, the placing of the monument to face a north-west direction allows it to be in line with both the Cross of Sacrifice and St. Peter's Cathedral. In addition to these two arguments, Richardson also notes that the diagonal positioning of the memorial permits the dawn sun to fall on the facade. ## Adjacent memorials Although the National War Memorial was initially proposed as a memorial to those who served in "The Great War", the site has since grown to incorporate a number of smaller memorials. These include a memorial to the Battle of Lone Pine; the "French Memorial", which commemorates South Australians who fought and died in France during the first and second World Wars, unveiled in 1993; an honour roll of those who died in World War II; and the "Australian Armed Forces Memorial", encompassing the Malayan Emergency of 1948–1960, the Korean War, the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in Borneo, and the Vietnam War. In addition, the wall which surrounds the northern and western sides of the site features the six "Crosses of Memory"—a series of "simple wooden crosses" commemorating the siege of Tobruk from 1941, the 10th, 27th, and 48th Battalions of 1916 and 50th Battalion of 1918. Memorial to the 8th Division of the Second Australian Imperial Force, unveiled in December 1995. Memorial to the Battle of Lone Pine. The tree is a descendant of the original Lone Pine. The Australian Armed Forces Memorial, encompassing actions in South-East Asia and Korea. Honour roll listing South Australians who died in the Second World War. Jubilee 150 Walkway plaques honouring recipients of Victoria and George Crosses.

Polaris Sales Agreement

Treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom

The Polaris Sales Agreement was a treaty between the United States and the United Kingdom which began the UK Polaris programme. The agreement was signed on 6 April 1963. It formally arranged the terms and conditions under which the Polaris missile system was provided to the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom had been planning to buy the air-launched Skybolt missile to extend the operational life of the British V bombers, but the United States decided to cancel the Skybolt program in 1962 as it no longer needed the missile. The crisis created by the cancellation prompted an emergency meeting between the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Harold Macmillan, which resulted in the Nassau Agreement, under which the United States agreed to provide Polaris missiles to the United Kingdom instead. The Polaris Sales Agreement provided for the implementation of the Nassau Agreement. The United States would supply the United Kingdom with Polaris missiles, launch tubes, and the fire control system. The United Kingdom would manufacture the warheads and submarines. In return, the US was given certain assurances by the United Kingdom regarding the use of the missile, but not a veto on the use of British nuclear weapons. The British Resolution-class Polaris ballistic missile submarines were built on time and under budget, and came to be seen as a credible deterrent. Along with the 1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement, the Polaris Sales Agreement became a pillar of the nuclear Special Relationship between Britain and the United States. The agreement was amended in 1982 to provide for the sale of the Trident missile system. ## Background During the early part of the Second World War, Britain had a nuclear weapons project, codenamed Tube Alloys. In August 1943, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill and the President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt, signed the Quebec Agreement, which merged Tube Alloys with the American Manhattan Project. The British government trusted that the United States would continue to share nuclear technology, which it regarded as a joint discovery, but the 1946 McMahon Act ended cooperation. Fearing a resurgence of United States isolationism, and Britain losing its great power status, the British government restarted its own development effort, now codenamed High Explosive Research. The first British atomic bomb was tested in Operation Hurricane on 3 October 1952. The subsequent British development of the hydrogen bomb, and a favourable international relations climate created by the Sputnik crisis, led to the McMahon Act being amended in 1958, and the restoration of the nuclear Special Relationship in the form of the 1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement (MDA), which allowed Britain to acquire nuclear weapons systems from the United States. Britain's nuclear weapons armament was initially based on free-fall bombs delivered by the V bombers of the Royal Air Force (RAF), but the possibility of the manned bomber becoming obsolete by the late 1960s due to improvements in anti-aircraft defences was foreseen. In 1953, work began on a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) called Blue Streak, but by 1958, there were concerns about the vulnerability of this liquid-propellant-missile to a pre-emptive nuclear strike. To extend the effectiveness and operational life of the V bombers, an air-launched, rocket-propelled standoff missile called Blue Steel was developed, but it was anticipated that the air defences of the Soviet Union would improve to the extent that V bombers might still find it difficult to attack their targets. A solution appeared to be the American Skybolt missile, which combined the range of Blue Streak with the mobile basing of the Blue Steel, and was small enough that two could be carried on an Avro Vulcan bomber. An institutional challenge to Skybolt came from the United States Navy, which was developing a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the UGM-27 Polaris. The US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Arleigh Burke, kept the First Sea Lord, Lord Mountbatten, apprised of its development. By moving the deterrent out to sea, Polaris offered the prospect of a deterrent that was invulnerable to a first strike, and reduced the risk of a nuclear strike on the British Isles. The British Nuclear Deterrent Study Group (BNDSG) produced a study that argued that SLBM technology was as yet unproven, that Polaris would be expensive, and that given the time it would take to build the boats, it could not be deployed before the early 1970s. The Cabinet Defence Committee therefore approved the acquisition of Skybolt in February 1960. The Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, met with the President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, in March 1960, and secured permission to buy Skybolt. In return, the Americans could base the US Navy's Polaris ballistic missile submarines in the Holy Loch in Scotland. The financial arrangement was particularly favourable to Britain, as the US was charging only the unit cost of Skybolt, absorbing all the research and development costs. With this agreement in hand, the cancellation of Blue Streak was announced in the House of Commons on 13 April 1960. The subsequent American decision to cancel Skybolt created a political crisis in the UK, and an emergency meeting between Macmillan and President John F. Kennedy was called in Nassau, Bahamas. Macmillan rejected the US offers of paying half the cost of developing Skybolt, and of supplying the AGM-28 Hound Dog missile instead. This brought options down to Polaris, but the Americans would only supply it on condition that it be used as part of a proposed Multilateral Force (MLF). Kennedy ultimately relented, and agreed to supply Britain with Polaris missiles, while "the Prime Minister made it clear that except where Her Majesty's Government may decide that supreme national interests are at stake, these British forces will be used for the purposes of international defence of the Western Alliance in all circumstances." A joint statement to this effect, the Nassau Agreement, was issued on 21 December 1962. ## Negotiations With the Nassau Agreement in hand, it remained to work out the details. Vice Admiral Michael Le Fanu had a meeting with the United States Secretary of Defense, Robert S. McNamara, on 21 December 1962, the final day of the Nassau conference. He found McNamara eager to help, and enthusiastic about the idea of Polaris costing as little as possible. The first issue identified was how many Polaris boats should be built. While the Vulcans to carry Skybolt were already in service, the submarines to carry Polaris were not, and there was no provision in the defence budget for them. Some naval officers feared that their construction would adversely impact the hunter-killer submarine programme. The First Sea Lord, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Caspar John, denounced the "millstone of Polaris hung around our necks" as "potential wreckers of the real navy". The number of missiles required was based on substituting for Skybolt. To achieve the same capability, the BNDSG calculated that this would require eight Polaris submarines, each of which would have 16 missiles, for a total of 128 missiles, with 128 one-megaton warheads. It was subsequently decided to halve this, based on the decision that the ability to destroy twenty Soviet cities would have nearly as great a deterrent effect as the ability to destroy forty. The Admiralty considered the possibility of hybrid submarines that could operate as hunter-killers while carrying eight Polaris missiles, but McNamara noted that this would be inefficient, as twice as many submarines would need to be on station to maintain the deterrent, and cautioned that the effect of tinkering with the US Navy's 16-missile layout was unpredictable. The Treasury costed a four-boat Polaris fleet at £314 million by 1972/73. A Cabinet Defence Committee meeting on 23 January 1963 approved the plan for four boats, with Thorneycroft noting that four boats would be cheaper and faster to build. A mission led by Sir Solly Zuckerman, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Ministry of Defence, left for the United States to discuss Polaris on 8 January 1963. It included the Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Sir Varyl Begg; the Deputy Secretary of the Admiralty, James Mackay; Rear Admiral Hugh Mackenzie; and physicist Sir Robert Cockburn and F. J. Doggett from the Ministry of Aviation. That the involvement of the Ministry of Aviation might be a complicating factor was foreseen, but it had experience with nuclear weapons development. Mackenzie had been the Flag Officer Submarines until 31 December 1962, when Le Fanu had appointed him the Chief Polaris Executive (CPE). As such, he was directly answerable to Le Fanu as Controller of the Navy. His CPE staff was divided between London and Foxhill, near Bath, Somerset, where Royal Navy had its ship design, logistics and weapons groups. It was intended as a counterpart to the United States Navy Special Projects Office (SPO), with whom it would have to deal. The principal finding of the Zuckerman mission was that the Americans had developed a new version of the Polaris missile, the A3. With a range extended of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km), it had a new weapons bay housing three re-entry vehicles (REBs or Re-Entry Bodies in US Navy parlance) and a new 200-kilotonne-of-TNT (840 TJ) W58 warhead to penetrate improved Soviet anti-missile defences expected to become available around 1970. A decision was therefore required on whether to purchase the old A2 missile or the new A3. The Zuckerman mission came out in favour of the new A3 missile, although it was still under development and not expected to enter service until August 1964, as the deterrent would remain credible for much longer. The decision was endorsed by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Lord Carrington, in May 1963, and was officially made by Thorneycroft on 10 June 1963. The choice of the A3 created a problem for the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) at Aldermaston, for the Skybolt warhead that had recently been tested in the Tendrac nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site in the United States would require a redesigned Re-Entry System (RES) in order to be fitted to a Polaris missile, at an estimated cost of between £30 million and £40 million. The alternative was to make a British copy of the W58. While the AWRE was familiar with the W47 warhead used in the A2, it knew nothing of the W58. A presidential determination was required to release information on the W58 under the MDA, but with this in hand, a mission led by John Challens, the Chief of Warhead Development at the AWRE, visited the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory from 22 to 24 January 1963, and was shown details of the W58. The Zuckerman mission found the SPO helpful and forthcoming, but there was one major shock. The British were expected to contribute to the research and development costs of the A3, backdated to 1 January 1963. These were expected to top \$700 million by 1968. Skybolt had been offered to the UK at unit cost, with the US absorbing the research and development costs, but no such agreement had been reached at Nassau for Polaris. Thorneycroft baulked at the prospect of paying research and development costs, but McNamara pointed out that the United States Congress would not stand for an agreement that placed all the burden on the United States. Macmillan instructed the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir David Ormsby-Gore, to inform Kennedy that Britain was not willing to commit to an open-ended sharing of research and development costs, but, as a compromise, would pay an additional five per cent for each missile. He asked that Kennedy be informed that a breakdown of the Nassau Agreement would likely cause the fall of his government. Ormsby-Gore met with Kennedy that very day, and while Kennedy noted that the five per cent offer "was not the most generous offer he had ever heard of", he accepted it. McNamara, certain that the United States was being ripped off, calculated the five per cent on top of not just the missiles, but their fire control and navigation systems as well, adding around £2 million to the bill. On Ormsby-Gore's advice, this formulation was accepted. An American mission now visited the United Kingdom. This was led by Paul H. Nitze, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, and included Walt W. Rostow, the Director of Policy Planning at the State Department, and Admiral Ignatius J. Galantin, the head of the SPO. The Americans had ideas about how the programme should be organised. They foresaw the UK Polaris programme having project officers from both countries, with a Joint Steering Task Group that met regularly to provide advice. This was accepted, and would become part of the final agreement. However, a follow-up British mission under Leslie Williams, the Director General Atomic Weapons at the Ministry of Aviation, whose members included Challens and Rear Admiral Frederick Dossor, was given a letter by the SPO with a list of subjects that were off limits. These included penetration aids, which were held to be outside the scope of the Nassau Agreement. One remaining obstacle in the path of the programme was how it would be integrated with the MLF. The British response to the MLF concept "ranged from unenthusiastic to hostile throughout the military establishment and in the two principal political parties". Apart from anything else, it was estimated to cost as much as £100 million over ten years. Nonetheless, the Foreign Office argued that Britain must support the MLF. The Nassau Agreement had invigorated the MLF effort in the United States. Kennedy appointed Livingston T. Merchant to negotiate the MLF with the European governments, which he did in February and March 1963. While reaffirming support for those parts of the Nassau Agreement concerning the MLF, the British were successful in getting them omitted from the Polaris Sales Agreement. The British team completed drafting the agreement in March 1963, and copies were circulated for discussion. The contracts for their construction were announced that month. The Polaris boats would be the largest submarines built in Britain up to that time, and would be built by Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders in Barrow-in-Furness and Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. For similar reasons to the US Navy, the Royal Navy decided to base the boats at Faslane, on the Gareloch, not far from the US Navy's base on the Holy Loch. The drawback of the site was that it isolated the Polaris boats from the rest of the navy. The Polaris Sales Agreement was signed in Washington, D.C., on 6 April 1963 by Ormsby-Gore and Dean Rusk, the United States Secretary of State. ## Outcome The two liaison officers were appointed in April; Captain Peter la Niece became the Royal Navy project officer in Washington, D.C., while Captain Phil Rollings became the US Navy project officer in London. The Joint Steering Task Group held its first meeting in Washington on 26 June 1963. The shipbuilding programme would prove to be a remarkable achievement, with the four Resolution-class submarines built on time and within the budget. The first boat, HMS Resolution was launched in September 1966, and commenced its first deterrent patrol in June 1968. The annual running costs of the Polaris boats came to around two per cent of the defence budget, and they came to be seen as a credible deterrent that enhanced Britain's international status. Along with the more celebrated 1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement, the Polaris Sales Agreement became a pillar of the nuclear Special Relationship between Britain and the United States. ## Trident The Polaris Sales Agreement provided an established framework for negotiations over missiles and re-entry systems. The legal agreement took the form of amending the Polaris Sales Agreement through an exchange of notes between the two governments so that "Polaris" in the original now also covered the purchase of Trident. There were also some amendments to the classified annexes of the Polaris Sales Agreement to delete the exclusion of penetrating aids. Under the Polaris Sales Agreement, the United Kingdom paid a five per cent levy on the cost of equipment supplied in recognition of US research and development costs already incurred. For Trident, a payment of \$116 million was substituted. The United Kingdom procured the Trident system from America and fitted them to their own submarines, which had only 16 missile tubes like Polaris rather than the 24 in the American Ohio class. The first Vanguard-class submarine, HMS Vanguard, entered operational service in December 1994, by which time the Cold War had ended.

Great Southern Group

Australian agricultural investment group

Great Southern Group was a group of Australian companies that was notable as the country's largest agribusiness managed investment scheme (MIS) business. The company was founded in 1987 and became a public company in 1999. It expanded its MIS business rapidly in the 2000s, supported by favourable tax regulations for these types of investments. Most of the Group's business was in plantation forestry to supply woodchips for the pulp and paper industry, but in the 2000s it diversified into high-value timbers, beef cattle, olives, viticulture, and almond production. The company's after-tax profit peaked at A\$132 million in 2006, but by 2008 had deteriorated to a A\$63 million loss. The Great Southern companies attracted debate and criticism associated with the operation of managed investment schemes generally, and the environmental performance of their Tiwi Islands operation in particular. On 16 May 2009, as a result of worsening economic conditions and regulatory issues, the GSL, GSMAL, GSF and other subsidiaries of GSL entered into voluntary administration. Ferrier Hodgson was assigned as liquidator of Great Southern Group. The collapse of Great Southern Group, in conjunction with the failure of another high-profile agribusiness company, Timbercorp, led to three separate Australian parliamentary committee inquiries into the MIS industry. ## Business activities The Great Southern Group in 2008 formed Australia's largest managed agribusiness investment scheme operation. The company comprised a parent entity, Great Southern Plantations Limited (from 2007 renamed Great Southern Limited), and over forty subsidiaries, almost all wholly owned. Those subsidiaries held or operated Great Southern's businesses, including providing management services. At the centre of Great Southern's operations were management investment schemes (referred to as MIS schemes). MIS schemes are a mechanism by which investors' funds are pooled to invest in a common business enterprise. A "responsible entity" (such as Great Southern) controls the routine administration of the investments. In primary production schemes such as those managed by Great Southern, investors are the growers of products (such as forestry plantations), with an agreement with the company to manage the investment "to plant, establish and maintain the trees until they are harvested at maturity". Investors in Great Southern generally purchased lots (typically of 1 hectare) on land owned or leased by Great Southern. Thus investors owned the plantations, but the land assets belonged to the company. While investors owned individual woodlots, risks and returns were distributed across all investors in individual projects, with growers sharing "the average yield at harvest for the entire Project...rather than the return from their individual woodlot". These were not high rates of return for the length of investment involved. Some of the schemes relied upon the rationale that investors would retire and therefore receive income from the scheme when their marginal tax rate was lower than at the time of initial investment. Based on this premise some schemes were claiming a rate of return after tax of eight to nine percent. Others suggested the schemes were a poor investment likely to achieve only six percent return. Returns to investors comprised a tax deduction in the year in which they bought the products, and returns from the sale of produce over the life of the project, which was typically at the point of harvest 10–12 years later for plantations, "and up to 23 years for horticultural projects such as almonds". Great Southern would deduct management fees from the final sale value. A typical forestry investment in the early 2000s involved an initial payment of \$3000 for one-third of a hectare woodlot, yielding a \$2900 tax deduction at that time. Returns on harvesting depended on many variables; Great Southern forecast that investors would recoup their original investment and a further return of between \$1923 and \$4569 per woodlot, however early schemes did not achieve these figures on the basis of the timber sales, with some resulting in woodchip sales of only around A\$1500, half the value of what was originally invested. Investors received their returns when the product (usually woodchip) was harvested and sold. While the majority of Great Southern's activity was in the sale of managed investment schemes, in 2007 it diversified into funds management through the purchase of Rural Funds Management Ltd, retaining its diversified agricultural assets fund and offering a new share fund and a blended property fund. In addition to retailing MIS products to investors, Great Southern also provided loans to investors wanting to borrow to invest. By 2009 its loan book comprised 14,500 loans with an average value of approximately A\$50,000. ## Rise The Great Southern Group began as the company Great Southern, co-founded in 1987 by accountant John Carlton Young, and microbiologist Helen Sewell. It began by managing South-east Australian plantations of Pinus radiata, but in 1992 shifted to Eucalyptus plantations for woodchip production, dealing in blue gum woodlot investments. Through the 1990s it developed its plantation business in south western Western Australia including the Great Southern region (after which the company is named), leasing woodlots to investors on land owned by Great Southern. A related entity, Templegate Finance Pty Ltd, would also lend finance to investors. Young was Great Southern's Executive chairman when it listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1999, and co-founder Sewell remained in a full-time role until her retirement in February 2001. When the ASX200, a new stock exchange index comprising the top 200 Australian companies by market capitalisation and liquidity, was instituted in March 2000, Great Southern was one of the stocks included. By 2001, the Group had 66 000 hectares of forestry plantations in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Its performance on the share market was strong enough that it was Shares magazine's number one ranked stock in its table of top 50 stocks by yield in January 2002. However the business faced some turbulent times, with profits in 2001 and 2002 down on the levels of 2000. The company was delisted from the ASX200 for a period (from October 2002 to August 2003), although it was relisted and remained in the index until December 2008. In 2004, the Group diversified into viticulture, planting vines in Western Australia. The company reported that it had been the ASX200's fourth-best performer in 2004, and second-best performer over the preceding two years. In November 2004, Young indicated to the company's annual meeting that harvesting of the first plantations had now commenced, and forecast further MIS sales growth. The shares in Great Southern peaked at A\$4.76 at this time, and Young sold a significant proportion of his shareholding, netting him A\$32.6 million. In 2005 Great Southern expanded into organic olives, acquired some existing beef cattle MIS businesses, and bought forest products company Sylvatech, including its A\$700 million of assets. The purchase of Sylvatech meant the company now also had forestry plantations in the Northern Territory, on the Tiwi Islands. Great Southern's cattle properties included the 660,000-hectare Moola Bulla property in WA's East Kimberley region, the similar sized Wrotham Park, 300 kilometres west of Cairns, and the 196,000-hectare blue-ribbon station of Chudleigh Park near Townsville", as well as a further 2.4 million hectares of pastoral leasehold. In 2007, the company also diversified its MIS offerings to high value timbers, such as mahogany, the uses for which included furniture and flooring. The following table outlines the expansion of the Great Southern Group's operations. ## Fall In the mid-2000s, Great Southern's business was growing rapidly, with sales and market capitalisation increasing at more than 100 per cent per annum. However, in its 2005 Annual Report, the company disclosed that it was subsidising the returns to its 1994 forestry scheme by approximately A\$3 million, and that it expected to have to similarly subsidise the 1995 and 1996 schemes by up to A\$12 million in future years. Board chairman Peter Patrikeos and non-executive director Jeffry Mews both expressed concern about the way in which Great Southern was funding shortfalls on the sales of timber products, with the issue leading directly to Mews' resignation. Although the company continued to sell over A\$800 million of MIS products in the two financial years after incurring losses on its early offerings, it was not meeting sales targets, and its share price was falling. Underpinning Great Southern's decision to subsidise returns to its early investors was a looming problem: its forestry plantations were not performing to expectations. Timber yields were poorer than had been projected. Great Southern's baseline projection had been 250 tonnes of woodchips per hectare, but an assessment in 2003 suggested that in most plantations yield would be reduced: in some cases to less than half the planned figure. The company itself considered that yields were proving to be "disappointing", with actual yields for the woodlots planted in the period between 1994 and 1997 (and thus harvested by 2008) being between 120 and 200 tonnes per hectare. Plantation growth had been limited by drought conditions and issues with the site and seedling quality of early plantings. The company's sales of MIS schemes, and its profits, both peaked in 2006, with over A\$450 million in sales, and a net profit after tax of A\$133 million. However, the 2006 harvest (of 1996 plantations) yielded a return of only A\$1500 and \$1750 for the woodlots that investors had bought for A\$3000. These plantations had not been productive enough to yield a profit for investors, so Great Southern inflated the returns to A\$4100 using its own funds. In December 2007 Young announced he would step down as managing director, remaining as both non-executive director and major shareholder. Saying that he wanted someone younger to implement the company's five-year business plans, he handed over to Cameron Rhodes, one of Great Southern's existing senior management team. In 2008, Great Southern had over 430 employees managing investment schemes on behalf of over 47 000 investors. Industry sectors in which investment occurred included beef cattle, forestry, wine grapes, almonds, and poultry production. Its plantation estate had grown to 179 000 hectares, the vast majority of which was for wood pulp production. As MIS sales declined from their 2006 peak, the Group's debt levels rose. By October 2008, business analysts Austock Securities were describing the company as "excessively geared". The Group developed a proposal, known as Project Transform, to restructure the business, in particular through seeking the agreement of investors to swap their MIS investments for shares in Great Southern Limited. The intention was to free up capital to reduce debt, and make the business more attractive to investors. Analysts such as Austock Securities and Macquarie Research Equities supported the strategy. The company reported a A\$64 million loss in its 2008 financial year. By 2009, the global economic downturn, and regulatory uncertainty associated with MIS schemes, was putting the company under financial pressure, and it was seeking to improve its situation both through asset sales and refinancing of debt. Its debt levels had risen significantly: it had extended its debt financing with its banks from A\$245 million to A\$350 million in 2007. By September 2008 its total debt had ballooned to A\$820 million, of which A\$376 million was owed to its lead bankers, ANZ, Commonwealth Bank, BankWest and Mizuho. Great Southern had also been hoping to see a rise in the price obtained for its woodchips, but was unsuccessful in its 2009 negotiations with Japanese customers. By early 2009, business analysts Lonsec Agribusiness Research considered Great Southern to be financially stressed, and that it was "hard to envisage a rapid turnaround in the outlook" for the company. They gave Great Southern as managers the second-lowest rating on their assessment scale, just short of stating that the investment would be "detrimental to an investor's...portfolio". Great Southern's banks refused a request in 2009 for a further \$35 million loan. Great Southern's attempts to extract itself from financial trouble were unsuccessful and by May 2009, when a trading halt was called, the company's shares were worth just 12 cents. On 16 May 2009 administrators were appointed under the Corporations Act 2001, with the companies' assets passing into control of receivers McGrathNicol on 18 May 2009. The assets of the group were primarily its land holdings. By the time it went into administration, they were valued at A\$1.8 billion, however, despite company expansion plans, its net assets had not grown for four years. In July 2009 the receivers determined that the company was insolvent. With a complex business structure to unravel, some commentators expect it may take years for the company's collapse to be fully resolved. By April 2010, timber company Gunns had taken over as the responsible entity running most of Great Southern's pulpwood schemes, but the land on which they were being grown was yet to be sold. Following its collapse, there was some speculation about whether Great Southern had disclosed to the market issues with the rate of return it was going to achieve on some of its timber investments. During parliamentary committee inquiries, these allegations were extended to the possibility that the auditors had been misled. It was also noted that, at the time that difficulties were emerging for Great Southern, its CEO sold some of his shares at the top of the companies' fortunes for \$32.6 million. One of Australia's other leading managed investment scheme companies, Timbercorp, had also gone into administration the previous month. The two corporate collapses prompted examination by three separate Parliamentary committee inquiries: the first by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services, into Agribusiness Managed Investment Schemes, which reported in September 2009; the second by the Senate Select Committee on Agricultural and Related Industries; and the third by the Senate Economics References Committee, " Agribusiness managed investment schemes – Bitter harvest"; published on 11 March 2016. In 2012, over 22,000 of Great Southern's investors commenced civil action suing for damages, claiming they had been misled by the company. ## Great Southern and the regulation of managed investment schemes (MIS) Great Southern and its nearest industry rival Timbercorp were estimated as having 43 per cent of all managed investment schemes (MIS) business in Australia. In contrast to other MIS industry participants, for which MIS activity is only a small part of their operations, managed investment schemes were 100 per cent of Great Southern Group and Timbercorp's business. Agribusiness MISs offer certain advantages to investors, dispersing investment risks across a large pool of investors and, through tax concessions, sharing those risks between the private investor and the taxpayer. The schemes were intended to overcome failures in the market for risk, and in the area of forestry reflect the fact that Australia has always subsidised plantation development. MIS schemes however have a long history of criticism. Reports from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) in 2000 and 2004 were reported to have found the schemes performed relatively poorly, in one case relating an analysis "of schemes offered to the public in 2002–03 [that] found that less than 10 per cent were sufficiently sound investments to warrant their recommendation". In 2006, another RIRDC report in 2006 observed: > Along with other studies, our analysis suggests that the MIS sector (but not all MIS) continues to perform poorly with respect to realistic or actual rates of return versus marketed rates. There are limited rights for investors. Issues arising from the large number and small economic size of the retail investor population and those arising from asymmetric information dominate the economics of MIS. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) was also reported to have identified issues with inadequate disclosure of information to potential investors, poor performance of the investments, and high management fees for agricultural MIS schemes. In 2003, the commission commented that it "has deployed a disproportionate percentage of its resources to the regulation of this sector, which represents only a minority of funds under management". In 2010 it commenced revision of disclosure rules, prompted by "recent turmoil in the agribusiness scheme sector". The Great Southern Group relied significantly on financial planners and accountants recommending their MIS products to investors. The company was paying commissions of ten percent – high by industry standards, and similar to those paid by other failed investment businesses including Westpoint Corporation and Storm Financial. It was also spending a lot of money on recruiting financial advisers to sell its products. One report indicated that A\$137 million was spent on "commissions, marketing and promotion in two years to 2008". Some accountants, with Great Southern's support, were recommending the agribusiness investment schemes, though they did not have a financial services licence; one report suggested over half of Great Southern's MIS sales were coming through accountants, often tax specialists from small practices. These practices had been questioned for several years by the corporate regulator ASIC and some market analysts, and were widely criticised following Great Southern's collapse. Some experts were critical of the lack of knowledge and expertise of the investment advisers recommending agroforestry MIS schemes. ### Taxation treatment of MIS schemes Crucial to the attractiveness to investors of all MIS schemes is their taxation treatment. The Australian government had for many years been encouraging agricultural and forestry investment schemes by allowing investors to claim up-front tax deductions of the costs of investment. Investors paid Great Southern a fee to lease plantation woodlots. Great Southern managed the woodlot, and the investor could deduct the cost of the lease from the income they declared that year for tax assessment purposes. The tax deductible status of the investment was widely regarded as the main attraction of MIS schemes to investors. The tax-driven nature of investment in the sector made it vulnerable to policy changes and court rulings interpreting tax law. Tax law reforms in the late 1990s resulting from a major review of tax policy (called the Ralph review) altered the way in which deductions could be claimed. These changes, together with company profit warnings, caused a decline in Great Southern's share price and its business prospects in 2000 and 2001. Although Great Southern survived the reforms, another company, Australian Plantation Timber, was driven into administration. In June 2001 a Senate committee report was critical of Australian Taxation Office (ATO) advice on forestry investments, and the ATO released a statement reassuring forest product investors that they had investment certainty. MIS schemes recovered in 2002, despite a further Senate Committee report critical of mass-marketed investment schemes, that recommended "that the government seek advice from both ASIC and the ACCC on the question of the adequacy of the current measures for monitoring the schemes market, with particular reference to agribusiness and franchise schemes". Throughout the mid-2000s, MIS schemes, including those of Great Southern, attracted increasing investment, driven by tax advantages. Tax benefits for investors that had been due to expire in June 2006 were extended in the Howard government's 2005 budget to June 2008, and Great Southern was one of the beneficiaries of the decision. Nevertheless, although Great Southern's business had continued to grow, the sector was unhappy about taxation uncertainty. The government moved to address this in 2007, through the Tax Laws Amendment (2007 Measures No.3) Bill 2007. Forest industry peak bodies, the National Association of Forest Industries, Tree Plantations Australia, Treefarm Investment Managers Australia and the Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council jointly supported the legislation, saying it would end "ten years of instability and uncertainty about the future ongoing taxation arrangements for retail forestry projects". Nevertheless, the bill attracted heated debate in the Parliament, and did not end taxation issues in the sector. In 2007, the ATO moved to end the up-front tax deductions for non-forestry MIS investments. This announcement was a disappointment to Great Southern, although only 30 per cent of its business at that stage was non-forestry MIS that would be affected by the ATO ruling. The ATO's ruling was overturned in 2008, however it had created significant investor and lender uncertainty. ## Great Southern and Australian politics Because Great Southern was involved in a controversial industry, it figured in policy debates throughout its life as a publicly listed company. At the centre of Great Southern's business was the development of new forest estates for commercial harvest. Australia's state and federal governments had agreed in 1992 to a National Forest Policy Statement, which included the goal of expanding Australia's plantation forests. On this foundation, in July 1996, the federal forests minister and his state and territory counterparts met and "endorsed the plantation industry's target of trebling the plantation estate from 1.1 million hectares to 3 million hectares by the year 2020". In October 1997 governments, the Australian Plantation Products and Paper Industry Council, the Australian Forest Growers, and the National Association of Forest Industries, jointly released Plantations for Australia: The 2020 Vision, known as "Plantations 2020". The federal minister for forests from 1998 to 2001, Wilson Tuckey, was a strong advocate of Plantations 2020. He also held the federal seat of O'Connor in Western Australia, which included much of the Great Southern region and significant areas of plantation forests. Tuckey and the forest industry had a close relationship, to the extent that the industry paid for newspaper advertisements that reproduced a letter from Tuckey, following critical coverage of forestry MIS schemes in the media. Great Southern also reproduced Tuckey's letter in their 2000 Annual Report. During the 2004 election year, Great Southern gave A\$20,000 to each of the governing Liberal and National Parties, as well as to the Labor opposition. In the lead up to the 2007 federal election, Great Southern made A\$40,000 of donations to the Labor opposition, including A\$10,000 two days after the release of the party's primary industries policy. After Labor won the election, Great Southern's managing director John Young spoke positively of the change in government and of Labor's willingness to review policy toward managed investment schemes. ## Environmental and land use issues In acquiring the Acacia mangium plantations of Sylvatech on the Tiwi Islands, Great Southern Group had taken on responsibility for an investment that, while supported by the local Tiwi Land Council, was opposed by environmental non-government organisations (NGOs) and some individuals on the Tiwi Islands. The concerns expressed by NGOs related to loss of biodiversity and to greenhouse gas emissions. Complaints were made that Great Southern Group's 2005 acquisition, Sylvatech, was conducting clearing and plantation activities in breach of environmental conditions set by the Commonwealth Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts. These complaints led to a departmental investigation and an agreement between the company and the government that recognised there had been inadvertent breaches of environmental conditions by the company, where forestry operations had intruded into zones designed to protect sensitive rainforests and wetland areas. The company was required to "fix all incursions into the rainforest and wetland buffers", post a bond to ensure the works were completed, and provide over three years toward the Tiwi Land Council's Indigenous Rangers Program, a group of Indigenous land management staff funded by the Tiwi Land Council and Great Southern to conduct environmental works, including weed management and monitoring threatened species. There had been criticism of MIS companies generally, and Great Southern Group (as the largest company in the sector) in particular, suggesting that their appetite for land for plantations and agribusiness was driving up land prices in some regions, and distorting some commodity markets. In 2004, Great Southern's leading competitor Timbercorp reported a rise in plantation land prices from around A\$3,000 to around A\$6,000 per hectare in just five years. The high demand for forestry MIS schemes led to plantations being expanded on to less suitable land, with timber growth and yield then falling below projections that were based on better quality plantations. Some farmers claimed that MIS were driving up prices in agricultural water markets. Opinion was also divided about whether the expansion of MIS properties in a region was causing shrinkage of towns or was, conversely, stimulating employment. ## Analysing the Group's failure Analysis of the MIS failures of Great Southern Group and Timbercorp focused on several factors. First, critics argued that some MIS investments resembled Ponzi schemes, where securing financial returns for existing investors relied on attracting new investors rather than on successful economic activity. Second, Great Southern Group's rapid expansion had been underpinned by high levels of debt, and in difficult economic circumstances in which new investment was diminishing and new borrowings were hard to obtain, that debt could not successfully be serviced. Third, some experts and Great Southern Group itself expressed concern that investor uncertainty caused by ATO rulings, and fuelled by reporting of taxation policy issues, had scared investors away from their MIS. This was a view that the Australian Taxation Office rejected, arguing that the administrators of both Timbercorp and Great Southern had not identified taxation uncertainty as an issue. Finally, a range of commentators considered that the MIS tax concessions were encouraging unsustainable business models, with companies focusing on selling the tax benefits of investments rather than focussing on profitable commodity production. This, it was argued, led them to underestimate business risks, overinflate land prices, and sell products at lower-than-optimal prices. The failure of MIS schemes for these reasons was predicted in 2008 by Ajani, who argued that "we know that investment driven by the demand for tax minimisation, and not market realities, is associated with collapse". The Australian Financial Review (AFR) had for years carried stories critical of managed investment schemes. An AFR story had prompted the letter, supporting the forest industries, from federal government minister Wilson Tuckey in 2000. When Great Southern collapsed, Tuckey was asked for comment by the Sydney Morning Herald. He said "Everyone thought [a plantation strategy] was a good idea at the time". He argued investors would probably not lose their money, but "shareholders and lenders could be in a bit of trouble". With both Great Southern Group and Timbercorp under administration, the AFR continued its editorial attack on government MIS policy. An AFR journalist wrote, "as a general rule, MIS industries are inherently doomed to fail both from an investment and a social good perspective ... Taxpayers should ... not be surprised that they continue to fall over". ## Great Southern Class Action In May 2011 more than 2,000 of the estimated 8,000 investors who lost money in the collapse of GSL took legal action seeking damages from Great Southern. They said the company did not disclose the risks associated with managed investment schemes and the company's poor financial performance. The action also sought to question Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Javelin Asset Management and Great Southern Finance as to why they issued loans to investors in Great Southern. The \$23 million settlement, flagged in July, resolves a class action by 2000 investors led by Macpherson and Kelley Lawyers and targeting Bendigo and Adelaide Bank's involvement in Great Southern's schemes. The class action had sought to void more than \$300 million of loans taken out with Bendigo and Javelin Asset Management to fund the schemes on the basis that investors were misled by Great Southern, which collapsed five years ago. The deed of settlement, however, confirms the loans are valid and enforceable, while waiving accrued penalty interest on overdue borrowings. About \$20 million of the \$23 million will be paid to Macpherson and Kelley Lawyers to cover its costs, with just \$3 million to be distributed among tens of thousands of investors who sunk nearly \$2 billion into Great Southern.

Adam DeBus

German-American baseball player (1892-1977)

Adam Joseph DeBus, Jr. (October 7, 1892 – May 13, 1977) was a German American professional baseball player whose career spanned three seasons, one of which was spent with the Major League Baseball (MLB) Pittsburgh Pirates (1917). Over his MLB career, DeBus, an infielder, compiled a .229 batting average with nine runs scored, 30 hits, five doubles, four triples, seven runs batted in (RBIs) and two stolen bases in 38 games played. Originally, Debus signed with the MLB St. Louis Cardinals out of the Northern League, but his contract was waived after never making an appearance. He then signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates and made his MLB debut on July 14, 1917, against the Brooklyn Robins. During his career, DeBus weighed 150 pounds (68 kg) and stood at 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm). He batted and threw right-handed. ## Early life Adam Joseph DeBus, Jr. was born on October 7, 1892, in Chicago to Josephine and Adam DeBus, Sr., both of Germany. Josephine DeBus, who came to the United States in 1882, became a naturalized citizen in 1931. Adam DeBus, Sr., who came to the United States in 1878 and was naturalized in 1887, worked as a cook in Chicago. Adam Joseph DeBus, Jr. was his parents' only child. He was raised to speak German. ## Baseball career DeBus' professional baseball career began in 1914 as a member of the minor league Green Bay Bays of the Class-C Wisconsin–Illinois League. He was under the management of Robert Lynch with the Green Bay club. Two of Debus' teammates on the Bays roster, Frank Scanlan and Joe Weiss, had experience in Major League Baseball (MLB) one time or another over their careers. On the season, DeBus compiled a .234 batting average with 91 hits, 14 doubles, three triples and three home runs in 108 games played. All of his 108 games were played at shortstop. His next professional baseball season came two seasons later in 1916 as a member of the minor league Fargo-Moorhead Graingrowers of the Class-C Northern League. The Graingrowers represented Fargo, North Dakota and Moorhead, Minnesota. Three of his teammates on the Graingrowers, Ralph Bell, Moxie Meixell and Bob Unglaub, were MLB players at one time in their careers. The Fargo-Moorhead club was managed by Bob Unglaub, who also played first base for the team. DeBus batted .284 with 96 hits in 100 games played. In 1917, DeBus re-signed with the Fargo-Moorhead Graingrowers. On July 2, he was sold by the Fargo-Moorhead club to the MLB St. Louis Cardinals. On July 11, DeBus was waived after never making an appearance with the club. He was then signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates and reported to the team in Brooklyn, New York. He made his MLB debut in the second game of a doubleheader on July 14, 1917, against the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbets Field. He was sixth in the Pirates batting order. In four at-bats against Brooklyn pitcher Rube Marquard, DeBus went hitless. His first MLB hit came on July 17 against Boston Braves pitcher Art Nehf. On July 20, The Pittsburgh Press wrote that DeBus was a "better than ordinary hitter" and that he could "field with the best of them". In August, it was reported that Pittsburgh manager Hugo Bezdek was pleased with the services of DeBus. The syndicated column "Diamond Dust" compared DeBus to former MLB player Art Devlin. His final MLB appearance came on September 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals. In two at-bats against St. Louis pitcher Oscar Horstmann, DeBus went hitless. On the season with the Pirates, he batted .229 with nine runs scored, 30 hits, five doubles, four triples, seven runs batted in (RBIs) and two stolen bases in 38 games played. Defensively, he played 21 games at shortstop and 18 games at third base. DeBus committed 19 errors, 92 assists and 61 putouts. He also converted 10 double plays. Despite initial success in impressing Pirates manager Hugo Bezdek, by the end of the season The Pittsburgh Press wrote that DeBus "[had] probably donned a Pirate uniform for the last time". ## Later life At the end of the 1917 baseball season, DeBus joined the United States Military to fight in World War I. He served with the 86th Infantry Division, and played with the division's baseball team. After his baseball career was over, he was working for an electrical company based in Chicago. By 1930, he was living with his parents in Chicago working as an electrical auto mechanic. On August 1, 1931, DeBus and his mother boarded the ocean liner SS Bremen in New York City to Germany. By 1942, DeBus was working for Stewart-Warner, a manufacturer of electrical automotive parts. DeBus died on May 13, 1977, in Chicago. He was buried at St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago.

A Thanksgiving Surprise

A Thanksgiving Surprise is a 1910 American silent short drama produced by the Thanhouser Company. The film follows Jack Clyde, a young man who lives a vain and idle life in the city with his rich friends. His wealthy uncle decides to test the morale character and has his lawyers announce his death and giving his fortune to charity. When Jack learns of his death, he is left penniless and is shunned by his friends, but assisted by the poor. Jack struggles to survive, but decides to host a Thanksgiving dinner for those poorer than himself. His uncle sees Jack has learned his lesson and secretly prepares a feast set while Jack sleeps. After the guest arrives, the uncle reveals himself and all ends well. The film was released on November 22, 1910, and was met with favorable reviews. The film is presumed lost. ## Plot Though the film is presumed lost, a synopsis survives in The Moving Picture World from November 26, 1910. It states: "Jack Clyde is a rich young fellow who has been brought up by his wealthy uncle in a small Western town. Jack decides that he wants to move to New York and is indulged in this whim by his uncle, who sends with the lad as valet a faithful old servant, who has his welfare at heart. In the city Jack rents expensive apartments, and leads a vain, idle life. Jack's uncle hears of his conduct and devises a scheme whereby he can make a thorough test of the boy. He instructs his lawyers to announce his death, that the entire fortune has gone to charity, and Jack has been left penniless. Jack is turned out of his rooms and shunned by his rich friends. Among the very poor, whom he formerly despised, he is treated as a comrade. They share with him their last crust, and he ends by marrying them, and falling in love with a humble little flower girl. Jack finally secures a situation as a porter in a hotel. His uncle discovers that he is planning to give a Thanksgiving dinner to all those poorer than himself and decides that Jack has learned his lesson. Jack brings to his poor room a few meager provisions that his week's salary has permitted him to buy. While waiting for his guests to arrive Jack goes to sleep. His uncle and the old servant who have been watching him closely, seize upon this opportunity to enter Jack's room and substitute for his poor meal a real Thanksgiving feast. The guests arrive, their host awakes, uncle returns, and Jack is assured that his prosperity is real and not a dream." ## Cast - Marie Eline likely as the newspaper boy. - Frances Gibson is claimed to be the flower girl, but this is disputed. - William Russell ## Production The writer of the scenario is unknown, but it was most likely Lloyd Lonergan. He was an experienced newspaperman employed by The New York Evening World while writing scripts for the Thanhouser productions. The film director is unknown, but it may have been Barry O'Neil or Lucius J. Henderson. Cameramen employed by the company during this era included Blair Smith, Carl Louis Gregory, and Alfred H. Moses, Jr. though none are specifically credited. The role of the cameraman was uncredited in 1910 productions. Marie Eline was cast in the film, likely as the newspaper boy. Eline had previously played a newspaper boy in Not Guilty. The role of the flower girl has been claimed to be Frances Gibson by an answer column in Motion Picture Story Magazine. This is disputable because Gibson is known only to have a single credit with the Thanhouser Company, in the 1912 release of Nicholas Nickleby. Around this time Gibson was appearing in Solax Studios productions. Both immediate before and after her only Thanhouser credit, Gibson was employed by Solax, leading Bowers to speculate that her appearance in that one film may have been as a special project. A different film still shows William Russell and opens the possibility of identifying the other actors. The other cast credits are unknown, but many 1910 Thanhouser productions are fragmentary. In late 1910, the Thanhouser company released a list of the important personalities in their films. The list includes G.W. Abbe, Justus D. Barnes, Frank H. Crane, Irene Crane, Marie Eline, Violet Heming, Martin J. Faust, Thomas Fortune, George Middleton, Grace Moore, John W. Noble, Anna Rosemond, Mrs. George Walters. ## Release and reception The single reel drama, approximately 1,000 feet long, was released on November 22, 1910. The drama film was sometimes labeled as a comedy by advertisers. The film had a wide national release and was shown in theaters in North Carolina, South Dakota, Washington, Kansas, Pennsylvania, California,. Though Hawaii was not yet a state, it was also shown as a new release in July 1912. The film was positively reviewed by critics. Walton of The Moving Picture News affirmed, stating that the film was a "...well-staged, naturally acted story with a lesson. There is pathos and stern reality mixed in with fidelity and anxiety, the whole making a story of entrancing and edifying power." The Moving Picture World summarized the film and remarked, "The contrasts in the delineation of human nature constitute the principal points of interest, and they are worked out with full appreciation of dramatic varieties. The implied false friends have a good many counterparts, and the way they are depicted here is too graphic to be misunderstood." The New York Dramatic Mirror took a swipe at Bison Pictures of the New York Motion Picture Company and the Powers Picture Plays by praising the camera posing of the film and acknowledging the acting of the flower girl to be well-portrayed. ## See also - List of American films of 1910

The Cookbook

The Cookbook is the sixth studio album by American rapper Missy Elliott, released on July 4, 2005, by The Goldmind Inc. and Atlantic Records in Germany and the United Kingdom, and on July 5 in the United States and Japan. Three singles were released from the album; the first, "Lose Control", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and charted well internationally. The second single, "Teary Eyed", was released on August 8, 2005, and failed to chart on any Billboard chart and charted low in other countries. The third single, "We Run This", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number forty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and charted moderately well internationally. The album received generally favorable reviews from critics. The album debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Album, ultimately losing to Kanye West's Late Registration. The music video for "Lose Control", directed by Dave Meyers won the Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. ## Background The title The Cookbook derived of Elliott feeling "no two records are going to sound alike; each record has its own spices and herbs. Each record is cooking up a hot recipe for a hot album." The black and white cover features Elliott posing with a vintage microphone in a 1920s juke joint. She explained the cover, saying, "I wanted people to see I was taking music back to the roots—not just hip hop, but our ancestors. Whether they was on railroad tracks or cooking in somebody's kitchen, they was always singing." In an interview with Billboard magazine, Elliott said, "I really do think this is my best album. I was in a really great space with this album. I wasn't in a great space with some of the other albums I've done." She went on to say, "I played Lil' Kim the album the other day, and she told me it was incredible and that there was not one song on it that she didn't like." ## Recording In January 2005, it was revealed Elliott had been working on a new album. Two months later, Ciara confirmed she would appear on the album, singing and rapping on the potential first untitled single at the time. Elliott worked on The Cookbook with such producers as the Neptunes, Rich Harrison and Scott Storch. The album included only two songs produced by Timbaland, who produced most or all songs on Elliott's previous albums. She explained, "Me and Tim, this like our sixth album, so if we go any further left, we gonna be on Mars somewhere. We've done everything it is to do. I think both of us came to a spot where we didn't know where to go with each other." She said Timbaland was very involved with the album, supporting or opposing certain producers. Elliott went on to say, "I was eight songs deep and I let Tim listen and he was like, 'Nah, you're going in the wrong direction. You trippin'.' I had to go back in the studio and come up with new records. [When he heard those], he was like, 'This is the Missy people are listening to.'" ## Singles The first, "Lose Control", was released on May 27, 2005, and peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, number six on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number two on the Billboard Pop 100. The single also peaked at number two on the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart and in the top ten in four other countries. A Dave Meyers-directed promotional video accompanied the song; it was the most played video on BET and MTV2 and second most played video in the United States. It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video, while the song itself received a nomination for Best Rap Song. The second single, "Teary Eyed", was released on August 8, 2005; it failed to chart except in Australia and Switzerland. The music video for the song was directed by Antti J. Jokinen and was filmed "like a movie". It features Elliott responding to a relationship that had gone wrong. The third single, "We Run This", was released on February 21, 2006, and peaked at number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Pop 100 and peaked in the top forty in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom. An edited version of the song was used as the theme song for the gymnastics-themed film Stick It, as well as for the music video, which was directed by Dave Meyers. The video features a cameo by gold-medalist Dominique Dawes as Elliott's gymnastics coach, with scenes from the film being used throughout the video. The song received a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. ## Critical reception The Cookbook received positive reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 28 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Rich Juzwiak of Stylus Magazine gave the album an A rating, stating "Her adventurous and, yes, massive, persona is allowed to wander wherever it wants on The Cookbook, be it avant or common." Alexis Petridis of The Guardian wrote, "The Cookbook is a convincing return to form.... Sounding as unique and startling and formidable as ever, Missy Elliott is clearly not a woman to be messed with." John Bush of AllMusic noted that "Elliott forces a few rhymes, plays to type with her themes, and uses those outside producers to follow trends in hip-hop.... What's different here is how relaxed Elliott is, how willing she seems to simply go with what comes naturally and sounds best." Q stated "If not Elliott's most inventive album, The Cookbook is certainly her most colourful and entertaining". However, Ben Sisario of Blender wrote, "For every killer raise-your-hands hook there is a snoozer of an SWV-esque torch ballad, and she can't seem to tell the difference." He went on to say, "Almost half the songs are treacly Kleenex soul ballads; even the titles...bring a cringe." Los Angeles Times writer Natalie Nichols found that "her souffle of hip-hop, soul, R&B, funk and dance music falls a bit flat". Rolling Stone's Brian Hiatt called The Cookbook Elliott's "least cohesive, most conventional album yet." Entertainment Weekly's Margeaux Watson viewed that "she's clearly lost without Timbaland", calling him "the main ingredient of her original flavor". Steve Horowitz of PopMatters noted that it "does have a few duds" and found some of the "offensive lyrics" as flaws, but wrote that "While not every cut is a winner, Elliott does a fairly consistent job of gaining the listener's attention through her outrageous lyrics and performance style". Pitchfork's Ryan Dombal found the album "Even more bipolar than usual", with Elliott "jolting from uber-hypeness to soul-crushing balladry. Fortunately, supported by an array of producers both grizzly and green, her invaluable unpredictability is alternately harnessed and given new life on this album, despite its uneven and transitional nature." Joan Morgan of The Village Voice complimented Elliott's "ability to capture the ain't-afraid-to-sweat flava" and stated "Elliott mines the best of hip-hop's old-school elements for throwback tracks that are engagingly sparse and elemental". In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, critic Robert Christgau gave The Cookbook an A− rating, indicating "the kind of garden-variety good record that is the great luxury of musical micromarketing and overproduction". Christgau called it a "benchmark album" and commented that "Elliott showcases the musical health of African American pop [...] Elliott's disinclination to give it up to gangsta's thrill cult or black pop's soft-focus porn, plus her proven ability to work a good beat when she gets one, leads her naturally to a collection that ebbs and flows, peaks and dips, and pokes fun at any canon of taste you got". The album was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album, but lost to Kanye West's Late Registration. ## Commercial performance The Cookbook debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in the first week of release. In its second week, the album dropped to number seven on the chart, selling an additional 65,000 copies. On September 15, 2005, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. As of November 2015, the album has sold 657,000 copies in the US. The Cookbook peaked in the top thirty in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. ## Track listing Sample credits - "Partytime" contains a sample from "Whammer Jammer" by the J. Geils Band - "Irresistible Delicious" contains a sample from "Lick the Balls" by Slick Rick - "Lose Control" contains a sample from "Clear" by Cybotron and "Body Work" by Hot Streak - "My Struggles" contains a sample from "What's the 411?" by Mary J. Blige - "We Run This" contains a sample from "Apache" by the Sugarhill Gang ## Personnel - June Ambrose – stylist - Marcella Araica – assistant engineer - Chris Brown – assistant engineer - Jay Brown – A&R - Greg Gigendad Burke – art direction, design - Warryn Campbell – producer - Vadim Chislov – assistant engineer - Andrew Coleman – engineer - Wyatt Coleman – engineer - Shondrae "Mister Bangladesh" Crawford – producer - Jimmy Douglass – mixing - Michael Eleopoulos – engineer - Missy Elliott – producer, executive producer - Paul J. Falcone – engineer, mixing - Gloria Elias Foeillet – make-up - Chris Gehringer – mastering - Serban Ghenea – mixing - Hart Gunther – assistant - Rich Harrison – producer - Iz – instrumentation - Eric Jensen – assistant engineer - Darrale Jones – A&R - Charlene "Tweet" Keys – background vocals - Keith Lewis – producer - Patrick Magee – assistant engineer - Kimberly Mason – coordination - The Neptunes – producer - Saint Nick – producer - Larry Sims – coordination - Southwest DeKalb – drums - Scott Storch – producer - Conrad "Con da Don" Golding – engineer - Aaron "Franchise" Fishbein – guitar - Timbaland – producer - Saint Warwick – photography - Rhemario Webber – producer - Rayshawn Woolard – assistant engineer ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Certifications ## Release history

Katharine Coman

American economist

Katharine Ellis Coman ((1857-11-23)23 November 1857 – (1915-01-11)11 January 1915) was an American social activist and professor. She was based at the women-only Wellesley College, Massachusetts, where she created new courses in political economy, in line with her personal belief in social change. As dean, she established a new department of economics and sociology. Among other admired works, Coman wrote The Industrial History of the United States and Economic Beginnings of the Far West: How We Won the Land Beyond the Mississippi. She was the first female statistics professor in the US, the only woman co-founder of the American Economics Association, and author of the first paper published in The American Economic Review. A believer in trades unionism, social insurance and the settlement movement, Coman travelled widely to conduct her research, and took her students on field trips to factories and tenements. She shared a home with poet Katharine Lee Bates. ## Early life Coman was born on 23 November 1857, to Martha Ann Seymour Coman (1826–1911) and Levi Parsons Coman (1826–1889) in Newark, Ohio. Her mother had graduated from an Ohio female seminary, and her father had been educated at Hamilton College, and thus Coman received much of her early education at home. She attended the University of Michigan for two years, left college to teach in Ottawa, Illinois for two years, and then returned to university. She earned a Bachelor of Philosophy (PhB) degree in 1880, one of only a handful of women to do so. She was influenced by the work of John Stuart Mill, which is evident in her later work as economist and historian. Coman attended lectures about socialism while traveling in London. Later in her career, she was influenced by Alfred Marshall (1890), Francis Amasa Walker (1883), and social Darwinism. While at the University of Michigan, Coman studied under Professors Charles Kendall Adams of the German Historical School; James Burrill Angell, then president of the university; and Henry Carter Adams, a renowned statistician. ## Wellesley College After earning her PhB, she joined the faculty at Wellesley College, a newly established private college for women in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Angell recommended her for the position, noting her talent for teaching. She first taught English rhetoric, and in 1881 became an instructor in history. In 1883, she was promoted to full professor of history. Because Coman believed that economics could address social problems, she urged the Wellesley administration to offer courses on the subject, and in 1883, she taught the college's first political economy class. Coman was the first American woman to teach statistics and Wellesley became the only American women's college to offer statistics courses before 1900. Coman developed and taught several new courses in economics, history, and rhetoric, including Statistical Study of Economic Problems, Industrial History of the United States, and Conservation of Our Natural Resources, all framed by sociological insights related to social justice. To teach students about the practicality of applying economic theory to real world economic and social problems, Coman escorted her students on field trips to Boston's tenement houses, labor union meetings, factories, and sweatshops. In 1885, at the age of 28, she became professor of history and economics. That same year, she turned down the offer of a position as dean of women at the University of Michigan, stating that she preferred to remain at Wellesley and continue teaching. She was acting dean from 1899 to 1900, during which time she established a new department of economics and sociology, becoming its head in 1900. According to historian Melinda Ponder, Coman was a popular teacher. Two of her students, Helen Frances Page Bates and Helen Laura Sumner Woodbury, were among the first American women to earn PhDs in economics. Woodbury is recognized as an important historian of labor and a noted economist, while Helen Bates became a noted social worker. She retired from full-time teaching at Wellesley in 1913, becoming professor emeritus. In writing about the farewell dinner held in her honor, the New York Times said: "Miss Coman has been so closely associated with the history and development of Wellesley for so long a time that her loss is felt very deeply by the whole college." Coman continued to research and write until her death in 1915. Coman's papers are held by the Wellesley College Archives. In 1921, the college established the Katharine Coman Professorship of Industrial History to honor her service. ## Notable works Coman and Elizabeth Kendall coauthored the 1902 book A Short History of England for School Use based on research that Coman conducted in England between 1886 and 1894. Coman published The Industrial History of the United States in 1910, the first industrial history of the United States. It was reprinted nine times before 1915. Her 1911 article, "Some Unsettled Problems of Irrigation," was the first article published in the newly formed journal The American Economic Review. Her 1912 work Economic Beginnings of the Far West: How We Won the Land Beyond the Mississippi was considered by contemporaneous scholars to be her magnum opus, and "one of the most important fruits of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching." The book outlined the economic history of the American West. In this work, Coman describes the historical economic processes that led to the Far West coming under the control of settlers. She found that settlers were more economically successful than explorers, traders, trappers, and indigenous peoples because the settlers built permanent settlements, reproduced at a higher rate, and established networks of collaboration. Settlement movement activist Jane Addams, a close friend, urged Coman to research social insurance programs in Europe in order to establish similar programs in the United States. Coman studied social insurance in England, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden, but poor health prevented her from continuing her research. Her manuscript, "Unemployment Insurance: A Summary of European Systems" was published after her death in 1915. ## Social activism Coman was passionate about social and economic issues, especially women's education, poverty, immigration, and labor. Throughout her life, she was active in social reform movements, especially the labor movement and the settlement movement. She served as the president of the electoral board and chair of the standing committee of the National College Settlements Association in 1900. Coman organized a group of immigrant women who worked in Boston sweatshops, naming the group an "Evening Club for Tailoresses," and attempted to found a tailor shop that could have been an alternative to sweatshops. She assisted in organizing the 1910 Chicago garment workers' strike, which involved 40,000 factory workers. Coman also worked with the Women's Trade Union League. Working with her economist and sociologist friend Emily Greene Balch and other women, Coman co-founded Denison House in 1892, a college women's settlement house located in Boston, serving as its first chair. Denison House provided a center for Boston's labor activists, and is thought to be the first settlement house on the East Coast. ## Personal life For 25 years, Coman lived in a "Boston marriage" with Wellesley professor and poet Katharine Lee Bates, the author of "America the Beautiful". Such partnerships were so common among Wellesley faculty that they were called "Wellesley marriages". Coman and Bates shared a house they named "the Scarab" with Bates' mother, Cornelia, and her sister, Jeannie. The women reportedly enjoyed life together as family. Coman frequently traveled for her research on economic history; she visited Europe, the American West, Scandinavia, and Egypt. Bates accompanied her on many of these trips. Some scholars believe the two women were a lesbian couple. ## Breast cancer and death Coman first discovered a lump in her left breast in the fall of 1911 and underwent two surgeries in the following months. At the time, medical doctors did not understand the nature of breast cancer, its causes or its treatments, so the prognosis for Coman was poor. Coman died at home in January 1915 at the age of 58. At the time of her death, Coman was working on an industrial history of New England. During Coman's illness, friends of her and Bates—many of them also in "Wellesley marriages"—took Coman out for walks and visits, and invited her to stay at their country homes. They prepared meals for Coman and Bates, brought flowers and fresh vegetables, and performed tasks and services to keep Coman's spirits up. Bates chronicled Coman's illness in her diary, noting hospital visits, surgical procedures, and details about Coman's pain and suffering. According to cancer historian Ellen Leopold, in the days after Coman's death, Bates wrote a memorial to her that was designed to be circulated privately among the women's close friends and family. Leopold believes that the book, For Katharine Coman's Family and Innermost Circle of Friends, is the first breast cancer narrative in American literature. Near the end of Coman's life, the two women exchanged loving farewells through reciting poems and psalms to each other. Several years after Coman's death, Bates continued to mourn and to recall Coman's suffering. In 1922, Bates published a book of poems about Coman's illness, Yellow Clover: A Book of Remembrance. The book's title emerged from the fact that the "two Katharines," as the women were known, would send each other sprigs of yellow clover as tokens of affection. ## Assessment A review of Coman's book Economic Beginnings of the Far West: How We Won the Land Beyond the Mississippi (1912) in the San Francisco Chronicle stated that "the author is one of those new women who have shown what may be accomplished in the way of research by method and industry and a great deal of enthusiasm." In a 1913 review of her book, economist Thomas Nixon Carver praised Coman's narrative style and lively prose. Also writing in 1913, economist Frederic Paxson criticized the book, arguing that there were factual errors and inaccurate citations, and that the data for the book were already widely available in university research libraries. Paxson does credit Coman with having prepared an extensive bibliography and for providing extensive notes. The two-volume book is today hailed as a classic and was reprinted twice; Macmillan in 1925, and Kelly in 1969. The University of Michigan "Naming Project" notes that she was one of the first historians to use local newspaper articles and government documents as primary sources in her teaching and writing. Gerald F. Vaughn, a contemporary economist writing in 2004, proposes that Coman was America's first female institutional economist. Vaughn notes other important facts about Coman that frame her as a pioneer for women academics, including the fact that at the time, the discipline and profession of economics was dominated by men. She was the only woman among the group of economists who founded the American Economic Association in 1885 and she was the first American woman to become a statistics professor. Vaughn notes that her contributions to economics and social history went beyond being the "first woman," for example writing the first article to be published in The American Economic Review and authoring the first industrial history of the US. Coman's extensive work on the processes of institutional change in the American West made her an influential industrial historian and The Industrial History of the United States was widely used as a textbook for decades. In 2011, The American Economic Review commemorated its first hundred years by publishing a list of the top twenty articles in the journal's history. Coman's 1911 article "Some Unsettled Problems of Irrigation," published in 1911, was the first article published by the journal and was reprinted in the 2011 issue. The article analyzed water rights, access, and availability. Also in this issue of The American Economic Review, economist Gary D. Libecap noted that Coman's work continued to be relevant, particularly for scholars interested in the economics of climate change. Elinor Ostrom, an American political economist, believes that Coman's article continues to provide "insight into the problems of collective action related to irrigation in the American West." ## Selected publications ### Books - (reprinted 1908, 1911, 1914) - (reprinted in 1906, 1907, 1908; revised 1910; reprinted 1912, 1918, 1973) - (reprinted 1925; 1969) ### Articles - Coman, Katharine. (1911). "Some Unsettled Problems of Irrigation." The American Economic Review 1(1): 1–19. Reprinted in 2011 as The American Economic Review 101: 36–48.

Industry City

Historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex in Brooklyn, New York

Industry City (also Bush Terminal) is a historic intermodal shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex on the Upper New York Bay waterfront in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The northern portion, commonly called "Industry City" on its own, hosts commercial light manufacturing tenants across 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m²) of space between 32nd and 41st Streets, and is operated by a private consortium. The southern portion, known as "Bush Terminal", is located between 40th and 51st Streets and is operated by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) as a garment manufacturing complex. Founded by Bush Terminal Company head Irving T. Bush in the early 20th century, Bush Terminal was the first facility of its kind in New York City and the largest multi-tenant industrial property in the United States. The warehouses were built circa 1892–1910, the railroad from 1896 to 1915, and the factory lofts between 1905 and 1925. During World War I, Bush Terminal was used as a United States Navy base, though it returned to private ownership after the war. At its peak, Bush Terminal covered 200 acres (81 hectares), bounded by Gowanus Bay to the west and north, Third Avenue to the east, 27th Street to the north, and 50th Street to the south. The surrounding area entered a period of decline after World War II, and by the 1970s, the ports in Bush Terminal had been filled. The entire complex was rebranded as Industry City during the post-war years, though the Bush Terminal name remained in popular use. In the 1970s and 1980s, sections of Bush Terminal were demolished or converted into other uses, including a shopping mall, a federal prison, a privately operated manufacturing and commercial complex, and a garment manufacturing district operated by the NYCEDC. Today, the Bush Terminal site collectively comprises roughly 71 acres (29 ha), including sixteen former factory buildings and eleven warehouses between built in the early 20th century. Starting in the 2010s, the complex has been undergoing renovations and expansions. A major expansion of Industry City, which would add 3,000,000 square feet (280,000 m²) of space to the complex, was announced in 2017. The section of Bush Terminal operated by the NYCEDC is also undergoing a renovation into the "Made in NY" campus, a film, TV, and fashion manufacturing complex that is set to open in 2020. ## Description The privately owned Industry City complex covers sixteen structures and 35 acres (14 ha) of land on the Brooklyn waterfront, adjacent to New York Harbor. It is subdivided into eight former factory buildings between Second Avenue, 33rd Street, Third Avenue, and 37th Street, numbered 8 to 1 from north to south. An additional two buildings, numbered 19 and 20, occupy the block bounded by First Avenue, Second Avenue, 39th Street, and 41st Street. The structures contain a combined 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m²) of floor space. All of the buildings were part of the Bush Terminal Company's "Industrial Colony", which was built in the late 1900s and early 1910s. Directly south of Industry City, between First Avenue, 40th Street, Second Avenue, and 51st Street, is a collection of eleven former warehouses operated by the NYCEDC as part of the Bush Terminal manufacturing complex. These structures were developed by the South Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation starting in 1989. The campus comprises 36 acres (15 ha) of land and 1,400,000 square feet (130,000 m²) of renovated floor space. The entire complex was originally called Bush Terminal and formerly stretched further north to 28th Street. The section north of 32nd Street, comprising the former Naval Fleet Supply Base, is no longer part of Bush Terminal. One of the buildings between 29th and 31st Street, called Federal Building No. 2, are a privately owned shopping complex called Liberty View Industrial Plaza. It was bought by Salman Properties in 2011, and before that, it had been vacant since 2000. The site of the other structure, Federal Building No. 1, is occupied by Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn (MDC Brooklyn), which was built in the 1990s. Federal Building No. 1 was demolished in 1993 to make way for MDC Brooklyn. The South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, also owned by the NYCEDC, occupies the waterfront to the north and west, from 39th to 29th Streets. ### Factory lofts By 1918, the Bush Terminal Company owned 3,100 feet (940 m) of waterfront in Brooklyn, and the terminal covered 20 waterfront blocks. The complex ultimately encompassed sixteen factory buildings between 28th and 37th Streets, and between 39th and 41st Streets. The buildings were outfitted with the most modern amenities available in the 1900s and 1910s, such as fireproof metal facades and a fire sprinkler system. The floors of each loft building could carry loads of up to 200 pounds per square foot (980 kg/m²). The loft buildings had a combined 150 freight elevators. They were mostly U-shaped to facilitate loading at the rail sidings located in between the two wings of each building. By the 1970s, the facility's buildings had 263,740 window panes in their walls and 138 miles (222 km) of fire sprinklers running within them. #### Bush Terminal Company Building Industry City includes the Bush Terminal Company Building (now Buildings 19 and 20), a loft structure located on Second Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets. Construction on the building started around 1911, It was eight stories tall with three distinct buildings connected in U-shaped manner. The primary structure possessed a common courtyard with wings. The structure had a frontage of 460 feet on the west side of Second Avenue. Its wings ran westward from Second Avenue along 39th Street and 40th Street. It extended 335 feet each to a private street located off the bulkheads. The court measured 210 feet by 55 feet. The property on which the edifice was erected was purchased in part from the New York Dock Company for \$30 million. The building's completion was part of a plan long contemplated by the Bush Terminal Company's president, Irving T. Bush. Its construction coincided with an improvement in the industrial region between First and Second Avenues. The Bush Terminal Company erected structures like this on both sides of Second Avenue. ### Railroad The Bush Terminal Railroad Company owned about twenty miles (32 km) of track within the terminal by 1917, which had grown to 43 miles (69 km) of track by 1950. The terminal's railroad greatly reduced shippers' cost to haul freight from their facilities to a rail yard. The rail yard could hold about 1,000 freight cars and was six blocks long. The terminal also owned two miles (3.2 km) of double-tracked electric railroad that ran on the streets along Brooklyn's waterfront. The tracks ran along Second Avenue from 28th to 41st Streets and along First Avenue from 41st to 64th Streets, with spurs into every factory building and into the Brooklyn Army Terminal at 58th Street. Eventually, Bush Terminal could handle 50,000 freight railcars at a time. The tracks connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad's New York Connecting Railroad at 65th Street, south of the Brooklyn Army Terminal. There was also a direct connection to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company's trackage at 39th Street, which is now operated by the South Brooklyn Railway. Around 1913, there were plans to extend the railroad northward along the Brooklyn waterfront via the "Marginal Elevated Railway". The railroad would have used an elevated viaduct, similar to the High Line in Manhattan, between Bush Terminal and the piers at Fulton Ferry Landing (now Brooklyn Bridge Park) in Brooklyn Heights. However, this marginal railroad was never built. In addition, the Bush Terminal Company ran a car float operation in which freight cars were loaded aboard car-float barges with railroad tracks, which traveled across New York Harbor to and from car float piers in New Jersey. The company had a fleet of tugboats specifically for car floats, each with three crews. Each tug pulled three or four car-float barges, which each measured 277 by 41 feet (84 by 12 m) and could hold up to 17 freight cars at a time. By 1957, two tugboats were still operating, both of which dated to 1905 and 1906. ### Piers and storage In its most active years, the Bush Terminal/Industry City complex contained seven covered piers, which each extended over 1,200 feet (370 m) into New York Harbor. Each pier measured 1,400 by 150 feet (427 by 46 m), and contained a railroad track for loading freight onto ships. Adjacent to each pier were slips that measured 270 feet (82 m) wide by 40 feet (12 m) deep, large enough to accommodate container ships at the time. Twenty-five steamship lines used these piers, and by 1910, Bush Terminal handled 10 percent of all steamships arriving in New York. Once freight was offloaded from vessels or ready for shipment, it could be stored within one of the warehouses at Bush Terminal. Estimates varied as to the number of warehouses at Bush Terminal. According to The New York Times, the complex had 118 warehouses by 1918, ranging in height from one to eight stories, which could store a combined 25,000,000 cubic feet (710,000 m³) of goods. However, The Wall Street Journal described the terminal later that year as having 121 warehouses with 38,000,000 cubic feet (1,100,000 m³) of total storage space, and a 1920 article in the Bush Company's magazine mentioned that the complex had 122 warehouses. The warehouses were used to store both raw and manufactured goods from Manhattan, in addition to materials offloaded from incoming ships and merchandise headed for distribution. The Bush Terminal Company also maintained a fleet of four steam lighters and seven tugboats that carried goods between the terminal and piers in Manhattan. By 1920, distribution was controlled from an 8-story steel-and-concrete service building at 39th Street west of Second Avenue. The building had two levels of railroad tracks, one for incoming freight and one for outgoing freight, and each level could accommodate six freight cars. ### Historic operations When the complex was known as Bush Terminal, it offered economies of scale for its tenants, so that even the smallest interests could use facilities normally only available to large, well-capitalized firms. An article published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1940 mentioned that tenants took up anywhere between 5,000 to 130,000 square feet (460 to 12,080 m²) of space. During the 1910s, advertisements for Bush Terminal were posted in newspapers such as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, claiming that companies could have private railroad tracks, a "free waterfront," and "a million-dollar factory at your present rental or less", and that the complex covered over 200 acres (81 ha) of land. Other advertisements depicted companies moving to Bush Terminal in large numbers, "boosting" Brooklyn. Bush Terminal employed 35,000 by 1928, and even had a private court system for self-policing. There were four tribunals; one each for marine employees, railroad workers, trucking employees, and mechanical employees. These handled both civil cases, such as those for job demotions seen as unfair, and criminal cases, such as those for fraud. There was also a "supreme court" that handled disputes between departments, and employees were allowed to appeal cases directly to Irving Bush. The terminal also had a "Pivot Club", which was composed of longshoremen who met twice a week to draft legislation. Bush Terminal had two coal-and-oil power plants for steam and light. There was a hall for longshoremen, a bank, restaurants, and a trolley system to provide transportation for workers. An administration building was constructed circa 1895–1902, There was a police force and fire department, as well as a mailbox for airmail. A chamber of commerce for Bush Terminal, created in June 1916, successfully advocated for improvements to the area, such as infrastructure and quality of life cleanup. Other amenities provided at Bush Terminal included social clubs, schools, and community centers. ## History ### Concept and beginnings Industry City was originally known as Bush Terminal, which was named after Irving T. Bush. His family name came from Jan Bosch, who was born in the Netherlands and immigrated to New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1662; it is unrelated to the Bush political family. Bush Terminal was unique from other rail-marine terminals in New York due to its distance from Manhattan, the magnitude of its warehousing and manufacturing operations, and its fully integrated nature. Wholesalers in Manhattan faced expensive time, transportation, and labor costs when importing and then re-sending goods. In 1895, Irving T. Bush—working under his family's company, the Bush Company—organized six warehouses and one pier on the waterfront of South Brooklyn as a freight-handling terminal. There had only been one warehouse on the Bush Terminal site in 1890. Before that, the land contained an oil refinery belonging to the Bush & Denslow company of Rufus T. Bush, Irving T. Bush's father. Standard Oil bought this refinery in the 1880s and dismantled it, but after Rufus T. Bush's death in 1890, Irving T. Bush later bought the land back using his father's inheritance. In 1891, the Bush Company completed a one-story office building at the intersection of First Avenue and 42nd Street. Irving Bush built six warehouses on the site between 1895 and 1897, but soon observed their inefficiency: "The ships were on one shore, the railroads on another, and the factories were scattered about the city on any old street without any relation to either kind of transportation. I thought: 'Why not bring them to one place, and tie the ship, the railroad, the warehouse, and the factory together with ties of railroad tracks?'" The terminal in its early days was derided as "Bush's Folly". Railroad officials would not ship directly to Brooklyn unless the customers first had orders of freight, as it required the extra cost of loading freight cars on car floats for the trip across New York Harbor to the ferry slips at the terminal. Railroad officials also feared that the harbor might freeze during the winter, making a car float unsustainable. Irving T. Bush resorted to sending an agent to Michigan with instructions to buy 100 carloads of hay, then to attempt to have the hay sent in its original railcar to Bush's terminal in Brooklyn. Railroad companies in the eastern U.S. declined their western agents' request to send the hay until the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad agreed to accept the offer and negotiate directly with the new terminal, after which other railways followed. To demonstrate that ocean vessels could dock at the piers, Irving T. Bush leased ships and entered the banana business, and in doing so, made a profit. Likewise, to induce businesses to store goods at his terminal's warehouses, he warehoused coffee and cotton himself. Once Bush Terminal succeeded and expanded, sources credited Bush's "keen foresight" for undertaking such a "quixotic" business venture. ### Expansion #### 1900s and 1910s The Bush Company purchased an additional plot of land from the Hunt family in 1901, spanning between 41st and 50th Streets. At the time, the company already operated properties at the western ends of 41st and 42nd Streets, facing the waterfront. The Bush Company terminal business became the Bush Terminal Company in 1902 when Irving T. Bush bought the land from the Standard Oil Co. The same year, the Bush Terminal Company started grading land on the former Hunt estate. It was ultimately planning to construct 18 factory loft buildings and 73 warehouses, as well as seven piers. The first pier opened in May 1903. Significant progress had been made by 1905: five of the piers were complete, and the Bush Terminal Company owned ten of the twelve blocks of waterfront between 39th and 51st Streets, as well as the plot bounded by Second Avenue, Third Avenue, 37th Street, and 28th Street. A sixth pier was completed within two years. By this time, the shipping industry in Manhattan was becoming congested. By early 1909, three of the factory structures had been completed, and a fourth was under construction. Each building was six stories tall, measured 600 by 75 feet (183 by 23 m), and had 270,000 square feet (25,000 m²) of floor area. The complex was convenient enough for industries that the first two buildings had been fully rented before they had even been completed. The Bush Terminal Company also arranged to lease a tenement structure at Third Avenue and 29th Street to house workers employed at Bush Terminal. It was expected that by the time fifteen to twenty of the factories were completed, Bush Terminal would employ 10,000 to 15,000 workers. Plans for a fifth and sixth factory building were announced in mid-1909, with the same dimensions as the existing factory structures. Early tenants included those in the printing and paper industries, and many of these tenants would remain through the 1950s. In 1912, Irving Bush proposed that the city buy the Bush Terminal Company's piers, since the city had desired to purchase the company's waterfront land. Later that year, the New York City Board of Estimate received a proposal for the city to establish a freight terminal on the Brooklyn waterfront between 36th and 43rd Streets, and purchase that stretch of land from the Bush Terminal Company, as well as the Bush Terminal railroad and the entirety of Bush Terminal at the time. Under the plan, the existing Bush Terminal, the railroad, and the new city-owned terminal would continue to be operated by the Bush Terminal Company. That September, a special committee for the Board of Estimate approved the plan. However, the New York Merchants Association opposed the city's proposal to purchase Bush Terminal, because the Bush Terminal Company would then have a monopoly on the railroads along the Brooklyn waterfront. The city's commissioner of docks, Calvin Tomkins, also opposed the proposal because of concerns over a private monopoly, and because the Board of Estimate's special committee had ignored his original proposals. By 1917, Bush Terminal had 26,500,000 cubic feet (750,000 m³) of storage spread across 102 warehouses. The Bush Terminal Company had built 16 factory loft buildings with a combined floor area of 4,500,000 square feet (420,000 m²). #### Use by Navy during World War I On December 31, 1917, the United States Navy announced that it would take over the piers and warehouses of the Bush Terminal Company. Major General George Goethals, acting Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army, praised Bush Terminal as being among the best shipping facilities in the United States. The Navy proposed to build 6,000,000 square feet (560,000 m²) of storage space and four piers adjoining Bush Terminal. The United States Army also occupied warehouses within part of Bush Terminal, but it proposed to vacate that space so the Navy could use it. The U.S. Navy wanted to outright purchase Bush Terminal, and it was soon in negotiations with the Bush Terminal Company over the terminal's valuation. In June 1918, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and eventual President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote to Irving Bush to tell him that the navy would also be commandeering four of Bush Terminal's twelve manufacturing buildings. As a result, 64 manufacturers employing 4,500 people were ordered to vacate their spaces by the end of 1918. The eviction notice covered 276 total tenants in buildings 3, 4, 5, and 6. Although Bush reluctantly complied with the takeover, the Merchants' Association protested because the takeover would eliminate the jobs of a large workforce. Many companies at Bush Terminal also pushed back against the eviction order, citing the amenities at the terminal. The Bush Terminal Company recorded material losses the next year. The U.S. Navy tied its rail lines into those of the Bush Terminal. Irving Bush helped to design Bush Terminal's southern neighbor, the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which was completed in 1919. Because of the railroad connection between Bush Terminal and the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and then to the mainland U.S. via the New York Connecting Railroad, the U.S. Navy wanted to operate the Bush Terminal for the duration of the war, paying a fee for the takeover. The piers of the terminal became part of the United States Army's New York Port of Embarkation. At the war's end the New York Port of Embarkation included eight piers in Brooklyn, including six Bush Terminal piers and two Army Supply Base piers; 120 Bush Terminal warehouses; twelve piers and seven warehouses in Hoboken, New Jersey; and three piers in the North River, Manhattan. A 1929 article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle mentioned that during World War I, Bush Terminal handled about 70% of the ammunition, clothing, and food that went to American soldiers abroad. The federal government quietly returned Bush Terminal to private ownership after the war. It paid out claims to the Bush Terminal Company for the use of the terminal space, though the last of the funds was not allocated until 1943, twenty-five years after takeover. In October 1919, the Bush Terminal Company announced the creation of a department for sporting-goods manufacturers at Bush Terminal. The company was designated with selling off excess cloth from the Army and Navy, which were considered war surplus. ### Zenith #### 1920s The twelve factory loft buildings that had been built by 1918 housed about 300 companies. By the end of World War I, Bush Terminal was an integral part of the economy of what is now Sunset Park. The terminal's fortunes rose with those of the borough of Brooklyn, which had over 2.5 million residents by 1930. Bush Terminal employed thousands directly and many thousands more worked for firms within Bush Terminal. By 1928, Bush Terminal had 35,000 workers, and it was so large that the terminal employed its own court system, as well as a police force and fire department. World War I had halted expansion projects at Bush Terminal, and construction on these projects did not resume until 1926. In March 1927, the Bush Terminal Company completed 600,000 square feet (56,000 m²) of new industrial space at Bush Terminal, bringing the amount of factory loft space to 5,600,000 square feet (520,000 m²). By that time, the company was constructing two additional loft buildings, which would increase the factory loft space by 10%, as well as power plant at Bush Terminal. A branch of National City Bank (now Citibank) inside the terminal was opened the same year, as did a playground near the terminal. #### Other Bush Terminal Company buildings Early in the 20th century, the Bush Terminal Company commissioned architects Kirby, Petit & Green to design its headquarters building in Manhattan's Financial District at 100 Broad Street, near the intersection with Pearl and Bridge Streets. The relatively small yet notable five-story office building was located on the site of Manhattan's first church, built in 1633, and one book described the structure as having a "Gothic design with a strong flavor of Dutch." The company also funded construction of Bush Tower, a 30-story skyscraper near Times Square in Manhattan, where tenants of Bush Terminal were offered display space to showcase their goods, above a club for buyers visiting New York. The Bush Terminal Company attempted a similar melding of commercial displays and social space at Bush House in London, built in three phases during the 1920s, but the concept was not fully carried through at that project. #### Great Depression and World War II Despite the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, the Bush Terminal Company was initially unaffected. In early 1930, Irving Bush created a new subsidiary, the Bush Services Corporation, which would allow small manufacturers in Bush Terminal to sell directly to manufacturers, thus eliminating the need for wholesalers as middlemen. Later that year, a direct seaplane route was established between Bush Terminal and Philadelphia. In 1931, in advance of a projected increase in business, the Bush Terminal Company planned to purchase \$500,000 million worth of equipment, including eight electric train locomotives. To help potential tenants and customers find Bush Terminal more easily, wayfinding signs for the terminal were installed in the 36th Street subway station. A park at the site of an abandoned dumping ground was announced in 1934, and the Bush Terminal Company bought a fleet of new trucks for Bush Terminal the same year. In mid-March 1933, seven members of the Bush Terminal Company's board suddenly quit, citing past mismanagement. The Bush Terminal Company went into receivership two weeks afterward, on April 1, 1933, due to an inability to repay its outstanding bonds. A new 11-person board of directors was appointed for the duration of receivership. The receivers started cutting costs, and by May, had eliminated \$100,000 in expenses. In May 1935, the receivers removed Bush as the president of the Bush Terminal Company and subsidiaries. Shortly afterward, Bush unsuccessfully sued in Brooklyn federal court to have the receivers removed based on an accusation of incompetence. That November, stockholders filed a petition in Brooklyn federal court to reorganize the Bush Terminal Company, since the company was bankrupt. The reorganization was granted by Brooklyn federal judge Robert Alexander Inch. The company exited receivership on May 1, 1936. However, equity proceedings against the Bush Terminal Company were still pending, and in April 1937, the Bush Terminal Buildings Company filed for reorganization under a court order from Inch. Legal disputes between Bush and the trustees continued, including a libel suit filed by the trustees against Bush that later had to be re-litigated. Operations at the terminal itself continued relatively unaltered through the 1930s. However, vacancy rates reached as high as 35% during the Depression. The United States Postal Service decided to relocate the area's post office out of Bush Terminal in 1934 because the rent was too high. At some point, the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Coast Guard also occupied space in Bush Terminal. In 1938, after lithographers signed leases for nine buildings in Bush Terminal, the Bush Terminal Company announced that the leased buildings would receive extensive renovations. The federal government, whose Works Progress Administration stored supplies such as clothing in warehouses at Bush Terminal, was another large tenant. Other large tenants included the Monarch Wine Company, which leased three buildings at Bush Terminal in 1939, and spice companies such as the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (now A&P), whose Bush Terminal tea-packing plant was once the world's largest. By 1941, ninety percent of the rentable space at Bush Terminal had been leased, and 69 of 70 one-story buildings had been rented. During World War II, some buildings in Bush Terminal were again used by the federal government, which used 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m²) of storage space at the terminal. In mid-1941, the U.S. Army moved some civilian workers into more than 500,000 square feet (46,000 m²) at Bush Terminal, spread across three buildings along First Avenue, because there was no more space at Brooklyn Army Terminal. Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1944 presidential campaign tour around New York City, which occurred in October 1944, started at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and Bush Terminal. ### After World War II Sunset Park began to suffer economic decline during the Great Depression, which worsened with the demolition of the Fifth Avenue Elevated. Bush Terminal and the Sunset Park waterfront were disconnected from the rest of the neighborhood by the 1941 construction and subsequent widening of the Gowanus Expressway (Interstate 278) above Third Avenue. After the war, "white flight", the maritime industry's move to New Jersey, and the 1966 deactivation of the Brooklyn Army Terminal also hurt the neighborhood until it was reopened as an industrial park in the 1980s. However, Bush Terminal still remained active around this time, although it was smaller compared to before World War II. The opening of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in 1950 gave Bush Terminal and the surrounding area a direct link to Manhattan, which was seen as a benefit to the area's economy. #### Late 1940s and early 1950s In 1946, the administration of Mayor William O'Dwyer proposed building a food-produce market at Bush Terminal. The existing Brooklyn Terminal Market in Canarsie, Brooklyn, was too far away from convenient railroad connections, and the Bush Terminal market would compete with the Bronx Terminal Market in the Bronx, which was close to rail connections. However, the proposal to build a market at Bush Terminal was controversial among merchants because it would take profits away from the Brooklyn Terminal and Bronx Terminal Markets, as well as from the Washington Terminal Market in Manhattan, and it was ultimately not built. Irving T. Bush died in 1948. In his will, he stipulated that all Bush Terminal profits that went to him would go to a trust fund for one of his nieces. Bush was succeeded by A.P. Timmerman as chairman of Bush Terminal Company, and by J.L. Hanigan as president of the company. A statue to him was dedicated in 1950 at Bush Terminal's administration building. By that year, the Bush Terminal Company only employed about 700 people, though about 40,000 people either were directly supported by jobs at Bush Terminal or lived nearby. The company had 300 manufacturing tenants spread across 120 buildings. In 1951, the Bush Terminal Company's real-estate, shipping, and industrial divisions were merged with the real-estate company Webb and Knapp, though the Bush Terminal Buildings Company remained separate. As part of the merger, \$5 million in improvements was proposed for Bush Terminal, and the management of the Bush Terminal Company was allowed to continue operating as normal. It was around this time that the president of the Bush Terminal Buildings Company, R.A.P. Walker, started advertising the terminal's buildings in newspapers as "Industry City". The Industry City name was a reference to Bush Terminal becoming one of the first industrial parks in the United States following World War II. After the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel opened, the area around Industry City became so congested with traffic that, in 1953, the vice president of the Bush Terminal Merchants' and Manufacturers' Association proposed traffic improvements in the area. By Industry City's 50th anniversary in 1955, it employed 25,000 workers working for over 100 companies, and 25 tenants occupied 41% of the 6 million square feet at the complex. More than three-quarters of the tenants, 78%, had been at Bush Terminal for more than ten years, and 10% had occupied space there for more than 40 years. Major tenants included A&P, which roasted much of its coffee at industry City; Beech-Nut, which made candy and chewing gum; Virginia Dare, which made wine and flavoring extract; and two of the largest olive-oil producers in the U.S., according to The New York Times. On December 3, 1956, Industry City was the site of what might have been the largest explosion in New York City history. Dockworkers were using an oxyacetylene torch to perform routine maintenance work when, at about 3:15 p.m. that day, sparks ignited 26,365 pounds (11,959 kg) of ground foam rubber scrap. Employees abandoned initial efforts to control the blaze; twenty-six minutes later, the fire reached 37,000 pounds (17,000 kg) of Cordeau Detonant Fuse, setting off an explosion. Earlier in the day, the burlap bags holding an additional 11,415 pounds (5,178 kg) of rubber scrap had broken, and investigators believed that pieces of the highly inflammable scrap had been strewn across the dock. The blast resulted in 10 deaths, including that of a man standing 1,000 feet (300 m) away; 274 injuries; and "major destruction" in a 1,000-foot (300 m) radius, including broken windows in buildings up to 1 mile (1.6 km) away. People reported hearing the explosion as far as 35 miles (56 km) away. However, none of the firefighters on land or water were injured because the shrapnel went over their heads. The follow-up report suggested several changes in policy to prevent similar future accidents, such as fire-risk training for all dock workers, and special markings for explosives. Damage from the explosion is still apparent at Industry City; iron on the fire escapes is mangled, and several windows contain embedded shrapnel. From the early 1950s through the 1960s, the Topps company, which primarily made chewing gum and baseball cards, manufactured baseball cards at Industry City. Topps moved production to Pennsylvania in 1965, though its offices remained in Bush Terminal until 1994, when it moved to Manhattan. A major tenant—the Norton Lilly & Company, among the city's largest shipping companies—moved out of the terminal in 1957, having occupied Bush Terminal since 1902. #### Late 1950s renovations and 1960s In 1957, the city announced that a marine terminal for the Mitsui Steamship Company would be built near Industry City between 36th and 39th Streets. In conjunction with the construction of the Mitsui terminal, the pier at 35th Street, which had been wrecked in the Bush Terminal explosion the previous year, was rebuilt. The Mitsui terminal opened in 1960. As part of the modernization of Bush Terminal/Industry City, the Bush Terminal Company also renovated two railroad car float bridges in 1960 and 1963. The construction of a containership pier between 19th and 36th Streets, along the northern section of Industry City, was approved in 1967. This later became the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal. Since its early years, the Bush Terminal Company had funded its Bush Terminal operations with investments in various companies. After Irving Bush's death, the company began buying larger interests in various companies. In 1961, the Bush Terminal Company had sold its 37% stake in the General Cigar Company, in which it had held stock for seven years, and used these funds to purchase stock in the Hamilton Watch Company and the New Jersey Zinc Company. The same year, the Bush Terminal Company sold its lower Manhattan headquarters building, which was soon demolished, and consolidated its offices at Industry City. A real estate group led by billionaire real estate figure Harry Helmsley bought Industry City in 1963. In turn, the Bush Terminal Company was acquired by Universal Consolidated Industries in 1968, and the combined company became the Bush Universal Corporation. #### Decline of port Shipping activity at Bush Terminal had gradually declined after World War II due to the introduction of containerized shipping and the construction of the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal in New Jersey. In February 1969, the Bush Universal Corporation announced that pier operations between 39th and 52nd Streets would cease by the end of the year. That October, the company also applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue the Bush Terminal Railroad due to a continuing decline in profits. In June 1970, the city government bought 100 acres (0.40 km²) of land in Bush Terminal, between 39th and 50th Streets for \$8.5 million, and leased the land to private companies. The city planned to make a containership facility at Bush Terminal, and so it was expected that this would create 500 to 1,000 jobs for longshoremen. The Bush Terminal Railroad was officially abandoned in December 1971, despite protests from railroad workers. The last remaining tugboat in the car-float operation, the Irving T. Bush, was also retired at the same time. Car float and cargo transloading activities moved to the nearby 65th Street Yard and, along with the Bush Terminal Rail Yard, were taken over by New York New Jersey Rail, LLC, now owned by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). The New York Dock Railroad was given a temporary permit to operate on the former Bush Terminal tracks until the city took title to the railroad in August 1973. New York Dock subsequently started leasing the tracks, and a direct track connection through the Brooklyn Army Terminal to the Bay Ridge Branch was established. Improvements to the tracks at and leading to Bush Terminal were announced in 1977, by which time the tracks had deteriorated. The tracks were later extended to the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, adjacent to Industry City. They are now used occasionally to transport New York City Subway rolling stock via the South Brooklyn Railway. By 2016, the PANYNJ intended to reopen the adjacent 51st Street Yard. In 1974, the City of New York Department of Ports and Terminals hired a private company to fill the spaces between Piers 1 through 4 to make space for parking shipping containers. Filling continued through the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis, and builders paid the city for the right to infill the piers. However, the filling operations were halted in 1978 after reports of environmental violations. New York City officials later learned that toxic wastes including oils, oil sludge, and waste water had been dumped at the site, making the four piers a polluted brownfield. In 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki announced a \$36 million plan to clean up and redevelop the Bush Terminal piers. The plan included a \$17.8 million grant from the state of New York, the largest single grant the state had ever awarded to clean up a brownfield site. As part of a reduction in military operations, in 1976 the federal government proposed moving its Navy resale systems office from Bush Terminal to Illinois. The office ultimately stayed at Bush Terminal after the rent was lowered. ### Redevelopment #### 1980s and 1990s The privately operated portion of Industry City maintained 95 percent occupancy through the mid-1970s and was 98 percent occupied by 1980. By 1976, its tenants included 125 companies that employed 20,000 people, growing to 135 companies by 1980. However, there were also fewer tenants than in its peak years between World Wars I and II, partially because much of the space was being used for storage. These companies took up 89 percent of the 6 million square feet of factory loft space by 1985. The city-operated section of Bush Terminal employed 7,000 people by 1977, and the improvements to the tracks were slated to add 3,000 more jobs. During the 1980s, Industry City housed the highest concentration of garment manufacturers in New York City outside of Manhattan. By 1985, thirty percent of the factory loft space at Industry City (1,800,000 square feet [170,000 m²]) was rented by garment manufacturers, mainly because of high rents in Manhattan's Garment District as rents per square foot at Industry City were about half those in the Garment District. A new structure, the first to be built in the complex in several decades, was also under construction at Industry City, replacing another structure destroyed by fire. Industry City Associates bought the 35-acre (14 ha) complex from Helmsley's syndicate in March 1986. Shortly afterward, Industry City Associates filed plans to convert 650,000 square feet (60,000 m²) of space in Industry City into industrial condominiums for small and medium-sized tenants. However, this conversion was never carried out. The Federal Bureau of Prisons proposed converting two buildings at Industry City into a federal jail in 1988, due to overcrowding at the Manhattan Detention Complex. There was large opposition from members of the local community, who feared that traffic congestion in the area would rise. The prison, now Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, was approved in 1993 in spite of the community's objections. To make room for MDC Brooklyn, Federal Building No. 1 was destroyed in a controlled explosion in August 1993. In 1991, the New York City government proposed placing a sludge disposal plant at Bush Terminal. The \$225 million plant would have been located on the west side of First Avenue between 47th and 51st Streets. It would have been one of five total sludge plants placed in each of the city's boroughs. The plan was withdrawn in 1993 due to large opposition from the surrounding community, which brought up issues about the pollution and loss of jobs that would be caused by the sludge plant. #### NYCEDC's Bush Terminal redevelopment By the 1980s, the section of Bush Terminal between 41st and 50th Streets was derelict with large populations of squatters and prostitutes, and it was a popular place for dumping dead bodies. The city allowed the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC) to develop 1,500,000 square feet (140,000 m²) of space, spread across eleven warehouses, in this part of Bush Terminal in 1989. The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) started leasing three of the city-owned buildings at Bush Terminal in the 1990s. The SBIDC, in conjunction with the NYCEDC, cleaned up and renovated the Bush Terminal structures. By 1998, the eleven warehouses were at 100% occupancy and they collectively housed 150 tenants. In 1997, the city also provided some funding to repurpose parts of one building in Bush Terminal as a business incubator for the garment industry. In 2006, the NYCEDC proposed the sale, to developers, of the three warehouse buildings that it leased. Following the 2009 rezoning of Sunset Park, the NYCEDC started soliciting requests for proposals to redevelop the three buildings with a collective area of 130,000 square feet (12,000 m²). The requests for proposals were re-issued in 2011 to allow for a longer lease. In 2017, the architecture firm WXY announced a \$136 million renovation of the Bush Terminal plot between 41st and 51st Streets. WXY's master plan for the site, which would be renamed the "Made in NY" campus, would be carried out in conjunction with other firms. The Made in NY campus would include a 100,000-square-foot (9,300 m²) studio complex for film and TV, as well as a 200,000-square-foot (19,000 m²) area within two existing buildings, which would be refurbished into a hub for fashion manufacturing. The renovations would include a public plaza outdoors, as well as an entrance to the nearby Bush Terminal Piers Park, and would be completed by 2020. The proposed Made in NY campus was controversial, since it would displace existing small garment manufacturers. The NYCEDC started soliciting proposals for tenants at the Made in NY campus in August 2018. In 2020, Steiner Studios signed a deal to build a new studio at the city-owned portion of Bush Terminal, where it would erect a studio of 525,000 square feet (48,800 m²). #### Industry City redevelopment In 2000, during the dot-com boom, the New York City government planned to turn part of Industry City into a technology campus as part of its Digital NYC program, in conjunction with SBIDC and Industry City Associates. The project called for installing high-speed optical fiber cables at Industry City, which would be funded by a \$250,000 grant to SBIDC. Upon the completion of the project, Industry City would be integrated into the then-new Sunset Park Technology District. As part of the project, two buildings at Industry City would be dedicated specifically to housing electronic machinery, and backup generators would be installed in the spaces between buildings. A third building, the Brooklyn Information Technology Center (BITC), was opened for use by technology companies in September 2000. Industry City began attracting artists in 2009 by building 30,000 sq ft (2,800 m²) of artists' studios and conducting creative events such as film screenings and art installations, such as the Marion Spore project. Industry City hosted Brooklyn's Fashion Weekend, a biannual exposition showcasing the work of local and international fashion designers, in 2013. By 2012, Industry City was only 66% occupied and its tenants employed 2,500 workers. A consortium composed of Belvedere Capital Real Estate Partners, Jamestown Properties, and Angelo, Gordon & Co. purchased Industry City in 2013. The new owners intended to renovate the complex into a manufacturing and office hub. The Industry City ownership consortium also pushed to lease the vacant space at Industry City. In 2014, the NBA's Brooklyn Nets announced their intention to move their training center to Industry City. The new facility, the Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center (HSS Center), was to be built on the roof of Building 19 of the complex, at the time an empty warehouse, occupying 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) of space in total. The renovation project will cost roughly \$50 million. The center opened in February 2016. A job training center for Sunset Park residents, called the Innovation Lab, opened at Industry City that April. By December 2016, the tenants at Industry City had a combined 6,000 employees. Industry City's owners announced a \$1 billion renovation plan in March 2015. The plan originally involved adding dormitories for college students, but the dormitories were canceled in 2016 after public opposition. A 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m²) area in Building 19 was also to be renovated into a space for technology tenants. As part of the renovation plans, the Industry City ownership consortium proposed an expansion plan in October 2017, which would rezone the campus and add 3,300,000 square feet (310,000 m²) of commercial space to Industry City. Organizations such as UPROSE brought up concerns about the expansion because it might possibly accelerate the gentrification of Sunset Park. In March 2019, Industry City postponed its rezoning application because politicians objected that the community had not been given sufficient time to provide input. The project was officially canceled in September 2020 because of opposition from city council member Carlos Menchaca and local community groups. A Japanese-themed food court was announced for Industry City in October 2017. The food hall, called Japan Village, opened in November of the following year. In addition, the New York City government proposed adding a film studio in Industry City in August 2018. ## Legacy Bush Terminal was not only one of the first and largest integrated cargo and manufacturing sites in the world, but also served as a model for other industrial parks and offered employment to tens of thousands of workers. Besides funding other important buildings such as the Bush Tower and Bush House, it served during both World Wars, influenced the design of the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and affected the growth of Brooklyn and New York City. By the mid-2010s, Industry City had been inhabited by a diverse mix of businesses encompassing artisans, garment manufacturing, data centers, and warehousing. ### Bush Terminal Piers Park Bush Terminal Piers Park is a 24-acre (9.7 ha) green space between 43rd and 50th Streets that contains a pedestrian and bike path as well as baseball and soccer fields, tidal ponds, a wooded area, and access to a pier. The planning and design process for the park, encompassing piers 1 through 5, began in 2001, and construction on the park began in 2012. Bush Terminal Piers Park opened in November 2014 with one entrance at 43rd Street. A second entrance to the park at 50th Street started construction in November 2016 and opened in July 2017. Bush Terminal Piers Park is part of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile (23 km) off-street path. The greenway is planned to connect neighborhoods along Brooklyn's waterfront, running through the Industry City complex to Owls Head Park in Bay Ridge, which is also served by the Sunset Park Greenway. ## Transportation MTA Regional Bus Operations' B35 and B70 routes terminate near Industry City, while the B37 route stops along Third Avenue, close to the complex. The closest New York City Subway station to Industry City is at 36th Street and Fourth Avenue, served by the . The 45th Street subway station, served by the , is closest to the NYCEDC section of Bush Terminal. Formerly, a Staten Island Ferry route ran from a ferry slip at 39th Street within Bush Terminal, now the site of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, to the St. George Terminal in Staten Island. The ferry route was discontinued in 1946 after a fire at St. George Terminal. In January 2020, the New York City Economic Development Corporation announced that NYC Ferry would construct a new stop at 42nd Street near Industry City/Bush Terminal, which would open in 2021. The South Brooklyn route, which at the time ran between Pier 11/Wall Street in Manhattan and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, would have its Brooklyn terminus truncated to Industry City/Bush Terminal if that stop was added. More recent NYC Ferry expansion plans from 2022 do not mention a Bush Terminal ferry stop. ## See also - Rail freight transportation in New York City and Long Island

Forever (Mariah Carey song)

1996 single by Mariah Carey

"Forever" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter, and record producer Mariah Carey for her fifth studio album, Daydream (1995). It was released by Columbia Records on June 18, 1996, as an airplay-only single and the fifth single from the album. The song was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and was composed throughout 1995. Its lyrics describe a situation where the protagonist knows her relationship with her lover has withered away, however he will continue living in her memory forever. The song's music video is a collage of snippets from Carey's shows at the Tokyo Dome, during her Daydream World Tour in 1996. Most of the video is the performance of the song during one of the three Japanese shows on the tour. Serving as an airplay only song in the US, and a limited release around the world, the song received a well amount of chart success specifically in the U.S.. In the United States, Billboard rules did not allow the charting of non-commercially released songs. For this reason, it did not chart on the Hot 100, however peaking at number two on the Adult Contemporary chart. Outside the US, the song peaked at number 11 in Canada, 40 in New Zealand and 44 in the Netherlands. ## Composition "Forever" was written and produced by Carey and Walter Afanasieff in early 1995. Composed in time, the song is moves at a tempo of 63 beats per minute. Carey's vocal range spans two octaves and three semitones from the low note of E₃ to the high note of F₅. According to author Chris Nickson, the song's instrumentation and throw-back melody bring reminders of 1950s and 60s balladry. The throw-back was featured through the chord changes, and in the way that the guitar arpeggios "stayed at the forefront of the music." "Forever" finds Carey displaying subtle and harmonizing vocals, with Nickson describing her voice as "undeniably rich." Stephen Holden from The New York Times described it as a "50s-style rock-and-roll ballad," while calling Carey's voice "magnificent." ## Reception Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "Within a retro-pop musical setting that is warmly reminiscent of her breakthrough hit, "Vision Of Love", Carey plays the romantic ingénue with convincing, wide-eyed innocence and infectious hope." Daina Darzin from Cash Box stated, "Carey's continuously-astounding voice is the focal point of this sweet, soaring ballad, featuring lush but unobtrusive orchestration serving as a respectful backdrop." Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly praised the song's instrumentation, adding, "I like the brisk waltz tempo of 'Forever'." In 2020, Billboard ranked it as the 100th greatest song of Carey's career. "Forever" was released as an airplay only single in the US, and received a limited European release. Due to Billboard rules at the time of its release, "Forever" wasn't eligible to chart on the Hot 100. However, the song charted on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number two. In Canada, the song peaked at number 11 on the Canadian RPM Singles Chart issue dated September 30, 1996. In New Zealand, the song entered the singles chart at its peak of number 40, spending only one week in the chart. On the Dutch Singles Chart, "Forever" peaked at number 47, fluctuating in the chart for a total of nine weeks. ## Music video and live performances "Forever" was first performed in October 1995 in Carey's concert at Madison Square Garden. The next year it was performed throughout all the shows on Carey's Daydream World Tour in 1996. The music video for "Forever" was filmed at one of the Japanese shows during the tour. It presents Carey singing the song on stage at the Tokyo Dome, and inter-cuts scenes from other segments of the show. For the show and video, Carey wore a pair of black pants and matching blouse, together with a long leather trench coat. Her hair teased in a long wavy fashion, and is a golden-auburn color. The video features three back-up singers, one male and two female and a large projection screen on the stage's rear. The live audio of this performance was released on the single. ## Formats and track listing - European CD single 1. "Forever" – 4:01 2. "Forever" (Live) – 4:12 - Australian CD single 1. "Forever" – 4:01 2. "Underneath the Stars" – 3:33 3. "Forever" (Live) – 4:12 4. "Make It Happen" (Live) – 4:43 ## Credits and personnel Credits adapted from the Daydream liner notes. - Mariah Carey – co-production, songwriting, vocals - Walter Afanasieff – co-production, songwriting ## Charts ### Weekly charts ### Year-end charts ## Release history

Hunyadi family

Hungarian noble family

The Hunyadi family was one of the most powerful noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th century. A member of the family, Matthias Corvinus, was King of Hungary from 1458 until 1490, King of Bohemia (ruling in Moravia, Lower Lusatia, Upper Lusatia, and Silesia) from 1469 until 1490, and Duke of Austria from 1487 until 1490. His illegitimate son, John Corvinus, ruled the Duchy of Troppau from 1485 until 1501, and five further Silesian duchies, including Bytom, Głubczyce, Loslau, Racibórz, and Tost, from 1485 until 1490. The Hunyadi coat-of-arms depicted a raven with a golden ring in its beak. The founder of the family, Voyk, received the eponymous Hunyad Castle (in present-day Hunedoara, Romania) from Sigismund, King of Hungary, in 1409. His ethnicity is the subject of scholarly debate. Some modern historians describe him as a Vlach, or Romanian, knez or boyar, from either Wallachia or Transylvania. Others describe him as a Cuman or Slav nobleman. According to the 15th-century historian, Johannes de Thurocz, Voyk moved from Wallachia to Transylvania. Voyk's oldest son, John Hunyadi, was often mentioned as a "Vlach" by his contemporaries. John Hunyadi, a military commander, became the first member of the family to acquire the status of "true baron of the realm". He was appointed Ban of Severin in 1439, and Voivode of Transylvania in 1441. He was also granted the title Perpetual Count of Beszterce in 1452, thus receiving the first hereditary title created in the Kingdom of Hungary. At his death, John Hunyadi held many lands throughout the Kingdom. John Hunyadi's fame and fortune led the election of his son, Matthias Corvinus, as King of Hungary in 1458. He attempted to secure hereditary line of succession for his son, John Corvinus. This did not happen, however, and John was only able to retain the Duchy of Glogau, along with some other family domains in Hungary, after Matthias died in 1490. John's only son, Christopher Corvinus, was the last male member of the family. He died at the age of six in 1505. His sister Elisabeth died during childhood. ## Origins The family was given its land by Sigismund, King of Hungary, on 18 October 1409. On that day, Sigismund granted Hunyad Castle and its demesne to Voyk and four of his kinsmen. In addition to Voyk, the grant lists his two brothers, Magas and Radol, their cousin or uncle also named Radol, and Voyk's son, John, the future Regent of Hungary. Magas means "tall", and is evidently a Hungarian name. The grant mentioned that Voyk's father was named "Serbe", but did not say anything further about the origins of the family. Turkologist László Rásonyi, in his analysis of the family names and heraldry, says that Serbe's name is of Cuman origin and is related to the Kyrgyz and Kazakh word for unlucky (šor). He adds that the Turkic origin of Serbe's name explains that Voyk's name also comes from the Turkic bay, meaning meaning "prince" or "lord". Voyk's son, John Hunyadi, bore the nickname "Olah", meaning "Vlach", in his youth, which implied that he was of Romanian stock. The court historian of Voyk's grandson King Matthias Corvinus, Antonio Bonfini, explicitly stated that John had been "born to a Vlach father". Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III likewise knew that King Matthias had been "born to a Vlach father", and a Venetian man, Sebastiano Baduario, referred to the Romanians as King Matthias's people. Historians of the 15th and 16th centuries, with perspectives that were either against or in favour of the family, wrote differing reports of the family's status before King Sigismund's grant. Jan Długosz described John Hunyadi as "a man of unknown origin", and he is likewise mentioned as "a Vlach by birth, not highly born" by Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini. On the other hand, Johannes de Thurocz said that John Hunyadi "was descended from a noble and renowned race of Wallachia". John Hunyadi's rapid advance, which astonished his contemporaries, and gave rise to legends about his origins. According to one of these stories, recorded in detail by the 16th-century historian Gáspár Heltai, John Hunyadi was the illegitimate son of King Sigismund with a woman named Elizabeth, who was the daughter of a "rich boyar" from Morzsina in Hunyad County. Antonio Bonfini, on the other hand, wrote that John Hunyadi's mother was an unnamed Greek woman who was related to the Byzantine Emperors. Further legends emerged about the purported Roman origin of the family. Antonio Bonfini wrote that John Hunyadi "traced his kin to the Roman family of the Corvini". This story is connected to the Hunyadis' coat-of-arms, which depicts a raven, corvus in Latin, with a golden ring in its beak. Coins minted for Prince Vladislav I of Wallachia in 1365 depict a raven-like bird. Based on this similarity, Zsuzsa Teke and some other historians did not exclude the possibility that the Hunyadis were related to the Basarabs, the ruling dynasty of Wallachia. Another historian, Péter E. Kovács, wrote that that theory needed further verification. Johannes de Thurocz also wrote that King Sigismund, fascinated by Voyk's fame, "took him away from Wallachia to his own realm and settled him there", suggesting that Voyk moved from his Wallachian homeland to the Kingdom of Hungary. The late 15th-century historian Philippe de Commines referred to Voyk's son John as the "White Knight of Wallachia". In accordance with these sources, Pál Engel, András Kubinyi, and other contemporary historians have written that the Hunyadi family descended from Wallachian boyars (noblemen). According to another view on the family's origins, which is championed by historians Camil Mureșanu and Ion-Aurel Pop, Voyk did not migrate from Wallachia, but was born in a family of Romanian noble knezes from the region of Hátszeg, or Hunyad. They say that Voyk's grandfather could have been a man named "Costea", mentioned in a royal charter from 1360, and who fathered a son named Serbe (the name of Voyk's father). According to the charter, Costea and Serbe together established two villages in the region of Hátszeg. Historian Dezső Dümmerth offers a third view of the Hunyadis' ancestry. He said that Voyk was of Cuman stock, one of the Wallachian boyars. Turkologist László Rásonyi concludes: "the names of János Hunyadi's father and grandfather and the use of raven in the coat-of-arms of the family clearly point to the Tatar-Cuman origin of the later Hunyadi family". Miklós Molnár, accepts the Wallachian origin of the family, but also represents a fourth perspective on the origins of the family. He said that they may well have been of Slavic descent. Neither Paul Lendvai nor András Boros-Kazai excluded the possibility of the Hunyadis being of Slavic origin. ### Genetics Bone samples were collected in the Corvinus grave from the remains of John Corvinus and Christopher Corvinus in the church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lepoglava by the Institute of Hungarian Research in 2021 to define their genetic composition. This information will be crucial for possible identification of the remains of King Matthias Corvinus from among the bones stored in the ossuary at Székesfehérvár. According to the study, John Corvinus and Christopher Corvinus carried the Y-chromosome haplogroup E1b1b1a1b1a6a1c∼ (E-BY4281), which is widespread in Eurasia. This haplogroup belongs to the E-V13 clade which is part of the E-M78 branch. The father-son relationship was also verified. Archaeogenomic analysis indicated that John and Christopher Corvinus had an ancient European genome composition. The majority genome components of John Corvinus were present in the Carpathian Basin thousands of years ago, the highest shared drift according to f3-outgroup statistics being with European Neolithic samples and Hungarian Neolithic samples: Lengyel culture, Bodrogkeresztúr culture, Kőrös culture, Alföld Linear Pottery culture. The Corvinus genome contains these admixture components: 50% Neolithic Anatolian, 31% Ancient North Eurasian, 8% Iranian Neolithic, 5% Western Hunter gatherer, 3% Early Bronze Age and 2% Han. The closest ancient genetic matches to the paternal E1b1b1a1b1a6a1c∼ haplogroup of the Hunyadi descendants are a sample from the Otrar-Karatau culture in the Iron Age Kazakh steppe and a sample from Medieval Sardinia. The closest genetic sample matches from the Carpathian Basin to the Hunyadi genome were detected in Avar individuals, elite Hungarian Conquerors and in a Medieval Hungarian nobleman from the Hungarian Royal Basilica. At the individual level, the 10 most similar samples were from Russia, Croatia, Romania and Hungary, while at the population level, it clustered with populations from northern Italy, Spain, the Basque Country, France, Croatia and Hungary. The greatest similarity was with today's southern European and Carpathian Basin populations, and also with individuals from the Eastern European steppe. ## Notable members ### Voyk Hunyadi Voyk was born in Wallachia, according to the nearly contemporaneous historians Johannes de Thurocz and Gáspár Heltai. Voyk had been serving as a "court knight" in the royal court when he received the demesne of Hunyad from King Sigismund, suggesting that he was descended from a prominent Wallachian family. Modern historian Kubinyi wrote that Voyk most probably joined Sigismund in 1395. In this year, Sigismund invaded Wallachia and restored his vassal, Mircea the Elder, to the princely throne. He was last mentioned in a royal charter in 1414. Voyk died before 12 February 1419. On this day, a charter confirming the grant of 1409 was issued for Voyk's brother, Radol, and for Voyk's three sons: John the Elder, John the Younger, and Voyk. ### John Hunyadi, Sr. Voyk's oldest son John Hunyadi was born between about 1405 and 1407. In his youth, he served in the court of George Csáky, Filippo Scolari, and King Sigismund's other warlike barons. He married Elizabeth Szilágyi around 1429. Her father owned properties in Bodrog County. John Hunyadi developed his military skills during his journeys in Italy and Bohemia in Sigismund's entourage in the early 1430s. He and his younger brother (who was his namesake) were jointly appointed Ban of Szörény (present-day Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania) in 1439 by Sigismund's successor, King Albert. With this appointment, they acquired the status of "true barons". The senior John Hunyadi became Voivode of Transylvania and Count of the Székelys in 1441, with responsibility for the defense of the southern borders of Hungary against Ottoman raids. He defeated the Ottomans in several battles during his "long campaign" in the Balkan Peninsula in 1443. The Estates of the realm elected him governor for the period of King Ladislaus V of Hungary's minority in 1446. King Ladislaus bestowed the title of Perpetual Count of Beszterce (present-day Bistrița, Romania) upon John Hunyadi after he resigned the governorship in 1452. This was the first example of a grant of a hereditary title in the Kingdom of Hungary. John Hunyadi had by that time become the richest landowner in the Kingdom of Hungary, holding about 25 fortresses, 30 towns, and more than 1,000 villages. He died on 11 August 1456, shortly after his greatest victory over the Ottomans at the Siege of Belgrade. ### John Hunyadi, Jr. John the Younger was the younger of Voyk's two sons that shared the name John, and was first mentioned in a charter issued to four members of his family on 12 February 1419. King Albert of Hungary appointed him Ban of Szörény together with his brother, John the Elder, in 1439. He died fighting against the Ottomans in 1441. His brother wrote of him as "the valiant of the valiant", showing that John the Younger was regarded a brave soldier. ### Ladislaus Hunyadi Ladislaus Hunyadi was the older of the two sons of John Hunyadi the elder by Elizabeth Szilágyi. He was born around 1432. At the age of 20, he was appointed ispán, or count, of Pozsony County, which made him a "true baron". He became Ban of Croatia in 1453 and master of the horse in 1456. With his father's death, Ladislaus inherited an enormous domain in 1456. The ambitious Ladislaus had his father's main opponent, Ulrich II, Count of Celje, captured and murdered on 9 November. The King, who promised amnesty to Ladislaus under duress, had him arrested in next year. Ladislaus was sentenced to death for high treason. He was executed on 16 March 1457. ### Matthias Corvinus Matthias, the younger son of John Hunyadi the elder and Elizabeth Szilágyi, was born on 23 February 1443. He was arrested upon the orders of King Ladislaus V of Hungary on 14 March 1457, together with his elder brother Ladislaus. Matthias's brother was executed two days after having been arrested. Fearing a revolt, the King fled to Prague and took Matthias with him. The childless Ladislaus V died on 23 November 1457. A Diet was convened to elect the new monarch. Matthias' maternal uncle, Michael Szilágyi, arrived with more than 10,000 armed noblemen under his command, and the Diet proclaimed Matthias king on 24 January 1458. Matthias returned from Prague, but was only crowned with the Holy Crown of Hungary on 29 March 1464, because he had spent the previous years with fighting against his opponents. Urged by Pope Paul II, Matthias led a crusade against the Czech Hussites and occupied great parts of Moravia and Silesia in 1468. The Catholic Estates of Moravia proclaimed him King of Bohemia on 3 May 1469. Matthias' reign was also recognized in Lusatia and Silesia, but Bohemia proper remained under the rule of his opponents, Kings George of Poděbrady (till 1471) and Vladislaus II Jagiellon. Through a series of wars, Matthias occupied Lower Austria and Styria between 1480 and 1487. He officially adopted the title of Duke of Austria in 1487. Matthias married his first wife, Catherine of Poděbrady, in 1461. She died in childbirth in 1464. His second wife, Beatrice of Naples, whom he married in 1476, was infertile. In the last decade of his life, Matthias tried to ensure the succession of his illegitimate son, John Corvinus, to the throne of Hungary. Matthias died on 6 April 1490. ### John Corvinus John Corvinus was the illegitimate son of King Matthias and his mistress, Barbara Edelpöck. John Corvinus was born on 2 April 1473. Matthias recognized in public that John is his son and granted him the title of Duke of Liptó (present-day Liptov, Slovakia) in 1481. John Corvinus received a number of land grants from his father in the subsequent years. King Matthias granted him the Duchy of Troppau and five further Silesian duchies—Beuthen, Leobschütz, Loslau, Ratibor, and Tost—in 1485. King Matthias' all attempts to secure his son's succession to the throne proved to be useless shortly after his death. The prelates and the barons elected Vladislaus II Jagiellon king on 15 July 1490. He retained his domains and the Duchy of Troppau. The new monarch bestowed the title of Duke of Slavonia upon him, but he renounced of it in 1495. He also renounced of the Duchy of Troppau in 1501. John Corvinus married Beatrice de Frangepan in 1496. She gave birth to two children, Elizabeth and Christopher. John Corvinus died on 12 October 1504. His son died at the age of six, his daughter at the age of twelve. ## Family tree The following family tree depicts the known members of the Hunyadi family: (\* = born; † = died; ∞ = wife or husband; b. = before; c. = in about; m. = mentioned) ## See also - List of titled noble families in the Kingdom of Hungary

1947 World Snooker Championship

The 1947 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 January to 25 October 1947. The final was held at the Leicester Square Hall in London, England, from 13 to 25 October. The semi-finals were completed in March, but the final was delayed due to building works at the venue, which had been bombed in October 1940. Walter Donaldson won the title by defeating Fred Davis by 82 to 63 in the final, although he reached the winning margin earlier, at 73–49. Davis made the highest break of the tournament with a 135 clearance in frame 86 of the final. The 1947 event was the first to be played since the retirement of Joe Davis who had won all 15 of the previous Championships since it was inaugurated in 1927. Davis had announced in October 1946 that he would no longer play in the competition. A qualifying competition for thirteen entrants at Burroughes Hall in London from 2 January to 8 February 1947 was won by Albert Brown, who then joined seven other players in the main competition. The quarter-finals and semi-finals took place from 20 January to 15 March at various venues in England. ## Background The World Snooker Championship is a professional tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. The sport was developed in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India. Professional English billiards player and billiard hall manager Joe Davis noticed the increasing popularity of snooker compared to billiards in the 1920s, and with Birmingham-based billiards equipment manager Bill Camkin, persuaded the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC) to recognise an official professional snooker championship in the 1926–27 season. In 1927, the final of the first professional snooker championship was held at Camkin's Hall; Davis won the tournament by beating Tom Dennis in the final. The annual competition was not titled the World Championship until the 1935 tournament, but the 1927 tournament is now referred to as the first World Snooker Championship. Davis had also won the title every year from 1928 to 1940, after which the tournament was not held again until 1946 due to World War II. The World Championship was the first to be played since the retirement from the competition of Joe Davis who had won all 15 of the previous Championships. He had announced in October 1946 that he would no longer play in the World Championship. ### Format The closing date for entries for the 1947 championship was 23 November 1946. The entry fee was five guineas per player, with five per cent of gate receipts to be paid to the BACC. This was reduced to two guineas, and the same percentage of gate receipts, after representations to the BACC by the Professional Billiard Players Association. Twenty players entered; thirteen of them were placed in "Section B", which was to produce one qualifier to join the other seven players in "Section A", the main competition. The "Section B" matches were held at Burroughes Hall in London from 2 January to 8 February 1947, all played across 35 frames. The quarter finals and semi finals were played at different venues in England, across 71 frames, except for two of the quarter-finals which were across 73 frames. The final was played over 145 frames from 13 to 25 October 1947 at Leicester Square Hall. ## Dates and venues of matches ## Tournament summary ### Quarter-finals and semi-finals Fred Davis took a 6–0 lead in the first session of his match against Clark McConachy. McConachy only won the 15th frame during the first three sessions, and Davis led 17–1 as they started the fourth session, during which McConachy took the 22nd fame. Davis finished the second day 22–2 ahead. Each player won three frames in the fifth session; McConachy recorded an 85 break, the highest of the match to that point. Davis secured his progress to the next round at 37–7, with two days of the match still remaining. During the , McConachy compiled a break of 132; the final score was 53–20 to Davis. Sidney Smith achieved a 106 break in the fifth session against Alec Brown; by taking five of that sessions six frames, Smith led 23–7, and he increased his advantage to 27–9 during the following session. After reaching a winning margin at 37–22, Smith won 44–29 following dead frames. After Horace Lindrum built a 5–1 lead in their first session, Albert Brown won four successive frames in the next session and finished the first day at 5–7. Brown took the lead by adding the first three frames of the third session, but was four frames behind at 10–14 by the close of the second day's play. The eventual score was 39–34 to Lindrum. Donaldson practised intensively in preparation for the Championship, using a billiard table in a neighbour's attic. He won both of the first two sessions by a 4–2 margin against Stanley Newman, and despite losing both sessions on the third day, was 21–15 ahead afterwards. From 25–19 ahead, he took the next eight frames, and went on to win 46–25. In the first semi-final, Davis held a 9–3 lead against Smith. During the sixth session, Davis made a century break, which was followed in the next frame by an 83 break from Smith. Davis won 39–32 after securing a win at 36–28. Donaldson whitewashed Lindrum 6–0 in their first session. In the next session, each player won three frames. On day three, Donaldson moved ten frames ahead at 20–10, but Lindrum reduced the margin to six frames, at 20–15, by the end of the day. Going into the last day, Donaldson was 32–28 up; he secured a place in the final at 36–30. With dead frames, the final score was 39–32. ### Final The final, at Leicester Square Hall, was postponed for several weeks due to building works. The hall, previously known as Thurston's Hall, had been bombed during The Blitz, in October 1940, and only re-opened on 3 October 1947. Meanwhile, Donaldson continued practising. The match was played over 145 frames. Donaldson led Davis 4–2 and 7–5 after the initial two . Later, from 19–35 behind, Davis won six consecutive frames to reduce his deficit to ten frames at 35–25. Donaldson secured victory at 73–49 and finished the match at 82–63. Donaldson's tactics during the championship involved compiling breaks of around 30 to 50 points, and playing rather than attempting difficult . Davis became frustrated with the lack of scoring chances Donaldson left for him, and missed a number of difficult pot attempts, thus allowing Donaldson opportunities to score and win frames. Donaldson won the title by defeating Davis 82–63, although he already reached the winning margin at 73–49. The championship trophy was presented by John C. Bissett, chairman of the BACC. After the final, Donaldson celebrated at the Albany Club, where he had won the 1946 Albany Club Professional Snooker Tournament the previous year. Davis made the highest break of the tournament with a 135 clearance in frame 86 of the final, just one short of the championship record. Donaldson's break of 98 against Newman in the 20th frame of the quarter-final was his highest at the championship. There were three century breaks during the final, all by Davis. Joe Davis commented after the match that, "Donaldson's long potting at present is the equal of anything seen in snooker history"; his brother Fred Davis said "[Donaldson] is playing the best snooker I have ever seen". In his book Talking Snooker, first published in 1979, Fred Davis reflected that he had probably been "perhaps overconfident" and also had not expected Donaldson's standard to have improved so much as a result of his many hours of practice. This was the first of eight consecutive finals, from 1947 to 1954, featuring the two players. Two wins by Joe Davis in challenge matches against Donaldson after the 1947 championship reinforced the public perception that the 15-time champion Davis was still the best player. ## Main draw The results for the main draw are shown below. Match winners are denoted in bold. ### Final ## Qualifying Herbert Holt had withdrawn from the qualifying in early December. The first match, between John Pulman and Albert Brown was a repeat of the final of the 1946 English Amateur Championship which Pulman had won. Brown led 14–9 after two days and took a winning 18–9 lead on the final day. Herbert Francis led Willie Leigh 14–10 after two days. Leigh levelled the score at 15–15 after the final afternoon session and eventually won 19–16. Sydney Lee beat Jim Lees 19–16 in the third match. In the last first-round match Kingsley Kennerley won easily against Conrad Stanbury, taking an 18–4 lead on the second evening. Willie Leigh won all six frames of the first session, and all but frame nine in the second session, to establish an 11–1 lead against Sydney Lee. On the second day, he confirmed a win by taking the 19th frame with a break of 63, for a winning margin of 17–2. Kennerley reached a decisive margin of victory at 18–10 against Mann. In the semi-finals, Albert Brown secured his place in the last frame of the second day of his match against Barrie, at 18–6, and Kennerley prevailed 18–9 against Leigh. Brown won the contest of the Birmingham-based players at 18–10, which meant he was scheduled to play Lindrum in the quarter-finals of the main competition. ### Qualifying results Results of the qualifying competition were as follows:

Digimon Racing

2004 racing video game

is a racing video game developed by Griptonite Games and published by Bandai (now Namco Bandai Games) for the Game Boy Advance. Part of the Digimon media franchise and video game series, it utilizes Digimon's characters and elements. Its gameplay largely resembles that of traditional racing games, but also utilizes elements of kart racing and action games. Its eleven playable characters can be increased to over 40 via Digivolution. Digimon Racing uses 2D scaled graphics and voice acting. The game was initially announced at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2003 and later exhibited at E3 2004. It was released on April 1, 2004, in Japan; April 30 in Europe; and September 13 in North America. It received mixed reviews from critics upon release, with criticism directed at its resemblance to other kart racers of the time and praise at some aesthetic and gameplay aspects. ## Gameplay Digimon Racing is a racing video game that utilizes characters and elements from Digimon as well as those of traditional racing games. The game follows a group of Digimon competing in a racing tournament within the Digital World, home to all Digimon. The purpose of the grand prix is to determine who is the best racer; thus, they use specially designed karts that equate all contestants in terms of ability. Digimon Racing's gameplay largely resembles that of traditional racing games. It focuses on competing against seven CPU-controlled characters in cup races consisting of three laps. The usage of items to attack opponents and improve one's own condition is an integral part of the gameplay, and adds an element of kart racing games. A new feature in the game is "kart hopping": using the karts to jump onto opponents, slowing them down. This adds an element of action gameplay. Digivolution, a recurring theme in Digimon, also plays a role in the game. Driving over energy hotspots scattered throughout the tracks increases an energy meter located at the bottom left of the game's HUD. As the meter increases, the player traverses the Digimon's evolutionary line, becoming more powerful and ultimately gaining the ability to use a special attack. The game's fifteen tracks—four of which are available immediately—are based on conventional video game environments such as jungles, volcanoes, and cities. After completing a track for the first time, the player unlocks a time trial mode for this track, and a boss battle. The action-oriented boss battles involve defeating a generally static Digimon using items scattered throughout the areas, which are not designed as race tracks. The player can also compete in single races unrelated to the story in any unlocked tracks. The game uses the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter or Game Link Cable accessories for a multiplayer racing mode supporting up to four players. ### Playable characters The game features eleven Digimon as playable characters. Eight characters are available immediately; the rest are unlockable by completing cup races. However, the Digivolution mechanic increases the total number of playable Digimon to over 40. The cast predominantly includes popular Digimon from the Digimon anime. Characters' racing abilities differ through their ranking in three areas: speed, handling and acceleration. ## Development and release Unlike previous games in the series which were developed by Japanese companies, Digimon Racing's development was handled by the Kirkland, Washington, United States-based Griptonite Games. However, Digimon series veteran Bandai (now Namco Bandai Games) returned to publish the game. It was the first original Digimon game for the Game Boy Advance, since Digimon Battle Spirit and Digimon Battle Spirit 2 were ports of WonderSwan Color games. The game uses the Mode 7 engine to create three-dimensional gameplay on the handheld console otherwise incapable of such a feat. It occasionally uses voice acting during races, uncommon in Game Boy Advance games. The game was initially announced at E3 2003. It was later exhibited at E3 2004, with the North American release announced for August 2004. Upon completion of development, the game received a rating of "E" (Everyone) from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and "3+" from Pan European Game Information (PEGI). Digimon Racing's release fell on April 1, 2004, in Japan; April 30 in Europe; and September 13 in North America. ## Reception Digimon Racing received mixed reviews from critics upon release; it has a score of 62% at Metacritic and 63.67% at GameRankings. Critics criticized the game for its close resemblance to other kart racers of the time. IGN's Craig Harris and 1UP.com's Garnett Lee stated that Digimon Racing's gameplay mirrored that of Crash Nitro Kart and the Mario Kart series respectively. Aside from the familiar format, critics praised specific aesthetic points such as the graphics and music (GameZone's Michael Lafferty) and the tracks' layouts and themes (Lee). Aspects of the gameplay were also praised, such as control (Harris and Lee), multiplayer mode (Lee), replay value, and kart hopping (Harris). Nintendo Power stated that "[t]he racing action is similar to that of other kart games, but the Digimon influence adds a fun gameplay edge." Famitsu's four reviewers gave the game scores of 5, 5, 7, and 6 out of 10, respectively, resulting in a total score of 23 out of 40. AllGame's T.J. Deci gave the game three stars out of five, although he did not provide a more thorough review.

Final Destination 3

2006 American supernatural horror film

Final Destination 3 is a 2006 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wong. A standalone sequel to Final Destination 2 (2003), it is the third installment in the Final Destination film series. Wong and Glen Morgan, who worked on the franchise's first film, wrote the screenplay. Final Destination 3 stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman, and takes place years after the first film. Winstead plays Wendy Christensen, a high school graduate who has a premonition that a roller coaster she and her classmates are riding will derail. Although she saves some of them, Death begins hunting the survivors. Wendy realizes photographs she took at the amusement park contain clues about her classmates' death. With survivor and friend Kevin Fischer (Merriman), Wendy tries to use this knowledge to save the rest of them and ruin Death's scheme. The film's development began shortly after the release of Final Destination 2; Jeffrey Reddick, creator of the franchise and a co-writer of the first two films, did not return for the third one. Unlike the second film, which was a direct sequel to the first, the producers envisioned Final Destination 3 as a stand-alone film. The idea of featuring a roller coaster derailment as the opening-scene disaster came from New Line Cinema executive Richard Bryant. From the beginning, Wong and Morgan saw control as a major theme in the film. Casting began in March 2005 and concluded in April. Like the previous two installments, it was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. The first two weeks of the three-month shoot were spent filming the roller coaster's derailment. Following its premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on February 2, 2006, the film was released in cinemas in the United States on February 10, 2006. The DVD, released on July 25, 2006, includes commentaries, documentaries, a deleted scene and an animated video. A special-edition DVD called "Thrill Ride Edition" includes a feature called "Choose Their Fate", which acts as an interactive film, allowing viewers to make decisions at specific points in the film that alter the course of the story. Final Destination 3 received a mixed critical response. The film was a financial success and, with box office receipts of nearly \$118 million, the highest-grossing installment in the franchise at the time. A fourth film, The Final Destination, was released in August 2009. ## Plot In 2005, high school student Wendy Christensen visits an amusement park in Pennsylvania with her boyfriend Jason Wise, her best friend Carrie Dreyer, Carrie's boyfriend Kevin Fischer, and their classmates to celebrate their graduation. As they board the Devil's Flight roller coaster, Wendy has a premonition that the hydraulics securing the restraints and train cars will fail during the ride, killing everyone on board. She convinces nine people including Kevin, best friends Ashley Freund and Ashlyn Halperin, alumnus Frankie Cheeks, athlete Lewis Romero, and goth couple Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer, not to ride the roller coaster, but fails to save Jason and Carrie, who are among the remaining passengers killed in the derailment. Weeks later, Kevin tells Wendy about the explosion of Flight 180 and the survivors' subsequent deaths, believing they may be in a similar situation. At a tanning salon, Ashley and Ashlyn are burnt alive in malfunctioning tanning beds. Now convinced that Death is stalking them, Wendy and Kevin set out to save the remaining survivors using omens hidden in photographs of the survivors that Wendy took on the night of the crash. When Wendy and Kevin pull into a drive-thru restaurant and observe Frankie's photo, a runaway semi-trailer truck forces them to escape Kevin's truck before it collides. The collision causes the truck's engine to burst out of the hood and grille, killing Frankie, who was in the car in front of them, as the fan sliced his skull. The next day, Wendy and Kevin fail to save Lewis, whose head is crushed by two weights from a weight machine at the school gym. They find Ian and Erin working at a hardware store, where a chain reaction from a runaway forklift allows Wendy to save Ian from his death. However, Death skips to Erin, who falls on a nail gun that shoots repeatedly through her head, killing her. While identifying the last two survivors from the photographs, whose faces are obscured, Wendy realizes that they are her sister Julie and one of her friends, prompting Wendy and Kevin to rush to the local tricentennial fair to save them. Kevin saves Julie from being impaled on a harrow, but an airborne flagpole fatally impales Julie's friend Perry Malinowski moments later. After Wendy saves Kevin from an exploding propane canister, the trio is confronted by a grief-stricken Ian, who blames Wendy for Erin's death, until an unstable cart of firework cannons launches into a cherry picker that falls and crushes him. Five months later, Wendy experiences more omens while riding on a subway train with her roommate Laura and her friend Sean. As Wendy is about to disembark, she suddenly reunites with Julie and Kevin, who had also boarded the train. Wendy receives another premonition that the train will crash, killing everyone on board. Panicked, the remaining survivors attempt to stop the train as it is about to crash, leaving their fates unknown. ## Cast ## Production ### Development Final Destination 3 was originally the last part of a trilogy and had been in development since the release of Final Destination 2. Franchise creator Jeffrey Reddick and one of the co-writers of the first two films did not return for the third installment. Director James Wong said that unlike the second film, which was closely tied to the first and continued its story, the producers always envisioned Final Destination 3 as a stand-alone sequel featuring new characters. He said:[W]e really felt that the idea of Final Destination, or the fact that Death can visit you and you can cheat death ... could happen to anyone." By not using characters from the first film the producers could use a new plot, with new characters who would be unaware what was happening to them and react accordingly. The film's original title, Cheating Death: Final Destination 3, changed during development. Craig Perry and Warren Zide's Zide/Perry Productions, and Wong and Glen Morgan's own Hard Eight Pictures that co-produced Final Destination returned to produce Final Destination 3 with Practical Pictures and Manitee Pictures. Initially, the film was to be filmed in 3D, but this was abandoned. Morgan said it was for financial reasons and because he believed fire and blood effects would not be shown properly through the red filters of anaglyph 3D systems. The idea of using a roller coaster derailment as the opening-scene disaster came from New Line Cinema executive Richard Bryant and was not inspired by the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad incident from 2003 when a derailment occurred that crushed a rider. The Omen (1976) was the inspiration to depict death omens in photographs. Morgan said he searched the aisles of a store on Sunset Boulevard for days for inspiration for Erin's hardware-store death. Loss of control is a major theme he and Wong had envisioned for the film from the very beginning; both Wendy, who is afraid of losing control, and the roller coaster exemplify this. He said psychologists have confirmed one reason some people are afraid of riding a roller coaster is because they have no control over it and what happens to them. ### Casting During the casting process, Wong sought actors who could portray the main characters as heroic individuals with realistic qualities. Perry echoed this sentiment, saying that for the Wendy and Kevin characters they looked for actors who "had the charisma of movie stars, but weren't so ridiculously rarefied that you couldn't feel like you might know them". They took great care casting the supporting characters who were considered as important to the film as the main characters. On March 21, 2005, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Ryan Merriman—co-stars of The Ring Two (2005)—were cast as Wendy Christensen and Kevin Fischer. Winstead, who had auditioned for the second Final Destination film, won the role because her portrayal of the character's emotion impressed Wong and Morgan. Wong said he had originally intended Wendy to be a "perky blonde" and reworked the character slightly after Winstead was selected. Wong believed the actors were right for their roles. He felt Winstead "[brought] a kind of soulfulness to her role as Wendy" and though her character "is deeply affected by the accident", her strength allows her to remain in control. Wong said when Merriman arrived to audition he was sure he was "the right guy to play Kevin". He described the character as "the kind of guy you want to hang out with, your goofy best buddy, but also someone who could rise to the occasion and become a hero". On April 9, 2005, Kris Lemche and Alexz Johnson were cast as the goth couple Ian McKinley and Erin Ulmer. Johnson, who was starring in the Canadian television series Instant Star (2004–2008), had auditioned to play Wendy's sister Julie; that role later went to Amanda Crew, who originally auditioned to play Erin. Johnson said she wore a rocker jacket during her second reading and was in a bad mood. As she was leaving, the filmmakers called her back to read some of Erin's sarcastic dialogue in a scene. Johnson thought her dry sense of humor, which the filmmakers caught, helped her land the part. Of his role, Lemche said Ian "spouts some interesting facts that seem to be just right there on the tips of his fingers". He researched most of Ian's information and during read-throughs often asked Morgan about Ian's facts. Morgan wrote Lemche notes and gave him URLs to research the information Ian gives out. Jesse Moss was cast as Wendy's boyfriend Jason Wise. Texas Battle played athlete Lewis Romero. Chelan Simmons took the role of Ashley Freund. Sam Easton portrayed school alumnus Frankie Cheeks. Gina Holden played Kevin's girlfriend and Wendy's best friend, Carrie Dreyer. Crystal Lowe joined the cast as student Ashlyn Halperin. Tony Todd, who appeared in the first two films, did not return as the mortician Bludworth but voiced the Devil statue at the roller coaster and a subway conductor. Maggie Ma and Ecstasia Sanders played Julie's friends Perry Malinowski and Amber Regan, respectively. ### Filming and effects Like the first two installments of the franchise, Final Destination 3 was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. The Corkscrew roller coaster at Vancouver's Playland was the Devil's Flight coaster depicted in the film. Winstead and Merriman said the filming took three months with the first two weeks were spent shooting the roller coaster derailment. The rest of the filming was done out of sequence. Filming wrapped in July, but viewers at early screenings reacted negatively to the ending. This led to the filming of a new ending sequence featuring a subway train derailment in November 2005. The death scenes required varying degrees of 2D and 3D graphic enhancement. The roller coaster scene necessitated 144 visual-effect shots. Custom-designed coaster cars were built and modified for the script; most of the model was hand-built and computer-designed MEL scripts added specific elements. For the coaster-crash scenes, the actors were filmed performing in front of a green screen, to which a CGI background was added. Several of the roller coaster's cars were suspended with bungee cords to film the crash; the deaths required the use of CGI onscreen effects and each actor had a corresponding CGI double. Meteor Studios produced the roller coaster and subway crashes while Digital Dimension handled the post-premonition death scenes. The death of Ian McKinley, who is bisected by a cherry picker, proved especially challenging. A clean plate of the cherry picker falling was originally shot with a plate of Lemche acting crushed and falling to the ground with his bottom half in a partial green-screen suit. After combining those plates, Wong said "he wanted more of a gruesome punch for the shot". A standard CGI body of Lemche's height was used; several animation simulations of the body being crushed with a CGI object were filmed. The director chose the version he liked most. A new plate was then filmed with Lemche imitating the chosen animation and positioning his body at the end. Soho VFX created the scene where Ashley and Ashlyn are killed on tanning beds. It consisted of about 35 shots of CG skin, glass, fire, and smoke mixed with real fire and smoke. The subway crash in the film's epilogue used a CG environment reproducing the main aspects of the set. ### Music The score for Final Destination 3 was composed by Shirley Walker, who wrote the soundtracks of the series' previous installments. Score mixer Bobby Fernandez created a "gore-o-meter", measuring the violence of each death to ensure the score would match the scenes. Final Destination 3 is the only film in the series without a commercially released soundtrack. Musician Tommy Lee provided a cover of The O'Jays 1972 song "Love Train", which was used in the film's closing credits. Lee enjoyed "put[ting his] own darker spin on it for the movie". ## Release Several months before the film's release, New Line Cinema set up a promotional website, which linked to another site where visitors could download mobile-phone ringtones and wallpapers related to the film. As a further means of promotion, a novelization written by Christa Faust was published by Black Flame a month before the film's release. Final Destination 3 premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on February 1, 2006. During San Diego Comic-Con 2006, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, James Wong and Ryan Merriman attended a panel on July 22 to promote the DVD release of the film. They discussed the features of "Choose Their Fate" and the filming of new sequences. ### Box office Final Destination 3 opened on February 10, 2006, in 2,880 theaters in the United States and Canada. It earned \$19,173,094 on its opening weekend with an average of \$6,657 per theater. The film placed second domestically behind the remake of The Pink Panther, which opened the same day and earned \$20,220,412. Final Destination 3 fell to fifth in its second weekend and seventh in its third, dropping off the top-ten list on its fourth weekend. Its last screening, in 135 theaters, occurred during its tenth weekend; the film finished at 37th place with \$105,940. Final Destination 3's total earnings were \$54,098,051 at the domestic box office and \$63,621,107 internationally, for a worldwide gross of \$117,719,158. At the time of its release, the film was the most financially successful installment in the franchise; it retained this title until The Final Destination surpassed it in 2009 with a worldwide gross of \$186,167,139. ### Home media The film was released as a 2-disc DVD on July 25, 2006, by New Line Cinema, in widescreen and full screen formats. Special features include an audio commentary, a deleted scene, three documentaries, the theatrical trailer, and an original animated video. Wong, Morgan and cinematographer Robert Mclachlan provide the audio commentary. The deleted scene is an extended version of Wendy and Kevin's discussion after they are questioned by the police. The first documentary, Dead Teenager Movie, examines the history of slasher films. The second, Kill Shot: Making Final Destination 3, focuses on the making of the film and includes interviews with the cast and crew. Severed Piece, the third documentary, discusses the film's special effects, pyrotechnics, and gore effects. A seven-minute animated film, It's All Around You, explains the various ways people can die. Special DVD editions labeled "Thrill Ride Edition" also include an optional feature called "Choose Their Fate", allowing viewers to make decisions at several points in the film. Most provide only minor alterations to the death scenes, but the first choice allows the viewer to stop Wendy, Kevin, Jason, and Carrie from boarding the roller coaster before the premonition, ending the film immediately. The film grossed \$18.9 million in home sales. ## Reception ### Critical response Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 43% of 116 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 5.10/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Final Destination 3 is more of the same: gory and pointless, with nowhere new to go." At Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 41 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Several critics described the story as formulaic compared to the previous installments; Roger Ebert wrote that the film's main issue was its predictability and lack of tension because it was "clear to everyone who must die and in what order". Variety compared the narrative negatively with the franchise's second installment, describing the third film as lacking intricacy. The New York Times similarly described the film as lacking the "novelty of the first [or] the panache of the second". TV Guide called the periods between characters' deaths "dull", highlighting one reason the film failed to match the formula set out in the previous installments. Other reviewers were more positive; IGN praised the story—Chris Carle wrote that the "formula has been perfected rather than worn out" by the third film. Empire's Kim Newman and The Guardian found the story enjoyable, but said Final Destination 3 adhered primarily to the structure set out by the rest of the franchise. The film's tone and death scenes were positively received by critics. Writing for ReelViews, James Berardinelli described Final Destination 3 as incorporating more humor compared to its predecessors and said it worked to the film's benefit. The Seattle Times agreed the film's humorous tone helped to elevate it and said fans of the franchise would enjoy the death sequences. Sarah Dobbs of Den of Geek! said the tone made Final Destination 3 the high point of the franchise. She commended the film's style as a "brightly coloured [and] slightly silly meditation on how we're all gonna die one day, so we might as well do it explosively". The tanning bed and nail gun scenes were singled out as the best death sequences from the film and the franchise. Some critics praised Winstead's performance. According to the BBC, "... the real tragedy is that promising young actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead must endure this torture". Berardinelli described her as delivering "as competent a job as one could expect in these dire circumstances". Felix Gonzalez, Jr. of DVD Reviews praised Winstead's and Merriman's performances as one of the few positive aspects of the film. Similarly, The Seattle Times praised Winstead for conveying Wendy's emotions. The Daily Telegraph also listed Wendy as one of the top 20 final girls in horror films and praised Winstead's performance for making Wendy a believable character. ### Accolades Final Destination 3 was nominated at the 2006 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards for Highest Body Count, Line That Killed (Best One-Liner), Sickest FX (Best Special Effects) as well as Most Thrilling Killing (Best Death Scene) for Frankie's death. At the 2007 Saturn Awards it was nominated for Best Horror Film and the "Thrill Ride Edition" was nominated for Best DVD Special Edition Release.

Cottage Road Cinema

Cinema in Headingley, Leeds, England

Cottage Road Cinema is the oldest remaining cinema in continuous use in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Situated in the suburb of Headingley, Cottage Road was originally built in 1905 as a garage for the nearby Castle Grove mansion. Local newsreel cameraman Owen Brooks leased the garage with his friend George Reginald 'Reg' Smith and the two converted the building into a cinema, which opened as 'Headingley Picture House' on Monday, 29 July 1912. The cinema changed hands in the late 1930s, ultimately being purchased by Associated Tower Cinemas, who changed its name to Cottage Road Cinema and undertook building work. Associated Tower invested £20,000 to modernise the cinema in 1972, but announced that Cottage Road would close on 28 July 2005, due to unsustainable financial losses. The cinema was saved by a last minute bid from Charles Morris's Northern Morris Group. Under Northern Morris's ownership, Cottage Road celebrated its 100th birthday on 29 July 2012, with a Leeds Civic Trust blue plaque being unveiled by screenwriter Kay Mellor. Aiming to provide "cinema-going as it used to be", Cottage Road shows a mix of family-friendly films alongside classic movies, with ice creams being sold in the auditorium during the interval before films begin, and the national anthem being played at the end of each evening. ## History Cottage Road Cinema was originally built in 1905 (on the site of a former stable block) as a garage for H.R. Kirk, a Leeds textile merchant and owner of the nearby Castle Grove mansion. Pioneering Leeds-born newsreel cameraman Owen Brooks rented the garage several years later and, in partnership with his friend and fellow motoring enthusiast George Reginald 'Reg' Smith, converted it into a cinema. This 590-seat cinema opened as 'Headingley Picture House' on Monday, 29 July 1912, with tickets costing sixpence, or one shilling for reserved seating. Smith died in 1922, after which Brooks and Smith's widow, along with a new partner, bought the freehold of the property from the Kirk family. Two years later Brooks left the business and, following a one-week closure in 1931 to install sound equipment at the end of the silent film era, Headingley Picture House was purchased in 1937 by entrepreneur Frank T. Thompson. The cinema changed hands again the following year, with Associated Tower Cinemas taking over ownership and renaming it 'Cottage Road Cinema'. Associated Tower added a balcony to the auditorium and, around this time, the building was also re-fronted. Cottage Road continued to show films through the 'talkies' boom of the 1930s and 40s and the advent of colour until a major renovation in 1972, when £20,000 was spent modernising the cinema. The cinema re-opened on Boxing Day 1972 with a screening of Diamonds Are Forever. Further improvements were made in 1982 when Cinemeccanica Victoria 8 projectors, taken from the Grove cinema in Smethwick, were installed. By 2005 Cottage Road's fortunes had waned and Associated Tower, who disposed of Headingley's other historic cinema, The Lounge, in January of that year, announced that the venue would close on 28 July, one day shy of its 93rd birthday. In statements to the BBC, Associated Tower variously claimed that the cinema was losing £100,000 a year and between £1,000 and £2,000 a month due to "competition from multiplexes" and that it was no longer viable as a business. Despite protests from local residents, staff were issued with redundancy notices and Cottage Road was set to close its doors as planned until a last minute buyout was agreed with Charles Morris's Northern Morris Group, who paid a “nominal fee” to secure an initial nine-year lease. Morris claimed that he "couldn't resist" attempting to save the cinema given that it had "survived when so many other cinemas had succumbed to bingo halls and supermarkets due to competition from television, video and other entertainment", but warned that the local community would need to attend showings regularly to ensure Cottage Road's continued survival. Cottage Road regained its alcohol licence under Northern Morris ownership and, a year on from its acquisition, Charles Morris told the Yorkshire Evening Post that he was happy with sales at the cinema, stating that "it's doing particularly well really as it's been a bad year for cinemas generally" and pointing to a sold-out showing of the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale as a highlight. In 2008 the cinema received a National Lottery grant from the UK Film Council for roof repairs and, on 29 July 2012, a Leeds Civic Trust blue plaque was unveiled by Leeds-born screenwriter Kay Mellor to commemorate its 100th anniversary. Local poet Linda Marshall gave a special tribute entitled "Havoc In Far Headingley" after the plaque was unveiled, before the 1957 comedy The Smallest Show on Earth was shown. 100th birthday celebrations continued with more classic films, including a screening of Singin' in the Rain introduced by Labour MP Gerald Kaufman, and culminated with a silent film showing with live musical accompaniment, in conjunction with the Leeds International Film Festival. Leeds North West MP Greg Mulholland tabled an early day motion in the House of Commons, calling on his fellow politicians to congratulate "Leeds' oldest cinema in continuous use [...] as it celebrates the centenary of its founding" along with Charles Morris and the Northern Morris Group for their role in saving Cottage Road and "similar historic cinemas up and down the country". The COVID-19 pandemic caused the cinema to close for seven months in 2020, before it reopened on 23 October with a showing of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. ## Present day Although it has digital projectors and Dolby Surround 7.1 sound, Cottage Road retains its wood-panelled lobby and aims to provide "cinema-going as it used to be". Ice creams are sold in the auditorium during the interval before films begin, and the national anthem is played at the end of each evening. Every six weeks, the cinema hosts 'Classics at the Cottage' events, where classic movies, often introduced by owner Charles Morris, are shown. Cottage Road's regular programme includes films that appeal to young children and families — according to Morris "Nightmare on Elm Street isn't for Cottage Road. We're lucky to have very loyal and appreciative audiences, and we try to give them what they want". Cottage Road has 466 seats, and cinemagoers can choose between regular stalls seating or larger and more comfortable 'Pullman seats', situated in the centre of the cinema, which offer a view of the screen unobstructed by other patrons.

Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)

Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Broadway Theatre (formerly Universal's Colony Theatre, B.S. Moss's Broadway Theatre, Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre, and Ciné Roma) is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway (near 53rd Street) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, the theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, who originally operated the venue as a movie theater. It has approximately 1,763 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The Broadway Theatre is one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway. The Broadway's facade was originally designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was made of brick and terracotta. The modern facade of the theater is made of polished granite and is part of the office building at 1675 Broadway, completed in 1990. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, one balcony, and box seats. The modern design of the auditorium dates to a 1986 renovation, when Oliver Smith redecorated the theater in a reddish color scheme. The office building is cantilevered above the auditorium. B.S. Moss's Colony Theatre opened on Christmas Day 1924 and was originally leased to Universal Pictures Corporation. Moss renovated the venue for legitimate shows and reopened it as the Broadway Theatre on December 8, 1930. The theater had several operators over the next decade, and it switched between hosting legitimate shows, movies, and vaudeville. Lee Shubert and Clifford Fischer took over the Broadway Theatre in December 1939, and the Shubert family bought the theater in 1940. Since then, the Broadway has largely been used as a legitimate theater, though it was briefly used for movies in 1947 and in 1952–1953. The Broadway was extensively rebuilt in the late 1980s. Over the years, it has hosted many long-running musicals that have transferred from other theaters, as well as other long-lasting shows such as Evita, Les Misérables, and Miss Saigon. ## Description ### Buildings The Broadway Theatre is at the southwest corner of Broadway and 53rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is one of the few active Broadway theaters that are physically on Broadway. #### Original structure Its original exterior was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was made of brick and terracotta. The exterior contained a double-height electric sign. The original building covered 15,000 square feet (1,400 m²); there was 1,150 square feet (107 m²) of office space above the theater's lobby and two stores on Broadway. In addition, there was a wrought-iron ticket booth. There were 18 exits, allowing it to be evacuated within three minutes. Due to the presence of the now-demolished Sixth Avenue elevated line on 53rd Street, the theater had soundproof double doors on that street. #### Current building The modern facade of the theater (which has its own address at 1681 Broadway) is part of the 1675 Broadway office building, completed in 1990. The facade of 1675 Broadway, designed by Fox & Fowle, consists of polished granite in deep-green and greenish-gray hues. The seven-story facade on Broadway, which contains the entrance, was refaced in a similar material, with contemporary and Art Deco-style decorations. There is an Art Deco marquee in front of the theater as well. The massing consists of several horizontal and vertical setbacks, inspired by the massing of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The lower stories have recessed windows; the upper-story windows are surrounded by flame-finished granite panels, which give the impression of depth. When 1675 Broadway was constructed, the theater's air rights were used to increase the height of the office building. The office building's seventh and eighth stories contain large trusses above the theater, which cantilever the upper stories over the theater at a depth of 45 feet (14 m). There are six trusses spanning the theater from north to south; the largest truss weighs 200 short tons (180 long tons; 180 t). The office building's ninth and tenth stories each contain 28,000 square feet (2,600 m²) of space, while the next ten stories each contain 24,000 square feet (2,200 m²). The upper floors taper to 16,000 square feet (1,500 m²). The building has 35 stories and 750,000 square feet (70,000 m²) in total. There was mixed architectural commentary of the current building's design. Although Paul Goldberger called the building "exceptionally handsome, even dignified", another critic described the structure as "unpleasantly monolithic". ### Auditorium The Broadway Theatre has an orchestra, one mezzanine-level balcony, and boxes. According to the Shubert Organization, the theater has 1,763 seats. Meanwhile, Ken Bloom describes the theater as having 1,765 seats; The Broadway League gives a contrasting figure of 1,761 seats; and Playbill cites 1,738 seats. The physical seats are divided into 909 seats in the orchestra, 250 at the front of the mezzanine, 584 at the rear of the mezzanine, and 20 in the boxes. In the early 20th century, the theater had 2,500 seats. When the theater opened, the balcony level was carried by a 40-short-ton (36-long-ton; 36 t) girder, supported solely by the side walls. This allowed the entire theater to be a column-free space. The Broadway Theatre was decorated ornately with marble and bronze. The color scheme was largely composed of gold, white, bronze, and gray decorations. One critic described the theater as having pink and gold decorations, crystal lighting, and soft carpets. In the mid-20th century, the theater was repainted in a blue color scheme, which set designer Oliver Smith likened to "a coal mine". Smith redecorated the theater in a reddish color scheme in 1986, since he felt red was the "color that arouses emotion". At the front of the theater was an organ that could be raised or lowered, as well as a projector in the orchestra pit. In the 2000s, the Broadway's orchestra pit was one of the largest in a Broadway theater. The proscenium opening measures about 46 feet 6 inches (14.17 m) wide and 27 feet (8.2 m) tall. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is 54 feet 3 inches (16.54 m), while the depth to the front of the stage is 57 feet 4 inches (17.48 m). The stage was originally 20 feet (6.1 m) deep, but it was expanded in 1930 to 55 feet (17 m) deep by 90 feet (27 m) wide. Following these modifications, the stage also had three lifts. There were dressing rooms for 200 performers, as well as space for up to 50 stage crew members. The Broadway has long been a popular theater for producers of musicals because of its large seating capacity, and the large stage. Successful shows in smaller theaters have frequently transferred to the Broadway Theatre. ## History Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. Additionally, movie palaces became common in the 1920s between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. The Colony Theatre, as the current Broadway Theatre on 53rd Street was originally known, was developed as a movie palace by B. S. Moss, who had previously operated the now-demolished Broadway Theatre on 41st Street. ### Development and early years In 1923, the Neponsit Building Company acquired the five-story Standard Storage Warehouse and three dwellings at the corner of Broadway and 53rd Street. That July, Eugene de Rosa filed plans for a theater and office building on the site, which was to cost \$350,000. The site measured 56 feet (17 m) on Broadway and 112 feet (34 m) on 53rd Street, with a wing extending 18 feet (5.5 m) along 52nd Street. The theater was to be used for vaudeville and films. By mid-1924, Moss was developing the theater, which still had no name. Moss announced in mid-December 1924 that the theater would be named the Colony, and Edwin Franko Goldman was hired to lead the Colony's orchestra. The theater cost \$2 million to complete and was originally leased to Universal Pictures Corporation. B. S. Moss's Colony Theatre opened on December 25, 1924, with the film The Thief of Bagdad. Soon after the theater opened, Moss installed an automated air-cooling system in the theater. The Colony began screening movies during early mornings in October 1925, starting with The Freshman. In its early years, the Colony screened Universal films such as Friendly Enemies, A Woman's Faith, The Flaming Frontier, and The Cat and the Canary. Additionally, the theater hosted a weekly "lingerie revue" with fashion models. Moss left the vaudeville business in late 1927, retaining the Colony as his only theater. In early 1928, WABC announced that it would begin broadcasting concerts from the venue on Sundays. After the film We Americans flopped in April 1928, the Colony closed temporarily, and Moss considered leasing it for vaudeville. Theatrical operator Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. was negotiating to lease the Colony that June, but he initially balked because he considered the \$225,000 annual rent to be too expensive. By that August, Ziegfeld had tentatively agreed to lease the Colony for musical productions and renovate the theater. Meanwhile, the Colony resumed screenings during late 1928. Among those were Steamboat Willie, screened that November as the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be released to the public, and a documentary about the New York Stock Exchange, screened that December. ### Alternating live shows and film #### 1930s Moss took back the Colony Theatre in February 1930 and announced that he would begin hosting musicals there. He expanded the Colony into an adjacent parcel; according to The New York Times, "the theatre was gutted until only its four walls remained." The auditorium was also expanded to 2,000 seats. The venue became Moss's Broadway Theatre, since that name had been freed up by the demolition of the old Broadway Theatre on 41st Street. The Broadway's first legitimate show, The New Yorkers by Cole Porter, opened on December 8, 1930; at the time, it was the largest Broadway theater. Moss claimed that the theater would only host shows with "a price scale that is within the reach of every man's pocketbook", but tickets for The New Yorkers cost up to \$5.50, which during the Great Depression was unaffordable for many people. The New Yorkers closed in May 1931, after which the theater stood dark for several months. In September 1931, Moss announced that he would simultaneously present musical revues and talking pictures at the Broadway for twelve weeks. The theater then reverted to live shows. Moss sold the theater in July 1932 to Amalgamated Properties Inc. The same year, Earl Carroll took over the theater, which was renamed Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre. The Broadway hosted The Earl Carroll Vanities, which featured Milton Berle, Helen Broderick, and Harriet Hoctor and ran for 11 weeks. By February 1933, Associated Artists Productions was hosting an opera series at the Broadway. Stanley Lawton then leased the theater, and the Broadway began showing vaudeville that November. The theater once again hosted opera performances in 1934. The Broadway's next legitimate show was the operetta The O'Flynn, which opened in December 1934 and closed after a week. The Broadway Theatre was leased to the Chasebee Theatre Corporation in August 1935 as part of a receivership proceeding against the Prudence Company. The theater then switched once more to showing films, reopening as B. S. Moss's Broadway Theatre on October 12, 1935. The Broadway screened double features accompanied by short stage shows. The vaudevillian Gus Edwards leased the Broadway in March 1936 and renamed the theater Gus Edwards' Sho-Window. Edwards began showing vaudeville at the Broadway the next month, but it only lasted for two weeks. The Nuvo Mondo Motion Pictures Corporation then leased the Broadway Theatre in February 1937. The venue was renamed the Ciné Roma and began showing Italian films. Lee Shubert and Clifford Fischer took over the Broadway Theatre in December 1939, renovating the theater to accommodate the Folies Bergère revue, which only ran until February 1940. #### 1940s and early 1950s The Broadway then hosted long-running musicals that had transferred from other theaters, beginning with Rodgers and Hart's Too Many Girls in April 1940. To raise money for British soldiers during World War II, Walt Disney showed his feature film Fantasia in November 1940; it was the first Disney film rendered in Fantasound, an early stereo system. This was followed in 1942 by the Irving Berlin musical This Is The Army; a season of productions from the New Opera Company; and a transfer of the comedy My Sister Eileen. In 1943, the Broadway hosted the musical Lady in the Dark, the operetta The Student Prince, and performances by the San Carlo Opera Company in repertory. The same year, theatrical operator Michael Todd reneged on a plan to lease the Broadway, and the Yaw Theatre Corporation took over the theater. The Shubert family's Trebuhs Realty Company acquired the Broadway in July 1943. That December, Billy Rose brought his operetta Carmen Jones to the Broadway Theatre; it ran for 503 performances. The play The Tempest and the musical Memphis Bound! had brief runs in 1945, followed by a transfer of Up in Central Park that June, which lasted nine months. In mid-1946, the Shuberts acquired the 25-foot-wide (7.6 m) plot at the corner of Broadway and 53rd Street; the theater building had already been extended into the corner lot, but that part of the theater had previously been leased from the landowner. Also in 1946, the Broadway hosted transfers of the operetta Song of Norway and the play A Flag Is Born; a season of ballet; and Duke Ellington and John La Touche's musical Beggar's Holiday. After Beggar's Holiday closed in March 1947, United Artists leased the Broadway as a movie theater for one year. The Cradle Will Rock relocated to the Broadway in early 1948, followed the same year by a limited repertory engagement by the Habimah Players, a three-week concert series, and a transfer of High Button Shoes. The Spanish revue Cabalgata opened at the theater in July 1949, running for three months. The Katherine Dunham Company performed at the Broadway in 1950, followed by Olsen and Johnson's musical Pardon Our French, which flopped after 100 performances. In 1951, the Broadway hosted transfers of the musical Where's Charley? and the play The Green Pastures, as well as a limited engagement of the musical Oklahoma!. Mae West's Diamond Lil had a brief run later that year. It was followed in early 1952 by Kiss Me, Kate, ANTA's version of Four Saints in Three Acts and the all-Black revue Shuffle Along. Lee Shubert leased the theater in mid-1952 to Cinerama Productions, which added a wide screen for Cinerama films. The Broadway reopened as a Cinerama theater on September 30, 1952, with the film This Is Cinerama, which transferred to the Warner Theatre in February 1953. The venue returned to legitimate use in June 1953, hosting the final performances of the long-running musical South Pacific. ### Exclusive use as legitimate theater #### Late 1950s to 1970s Les Ballets de Paris and dancer José Greco performed at the theater in 1954, and the operetta The Saint of Bleecker Street opened there at the end of the year. The Broadway hosted several live engagements in late 1955, including those by dancer Antonio, the Comédie-Française, the Katherine Dunham Company, and the Azuma Kabuki Troupe. Next was the musical Mr. Wonderful with Sammy Davis Jr., which opened in March 1956 and had 383 performances. The musical Shinbone Alley lasted for one month in early 1957, and The Most Happy Fella transferred to the Broadway later the same year. The Broadway hosted another short-lived musical in 1958, The Body Beautiful. This was followed the same year by Ballets de Paris, the Ballet Español, the Théâtre National Populaire, and the Old Vic. In addition, the Broadway hosted the Bolshoi Theatre's version of West Side Story in early 1959. The Broadway was refurbished before the opening of Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's musical Gypsy in May 1959. The theater hosted several musicals from 1960 to 1962, as well as the American Ballet Theatre in 1961 and Martha Graham's dance troupe in 1962. The musical Tovarich with Vivien Leigh and Jean-Pierre Aumont opened in 1963, as did the Obratsov Russian Puppet Theatre and the Noël Coward musical The Girl Who Came to Supper. The Broadway then hosted the Folies Bergère and the revue Zizi with Zizi Jeanmaire in 1964. The musical Baker Street and the play The Devils were staged in 1965, followed the next year by another musical, A Time for Singing. The Lincoln Center Theater's production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun moved to the Broadway in September 1966, and the musical Funny Girl came at the end of the year. The Harkness Ballet performed at the Broadway for three weeks in late 1967, and the Kander and Ebb musical The Happy Time ran for 286 performances in 1968. This was followed by transfers of the musicals Cabaret and Mame from other theaters. In late 1969, the Shuberts proposed razing the Broadway and constructing a skyscraper with a theater at its base. The project would use a zoning bonus that allowed office-building developers to erect theaters in exchange for additional office space. The New York City Planning Commission approved a zoning permit for the planned 43-story building in May 1970. The project would include a three-level, 1,800-seat theater as well as a shopping arcade between 52nd and 53rd Street. The Shuberts postponed this plan indefinitely in 1971 due to declining demand for office space. Meanwhile, the musical Purlie opened at the Broadway in March 1970. It was followed by Fiddler on the Roof, which transferred to the Broadway in December 1970 and became the longest-running Broadway show just before its closing in 1972. The theater also hosted the 26th Tony Awards in April 1972. The Broadway was renovated at a cost of \$100,000 prior to the opening of the musical Dude in October 1972. The show lasted for only two weeks, and the theater's original layout was restored. The Chelsea Theater Center's version of the operetta Candide opened in March 1974 and ran for close to two years. The theater's capacity was reduced to 900 seats to accommodate the production. This was followed in July 1976 by a version of the musical Guys and Dolls with an all-Black cast; it lasted until the next February. Greek singer Nana Mouskouri then performed at the Broadway in April 1977. Another all-Black musical, The Wiz, moved to the Broadway in mid-1977 and stayed for one-and-a-half years. The musical I Remember Mama had been booked at the Broadway, but it was relocated to make way for the musical Saravà, which opened in March 1979 and flopped after four months. That September saw the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Evita, which lasted 1,568 performances over the next four years. #### 1980s and 1990s By the early 1980s, the Shuberts were looking to sell adjacent land, though they did not want to demolish the theater. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the Broadway as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The same year, the city government had enacted a law providing zoning bonuses for large new buildings in West Midtown. Following the rezoning, the Shubert Organization leased the Broadway's 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m²) site to the Rudin Organization, which constructed the 1675 Broadway office building on the site in the late 1980s. The musical Zorba with Anthony Quinn opened in October 1983 and ran for nearly a year. It was followed in November 1984 by the musical The Three Musketeers, which only lasted nine performances. In 1985, the Broadway hosted a revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I; this was the last Broadway appearance of Yul Brynner, who had starred in the musical's original 1951 run. The Shuberts renovated the Broadway's interior for \$8 million prior to the April 1986 opening of the musical Big Deal, which flopped after 70 performances. Elvis Costello hosted a rock concert that October, and the popular musical Les Misérables opened at the Broadway in March 1987. While the LPC commenced a wide-ranging effort to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters in 1987, the Broadway was among the few theaters for which the LPC denied either exterior or interior landmark status. It was also the Shuberts' only Broadway theater that was not designated as a landmark. The theater's exterior was renovated with the construction of 1675 Broadway. The musical Miss Saigon was booked for the theater in early 1990, forcing the relocation of Les Misérables. Miss Saigon opened in April 1991, running at the Broadway for 4,095 performances through January 2001. During the 1990s and 2000s, The Late Show With David Letterman (produced at the nearby Ed Sullivan Theater) often taped pranks in front of the Broadway's 53rd Street facade, which was soon filled with show posters. #### 2000s to present The Broadway's first new production of the 2000s was the musical Blast!, which opened in April 2001 and ran for 180 performances. Robin Williams hosted his Robin Williams: Live on Broadway comedy show at the Broadway in 2002, winning several Emmy Awards. The opera La Bohème opened the same year and ran for 228 performances, followed in 2003 by John Leguizamo's one-man show Sexaholix. The musical Bombay Dreams had 284 performances in 2004, and the musical The Color Purple then opened in December 2005, running for 910 performances until early 2008. The acrobatic show Cirque Dreams had a limited run at the Broadway in mid-2008, and Shrek The Musical opened at the end of that year, running for 441 performances. The musical Promises, Promises was revived in 2010 for 291 performances, followed the next year by the original production of the musical Sister Act, which had 561 performances. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons also performed at the Broadway in late 2012. Subsequently, the theater hosted Douglas Carter Beane's version of Cinderella, which opened in 2013 and ran for 770 performances over the next two years. The musical Doctor Zhivago had a short run in mid-2015, but a revival of Fiddler on the Roof was more successful, opening at the end of 2015 and running for a full year. Another revival to play at the Broadway was Miss Saigon, which opened in 2017 and ran for ten months. The theater then hosted the Rocktopia rock concert in early 2018, followed the same year by the musical King Kong, which had 324 performances. The Broadway hosted yet another revival, West Side Story, which opened in February 2020. The theater closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the revival of West Side Story closed permanently. The Broadway reopened on April 11, 2022, with the musical The Little Prince, which ran for one month. This was to have been followed in late 2022 by a series of concerts performed by rock band Weezer, but the concerts were canceled in August 2022 because of poor ticket sales. The musical Here Lies Love opened at the theater on July 20, 2023. ## Notable productions Productions are listed by the year of their first performance.This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films presented at the theater. ### 1930s to 1990s - 1930: The New Yorkers - 1932: Troilus and Cressida - 1932: Earl Carroll's Vanities - 1940: Too Many Girls - 1940: Mamba's Daughters - 1942: This Is The Army - 1942: Ballet Imperial, The Fair at Sorochinsk - 1942: La Vie Parisienne - 1942: My Sister Eileen - 1943: Lady in the Dark - 1943: The Student Prince - 1943: Artists and Models (1943) - 1943: Carmen Jones - 1945: The Tempest - 1945: Memphis Bound! - 1945: Up in Central Park - 1946: Song of Norway - 1946: A Flag Is Born - 1946: Beggar's Holiday - 1948: The Cradle Will Rock - 1948: Four productions by the Habimah Players - 1948: High Button Shoes - 1949: Cabalgata - 1949: As the Girls Go - 1950: Katherine Dunham and Her Company - 1951: Where's Charley? - 1951: The Green Pastures - 1951: Oklahoma! - 1951: Diamond Lil - 1952: Kiss Me, Kate - 1952: Four Saints in Three Acts - 1952: Shuffle Along (1952) - 1953: South Pacific - 1954: The Saint of Bleecker Street - 1956: Mr. Wonderful - 1957: Shinbone Alley - 1957: The Most Happy Fella - 1958: The Body Beautiful - 1958: Three productions by The Old Vic - 1959: West Side Story - 1959: Gypsy - 1960: The Music Man - 1961: Fiorello! - 1961: Kean - 1962: My Fair Lady - 1962: I Can Get It for You Wholesale - 1963: Tovarich - 1963: The Girl Who Came to Supper - 1965: Baker Street - 1965: The Devils - 1966: A Time for Singing - 1966: Annie Get Your Gun - 1966: Funny Girl - 1968: The Happy Time - 1968: Cabaret - 1969: Mame - 1970: Purlie - 1970: Fiddler on the Roof - 1972: Dude - 1974: Candide - 1976: Guys and Dolls - 1977: Nana Mouskouri on Broadway - 1977: The Wiz - 1979: Evita - 1983: Zorba - 1984: The Three Musketeers - 1985: The King and I - 1986: Big Deal - 1987: Les Misérables - 1991: Miss Saigon ### 2000s to present - 2001: Blast! - 2002: Robin Williams: Live on Broadway - 2002: La Boheme - 2004: Bombay Dreams - 2005: The Color Purple - 2008: Cirque Dreams - 2008: Shrek The Musical - 2010: Promises, Promises - 2011: Sister Act - 2012: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on Broadway - 2013: Cinderella - 2015: Doctor Zhivago - 2015: Fiddler on the Roof - 2017: Miss Saigon - 2018: King Kong - 2020: West Side Story - 2022: The Little Prince - 2023: Here Lies Love ## See also - List of Broadway theaters